tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-266034462024-03-16T00:18:01.100-07:00Faithful Word Baptist ChurchAudio Preaching in MP3 and realaudio format from this soul-winning, independent, fundamental, King James Bible-only Baptist Church in Phoenix, Arizona.sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.comBlogger310125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-70384787302603082112016-05-30T11:14:00.000-07:002016-05-30T11:14:12.255-07:00The New Man vs. the Old Man <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TovqiA8smD0">Video</a>
<p><b>February 8, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TovqiA8smD0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Romans Chapter 7 I want to preach on the famous part at the end of the chapter where Paul talks about the struggle that’s going on within him of wanting to do that which is right but then he ends up doing that which is wrong. I want to teach some important doctrine tonight about the subject that after we’re saved, it is still possible for us to continue in sin.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: We still have the flesh that dwelleth with us, and that if we walk in the flesh we’re going to continue sinning. I also tonight want to just expose to you how the ESV version of scripture just perverts the bible in so many ways. A lot of people think that it’s not really a big deal which translation of the bible that we use. It’s funny how they’ll just act like, “Oh, the King James is just one of many translations.” This is the way that is presented today. “Well, there are a lot of translations out there and the King James is just one of them.” Almost like those who are King James only just flipped a coin and just picked one and just went with it, but in reality the King James Bible for a long time was the only English bible.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: That’s what people are forgetting about. Because of the fact that all the bibles leading up to the King James agreed with the King James.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Whether you’re talking about the Tyndale or the Matthew bible, the Coverdale, the Bishops’ bible, the Geneva bible, all the bibles leading up to it agreed with it, and when the King James came on the scene, it was just a perfection of that which came before. Over time it replaced that which came before, and those previous versions went out of print because the King James was the finished product. It was the final draft in the English language of a modern English bible. For a long time that’s just what everybody used. It was only in the late 1800s when they started discovering all these phony manuscripts, and then into the 1900s when they started producing all these phony bibles that people started to get away from the King James.<br><br> Even 50, 60, 70 years ago, the vast majority of people were still on the King James. Today we’re told, “Oh, it’s just another version.” No, the King James Bible has been the English bible for centuries. I believe it is the perfect word of God and that it is without error.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: That it is the preservation of God’s word into our modern English language. Now today we have all these other versions and people say, “Well, if you’re using one of these other versions it’s not that big of a deal.” But just in the couple of examples I’m going to show you tonight, I’m going to show you how it just completely changes bible doctrine. You wonder why there’s so many people with so many goofed up doctrines, and it’s because they’re not even reading from a real bible.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: They’re reading from the ESV, the NIV, the New American Standard, and these versions are nowhere near what God actually said. They just change it.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Let’s get into the doctrine that I want to talk about tonight here. First of all, look down at your bible at Roman 7 Verse 14. It says in Verse 14, for we know that the law is spiritual, and this is the Apostle Paul speaking, but I am carnal, sold under sin. The Apostle Paul, who some people would even say is the greatest Christian who ever lived, he’s definitely right up there as being one of the great men, look how many books in the New Testament he was used by God to pen down, and he’s saying, “I’m carnal.” He’s admitting, in this passage, that he struggles with sin.<br><br> Even being the great man of God that he is, and the great transformation that he’d had in his life from being a Pharisee that persecuted Christians to now being the one who’s preaching the faith that he once destroyed, he’s admitting, “I’m carnal.” Carnal has to do with walking in the flesh. Now there’s a false teacher out there and his name is Paul Washer.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: A lot of people listen to this guy and the guy is a liar and a fraud.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You say, “Well, why would you name the name?” Well, the bible teaches us in the New Testament to name the names of false teachers.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: That’s why the Apostle Paul named names like Phygellus, Hermogenes, Alexander, Hymenaeus, he called out the false prophets of his day and he warned people about the dangerous doctrines that they were teaching. This guy, Paul Washer, has one major emphasis of his ministry. One thing that he harps on over and over again, and basically that is that if you’re not living right you’re not really saved. I mean that’s the main thing that he just keeps coming back to. “Well, if you haven’t had a dramatic change in your life and if not you’re living for God, and blah, blah, blah, then you’re not really saved.”<br><br> He has a famous quote that he harps on over and over again. Paul Washer says this, “There is no such thing as a carnal Christian.”<br><br>Man: Like what?<br><br>Pastor: That’s what he says. Many times he said it. In many sermons he’s repeated this theme of there is no such thing as a carnal Christian. One time I heard him say it this way, he said, “There’s a doctrine today that is tailor-made for American Christianity, the doctrine of the carnal Christian. American Christianity has invented this idea of the carnal Christian because they just want to be carnal and every,” you know, and he tries to act like everybody in these countries are all just these wonderful Christians and everybody in America is a loser and whatever. Anyway, there’s no such thing as a carnal Christian. Okay, well, what did the Apostle Paul say in Verse 14?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: I’m carnal. If there's no such thing as a carnal Christian, then why did the Apostle Paul say, “I’m carnal?” Flip over if you would to First Corinthians Chapter 3. We’re going to come back to Romans 7, but look over at First Corinthians Chapter 3. I’m dealing with three things tonight, a false prophet, a false doctrine, and a false bible version, okay? The false prophet is Paul Washer, the false doctrine is the doctrine that anyone who is saved is going to automatically be living a righteous life or they’re not really saved, and the false bible version is the ESV.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It says in First Corinthians Chapter 3 Verse 1, And I, brethren, now right away what’s he saying there in the third word there, brethren? Who’s he talking to, the saved or the unsaved?<br><br>Congregation: Saved.<br><br>Pastor: Yeah, because these people are not his physical relatives. He’s a Jew that was born of Tarsus, and these are people from Corinth, he’s calling them brethren because they’re his brethren in Christ, because they’re fellow Christians. He says, I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal. These people are brethren, but they’re carnal. Then he defines what he means by carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. According to the bible, those who are babes in Christ are new believers, they’re going to be carnal. I mean if you think about it, when a person just got saved, are they just going to be just an amazing Christian overnight?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: No. I mean if you get an unsaved person and they just get the gospel and they just believe on Jesus Christ, they’re a newborn babe in Christ. They still have everything to learn, and it’s going to take them time to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to get the sin out of their life. Therefore, obviously a babe in Christ is going to be carnal to some degree. He’s saying, you guys are carnal even though you’ve been saved for a long time. You guys are like babes in Christ, like you just got saved. Now it’s okay for a babe to be a babe, but there’s something wrong when adults are acting like babes, okay?<br><br> For example, if you have a baby, you don’t expect that baby to change its own diaper, you don’t expect it to feed itself, you’re going to do all that for it. But if someone were to grow up and get to the point where they’re 10, 11, 12 years old and they’re basically using the restroom on themself and they can’t feed themself and you have to feed them, you would look at that person and say, “You know what, this person is developmentally disabled. This person is handicapped. This person may have Down syndrome or some other problem developmentally that’s causing them to not be growing as they should.” Now does that mean they’re not human?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: Does it mean this person was never born?<br><br>Man: No.<br><br>Pastor: Here we are, we thought we gave birth to a baby, it turns out it was never born. No, it just means that they’re not developing properly. Okay, so it could be the same thing with a Christian. If you see a Christian that’s been saved for 20 years and it’s still acting like a spiritual baby, you wouldn’t say, “Well, it was never born.”<br><br>Man: It’s got a problem.<br><br>Pastor: Never say or you know, or it’s not human, it’s not a Christian. No, you just say, “Look, it’s a handicapped, spiritually handicapped.” You know, you’re spiritually challenged today. The bible says here, he spoke to them as unto babes in Christ. He says in Verse 2, I fed you with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal, he’s saying you’re still carnal, when you should have grown past the milk stage and gotten into the strong meat. He says, you’re yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal?<br><br> How many times has he called them carnal so far? Three times, “You’re carnal, you’re carnal, you’re carnal.” Yet a person like Paul Washer just says, “Well, there’s no such thing as a carnal Christian.” Paul’s talking to these brethren and saying, “You’re carnal, you’re carnal, you’re carnal.” People say, “Well, maybe they weren’t really saved.” Okay, let’s keep reading. He says in Verse 4, for while one saith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Again, he says in Verse 5, who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye what?<br><br>Congregation: Believed.<br><br>Pastor: These people believed. He’s calling them brethren, he’s saying they’re like babes in Christ, now he says they’ve believed, and by the way, that’s what you have to do to be saved.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have eternal life. It says, ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. Let me ask this, what kind of increase did God give a bunch of people who weren’t really saved?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Man: Saved.<br><br>Pastor: No. If God gave this increase, if one planted and one watered, and God gave the increase, what’s the increase? He’s talking about them.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: He said, ministers by whom ye believed. They planted, you believed, they watered, you believed. God gave the increase, you’re saved.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: But you’re carnal.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Carnal, carnal, carnal, okay? Let’s keep reading. It says in verse number 8, now he that planteth and he that watereth are one, and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. Is he saying to these people, “Hey, you don’t belong to Christ, you’re not really saved, you’re not of God’s people?” No, he’s saying, “You’re God’s building, you’re God’s husbandry, but you’re carnal. You need to grow up. You need to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Now let’s go back to Romans Chapter 7. I think we’ve established pretty clearly that it’s very possible for Christians to be carnal or fleshly or walking in the flesh.<br><br> Now does God want us to walk in the flesh? Of course not, but do we have the capability or the tendency to walk in the flesh, and even if we’ve been saved for five years or ten years we could be stuck as babes in Christ? Look, Paul rebuked others in Hebrews Chapter 5 when he said, for when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Which be the first principles of the oracles of God and have become such as have need of milk and not of strong meat. For everyone that useth milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe, but strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Again, he’s telling them, “You should be teachers, you should be mature spiritually, but you’re carnal. You’re still acting like a babe in Christ, you need to grow.” Look at Romans Chapter 7, here’s where the Apostle Paul even admits the fact that, to an extent, he’s carnal. He says, “I’m carnal, sold under sin.”<br><br> Look at Verse 15, for that which I do I allow not, for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that do I. Now some people might read this and it might seem like kind of a tongue twister, you know, what I do, what I would not, I would do that I would not, and it could be confusing, but if you just slow down and read what it’s saying here, it’s pretty easy to understand. For that which I do I allow not. Now think about it, we have things that we don’t allow, right, and that’s things that we would say, “Hey, these things are wrong. These are things that we shouldn’t be doing.” But you know what Paul’s saying, “Sometimes I do the things that I allow not. Things that I don’t allow, but then I do them.”<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Okay. What will we call that?<br><br>Man: [Hypocrite 00:12:44].<br><br>Man: Carnal.<br><br>Pastor: Hypocrisy, okay. He’s admitting that sometimes there’s some hypocrisy there. He says, but what I hate, that do I. Okay, so there are things that Paul does hates. Now what’s something that the bible tells us over and over again that we should hate?<br><br>Man: Sin.<br><br>Pastor: Sin. But he’s saying, “You know, I find myself doing things that I hate.” Then he says, in Verse 16, if then I do that which I would not, okay, and when he says, I would not, he means that which I don’t want to do, okay. He’s saying if I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, and this is the key, watch this, for I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. He’s saying, “In my flesh there doesn’t dwell any good thing,” and he’s saying that I have the will to do what’s right.<br><br> To will is present with me. I want to do good things, I want to serve God, I want to obey the commandments. But he says, how to perform that which is good I find not. What’s he saying? Basically he’s saying what Jesus said, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. He said, “I want to do what’s right. I find myself wanting to get the sin out of my life and wanting to serve God, but then I just fail at it and I end up doing wrong things.” Now he says in verse number 18 at the end there, how to perform that which is good I find not. Verse 19, for the good that I would I do not, but the evil which I would not, that I do.<br><br> He says, “It’s great, you know, I want to do things that are good, I end up not doing them, and then there are bad things I don’t want to do and I end up doing them.” He says in Verse 20, now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, when I want to do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.<br><br> Look what he says in that last verse there. With the mind I myself serve the law of God. He’s saying, in my mind, according to the inward man, I want to do what’s right. I hate sin, I love to do right, and I delight in God’s law, and I want to do all the right things, but then because I’m in the flesh, I end up doing all these wrong things. He says at the end there that he serves the law of sin with his flesh. Now if this is coming from the Apostle Paul, do you think that you’re above this and that I’m above this struggle, this battle that is going on?<br><br>Man: No.<br><br>Pastor: By the way, another great man, and arguably, you know, obviously the bible said that John the Baptist was the greatest man that was ever born of a woman, but outside of John the Baptist when you think of just human beings, outside of course of our Lord Jesus Christ who is God in the flesh, if you want to think about the great men of the New Testament, the two men that would kind of stand out would be John, the Apostle John, who is known as the disciple whom Jesus loved, the one who leaned upon his breast at the Last Supper, and the Apostle Paul, the great missionary that went out, and he even said, I labored more abundantly than they all. I mean he did great works for God.<br><br> Both of these men make admissions like this. The Apostle Paul says, “I’m carnal. I do stuff I don’t want to do. I serve the law of sin with my flesh.” Then what did John say in First John Chapter 1? If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. You have pretty much the two great apostles of the New Testament, and they’re both admitting, “Hey, we sin. We do wrong.” Yet you have people today that act as if they’re above sin.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Or that if you’re saved, you’re not going to continue in sin and all this stuff.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: But in reality, we as Christians have the capability to continue in sin. Now a lot of people misunderstand what it says in Romans 6:1, just back up one chapter. It says in Romans 6:1, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? In Romans 5, and really in chapters 3, 4, and 5, Paul has been saying over and over again how our salvation is by grace through faith and it’s not by our works, it’s not by keeping the law, so he’s been hammering that for three chapters straight. Three, four and five, that’s what it’s all about in Romans.<br><br> Then he asks the question that people will often ask when you give them the gospel and tell them it’s all by grace, is like, “What are you saying? We just keep on sinning then?”<br><br>Man: Exactly.<br><br>Pastor: Isn’t that what they say?<br><br>Man: Always.<br><br>Pastor: He knows that’s what they’re thinking, so he pulls out that question himself and says, shall we continue, what is he saying? Should we keep on sinning that grace may abound? Now a lot of people will look at this and say, “See, if you keep sinning, grace won’t abound.” Is that what it says?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: Back up two verses to Romans 5 Verse 20, moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. If you get the context, he’s saying, if we continue in sin grace will abound.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Meaning we’re not going to lose our salvation.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: The more sins we commit the more is forgiven of God. Then he says, “Hey, should we do that?” God forbid that anyone would take their salvation and say, “Well, now that I’m saved and no matter what I do I’m going to heaven, I’m just going to go out and continue in sin.” Of course if you do that, the bible’s real clear, God’s going to punish you.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: On this earth. The bible says, whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If we go out and live a life of sin after we’re saved, we will be chastised, we’ll be punished on this earth. We will reap what we’ve sown. By the way, the unsaved, they go out and live a life of sin often with, and they get away with it in this life, but they’re going to hell, so they don’t really get away with it in the end. The bible says, if you be without chastisement, where of all are partakers then are ye bastards and not sons. The bible’s saying the only people who can live a life of sin without getting chastised are people that are not saved.<br><br> They’re not the children of God they’re bastards, they’re not sons of God, okay. The bible’s real clear here, that once we are God’s sons and daughters that we have eternal life, we have everlasting life, if we continue in sin grace will abound, but should we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. We should do what’s right, we should go to church, we should read our bibles, we should serve Him. But are we just automatically going to?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: No way. There’s no way that we’re just going to automatically do it. That’s why the bible is constantly preaching to us how we need to guard ourselves from sin and grow and seek to please God, because it’s not automatic.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: If it were automatic he wouldn’t have to tell us about avoiding sin so much and preach to us and warn us that we need to abstain from fornication and live a clean life and all this. Okay, now go to First John Chapter 3, because in First John Chapter 3 there’s a scripture that people will twist in order to teach this doctrine that says, hey, if you’re saved, you’re not going to keep sinning. And you’ve heard people teach this, haven’t you?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: “Hey, if you see somebody and they just keep on sinning, well, that just proves that they’re not saved.” Well, my answer to that is well, then nobody’s saved.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: The Apostle Paul wasn’t saved and John wasn’t, then we’re all doomed, because nobody is without sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Whenever you say that to people, here’s what they’ll say, “Well, I’m not saying that you have to stop sinning all together,” and then we enter just this major grey area.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: You know what I mean, because people say, “Hey, if you want to be saved, you have to repent of your sins and if you’re still living the same way, you’re not really saved and there’s needs to be a change and you need to live right.” But then you say to people like, “Wait a minute, are you saying that you’re just going to totally stop sinning?” “Well, not totally.” You know, it’s like, “Well, you just have to kind of try.”<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Well, there has to be some change.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Well, you know, you’re not going to have a habit of sin or you’re not going to sin lots, you know, or you’re not going to sin hard, you’re just going to do the light sinning. But see, that’s just such a grey area and it’s such confusion.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: I mean are Christians capable of sinning or not?<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Or are they just above sin now, they’re just delivered from sin. They say, “Well, you’re delivered from the power of sin.” Right, God gives you the power to overcome sin, if you want to.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: But what if you choose to go into temptation? You will. What if you get up in the morning and walk in the flesh? You’re going to fulfill the lust of the flesh.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Okay. If people, and I want you to pay attention tonight because I want to lay down this doctrinally clear from the bible. We saw it in Romans 7, but I’m going to show you a bunch of other passages. I want to make this real clear to you that when you get saved God creates a new creature that is known as the new man. That is a biblical term, the new man and the old man. We’re going to see it a little later in Ephesians. That’s the term the bible uses, the new man and the old man. This is also known as the spirit and the flesh. It’s also known as the inward man and the carnal mind, okay.<br><br> Let me tell you something, these two things exist in all of us. When we get saved, God doesn’t create a new creature and then the old man’s gone, the flesh is gone. No, the flesh is still with us.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: The old man is still there. The bible says, the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. These are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. What did Paul say? I can’t do the things that I would.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Why? Well, in Galatians he said, it’s because the flesh and the spirit are at war with one another. By the way, a lot of people misunderstand when the bible’s talking about the spirit, it’s not always talking about the Holy Spirit. A lot of times it’s talking about our spirit.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Because when we get saved, because we’re a body, soul, and spirit, aren’t we?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: When we get saved our spirit that was dead and trespassed in sins is quickened. When God created a new creature, the moment I got saved when I was six years old and I was on my knees by my mother’s bedside and I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and called upon the name of the Lord as a six-year old boy, God created a brand new Steven Anderson. Completely new. Not kind of new, mostly new, sort of new. No, 100% new creature Steven L. Anderson 2.0 was created when I was a six-year old boy and got saved.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Okay, but the old Steven Anderson is still here.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: He has not died yet, he is still alive. In fact he has to die every day if I’m going to live for God.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Paul said, “I die daily.” He’s not talking about the spirit. You think he’s talking about the new man when he says, “I die daily?” No, the bible says we need to mortify the members or body parts of our uncleanness. The old man has to die that we might walk in newness of life. He said, “I die daily.” It’s not a one-time thing where the old man just dies. No, it’s a daily thing. Here’s the famous verse that everybody knows, everybody’s heard, where it says, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new.<br><br> A lot of people will look at this and they’ll say, “Well, you know, that verse right there says there has to be some change.” How do you get some change out of that verse?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: “Well, there should be some change because it says right there all things are,” all is not some.<br><br>Man: That’s right.<br><br>Pastor: Just think with me now, if that verse were talking about the way we live our life, then that would be saying you will live sinlessly perfect after you get saved.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: But guess what, it’s not talking about our lifestyle. When it says if any man be in Christ he’s a new creature, old things are passed away. Behold all things are become new. He’s talking about the new man, the new creature that God created which is the spiritual man, the inward man. Let me tell you something, the new man, the inward man is incapable of sinning. He cannot sin.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: He can’t sin. He’s perfect. All things are passed away. All the old things are passed away. Everything’s new. The bible says that the new man is created in righteousness and true holiness. That’s the new man, the new Steven Anderson, incapable of sinning, okay. I’m going to prove that to you from the bible. Let me tell you something about the old man, he’s incapable of pleasing God.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: The old man, the old Steven Anderson, Steven Anderson 1.0, it is impossible to reform him.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: No matter how hard you try, you cannot reform the old Steven Anderson, or you know, insert your name here. You can’t fix the old man, you can’t change. The bible says, the carnal mind if enmity with God. It cannot be brought into subjection of the laws of God. The only way that you are going to live a life that is pleasing to God is by putting off the old man and putting on the new man, by walking in the spirit and not walking in the flesh. It’s the only way to please God. That’s why people that are not saved and they try to reform themself, it’s not pleasing to God. They cannot, because they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Their spirits is dead as a doornail.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Now let me prove this to you from the bible, because the bible teaches this very clearly. Look at First John Chapter 3 and Verse 9. It says in First John 3:9, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil, whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. Now go back just a couple of pages to First John Chapter 1, and what does he say in First John Chapter 1 Verse 8? If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.<br><br> Hopefully before you read Chapter 3, hopefully you read Chapter 1, because in Chapter 1 he admits, “Hey look, we all sin, and if we say that we don’t have sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not us.” People say, “Well, in Chapter 3 it’s a contradiction because he says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. But listen, that’s the new man. The new man is born of God. Listen to me, your old man, your flesh is not born again.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: My flesh tonight is not born again. I mean think about it, when I got saved, did my flesh change?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: All of a sudden every blemish on my body disappeared, every imperfection disappeared, right, I started glowing because I was born again, my flesh came back like that of a newborn child, like [Nam the Assyrian00:29:19]. No, it didn’t, because my flesh is still unsaved. That’s why the bible says in Romans Chapter 8 that we are still waiting for the redemption of our body.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Our body has not yet been redeemed. Has our spirit been redeemed?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: The moment that we believed on Jesus Christ our spirit was saved, our spirit was born again, our spirit was redeemed. But wait a minute, the flesh wasn’t.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: The flesh is still the same unregenerate, unsaved, sinful flesh, which is why if you walk in the flesh you are capable of the same sins that you were capable of before you got saved.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: If you walk in the flesh you’re going to act the way you acted before you got saved. And you know what the only difference is going to be? The difference is going to be that God’s going to punish you.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Because you’re His child now. The difference is going to be that because the Holy Spirit lives inside you, you’re going to have a conscience about it, you’re going to have guilt. You talk to people who got saved and then they went out and lived a life of sin after they got saved, and they said there was a lot of guilt.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Whenever you talk to people that are saved and now living a wicked life, they are troubled by guilt because they’re grieving the Spirit, and the Holy Spirit of God is there grieved, and they know that what they’re doing is wrong. And so an unsaved person can enjoy sin more because they don’t have the Holy Spirit bugging them and they don’t have God chastening them and so forth. Let me tell you something, as far as what the flesh is capable of, it’s capable of all the sins that it was capable of before you got saved, because nothing changed when you got saved in your flesh.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: It wasn’t some change, a little change, no. Zero change in the flesh, 100% change in the spirit.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Okay. How Godly of a life you live is determined by how much time you spend walking in the spirit versus how much time you spend walking in the flesh.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: That’s what’s going to determine what kind of a life you live. Because the bible’s real clear in First John 3, it says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Now a lot of people will use this to say, “Hey, if you’re saved you’ll never sin.”<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Well, that would contradict a lot of scripture, wouldn’t it?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Is there anybody who actually thinks that they're perfect? Would anybody stand up tonight and say, “You know what, I never sin Pastor Anderson. Ever since I got saved, I just don’t sin anymore.” If they did, we would all laugh at them.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: And in our hearts we’d think that they were a fool, wouldn’t we?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: We’d think, “You are a fool. You know you’re a sinner. Everybody’s a sinner. It’s so obvious.” Yet this passage in First John 3, it troubles people. It confuses, and I can see why. I can see why people read First John 3 and it throws them for a loop, because when you first read it, it kind of throws you for a loop.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, you know, what are you talking about? Then once you compare with Romans 7, what did Paul say twice in Romans 7? I’ll refresh your memory for you. In Romans 7 he said this, in verse number 19, actually it was Verse 17. He says, now then, watch this, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. Listen to this, Romans 7:20, now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. What is Paul saying? He’s saying, “When I do wrong, it’s not really me that’s doing it, it’s the sin that dwelleth in me.” Now you might look at that and say that sounds like kind of a convenient excuse.<br><br> That sounds like something you tell your parents, “It wasn’t me that did it, it was the sin that dwelled in me, Mom. It was not I that took the cookie out of the cookie jar, it was sin that dwelleth in me. O wretched child that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” This is what kids are going to start saying to their parents. Here’s the thing about that though, okay, Paul is under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost here, I mean this is bible.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: This is truth. What he’s saying, if we get the context, because the whole Chapter 8 it’s all about the spirit versus the flesh, so that’s the context. What he’s saying is that when I do the wrong things, it’s not the inward me, it’s not the new man, it’s the old Paul. It’s the flesh. He basically doesn’t really identify with it, he’s like, “It’s not me. It’s the old man.” Okay? Because he delights in the law of God after the inward man. This guy who’s doing all the wrong things is the old Paul that has to die every day. Now this is why, and think about how much sense this makes once you understand it, this is why when you die physically you will never sin again. I mean have you ever wondered about that? I mean why is it that when you get to heaven you’re not going to sin?<br><br> When we get to heaven we’re not going to be lying and stealing and thinking wicked thoughts, we’re going to be totally without sin, we’re going to be like unto Him. And we’re going to follow Him whethersoever He goeth. And there’ll be no more sorrow, death, pain, everything will be great. We’re going to live a Godly life. Why, because the only reason that we’re sinning right now is because we’re in the flesh. It’s the only reason. When we die physically the flesh is gone, therefore, we’ll never sin again.<br><br> Or if we’re alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds and the trumpet sounds, we will be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, that is the redemption of our body, and at that point we will be saved body, saved soul, saved spirit, we will be 100% the new man in body, soul, and spirit, and our body will be perfect at that point. That’s why the bible says that God shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. According to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself. That didn’t happen when you got saved. You still have a vile body, my friend. You did not change your body.<br><br> Think about it, we all have things that are wrong with our body. I mean everybody has physical ailments and problems, and even people that you think are in perfect health, I think pretty much everybody has something wrong with them physically, some physical ailment or something. You say, “What’s wrong with you Pastor Anderson?” Well, you know, for one, my middle finger on my right hand is completely messed up. If I make a fist like this and then open my fist, it makes this painful popping. It happens to me like 30 times a day. Click, ouch, click, ouch. I don’t know if it’s ever going to go back to normal. It’s been like that for about five or six years.<br><br> Here’s the thing, over your lifetime, you start racking up these type of injuries and ailments, and that’s why people that are older they’ve got all kinds of ailments and injury. And you know, isn’t it great to know that one day your body is going to be saved.<br><br>Man: Yes.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: You know, one day you’re going to have a perfect body. And the blind will see, and the deaf will hear, and the crippled will be leaping and skipping and running, and we’re one day going to have perfect health, and all of our injuries and ailments and problems with our body will all be fixed. Look, that is not where we’re at right now though. Not only does our body have physical ailments, but that sinful flesh of the carnal mind also is sinful and it actually leads us into sin and commits sin if we let it take over. That’s why we have to make sure the spirit’s in control, not the flesh, okay? First John 3 says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he’s born of God.<br><br> Now if you flip over to First John Chapter 5, just a few pages to the right in your bible. First John Chapter 5 Verse 18, it says, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. Now I don’t know how people can just ignore these scriptures. If you believe that the bible’s God’s word, you have to believe that this is true, that whosoever is born of God sinneth not. Since he just finished telling us that we all have sin, the clear answer is the fact that when we sin, it’s not the person who’s born of God that’s sinning, it’s the unregenerate flesh that’s sinning. Not Steven Anderson 2.0 that’s born of God, but Steven Anderson 1.0 that was born of sinful flesh and that continues to be sinful flesh until physical death.<br><br> He says, we know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. Let me show you how the ESV just completely perverts and corrupts this doctrine. By the way, the ESV is not alone. The NIV, the HIV, the New American Standard, the Holman Christian Standard, all these new versions corrupt scripture, and they usually all corrupt it in the same way. They’re all the same in so many ways.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: The reason I want to pick the ESV is because it seems that the people who are the most goofed up on this particular doctrine that seems to be their bible of choice. I’ve got the ESV here tonight, I’m going to hand it off to Brother [Garrett 00:38:34] so that he can look up some scriptures in the ESV. I’m going to show you how the ESV perverts scripture. Now go ahead and go to First John Chapter 3, Brother Garrett. Now what these new versions will often do as a pattern, when they come across a verse that contradicts their doctrine, or that they don’t agree with or that they don’t understand, they’ll just change it.<br><br> It doesn’t make sense to them, just change it. Make it fit what we think it should say. It’s really not based on scholarship or evidence, a lot of times it’s just based on their opinion. A classic example of this is when the bible says, sons of God in the Old Testament, the new versions will just change it to angels. Then they put a note at the bottom that says, well, in the Hebrew it’s sons of God.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Well, wait, aren’t we translating from the Hebrew?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: If the Hebrew says, sons of God, why don’t you make it say, sons of God, in English?<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: Right. Yeah, exactly.<br><br>Pastor: “Well, because we all know that it’s angels, right?” No, we don’t. They’re doing your thinking for you and when they come across a passage that they think is a contradiction, as long as they come to numbers that they think contradict because they’re confused, and then they’ll just change them, just fix them for you.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Thank you for fixing all the mistakes in the bible. No, sorry, the bible doesn’t have any mistakes.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: When they come to this passage they don’t like it, they don’t like this doctrine that I’m teaching tonight, so what they do is they just change it. It’s a problem, change it. What does it say? Everybody look down at your King James Bible while Brother Garrett reads for you from the ESV. Read for us First John 3:9 in the ESV nice and loud.<br><br>Garrett: No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.<br><br>Pastor: Okay, you notice all the extra words that they’re adding?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Instead of saying what the bible says, whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, he that is born of God doesn’t make a practice of sinning. What is that supposed to mean? I guess they don’t set up an office somewhere and put up a little tile outside the door that says, “Steven L. Anderson, Practitioner of Sin”.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: “Steven L. Anderson, Professional Sinner for Hire”. What do you mean make a practice of sinning? Set up shop as a sinner. What in the world is that supposed to mean? Who doesn’t make a practice of sinning? Then the next one they add another word, he doesn’t keep on sinning.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: You can sin a little bit, just don’t keep on sinning. And you know, well, you can sin as long as you don’t make a practice of sinning. Basically as long as your sins are isolated incidents and they’re not coming up as a pattern. I mean isn’t that just adding to … no, now you say, “Well, wait a minute, Pastor Anderson, the ESV is based on the best Greek scholarship, and so.” Well I’m going to debunk that right now. But back up to Verse 4. I just want to show you how weird the ESV is, and how it just destroys key doctrines. Because in First John Chapter 3 Verse 4, we have it, read it, [Dominique 00:41:48], in the King James, First John 3:4.<br><br>Dominique: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law.<br><br>Pastor: Now isn’t that a great doctrinal verse defining what sin is?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It says, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, and he defines it. Sin is the transgression of the law. Doesn’t that make perfect sense?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: That’s why whenever I’m out soul winning and just explaining salvation to people, if they don’t know what the word sin means, here’s what I always tell them. “Hey, sin is when you break one of God’s commandments.”<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: “Oh, okay. I know what that means. God has rules and you break His commandments, that’s what sin is.”<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Sin is the transgression of the law, when you break God’s law. Okay, listen to what the ESV does to Verse 4.<br><br>Garrett: Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practice lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.<br><br>Pastor: Okay, sin is lawlessness. It says, everyone that practices sinning is also committing lawlessness. I mean it sounds bizarre, it doesn’t make sense to the, and they say these are easier to understand. Get rid of that … read us something that’s real easy to understand. Read us Verse 4 again, it’s so easy to understand.<br><br>Garrett: Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness, sin is lawlessness.<br><br>Pastor: I mean imagine walking up to somebody’s door out soul winning, “Hey, do you know what sin is?” “No, I don’t know what sin is.” “Oh, okay. Here’s what sin is, everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.” I mean now they know less what sin was than when you started. What the bible says in the King James actually makes great sense.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: When you read it says, whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law, right, breaking the law, crossing the line of God’s law. They’ve destroyed the definition of sin, and then they’ve added all these words. Now you say, “Well, Pastor Anderson, that stuff’s all in the Greek.” No, it isn’t. Here’s the thing, I’m not one of these pastors that goes back to the Greek. I don’t get up here and tell you, “Well, here’s what the bible really says. Let’s go back to Greek.” Because let me tell you something, you know what the Greek New Testament says, all the same stuff that’s in the King James.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Look, I’ve learned a lot of Greek, and I took it in college, and I’ve studied a lot more of it on my own, and especially when we were working on New World Order bible versions, I spent a lot of time reading the Greek New Testament every day, just trying to understand the translation issues so that we could expose these modern versions for the fraud that they are, and I never get up here and say, “Hey, if you go back to the Greek it says something different and all this,” because you know why, in all the reading that I’ve done and in all the study that I’ve done, all it ever does it just confirm that the King James is saying exactly the same thing in English what the original New Testament was saying in Greek.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Says the exact same thing, okay. This adding of words, of well, practicing sin. You know why they put those words in there is because here’s what they want to say, there’s got to be some change.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You know, I mean, “Well, you’re still sinning but at least you’re not making a practice of sinning. At least you don’t just keep on sinning.” And look, this is a lie and a false doctrine that is created by that version. If you have the ESV and you’re like, “Oh well, the bible says if I keep on sinning I’m not saved. That means I better stop sinning to get saved.” Then it’s like a work salvation.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Or, “Well, if I make a practice of sin I’m not really saved. I mean I guess I have to live a pretty clean life. I mean it doesn’t have to be perfect, but I have to live a pretty clean life.” No, that’s not what bible … you believe to be saved, it’s faith alone.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: But this whole new doctrine has been created by these false versions inserting this lying, false teaching of, oh, continuing to sin and practicing sin. That’s not what the bible says. You say, “Well, how do you know the ESV is wrong?” Well, listen to this, I looked up, and get ready to turn to some scriptures in the ESV. I looked up that word in the Greek that they’re making such a big make a practice of. The word in the Greek is basically the word that just means to do, to do something. He’s saying, if you’re born of God you don’t do sin, but in English we don’t say do sin, we say commit sin, but it’s the same meaning. I looked up in the Greek New Testament all the other places where that word is used in the exact same verb tense, the exact word in the exact way.<br><br> I’m going to read for you some of the examples because it’s funny how the ESV doesn’t do that in other places. To the identical word, they don’t add all this weird make a practice of and keep on doing it, they just translate it normal in a whole bunch of places. Then when they get to First John 3, they take the identical word and add all that just for their false doctrine. Well, there’s no such thing as a continuously carnal Christian, because First John 3 in the ESV. But listen to this, okay, let’s go to, and you turn to these in your King James so that you can follow along in the real bible.<br><br> Look at Matthew Chapter 8. Matthew Chapter 8. I just want to show you what a fraud these new versions are. Here’s the identical word, identical verb, identical verb tense that they’re making to be, “Oh, it’s a continuous.” Look, one of the biggest lies I ever heard when I’d be in these churches where they’re constantly going back to the Greek is this thing of, “Oh, it’s continuous.”<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: They do this all the time. Look, Garrett is saying that’s right because he went to seminary and heard this stuff constantly in the Greek classes, right, about, “It’s the ongoing, continuous, making a habit of, blah, blah, blah.” Let’s see if that jives with these other uses of the identical word, okay. Listen to this from Matthew 8:9. Okay, everybody looking down at your King James?<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Read it for us from the ESV, Brother Garrett. You got it, Matthew 8 Verse 9?<br><br>Garrett: “For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”<br><br>Pastor: Right, so it’s pretty much the same thing as the King James, right? For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth, and to another, Come, and he cometh, and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. Now if the ESV were going to be consistent, then they’d be say, I say unto my servant, make a practice of habitually doing this, and then he makes a practice of habitually doing it. Is that what it says?<br><br>Man: No.<br><br>Pastor: I say to my servant, keep on doing it, and he keeps on doing it. I mean that’s what they’re saying, “If you go back to the Greek, that’s what that word means.” Isn’t that what they’re saying? Liars. But you know what they prey upon the fact is that people don’t know Greek, which I’m not saying they should have to know Greek, because you have the perfect word of God right there, the King James.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: This is all you need.<br><br>Man: You’re right.<br><br>Pastor: But you better have a Greek New Testament if you’ve got an ESV.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Because it’s garbage.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You need to figure out what it really says. But get a King James would be the right. Go to John Chapter 3 Verse 2. Actually just go to John 13:7, I’ll just blow past that one real quick. Go to John 13:7. But in John 3:2, this is the one where a man comes to Jesus by night and says unto him, rabbi, you know, Nicodemus. We know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these things that thou doest, except God be with him. I guess in the ESV it basically just says, no one could do these signs that you do unless God’s with him. But if they were going to translate it the way they did the other one, “No one can habitually make a practice of the things that you do, Jesus, unless God with him.”<br><br> Doesn’t make any sense, right? Well, let’s prove it further. John 13:7 is the verse where Jesus is washing the disciples’ feet. Now here’s what’s funny about this example. How many times did Jesus wash the disciples’ feet?<br><br>Congregation: One.<br><br>Pastor: Once. He never did this before, He never did this after, so was this some habitually thing that He made a practice of?<br><br>Man: No.<br><br>Pastor: Same word, same Greek word. Okay, read it for us in the ESV. You look down at the real bible.<br><br>Garrett: Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.”<br><br>Pastor: Okay, so why didn’t he say, what I am habitually making a practice of doing on an ongoing basis repeatedly you don’t understand? Because it was a one-time thing.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Isn’t it a fraud when they say, “Oh, well that verse is always, that word, when you go back to the Greek, that verb tense is referring to that which is ongoing.” By the way, who here speaks fluent Spanish? Got a few people that speak fluent Spanish? Look, you know the difference between the imperfect and the preterite, past tense? Basically it would be basically the difference between like comía and como or [comay 00:51:01], right? That’s the difference there we’re talking about. Here’s the thing, anybody who speaks Spanish knows that that’s not always some habitual ongoing repeated action when you use that imperfect, is it?<br><br> Because for example, you could say, “I want eating breakfast when the phone rang.” How would you say, “I was eating breakfast when the phone rang?”<br><br>Man: [Spanish language 00:51:25]<br><br>Pastor: Did you hear that? [Estaba comiendo 00:51:30]. Nobody knows what that means. But you know, “Oh, that was ongoing habitual.” Look, that might have been the only day he ate breakfast in his whole life, but he’s going to use [estaba 00:51:43] because it was something that was ongoing while the phone rang that one time. Jesus used that verb of, “Hey, what I do now you don’t understand,” because He was in the process of doing it.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Not because He habitually repeatedly did it on an ongoing basis. I know I’m going too deep, but just realize that these versions are just making stuff up to fit their doctrine, and when it’s convenient for them they translate it normal everywhere else, and then just they get to that one place in First John 3, and then they just go nuts with it, and a few other places, to bolster this phony doctrine. I had a whole bunch of other examples here but I’m boring you. Let’s go to Galatians Chapter 5. Don’t let anybody tell … because look, I’ve been at this thing for a long time, my friend, and I’ve been preaching and soul winning for a long time, and every single time I bring up First John 3 to one of these false prophets, they always correct me, “Yeah, but that means ongoing.” “Oh, that’s habitual.” “No-no-no, that’s repeated.” “No, if you go back to the Greek.”<br><br> Well, you know what, that’s not how the King James translated it, so I guess those 54 great scholars were all wrong, and I’m wrong, and I guess the ESV was wrong in all the other verses where they translated it normally. It’s a fraud, my friend. The emperor is not wearing any clothes, friend, and these people are just repeating stuff and everybody just believes it because they heard it. “Oh, it’s ongoing.” “Oh, it’s repeated.” Listen to me, if you’re saved, you can sin on an ongoing basis, and repeatedly. There are people who do it. It’s not right, they're going to be punished, but it’s possible. But they’re teaching this doctrine that well, everybody who’s saved is only sins every once in a while. It’s a fraud.<br><br> Okay, let’s look at what the bible teaches here in Galatians Chapter 5 Verse 16. It says in Verse 16, This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, you’re not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like.<br><br> Now that’s a pretty broad list of sins, isn’t it? He lists a lot of sin. But then as if he didn’t list enough, he said, “and such like.” Anything like any of those things. That’s a pretty big list, isn’t it? Then he says this, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. People will take this verse and the Paul Washers of this world will say, “See, if you do anything on that list you’re not saved.” They’ll say, “Well, you know, if you’re a drunkard or if you have murdered or if you hate anybody or if you have strife or sedition or heresy, revellings, partying, envying.” I mean envying, envying. What’s envying? You wish you had something that belongs to someone else.<br><br>Man: Covetousness.<br><br>Pastor: Covetousness. Oh, well, they you … no, because again, what are we talking about here? Those are the works of the flesh. He said, the works of the flesh are manifest which are these, adultery, fornication. They will not inherit the kingdom of God. That’s because the bible said flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God, my friend.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It’s a new man, that’s why he said, all liars shall have their part of the lake which burns with fire and brimstone. Because when you go to heaven you’re not going to be a liar.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You might be a liar on earth here, but when you get to heaven you won’t be a liar anymore because the flesh will be gone.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You won't be a drunk up there, you won’t be envious up there, you won’t be have strife and all these things up there. But he says, but the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. But watch Verse 25, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Why doesn’t he say if we live in the Spirit we’ll automatically walk in the … no, he says, “Look, if we live in the Spirit, let’s also walk in the Spirit.” Meaning we need to make the decision that we’re going to walk in the Spirit.” He says, we’re debtors to live after the Spirit, not after the flesh.<br><br> Flip over to Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 20, Ephesians Chapter 4 Verse 20. There’s a lot of scripture on this, I don’t have time to go to all of them, but I’m just trying to just lay out this doctrine tonight and just help you to see this important teaching that when we are saved we have two natures, the new nature and the old nature. The new man, the old man, the inward man and the carnal man, and these two guys are in opposition one to the other, because one of them can’t sin and the other one can’t please God. They cannot be brought into synthesis, my friend, because they are at enmity, they are in opposition to one another.<br><br> It says in Ephesians 4:20, but ye have not so learned Christ, if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, do you see that? He says, put off the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts. Look, a corrupt tree can’t bring forth good fruit.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: The old man is corrupt, he is carnal, he cannot be brought into subjection of the laws of God. He’s a loser, he has to die. Kill him. Okay. But what does he say next? He says, put off the old man, but Verse 23, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. He says, wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry, and sin not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. And on and on he lists all these things that we need to get rid of and all the good things that we should start doing. What is the moral of the sermon?<br><br> First of all, we need to know that this teaching that says that if somebody isn’t living a Godly life they’re not saved, that’s a false doctrine.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: This thing of, “Well, we’re saved by faith but if you’re not living right you’re not saved.” No, all that is a back door to work salvation.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: It’s just a thinly veiled work salvation being disguised as, “Well, you don’t have to do works to get saved, but if you don’t do works you’re not saved.” I mean see how that works?<br><br>Man: Yup.<br><br>Pastor: Because we’re saying salvation is by grace, through faith, not of works, lest any man should boast. And they’re saying, “Well, it’s not the works that save you, but it’s just if you don’t do them you’re not saved.”<br><br>Man: Yeah, it’s ridiculous.<br><br>Pastor: I mean isn’t that just the same way of saying it?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It’s six and one half-dozen the other of saying the same exact thing.<br><br>Man: It’s [inaudible 00:58:53].<br><br>Pastor: It’s deception to just switch it around on you, and it’s the same way of, “Well, you don’t have to do works to get saved, you just have to do works to stay saved.”<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Or if I look at you and you don’t have enough works, I’m just going to say that you never were saved in the first place. You know, that’d be as foolish as looking at someone who has Down syndrome and saying, “Well, you’re not really even human. You were never even born.” It doesn’t make any sense. There are some spiritually retarded people out there.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: There are.<br><br>Pastor: But that doesn’t mean that they’re not saved.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: That doesn’t mean that they’re not of God’s people.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: There are a lot of people out there who are carnal Christians, just like those Corinthians were. When we see Christians who their whole life is wrapped up in the things of this world and what they get excited about is TV, and they get all excited about Hollywood, and their life is professional sports and partying, and they don’t have a big interest in church, that’s carnal.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: But you know what, there are people that are saved that are like that.<br><br>Man: Yes, there are.<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: There are people who are saved who’ve always been like that. Then there are other people who are saved who got on fire for God and started living for God and then they backslid and became like that. Look, I could tell you so many examples to illustrate these truths that I’ve seen this in real life. One great example is Brother Dave Berzins, pastoring up in Prescott Valley, Arizona. I mean here’s a guy who loves the Lord, he’s serving God pastoring a church, independent, fundamental King James, he’s out soul winning, he’s doing great work for God, but here’s the thing, when he got saved, he’ll tell you his testimony, he got saved but it was nine years later that he got baptized and in church and started living for God.<br><br> During those nine years people that are messed up on this doctrine they would’ve looked at him and said, “Well, he’s not saved. He’s living the same way he did before he got saved.” But you know what, he’ll tell you that in his heart during those nine years he knew he was saved, because he knew he had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as his savior and he’ll tell you that he was chastened by God during that time that he wasn’t living for the Lord, and he’ll tell you that he felt guilty during that time because of the fact that he was grieved of his sins. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But people would’ve looked at that and said, “He wasn’t really saved.”<br><br> Now once he got into Faithful Word Baptist Church, got baptized, got under the preaching of God’s word, there was a dramatic change in his life. Why, because now he’s putting on the new man. The new man was always there, always in true righteousness and holiness, but he wasn’t walking in the new man. The flesh dominated. Stop and think about this. Just think about this for a minute. If a person believes on Jesus, right, let’s say somebody knocks on their door and gives them the gospel and they believe on Jesus Christ, and they don’t go to church and don’t read the bible, and they just fill their mind with TV and their old unsaved friends and partying and whatever, why in the world would that person ever be walking in the spirit?<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Why are you surprised that they’re not walking in the spirit?<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: I mean think about it, does walking in the spirit just come naturally to you?<br><br>Man: That’s right.<br><br>Pastor: It’s just automatic for you, “Ever since I got saved I just roll out of bed, l literally just roll out of bed every morning when my alarm goes off, I throw back the covers, this is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long. And I read the bible for a few hours, I pray for a few hours, I go on soul winning all day, and I’m just out preaching and I just live right, and I’ve no desire to ever sin. Everything I eat is right, everything I drink is right. What’s wrong with you, you’re still living in sin? You’re not even saved. When I got saved, I never had any desire to sin again. I lived for God 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and it’s automatic.” I mean isn’t that just ridiculous?<br><br>Congregation: Yes.<br><br>Woman: Yes, definitely.<br><br>Pastor: Because you know and I know that every single day we get out of bed and it’s a war, it’s a battle. The moment we wake up there’s a battle, and the devil’s there to tempt us, and the world’s there to tempt us, and our flesh is saying, “Hey, I don’t want to read the bible and I don’t feel like going to church, and I don’t feel like praying.” You say, “You just feel that way because you’re not saved.” No, that is the flesh talking.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: You know, there are a lot of liars out there that’ll lie to you. Don’t believe everything you hear. People that tell you, “Oh yeah, the moment I got saved I never desired a cigarette again.” I could ask for a raise of hands in here of people that struggled with cigarettes long after they were saved. I’ve seen people live for God and clean up their life majorly and still be smoking. I’ve seen people who got rid of a whole bunch of other sin in their life and that was like the one thing that they really struggled hard with. Newsflash, it’s hard to quit smoking for some people. Especially by the way, it’s harder for women than men. Men scientifically have an easier time quitting smoking than women.<br><br> It’s a physical addiction. But he says, “Oh, the moment I got saved I never craved another cigarette.” I talked to a guy who he is a Baptist pastor and he talked about quitting smoking and here’s what he said, “You know, the first three days were the hardest.” But he said, “The craving never totally goes away. In fact a cigarette sounds pretty good right now,” he said. But he hadn’t smoked in a decade. That’s real life. That’s a preacher getting up and telling you the truth.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: That’ll get up and tell you the truth and say, “You know what, sin is always going to be a temptation.” That’s why let him that thinks he stands to take heed lest he fall, because we all have the capability to fall back into old ways.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Especially if you lived a really sinful life before you got saved. My life before I was saved I didn’t really hit rock bottom at age six. You know what I mean? I didn’t really hit rock bottom of just I was arrested, and I was strung out on drugs, and I was a drunk, and I had lost my marriage, I lost my job, I was filled with disease. No, I was six years old. Okay, so not everybody’s had that same experience. People who did live a really sinful life and then got saved, need to especially be really careful because it’s easier to go back where you’ve already been than to go there for the first time.<br><br> This teaching that makes people doubt their salvation by saying, “You know, if you still crave cigarettes you’re not really saved and if you still find yourself struggling with sin you’re not really saved, and if you commit the same sin over and over again, you’re not really saved.” You know what, it’s a lie. Yeah, the ESV teaches that. Well, go to ESV preaching churches then. This is the King James Bible-believing Baptist Church and the King James Bible does not teach that.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Well, if you make a practice of watching whatever, doing whatever, looking at, you’re not saved. No, you know what makes you not saved that you don’t believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: He that believeth not is condemned already-<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: because he hath not believed in name of the only begotten son of God, but he that believeth is not condemned.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Now look I’m not saying, and again, in this sermon I’m trying to get one point across, only one. Other sermons have other purposes. My purpose tonight is to get this point across that you know what, it’s possible for people to be saved and yet still continue living in sin.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: That’s the point I’m trying to get across. Don’t misconstrue the sermon that, “You know, well, Pastor Anderson got up and said that you know, it’s fine if we keep sinning.” God forbid.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: God forbid. That’s why I have plenty of other sermons where I get up and tell you don’t sin, don’t commit sin, don’t do this thing. But you know what, doctrinally the reason we need to fight for this is because we need to fight for teaching that salvation is by grace through faith.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Man: That’s right.<br><br>Pastor: It’s always been under attack and it always will be under attack and the devil will repackage this so many different ways.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: I look at all of it as one thing, work salvation.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Man: That’s right.<br><br>Pastor: Work salvation, works-based, but he’ll package it so many different ways, “Well, it’s not works, but you can lose it if you don’t do the works.” Huh? Shiny new packaging, right?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: So many different way, “Well, you don’t have to do good things, but you have to stop doing bad things.” I mean look at all, it comes in all these different packages, but it’s all the same thing.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: You earning your salvation.<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It’s no longer a free gift.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Pastor: We need to nail down this doctrine and be very secure on this and firm on this, and also I hope that tonight’s sermon illustrate to you why it’s so important you have the right bible. You’re going to be all over the place doctrinally if you’re in one of these goofball versions.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: You’re not even going to know what sin is.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Let alone what it means to make a practice of continuing sinning. Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the free gift of salvation-<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: eternal life purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. Although those who would scoff at the truth would call this doctrine cheap grace, we know that cheap grace is what they’re selling.<br><br>Man: Right.<br><br>Man: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Because our righteousness it says are as filthy rags, and if our righteousness is what purchased our salvation then that would truly be cheap grace, but there’s nothing cheap about the blood that was shed on the cross. And so Lord, thank you for that free gift, that priceless gift, that unspeakable gift of eternal life that was purchased, not cheaply with our righteousness, but rather with the precious blood of the Lamb.<br><br>Man: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: And Lord help us to preach that message unto the lost, help us to preach to the unsaved, and Lord, help us every day to kill the old man and to mortify and put the death the members of our uncleanness on this earth. In Jesus name we pray, amen.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Let’s sing one more song before we go.<br><br>Man: Song number 207.<br><br>Man: We’ve broken the record.<br><br>Pastor: How many do we have tonight?<br><br>Woman: A hundred and twenty five.<br><br>Pastor: Hundred and twenty five, so that means we have, are we doing ice cream or just barbecue?<br><br>Woman: We can.<br><br>Pastor: Who says the barbecue is enough? Who says we need ice cream also for [inaudible 01:09:50]? All right. You know what, this is the first time our church has ever voted on anything in the nine years that I’ve been pastoring. All right, it’s carried, the ayes have it, we’re having ice cream.<br><br>Man: Song number 207.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-87245515142029492222016-05-29T11:13:00.000-07:002016-05-29T11:13:01.242-07:00Gird Up the Loins of Your Mind <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRd57GSS1Tg">Video</a>
<p><b>February 15, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QRd57GSS1Tg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Now, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse number 13 where the bible reads, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind." That's the title of the sermon.<br><br> "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance. But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear."<br><br> What does that mean in Verse 13 to gird up the loins of your mind? If you think of it, throughout the Old Testament, when it talks about people having their loins girded, they're ready to do something. They're ready to do some kind of work or to take a trip or to start running or something along those lines.<br><br> If you think about the Passover meal, it was to be eaten according to Exodus 12 with their groins girded and with their staff in their hands. Basically, they're ready to go. They're sharp, they're alert, they're ready for action.<br><br> When the bible says to gird up the loins of your mind, the opposite of that would be sitting down and relaxing. Think about the Passover was not to be a relaxed meal. It was to be eaten in haste. The opposite of girding up the loins of your mind would be to allow your mind to relax and just allow your mind to just sit around and take it easy and to just let whatever thoughts come into it and just whatever opinions that the world dishes up for you, whereas girding up the loins of your mind, as this passage said, would be to take control of your mind, to be a weight, to be alert and to know what you believe and why.<br><br> Now, look at verse 14. It says, "As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance." Okay? Those who don't have their minds girded up, they are walking according to the lusts of the ignorance of this world.<br><br> Now, flip over to II Peter. You're in I Peter. Just go to a few pages to the right in your bible. II Peter 3 because when we talk about the world that we live in and when we say the world in the bible, we're talking about the ungodly, unsaved, unregenerate world like where the bible says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. " Talking about all that is not of the father, all that is not just of sinful flesh and sinful man and this world.<br><br> Two words that come up over and over again are lust and ignorance. We saw them both side by side in I Peter 1 when it talked about the former lust in your ignorance. Here's another place where those 2 things both show up about the unbelieving world we live in II Peter 3.3, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation,' for this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of god they heavens were of old and the Earth standing out of the water and in this water."<br><br> This is what we see all around us in our day, those who scoff at and mock Christianity. "Where is the promise of his coming?" They make fun of the Lord Jesus Christ and his word. It says in this passage that they're motivated by their own lusts and that they are willfully ignorant because of their lusts, because they want to live a sinful life and because they covet things that god has told them are off limits to them. They devise this system of thinking that's a godless system that mocks and scoffs at Christianity. They just willfully hide their eyes from the truth, they're willfully ignorant because their lust.<br><br> You want to know why these so-called academic super intelligent … Who does the world think is just so super-intelligent today? Give me some examples. Scientists. Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking. I just found out a new one. Michio Kaku. Who's ever heard of this guy? They're like, "Oh, man! This is 1 of the smartest guys, the smartest physicists."<br><br> This is what he got up and this has nothing to do with the sermon. I'm sorry. This is just a brief commercial break. The guy gets up and says, "You know, when we physicists are out looking for life out in the solar system and out in the galaxies, not in the universe ..." He said, "When we physicists are looking for life out in the universe, we're not looking for little, green men. We're looking for type 1, type 2 and type 3 civilizations out in space."<br><br> He begins to describe, "Type 1 is like the civilization we see on Buck Rogers," and he goes into all that. "You know, type 2 is what we'd see in Star Trek." He explains everything about a type 2 civilization. "You know, type 3 would be Star Wars and the intergalactic empire." He goes and explains that every … He's like, "You know where we rank on this scale? A 0. We're a type 0 civilization. We're a big 0. The only way we can even achieve type 1 status is through global government." He said, "Anyone who is against global government is a terrorist and they're trying to hold us back."<br><br> He said, "The math tells us that there should be thousands of type 1 and type 3 and type 3 civilizations all over the universe but we've never found any because," he said, "What happened is there are all these planets and before they got to that Buck Rogers level let alone the Star Trek level or the Star Wars level." He said, "Before they got to that level, they might have destroyed their planet through global warming or maybe they all nuked each other through nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction. Are we going to be different?"<br><br> He said, "We're going to be the most important generation. We're going to succeed where other people have failed. We will be Buck Rogers. We will be Captain Kirk. We will be Luke Skywalker," okay? This is the most intelligent guy. "Oh, listen to this guy, so he tells you." Look, what's so stupid about that. "Oh, the math tells it."<br><br> You know what the math tells us? That no life should exist in this universe because life cannot come from nothing! Life on this planet didn't come from nothing. God breathed into the nostrils and man and man became a living soul. It didn't just happen. "Mathematically, the probably," blah, blah, blah. Look, you're a fool Michio Kaku, Caa-caa or whatever your name is because you know what? You can't tell us where that life originated from. You can't tell us where the plants and the animals came from. He said, "oh, yeah. Evolution." No, evolution explains how 1 life form supposedly turned into another. It's false but they claim how 1 kind of life turned into another. Evolution can't explain where the original life form came from. No one can explain that. God can, you're right.<br><br> "Math tells us there should be thousands of Buck Rogers all throughout the universe." People are like, "Oh, man! This guys' so smart. Let us sit and learn at his feet," but listen to me, the bible said of these people, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." I mean these guys … Look. It's not just Michio Kaku that says this because honestly, all of these guys when you listen to him talk, they're into science fiction, all of them. They're all into Star Trek. They're a bunch of Trekkie geeks is what they are. There! I said it. If you're into Star Trek, you're a nerd. You're a geek. You're a dweeb. You know what? If you're really successful, nerdy, geeky, dweeb, you can grow up and be the next Stephen Hawking. You can grow up and be the next Richard Dawkins.<br><br> These guys, we would have scoffed at these guys in school as being just a bunch of losers but you know what? They grow up and now they've found a way to have popularity, finally because they were picked on in school. They sold their soul to Satan. He's like, "All these things will I give you if you'll fall down and worship me?" They're like, "Okay. Score. Heh heh heh." Now, they can be cool.<br><br> Listen to me. These guys are a bunch of godless fools. I'm not making fun of people that are nerdy. It's okay to be a geek and everything. Sorry to offend you.<br><br> That has nothing to do with the sermon. That was a little word from our sponsor but let me say this, though. The ignorance and the darkness in our world is not a coincidence. It just happens to be that there's all this ignorance in the world. The bible says, "Before you're saved, you're ignorant. The world's filled with ignorance." The bible describes our unsaved world as being in darkness today. I'm here to tell you, it is not an accident. It's all by design.<br><br> Let me show you that in scripture. Says in Ephesians 2:1, " And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."<br><br> Notice the unsaved are not just going through life and living according to their own will. The bible says that before you're saved, you walked according to the course of this world which is what? Look at verse 2, "According to the prince of the power of the air." That's talking about the devil. " The spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."<br><br> Amonght the children of disobedience in this world, there's a spirit at work. There's a guiding force of the prince of the power of darkness that is leading them into this ignorance and darkness and stupidity and evil. That's why this physicist just happens to be going around giving speeches about how, "Hey, we need a global government. We need a 1 world government if we're ever going to be Buck Rogers." Why is he saying that? Because he's getting marching orders from his lord of darkness, satan himself. That's what the bible says.<br><br> If you don't believe me, look at verse 3. "Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others."<br><br> Those who are unsaved are all to some extent influenced by this system and by this evil spirit of the prince of the power of the air.<br><br> Go to Ephesians 4, just a couple pages. What I find funny about this is that when you think about what the devil uses the most to control the mind and to influence the unsaved into having all this ignorance and darkness and wickedness is basically television and radio, which if you think about, it's all broadcast over the air. When you go on TV, you go on the radio, it's like, "Hey. You're on the air, now." He's called the prince of the power of the air.<br><br> Then, when you talk about TV and radio, it's called programming. I mean, when you get the TV Guides, it's the programming guide and it's all over the air. Let me tell you, it's the prince of the power of the air that's behind it. The mass brainwashing.<br><br> Look at Ephesians 4:17. It says, "This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth not walk as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind."<br><br> Look. What's he saying? Unsaved people are ignorant, they're in darkness and so forth but he says, "I don't want you to have that same mentality." Notice. Being saved does not automatically just cause you to get all this stuff out of your mind and to no longer participate in any of this stuff. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to tell them, "Look, don't do it. Don't walk as other gentiles walk. Don't have your understanding darkened," as it says in verse 18 there.<br><br> He's saying, "Gird up the loins of your mind. Take control of your mind. Take the reins of your mind. Get your mind ready to think for itself according to the scriptures and not according to the prince of the power of the air and the rulers of the darkness of this world."<br><br> Look what it says there in verse 18. "Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of god through," what? "The ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart who being past feeling have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness but ye have not so learned Christ."<br><br> Go back to II Corinthians 4 and we could go to a lot of scriptures that talk about this same thing. We saw it in Ephesians 2. We saw it in Ephesians 4. Now, we're going to see it in II Corinthians 4 about the fact that there's an agenda that the devil has to keep people ignorant, to keep people in darkness and to blind the minds of them that believe not.<br><br> Look down at your bible, II Corinthians 4:3, "But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world have blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of god should shine unto them." You see that right there? They're blinded by someone and it's Satan, the bible tells us, the god of this world.<br><br> In Revelation 12:9, you don't have to turn there but the bible reads, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan …" Watch this. "Which deceiveth the whole world: He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."<br><br> Notice, it doesn't say who tried to deceive the whole world. He's trying to deceive. No. It says, "He deceives the whole world." He's very successful at it. I mean, God says he's already blinded the minds of them that believe not. They're in darkness. They're ignorant. Basically he leads them into lust and wickedness as a way of life.<br><br> It's interesting. I have to give this illustration from this week. We're working on the film, Marching to Zion which is a really important film, an important project but I have to tell you something. I don't think that it's a coincidence that basically the persecution that I've undergone as a bible-believing pastor has intensified on all fronts over the last 6 months since we really started working on this film, started announcing this film because I'm telling you something, when you start talking about that subject, you bring out all the forces of hell because I mean it's a big subject. I'm telling you, I've undergone more persecution in more different ways coming from a variety of governmental agencies to also just obstacles of trying to get this movie done because let me tell you something. The devil does not want the light to be shined on his activities. He does not want the truth of the bible and the truth of the gospel to be proclaimed.<br><br> Let me tell you something, when you decide to be a preacher that preaches the word of god, Let me tell you something you are going to be in for a fight. You just have to be ready. If you say, "Well, I don't want to do that," then you need to not ever think about becoming a pastor because it's par for the course.<br><br> If you're going to get up and start shining the light and preaching the word of god. The bible says, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." You know what? The more you do, the more the persecution's going to come. You have to be able to withstand in the evil day. You have to be able to do that or it's the wrong business.<br><br> It's funny because we're working on the film Marching to Zion. We have a part where we needed a narrator. We needed somebody with a really cool voice that would be a narrator, that would narrate a certain point of the film. We're on the internet. We're looking for the talent that has the right voice. Some people are just born with a cool voice. Dominic comes to mind.<br><br> Anyway, so people just have a great voice and obviously he's developed his skill from reading the bible out loud a lot but the thing is we find this guy who's, they're all like a Hollywood voice guy or whatever. We find this guy. The guy sounds great so we contact his agent. We book this guy, we book the studio, we rent a studio. We have this guy do voice over for Marching to Zion. The guy was a real nice guy and he read over the script. We told him what the movie's about. We told the agency what the movie's about. In fact, he was asking me all kinds of questions. I spent 10 or 12 minutes just explaining to him in great detail everything that the film's about and all this and okay, great.<br><br> Okay, we sent the guy's lines over. Lines look great. He reads the lines. He's real happy. He's like, "Am I getting my name in the credits?" We're like, "Yeah, sure, you know. No problem. Of course. If you want. If you'd rather go uncredited, no problem." He's like, "Why would I want to go uncredited?" I said, "Well, you know, it's a really religious film and you know, in case you're a totally different religion or something." He's like, "No, no. It's fine, yeah."<br><br> Anyway, we get this all recorded. Then, Paul spends a whole bunch of time putting it into the movie, editing it down and fixing it up and everything like that. We get a call the next day. This lady says, "The talent," because that's what they're called. "The talent." Okay. "The talent went home last night and he Googled you guys and he read up on you guys and he saw your preaching and everything." They said, "He couldn't sleep at night," and in fact, his voice began to change. Remember, this guy. That's his life. He's a voice guy.<br><br> Maybe there should be a warning label on our website. "This can cause permanent damage to your voice and sleepless nights. Consult a physician before listening to Pastor Anderson's preaching."<br><br> Anyway, this guy's voice changed. Real upset and everything. I'm like, "Wait a minute. We've already recorded it. We already paid for the studio. We already did it. We spent days of our time on this. It's too late." He's like, "I've been doing this for 28 years. I've never done this but I have to tell you. You can't use it. You cannot use that which you've recorded." I'm like, "Are you going to pay for the studio that we use?" "No." What are you talking? You want us to eat this? We spent days on this. We're using it." "You guys can't use it."<br><br> Here's what she said. I wish I could just let you listen into the phone call because I'm going to tell you this and this exactly what she said. She said, "You don't understand. He works in Hollywood," and she said, "Pretty much everybody in Hollywood is either a homosexual or a Jew." She said, "You've offended both." She's like the stuff and she mainly focused on the homos. "The stuff you've said about homos," She said like, "This could destroy his career for even having had anything to do with you, because," she said, "in this industry that we're working in, you must be …" This woman's claiming, by the way, to be a Christian. She claimed to be a bible-believing Christian. She's telling me, "You have to be tolerant of homosexuals or you cannot work in this business."<br><br> I said to her, I said, "Oh, so what you're telling me is that there's this homosexual, Jewish, Hollywood mafia that just wants to make sure that a Christian viewpoint can never be heard."<br><br> Let me tell you something. There is not just the element that Hollywood is never going to put out anything truthful. We know that's there, don’t we? Hollywood's never going to put out anything truthful. The media, the TV, they're not going to put out the truth but it doesn't just stop there. They actively will fight against anyone who does try to tell the truth.<br><br> I said, "You won't even allow a Christian viewpoint to go forth." I said, "Let the guy be uncredited. So what? We don't care if he wants to be uncredited. No problem." She said, "Well, I don't think that the bible says anything against homosexuality." I said, "You know what? You're a liar." I said, "You want to hang around with a bunch of fags all day in Hollywood so that's how you justify it is by lying to yourself that the bible doesn't condemn it. You know the bible condemns it but you just want to tolerate it for filthy lucre sake because you want to make money in Hollywood."<br><br> Let me tell you something, Hollywood is a wicked place. Let me tell you something. It's not just Hollywood, it's the radio. It's the magazines. It's Madison Avenue. Listen to me. It's the rulers of the darkness of this world.<br><br> Not only that but just in the last few months. The company that we used that duplicated a bunch of my preaching CDs and duplicated my films and stuff is refusing to duplicate CDs and films for me now. I'm telling you, they don't want this stuff to get out. Right now, the internet's a powerful tool to proclaim the truth uncensored but let me tell you something, there could easily come a day when the internet is shut down or heavily censored because all it would have to be is that your ISP provider just says, "Well, you know, we don't approve of your brand of Christianity. It's too hateful or what …"<br><br> Look, anything they don't agree with is just hate. Blanket label. If it's Christian, it's hate. If it's biblical, it's hate speech. Then, they'll just shut you down. YouTube will shut you down and Facebook will shut you down and your ISP will shut you down and Blogger will shut you down and just say, "We don't allow this kind of speech." You don't even know.<br><br> Thank god that we at least have free speech right now and free speech over the internet but there's no free speech over the television. There's no free speech on the radio but how long will the internet even last as a free source of ideas and information? We don't even know. I'm saying that we need to be fighting the battle on the front lines and not hiding and scared of our own shadow.<br><br> Look, you say, "Well, Pastor Anderson, everything you've got through over the last few months, companies are refusing to work with you. You know, everybody's fighting you every step of the way." I'm making this movie, Marching to Zion. Not only that but you know, the people are calling all these government agencies on you. They're calling the IRS. They're calling CPS and just railing accusations. Yeah, okay, once we show them all the evidence, we come out of these things unscathed, but let me tell you something, it's still a huge nuisance and it's a pain in the rear end to have to go through all this.<br><br> You say, "Well, Pastor Anderson, you know, why don't you just tone it down a little? Why don't you just back down and cool it and take it?" No! Because we need to be fighting harder than we've ever thought because I'm telling you something. The world is in darkness and deceit and our country is going down the toilet at an alarming rate. Somebody needs to be the watchman on the wall and cry aloud and spare not.<br><br> You know what? There are a lot of pastors out there who agree with the stuff that I'm preaching about this but where are they at? Some of them will publicly proclaim. I'm not the only one, of course. There are 7,000 men that not bowed the need of bail. There are plenty of pastors who do stand up and preach right but you know what? They're way less than there used to be. For every one that's standing up and having the guts to proclaim what he believes, there are another 50 that are hiding in a cave like the prophets that Obadiah hid in a cave. Elijah's the only one out publicly preaching this stuff. It's like, "Oh, no. There's 100 more prophets that believe this stuff but they're all hiding in a cave." They're hiding in a cave with Obadiah eating bread and water. There's only 1 guy who would confront the king and confront the prophet of Baal and confront the profits of the groves.<br><br> That's the day that we're living in today where there are few that will let their voice be heard. Thank god we have 6 or 7 pastors participating with the Marching to Zion film but you know what? It should be 60, instead of 6. We don't need that many in the film but the bottom line is that you'd expect these biblical truths to be proclaimed.<br><br> You know what? People are afraid to say anything against the homos because it brings a flood of persecution on you. It's not that they don't agree. "I just don't agree. I think we're supposed to love and be buddies with everybody." No, no, no. Here's what it is. "I'm a coward so let me find doctrine to back up me being a coward." You want to know what the proof is? All these bunch of panderers, if you go back to their sermons in the 90s, they were ripping face like I was about that subject.<br><br> Back in the 90s, everybody was doing it. Back in the 90s, even Jerry Falwell is ripping face on the homos. Then, you read his quotes from the 2000s and it's, "Oh, I don't want to disrespect the homosexual community." I was, "What?" It's because it's just … That's how they decide what they preach.<br><br> We are in a spiritual battle. Look. You talk about never being able to work in this town again of Hollywood? Forget that. When I was in the fire alarm business, I lost 75% of my customers because of my preaching. That's the kind of persecution that's going on today where they'll just try to make it to where you can't work, you can't get your stuff out there. I've been banned from Facebook so many times I can't even count. They make it to where you can't get your message out.<br><br> You know what? We're going to get our message out. You say, "Why do you give all that stuff away for free? In the back shelf, all those DVDs and CDs, none of it's for sale back there. It's all free. Say, why do you give all that stuff away?" Because you know what? Those are valuable tools to get information out when other channels are closing down. We need to get those physical DVDs and CDs in people's hands and get this stuff out. Some of that stuff is contraband back there. I'm not kidding. Some of that stuff is like … It's all legal now but who knows? You got to get that stuff out there while you can and learn this stuff and teach this stuff.<br><br> Look, we're in a spiritual battle. Remember, what's the title of the sermon? Gird up the loins of your mind, right? Gird up the loins of your mind. Look at Ephesians 6 11. It says, "Put on the whole armor of god that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil," which is what we read about in all those other scripture how he's trying to keep everybody in darkness and keep everybody ignorant. "For we wrestle not with flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."<br><br> Look. The next time somebody calls you a conspiracy theorist, just point to this. The rulers of the darkness of this world, it exists. There is a conspiracy of evil at the top of the power echelon in the world that we live in.<br><br> Look at verse 14, though. "Stand therefore having your loins girt." Now, remember, it's called gird up the loins of your mind. "Having your loins gird about with truth."<br><br> How do we gird up the loins of our mind? We need to have an injection of the truth into our mind to help us gird up the loins of your mind and having on the breastplate of righteousness.<br><br> If we're going to gird up the loins of your mind, we need to stop listening to all the liars. We need to shut off the TV, shut off the radio, shut off the world sources of news and information and just all this junk, okay? We need to get ourselves in this book for a while and renew our mind.<br><br> Let me tell you something, I'm not saying it's wrong to ever look at the news or to listen to any of this stuff but you know what? When you're sitting there and dwelling on this stuff day after day, you're being brainwashed and you're being programmed, period. "I was a conservative, though." The devil is smart enough to control both sides, my friend.<br><br> You think the devil is just like, "Let's up all our resources on controlling the liberals and the democrats." The democrats and the liberals in this country are so godless and stupid, they don't even need the devil's help. They're fine. Okay. Look. It's controlled on both sides, okay?<br><br> What you're hearing on Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck is not the gospel, okay? Glenn Beck is a Mormon. That's a satanic religion, okay? You say, "Oh, well, I just listen to Mark Levin and Michael Savage, the real guys." Yeah, both Jewish. Both Jews.<br><br> By the way, same people who are running TV, Hollywood. It's all run by Jews. "Oh, if you say that, you're anti-Semitic." They're going to say I'm anti-Semitic anyway. I might as well say it. It's all run by Jews. The bible calls them the synagogue of Satan. The bible says, "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the messiah. He's anti-Christ that denieth the father and the son."<br><br> Look. These people that don't believe that Jesus is the messiah, they don't believe that Jesus is the Christ, the bible says they're anti-Christ and the bible says they're liars. You think that's the only thing they lie about? They lie about Jesus not being the messiah. They lie and tell you that Isaiah 7:14 when it says, "A virgin shall conceive," that it's really just, "A young woman shall conceive." They lie and try to change all the prophesies of the Old Testament to have nothing to do with Jesus. Let me tell you something They're lying to you every night on the evening news. They're lying to you every day on television and in the newspapers and in the magazine.<br><br> Look. You say, "Well, I just really want to follow the news." Look, if you really want to follow the news, before you still need a big long break from it and get in this book. Don't even tell me, "Well, I just want to read the newspaper every day and stay up on the news," until you've read this book cover to cover about 5 or 10 times. Then, read the newspapers a little bit if you must.<br><br> Let me tell you something, most people spend more time, you know this is true, listening to TV, listening to talk radio and reading the newspaper than they spend reading this book or listening to an audio CD of this book because there's a lot of audio of this book out there. You can get it for free off the internet. You can get Alexander Scourby but you know and I know that most people are just letting the devil and the prince of the power of the air control their mind, control their mind, control their mind. Then, they're lucky if they spend 5 minutes gird up the loins of your mind.<br><br> When you get up in the morning, you brush your teeth, you get dressed, you tie your shoes, you put on deodorant, you get out the door. This is a spiritual hygiene that needs to take place in the morning just as much as I'm girding up the loins here putting on a belt every day, you need to put on the belt of truth every day and gird up the loins of your mind. '<br><br> Look, don't be caught with your pants down. Rather, gird up the loins of your mind, gird about with truth. You know what Jesus said of the bible, "Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth." You say, "Oh, I’m part of the truth movement." Oh, oh, I'm glad to hear that you read the King James Bible every day." That's the real truth movement. This what it means to be a truther. It means you believe in Jesus. Mean you're a Christian.<br><br> These are in perilous times we're living in. The devil and his plan for a 1 world government are in full swing. TV, radio, newspapers are controlled. The brainwashing is working which is why when you start speaking against homosexuality to Christians, they get uncomfortable. If I had a nickel for every time we told me, "When I hear you get up and preach hard against homos or use a word like queer or faggot," they say, "I get physically ill." They're like, "I'm saved. I'm a Christian" I literally cringe. It hurts like I feel ah! Like hurts me when I … I cringe. It makes me sick to my stomach and my heart starts pounding and I get a lump in my throat because you have been trained like Pavlov's dogs by the media and the world to accept that stuff.<br><br> Thank god I found a guy in town that was just willing to print whatever, you know what I mean, because I called around and said, "So, are you part of the Hollywood homo mafia that's going to try and sensor everything I say or will you print whatever DVDs I send you so long as my money's green?" You think the only money that's tainted is the money that taint there. He said, "Send it over, dude. Whatever you want." He said, "Whatever." I'm like, "All right. Here's my new film, AIDS: The Judgment of God." He's like, "How many you want? When do you need it by? End of the week?" "Yeah."<br><br> Let me tell you something, most of them are part of this cabal, the cabal of cabal that doesn't want this information to get out, doesn’t want the truth to get out there. Look, we're fighting this stuff. We're on the front lines. I'm telling you something, you need to gird up the loins of your mind and wake up to these things. We all need to be awake. Any of us can start slouching, start relaxing. I'm not talking physically. I'm talking mentally. Let down the mental guard. Let down the loins of your mind and just start letting everybody program you and tell you …<br><br> Do you notice that everybody talks about the same things on the same day in the world we live in. Go to the grocery store, you go to work, go to the wholesale house. It's like the same things are coming. Everybody's on the same program. It's like that's what been dished up for you mentally today, worldwide, nationwide. You know what? We need to just get on a totally different program.<br><br> This is how you get off the devil's wavelength. Even if you say, "Well, I don't want to swear it off for life, whatever," why don't you just do this? Take a break from it. Just take a break.<br><br> By the way, when you take a break from it. When you come back, nothing will change. I remember, I used to listen to a lot of talk radio. You listen to conservative talk radio. I remember 1 time I was like, "Man, I'm talking a break from this stuff," because every day I felt like some major … it's like something major's always happening in Congress or major world events in the Middle East. You're like, "I've got to be up on this. I got to stay up on this."<br><br> I remember I was like, "You know, I'm just going to take a break from it." I went 3 months without listening to it at all, just living in my own bubble of just me and the Holy Spirit. By the way, Jesus and John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul did that a few times. Remember when the Apostle Paul just went into Arabia for 3 and a half years, didn't want to be tainted by a lot of man's teaching. He just went into Arabia and spent a lot of time with the word of god, with the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist did it in the wilderness.<br><br> Look, if Jesus went in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights, if John the Baptist went in the wilderness until the time of his showing to Israel. If Elijah spent 40 days just walking through the desert and just going … He's in Israel. He walked to Mount Sinai. He retraced the steps of the children of Israel who left Egypt, went to Mount Sinai, then went to Palestine. He went back to Sinai to get with god. He took that trip and was alone with god.<br><br> Why can't you? Nobody's asking you to do an ultra-marathon from Israel to Mt. Sinai. Nobody's asking you to go out in the desert and fast for 40 days and 40 nights. Nobody's asking you to live off locusts and wild honey until the time of your showing until [Phoenix 00:36:50] but let me tell you something. Can you just live in the wilderness without TV and radio for a month? Forget 40 days from food. How about just 40 days from the world as far as just their airwaves and electronic programming?<br><br> You know what? It's funny. I did that for 3 months. I just wouldn't listen to any of the news of the talk radio or anything. Right about the time I shut it off, they're like, "Oh, we're hitting the budget ceiling. We got to raise the debt ceiling." There's this stride between the Republicans and the Democrats. "We don't want to raise that debt ceiling because we're already trillions in dollars and," blah, blah, blah. Then, it's like, then it's like the last minute, they raise it. Just, "Let's go into more debt. We all agree again. Let's go into more debt." Trillions of dollars to the bankers.<br><br> Then, it was another budget crisis. Then, they're like, "The Middle East is a boiling pot that's about to boil over." It's like, I came back 3 months later and those 2 exact things were the exact things that were going on, exactly. "Another budget crisis. The debt ceiling again. The Republicans don't want to raise it," but they're like, "Let me think about it. Okay, sure. We'll raise it," and they gave in and whatever. They raise it. They go into more debt. It's a sellout but we're going to keep voting them because they're going to save us. If it wasn't 1 Bush that'll save us, it's the next Bush. If he won't save us, then Jeb Bush is going to save us. I know we've already had this other Clinton but we're going to get a new Clinton in there. I know Mitt Romney has lost every single time he runs and he's an idiot and he's a Mormon but you know what? We're going to go ahead and we're going to put him up again.<br><br> You could shut it off from '08 to 2012 and it's still Mitt Romney. You could shut it off from 2012 to 2016, it's still Mitt Romney. Blah, blah, blah because people are nuts. You're nuts if you think that Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush and these guys are our salvation politically.<br><br> Look, if your choice is between Mitt and Jeb and all these people, why are you even involved? Why do you even care? It's controlled on both sides. You're wasting your time. "Well, but my vote counts." Blah, blah, blah. You know what counts? When you're out soul winning. You're actually getting something done when you go soul winning.<br><br> You know what? "I'm going to read up on the news. I'm going to read up on the newspaper. I'm going to figure out what's going on in the Middle East. I want to get to the bottom of it." No, no, no. Read up on this and I guarantee you, you'll be way more effective, more people will be saved and our nation will be saved.<br><br> Look. It'll help politically if we go soul winning. Why? Because God's people always go into bondage when they sin. When they're not saying but when they serve other gods ... Look, if we could get the other people of our country serving the lord and believing in Jesus, god will bless us with freedom but want to be worldly, not do any soul winning, listen to TV and radio. We think that voting for some Bush or Romney or McCain is going to fix it. Good night.<br><br> If you're thinking like, "Wait a minute. What is he saying? What's he talking … You mean he's not for our guy," you're part of the problem and this sermon's for you. You know what? If you're offended by this sermon, I'm talking to you. You know what? If you're offended by this sermon, come up to me after this service, I'll write your name on the sermon and hand it to you. I will take my outline and I will sign it for you. I will write, "To your name here. You need this. I preach this just for you. Pastor Anderson," because you know what and it's the truth. You're the one who needs this sermon. Everything I'm saying up here is as true as the day is long.<br><br> The bible says that the devil controls the power of the air. The bible says that this world is in ignorance and darkness by design. The bible says that unsaved people are not performing the will of god. They that are in the flesh cannot please god and that rather, they are part of the problem and that they are working according to the spirit. He said all of you before you were saved worked according to the power of the children of disobedience and the power of the air. Everybody but not Glen Beck, not Sean Hannity. They're different. Right!<br><br> Where are we at in this sermon? Nobody knows. Ephesians 6. Okay, go to Jeremiah 48:10. Here's the problem in the pulpits of America today. Here's the problem. Jeremiah 48:10. Now, what did the bible say in Ephesians 6:12? It said, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood." Is this a physical battle where we go out and sharpen our weapons and go out and fight? No. It says, "We wrestle not against flesh and blood," but he gives principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.<br><br> It's not a physical girding up the loins that we need more than anything today, of getting ready for combat and getting our weapons all clean and ready. Is that the main thing that we need to be doing today, to prepare for the … No. He said, "Gird up the loins of your mind." Gird up your loins with truth. He didn't say, "Go out and get a physical sword and sharpen it."<br><br> Look. I'm not against owning physical weapons. We should protect ourselves and so forth. We ask god to provide our food, our daily bread but we still go to work every day. We ask god to protect us but we still own a weapon as the bible tells us we should in both Old and New Testament but let me tell you something, our battle is not with flesh and blood. You know what? Those weapons are not going to protect you from the biggest dangers.<br><br> By the way, those weapons are not going to fight the battle that needs to be fought because the bible says. You're in Jeremiah 48 but I'll just read this for you. "For though we walk in the flesh," I mean, we're living and walking in flesh and blood body. He said, "We do not war after the flesh. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal." They're not fleshly weapons, "But mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of god and bringing into captivity," listen to this, "Every thought to the obedience of Christ." Did you hear that? Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.<br><br> What's the battle today? What's the spiritual warfare. If he says, "Hey, we're not wrestling against flesh and blood, we're wrestling against principalities of powers." The weapons of our warfare were not of the flesh but they're spiritual weapons. Okay. How do I fight? What do I do? Where's the front line? He says, "We're casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of god and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ, it's a mental battle. First of all, we must take control of our own mind. We must gird up the loins of your mind. Then we want to go out and shine the light and open the minds of others.<br><br> Now, part of that is the gospel, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. Part of that is when people from our church virtually every day of the week, somebody from our church is out knocking doors with the bible preaching the gospel. We strongly encourage and preach and try to get people to get out at least once every week, at least once every week and get out and knock some doors and give the gospel. That's a big part of who we are as a church. That's a big part of the battle is just getting people saved because if we can get people saved, now they can do right. They can serve god, they can be light of the spirit. Hopefully, they will be but at least they can be.<br><br> Going out and preaching the gospel is a huge part of it but is that the whole great commission? Did it stop there, just preach the gospel and let it lie? No. He said, "Also baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." He said, "Teach them to observe all things, whatsoever I commanded you."<br><br> When it comes to great commission, when we're out soul winning, we're fulfilling part of it, right? We're teaching all nations. We're preaching the gospel at every creature. Okay, when we baptize somebody after the service this morning, we're fulfilling another part of it. Listen, I am right now fulfilling the third part because I'm teaching you to observe all things that the bible commands. Even though this sermon's not about salvation, it's a fulfillment of the great commission because I'm showing you a commandment in the bible. Jesus said teach them to observe all things I've commanded you.<br><br> What's the command that I'm teaching you this morning? To gird up the loins of your mind. It's not optional. It's a commandment. There's a commandment in the New Testament that says gird up the loins of your mind. How do you disobey that commandment? Letting your mind relax and take in everything the devil has for you. That's what I'm preaching against today. I'm telling you gird up the loins of your mind, gird out the loins with truth. Instead of that morning paper and the morning show and the morning news and the morning this, it needs to be the morning bible reading to gird it up.<br><br> You know what? Throughout the day, the belt can get a little lose, start sagging. Gird it up again. Gird it up at lunchtime. Seven times a day will I praise god for his righteous judgments. Be like Daniel where he prayed morning, noon and night. Read the bible and meditate on god's word day and night. It's a constant tightening of the belt. It's a constant girding up the loins of your mind with truth. Why? Because the devil is always going to be coming at us trying to loosen us up and find that chink in the armor. We can get into your mind.<br><br> That's what the Devil State University here in Tempe wants to do. They want to get in your mind. That's why there are certain jobs that they close off to you unless you have a degree from 1 of these institutions, not because somebody couldn't get those skills on their own or learn them as an apprentice or learn them through study. No. They want to get into your mind. You're like, "Well, I can't do X the job unless I go down there." Then you go down there. It's like, "Okay, here's the core math and science that you're trying to learn but also you need to get a liberal education also."<br><br> When I went to school, I went for math. I love math. Who likes math? I'm not 1 of those nerdy guys I was preaching about earlier in the service but I like math. I really enjoy math. I was going to junior college and going for math. My plan was to go to Devil State University and get a degree in electrical engineering because I was an electrician by trade. My dad was an electrician. My grandpa was an electrician. Before that, it hasn't been invented or whatever but so I wanted to do electrical engineering. Just to go for the math and to go for the electrical engineering, they make you take all this diversity stuff and all this junk and teach you all this anti-Christ stuff. I was just trying to find the most non-offensive classes to take. Thankfully, I got out of a lot of my cultural and diversity by taking foreign languages because they said if you take German 4 and Spanish 4, that'll satisfy your cultural and you don't have to take lesbian poetry of the 20th century or whatever.<br><br> I'm like, "Okay. I got out of that stuff," but then I took a history class. It was the History of Western Civilization, it was called. All evolution-based and all kinds of evolution. Then, just blaspheming of Christianity and how the bible full of contra- That's what they're teaching.<br><br> Then, I took a class called cultural geography. Cultural geography. I wanted to take a geography class because I figured I like maps and stuff but the only 1 that could fit the time I needed was cultural geography but I read up on it. It's like, "Oh, you're just learning about, you know, different cultures of the world." That sounds cool. I've always like stuff like that. Learn about what it's like in Asia, in Europe. I've always loved travel and language and stuff. They're teaching us about Japan. We're watching a video. All of a sudden, on the video, it's just a bunch of naked 20 year old women. "This is a Japanese bathhouse." Just a bunch of nude, young Japanese women in a bath. It's like, "Is that really necessary for me to learn about Japan?" Show me that imagery that's could cause you to lust and whatever.<br><br> Then, another time, I'm in there. The teacher in the cultural geography class. She's like, "I went to India and I saw people levitate on street corners and it was real." Now, of course, if you've seen all the videos where it's debunked, you know it's not real but she's teaching class. She's, "Look. I know it's real." The kids are like, "Wow!" They're just eating it up about these Eastern mysticism. It's all real and they can levitate and all this stuff. "I've seen it. I've been there." This is a college professor telling us that. Then, she showed us a video about how the whole world's overpopulated and we need to use birth control and was praising the Communist China 1 Child Policy, praising it unto us. This is to get a math degree. I only went for a year and a half to get a math degree.<br><br> Another time, in the German class, they played a video that just showed pedophilia. I just got up and walked out of the classroom. Showed pedophilia on screen in German class. In German 4. Yeah, that's going to help me know how to speak German. I'm telling you, the devil wants to get into your mind. That's why he controls the higher education. It's why he controls the TV, controls the radio, controls the magazines.<br><br> Say, "Well, how am I going to make a living?" There are plenty of people who make 6 figures without going to college by the way. Go out and work, you learn a trade, you learn skills. You say, "What about those certain jobs where you have to get that degree?" I could never be an engineer because you have to have a degree to get your PE.<br><br> What I ended up doing is I just went into fire alarms and I got a separate fire alarm engineering credential that didn't require college. I made 6 figures in the fire alarm business. I mean it's possible to do it another way.<br><br> You say, "But what if your kids grow up and they want to do 1 of these jobs where they have to go to all this Devil State University and learn … " I just tell me kids, "Don't do that job. Pick a different job." "Oh, but we need Christians to be those jobs." Yeah. We need Christian with a pure mind, to gird up the loins of your mind. We need Christian who haven't been brainwashed is what we need more than that. There are plenty of backsliding Christian that'll go there and do those jobs and everything. It's not like there's a problem.<br><br> Hey, we don't have a shortage of back sliding Christian. We don't need you to be, "I got to be 1 of those backsliding Christians. We're not going to have enough Christian whatever." No! We need you to be 1 of the less than 1 percent that are girded up the loins of your mind, okay?<br><br> Look down at your bible in Jeremiah. Here's what's wrong with the pulpit of America. We talked about how it's a spiritual battle. We talked about how the weapons are spiritual, not physical. Look what it says in Jeremiah 48:10. "Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully." Then look at the next statement where he restates it in another way. "And cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood."<br><br> Look, this scripture, Jeremiah 48:10, the context is about a physical fight, okay? This is a physical battle where the children of Israel are going to war against the enemies of the lord. Basically, they're supposed to fight the battle. He's saying, "Cursed be he who doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully and cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood." The person who doesn't want to fight, doesn't want to get involved, doesn't want to engage the enemy and do damage. That's what he's saying. What else does it mean? Keep back and show blood.<br><br> Okay. How would this apply in the spiritual battle? This is the pastor who says, "I want to do the work of the lord, positive only. I'll be at the battle. I'll show up at the battle. I'll do the work of the lord but I'm keeping my sword back from blood." Listen, we need some bibles today, some sword of the spirit that's got the blood of the enemy on it today is what we need. We got a bunch of clean swords today, bunch of pastors today where their bible is as clean as a whistle. Okay? We need some swords of the spirit to go out and engage the enemy. When the bible says, "Cursed be he who do the work of the Lord deceitfully," I wouldn't want that to be said of my ministry. "Your ministry, you did the work of the Lord but you did it deceitfully. You know why it's deceitful? Because they're getting up and acting like they're preaching everything the bible says, leaving out huge sections because they're not popular and because they don't want to get blood on their swords. That's really what's going on."<br><br> "Oh, I don't want to offend." Don't want to get any blood on the sword. "Oh, I don't want to preach that because it's going to turn people away." They don't want to get any blood on their sword. They want to have a crystal clear, clean, sanitized for your protection-type sermon, sanitary, clean and pristine of a sermon instead of getting out there and actually engaging the enemy.<br><br> Paul didn't have a sword that was kept back from blood. He said, "I fought the good fight." He didn't say, "I was peaceful with all men." He said, "I fought the good fight." I'm for peace but when I speak there for war. Let me tell you something, we are to fight the Lord's battles. I'm not saying physically. You know, my sword in my office has no blood on it. It never has had any blood on it but this sword, if you can see it spiritually would be dripping in blood. It would! I think I remember Jesus shedding his blood for us. We're supposed to be in a battle here but you know what happens when you go out and start getting your sword engaged in battle? You're going to take some wounds yourself. That's what these guys are scared of. They're cowards.<br><br> Now, go if you would to Acts 20. I got to hurry up. I'm almost out of time here but I hope the point of the sermon is getting across to you. I'm going to skip some scriptures here that are in the sermon but I hope the point is getting across to you. We need to gird up the loins of your mind. Why? Because I showed you scripture after scripture that the devil has an agenda and a program where he has blinded the minds of them that believe not. He is keeping them in ignorance. God said beware lest your caught up in the error of the wicked. You need to make sure to gird up the loins of your mind.<br><br> Being saved doesn't automatically make you immune from the devil's deception. There are plenty of saved people who get to see dumb things by the devil and by TV and by radio and everything else. Doesn't mean they're not saved. It just means they haven't girded up the loins of their mind. How do we do it? The Truth. Gird it with the truth. How do we do it? How about this? Go to a church that'll preach the truth, because if you're going to a church that's doing the work of the lord deceitfully, where they won't ever hit a controversial issue and they won't ever say anything that offends. You know what? That's just reinforcing the garbage programming you're getting all week long. You need a church that when you show up will grab you and shake you out of the program you've been getting all week long.<br><br> Honestly, church isn't enough. Don't put on your belt 1 day a week. Put on your belt every morning, noon and night and tighten it up. Tighten up your mind, strengthen … Did you know that your mind is like a muscle? It's true. Anybody will tell you this. The more you read and the more you study and the more that you memorize the bible and the more that you think, your brain gets stronger. The more you do … Duh! In front of the TV, you get stupid. Listen! Nothing can be more true about TV than this statement. TV makes you stupid. Your mom told you that when you were a kid. You thought it was just a figure of speech. TV makes you stupid. It's the idiot box. It's the boob tube. It's for morons. It makes you dumber. "Oh, but I watch education stuff." No. It still makes you dumb.<br><br> What's the difference between that and reading? I don't know but reading makes you smart and TV makes you dumb. I don't have to explain why. I don't know all the reasons necessarily why when I push the gas pedal down in the car, we go faster but it still happens. It's still real. I don't have to know all the inner workings of a piston 4 cycle engine to know that when I push the button, the light bulb comes on and when I push the foot on the gas, we go forward faster. When I push the break, we slow down.<br><br> Look. TV makes you stupid. Not only that, but the devil … Do you really think that the angel of the lord is sitting down at the switchboard down at NBC or CBS? Who do you think's running that thing? Christ rejecters. Christ haters are running it, seriously. I'm telling you. If you're just going to let that all come into you while you neglect this book. It gets dusty and neglected. Your loins are not gird up. You might physically look so sharp and coming to church. You look awesome and everything's perfect and you're all girded up and ready to go. You know what, if we saw you spiritually, spiritually, you're in a La-Z-Boy in a bathrobe and you're eating chips off your chest, if we can see you spiritually. That's what you look like. You're eating the junk food of the world, totally devoid of nutrition. You got your big, Super Big Gulp of diet whatever, aspartame, GMO garbage, spiritually. Huh!<br><br> Then, no real nutrition. The fruit and vegetables are rotting on your kitchen counter but the chips are just constantly in supply. The soda's are constantly in supply. The meat has expired. The milk has expired. The fruits and vegetables are expired. The whole grains. You're sitting there and eating a bunch of junk food and you're sedentary and slothful and you need to gird up the loins of your mind and get ready to go and do something. You need to get mentally prepared for it and teach others also.<br><br> Where did I return? Acts 20 is the last scripture we'll turn to, then we'll shut her down. Acts 20, it says this. verse 18, "And when they were come to him, he said unto them, 'Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia after what manner I've been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.'"<br><br> I know what that's like. You start making a film like Marching to Zion, there's the lying in wait of the Jews to get you. This is not real. Otherwise, everybody's like, "It's out. It's done. Cool!" End of March, people, all right? But you know, the lying in wait of the Jews but look what he says. "How I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you." Did you see that in verse 20.<br><br> Here's what he's saying. In verse 19, there were people lying in wait to arrest him, to beat him, to kill him, to lie about him, to malign him. He said, "You know that the Jews were lying in wait to do that to me," but he said, "I kept back nothing." Did it effect his preaching that they lied in wait? No. He said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you." You say, yeah, but is everything really profitable. I think the bible said, "All scripture is profitable." All scriptures give my inspiration of god is profitable.<br><br> You know what he's saying? "I didn't keep back any bible from you." If it was in the bible, I preached it. That's what Paul said but, "It showed you and it taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also the Greeks repentance toward god and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ and now behold, I go bound in the spirit until Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the holy ghost witness in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me but none of these things move me. Neither count I my life dear unto myself that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of god."<br><br> Look, in that phrase, "I finish my course," was associated with fight the good fight in II Timothy 4. The bottom line is we as pastors need to have our loins girt with truth and keep back nothing. You as a Christian need to go to a church that keeps back nothing. You as a believer need to gird up your mind and those loins every single day by reading scripture. You need to take 40 days in the wilderness from all the world's brainwashing and get along with the holy spirit and get along with the word of god and see how it transforms you as a person. You will be transformed in 40 days and 40 nights of shedding off worldly stuff and just bible, just get into bible.<br><br> It's not going to kill you to take a break from some of the other stuff. "Yeah, but what if things really erupt in the Middle East and I missed it." It's always erupting over there. It'll be erupting the same way 40 days from now as it is now. "No, this is … I think this is really it this time." How many times? You know what, if it is, somebody will tell you about it. That's what I always tell people. It's like, "You don't follow the news?" I'm like, "If it's anything really big like somebody comes and tells me." "Hey, did you hear about whatever."<br><br> Gird up the loins of your … Quit just being so relaxed mentally. You need to hit the gym mentally. You need to hit the gym and start building up your mind. "I’m going to take control of my mind. I'm going to get stronger. My mind's going to get strong. I'm going to learn the bible and I'm going to know what's going on."<br><br> I'm not against going to the gym but you need to hit the mental gym. You're muscles are sagging mentally. You know that taxi cab drivers in New York, they tested a bunch of them. They used GPS and a bunch of them that didn't use GPS. I'm not against GPS. I use GPS. I'm horrible at directions but these cab drivers, that's all they're doing all day is driving places. Some of them use GPS. The others are all just doing it with their brain. They looked at the part of the brain that had to do with memory, the hippocampus. It was smaller in the cab drivers who were using GPS and it was bigger in the ones who were actually using maps and thinking about it and doing it on memory. That shows that your brain can be developed or underdeveloped.<br><br> In some of you, the entertainment part of your brain is way overdeveloped and the spiritual part is underdeveloped. We're talking physically. Gird up the loins of your mind.<br><br> Let's [inaudible 01:04:30] with a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much, Lord, for your word. Thank you for the warning, lord, so that we don't have to just as sheep to the slaughter, just go to Madison Avenue and Hollywood and TV and then just get spoon fed a bunch of junk, Lord. Thank you for warning us so we could know, "Hey, we need to get in the bible. We need to clean all this stuff out of our mind and get rid of …" Lord, representatives of Hollywood this week told us, you have to be pro-homosexual. You can't say anything negative about the Jews because they run things here but lord, help them not to run our mind. Let them run Hollywood and Madison Avenue but help them not to control our minds as bible believing Christians oh, Lord. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-24708493367441817732016-05-28T11:10:00.000-07:002016-05-28T11:10:09.650-07:00Ye are God's Building <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUNEoZcGJHU">Video</a>
<p><b>April 19, 2015</b></p>
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<p>1 Corinthians chapter number three, the part that I wanted to focus on is beginning in verse number nine where the bible reads, “For we are laborers together with God, ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.” The title of my sermon tonight is this, ye are God’s building. Now let’s keep on reading on here it says in the verse, “According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation another built there on. But let every man take heed how he buildeth there upon. For the foundation can no man layeth and that is laid which is Jesus Christ.”
<br><br>“Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver precious stones, wood hay, stubble. Every man’s work shall be made manifest for the day shall declareth. Because it shall be revealed by fire and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath build there upon he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved yet so is by fire. No ye not” watch this, “That ye are the temple of God and that the spirit of God dwelleth in you, if any man defile the temple of God him shall God destroy for the temple of God is holy which temple ye are.”
<br><br>Now it’s very clear when we read this passage that the building that’s being built here is a spiritual building. We are not talking about a physical building where we have a bunch of trucks out there bringing in cement to lay the foundation and we are going to build a big building. No it’s a spiritual building, Jesus Christ is the foundation and he says that building is people. Because he says to the people of the church of Corinth, ye are God’s building. In verse number nine and then at the end he says, “The temple of God is holy which temple ye are.” Now if you would go to Ephesians chapter number two.
<br><br>The reason I point this out is because we live a day where churches often place great emphasis on building great physical buildings. Giant physical structures, beautiful structures. Is that really the main work that God has called us to do? Is that something that the New Testament emphasizes in any way shape or form? In all of the letters that the Apostle Paul is writing unto these various churches where he talks about the things that he’s working on and the things that they are working on and the things that they need to improve. He never one time brings up their great big building program.
<br><br>Or the great big fundraiser to raise money for the building and yet in most churches today, this has become a great emphasis. Raising huge amounts of money to buy expensive buildings. Now I want to start out by saying this, my sermon tonight is not to criticize other churches who do things a little different than we do things. Or just to say that anybody who builds a building is bad or something. I don't want you to misunderstand the sermon and take things too far and just use this to insult or criticize other churches. Okay now are there churches out there who are abusive? Of course that just, it’s all about money, money and build big palaces, but the main purpose of the sermon tonight is just to explain to you the philosophy that we have here at Faithful Word Baptist church and why our church will never build a building.
<br><br>Just to explain the philosophy and the scriptural reasons and I’m not saying that anybody who does this is a little different is wrong. Sure it’s ridiculous when it’s all about the building. I just want to understand why I have this philosophy that I believe is scriptural and why I think is smarter for our church to never build a building ever. Okay so look at Ephesians chapter 2 verse 19. The bible says, “Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God and are build.”
<br><br>He’s saying, “You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together growth unto an holy temple in the Lord. In whom ye also are built together for inhabitation of God through the spirit. The building in the New Testament is the church. The bible says, “That though mayest know how to oddest to behave thyself in the house of God which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. In the New Testament it is the church that is the house of God.
<br><br>It’s not a physical building, a tabernacle or a temple but he says, “You collectively make up the temple of God, you are God’s building.” Okay that assembly of people that makes up the church that’s God’s building. Now tonight and if you would just flip a few page over to Ephesians four, tonight we are sitting in a building, okay. That is very scriptural for us to be sitting in a building and having church tonight because of the fact that even in the earliest church they had a building. You see they met in the upper room and we think of the upper room as being just a small little room.
<br><br>If you remember there were 120 people meeting for church in the upper room. If you have a room big enough for 120 people to meet there and have church that’s a pretty big giant space that they were using. Then of course we know that the Lord kept adding to the church daily such that it should be saved. We know that thousands were added at church obviously they grew, obviously they are meeting somewhere. They are some location where they are getting together and assembling. Whether that it’s in the upper room, which had room for at least 120 people may be many more.
<br><br>Or whether that’s another building, a tent, a tabernacle, whatever anyone constructs, obviously just due to whether and due to logistics. They are times when you need to meet in a building. Like for example in August in Phoenix Arizona you want to meet in a building, you don't want to be outside in this weather its way too hot. If we were in some extremely cold place, like if we were having a church in Alaska or something then the winters would be extreme and you did have even … Don't get me wrong, people who are against meeting at a building that’s just silly. Okay because in the bible they met in different buildings, they met in people’s houses but they also met in much bigger buildings to accommodate thousands of people, not the issue here.
<br><br>What the issue here is when we get out of emphasis of reaching people and building people and carrying out that commission and where the emphasis instead becomes about building a physical building. Our success is measured by physical buildings. This come from a worldly philosophy. This is how the world look, the world is constantly insulting Faithful Word Baptist Church for meeting in a strip mall, right. Meeting in an office space and they are mocking that because that’s how the world thinks. Because the bible says that there are people in this world who suppose that gain is godliness.
<br><br>They look at wealth and money and palaces and stain glass windows and gold and silver and precious stone, that’s what impresses them but the love of money is the root of all evil and God doesn’t see as man seeth. God is looking at the people. God looks at us and says, “You are my building” you are God’s building, you are His workmanship the bible says. Look at Ephesians chapter four verse 11 and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints. For the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.
<br><br>That word edifying means buildings, that’s what it means. Who here speaks Spanish? We know that to say a building in Spanish is what? Edificio, right. To build something is to edify that’s what an edifice is, it’s a building. He says here that the work of the ministry done by pastors, teachers, evangelists, prophets it’s the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of God unto a perfect man under the measure of the statute or the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children. Tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.
<br><br>By the slide of man and cunning craftiness whereby they lie and wait to deceive but speaking the truth and love may grow up into him in all things which is the head even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joint together and compacted by that which every joint supplyeth according to the effectual working in the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. It’s about building ourselves, it’s about building each other, it’s about building people’s lives, it’s not about building a physical building in the New Testament.
<br><br>Now in the Old Testament there are a lot of stories about warfare, people are going to battle and fighting with the sword and spear and shield. We know that in the New Testament the application for those things is a spiritual application. We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness sin this world. Against spiritual wickedness in high places, we know that God‘s not calling us to take up sword and spear and go fight a physical enemy. It’s a spiritual battle. The weapons of our warfare the bible says are not carnal, they are not fleshly. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.
<br><br>We have to understand that many things in the Old Testament that are at a physical application have a spiritual application in the New Testament. In the Old Testament the physical battle is a spiritual warfare today in the New Testament. In the Old Testament there are great stories about magnificent buildings being built whether that’s the tabernacle or whether that’s Solomon’s temple or whether it’s the rebuilding of the temple in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. Or whether it’s the building of the wall around the city of Jerusalem and these stories are profitable unto us today.
<br><br>Let me tell you something they have a spiritual application, it’s not about picking up the trowel and the hammer and going out and physically building a building. It’s about building the church which is people not a building. That’s why he says, “Look you are the temple of God, you are God’s building.” He’s using illustrations from the Old Testament temple to illustrate the building, “Of God’s People” in the New Testament it’s spiritual it’s not literal in the New Testament that’s what the bible is teaching. Now there are a lot of reasons why I do not believe that it is wise for our church to ever build or purchase a building.
<br><br>You may or may not agree with these things but I’m just going to lay out to you what my philosophy is which I believe is derived from scripture and just from the wisdom that I have acquired just living on this earth. Even though I’m young I grew up and was born and raised an independent fundamental Baptist. From the time I was born I have gone to Baptist churches and I have seen the downfall of many soul winning Baptist churches and a lot of it had to do with buildings and money. Okay the love of money is the root of all evil and whenever we get off track where it’s not about the souls, it’s not about the people.
<br><br>Where it becomes about the building, there’s a danger for us to go down a very wrong path. It’s my job as a pastor I believe to lead us away from danger and to lead us away from carnality. Again this is not saying that my philosophy or the way that we do things at Faithful Word is the only right way to do it, okay. This is just for us as a church to understand and if other people, other pastors would hear this and take it to heart, great. The men in our church that want to pastor someday, I hope that they’ll listen to this and think about this and understand this. We are living a day where when someone goes out to start a church often they start looking for the building even before they even start knocking the first door with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because that’s what it’s about.
<br><br>Now part of that comes from the desire to impress other people, because of that fact that you don't want to be in a strip mall, you don't want to be meeting in an office space. You want to impress people, you want to have a real church building. The real free standing, people the whole shebang and that’s what people think right. Let me explain to you some of the reasons why it is not efficient or expedient for us to have a church building at this time or at any time. I’m telling you my goal with this church is to meet in a store front until Jesus comes. We are going to rent space until Jesus …
<br><br>Now you say, “You don't have any vision” I have great vision. I want the church to grow but I just don't have visions of great buildings, I have visions of great people. You see it’s not about staying small, I don't believe in staying small, there are some people who do and they are, “All big churches are bad.” I don't believe that. God willing our church will continue to grow, we’ve grown every single year and we’ll continue to grow with God’s help and by His grace and I pray and hope that our church will someday run thousands of people and I believe that it will. I don't know maybe it will maybe it won't. That’s not really what gets me up in the morning of, “Yeah we are going to reach a thousand people.”
<br><br>That’s not really that important to me because I believe it’s God’s jobs to build the church. It’s our job to preach, to win souls, to be faithful and Jesus said, “Upon this rock I will build my church.” I believe that our church will probably one day run over a 1,000 I don't see why it wouldn’t but maybe I’m wrong who knows who cares. The bottom line is we have a great church it’s about quality not quantity, we are winning people to Christ. Honestly God said surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying, I will multiply thee. If we are going out and knocking doors and winning people to Christ the church should go.
<br><br>The church should multiply and staying small is not God’s will I don't believe I think that it’s about growing. It’s not about growing at any cost, it’s about staying right, having integrity zero comprise and let it go in its on time naturally. Not try to rush the growth by bringing in the rock band trimming the message and so forth. We don't want, you got be careful because there are this other people out there who have this attitude of, “Growth is bad stay small.” No that’s not what the bible teaches in the books of Acts they are growing dramatically. We should strive to grow as well but here are some reasons why building a building or buying a great church building is not part of that program.
<br><br>In my mind or in my vision and I hope that after this sermon you will agree with me. We’ve already seen a lot of the scriptures deemphasizing physical buildings and emphasizing the spiritual building. Let me just compare to you buying a house personally with buying a church building okay just to help you understand where I’m coming from here okay. First of all when you buy a house for your familiar here are some benefits to buying a house for your familiar. Number one you get a tax write off when you buy a house because if you buy a house you pay interest right. Because you usually have to borrow the money most people, because we live in a debt based economy a debt based system.
<br><br>Even if you pull the money out of your wallet and look at it, it says it’s for paying debts, right on the dollar bill. We live in a debt based system, there is not even enough money in circulation to pay off all the debt because of the fractional reserve lending and the scam of the Federal Reserve etcetera, etcetera. Pretty much every single person, I’m not going to ask for a raise of hand, pretty much almost every single person who buy the house, they borrow money to buy a house, you have to get a mortgage. The benefit to doing that is that you usually end up paying about the same amount per month as you would pay for rent anyway.
<br><br>You get to write off all that interest, all the interest is a right off. All those hundreds and hundreds of dollars of interest that’s a tax benefit, okay. Not only that but when you buy a house personally usually you can get in with no money down or very little money down. You don't have to put up huge amounts of money to get into a house. Number three when you own a house, if somebody sues you or the IRS comes after you, usually they can't take away your house that you live in. Because they understand okay you have to have a dwelling place you have to love here.
<br><br>Not only that but usually when you go to buy a house if you have reasonably good credit you don't need a bunch of cosigners you just sign it for yourself and you are in. You have decent credit, you have a job, you make enough money you sign for it yourself and not only that when you buy a house for yourself, you have a reasonable idea of how many people are going to live in that house in the long run, right. Now I always say that you should never buy a house with the attitude of, “I’m going to move in two or three years, I’m going to move in five years” no you are not because you don't know.
<br><br>Because what if the housing value drops and then you can't sell it? You could be upside down. Whenever you buy a house it’s always wise to think about it in the sense that you might be stuck in that house for a very long time. That’s why when I bought my house here to start the church in I didn’t buy a big house but I bought a house, it’s a small old house but when I bought it, I thought about it like, I might be in this house for the next 30 years. I need to think about the fact that I’m going to have kids and everything so I need to get at least three bedroom, two bath or whatever.
<br><br>You got to have at least some room to grow and the thing about it is that even though you are going to have a lot of kids, there’s only so many kids you can have. Then eventually they start living, at least that’s what I’m hoping, eventually they get married, get out of here and eventually you are going to reach critical mass where they start leaving at the same rate that they are being born and then you reach a certain maximum. I’m saying there’s not going to be a 100 people living in my house, right. It’s not going to be 200 people, you know okay at the most there’s going to be 10 or 12 people if I end up having a bunch of kids in that time that’s possible.
<br><br>Now let’s compare these points with buying a church building okay. Well when you buy a church building there’s no tax benefit because churches aren't paying taxes anyway. You are not getting that write off so there’s no tax incentive to owning a church. Not only that but a church building is very expensive so we are not dealing with the relatively small amount of money of buying a personal home for yourself. 150,000, 250,000 back in 2012 before I had come to this realization that I’m preaching to you tonight about why we should never own a building and why we should never buy a church building.
<br><br>Back in 2012 I contemplated moving our church into a building, owning a building. The reason why this thought came to my mind is because, I opened the mail box one day and there was a check for $75,000 in the mail made out to our church. I got the check and I was thinking, “Man is this for real? That’s a lot of money.” I took it down to the bank and they said, “The money is there” I’m like, “Well deposit this thing.” 75 grand so I thought to myself, “Wow maybe God is providing us money so that we could get into a church building” because how often do you have these big chunks of money to be able to put down on a church building?”
<br><br>I looked down to it, I did some research and but right away something didn’t sit well with me right away with that because I’m thinking to myself, “Wait a minute, so somebody gives me $75,000 and I’m going to go out and spend like 10 times that much.” It’s like, “Wait a minute, if somebody gives me $75,000 and I go out and spend 750,000 or more something didn’t seem right about that, just seemed weird.” I started looking into it though just to see what was out there and here are some of the things that found. First of all I found that for $750,000 you could not even begin to get a building that’s big enough for our church not even close.
<br><br>A church building for $750,000 will be way too small for the size of our church even back in 2012. With no grow, let alone growing room. If you are getting a 30 year loan you got to have growing room, right? Well the type of building that would have been purchased for $750,000 even in 2012 which was like the bottom of the market. The commercial real estate market was pretty close at the bottom in 2012, wasn’t even close. The building that we would have needed that would have some growing room would have been about $1 ½ million $1.5 million. Okay and not only that but it would have had growing room but necessarily 30 years of growing room because our church is growing at a pretty good rate, it’s growing pretty fast. It would have had maybe five, 10 years maybe probably not even that for, “Just sell it and get another one” but you don't know what the market is going to do.
<br><br>It’s not always that easy to but the next building. You know what I’ve known a lot of churches that got into trouble doing stuff like that. I can remember talking to a pastor who is bragging about his financial wheeling and dealing. How he’d sold this property, bought this one sold this one and he’s wielding millions of dollars. He said, “There are a lot of pastors who can out preach me” but he said, “No one can help finance me.” That’s what, I thought and you know what, within two years he’s no longer pastoring because he messed up the finances. Because he just knew he’s going to sell this property and that is going to fix everything and then the market dropped and nobody wanted to buy.
<br><br>He was sunk and because of the financial problems that led to all kinds of problems. Look how many divorces are caused by financial problems? Okay well let me explain something to you. Spiritual church divorces take place over financial problems to. When the church is all financially jerked up, church splits happen. People get angry, there’s fighting, there’s bitterness and so forth. We are talking about a lot more money than just buying a housing for your family. Think about this, how big is your house? How many square feet is your house? My house is like after I, well my house is like 1,500 square feet, okay.
<br><br>Let’s say you have a big house that’s like 3,000 square right that would be considered a pretty big house, right, if you have a 3,000 square feet that’s huge. Okay well the thing is though you are sitting in a building that’s 3,600 square feet and we also have office space that we rent around the corner to store stuff so we actually have like 4,300, 4,400 square feet here. Okay and then my friend Pastor E. Menes in Sacramento California [inaudible 00:23:22] Baptist their building is like 4,400 square feet also, okay. This is the church that runs 100 and something people over there okay. We are talking about bigger buildings, big parking lots, how many vehicles do you have?
<br><br>One, two okay, okay how many vehicles does a church parking lot need? Hundreds, okay. We are talking about a building that would be at least a million and half dollars and it wouldn’t even still be necessarily what you need. Okay, then you talk to the banks and you know what they want? 20% down. There’s no, no money down, it’s not buying a personal home no, they want 20% and it’s not negotiable. They say that’s low, we really want 40% down but they say, the least we’ll do is 20% and then they’ll give you a bad deal because you are only putting 20% down. Everything with business is more expensive than personal. Like for example you want to bring internet into your home versus bringing it into the office, it’s going to cost two or three much times as bringing it to office.
<br><br>You want water bottles delivered to your home? Twice as much to have water bottles deliver to your business. That’s just the way things work. Business to business cost more than business to personal. We are talking about having to raise money for 300,000 bucks and I’m just giving an example here it probably cost more than this to get the building we need. Raise money for 300,000 bucks where I get up and preach all these sermons about how you cannot give out God and put your hand on the screen. You need to mortgage your house and borrow … Then you have everybody digging deep putting all their money in the plate right.
<br><br>Mortgaging their home to put … I’ve been in churches where people are told you need to mortgage your house and or the church will sell bonds to people to raise money. Borrow money from the church members and everything and they get into everybody for all these money. Then not only that guess what? Pastor Anderson signature is not going to be enough, no. They want a whole bunch of people to sign, whole bunch of people to cosign that loan and now they are on, guess which kind of people they want to cosign? People who have money, people who have stuff, not just, “I’ll do it, I’m an 18 year old living in an apartment, I’ll cosign Pastor Anderson I got your back.”
<br><br>No they want people who have something to lose, who have good credit, who have money, who own things collateral. Basically you are getting into debt first of all and let me say this, our church has existed for the last 10 years and we’ve never borrowed any money in 10 years. We’ve always been able to pay every bill on time. I think that’s a pretty good financial record the pastor church of a couple hundred people and to never borrow any money. To pay every bill on time and to always have money and to never run out of money, okay. That’s the best way to do it and that’s why our church will just continue to operate in cash.
<br><br>Because you know what? If we don't have the money for it then we don't it. I think that’s a great philosophy to operate our church under, why not? Why not rent a building until Jesus comes? There’s no point in owning, there’s no benefit plus we have no idea how big the church is going to get so we might shell out that 1.5 mill, we might raise that 300,000 have the thermometer spin the wheel, raise the money have the bake sell. We might raise all the money, everybody gets all strapped for cash and pours every last cent into that down payment then you still have to pay the payments every month on the thing.
<br><br>Okay what’s a mortgage on $1.5 million to a church like Faithful Word? This is a volatile institution folks in the worlds mind. They are not going to look at this as like, this is a … Because why? Because we are independent we don't have the Presbyterian denomination or the United Methodists denomination. The bank is like, “Well who’s your denomination? Who’s your district leader? You are not in the Southern Baptist Convention? You are not in the North American Baptist Association?” No they don't, you are independent? What. What you have no credit? What “ Okay well let’s get all these people with money in church and here’s the thing about people with a lot of money.
<br><br>You know what? Thank God there are some people who have a lot of money that are spiritual people but let’s face it, the majority of spiritual people are not wealthy. Now look don't get me wrong, the exception proves the rule. There are people who have a lot of money that are spiritual giants, I believe that. There are people like that in the bible, people like Philemon seemed to have money but here’s the thing though. You know and I know that God has chosen the poor of this word rich in faith and heirs of the kingdoms which he has promised to them that love him but you despise the poor. Do not rich man oppress you and draw you before the judgm4ent seats?
<br><br>Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called just to quote a little scripture but there’s more than that. Okay so do we really want our destiny to be controlled by a bunch of money bagged people who are controlling the credit and they’ve got their name signed and we better do it the way that they want. Because they don't want to lose that investment and blah, blah, blah. Now you got all these financial ties, you are financial married to all these church members. See when I get up and preach some face ripping sermon that all Mr. Money Bags doesn’t like, he can just slink out here and not let the door hit him on his way out.
<br><br>When he doesn’t like the sermon that tells how Bruce Jenner really is or whatever? It’s like, Hey don't let the door” and he will just go huff and puff and blow the house down and go somewhere else. Now when he’s got all his bonds and he is all cosigned and putting money into, he’s going to fill invested and want to stay and screw things up. This is reality friend, I’m not just speaking in theory, I’m not just laying at home paranoid like, “What will people do?” This is stuff that is really happened, I’ve seen it, I have been in churches that were big, growing, thriving, soul winning churches. “We are going to build this great building for the glory of God.”
<br><br>Then you know what ended happening? It all went downhill and a lot of it had to do with the buildings. Now there’s a lot of reasons for that. I’m just showing you why it doesn’t even make sense financially. Now you say, “Okay Pastor Anderson but what if God just works some great miracle where somebody just gives you millions of dollars and then you can go buy a building with it. Or what if there’s just some killer deal where some church building is on the market, way below market value and you can just steal it away?” It’s still going to cost a fortune even a good deal, even at half price, even at a quarter price it’s going to cost way too much, it would still cost a huge amount of money, money that we don't have. Let’s just say that the heavens open up and a church building just falls out of the sky. Even then and listen you don't believe me but honestly I can say right now from the bottom of my heart I don't want it. Take it back where it came from.
<br><br>Beam it right back, take it back up into the sky where it came from and I never want to see it again. Let me tell you why, let me explain to you why? Because the fact is that where your treasure is there will your heart be also. Go Mathew chapter six, Mathew chapter six, the bible says in Mathew six verse 19, “Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth where moth and rust does corrupt and where thieves breakthrough and steal but lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” Now listen very carefully to this.
<br><br>When you’ve got nothing, you have got nothing to lose. No thieves break through and steal nothing, rust does not corrupt nothingness. If there’s nothing then you have nothing to lose and true freedom comes from possessing nothing, okay. In many way, you are free now because nobody can take anything from you now anymore. The great author of the 20th century Alexander Solzhenitsyn who wrote the Gulag Archipelago. He wrote this book exposing how evil the Soviet Union was in the concentration camp, he spent 11 years in the Gulag system.
<br><br>He went through some of the torture and he went through the deprivations of working in a forest labor camp and where everything is taken from you. He had a really good quote he said, “People only have power over you as long as they leave you with something.” He said, “Once they take everything away from you, you are free again.” Because he said, “When you don't have anything then people can't really control you they can't really intimidate you, they can threaten you because you have nothing to lose.” That’s basically what the bible is saying here, “Look put your treasures somewhere where you’ve got nothing to lose on this earth”
<br><br>“Thieves can break through or steal, moth and rust can't corrupt it because it isn't there because you don't have treasures laid up on the earth.” Now here’s the thing. Where our treasure is there will our heart be also, where do we want our heart to be? In the people? In the souls or do we want it be in buildings and facilities and fancy structures, think about it. Now let me say this I’m not a person who’s into money, I’m not a person who has spent his life seeking money or I just really desire to lay up money and have treasures and have all these things. Let me tell you something though, I’m a human being and here’s the thing.
<br><br>The bible says, “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Even though that is not something that I could ever see myself being tempted by laying up a bunch of wealth and doing … Here’s the thing though, there are a lot of people in the bible and also just a lot of people who we could see in our lives who basically get their hands on a whole bunch of money and it corrupts them. They get their hands on a whole bunch of money and they go crazy and they start making weird decisions doing weird things, it changes them. Look at people who win the lottery and it ruins their lives and they do a bunch of stupid things.
<br><br>Look its reality so and I remember my dad would always tell me about his dad, his dad had a whole bunch of money but he wasn’t saved. He’s mother prayed that if it would take him losing all the money for him to get saved then that would happen. He did, he lost all the money and he got saved and he just really made it financially after. He always had enough to live and he did well but he never had that wealth that he had in the early days ever again. My dad always said that God just knew probably that he couldn’t handle it. He just kept him lean to a certain point.
<br><br>Then my dad always told me, he said, “God has never allowed me to ever just really turn that corner financially, maybe God just knows I couldn’t handle.” You know what? Honestly those are wise words when we stop and think, you know what maybe it won't be good to have millions of dollars at my disposal because maybe I just wouldn’t know how to handle it. Or maybe I just would get a crazy thought or curve this thought or start making stupid decisions or start, how about this, getting prideful. Like Nebuchadnezzar where he looks out at the window at all the buildings and what does he say?
<br><br>“Is not this great Babylon that I’ve built, nobody can out finance me” like that pastor told me a few years ago. It can go to peoples head or not only that let’s say okay the pastor is incorruptible, you know God willing he is. Let’s say the pastor is totally incorruptible but what about this, what about the fact that it’s just a big target when there’s all these money. Whether it’s money in the bank or money tied up in a giant building. What about just the target of somebody who wants to get in there and get control of that money and get control of those properties and so forth.
<br><br>Now sometimes that person’s name is the IRS. Here’s the thing with the IRS, there are so many complicated rules that even if you do everything by the book they’ll still come in and mess with you and try to figure out where you didn’t cross the [inaudible 00:36:14]. They’ll come in sometime and then just targetely harass certain people that don't fit with their agenda of our United States government. The IRS can come in and give you fits and come in and move in with you, they’ll literally do these type of audits where they move in with you where they basically every day they are here. Watching you following you where they move in and do everything with you and see how you do everything and look at everything you do and analyze it. You say, “Well if you are not doing anything you’ve got nothing to hide. You say, “You don't really want them moving in with you and sometimes they just make stuff up that’s not even legit.” Just say, “I’m God this is the rule, we don't care what the law says, this is what we are going to do.”
<br><br>Then comes the dreaded padlock on the front door, right. They padlock, they literally padlock the facility, he’s seen it and he’s an accountant. They’ll padlock the facility while here’s the thing, go ahead and padlock our rented facility. “You want to seize all our assets? There’s not much, here’s the keys to the church van enjoy buddy” because you know what? When you got nothing you got nothing to lose. Somebody wants to come in here and shut us down or sue us, they are going to sue the pants off of us. Well you know what? I’ll go buy another pair of pants at the thrift store.
<br><br>Because honestly my pants aren't that expensive buddy. “Man we are going to sue you” listen I have been accused, I’m sorry not accused, I have been threatened with lawsuits so many times I can't even count but it’s funny that our church has never been sued. You want to know why? Because any lawyer is going to look at the pie and realize there’s no pie so how can I get a piece of it when there isn't one. Okay and then, “Well but we’ll come back for you personally Pastor Anderson.” “I don't own anything, I don't have any money, I have eight kids.”
<br><br>“Come sue me, for what? Nothing. I don't own anything.” “Well we’ll sue Faithfull Word” “Faithful Word doesn’t own anything. What now?” See what I’m saying? You don't have this target on you of people wanting to sue you or audit you or steal from you or infiltrate the church take over and get control of the assets and split the church and this all these stuff. It all just becomes a nonissue, okay because of the fact that there’s no money to fight over, it’s just isn't there okay. That’s if everything goes well and you own a bunch of buildings and have a bunch of money in the bank.
<br><br>How about the flipside of that where it all goes downhill and the church gets into debt up to their eyeballs. Because I could tell you about all the churches where the finances went great and where all the buildings are paid off and they are sitting on millions of dollars and then the pastor is corrupted. Then there’s a church spilt, there’s fighting everybody wants a piece of the pie, the trustees are mad and the cosigners are mad and the lender … Okay I can tell you that side but then there’s the other side of the coin where the church just gets in over their head up to their eyeballs and debt God forbid what of the church got smaller and you are into some giant building with a huge debt? I have been there done that, I’ve seen that. Okay or what about the churches that are just up to their eyeball and debt can't pay the bills then all of the fighting and bickering look you alleviate all this by just renting a building.
<br><br>Here’s why renting a building makes sense? Because when you rent a building you can get it for the size church you are right now. Not the size you used to be, not the size you are going to be but the size you are right now. Why? Because there’s no long term commitment. In a year or two the church is bigger you walk away you get into, “Hey God forbid the church gets smaller” so what get a smaller building, no sweat doesn’t matter. Whereas with the building you are looked into a certain size whether it’s either too big or too small. Renting gives you the flexibility to just move on whenever it’s time to move on. There is no putting people at financial risk.
<br><br>There’s no fundraisers, there’s no thermometers, there’s no sitting there and get people to mortgage their houses and getting Mr. Money Bags to cosign the list and everything, it’s just so much simpler and easier, you just pay as you go you are flexible and when stuff breaks the landlord fixes it, you don't have to fix it. Whereas when you buy the building and you scrap together that last penny and then stuff starts breaking. Remember when you bought your first house for your family? “This is great, we own” then something breaks like the next month and then you have to fix it.
<br><br>You are used to just calling the landlord, “Hey the air conditioner is not working” now its like, “Hey you need a new air conditioner it’s $5,000” “Oh men.” They are a lot of benefits to just renting okay and that’s the way we are going to do it. You say, “Well Pastor Anderson you are limiting our church, you are limiting the growth.” “No, I’m not” because there’s always a bigger building to rent. Think about the buildings you can rent, if the church got huge where you are running thousands you could rent like a grocery store. Seriously like the building, I have worked in construction and I’ve worked in retail in the fire alarm business.
<br><br>I’ve done all kinds of maintenance and inspections on vacant properties all the time and buildings where they used to be a K-Mart or a Marvin, bed bath and beyond, linens and thing. Grocery stores, Walmart for crying out loud, huge gigantic buildings that are just empty, just a big empty rectang … What do we need if it is not just a big empty rectangle? Isn't that good enough? Then you can come in and you can make it nice and you can do, look at our space right here, look at all this artwork, it’s like an art gallery in here for crying out loud. You can make it nice but you just keep getting a bigger store front.
<br><br>You keep getting bigger office space and you just stay in office space until dooms day. When the sun and moon are darkened and the stars begin to fall, Faithful Word is still in a strip mall running thousands all being but in a strip mall, why not? It just makes sense people and then you don't get corrupted, you don't get tempted and again I’m not saying, “Hey it’s bad to buy a building for other people its bad.” I’m just telling you that as long as I’m running things here we are not buying a building, we are not having a building fund, we are not raising a bunch of money.
<br><br>I’ll take it a step further than that, we are not even going to fill a giant bank account hold money ever. The money that comes in every month we spend it, we spend all of it. Why? You say, “Well why spend it all? Because why sit on it? Now go if you will to Mathew chapter 25, you were there in Mathew six, I’ll finish reading in Mathew six while you are turning. He said, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also the light of the body is the eye. If therefore that eye be single thy hold body shall be full of light but if thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in the darkness, how great is that darkness.”
<br><br>The eye referring to looking at and lusting after possessions the love of money curvaceousness and then he says. “No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he would hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” mammon being money, the God of money. Look at Mathew 25, bible reads in verse 13 watch, “Therefore for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh. For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country who called his own servants and delivered unto them his own goods. Unto one he gave five talents, to another two and to another one.”
<br><br>To every man according to his several ability and straight way took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same and made them other five talents. Likewise he that had received two he also gained other two.” Mathew 25 verse 18, “But he that had received one went and dig in the earth and hid his lords money. After a longtime the lord of those servants cometh and reckoned with them. He that had received five talents came and brought other five talents saying, “Lord thou delivered unto me five talents build, I have gained beside them five talents more.”
<br><br>He’s lord said to him, “Well done now good and faithful servant, thou has been a faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, “Lord, thou delivered unto me two talents beyond I gained two other talents besides them.” He’s lord said to him, “Well done good and faithful servant thou has been faithful over a few things I will make thee ruler over many things, enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one talent came and said, “Lord I knew that thou you are a hard man reaping where thou has not sown and gathering where thou has not strode. I was afraid and went and hid my talent in the earth, lo there thou that has that is thine his lord answered and said to him, “Thou wicked and slothful servant” thou knewest that I reap where I sow and gather where I have not strode. Thou honest therefore to put my money to the exchangers and then to my coming I should have receive mine with usury.”
<br><br>Look he’s saying, “Don't burry what God gives you in the earth use it.” Put it out there let it grow, let it multiple. It God gives you five talents, he wants to receive 10 when He gets back. He gives you two he wants four, he doesn’t want to give you one and get one and he doesn’t want you to fearfully go burry it in the earth, he wants you to do something with it. Look, when it comes to the money when that is given to Faithful Word Baptist Church, when it comes to not only the tithes and offerings but there are a lot of people who send us money from all over of the world and from all over the country.
<br><br>Literally probably, not probably, half the money that comes into this church comes from outside of this room, at least if not much more than that. I haven’t looked at it lately but in the past it’s more that people send here than what is actually given in the plate okay why? Because our church has internet presence of thousands and thousands of sermons, You Tube videos, audio recordings all kinds of stuff that’s all over the internet that gets millions and millions of listens every year. Our church has just tens of thousands of sermons being downloaded from the website every month and from You Tube it’s off the charts people.
<br><br>The numbers are mind boggling, how many people listen in. Why? Because they are hungry for this kind of preaching, it’s not that because I’m a great preacher, it’s because I’m the only game in town that’s actually saying this stuff. Because there’s so many preachers who compromise that it’s hard to even find sound biblical preaching that’s going to rip their face and that’s what people want to hear. That’s why millions of sermons are downloaded constantly. Okay well that cause a lot of people donate and they send money, send money … Our church has plenty of mine, even before that our church had enough money because the philosophy is we don't spend what we don't have.
<br><br>Okay if we have it we spend it, if we don't have it we don't spend. There are certain things that obviously have to be paid every month. Okay whether or not we want to because obviously the rent we got to pay the rent. Obviously my salary gets paid because I have to live and feed my eight children. Okay then also obviously our Ad in the yellow pages or the internet bill for live streaming and service, there are certain things that bills come every month. Certain expenses, putting some gas in the church van for the school or whatever. There’s a lot of other money that we spend above that on things that are optional, that we don't really have to do but we do them because we have the money.
<br><br>For example, notice how we give out tens of thousands of audio preaching CD’s, they are all free. Tens of thousands of DVD’s we have all the movies back there on the shelf all free, we never sell anything. When have you ever gone to a church that gave you so much free stuff? Never, they charge you money for everything in most churches. I’ve been to churches where they charge you money for the tracks that you use out soul winning. You buy them and then go out and go soul winning them seriously. You shop at soul winning and you buy packs of this for a buck each, literally.
<br><br>If there’s any kind of a dinner, any kind of a lunch any kind it’s, “Hey it’s $10, $5.” If there’s a youth activity, it’s $10 it’s $5. If there’s a banquet it’s $30 it’s” we just do everything for free, we have activities, we give you the preaching CD, people would always try to buy the preaching CD’s from me and I will always tell them, “I pay you to listen to them.” Buy, why would I sell it to you? I want you to hear it, we want as many people to hear this stuff as possible is the word of God. Basically it makes more sense to me if God gives us money because honestly I believe that God is the source of all blessing.
<br><br>Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the father of light with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning. If money comes in its money that God has provided and it’s actually the Lord’s money it actually belongs to God. It belongs to the church but the church is the house of God. It’s really the Lord’s money so that money is spent on the Lord’s work, doing God’s work okay. Well what does God wants us to do with His man? Does He really wants us to go burry it? What does it say in the bible? Does he really wants to go just fill up some giant back account for our rainy day, we live in the desert okay.
<br><br>Here’s the thing, “Man we got to save it up for a rainy day but here’s the thing, you know what says, “Lets save it up for a rainy day fear, fear. What if someone, what if we need that? Shut up with the what if, just spend it, because use it for God’s work. People are dying going to hell let’s go full speed ahead, let’s work as hard as we can. Now look what type of things do we spend money on? Part of is, part of it gets reinvested into the internet thing because first of all that’s where half of the money is coming from or more than half the money. A lot of it gets reinvested back in that machine because of the fact that people all over the world are being blessed by the sermon.
<br><br>They are putting money in as a token of their appreciation, it’s good to take that money and put it toward giving back to them. That they can be blessed by the money that they put in to this ministry and that’s why we spend all the money to upgrade the thing where now we have crystal clear sound and the videos are live streamed and we have high quality video and everything like that. Why, because we want to reach more people with the gospel, with the truth, with the word of God. Then those people are some of the people who have even funded this ministry in many ways. Not only that but getting the movies translated into other languages and getting the subtitles put on and getting them transcribed and getting it out in the search engines.
<br><br>Where people are finding the sermons to the tunes of thousands per day are finding out about our church, finding out about this preaching. You know what? That’s great because that’s just people that are hearing the word of God and God’s word goes forward. That’s a lot better than having a $100,000 sitting in the bank, okay. 100,000 bucks siting in the bank so that if we can get to 300,000 when that red in the thermometer hits the top we can then go out and spend five times that much. We can just struggle and strive to raise 300,000 so that we can spend 1.5 million. That we can finally stop having gatheist and fagnostics tell us that we are meeting in a strip mall.
<br><br>Who cares, they hate us anyway nuts to them. You know what I found by the way our church started in a house okay who was here when we were meeting in a house? Only a few people everybody is in this side of the building. Okay, people that were there when we meeting in the house. Okay but here’s what I notice when we moved into our first building all the same people who didn’t like it in the house didn’t like it in the building. Because it turned out it wasn’t the house that was the problem, it was the preaching that was the problem in their mind. Because I remember when we first moved into our first building, I had a visitor card back when we did visitor cards.
<br><br>I had a visitor card from every visitor who’d ever visit our church while we were in the house. I wrote them all a letter talking about how we are in this building now. We are in a real building now so and send out this letter to all of them and we have like three different household show up. It was like a family, a couple, single whatever. There’s three different entities show up, okay that had come in the past but now they are coming back now that we are in a building and they all came that one time and never came back. It turned out it wasn’t, they are like, “No we still don't like this preaching even now that it’s in a building.”
<br><br>I do not like it in a house I do not like it in the belly I don't want it with a fox, I don't want it in a box. If you don't like it you don't like it. Because guess what, the people who want this kind of preaching they don't care whether they are sitting a living room or a tent or a church building or an office space or a strip mall. They are hungry for the word of God, that’s what they care about. They don't care about chandeliers and who … That’s not what it’s about to them and so they don't care so who cares about them. Don't sit there and try to reach people that don't even care because the people you are trying to reach with fancy buildings don't want the word of God. The people who do want the word of God they don't care if we are meeting in a mud hut they’ll be there.
<br><br>I remember the first time that I went to a real fired up soul winning, because I grew up Independent Fundamental Baptist. When I got in a real red hot soul winning Independent Fundamental Baptist Church as a teenager, I remember when I stood up there air conditioner was broken. It was the height of summer and it was like a 110 degrees outside or whatever in Sacramento California has a few weeks like that every year which really just as hot as it is here. Just a few weeks though we have it for half the year … For a few weeks and I remember we are sitting there and the church didn’t even have patted churches like we have.
<br><br>Metal folding chairs and on the back they had stenciled on the back Nuestra Casa, because they got them from Spanish restaurant or something. It’s just all these metal folding chairs stenciled on the back Nuestra Casa okay big giant fans that just did nothing but blow hot air around that was already there. No air conditioning and I remember sitting in there as a 17 year old boy, I had spent the last five years and just watered down dead Baptist churches. I remember sitting in that church with it just hot all the doors and windows are opened to 110 degrees outside, I’m sitting in a metal folding chair and the pastor is up there yelling about soul winning.
<br><br>I remember thinking, “I love this place it’s great, I love it. Where has this church been on my life?” Why? Because who cares about all that other stuff, it’s about the word, it’s about souls being saved. Look if I can sit there and take the money and spent it on getting preaching CD’s into the hands of thousands of people, getting these videos into the house of thousands of people. Getting thousands and thousands of people to find our church website every single day then why would I sit there and just pile it up somewhere so I can count it like King Crochias or something.
<br><br>Sit there like that Donald Duck scrooge McQuack or whatever swimming around in his money, who cares. I’d rather spend every last dime put it all out there, get it all out, spend it all. You know what? Because then nobody is going to be tempted to steal it. Nobody is going to come unto it, it’s all going to the lord’s work, it’s all legit but it’s all gone. When somebody wants to sue us and padlock the front door of our church you know what we will do? Will shut this church down and start another one across the street. Right? All in favor say aye … Who cares comes sue us, come shut us down, come padlock the front door. “Alright, hey Mr. IRS Man here’s the keys to the building and the keys to the van, see you later.”
<br><br>“I’ll give you my forwarding address over at Living Word Baptist across the street.” They are going to do about, because if you’ve got nothing, you got nothing to lose. You know what? When you got the big multimillion dollar building and all the debt then you got to be careful what you preach too. Because you don't want to run off your trustees and you cosigners. You could screw up your loan or whatever, you don't want to mess with Mr. Money Bags, you don't want to confuse him. Go, I’ve one last point I wanted to make tonight, go to 2nd Timothy, chapter number two, I’m out of time but I just want to make one last point.
<br><br>Is this making sense tonight? I think it makes great sense? I think that when the church becomes money orientated and it’s about buildings and these fund and that fund and saving up a bunch of money, I’d rather, look I just want to figure out ways to spend the money to reach the most souls. If there’s enough extra money then I’ll hire an assistant, right? Then we can do work for the Lord, we can go out and talk to people and win them to Christ and reach people and preach sermons. Get people saved and go soul winning and do something with our lives instead of just financing buildings. Sit back and say, “Look at all these buildings.”
<br><br>You know what no one can ever take away from us as a church? No one can ever take away from us the souls that we won to the Lord. They’ll be there in heaven and nothing can change that, they’ll be there. We are not going to be gone, now here’s the thing, I remember my dad is an electrician. My dad put a lot of hard electrical working volunteering on this building program because a lot of times they’d use labor from the church. He would slave away on some buildings only for the church to go liberal. Look I could tell you about multiple churches the same story where basically the church is fundamental, the church is big, the church is thriving.
<br><br>Look I’m going to tell you this and it sounds unbelievable, it might even sound hard to believe but I can literally tell you multiple scenarios that happened like is in … In my life churches that I went into as kid. Churches big, thriving, soul winning, King James preaching good and then they get the big buildings and then they build the big church buildings and then that’s not enough they have to build a big gymnasium. For the Christian school and for the banquets and whatever. They build the big church building, they build the big Sunday school facility, they build the big gymnasium.
<br><br>They are on millions of dollars of property then they start changing the doctrine, going liberal, praising Billy Graham and whatever and just getting all weird it out and bringing in other versions. Then start running people off and alienating people and people start quitting the church, quitting the church okay. I have literally known of two churches where they literally just run everybody off basically people would call the pastor on the carpet for some of the stuff he’s doing where he’s going liberal or how about this, hiring his kids on the payroll and paying them too much money. Paying them more than everybody else getting paid doing the same jobs. Okay he puts his kids on the payroll and yadi, yada and then pretty soon they’ve run off everybody to where the church keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller and then the church is too small for the big building and then you know what they did?
<br><br>They sell the big giant building for millions of dollars and then you know what they did? They put that in a bank account and then they go rent a building at a strip mall like we are doing. They have millions of dollars in the bank and then they just live off that for the rest of their lives. I can tell you two churches that I went to as a kid where that’s what happened. The church ending up going liberal, shrinking down to nothing, selling the facilities to some apostate church and then putting millions of dollars into a bank account and then they just operate a tiny church out of a strip mall no desire to grow, no desire to win souls.
<br><br>Meet up with their tiny little group in the strip mall and they know that their salary is set for the rest of their life because they got millions of dollars sitting in the bank to pay their salary for the rest of their life. Two scenarios like that that I literally witnessed. Here’s the thing then the people who’ve sat there and slaved on the building and took out the mortgage and borrowed money and put into the building find. Ran all the electrical for free in their off time on the evenings and the weekends. They are like, “Oh man, what a waste of my time.” My dad is what he said to me so many times, I ran all his electrical wires and now it’s some heathen church, it’s some church that doesn’t even believe the bible.
<br><br>I’m a Baptist some phony church is in there using the building. I remember one time I clicked on the cable access TV as a kid and I saw my old church building. The church that I grew up in and basically it had become a charismatic church. You remember cable access TV so I’m at home and I’m flipping through the channels as a teenager and I see the church I grew up in and there’s this charismatic preacher and somebody is playing the organ while he preached. He’s like … “Well I come to tell you this morning … It was just this wild circus and I’m thinking to myself, “That is so weird.”
<br><br>It would be like if you saw this background and there is just some charismatic service going on. How do you think my dad felt and not just my dad there’s other people who volunteered and worked but here’s the cool thing about our church. All the work that you put in, all the money that’s put into the plate, you know what? It goes right out to something that you can see right then and there. It just translates right away into millions of people hearing the word of God. It translates into hundreds of thousands of doors being knocked. It translates into the work of Lord right here right now, not some building, “Hey this building is great we are going to grow old in this thing for the next 30 years.” Psych two years later I’m screwing the whole thing up. That’s reality my friend. By the way I’m not hiring my kids to work for this church either, let me say that right now.
<br><br>Because you know what and listen kids, if you think I’m going to hire you, you are wrong. Sam and Isaac John you know what I want my kids to do? I want my kids to go out and get a job somewhere else so that their boss can yell and curse at them so that they can figure out what it’s like in the real world not where everything is being handed to them all the time. Not some dynasty where they grow up little Lord Fauntleroy and basically they are just handed the keys to the kingdom when they are 18 years old and they have their own office and their own company vehicle and they are working for dad.
<br><br>It’s a family dynasty, wrong you go out and make it in the ugly world yourself and figure out what it’s like for everybody else who has to pull themselves up by their own boot straps but that’s another story. Anyway the last thing I want to point tonight is in 2nd Timothy chapter two, because I want to tell you something, when it comes to growing the church like I said, I believe in church growth. I think church growth is great, I want the church to grow. That’s not the most important thing though but look at what the bible says in verse one, “Thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou of faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.”
<br><br>Let me tell you something more important than growing in the sense of just our congregation here getting bigger, the better growth would be that we can send out other men to go start churches somewhere else. Than to just see how big we can build this crowd, we want this crowd to be, I think it would be over 1,000 someday God willing. You know what? I’d rather send as many men out here as I can that are trained faithful men who shall be able to able to teach others also to start and pastor churches elsewhere in this nation. Because then all the eggs aren't in one basket then if Faithful Word goes down there could still be other great churches all across the America still holding forth the word of life and still serving God.
<br><br>What’s the vision for our church? You say Pastor Anderson where do you see yourself in five years” like this job interview questions. “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?” What’s the vision for Faith” you know what the vision for Faithful Word Baptist is? It’s not a building, it’s not a free standing building it’s not, just look, just never ask me again, “Hey are we still in the strip mall?” The answer is always yes until Jesus comes, okay. Just get a bigger strip mall, a bigger office space but here’s the thing not only that but it’s not about immersing a bunch of money, because I don't want to have millions of dollars at my disposal.
<br><br>I don't need that, I need that like I need a hole in my head, what’s good is that going to do? You know what I want? I just want to have enough money every month, not laid up and treasured up and put in a barn somewhere. No I just want enough money coming in every month where I can provide for my family and where I get paid for the work that I do, that’s all I want. I don't need to immerse a bunch of wealth and I don't need to control millions of dollars of church assets. I don't need a big ego, a big pride thing of controlling some empire of buildings and ministries. The camp, our 10th peak campus, when it starts being a campus, somewhere went wrong.
<br><br>Anyway I’m just saying, the goal, my vision is yes to reach as many people as we can but it’s more about wining souls. It’s about knocking every single door in this greater Phoenix area five times and just giving everybody the gospel. To where people are sick of hearing the gospel. I heard a great story this morning where my wife was telling me that what was it, Shelly Resell was saying how she knocked somebody’s door and they had, their bible was just filled with invitations from our church over the years. They had like seven invitations to our church. They had been collecting them all the different colors and styles.
<br><br>By the way, if you are listening out there, if you collect them all there’s a prize. If you come and bring one of each color you get a special prize. It’s like those little McDonald’s monopoly or something, “Oh man yellow again, I need green what’s going on, what’s going on Faithful Word.” The point is, it’s about winning souls but you know what my desire is more than just this church growing, what do I want this? From a human perspective, why in the world would I want this church to grow? I don't need an ego trip. If the church grows it’s just harder work for me to go find another building and deal with more people.
<br><br>It’s just a headache but you know what it’s even better though it’s if we can [inaudible 01:08:26] start churches all over America. My vision is to send 20 guys out to start churches all nation, 100 guys out. Start churches all over America. Look we walked into Panera, Brad in Dearborn a few months ago and we walked in and we’ve never been even there and there were just 60 people ready and willing to go soul winning with us. Why? They are people all over America that want to go soul winning, that want to hear the bible preach. A lot of them they don't really have a leader that they can get behind. They don't have a local church that’s really bringing them into their full potential.
<br><br>Of those 60 people or so that came soul winning like half of them had never gone. If they had a church though in their area they would be out soul winning, case and point they came all the way out to our thinking in Dearborn. What we really need is we need to train other leaders okay so that it’s diversified, where it’s not just all about one person. We are all following Pastor Anderson, no we need like a 100 leaders for people to look to. That way it’s not about Pastor Anderson it’s about the word and it’s about a whole bunch of different people that are all doing their own thing independent, soul winning fundamental Baptist and then when one of them gets a little squally it doesn’t affect the rest because they are all independent. I pray to God that we would have more men in this church that would have the desire to someday go out and start a church and pastor and that we could get them trained and that they would get serious and get, not play games with it but to do the work.
<br><br>Study their bibles, read the bible memorize it, learn how to be a soul winner learn how to be a leader. Learn how to lead their family and go out there and start a great church. That’s a lot better than, “Hey we ran X number and here in Tempi we are the biggest fundamental church in Arizona.” Who cares? I’d rather send out a 100 people to go start churches all over America and you know what, we should be sending out a 100 people to go to start churches. There’s no reason not to because honestly as we grow, as we reach people, I think that eventually plus hopefully the guys that we send out then they will train other guys too and we’ll have the spiritual grandchildren of Faithful Word.
<br><br>Honestly I just wanted to give you that vision tonight of just getting our view off of the physical, the temporal and getting it on the spiritual where it belongs. Getting it on souls, getting it on people and not having these idea of, “Well we got to be financially responsible by putting aside money for a rainy day. Look in your personal finances you run that how you want. Okay and obviously in our personal finances we need a house, we need food, we need whatever … Honestly there’s dangers there too with the love of money, that’s another sermon though. I just want you to know that my philosophy for pastoring this church is to just do it by the seed of our pants.
<br><br>Spend all the money because you know what? What do we need to lay up a bunch of money for? “Well if something happens?” There’s money coming in every week, as long as we keep preaching and keep soul winning the money is going to keep coming. If the money stops coming we’ll figure something out but I want to invest, I want reinvest every penny into the work of the God and I’m not building any buildings ever and if you say, “Well I was hoping to stick around until you get out of that strip mall” well you know what? You might as well leave now, because we are never leaving.
<br><br>Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for your word Lord and we thank you for your son Lord and the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin. Help us to have spiritual things on the mind, help our affections to be above not on the things on the earth. Help us to realize that we are God’s building, we are the building, we have a real church building its people. Help us never to get sucked into this weird, emphasis on physical buildings and steeples and stain glass Lord, help us to keep it on souls and to be smart and wise and not to put any one person in control of just millions of dollars that’s just sitting a bank account somewhere that’s just a temptation to every thief and robber out there in Jesus name we pray, amen.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-86195964532038169592016-05-27T11:07:00.003-07:002016-05-27T11:09:13.547-07:00Hypocrites <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ThATZ_R4r8">Video</a>
<p><b>August 9, 2015</b></p>
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<p> Matthew Chapter 23, beginning in verse number one, the Bible reads, "Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples saying, 'The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not after their works for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born and lay them on men's shoulders. But they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.'"
<br><br>The subject that I want preach on this morning is the subject of hypocrisy. Now, if any chapter in the Bible is the hypocrisy chapter it would be this chapter. Over and over again Jesus says, and verse after verse, "You're hypocrites! You hypocrites! Scribes and pharisees, hypocrites, hypocrites." Almost every verse, once you get into the meat of this chapter, uses the word, "hypocrites." So I wanted to go through some of the things in this chapter and warn you about the danger of being a hypocrite and also warn you about other people who are hypocrites.
<br><br>Now, first of all, let's get some definitions of hypocrisy from this chapter. There are several definitions that we can find right here in the chapter. First of all, in verse three, the Bible says, "All things, all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works." And then here's the key, "For they say and do not." So the number one definition of a hypocrite here is someone who says one thing and does another. They say and do not. For example, this would be somebody who tells you that you need to be reading your Bible everyday and then they're not reading the Bible everyday. Or they tell you, "Hey, we need to be out soul winning. We need to be out getting people saved! We need to preach the gospel to every creature." But they're not actually doing that work, themselves. They tell you to do a lot of good deeds and good works, but they don't participate in it themselves.
<br><br>Look at verse five. Following up with that, the Bible says, "But all their works they do for to be seen of men." So when they do actually do the work, it's only to be seen of men. They talk a real big talk, but they don't walk the walk. If they do walk the walk, it's only to put on a show to be seen of other people. This is what a hypocrite is.
<br><br>A hypocrite is someone whose basically an actor. They're pretending to be something that they're not. Their goal is to be glorified by men and to be exalted by those around them. What's the motive for being a hypocrite? The motive is to make people think that you're a wonderful person, when you're not. It's to make people think that you're a great Christian, when you're not. That's the goal. The goal is to be glorified and exalted of men. Look what the Bible says in verse five. "But all their works they do for to be seen by men: they make broad their phylacteries and enlarge the boarders of their garments, and love the upper most rooms at feats, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi."
<br><br>Now, elsewhere, when Jesus is making a very similar speech to this, in the book of Luke, he talks about how they love to go in long clothing. That's the term he uses. Here he talks about them enlarging the boarder of their garments, but in Luke it's worded as going in long clothing. You'll notice how many religious leaders and clerics of our day will go around in long clothing, don't they? They basically will walk through the airport, or wherever you see them, in long, flowing garments.
<br><br>They have these gowns on that really look ridiculous if you think about it. They're not really practical clothing. But you see Catholic priests in that kind of garment. You see the Orthodox priest in that kind of garment. You see the Jews wearing those kinds of garments sometimes. You'll see Muslim Imam's in these long, flowing garments. What's the purpose of wearing that kind of clothes? There's only one purpose: to put on a show to the people around you.
<br><br>Hey everybody! Look at me. I'm a holy man. I'm a man of God. Putting on a robe and tying it with a weird hood or something, looking like, you know, you're from Star Wars or something. Basically, the point is just so everybody sees you and says, "There's a guy who is just a really spiritual leader." That's why they turn the collar backwards and put on the funny hat. It's all to be seen of man and Jesus is warning against this.
<br><br>When Jesus was on this earth he did not wear a funny hat. He did not wear strange clothing. He basically dressed like a normal person. In fact, when he was in the garden of Gethsemane the only way he could be identified was that Judas would give him the kiss of betrayal, because of the fact that he looked like everybody else. He looked like a normal person. That's why they had to say, "It's the one that I kiss." Because otherwise they wouldn't have known him from anybody else. He just dressed like a normal person.
<br><br>But hypocrites, people who want to be seen as very holy and spiritual will wear these strange outfits, long, flowing garments, collar turned around backwards, whatever. It says they love these titles. These are the type of titles that they love: rabbi. Then, here's another title they like: father. Look what the Bible says in verse number 9. "Call no man your father upon the earth: for one if your Father, which is in heaven. Neither be called masters: for one is your master, even Christ. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted."
<br><br>One of the ways to avoid hypocrisy is not to exalt yourself, but to humble yourself. Don't go around wearing certain clothes to show people how spiritual you are. Don't go around with fancy titles to impress people. We're suppose to be humble and glorifying of Jesus Christ, not calling our-self names that exalt us too much. Now, it's amazing to me how people will just disregard this clear teaching of scripture on not calling people Rabbi, master, or father. Now, the Catholic church, what do they call the priest? Father. Something that Jesus specifically prohibits here. Then, what do the Jews call their leaders? Rabbi. Now, they don't believe in Christ anyway. But then you have this messianic Juadism that comes along, where basically they claim to be a Christian but then they still call them self Rabbi when Jesus specifically said, "No."
<br><br>It's amazing to me how people will try to argue with this stuff. You'll try to show this to someone whose Catholic and here's what they'll come at you with. Oh, well you call your dad father. That's because he is my father! It makes sense to call your dad father because he is your father. Okay? But the Catholic priest is not my father. Neither is the pastor my father. That doesn't make any sense. Obviously when he says here not to call any man father upon the earth, for one is your father, we're talking spiritually here. Now, even so, let's say, for example, that the Catholics are right when they come at us when they say, "Well, you call your dad father." Do two wrongs make a right? Even according to that ridiculous logic, then I would just stop calling my dad father. But I'm not going to violate Christ's command here and call some priest father. I'm not going to call some messianic teacher, Rabbi. It's wrong. We shouldn't use these terms.
<br><br>Now, I've asked ... Somebody said, 'cause I'd attacked Jonathon Con for calling himself, Rabbi, and here's what they said, "Oh, well he doesn't call himself Rabbi. He calls himself Rabbi Jonathon Con and that's different." They said, "That's three words. Rabbi is one word. Rabbi Johnathon Con is three words." This is the kind of nonsense where people just don't care what the Bible says, but they're just entrenched in what they believe. They just can't let go of Judaism. They can't let go of Catholicism. They can't ... How can anybody look at this scripture and walk away thinking that we should call ourselves, as religious leaders, Rabbi or master, or father. But people will say this, "Well what's the difference between calling yourself pastor and calling yourself Rabbi? Hmm?" Well here's the difference: God told us not to do the one! He sanctioned the other! Any questions?
<br><br>If God in Heaven says, "Hey, I gave you pastors and teachers." Then you have pastors and teachers. If he says, "This is the bishop, this is the elder." Then you have a bishop and an elder. If he says, "Here's a deacon." Then you have a deacon. But if he says, "Don't be Rabbi, master, and father." Then you don't go by those names. Pastor, teacher, bishop, elder, deacon, these are good terms. Master, Rabbi, father are blasphemies terms. Any questions? Here's what they'll lie and say, "Oh, Rabbi means teacher." Wrong! What does the Bible say right here in the passage? It says in verse number eight, "But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master." So what does Rabbi mean according to the Bible? Master. When Jesus resurrects from the dead in John Chapter twenty and is faced with Mary in the garden of the tomb there, then basically she says to him, "Rabboni!" Which being interpreted is master.
<br><br>Rabboni means my master. Again, we let the Bible define itself, not Christ rejecting Jews to tell us what Rabbi means. The Bible says that Rabbi means master. Now, it might seem repetitive here that he says not to be called Rabbi, not to be called father, and then he specifically says not to be called master. Now the reason why is because Rabbi is in a foreign language. Okay? Jesus here is speaking in the Greek language. The New Testament is written in Greek. If you read this in the Greek New Testament there's a Greek word for master. He's saying don't use that word. Then, there's the word Rabbi, which is the Hebrew word for master. He's saying don't use that word either. In reality, he's telling us twice not to be called master. He's telling us twice not to be called Rabbi. Basically he's saying don't call it in this language and don't call it in that language. Our equivalent, today, in English would be, don't be called master in English and don't be called Rabbi and don't be called father. These are not appropriate titles for a religious leader. An appropriate title would be pastor, teacher, beacon, deacon. Those are appropriate Biblical titles.
<br><br>Why would someone want to call them self these titles that are specifically prohibited by God? It's because they're a hypocrite. A hypocrite is someone whose outwardly pretending to be spiritual but on the inside they're not. How could you be anymore of a hypocrite to call yourself a man of God and Christian teacher and then use titles that Christ specifically prohibited in a chapter about hypocrites. That shows what's going on in your heart. You like those fancy titles because you're a hypocrite. You like to be exalted and lifted up and given these lofty titles that are too high for you, of master. If a slave called their master, Master, that would make sense 'cause he is their master. But you know what? Is the pastor of the church your master? No. That's a little bit too far, isn't it? When you're calling a religious leader Master? Or when you're calling him Father? It's not ... I don't want to take the responsibility of being your father, all right? It's a little too much.
<br><br>The Bible here is talking about people who lift themselves up. Jump down the verse twenty-five. What is a hypocrite? Number one, a hypocrite is someone who says one thing and does another. Number two, a hypocrite who does all their works to be seen of men and exalted. Look at verse twenty-five. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." This is what hypocrisy is. On the outside you're clean. On the outside you look good. But that's where it ends. On the inside you're rotten. That's what hypocrisy is.
<br><br>Go to Matthew chapter number six. Matthew six. What is it to be a hypocrite? It is when you do your works to be seen of men. Here's a chapter that also uses the word hypocrite a lot. Matthew chapter number six, beginning in verse one. "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." Now remember, he said of the hypocrites in Matthew twenty-three, he said all their works they do for to be seen of men. Here he's telling us, as Christians, we're not false prophets. We're not evil, rotten people. We've saved, born again Christians. But he's warning us and saying to us that we should take heed that we don't do our alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise we will have no reward of our father which is in Heaven. Even we, as Christians, can fall into the trap of hypocrisy like the unsaved Pharisees. That's why Jesus even told his own disciples, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." He spoke of their doctrine.
<br><br>He said in another passage, Luke twelve, he said, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees which is hypocrisy." Now what is leaven? What would we, in modern time refer to as leaven? Yeast is normally what people would use to leaven bread. Leaven is that leaven multiples and spreads. So the phrase goes a little leaven leavens the whole lump. If you've ever made that Amish bread where you keep passing the dough along and it keeps on going and going and going, this is testament to the fact that the leaven keeps on multiplying. It's living, it's bacteria. It's not exactly bacteria, but anyway the thing about it is that leaven is something that spreads and multiples exponentially.
<br><br>God is warning us about hypocrisy and he's saying that even if we're saved, we can be leavened by the hypocrisy of people like the Pharisees, evil people. Where we start act the same way and do the same things as these wicked unbelievers and as these false religions do. He says unto us that we need to take heed. What does take heed mean? Be careful. He says, "Look, be careful that you don't do your alms before men to be seen of them." He's saying we need to examine our hearts and think about when we do good deeds are we doing it so other people will see what we're doing? Or are we doing it because it's the right thing to do and we just want to please God. That's what it comes down to. Is our goal to please God in secret? Or is our goal to please man openly. That's what's going to stop us from being a hypocrite. When we realize that the only person whose opinion matters is really God's opinion. That's who need to worry about pleasing.
<br><br>It says here not to do our alms. Alms, in the Bible, if you study that word consistently means the same thing. It's talking about giving to the poor. It's not talking about tithing or giving offerings at church or anything like that. This is talking about giving to the poor. Alms would be when a poor person needs money and you give them money. This could be a person begging by the side of the road and you give them money or this could be someone that you know that's just down on their luck, maybe they need some groceries, they need a little bit of help financially. That would be alms. It's when you give to the poor.
<br><br>God says that when you do your alms ... Look at verse two, "Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward." Now, this seems kind of hard to imagine that anybody would do this, but I believe that Jesus is being literal here. I think that at that time there were people who would literally, when they would see a beggar, they would sound a trumpet and say, "You know, I just want to let everybody know I'm going to help this guy out. I'm going to give him some money or something." That's just ridiculous, isn't it? God saying, "Don't sound a trumpet when you're doing something good." Basically, in our day, this would be going around and telling everybody about it. Oh, yeah, I was able to help this person out. You know, Facebook update your alms. Hashtag almsdeed or whatever. You're giving out your alms or helping people or whatever. He's saying if you do that he says we have no reward of our father which is in Heaven.
<br><br>Wouldn't you hate to go through life doing a bunch of good deeds and then get no reward? Can you imagine going to work all week and then it comes payday and it's like, sorry you don't get a paycheck. No paycheck for you. But I worked all week! Sorry, you don't get a paycheck. But that's what God's saying. If we do our good deeds before men to be seen of them then we are losing our heavenly reward, the Bible says. God is saying, "You have your reward right now."
<br><br>Let me tell you something, the glory and praise or man and the accolades that we get on this earth is really an empty reward. Wouldn't you much rather have the reward that God's going to give you in heaven then to get just the empty praise and the accolades on this earth? It's not worth it. He says, "Don't sound the trumpet before the." He says at the end of verse two, "They have their reward.But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret," Verse four, "and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." We need to help people from the bottom of our heart because we want to help them and because if you give to the poor the Bible says you're lending to the Lord. Not because we just want everybody to see how generous we are.
<br><br>Look at verse number five. It says, "And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." What's he saying? Obviously the Bible does talk about praying publicly. There are examples of praying publicly. The Bible says, "I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting." But what he's saying is that the real prayer that God's going to reward you for is the prayer that you do in secret, when you enter into your closest, and you pray to the Father in Heaven because you believe that he hears you and that he's going to do what you ask, not because you're putting on a show.
<br><br>I'll tell you how to identify people who are hypocrites. It's because they go around putting out this really, over spiritual, facade. You run into people like this where you run into them and every word out of their mouth, "Hey, brother Anderson! Praise the Lord. Hallelujah. God Bless you, my brother. Greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." You know? They basically just talk a big talk and everything is just so overly spiritual. When they pray they like to make these really long prayers. The Bible talks about that in Matthew twenty-three. We'll get to that. It says that they, for pretense, they make long prayers. Now, I'm all for long prayers in your closet, by yourself. But public prayer is not a time for big, long, flowery, fancy prayers because that is just to be seen of men. That's just to be glorified of men at that point.
<br><br>You'll notice that when they have these phony events like these presidential prayer breakfasts or these, you know, the White House. Anything our government does, hypocrisy. They'll have these big events and people will literally get up to pray and they'll get out notes to pray. When you're praying from notes, that's not prayer. Why do you need notes to pray? Because it's not coming from your heart. Because you're just getting up and making a show to be seen of men and you have your reward right there: everybody thinking that you're so wonderful.
<br><br>Look down, if you would, at verse sixteen. He says, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as what? the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." This is the person whose going to put on the sack cloth and they're going to disfigure their face and look like they're really suffering. They're fasting and telling everybody about how they're fasting. That's not the purpose of fasting.
<br><br>The purpose of fasting is between you and the Lord, not to put on a show. I've even heard about people talk about the fact that they did a forty day fast. It's like, look, first of all, I'm never going to do a forty day fast. If I did a forty day fast I'd probably be dead. Now, some peoples bodies could probably handle that. I don't think mine could. I've heard about people who've done forty day, 'cause they're people in the Bible who've done a forty day fast. But even the Hindu Gandhi did more than a forty day fast. That's not going to get him into Heaven. He's in hell. He's a Hindu. He's not a Bible believing Christian. I've heard Christians talk about the fact that they had done a forty day fast where they just drank nothing but water for forty days and forty nights. Look, I'm going to tell you this. I'm never doing a forty day fast but if I did I wouldn't tell anybody about it. Can you imagine going through that and then losing your reward? 'Cause it would be such an ordeal to go through such a thing and then to just go around telling everybody about it and then you just lost your reward. That's sad, really sad.
<br><br>Here's the thing. The Bible talks about when you fast and I believe ... people have asked me what I believe about fasting and I don't want to talk too much about it 'cause it's outside the scope of the sermon, but fasting is biblical. To just go without food and drink water, it is biblical. But here's the thing, the most common fast in the Bible is fasting for one day, fasting 'til sundown. A lot of times you'll see a three day fast.
<br><br>Fasting doesn't have to be this extreme thing of forty days and forty nights, fasting for a week. It doesn't even have to be this extreme thing where you're fasting every week or something, okay? But when you fast it should be something that's between you and the Lord. It should be something that's not openly put on display, that you brag about. Honestly, fasting could just be skipping a meal. Skipping a meal, skipping a days food, skipping a few days.
<br><br>Honestly, fasting is not bad for you. Some people will try to say, "Oh, fasting is really unhealthy and dangerous." That's really not true. Your body doesn't begin to go into a starvation type mode for a couple of days. The first few days without food, your body is just fine. There's no harmful effect to that, whatsoever. Going beyond that, your body has mechanisms to cope with it and deal with it and so forth. Fasting is a good thing to do. It's a whole other sermon of itself. It is biblical. But it should be something that's done privately and we should anoint our head, wash our face, look sharp, and look like everything's fine. But inside we're going through the affliction of fasting. But that's another sermon.
<br><br>Now flip just one page over to chapter seven of Matthew. I want to show you another definition of hypocrisy. So far we've seen that hypocrisy is when you say and do not. Number two, hypocrisy is when you do your works to be seen of men. Everything you care about is what people think of you and putting out this outward facade.
<br><br>I'm going to tell you something. I'm very suspicious of people who are, I call, hyper-spiritual when they get around you. I'm all for being godly and being spiritual. I'm talking about people who are putting on a show of just how godly and spiritual they are. This is often the sign of a hypocrite, where they really lay it on thick with the praise the Lords and hallelujahs.
<br><br>If you would, look at Matthew Chapter seven and let's get a third definition. Verse one says, "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." This is where a person judges other people for being guilty of something when they are even more guilty than that person.
<br><br>This is actually very common. Why? Because when people feel bad about themselves they like to take other people down a notch to make themselves feel a little bit better. That's why this is so common, this Matthew seven scenario. People have a great big beam in their eye and they're trying to remove the mote from someone else's eye. Often, people will pick apart and criticize other people to make themselves feel about about their own failures and their own short comings.
<br><br>Let me give you some examples of this. There are people who will criticize every church in their area. There's no good church. Right? They don't even go to church. So here's the beam in their eye, not going to church, when God commands us to go to church. It's not optional. Then, they're trying to pick apart every little, tiny thing that's wrong with the churches in their area.
<br><br>Here's another example. People will often criticize a church like ours when we go out and get a bunch of people saved. We'll go out and knock on doors and bring a bunch of people to Christ. Here's what they'll say, "You didn't follow up with those people. You didn't disciple them." They have, basically, this big beam in their eye of not obeying Christ's command to go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, not obeying Christ's command to go out into the highway and hedges and compel them to come in, not obeying Christ's command of teaching all nations, baptizing them and so forth. Here's what they'll say, "Oh, well you didn't follow up with those people." They're not even reaching anybody! They don't have anyone to follow up with 'cause they're not even doing the soul winning!
<br><br>I've even seen it to the point where they literally acted like it'd be better not to get people saved at all then to get people saved and not follow up. What kind of a perverse thinking is that? They criticize our small town, soul winning program where we'll go into a small town and knock every ... We'll just show up in a small town, knock every door, try to give everybody the gospel and then go home. Oh! But what are these people going to do? They're like sheep having no Shepard! At least they're going to go to heaven. Somethings better than nothing, hello! The first step is getting people saved.
<br><br>I'll be honest, our church isn't big on follow up. There, I said it. We go out and win a lot of people to the Lord and we don't spend a lot of time following up with them. I'm not against follow up. I'm all for follow up. If you, in this church, want to go and follow up on the people that you win to the Lord I think that's great. I'm all for it. If another church is real big on follow up, great for them! I'm not going to judge them. I think that's great. That's wonderful. But I want somebody to show me, in the Bible, where I'm suppose to go back and keep following up with someone who refuses to come to church. Can somebody show me that in the Bible?
<br><br>I have all kinds of scripture on going out and preaching the gospel to every creature, going to every house daily in the temple, and in every house they cease not to teach and preach Christ. But if I sit there and give someone and invitation to church and I say, "Look, you're saved now, you need to get in church. Here's your follow up, Buddy. Follow up service number one: Sunday mornings at 10:30. Follow up number two: Sunday nights at 6:30. Follow up number three: Wednesday nights at 7." I'm sorry, I just don't like going back and begging people to go to church. Now, I've said it before. I'll get on my knees and beg someone to get saved. But I won't beg anybody to come to church.
<br><br>Honestly, to sit there and criticize somebody for going soul winning and not doing the follow up is just ridiculous. It's just nonsense. But you hear it all the time. Someone even likened it unto giving birth to a baby and throwing it in a garbage can or something. That's ridiculous, okay? Following up is great. But honestly, the reason I quit following up on people is because I found that follow up is a waste of my time so I quit doing it.
<br><br>If someone else is having success with it, power to them. But I found that when I would go back to follow up a lot of times the people wouldn't be home. Then I drove all the way out there, nobody is home, I end up wasting a bunch of time. Or I get there and it's like, why are you here? We already talked. I know where your church is if I want to come, I'll come. Don't call us, we'll call you, type of a thing. I got away from it.
<br><br>Here's what's funny. They'll criticize you for what you do. You go out, win people to Christ, baptize them and then they'll criticize that. Well, you didn't baptize them right because you're suppose to baptize them at church. You're suppose to baptize them into the local church so you can't baptize people.
<br><br>What about Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch? He basically ... Here's Philip's follow up. Philip is basically told by the Holy Spirit to go out into the desert. He's preaching. He's talking to people in the city. The Lord reveals unto him that he's suppose to walk out into the desert. This is in Acts chapter eight. Philip starts heading into the desert and doesn't really know why. But then, there's a chariot crossing the desert. He sees this chariot, so he goes running towards the chariot. In this chariot he sees the Ethiopian eunuch and he was a very important man. He's an important servant of Candace, the queen of Ethiopia. He's sitting and reading the Bible.
<br><br>Obviously, this is God's will. God told him to walk to a certain place, doesn't really make sense humanly speaking, but when he gets there a guy's reading the Bible. He's reading in the prophet Isiah about Jesus, Isiah fifty-three. He says to the Ethiopian eunuch, "Understandest thou what thou readest? The eunuch said, "How can I, except some man should guide me?" Philip hops into the Chariot with him, goes over all the scripture with him, teaches him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He ends up believing on the Lord, Jesus Christ. He says, "See, here's water. What [inaudible 00:32:06] to be baptized?" He says, "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest." He answered and said, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God." He stops the chariot. He gets out. He baptizes him in the water by the side of the oasis, in the desert. A little bit of water? Here's some water, dunk him, and then just when it was time for follow up literally a miracle takes place and he's literally just warped out of there.
<br><br>Basically, he's just gone. Philip is just gone. The spirit of the Lord whisks him off. The Ethiopian eunuch is looking and he's gone. So the Ethiopian just keeps on heading for Ethiopia, where he was going. He's rejoicing and praising God. He's saved and now he's got the Bible and he's got the Holy Spirit inside him and a Bible in his hand. He's got what he needs right there. To sit there and say, "Oh, he's a baby in a dumpster." What was the Ethiopian eunuch a baby in a dumpster? He seems like he had what he needed there.
<br><br>Now, that example, right there is showing us, for a reason, that sometimes there's a time to travel to a weird place, get somebody saved, hopefully baptize them, and you know what? It's not always going to be practical for you to continue training that person because of geography.
<br><br>Our church, we knock doors and go soul winning in places that are kind of far from our church sometimes. Sometimes we travel to these distant towns throughout Arizona and you know what? It's probably not practical for those people to continue coming to church. But our philosophy is that if there are people in a town that are never going to hear the gospel unless we go bring it to them, because there's no soul winning church in that town, then it's our job to evangelize that town like a Missionary. Take a little missions trip and go win some people to the Lord, that's our job. We just want everybody to hear the gospel. Even if they never come to church, it's still a soul saved. It's still a soul that's going to be in heaven for eternity.
<br><br>Ideally, they would get baptized and serve God and everything. But even if they don't, it's better than nothing. It's a start. It's step one. They got saved. It's an Ethiopian eunuch situation. But it just blows my mind how people who don't go soul winning will criticize. Well, how are you going to follow up with those people? Well, you don't have any problem following up because you're not doing any soul winning! You just want to attack the people who are doing something good for God.
<br><br>Or people will say this, "Oh, you guys aren't evangelizing homos." Then they're not evangelizing anybody. Here's what I've often said to people, "You know what? I've accidentally given the gospel to more homos than you've given the gospel on purpose to homos." Because of the fact that not everybody wears a sign that says, "I'm a homo." Okay? Oh! You guys are so hateful towards homosexuals! You're not going to reach them! What about the other ninety-seven percent of the population that we're reaching?
<br><br>The people that will criticize us for that are usually not doing any soul winning, whatsoever. They're not even knocking a single door. They're not going out there in the heat and knocking doors and preaching the gospel with a Bible in the hand and a tear in the eye. But they have such a bleeding heart and say that we don't love people. The preaching is too harsh. You don't love people. Let me say this, if you're not preaching the gospel then you don't love people.
<br><br>Isn't that hypocritical? Isn't it hypocritical to say, "All these churches are wrong!" You're wrong, 'cause you don't even go to church! Oh, well you know, you're doing a wicked thing by winning people to Christ and then not having a Bible study in their house every week like a Jehovah's Witness. It's like, you don't even win anybody to the Lord and you judge me? Look, I'll be judged by someone whose at least a soul winning.
<br><br>I remember when I first did soul winning, everybody who did zero soul winning would tell you how to do soul winning. Seriously. I remember when I first started soul winning, I'd go out soul winning and I remember being taken aside by people that I knew saying ,"Well, what do you tell to people when you go soul winning?" I'd say, "Well, here's what I tell them." Wait, wait wait. That's all wrong. I remember I said this many times to somebody. I said, "You know what? Why don't you show me how to do it. We'll walk out this door right now and you show me how to win someone to Christ." They'll say, "Oh, you can't talk about hell." And "You're scaring people." And blah blah blah. It's too confrontational and this and that. Well, show me how to do it.
<br><br>But the hypocrisy of someone who doesn't go soul winning tell you how to be a soul winner. For example, I remember when I uploaded a video many years ago of the soul winning demonstration, where we just recorded a little demonstration where we show how to win somebody to the Lord. Then we said, "Hey let's do some other ones!" So we uploaded like a Jehovah's Witness demonstrate. How to win a Jehovah's Witness to the Lord. Then we uploaded a demonstration, How to Win a Pentecostal unto the Lord. We showed different variations on it. Somebody said to me, "Why don't you make one on how to win Mormons to the Lord?" You know what I wrote back to that person? As soon as I win a devout Mormon to the Lord, then I'll make that demonstration.
<br><br>The bottom line ... And look! I would love to see a demonstration on how to win a Mormon to the Lord. But I want to see it from somebody whose succeeded at it. Thank God, since I said that I have won a couple of devout Mormons to the Lord. But they were all Mormons who'd become a Mormon in like their thirties, a little bit later in life. But it's hard. The ones that are born and raised Mormons, they're tough to reach, right? But can you see how ridiculous it would be to make a video where I demonstrate, here's how you do this, and I can't do it? I've failed at it. Isn't that ridiculous? That'd be like how not to win Mormons to the Lord. It's stupid.
<br><br>But this is what a hypocrite would do. They'd upload a video, saying, "Hey, here's how you do this." Then, they don't get it done. Wouldn't it be hypocrisy to do that? To say, "Oh, let me show you how to do it. Let me teach you a thing or two." And then they're failing. It's like every divorced person will tell you how to fix your marriage. Don't make the mistakes I made. Then they tell you. Or people, I don't wan to go off on that.
<br><br>But anyway, people will give you all this advice and judge you when they have this big beam in their eye. There is a time to judge, but we need to make sure we have the beam out of our own eye first. Then, we can see clearly to remove the moat out of our brother's eye. Otherwise, we're a hypocrite. Beware of the hypocrisy that, basically, gets on other people for something, when you have issues yourself.
<br><br>Sort of like the preacher who weighs three hundred pounds and he's going to preach against smoking, because it's so bad for your health. You're thinking to yourself, that's not good for your health either. It's getting quiet in here. I'm just saying! It's true though. I mean, it's not good for your health, is it? There's nothing wrong with preaching against smoking. But here's the thing, if we're going to preach against smoking then we need to make sure that we're not destroying the temple in a different way. Right?
<br><br>Another example of this, and if you would go to Romans chapter two, another example of this could be people who are really against drugs, but then they drink. I mean, what's the difference. They drink alcohol, but they're really against drugs. But really, that's hypocrisy. That would be hypocrisy. Which brings me to my forth definition of being a hypocrite.
<br><br>Number one was when you say and do not. Number two is when you do your works to be seen of me. Number three is when you judge others, when you're actually more guilty than them. Number four is basically the hypocrite who has rules that don't make sense. Inconsistent rules where your sin is wrong, but my sin is okay. Sort of like it's okay to be a glutton, it's okay to be slothful, but it's not okay to smoke cigarettes. Or those drugs are wrong, but my drug, alcohol, is fine. That's hypocrisy.
<br><br>If you're going to say that drinkings fine than smoking pots fine. What's the difference? In some ways, alcohol can even be more harmful than drugs because of the fact that, and I'm not downplaying how bad drugs are, I'm totally against all drugs, but people die from drinking alcohol all the time and at a much greater rate. If you think about it, because first of all if you just keep drinking, and keep drinking, and keep drinking, you'll die. It'll poison your blood stream. You can die from just binge drinking.
<br><br>Drinking too much in one sitting can kill you right then and there. You can literally drop dead when your blood alcohol concentration gets to point two percent. You're drunk driving at what? Point eight or something? But when it gets up into the twenties or thirties, depending on how well somebody can hold their liquor or whatever, but you get to a certain point and you can actually just fall over dead from having so much alcohol in your system. Not only that, think about all the people that are killed through drunk driving. Think about all the people who commit suicide under the influence of alcohol. It's deadly, it's sinful, it's wicked.
<br><br>The Bible talks more about being drunk than it talks about drugs. But yet, people are quick to condemn drugs and then they give alcohol a free pass. That would be hypocrisy. Look at Romans two, verse one. Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
<br><br>Look at verse number twenty one. It says, "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God?"
<br><br>Go to Matthew, chapter fifteen. Matthew, chapter fifteen. See, hypocrisy often takes the form of man made rules that don't make sense. Man's rules, man's wisdom, that don't make sense. Where my sin is okay, but your sin is wrong, when there really isn't any difference between the two. Look, if you would, at Matthew, chapter fifteen. The Bible says in verse seven, "Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
<br><br>What made them hypocrites? The fact that taught for doctrines, the commandments of men. Now, look down at Matthew twenty-three. Flip over to Matthew twenty-three and look at verse sixteen. In the hypocrite chapter, Jesus goes over some of their rules that didn't make any sense. He says, "Woe unto you," in verse sixteen, "ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?" Well, to them the gold was better because of the fact that the love of money is the root of all evil and they were obsessed with money. The Jews today are not like that at all, though.
<br><br>It says in verse number eighteen, "And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon." He's pointing out the hypocrisy of their rules that don't make any sense.
<br><br>Here's another example I was thinking about, how hypocritical our nation is today, because of the fact that abortions legal, right? But then, they'll turn around and let's say a pregnant woman wants to have a natural birth when they think she should have a C-section, or she wants to have a home birth when they think she should have a hospital birth, or, let's say, she wants to bypass some of the testing, some of the prenatal tests that they do. Here's what they'll say, "You're endangering that child. Court order the C-section. Court order the syphilis testing.
<br><br>Here's the thing, a lot of people don't feel the need to have a syphilis test when they're married, and monogamous, and they know they don't have syphilis, and they know their husband doesn't have syphilis, and they know they've been exclusive with each other so they're not really worried about syphilis. Then it's like, they're getting in trouble with CPS for turning down the syphilis test. It's going to be court ordered because they're endangering that child.
<br><br>But, wait a minute, if you just said, "Well, I want to kill the child." That's okay. Think about it. They'll say, "Oh! You can't have a home birth in this condition. You're endangering that child." But could I kill it? Sure. I mean, think about how dumb that is. They're so worried about the safety of that child, right? No, actually they're worried about making money down at the hospital. Syphilis test, cha ching. Genetic screening, cha ching. C-section, cha ching, cha ching. Just making money, that's what they really care about.
<br><br>So here's a hypocrite, the essence of a hypocrite, somebody who pretends to be worried about the safety of other people, when really they're thinking about money. Isn't that hypocrisy? They pretend like, oh man we got to worry about the welfare of these children. Let's go abduct them and sell them. Let's abort it and sell the body parts. Let's take the kids away from the parents and sell them to an adoption agency and all this stuff? That's hypocrisy, when we have these rules and it's not consistent. Or somebody gets killed and they're pregnant, it's a double homicide. But an abortions not a single homicide? How does that work. It doesn't work, because it's man rules, man's wisdom, it's total hypocrisy.
<br><br>The essence of the sermon this morning is this, we don't want to be hypocrites 'cause Jesus was really angry at hypocrites, wasn't he? He's yelling at them, he's calling them fools, he's calling them blind, he's calling them serpents, vipers. This is probably the meanest that Jesus ever got, is in Matthew twenty-three. I mean, every verse he's calling names. He's ripping into these people, calling them whited [inaudible 00:47:33], and phonies, and vipers, and hypocrites. You're blind!
<br><br>Why was he so mad? Because he hated the hypocrisy. He doesn't like hypocrisy. He warns us, take heed unto yourself. Don't be a hypocrite. How do we avoid being a hypocrite? First of all, we get it in our head that it's about pleasing God, not the people around us. Not putting on a show, not how spiritual can we look, and act, but actually be real. Actually love people, actually care about the gospel, actually care about doing what's right, actually have a walk with God privately between you and him, not just worry about what people think. When you do good deeds, don't broadcast it. Keep it to yourself. What else? Don't judge people. When you live in a glass house, you shouldn't be throwing stones.
<br><br>There's a time to judge, but not when you're guilty of the same thing. You're not an appropriate judge. You need to worry about getting your own rear end in church. You need to worry about getting yourself out there soul winning before you start picking apart the soul winning of someone else. You need to make sure the rules that you have for yourself and for your family are consistent, that they make sense. If you're a hypocrite, where basically the stuff that you want to do is okay, but the stuff your kids want to do is wrong but it's the same stuff, you got to look at that and say, "Wait a minute. I have to evaluate here. Are my rules based on God's word or is it man's wisdom?"
<br><br>We don't want to be a hypocrite because it alienates people. People leave churches. Why? Oh, a bunch of hypocrites down there. Kids rebel against their parents. Oh, my parents are hypocrites. Sometimes people accuse you of that, even when it's not true. But, let's just make sure it's not true if someone accuses us of it, that we're not actually hypocrites.
<br><br>I think that every single person is probably a hypocrite at some point in their life about one thing or another. I don't think anybodies totally immune from this, where you've never been a hypocrite, ever. I think everybody has said something to glorify themselves publicly, just so that people would look at them and think that they were great, when they weren't. People have probably done that. Or people have probably condemned someone else, who was guilty.
<br><br>Think about David. David commits adultery with Bathsheba and then he's getting enraged about some guy's lamb, about some guy's animal getting taking away. He's yelling and enraged when he's guilty of something way worse. He has this big beam in his eye, adultery, he's trying to take the moat out of some guy's animal cruelty or whatever. Not even animal cruelty, stealing the guy's animal that he loved so much.
<br><br>Look at one last thing in Matthew twenty-three if you're still there. It says in Matthew, chapter twenty-three, he talks about them killing the prophets. It says in verse twenty-nine, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?"
<br><br>Now, it's interesting here because he rebukes them and says that they are garnishing the sepulchres of the prophets, but their fathers killed the prophets. They're saying, "If we would've been back then, we would not have killed the prophets." But here's the thing, there's no new thing under the sun. I think the biggest mistake the people make is that they think things were way different a long time ago than they are no. They think in Bible days, life was a lot different. They think a hundred years ago life was totally different. Yeah, sure, there was different technology and different culture. But honestly, human nature is the same. People are people and the same type of situations have always been around. People, today, tend to do the same thing where they exalt preachers from the past and then stone present preachers, so to speak.
<br><br>It's funny, 'cause they say, "If we'd been in the days of our father, we wouldn't kill the prophets." Then who do they kill? Jesus. The greatest prophet ever. Who do they kill? James. One of the disciples who was a great prophet. Who do they kill? Stephen, one of the prophets that's coming and speaking to them through the spirit of the Lord. It's hypocrisy, this weird, double standard for preachers of the past versus the preachers of now. There are people, today, who exalt preachers of the past. Then when a real preacher comes to them today, they can't handle it. They want some soft preacher today. But then they'll lift up some leather long from the past, some fire breathing preacher from the past.
<br><br>Why? Because they're a hypocrite. They don't really want the real preaching. They just say that they want it. Because then when it's presented to them, they reject it. It's the same thing where people will basically say, "Oh, if I had a church like Faithful Word I'd go there every week." But they don't go to church in their area, and sometimes you'll even find them at church in their area and say, "Well, here's a good church," and then never hear from them again. I mean, I'll have people who will say, "Oh man, it's so hard to find a church in Sacramento, California." I'll be like, "Oh, well, you're in luck, because actually Brother Roger [inaudible 00:53:14] is there and that church is every bit as good as Faithful Word. That's a great church, a very Baptist church." It's just like, hello? Anybody out there? Then, oh man there's nothing out here in Fort Worth, Texas. It's like, oh well, here's a church for you. Then you never hear from then again.
<br><br>There was this one guy who lived in a certain city, this wasn't anybody we sent out but it was a guy who I was really close with, a great preacher. This guy had been telling me, "Oh man, we need something like this in Des Moine. We need something like this in Des Moine, Iowa. We need a soul winning church, like this, in Des Moine." Then I contacted the guy and said, "Great news. This great, soul winning guy is starting a church in Des Moine, Iowa." I heard from that guy all the time. I never heard from that guy again and he never went to that church again."
<br><br>What's a hypocrite? Somebody who talks a big talk, but they don't walk the walk. If I had this kind of church in my area, I'd be your most dedicated church member! Can't even show up at their local church. That's 'cause my church is X Y and Z. You hypocrite. You don't even go to church. Hypocrisy, my friend.
<br><br>There are a lot of people who fall into this, even amongst Christians. We need to be humble, not go around singing our own praises, not go around with a funny hat, weird clothes, talking about how spiritual we are and dropping way too many Praise the Lords and Hallelujahs. Just go around, doing good deeds, talking about praying and fasting, and giving these big flowery, invocations that aren't really meant to comfort the people around us. They're not really meant to help people grow spiritually. They're not really meant to bring honor and glory to the Lord. They're just meant to put on a show for ourselves. Then we go out and condemn everybody for this, that, and the other when we have all kinds of sin that's pretty much the same thing. We need the beware of this in our lives and be genuine, humble, sincere, people where basically what you see if what you get. That's the opposite of a hypocrite.
<br><br>The opposite of a hypocrite is a guy where just what you see is what you get. A woman, where you look at her and she's real. It's the same thing at church, at home, that's who they are.
<br><br>Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, for the scripture here in Matthew twenty-three, where you warn about hypocrites, Lord. First of all, the biggest warning is that we need to make sure that we're not hypocrites, Lord. Help us not to be hypocrites. Help us to be humble and not to put on a show. Secondly Lord, help us to be aware of hypocrites. When people are acting this way, Lord, help us to get away from these people and not be deceived by them because we don't want them to leaven us because then we'll start being hypocrites if we hang around with hypocrites. In Jesus name we pray, amen. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-5148800459643686032016-05-23T11:09:00.000-07:002016-05-23T11:09:03.721-07:00Choose Life <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dp4Yw3V2TCo">Video</a>
<p><b>February 15, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Dp4Yw3V2TCo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Deuteronomy chapter 30, the part that I want to focus on is beginning of verse number 10 and the title of the sermon tonight is taken directly from this passage. The words, chose life, that's what God says down in verse 19, He says, "Chose Life." Starting in verse number 10, in the Bible reads, "If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul. For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it."
<br><br>"See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the Lord thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it. I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
<br><br>What I want to preach about tonight is the fact that God gives us a choice. There are people who don't believe this. They think that we have no choice and God's in control and some people are the elect and they're going to be saved, no matter what, this Calvinist type doctrine. Some people are chosen to be saved and other people are chosen to be damned. It’s all foreordained. Gods real clear in this passage, "I am giving you a choice." And He's evening making oaths and swearing to them. He's even saying, "I call heaven and earth to record this day." in verse 19, he says that, "I have set before you, life and death." Now if someone teaches that we don't have a choice, then this will be a lie. If God is saying, "Look, heaven and earth are witness. I swear to you that I am setting before you, life and death." And in reality it’s foreordain, who's going to live, who's going to die, then this will be a lie. But He says over and over again, "No, I've given you a choice. You can either live or you can die. You can be blessed or you can be curse." You say, "Well, you know, this really isn't a salvation passage because this is talking about earthly blessings and earthly cursing."
<br><br>But here's the thing though, in the New Testament, the apostle Paul quotes back to this scripture and he relates it unto salvation, in Romans chapter 10. That shows that this same choice of life or death, not only does it apply to our physical lives and the blessings that we have on the land where we live, but also it has to do with eternal life or eternal damnation because he says in Romans chapter 10, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness by faith to all those that believe on it." And he said this, he said, "Don't say in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart ... " That's all a quote from this passage, if you were paying attention when we read.
<br><br>Then He says, "Even the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." When it comes to salvation, there's a choice, life or death. When it comes to our lives, there's a choice, blessing or cursing, life or death and God lists all the blessing He'll give when we obey Him and all the cursing that we'll receive if we don't and He command us to choose life. He's saying look, "I'm setting both before you, but it’s not that I don't care which one you chose." It’s not like God just says, "Well I'm setting before you, life and death do what you want I don't care." No, he says, "I'm setting before you, life and death." Then He begs us, "Chose life." He pleads with us, He implores us to choose life.
<br><br>Just like Jesus Christ when he was on this earth, he was constantly pleading with people to be saved. He stood up and said, "If any man thirst, let him come unto me." You know as the scriptures have said, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." He stood up and cried out and he begged people to be saved. It’s not that God doesn't care it’s not that God doesn't have a will, He does have a will. "He's not willing that any shall parish but that all should come to repentance." but gives us the choice.
<br><br>Now let me just go to some other scriptures where God gives us a choice. This isn't just an isolated scripture. Go to Joshua chapter 24, here's another famous passage where God gives man a choice. He puts before them a couple of options. It says in Joshua chapter 24 verse 14, "Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." but He said it’s up to you "Choose you this day whom ye will serve ... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And the people answered and said, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods."
<br><br>You know, on and on, throughout the Bible we can see choices that God gives to man. Look at first Chronicles chapter 21, another example, first Chronicles chapter 21, while your turning there, I'll just quote you from Proverbs 3 verse 31, where the Bible says, "Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways." God is saying, “Don't choose the way of the oppressor and don't be envious of him.” Look at first Chronicles 21, here's where God gives David a choice. David has sinned, David has done wrong, a punishment is coming and God lets David chose his punishment. It says in first Chronicles 21:10, "Go and tell David, saying, Thus saith the Lord, I offer thee three things: choose thee one of them, that I may do it unto thee. So Gad came to David, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Choose thee Either three years' famine; or three months to be destroyed before thy foes, while that the sword of thine enemies overtaketh thee; or else three days the sword of the Lord, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel. Now therefore advise thyself what word I shall bring again to him that sent me." God is giving David a choice here and when David makes that choice God acknowledges that choice and that's the punishment that He bring.
<br><br>We are given choices today. It’s not that we have no determining in our outcome and whatever is going to happen is going to happen, no. He gives us options and says, "Chose." He wants us to choose what's right, but we have the option to choose either right or wrong and we're the ones who’s going to live with the consequences. Go to Proverbs chapter 1 and while your turning there I'll read for you a scripture from Isaiah 65 verse 12, where it reads, "Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter," and this is real similar to Proverbs 1, He says, "Because when I called, ye did not answer; when I spake, ye did not hear; but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not." What's the problem here? Why are these people suffering? Why are they being punished? Why the slaughter? Because He says, "I tried to reach out to you. I called out to you and you refused because you chose that wherein I delighted not. You made the wrong choice."
<br><br>When we make wrong choices in our lives bad things are going to happen and it’s not Gods fault, it’s not that it was just Gods will for those bad things to happen. No, they're a result of the bad choices that we made. Look at Proverbs chapter 1 and verse number 24, "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." Just because I just randomly chose that these people are doomed, is that what He's saying? No, because in the next verse He says, "For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Why are these bad things happening? Because they made the wrong choice; not random, not foreordain but they made the wrong choice. "They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices."
<br><br>Now it’s funny, I was at the a book store yesterday and I was looking through a bunch of books and I was looking for a picture and it was like a Christian book section or whatever in this book store of theology books and this book just kind of caught my eye and I was looking for something totally different, but this book caught my eye, it said, "Internal Contradictions in the Bible." It was this book, so I pulled out the book and it’s going to list off all the contradictions in the Bible. It says, "Oh man these fundamentalist, they try to say that the Bible is God’s word and it’s just so easy to prove the contradictions." I flipped through most of this entire book and every single one of these ... I mean there wasn't even one that I was like, "Oh man, that's challenging." I mean it was so dumb. It was just ridiculous.
<br><br>Just to give you an example, the reason that I'm bringing up that book I was looking at, is because one of them is this passage they brought out as a contradiction in the Bible. They showed a verse that said, "They that seek me early, shall find me." Then they pointed to this verse where it says, in verse 28, "Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me." See the contradiction. But the fools are not reading this passage for what He's saying. They've already rejected Him, repeatedly and that's what they're missing the context. It’s easy just to pull a verse out of context and say, "Well this verse says, 'If they seek me early they'll find me.'" It’s talking about a totally different group of people, at a totally different stage of their lives, okay.
<br><br>Then over here, it’s talking about people who He said "I called, they refused. I stretched out my hand, no man regarded it. They hated knowledge, they despised my reproof. That's why when they seek me early; they won't find me; because it’s too late for them." And so these supposed contradictions in the Bible are just people who don't understand. Think about it, if I handed you a book that you don't understand, yeah you’re probably going to find all kind of contradictions in it because you just don't understand the book. The Bible says, "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." and the author of the book was clearly just an unsaved scoffer. That's what ... I which I can think of more examples that he brought out but that's the kind of stuff that was on like every page of this book as you flipped through it.
<br><br>Because you hear people say, "The Bible is filled with contradictions." and you say show me one, and whenever they show you it, there's always a way to show that it’s actually not a contradict. I mean people just that have zero understanding of the Bible, "Well the Bible says, 'Thou shall not kill.' over here but then it tells them to kill an animal over here." It’s obviously, when He's says, "Thou shall not kill." He's talking about murder and it defines it as murder. Jesus quoted it as "Thou shall do no murder." Obviously He's not saying don't kill a plant. Don't cut down a tree because you've killed that plant, okay. Obviously, you've got to get the context of what he means there when He says, "Thou shall not kill." We're talking about killing an innocent human being. There are other places where He talks about executing criminals. It’s not a contradiction, it’s just they don't understand the laws of God because they are fools. To the fool, knowledge is over his head. It’s too high for him, he can't comprehend it. I just thought I'd point that out since I happen to be glancing at that book yesterday.
<br><br>But if you would flip over to first Timothy chapter 2, because I want to say this, I showed you some scriptures just where Gods telling you choose, in regard to salvation and in regard to blessing and cursing on your life. Just even in regard to a punishment that David was going to receive, God tells man, choose and even swears that He's setting before us a choice. That there's life and death, there's good and evil, there's blessing and cursing. He'd be a liar if those choices didn't really exist. If He's making the choice and we have no choice, then He'd be lying. God can not lie.
<br><br>Look what the Bible says in first Timothy 2 because I want to make this point, Gods will does not always happen. People have this attitude, just say, "Well if its Gods will it’s going to happen and if it’s not Gods will it’s not going to happen." Who's heard people say that before? Of course, people say it all the time. It’s not true; let me show you a perfect example, first Timothy 2:4 says this, about God, "Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." Now let me ask you something, are all men save? Will all men come to the knowledge of the truth? Well then here's a perfect example of God will not happening. His will is that all men will be saved and that they will come into the knowledge of the truth. He's says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all."
<br><br>Again, the Calvinist say, "Hey, He didn't die for everybody." But here it says, "Gave himself a ransom for all." Elsewhere it says, "He tasted death for every man." Elsewhere it said, "He's the savior of all man, especially of those that believe." Elsewhere it talks about, "Even false prophets whose damnation slumbereth not." it says, "They denied the Lord that bought them." Why, because He died for all men, He's a ransom for all, but that doesn't mean that all men are going to be saved, Gods not willing that any should parish. Do men parish? Then there's another perfect example of Gods will not happening.
<br><br>Think about the most famous prayer in the Bible, what's commonly referred to as "The Lord's Prayer" which is Jesus, giving a pattern unto his disciples of how to pray, "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Why would we pray for Gods will to be done if it’s automatically going to be done? What's the point? Just to do a vain repetition. Just an exercise of just "Thy will be done God." well I know it’s already going to, but I just like the way it make me feel when I say that. No, the point of saying, "Thy will be done God." Is because we want Gods will to be done and the Bible says, "if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." Well but if you were going to get it, you’re going to get ... No. You have to ask for it because He said, "You have not because you ask not." That proves that prayer is not just an exercise that we go through. He said, "You have not because you ask not; and you ask and receive not because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts."
<br><br>When we ask for things in prayer, we are changing something because if we don't pray, we're not going to get anything. We will have not because we ask not and if we do not pray for Gods will to take place then Gods will may not take place in any give situation or scenario. But if we pray and seek God and ask that His will be done, He hears and answers prayer. It’s not just this thing of its all foreordained. Gods will is set in stone. Look it’s false and the Bible shows it to be false over and over again.
<br><br>Here’s another really good example of this, go back to Esther chapter 4. While your turning there I'll read you another scripture along these same lines, Matthew 18:14 says, "Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish." so it’s not Gods will that one of the little ones parish, but do some of the little ones parish? Yeah they do because Gods will doesn't always happen. Gods will, you say, what is Gods will? Let me just demystify God will. Will simply means what you want, just to put it in just plain English. Gods will is what God wants. That's what it means If we talked about my will, we're talking about what I want, that's all. Does what God wants to happen, always happen? Well you know what, if Gods will always happens He wants some pretty weird stuff. Because look at all the weird stuff that's going on in the world. Why would God want all this weird, perverted stuff to go on? He doesn't want it.
<br><br>In fact, He gets angry at stuff that happens. He looks down, sometimes and it grieves Him of what's happening and one time it even said, "Repenteth me that I've even made man upon the earth." because He doesn't want them to do what they're doing. He doesn't want us to go out and live a wicked life. He doesn't want people to be unsafe. He doesn't want poor innocent victims to be slaughter or injured or corrupted. This idea that Gods will always happens is just a doctrine of the ignorant and it does not jive with the teaching of scripture.
<br><br>Esther 4:13, is a powerful example and I have to just give you a real brief background in order to help you just understand where we at in the story. But this is when Haman, the wicked Haman, wants to slaughter all of the Jews. This is back around the time that they've been scattered into all nations. They've gone into captivity of the Babylonians, the Medo-Persian Empire, so they're in places outside of the promise land and they're in captivity and Haman, who's the second in command of this great kingdom of 127 provinces. Basically the civilized world is under the kingdom of Ahasuerus and his right hand man is Haman. Haman wants people to bow down to him and do obeisance to him. The Jews, they don't want to bow down to man, they only want to bow before the Lord. That was back when they actually worship the Lord, before they rejected Jesus. They won't bow down, so Haman wants to kill all the Jews, he wants them wiped out.
<br><br>Mordecai, he tells Esther, that he wants her to go to the king and to intercede for the Jews, that they would not be killed because Esther is the queen. She can go and talk to the king and hopefully make something happen to fix this, but she's afraid to do it because of the fact that she's not supposed to go into the king’s presence uninvited. She'd hadn't been invited in a month and she's not supposed to just waltz in there and start making demands. In fact, the penalty for going into the kings presences unannounced and just bursting in without an invite is death, unless he holds out the golden scepter to pardon. She's afraid and doesn't want to do it. Mordecai is rebuking her and saying, "Look you need to do this." Look what he says in verse 13, "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews." Because at this point the king doesn't know that she's Jewish but he says, "Don't just think that you’re going to escape."
<br><br>"For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" This is a very profound portion of scripture in these two verses, but a lot of people misunderstand this portion of the scripture and I've heard people abuse this portion of scripture and twist it to basically try to say this thing of, "Hey we're all expendable." You probably heard this taught, "We're all expendable and if you don't do it somebody else will do it." and that's what they'll take from this passage. It’s going to get done, no matter what it is, it’s going to get done, if you don't do it somebody else will do it, we're all expendable, if its Gods will brother it’s going to happen. How about this, well if it’s really Gods will for a certain person to hear the Gospel; they're going to hear it. I thought it was Gods will that every creature would hear the Gospel. I thought he commanded us to go do it. But they think that they can just sit back and it’s going to happen no matter and they'll point this passage, but that's actually not what this passage is teaching.
<br><br>What we see in this passage, is that on the grand scheme of things Mordecai knows that the Jews are not going to be wiped out. How does he know that; because of the fact, that God made certain promises about the Lord, Jesus Christ, the Messiah coming from the tribe of Juda and coming from the Jews. They couldn't be wiped out back then because that hadn't happened yet. He also made that promise where he said that, "The scepter would not depart from Juda, until Shiloh come." Which is talking about the Messiah coming, okay? He said, "It’s not going to depart until Shiloh come." He talked about the fact that of the seed of David is going to come the Messiah, his name will be called the Might God, the Everlasting Father, the Government Shall be upon his shoulder. There are all these prophecies of what God is going to use the nation on Juda to bring forth, which will be Jesus Christ and be Christianity and that hadn't happened yet.
<br><br>Obviously, God knows, I'm sorry Mordecai even knows that they're not going to be totally wiped out. That's why he says to her, if you look down at verse 14, "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place." Right? Now, this shows us that there are certain aspects of Gods will that are set in stone and will happen no matter what, right? Like for example, God says, "Hey, Juda is going to continue being a nation." Look he even prophesied that after 70 years they're going to come home. When they come home they're going to be rebuild, they're going to be a nation again and the sons of David are going to sit on that thrown until Shiloh come, right? That's all predicted, that's all prophesied, no matter what happens, Gods will is going to take place in that sense, right? Because these big events that God has ordained have to happen, they will happen. God is not a liar and He will not break any promises and all of His prophesies will come true; none of His words will fall to the ground.
<br><br>But look at what else He says though, He says, "But thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed." You see here, He's not saying, "Oh Gods will is going to happen no matter what and your actions won't change it one way or the other." because they will change it for her and the people around her; you see how that works. The big picture is going to happen no matter what, the Jews are going to survive because God was not through with them yet. Okay. By the way, He's through with them now, but anyway ... That's another sermon.
<br><br>But anyway, back then He wasn't. He said it’s going to happen. This is where people get confused because they look at a verse like this and say, "Hey Gods will is going to happen no matter what." No, on a grand global level, yeah there are certain things that are Gods will that are going to happen no matter what. But the difference is how it’s going to affect you and the people around you. That's what's up for grabs and that's what you can change. Because you wonder, what can I change? What influence do I have? What are the choices I make matter? A lot of people will for example, look at end times prophesy, of the book of Revelation and when we look at it we pretty much see that certain things are going to happen. Look is there any way to stop there from being a one world government? Is there any way to stop the Antichrist from taking power and all nations worshiping him? Is there any way to stop all of these persecution that are going to take place? No, there's nothing you can do to change it. It’s set in stone, it’s been prophesied, but does that mean we're just helpless, we just sit back, we do nothing because "Whatever happens is going to happen." Sit back and enjoy the ride, even so, "Come Lord, Jesus." No, because it affects you and the people around you, how you live your life.
<br><br>You see, "Broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." There's nothing you or I can do to change that is there? We can't go out and win so many souls that 51% of the people are saved. We're like, "It’s no longer the narrow way, it’s the broad way because we did so much soul winning that we actually tip the scale, now 51% of people in the world are saved." You and I know that's never going to happen. But does that mean, what's the use? No, because the point is this whole world by in large is going to hell in a hand basket, our area doesn't have to be that way. In our area we can make a difference, in our city we can get people saved, we can pull people out of the fire and we can make a difference for us and our loved ones. He said to Ether, "If you miss Gods calling, if you don't do Gods will for your life." he's saying, "On a grand scheme of things the Jews are still going to be saved, God will bring deliverance from another place, but" he says "Wait a minute, you and your father’s house will be destroyed."
<br><br>Our actions affect us and they affect the people around us. They affect our spouse, our children, maybe even our parents and siblings, our friends our church members, they affect the people around us. It’s not just all foreordained, "Well you know some people are going to be saved and some people are going to be damned." No, the soul winning that you did today or earlier this week or that you’re going to do this week, that soul winning is changing people’s destination, it’s changing their eternal destination, from Hell to Heaven. It’s not just well those people would have got saved; God would have found another way. You know I wish it were that easy for God to just find a way to people to hear the Gospel clearly presented to them. Oh He'll just find another way, really? Because there aren't a lot of people going around doing it anymore; we need to do it and we need to encourage other churches to do it and we need to be on the front lines and we need to be right there in the battle because of the fact, that it’s not this thing of Gods will is going to happen, just this fatalistic, whatever will be, will be. No; on a grand scale, yes, but so what.
<br><br>Who do you care the most about? Your family. Who do you care the most about? People that you actually know and see with your eyes, your friends, your loved ones. Let me tell you something, I care a lot more about this area than some area on the other side of the world that I've never even set foot in. I mean does anybody really here, I mean is anybody here actually think like "Well, you know what, people in this area being saved or damned is less important to me than people on the other side of the world." People on the other side of the world, is just kind of like I don't have any effect on that, can't really do anything about that. I'm the type of person, where something is out of my hands and out of my control and there's nothing I can do about, I don't sit around, "Oh man what are we going to do?" it’s our of my hands. But you know what; there are certain things that are in our hands. That's what we ought to get busy fixing and changing, okay.
<br><br>Certain things we don't have the power to change. Honestly, I don't have the power to fix the White House. I can't do it. If I just woke up tomorrow morning and said, "You know what, I'm dedicating my life to getting a Godly man in the White House, every day, every hour, every minute, every second." I would fail, I cannot achieve success. I'm serious. But you know what I can't ... Therefore it’s a dumb thing to just "That's what I’m going to do." But certain things are just out of our hands. If I made a goal, I'm going to make sure that everybody in China hears the Gospel. That's not really realistic for me, living in Phoenix, Arizona. But you know what is realistic for me, saying, "You know what, I'm going to knock every door in my subdivision and make sure that they all hear the Gospel." In fact, I care more about the people in my subdivision because my mind affects my heart. I can say, "Hey, let knock every door in 10B. Let’s knock every door in the valley, in the Phoenix area." Hey maybe we can't knock doors in a small town in Nebraska, but you know what, we can do the small town zoning in Arizona and hit up all ... We can in the life time of our church knock every small town in Arizona, every door. At least we did our vineyard here.
<br><br>Gods not going to hold us accountable for stuff we had no control over. "As every man purposeth in his heart, so give he." The Bible says, "If at first there be a willing heart, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." Gods not going to judge us for not doing stuff that was completely out of our power and out of our control but there is so much that is within our control and within our power. It’s funny because we're training a lot of guys to someday pastor churches, God willing. We want to train more because "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few." and there are so many people that are scattered as sheep having no shepherd. Want to send out men of God to start churches in cities across American, today. But when people ask me, “Hey, where should I start a church? What do you think about this place? What do you think about that place?" Maybe I'm biased, but I'm always leaning towards places that are close, Texas, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Washington.
<br><br>The East Coast, other side of the world, just isn't as near and dear to my heart and that's just a human feeling for me of just "Hey this is my area. That was my home town in Sacramento. Oh hey, California, that's right in our back yard as it were, in 2015." What I'm saying is, yeah, we're not going to get the whole world saved, folks. We're not going to get the Gospel to the whole world, but you know what we can do, we can get the Gospel to every person in the Phoenix area. That is possible in our life. That is humanly possible and you know it’s up to us, whether we do it or not.
<br><br>What he's saying to Esther is "Your decision matters. You’re not expendable. Yes the great big thing is going to happen no matter what, but on a smaller scale you are holding in your hand, the fate of you and all of your relatives and the people around you. Other people are going to suffer if you don't do Gods will." Look at it again, with that in mind, verse 13 "Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
<br><br>Go to second Kings, chapter 23, let me show you another example. Second Kings 23, is the story of King Josiah. King Josiah was a man who did a lot of great things for God. He did the right things and he inherited a country that was messed up and sinful and he fixed it. He did a lot to fix it. But here's the thing, there were somethings that were just out of his hands, he couldn't fix. Part of that was the fact that Manasseh, one of the previous kings, had shed a lot of innocent blood that God couldn't pardon, because all of these innocent people had been killed and there had to be a retribution upon the land. Because of that the destruction of Jerusalem and the carrying away captive of the Jews into Babylon, foreordain. It had to happen. No one could stop it. There was nothing that could be done, evert that catastrophe. But does that mean that Josiah should just sit back and not even try? No, let me show you what Josiah did accomplish.
<br><br>Look down at you Bible in verse 1, "And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the Lord. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto Bethel."
<br><br>"And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven. And he brought out the grove from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves of the children of the people. And he brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the grove. And he brought all the priests out of the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beer–sheba, and brake down the high places of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on a man's left hand at the gate of the city."
<br><br>"Nevertheless the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they did eat of the unleavened bread among their brethren. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the children of Hinnom, that no man might make his son or his daughter to pass through the fire to Molech." He closed down the abortion click there, where they were murdering their children. He said in verse number, what verse am I in? 11, "And he took away the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the sun, at the entering in of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan–melech the chamberlain, which was in the suburbs, and burned the chariots of the sun with fire. And the altars that were on the top of the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, did the king beat down, and brake them down from thence, and cast the dust of them into the brook Kidron."
<br><br>"And the high places that were before Jerusalem, which were on the right hand of the mount of corruption, which Solomon the king of Israel had builded for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Zidonians, and for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the children of Ammon, did the king defile. And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Beth–el, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words. Then he said, What title is that that I see? And the men of the city told him, It is the sepulchre of the man of God, which came from Judah, and proclaimed these things that thou hast done against the altar of Bethel."
<br><br>"And he said, Let him alone; let no man move his bones. So they let his bones alone, with the bones of the prophet that came out of Samaria. And all the houses also of the high places that were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord to anger, Josiah took away, and did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel. And he slew all the priests of the high places that were there upon the altars, and burned men's bones upon them, and returned to Jerusalem. And the king commanded all the people, saying, Keep the passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in the book of this covenant. Surely there was not holden such a passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; But in the eighteenth year of king Josiah, wherein this passover was holden to the Lord in Jerusalem."
<br><br>"Moreover the workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, and the images, and the idols, and all the abominations that were spied in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, did Josiah put away, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him." Now look has this guy done a lot? I mean this guy is destroying idolatry, destroying false religion, destroying ... Not even satisfied to do it in Juda. He crosses the border and goes into Israel and goes into Samaria and destroys altars that have been worshiped there for centuries, worshiping false gods and devils. He's getting rid of the queers; he's getting rid of the wizards and sorcerers.
<br><br>I mean he's cleaning house and not only that, he gets Gods people to keep the Passover, follow the Bible, follow the law, make a covenant, let’s be Gods people! I love the Lord with all my soul, with all my heart, with all my might and he says "Hey, there is none like unto him before him or after him." I mean, did this guy nail it or what? I mean, this guy just takes over and he just does it right. This guy is an amazing king, King Josiah!
<br><br>But look what the Bible says in verse 26, there's just certain things that we just can't fix. Certain things you can't change, doesn't matter how good you are and Josiah is one of the greatest men. "Notwithstanding ... " "Notwithstanding, what?" The last 25 verses that we just read, all of that; "Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath," did any of this fixed things, no. He said, "Notwithstanding the Lord turned not from the fierceness of his great wrath, wherewith his anger was kindled against Judah, because of all the provocations that Manasseh had provoked him withal. And the Lord said, I will remove Judah also out of my sight, as I have removed Israel, and will cast off this city Jerusalem which I have chosen, and the house of which I said, My name shall be there. Now the rest of the acts of Josiah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?"
<br><br>What do we see here? Did he evert God’s wrath? Did he stop Juda from going captive? No because that's just out of his control. But he did the best he could. In fact he did an amazing job. In fact he did a better job and then any of the other kings. What did he accomplish? You know what he accomplished, none of those bad things happened in his life time. Think about that. Look God was going to destroy Jerusalem, no matter what; Gods going to take them captive in Babylon no matter what. He said, "I will not turn away the fierceness of my wrath." What about the prophesies? He said, "Look, if Daniel, Elijah and Job, stood before me and prayed for these people, I’m not turning away the fierceness of my wrath." Wait a minute, what did he accomplish? You know what he did, he turned the nation back to God in his lifetime, in his area and many people were saved, many people are in heaven because of the great works that Josiah did. Many people were saved, many people are in heaven and the nation was spared judgement temporarily. Because what you'll see a lot time when God is just dead set on destroying a group, if people will turn unto the Lord and seek Him and do right. A lot times He'll postpone.
<br><br>Go to the last place we'll turn tonight, Daniel 4, He'll postpone that. What He did was, He let them thrive and succeed and prosper and for the Lord to be worshiped and people to be saved and Gods word to be proclaimed even in the northern kingdom and all these great things happened but there's still an aspect of it that can't be changed. But the mistake we make is when we think, "Oh nothing can be changed. It’s all foreordained." No, there are certain big events that are set in stone that won't change, but then there are others things that can ... For example, wasn't it already known by God; God already knew and God already stated and God already predicted. He said, "The son of man must be rejected by this generation." I mean, wasn't it ordained that Jesus would be rejected by the Jews and crucified by them.
<br><br>Now a lot of people with really weird doctrines, such as John Hagee, who believes that Jews who reject Christ, are still saved, because they're Jews; even though the Bible says, "And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down." I don't care if that tree says it’s of Abraham, it’s going to be "Hewn down and cast into the fire." Speaking of stones, being children of Abraham ... By the way, some rabbi or something, is just a much a child of Abraham as a rock. You can point to a rock and say, "This is a child of Abraham." Because I mean, God is able just as much as there ... He can make that stone a child of Abraham, as much as that guy is a child of Abraham. But here’s the thing about the stones, remember this there was a prophesy where Jesus would have that triumphal entry into Jerusalem and He said that, "If these people would hold their peace the stone would cry out."
<br><br>There are certain things that have to happen. Sort of like, "Hey if you don't speak up Esther, God will bring deliverance from another place. Hey, if you don't praise Jesus, the stones will cry out." because its foreordain, it has to happen. But then there are other things that we can control. See yeah, the Jews are going to reject Christ and crucify him but wait a minute, what about on an individual level? Are you as a Jew living at the time of Christ, just say, "We're going to reject him. I guess, you know, I'm just going to not be saved." That wouldn't make any sense because the Bible says, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Look all the Jews didn't reject Christ, did they? In fact there were a lot of Jews who got saved when Jesus came and preached. Now the majority rejected him, but all of them got saved.
<br><br>Here’s the thing, it’s still up to the individual to decide, which side of this equation they're going to be on. Are the Jews going to reject Jesus Christ, yes. But there's a remnant that's going to be saved. There's a remnant that was going to believe on Jesus. It’s still up to the individual to choose life or death. If you’re living at the time of Christ and you’re in Juda, you have the choice to believe on Jesus and be part of that believing remnant or to reject Christ and be part of the majority of Jews that are going to be cast off by God. But it’s up to the individual, there's a choice that you can make. But I was talking about the fact that God will sometimes delay judgement. Even if it’s for sure it’s going to happen, He'll sometimes postpone it because of righteous acts.
<br><br>Look at Daniel 4:24, "This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule."
<br><br>We see an ordain judgement that God says is going to happen. But look at verse 27, "Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquility." He's saying judgment is coming but you can hold off that judgement by doing right. Think about this, we live in America today, America is doomed. I've no doubt about that. I can stand up here and tell you, you say, "Oh you’re un-American." Look, you’re doomed. America you are doomed! There's nothing you can do to fix it! But let me tell you something, that doesn't mean that we're wasting our time winning souls and preaching the Bible and trying to turn Gods people back to Him in this country, you know why? Because we can be like a Josiah that basically promotes righteous and we can basically delay the judgement and delay God’s wrath until after we're gone.
<br><br>I mean, look, just because America is doomed, I don't want it to happen when I'm here. You know what I mean. But not only that and you say, "Well I don't even know if we're going to postpone it." Think about this though, what about the fact that even if the country is doomed, we can be spared because not everybody in America is doomed. America in general is doomed, you say, "Why do you say that pastor?" and I just say, "Why do you just think America is doomed and there's nothing we do? Because of abortion." Abortion is enough. We don't need to talk about anything else, just abortion, end of story. Because the fact the Bible says, "That innocent blood cannot be cleansed, except by shedding the blood of those who shed it." That's never going to happen, therefore Gods going to pour out his wrath. Why was Manasseh under God’s wrath and why did after all those wonderful years with Josiah, God still pour out his wrath because the innocent blood that Manasseh shed. What we see today in America is just a mass ... We can bring up lots of other examples of why American is doomed, but just that one is enough for tonight. Just abortion is enough.
<br><br>You can't just slaughter 3,000 babies every day and God just not going to judge; God just not going to punish. It’s just not going to happen friend. I can be Joel Osteen up here and just tell you, "Oh God just loves you anyway go and kid your kid and you know what, your still going to be blessed. God is not mad at you." As Joyce Meyer's book is called, "God Is Not Mad at You. No matter who you are, no matter what you done." One of the rabbi's that we talk to, he said, "A lot of people say 'That if you don't obey the commandments you’re going to live a bad life.' I don't believe that." He said not only does he believe God won't punish people in hell he said that God won't even punish people on this earth. Gods just up there, he's just ... Whether you've been naughty or nice, you get your presents on Christmas morning with God. They just want you to think, you know what, God is just up there and He's just like "Oh you know, whatever; just bless them; whatever, so what if they murder their children; so what." That's ridiculous. That's not the God of the Bible. You haven't read the Bible ... If you think God is like that you've never read this book.
<br><br>In this book, God is getting angry, He's burning people up and He's just ranting and raving about them killing innocent people and innocent blood. He specifically brings up the children. Infants, He talks about their babies being offered to these false gods. He over and over again brings up Molech and the valley of the son of Hinnom and Topheth and these places, even in the passage that we read. That right there is enough to say, "Our country is doomed and damned and there's nothing that we can do about it." But look, I’m not just up here to give you a hopeless message because it’s not a hopeless message. Look even in Sodom, God brought Lot out. My prayer is not for America to be spared because I would be wasting my time and my breath. Because if we ask anything according to his will, He hears us.
<br><br>It’s not Gods will to spare America because America must be punished. But you know what I constantly pray and you know what I wish you would pray to as Gods people, we should pray, here's what I pray, "God, don't destroy the righteous with the wicked." That's what I pray. I pray that all ... I say, "You know what God, spare your people, Lord; when you punish our nation Lord, spare me, spare my family, spare the members of Faithful Baptist Church and spare your faithful servants all across America that we don't even know Lord. Don't destroy the righteous with the wicked." That's what Abraham prayed, he said, "Don't destroy that righteous with the wicked." What did God do? Even though Abraham's prayer was a little misguided, the Holy Spirit will translate our prayer often into something that makes sense. What did God do? Instead of sparing the city, He pulled out Lot. He delivered Lot. You think of Jeremiah, "Judah is doomed." He preached "Judah is doomed. There is nothing that we can do. We're going to be destroyed." But what did God do for Jeremiah? Spared him, protected him, he made it out alive, he made it out just fine.
<br><br>God spared a lot of people, that were in a lot of danger in the Bible and He can spare you too and He can spare us. He can keep us safe. The Bible talks about that we should pray that He would spare us and pray that He will keep us safe and deliver us. Look at all the prayers and Psalms, praying for deliverance and safety and being spared. This idea that what we do doesn't matter of Calvinism, is a foolish doctrine that says, "Oh it’s foreordained and what will be, will be, and blah, blah, blah." It doesn't even make sense and its calling God a liar when He said, "I'm setting before you two choices, choose life."
<br><br>Can we change the whole course of the world and the whole course of Bible prophecy and Gods going to be like, "Oh man, I'm going to have to rethink the whole book of Revelation." No, it’s not going to change, it’s going to happen. But you know what, we can make a huge difference and we can make a big change in our own life and in our family and in our area. That enough for me, I'm satisfied with that. I’m satisfied to go through my life, win a bunch of people to Christ, teach as many people as I can the Bible ... Look I'm not saying I’m against foreign missions, I want to reach foreigners too. That's why I try to preach stuff and translate stuff into other languages and put it on the internet and kind of use that tool to at least try to reach some people. Or if we can find a complex where there's a bunch of African's, we went there with Swahili Bibles and talk to them about the Gospel. Look we want to reach everybody we can, but I’m just happy if I can just go through my life and just win souls, the people that I can win.
<br><br>I can't learn every language in the world. It’s not humanly possible, right? But I can learn Spanish. I can learn German. I can learn Hungarian. I can learn a few languages, right? That I can use to at least do some missions and reach some people. I can't make sure that every door in America gets knocked, but you know what I can do though, I can make sure that every door in Phoenix gets knocked. That's realistic for our church. We're not going to be able to start a church in every city in the world, but we can start a church in most major cities of America, in our life time, if we work at it, right? Don't worry about what you can't do. Don't sit around worrying about what you can't change and what you can't fix, worry about what you can. That will keep you busy for the rest of your life because there's plenty that we can do and our lives are not in vain.
<br><br>When you wake up tomorrow morning, the decisions you make, tomorrow morning will affect you and the people around you. They might not affect the price of tea in China; they might not affect the White House, what you do tomorrow. But you know what it will affect, you. You know what else it will affect, our church. You know what else it will affect, your friends and family and your neighborhood. Don't those people matter to you? It’s kind of hard for me to worry about 8 billion people, just kind of too much for me to handle. That's why I’m just going to worry about the people that God brings across my path in the city where God has placed me and that's enough.
<br><br>What you do matters. First of all if you’re not saved, choose life. It’s up to you. Don't just say well ... How many times have been soul winning? Raise your had if you've been out soul winning and had somebody tell you, when you ask them "Do you know for sure if you die today you'll go up to heaven?" "It’s up to God. Oh that's up to God. That's up to Him." You know what it’s a lie, it’s up to you. Its not up to Him, He already made the decision, when He sent Jesus to die for you. He already made the decision, when He loved you and sent His only begotten son into the world that you might live through Him. Now the balls in your court and you need to choose life. Okay you’re already saved; you have a choice, blessing or curse. You want to like under God’s blessing or you want to be cursed. Choose the blessing, okay. Then also when it comes to your neighbors, your friends, your loved ones and our city, choose life for them, by going and warning them and "Pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." There's a lot that we can change. Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
<br><br>Father, thank you so much Lord for giving us a choice. Thank you for not making us robots. Lord I think these Calvinist have just reduced you to the level of a human being because we as human beings all we can make are robots and their not even that good as robots. But Lord you’re such an amazing creator because you can actually create a being that has free will, which we can't create a computer that has free will. But you've created us Lord in your image with the ability to choose. Adam and Eve you told them to choose and Lord please help us to realize that we have the power to choose and that the choices that we make matter. They may not affect the entire world, but they definitely affect us and the people around us. Lord help us to make the right decisions and in Jesus name we pray, Amen.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-27370169871841666172016-05-22T11:08:00.000-07:002016-05-22T11:08:15.568-07:00Don't be Afraid <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJqnyETHYXE">Video</a>
<p><b>February 19, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DJqnyETHYXE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> In Jeremiah chapter 38, I want to focus on the story picking up in verse number 17 with Jeremiah speaking on the King Zedekiah. What I want to preach about tonight is the subject of fear. Now fear is a subject that the bible talks about over and over again. In fact just the word fear, afraid, fright or variations thereof that word appears 727 times in the bible. Over and over again when you're reading the bible you're reading about fear. The bible is very consistent in its teachings on fear that God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.<br><br> In fact out of all these hundreds and hundreds of times that fear is mentioned, whenever it's fearing God, it's always a good thing. It's always positive when we're fearing the Lord. When we fear anything else or anyone else it's wrong and God is constantly telling us, "Be not afraid. Do not fear." In this story, we see how a man is afraid to do what's right and ends up not only destroying his own life but destroying the lives of everyone around him because of his fear to obey the voice of the Lord.<br><br> Now beginning in verse 17, let's look at what Jeremiah told Zedekiah. It says, "Then said Jeremiah to Zedekiah, thus saith the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel, if thou wilt assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul shall live, and this city shall not be burned with fire; and thou shalt live, and thine house. But if thou wilt not go forth to the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand."<br><br> The message is crystal clear. There's no question as to what God wants Zedekiah to do. He says, "Look, you need to surrender to the king of Babylon. You're done. You've lost, just surrender and if you surrender everything is going to be fine. The city won’t be destroyed. You're going to be okay. Your wife is going to be okay. Your kids are going to be okay," but look at answer in verse number 19, "And Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid." He knew what's right but he's afraid to do what right. He says, I'm afraid of the Jews that are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me."<br><br> What's he afraid of? He is afraid of the fact that when he surrenders unto the Babylonians the Jews that have already gone over to Chaldeans are going to make fun of him, maybe torture him or do bad things to him. He's just afraid of the fate that will be fallen. Jeremiah reassures him and tells him in verse 20, "Jeremiah said, 'They shall not deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, which I speak unto thee, so it shall be well unto thee and thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth …'" then he explains all the bad things that are going happen.<br><br> Flip over to chapter 39, let's see what happens. He's afraid to do what's right. Look at what happens starting in verse 6 of chapter 39, "Then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes, also the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon. And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people with fire and brake down the walls of Jerusalem." All the things that God said would not happen if Zedekiah would have obeyed, none of those bad things would happen.<br><br> Now just imagine how horrible it would be for you to be taken captive of a foreign nation and they kill all your children in front of you while you watch. Then they punch out your eyes so that’s the last thing that you ever see before they poke out your eyes and put you in chains and take you off to live and die in a foreign country. Now think about another guy in the bible who had his eyes poked out. Who was it?<br><br>Congregation: Samson.<br><br>Pastor: Samson. What did they do with Samson after they poked his eyes out? They mocked him. They made fun of him. They made him work like an animal. They treated him poorly. Look what Zedekiah was afraid of, was being mistreated and mishandled if he obeyed God? He said, "Look, if I obey God, I'm afraid what the Jews are going to do to me on the other side." What happens? He disobeyed his God because of fear and what comes upon him? The exact thing that he is afraid of is actually what ends up happening to him and maybe even worse that he could have imagined, his children being killed, his eyes are poked out, et cetera, et cetera. Go to Proverbs chapter number 3.<br><br> Proverbs chapter number 3 and this is a very famous scripture beginning verse number 5. I'll start reading it while you turn there, "Trust in the Lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil." Sometimes we, like Zedekiah, think that we have it all figured it out. If I obey God then these bad things are going to happen to me. If I disobey God then everything is going to be okay. [Inaudible 00:05:17] God says, "Don’t lean on your own understanding. You'll fear what men is going to do unto you. Just obey what I'm telling you to do."<br><br> Fear the Lord, keep His commandments and He says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not into thine own understanding." Zedekiah thought that he had it all figured out, what the best course of action is going to be instead of obeying God. He was afraid to do what God told him to do. Instead of fearing the Lord like this passage tells us he is fearing men. He is fearing the consequences of what men can do to him.<br><br> Let's keep reading. It says, "Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Honour the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine." It's interesting just because it's right in this passage where he's talking about trusting in the Lord, not leaning on your own understanding. He brings up the firstfruits, which is another area of obedience to the Lord. We think of tithing which is the first bring and the firstfruits of our increase the 10 percent.<br><br> If you think about it, why would a person disobey the command to tithe? Go to Malachi chapter 3 if you would. Why would we disobey the command to tithe? Because you know what, I'm afraid that if I tithe I'm not going to have enough money to pay the bills. Isn't that what people would think? I'm just afraid. It's not that I don’t want to give unto the church. It's not that I don’t believe in what the church's program is, but I'm just afraid that if I give that first 10 percent, because it's the firstfruits, if I give that I'm just afraid that I'm not going to have what I need.<br><br> Look what the bible says in Malachi chapter 3, verse 8. It says, "Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing and there shall not be room enough to receive it." What we see here is that God is saying if you don’t pay the tithe, He says, "You're cursed with a curse."<br><br> Think about it. Why are people not tithing? Because they're afraid of financial catastrophe as a result of tithing. What God is saying is when you don’t tithe the financial catastrophe comes. That’s when you're cursed with a curse. That’s when the devourer will eat up the fruit of your ground and that when you step out in faith and obey the voice of the Lord he says, "I'll pour out a blessing. I'm going to bless. It's going to turn out great." Zedekiah is thinking, "I don’t see how it's going to turn out great. There's all these Jews over there that have already gone over to Chaldeans. They all hate my guts. They're going to make fun of me. I'm just going to be turned over to them and they're going to do whatever they want with me."<br><br> Jeremiah is saying, "No, actually none of those bad things are going to happen." Actually if you obey the Lord everything is going to be great. It's going to turn up fine. He didn’t listen because he's leaning on his own understanding. We as Christians need to be careful that we don’t let fear hinder us from doing the will of God. Now I've got a whole bunch of points in my sermon tonight of different areas where that Christians do not obey the Lord in because of fear. There are so many different examples I could give, but just this exact example that we see with Zedekiah applies. Flip over to Proverbs 29. What was Zedekiah afraid of? He said, "I'm afraid the Jews are going to mock me." Think about it.<br><br> Today a lot of people are afraid to do a lot of things because they are afraid of being made fun of. They are afraid of standing up and being a Christian openly or maybe taking an unpopular viewpoint of standing up for biblical Christianity and just the traditional teachings of the bible, because our society is getting so weird and sinful. They want to fit in at school or fit in at work and be cool and be accepted of the world. They are afraid to stand up for what's right, because they don’t want to be mocked and Zedekiah said, "I don’t want them to make fun of me."<br><br> They made fun of Jesus. If you follow Jesus Christ, the bible says, "The disciple is not above his master." The servant is not above his Lord. If they call the master of the house be as above, how much more shall they call them of his household? He said if they hated me, if the world hates you, you know they hated me before they hated you. Bible tells us to expect people to persecute us and mock us and attack us. The bible says in Proverbs 29: 25, "The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." Again, just like the other scripture that we looked at, what's the opposite fearing man? Trusting in the Lord. You trust with the Lord is telling you to do or you fear man and what he can do to you.<br><br> Now flip over to Acts chapter 20, because a big problem today is that pastors are afraid to rebuke sin or they are afraid to preach on certain subjects because they are afraid of being persecuted. We read the scripture of Jeremiah in chapter 38. He is being thrown in prison. He is being attacked. He is in trouble with the law. A lot of pastors today frankly are afraid to preach the truth because they just don’t want to deal with the persecution. The bible says, "Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."<br><br> A lot of pastors today are willing to trim the message because they don’t want to lose church members. They're afraid that people are going to leave the church and then they're afraid that they're not going to be able to pay the bills or they're just afraid of the persecution. They don’t want to be under attacked and they don’t want to have people retaliating against them in various ways. Thank God or Pastor Jimenez and you know what, that’s why this church is so important, because this church is not just another Independent Baptist Church in Sacramento. It isn't. There are other Independent Baptist Church, but how many of them are really willing to get up here and call a spade to spade and not leave anything out but to preach the whole council of God.<br><br> Look at what Paul said in Acts chapter 20, verse 19, "Serving the Lord with all humility of mine and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews." Watch this, "And how I kept back nothing." This is his style of preaching. Keep back … Who was it that told me before the service, "Don’t hold anything back"? Who was it? Was that you? She said, "Hey don’t hold anything back tonight." She must have read my outline. You know what? I'm not going to hold anything back, because you know what? If going to be like the Apostle Paul, he said, "I kept back nothing." There's nothing that I said.<br><br> Oh, I don’t know if they can handle that or I better not say that, that’s going to give me an [inaudible 00:12:11]. Look, if it's in the word of God it needs to be preached. Who are we to decide? I think this is appropriate in 2015 America whereas this chapter, this scripture is a little rough. It's a little edgy for our society. No, God said preach the word in season, out of season, if it's popular or not popular. Look down at the bible. He said, "I kept back nothing that was profitable to you," and the bible says, "All scripture is profitable." What he's saying is he preached all scripture. Anything in the bible he preached it. No subject was off limits. He said, "But have showed you and have taught you publicly."<br><br> Did he get up on Sunday morning and preach a water down positive only sermon and then take aside the inner circle and say, "Let me tell you guys what the bible really says"? No, he said, "I taught everything publicly. I got up and what was told me in the ear I preach it from the house tops …" as Jesus said, "… and I didn’t keep back anything from public preaching for everybody to hear." He said, "I taught it from house to house." He was going solo and he's preaching the word of God.<br><br> He said in verse 21, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there. Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."<br><br> He said, "I know about the lying and wait of the Jews," he said in verse 19. He said, "I know that afflictions and bonds abide me. I know that I'm going to be persecuted." Because the bible says, "Yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." He said, "None of that moves me. It doesn’t affect my preaching. It doesn’t stop me from doing the work that God wants me to do." He even said, "I'll tell it to the Jews and the Greeks. Even if the Jews are mad about it and hate me, I'll preach it to both." I'll preach it to everybody. I'll preach the gospel to every creature and I will keep back nothing from the church."<br><br> Then right after this, he's going to admonish those pastors there from Ephesus and those places. He said, "Feed the flock of God, which is among you. Teach the whole council of God. Speak all of it." Now let me tell you something. Lately, just to give a personal testimony from my life, I'm telling you the last few months I have been more persecuted than I've ever been in the history of my ministry or in the history of my life and I'll tell you why. It's because for along time I was working a secular job and pastor.<br><br> I've been full time pastoring for over a year and I've just ramped up everything that I've been doing because I just have more time now. I'm preaching more sermons. We've been putting out more films and juts really working hard to try to get the word of God and just preach it because of the fact that our country is on a horrible course right now, downward spiral and people are not preaching what need to be preached.<br><br> Whenever you ramp up your efforts for God, you have to just expect ramped-up persecution. I've been getting it from the IRS, the CPS. I had some transgender freak come to my church service a few months ago that I had to physically cast out. I either pull in the police are coming and try to figure out whether I assaulted this transgender freak when I picked him up and threw him out. It's the house of God. We can’t allow these filthy perverts in the house of God.<br><br> Just all the weird stuff I've been getting in the mail and the police pulled me out of bed at 11:45 at night a couple of weeks go. It seems like over the past few months it's just one thing after another of just hate mail and death threats and people outside my church yelling at me and people smearing stuff on the door of the church building. They want to intimidate you and they're trying to terrify you, put fear in you. It's a persecution to stop …<br><br> By the way, you know the CDs and the films that we do? I've got to point out where the companies that have printed CDs for us for years are refusing, "We won’t print your DVDs. We won’t print your CDs." I have to call around to try to find somebody who is even willing to print the CDs and the DVDs, because of the fact that we're getting to the point where if you're just a bible-believing preacher, you just ostracized of this world now.<br><br> It's funny because I've had a lot of people say to me, "Hey, maybe you should just back down just a little bit. Why don’t you just let off on the throttle just a little bit?" Here's what they say, "Aren't you afraid to keep preaching like that then if all this stuff is coming at you from all sides?" You know what the truth of the matter is you know who should really be afraid? Let me tell you who should be afraid tonight. The pastors who are holding back and letting these things stop them and they're being intimidated by this faggot-controlled mafia of, "We hate speech. We're going to shut you down."<br><br> We have the congressmen of our state. The congressmen are standing in front of our church doing a press conference in front of our church building, "This guy is saying all these hateful things and we need to stop this guy." Let me tell you something. The truth is hate to those who hate the truth. You know what? This book now the bible is being called speech now. Just saying what the bible says, you're hateful and you're this and you're that and they'll put all these labels on you.<br><br> Let me tell you who are to be scared, the pastor who's holding back and refusing to preach the word of God because it's not popular today. He ought to be scared of what the Lord is going to do to him. Scare to what man is going to do to me? I don’t care if some Jewish congressman comes and huffs and puffs and everything and doesn’t like my preaching or some filthy faggots are going to line up and hold up signs and everything like that. You know what? None of these things move me. You know what? I'd be afraid not to preach the way that I do, because it's these bunch of compromisers that ought to be afraid of what the Lord is going to do to punish them for standing up and say, "I'm going to preach to you the whole council of God," and then holding back part of it. It's fraud.<br><br> God wants us to preach the whole word of God. It's the compromisers that ought to be afraid. You know what? If we offend God, the bible says in Luke 12; you have to turn there, but the bible says in Luke 12, verse 4, "And I say unto you my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear. Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, fear him." What can man really do unto us if you think about it?<br><br> Now go to SECOND Timothy chapter 4. What can man really do unto us if you think about it? They can kill the body, but you know what Paul said, "To live is Christ and to die is gain." Honestly, you know what I've noticed staying the bible and I want you to really get this point, because this is the point of the whole sermon. The whole sermon tonight is about the fact that Zedekiah was told by the Lord, "Do this." Real clear do this and you'll be fine. Disobey it, you're going to die and people around you are going to die [inaudible 00:20:00]. He disobeyed it because he was afraid and then all the bad things came upon him. That’s what the sermon is about.<br><br> Listen to me. I'm not disputing the fact that sometimes in the bible people were killed for their beliefs, like Stephen comes to mind. Stephen is stoned to death and there area lot of other people in the bible who are righteous people who died for their beliefs. The bible does say in Revelation the devil shall cast some of you into prison and you shall be tried. Let me tell you something. As I read the bible from over to cover and you look at godly people, most of the time God actually preserve them. It's not like they're just killed, they're all just slaughtered. Look how many people in the bible didn’t get killed, didn’t get slaughtered.<br><br> Jeremiah is a perfect example, because in the end Jeremiah ended up being completely safe. When the Chaldeans came in and were killing everybody and raping people, he is fine. They unchained him and gave him money and say, "You're free to go buddy," and he was fine. You know who else ended up his life fine? The Apostle Paul.<br><br> Now think about it. The Apostle Paul probably went through more persecution than anybody else that we read about in scripture. Think about the afflictions that the Apostle Paul went through. He was beaten with rods. He was thrown in prison over and over again. He was whipped and scourged. He was shipwrecked and he was at the point of being killed by the Roman guards because they were just going to kill all the prisoners and everything. One time he was even stoned. They stoned him and they thought he was dead. They're like, "He's dead," and they leave him there and then he gets up and walks away because he was still alive. Paul went through a lot of persecution.<br><br> Look what the bible says in second Timothy chapter 4, verse 17. Let me turn there. Actually, I want to start reading a little earlier than what I have in my notes. Let me just turn there myself, second Timothy chapter 4. It says in verse 16, "At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."<br><br> Now a lot of people will tell you, "Oh, the Apostle Paul was beheaded by the Romans." That’s not in the bible anywhere and in fact I think that that’s unscriptural because if you study this passage just a few verses earlier in verse 6 and 7 he said, "I'm now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight. I've finished my course. I've kept the faith." He said, "I'm about ready to depart," and he's talking about departing and to be with Christ, done by dying of physical death.<br><br> Yet a few verses later he says, "The Lord delivered me from every evil work. I went through all these persecutions, but I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. I was delivered from all the evil works of men." I believe from the top of my head to the bottom of my foot that the Apostle Paul died of natural causes. Because if you read the Book of Acts, which is the story; a lot of it is the story of the Apostle Paul, it ends up the last words of the Book of Acts. He's on house arrest. He's living in his own house. He's preaching every day. His friends are coming over to his house every day.<br><br> No man is forbidding him to preach the gospel. He could preach whatever he wants from the bible. He can say whatever he wants. He continues for 2 years. Why would the Book of Acts end on such a positive note and then like, "Oh, by the way, here's what we're not going to tell you. They chopped off his head right after that." That’s not a biblical teaching. That’s man's history and it's all legend and folklore. The bible says that he is going to be preserved from that and delivered from the lion. He talks about that his death is impending, but it doesn’t sound like it's coming from men. Sounds like he's just an old man that’s about to die. He knows he's about to die.<br><br> Why do I bring that up? Because the bible says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." Did Paul go through a lot of afflictions? Yes. He's beaten. He's imprisoned, all these different things, stoned. Did he go through pain? Did he go through suffering? You know what? In the end he was blessed. The bible says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all." Go to first Peter chapter 3.<br><br> First Peter chapter 3. While you're turning to first Peter chapter 3, let's just think of other examples in the bible of men who went through trials but they came out okay and God preserved them and they didn’t go to prison. They weren't killed. What about Job? Did Job suffer and go through trials? Yes, but the latter end of Job was more blessed than the beginning. He lived to be an old, old man and he got to see his children and his children's children unto the third and fourth generation. He was blessed. Everything went great. In the end, the latter end of Job was blessed. Look at men in the bible who served God. A lot of them ended up … and John. The apostle John ended up in old age.<br><br> Now there were some that are murdered, like John the Baptist or Stephen at a young age. If that’s God's will, so be it if that’s what God wants. Let me tell you something. It's the minority and the reason that I bring up the fact that that’s the minority is that here we are in America today, a bunch of pastors scared of our own shadow and don’t ant to preach the bible because oh we're going to go to prison, oh we're going to be killed. Most of it is a phantom that’s never going to happen. Even if it does happen, most of the time in the bible it's a tempor6ary affliction. Even a guy like Paul is thrown into the prison, he gets out the next day and he keeps on going. Big deal.<br><br> While I turn first Peter 3, look down in verse 13. Watch this, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?" There's a protection there that’s promise from God. Verse 13, "Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good? But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled." He says, "Look. If you do what's right, God is going to protect you. You're not going to be harmed." He says, "But if God does decide for you to be harmed …" he says, "… you know what, don’t be afraid of that. Be faithful unto death and I'll give the crown of life."<br><br> Look at Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They stood up for what was right. They took a stand. You know what? They said, "Oh, I'm afraid," like Zedekiah, "I'm afraid of going into the fiery furnace, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to bow down before the image, but in my heart I may be bowing down to the Lord." You could see I could easily justify that. Everybody bows down to the golden image. You could just start, "I'm going to bow down so I don’t go into furnace, but I m just going to worship the Lord in my heart." In my heart I'll be bowing down and saying, "It's to Jehovah. It's not unto this idol."<br><br> They said to the king, "We're not going to do it," be they wanted to take a public stand because they are testimony under oath. You know what? The whole world heard that story. Think about it. What of these 3 guys were just compromising their heart, bow down and just pray to the Lord in their heart? What ended up happening is that a decree ended up going out to all nations that Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego's God is the true God. What's that worth when you take a stand and put your head on the chopping block and you're willing to go into the fiery furnace that the whole world will hear the gospel? It's worth it. Not only that, but we're still talking about the story today. It's still an inspiration to us today.<br><br> Even just that generation, it went out into the 127 provinces of the realm that nobody can speak ill of the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Look, 3 guys stood up, risked their lives and then they secured freedom for the whole realm where people were free to worship the true God of the bible. There are so many examples like that because when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown in the fire, they're preserved. Didn’t they end up unharmed? In fact when they got out of the fiery furnace, they're promoted.<br><br> See, this is where the prosperity preaching gets wrong. The prosperity preaching says, "If you do what's right, and things won’t happen to you and God is just going to bless you." Listen, whenever there's a false doctrine you see there's a little truth mixed in it but then they’ve twisted it and corrupted it. Here's the true story of what the bible teaches. When you do what's right you're going to suffer for it and go through affliction. That’s what the prosperity preachers not telling you, but most of the time in the end you come out as gold.<br><br> Somehow I think we missed that. Because we're so against the prosperity preaching, we forget that a lot of times God will bless us if we do right. After we go through the trial, after we go through the fiery furnace and the affliction, you take the beating, you go to jail, you get stoned but in the end you're living in your own house and everything is cool and everybody is visiting you and you're preaching the word of God and everything is great and you die of old age, like the Apostle Paul.<br><br> What am I trying to say? That people are afraid of something that's not even really going to happen. Even if t is going to happen, God says, "Look, that’s My plan for you." Fear not just do it. It's worth it. Stephen's death was worth it, because it inspired the Apostle Paul and many others. John the Baptist's death was worth it. Everybody who died for the Lord today up in heaven is glad that they did. Nobody is up in heaven thinking, "Man, why did I have to be that guy that got killed?" Here is Paul, old age. John is living into old age. Why was I the guy they just killed? I'm killed off at the very beginning of the Book of Acts. I barely even get any.<br><br> I could have been the main character. I could have been writing epistles and everything. Why am I the guy that’s just killed off in the first 5 minutes of the movie; yes it were? Hey, I don’t think he's saying that. He's glad, it's honor and privilege to die the Lord Jesus. You know what? It's a select few that will even do it anyway. What are you afraid of? Your own shadow in many cases, because God is going to see you through and protect.<br><br> Look, all things work together for good to them that love God and then that are called according to his promise. If you believe that then you just need to fear not. If God tells you, "Hey, preach the whole bible," you preach the whole bible. You say, "I'm not a preacher," then get into church where the pastor is preaching the whole bible what you take away from this point. If you're a preacher in here and I know that there are young men in this room that eventually will be pastors. My message to them is preach it all and let the chips fall where they may and only word about is God pleased with my sermon and that’s the one.<br><br> You know what? You know who I really couldn't care less what they think about my sermon? The unsaved wicked world. Why would I try to please them? Oh, but you're going to turn away from God. No, they already turned away because they hate the Lord. It has nothing to do with preaching the bible. Look, this thing of like, "Oh trim the message," it's hasn’t been working out for America. Anyway, let's move on to the next point. Go to Matthew 25.<br><br> I'm talking a little bit about preachers who are afraid to preach the whole bible. What about this? What about men who were just afraid to preach in general? The reaching night roles are out. I think you guys have a preaching night where there's an opportunity to get up and preach. I bet there are a lot of men that God could use at that preaching night and maybe use down the road to become pastors and preachers of the next generation that we desperately need. I think fear is stopping them from getting up behind that pulpit and doing that 10 minutes sermon. They're afraid of being mocked or they're afraid of making fool of themselves. They're afraid of getting up here and messing up.<br><br> Here's the reality. If you fear failure, you end up doing nothing which is failure. Now look down at the story. It's a perfect example, Matthew 25, verse 24, "Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid …" loo, whenever you see that in the bible, bad thing are going to happen to these people. I was afraid. I'm afraid. "I was afraid and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine."<br><br> Now in the bible, the talent was a type of money. It was a measurement of weight or a measurement of monetary value of coin. We have a word talent today and when we talk about someone having talent, what do we mean? Skill and we say, "Hey, he is talented at the piano," or he's a talented speaker or he's not. Why do we call that talent? It actually derives from this word, because the Lord gave them money. He gave them a talent. It was actual money that he gave them. It was a measurement of how much money He gave them. He said, "I want you to do something with the money that I give you. When I come back I want to see fruit from it." When God gives us skills and ability the reason we call those talents is because they came from God.<br><br> Just as we call them a talent because of this story we should apply this story that God wants a return on His investment. He says, "Thou wicked …" verse 26, "His lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant …" slothful means lazy. He says, "You wicked and lazy servant. Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury."<br><br> "Take therefore the talent from him and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given and he shall have abundance; but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Now this scripture is about basically the Jews are the unprofitable servant and then the gentiles are the one who ended up taking the gospel and so forth and the Jews are cast out. That’s the theme of Matthew 21 through 25, all of those chapters deal with that subject of basically God turning from the Jews unto the gentiles and all of these different parables and so forth.<br><br> What we can take from this as an application tonight is that when God gives you talent you need to use it for the Lord and if not He might even take it away from you, because that’s what He did with this guy. You're no going to use it for me I'll take it from you. Think about the talent that goes to waste today and that’s why you see a lot of the most talented people don’t serve the Lord and a lot of people that are not as talented but they're willing, God uses them more just because they're willing to at least bring what they have to the table and be used by God.<br><br> Think about this. People are talented musically. They're able to play the piano. What good is it to sit there and become an expert in classical music at the piano? How much are you really going to be able to use that realistically in life versus if you learn how to play to Him is you can actually be used by God 3 times a week playing the piano and so forth or playing an organ or playing whatever musical instrument? The bible says, "God wants to be praised on musical instruments," or talented singing. Oh, you become a great singer. You're going to be the lead singer of some rock band and then we'll hear about you strong out n drugs and we'll hear about you making an idiot out of yourself because the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.<br><br> Hey, if you have a talent for singing, learn how to lead the singing. Come to church and sing out with all your heart unto the Lord and worship God. That’s a good use of your talent. You have a talent to get up and speak, get up and preach the word of God and use that talent for the Lord. A lot of people are just afraid to get their feet wet. They're afraid to come to that preaching night and get up here and preach the sermon. The hardest part about learning how to preach is just getting up and doing it the first few times. It's just getting up and doing it.<br><br> Look, this guy in this story he said, "I was afraid. I didn’t want to lose the talent so I went and hid it." What was he afraid of? Failing at the mission, but his fear paralyzed him he ended up doing nothing and that is failure. When God looks down at your life and you're doing nothing with your life, He sees you as a failure. He says, "You wicked and slothful, I want you to sere Me. Get out soul winning." Look, people don’t go soul winning. Why? Because they're afraid? Oh, I'm afraid. I'm not going to know what to say. I'm afraid somebody is going to ask me a question I can’t answer. I'm afraid that I'm going to knock the door of someone I know. It's even humiliating.<br><br> Look, we've all knocked … Who's knocked the door of someone you've known when you went out soul winning? Somehow it's a little uncomfortable but just because it's weird like people think you're stalking or something, because you know these people and then you're just at their house like, "How do you know where I live? What are doing in my house?" I've had many times. Oh, I'm afraid of this, afraid of that, but you know what? I remember when I started soul winning, I would say probably the first year of soul winning, every single week when I went soul winning I was nervous for about the first year. Where literally when I would knock on the first door out soul winning, I hope that they wouldn't be home. You know what I'm talking about?<br><br> You go soul winning and you knock on the door and you're kind of, "I don’t think they're home," and you just hope in that first. I just remember the first door my heart will be pounding. You've been there. Heart is pounding. You knock the door. You hope they're not home. That’s how I felt. I started soul winning when I was 17 and that’s how I felt. After about a year or 2, I got to the point where I just knock that door. By the way, even in the beginning it was only the first few doors that are like that where you're scared. Because once you got warmed up, you realize this isn't so bad.<br><br> Look, the whole point of the sermon that I keep trying to drive in on almost every point is that the stuff you're afraid of is a phantom. It's a boogeyman. You say, "Oh, I'm afraid I'm going to make a fool of myself out soul winning." You're never going to see these people again. I'd rather make a fool of myself at the door with some stranger than with people I actually know. If it's somebody that you know, have your sound partner do it or whatever [inaudible 00:38:58]. I'm saying that you go out there and you're walking up that first door and you're scared and you're nervous and your heart pounding, but once you do a couple of doors you're like, "Wow, this is great."<br><br> I've talked to people where they struggled with it, "Man, I don’t want those soul winning. I'm scared," and they were nervous. Then they came out and they're like, "Oh, is this all?" it's like, "What did you think we were going to be doing," like we're just going to go out and just front people and we're just going to be in a fight every time. It's so easy. Look, so it's not that hard, is it? I don’t think it's that hard. It's hard work in the sense of strenuous, but it's not hard in the sense of you just show up. How is to be the silent partner? Look, if you're not out soul winning, you need to show up at the soul wining time and be the silent partner.<br><br> If you're afraid of that then you're just a complete weakling. You know what? The bible says that when they ere all fill with the Holy Ghost it says they spake the word of God with boldness. You know what it tells me if you're afraid to even do something as easy as showing up to be the silent partner tells me you're not filled with the Holy Spirit at all, because the evidence of the fullness of the Holy Spirit is that you'll have boldness. He says, "I'm still scared, I'm nervous." Pray for boldness.<br><br> Paul prayed for boldness in the bible and he asked other people to pray for hi0m. He said, "Pray for me that utterance will be given unto me that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel." That was his prior request. Why don't people go soul winning? Because they're afraid. Why don’t preachers preach the whole word of God? Because they're afraid. Why won’t people get up and give their 10 minutes arm at the preaching class? Because they're afraid. Why won’t people pay their tithe? Because they're afraid.<br><br> Why won’t people take a stand in front of friends and loved ones and stand up boldly and proclaim the name of the Lord Jesus Christ? Because they're afraid to do it and it's wrong and it's not from God. It's the spirit of fear and God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou are with me," that’s what the bible teaches, Psalm 23.<br><br> What else are people afraid of? People are afraid to spank their children because they're afraid they're going to get trouble with the law. This one is Psalm that’s just near and dear to me right now, because the CPS was coming to my house because some filthy sodomite and you say, "Oh, you need to love." No, they are filthy. They are reprobate and by the way, AIDS is the judgment of God and all God's said, "Amen."<br><br> I'm not afraid to say that. Did you get that? I'm not afraid to say that. Listen, these filthy sodomites, I can show my email inbox. I went into my email inbox after the CPS and the police came to my house in the middle of the night. I went into my email inbox. I just search the word CPS in my Gmail. It's just all, "I'm going to call the blankety blank CPS on you. Oh, you hate homos. I'm going to call CPS. Oh, you're preaching against homos? Then you should have your kids taken away from you," and blah, blah, blah. I (voice sound). I better stop preaching against the homos. The round is too big series on the love of God because these people are really scaring me and intimidating me.<br><br> You know what? Somebody has got to get up and tell the truth tonight and I'm telling you that most people are shying away from that subject and that’s a big subject right now. You know and I know that they are taking over and cramming it down on our throat and somebody needs to be the voice of regent saying no. It's wrong. It's sin. It's hell has got to do it, but they try to intimidate you with that. Here's the other thing though. The CPS will sit there and say, "It's no secret that we know." This s what they told me, "We know you, Pastor Anderson, that you preach on spanking, so we need to make sure that your kids are being abused."<br><br> You know what they're trying to do? Scare pastors into preaching on spanking be then it's like, "Oh, if I preach what the word of God says, I'm going to have the government on my back and everything." You know what? Any pastor who won’t get up and preach that we should spank our children is a liar and a fraud and a compromiser. He should sit down and shut up and get an honest job and let a real man get behind the pulpit who will preach the Book of Proverbs that says, "Withhold not correction from the child, for thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from hell." That’s what the bible says. I'm quoting scripture tonight.<br><br> You're preaching spanking. No, the bible preaches spanking. The bible preaches that you discipline your children. That’s what the bible says. Is that what you think? Is that what you believe? No, the bible said it. If I don’t preach the bible then I'm not even the man of God in the first place. [Inaudible 00:44:05] get up and just preach whatever I want. No, I got to preach what the bible says. Now go to the New Testament. Hey, Hebrews 12 teaches the same thing. He said, "If you were without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons." He says every son. What son is he whom the father chasteneth not? Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.<br><br> You know what? I'm not abusing my kids. I'm not harming my kids in any way. I'm just giving them a normal biblical Christian spanking like people of David for hundreds of years in this country. You know what? I'm not committing any crime, but these people want to intimidate you today into not telling the truth. You know what? They're never going to intimidate me and they should never intimidate you. If you say, "I'm afraid to spank my kids because I afraid of the CPS," you need to stop fearing men and start fearing God, because I would fear to disobey that commandment in the bible that says to discipline your children.<br><br> You know what I would fear? Oh, God is not going to bless my children. Hey, He said that if I spank them I'll deliver their soul from hell. I'm afraid my children are going to go to hell if I don’t spank them. That ought to be the fear. You know what? You know why children who don’t get spanked often go to hell? You know why? Because God is our Father in heaven and if you think about it if they have a father on this earth that won’t give them any consequence when they do wrong, you know what they think? Oh, that’s what God's like. I do whatever and there's no punishment.<br><br> That’s where this doctrine comes from, I don’t believe in hell. It's from some kid that didn’t get spanked. You know that filthy-faggot Rob Bell? I don’t think he ever got spanked as a kid, this Christian pastor who says, "Oh, I don’t believe hell is real," and this and that. Look, he didn’t get spanked as a kid that’s why he didn’t believe in hell. You're like, "Man, did your dad spank you that hard that it taught you about hell?" I'm just saying. You can see how somebody could think that oh God doesn’t punish. Why? Because the parents don’t punish them and their children they're grown up and they're not being punished by the parents. Why? Because they're afraid to punish them in many cases.<br><br> We talked about spanking these children. What about people who are just afraid to even have kids in general? Why are people not having kids today? You see so many people who are … Because a lot is that they're afraid because it takes a lot of faith to have a lot of children, because children are expensive. When they start eating a whole burrito and a whole pizza in 1 sitting and they're eating a whole foot long sup.<br><br> I have 8 children and literally if I stop and think about just how much it costs to feed them on a monthly basis and just how long they're going to live in my house, it's a scary thought. I tried to just not even think about it. My wife is like, "Do you know how much we spent on food?" Don’t even tell me. I'm just calculating. I was like, "Oh man, this is crazy." It's scary just the numbers and just huge pieces of me are being brought into my house, huge amounts of food. It's like1 meal. I was like, "What in the world." They get to start eating like adults and that age is like 7, seriously and it's scary.<br><br> You know what? It takes the faith of saying, "I'm not going to fear." God said, "Be fruitful and multiply." God said, "Children are blessings." Children are heritage of the Lord. Fruit of the womb is His reward. God said that He'll supply all our need according to His rich and glory by Christ Jesus. God said, "I've never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread." We need to take a lot of faith to believe that when you start looking at the numbers of just how much these kids are eating like locust (voice sound). You bring them all this food. Oh, that’s going to last (voice sound). It's gone. All gone. All consumed.<br><br> People there are afraid to have kids. Go to Hebrews 11. People are afraid to have kids today and so they disobey the Lord by not having kids when God wants us to reproduce. God wants us to have children. He wants us to see children as a blessing. You got to step out in faith and do it. Not only that, look here in Hebrews chapter 11, verse 23. I love this little saying of scripture about Moses and his parents, because it shows how the parents had the faith to do what was right and not to fear and then that was passed on to the child.<br><br> Look what it says in Hebrews 11:23, "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months of his parents, because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. They said, "Look, I don’t care what the king says. I'm not going to sin against the Lord here. I'm going to preserve this child. I'm not going to have this abortion that they're trying to force on me, killing the male children. It says, "They were not afraid of the king's commandment."<br><br> Look what it says next, "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to joy the pleasure of sin for a season. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king." Notice how it's almost the exact same thing. The parents did not fear the king's commandment and then Moses grows up, he does not fear the wrath of the king. That was passed on from generation to generation.<br><br> We need to set an example for our children and say, "You know what we're going to do? What God says by faith and we're not afraid to do it." We're not afraid to preach right. We're not afraid to go to a church. You go to that church? What are you doing going there 3 times a week and all that pastor men as a fanatic and too radical. What do you mean you spank your children? That’s abuse, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to call the Child Protection Service.<br><br> Look, you need to teach your children boldness so that we raise up a generation that’s not completely spineless like the current generation of Christians is today. Look, Christianity today, 99 percent of Christians in this country are scared with their own shadow and they're afraid to do what's right. Look, I get up and preach this stuff about the homos and most people agree with me. It's true, but what they are? Scared. It's not that I … If you look at all of my preaching, nothing that I preach is unique. It's all bible stuff that a lot of people have said before. I haven't come up with any new thing.<br><br> A lot of people don’t just don’t say this stuff anymore, but they used to say it. They just don’t say it anymore because there's this spirit of fear has come. We can let this creep in. Now there are so many examples we could go down the list here. Turn over to Psalm 27 if you would, so many things that people are afraid of. Here's another perfect example. How about wives who are afraid to submit to their husband?<br><br> Now you say, "What does have to do with fear?" Because the bible says, "Wives, submit yourselves under your own husbands as under the Lord." The bible says that the wives are to be of good and obedient to their own husbands that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. The bible says that they should love their husbands, love their children to be discrete, chase, keepers at home, good obedient to their own husbands. There are so many scriptures. Even Sara also obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as you do well and are not afraid with any amazement, a lot of scripture telling wives to obey their husbands, telling wives to submit under their husbands.<br><br> Why do so many women not obey their husband or not submit under their husband? Because they're afraid and here's what they're afraid. Oh, I'm afraid that if I let him lead he'll do something stupid because I'm smarter. U forward women say this. In my house I need to run things because my husband he is stupid with money so I have to handle it. There are women who think that. I need to run everything. Or if I let my husband run things, he'd take us off the cliff. financially. He'll take us off the cliff, spiritually or whatever. There are a lot of women who feel that way. They're just afraid of my husband is inept. He doesn’t know what he's doing so I need to run things because I'm afraid of him.<br><br> Or how about this? They are afraid that if they submit to their husband and humble themselves unto him, he's going to take advantage. He's going to take advantage of that. He's going to abuse if I give him that authority. Excuse me, God gave him that authority. Women say, "If I give him that power." That right there shows where they're at mentally and spiritually. If I gave him that power of being the boss, I'm abuse he's going to abuse it and he's not going to use it properly. Here's the keywords, I'm afraid. God told you to do it and you're afraid. Isn't this repeating over and over with almost every area of life?<br><br> Soul winning, God told you to do it, you're afraid. Tithing, God told you to do it, you're afraid. Preach the whole bible, God told you to do it, you're afraid to do it. Spank your kids, God told you to do it, you're afraid to do it. Submit under your husband, you're afraid to do it. It's not of the Lord. It's of this world that wants to instill fear in us and so women are afraid to obey their husband. In reality what they needed to do is step out in faith and say, "Hey, if the bible says that I'm supposed to submit under my own husband as under the Lord and I know that the path to God's blessing is through the door of obedience that if I step out in faith I just believe." You just have to sit back and let him screw things up a little bit, so what?<br><br> God bless is going to bless you if you do. Maybe you'll find out your husband isn't as stupid as you think. Maybe you'll find out that God is going to bless his decisions because he is the one that God actually ordained as the main decision maker. I'm not saying it's wrong for the husband to delegate authority and delegate things to his wife. The wife needs to be firmly the head of the home and he needs to be the boss. That’s what the bible teaches, but a lot of people are just afraid of that or they're afraid of what other people will think.<br><br> I'm respectful to my husband in public, people are going to call me a doormat and they're going to (voice sound). What's with her? She's respectful her husband. She call them sir. She was friendly and polite. Now here's what's funny. I went out to a restaurant with my wife and we're sitting at the restaurant and the waitress came over and was very friendly and attentive. In that hour waitresses usually are. When you go to restaurant they come over and they smile and they fill your drink, "Hey, would you like anything else? Are you enjoying the meal? Everything good? Hey, can I get anything else for you?" they're real nice and so forth.<br><br> This woman was serving us in that way and I was thinking to myself, "You know what's funny is that world respects a woman who goes and puts on a uniform, puts on a name tag and goes and serves strangers at a restaurant." If she does a good job and is really friendly, really humble, really good servant, really quick in bringing everything out and attentive, you know what they say? That’s a wonderful wai-... She's doing a good job. She's a good waitress and they'll respect that. That’s great, she's doing a good job, respect it.<br><br> Here's the thing. If a woman acted that same way toward her own husband and treated that as her job and brought him dinner. He sat down and she brought him the food and she poured his drink, can I get you anything else, smiling in front. They'd say, "What in the world? This is the 1950s," and all the stuff word wives. They would. Think about that for a while. Why is it that world has brainwashed us that serving strangers is honorable and wonderful, but serving your husband will make fun of you and say you're a doormat. You don’t have a self-respect and you need to show him and blah, blah, blah.<br><br> You know what? We need to cut through this brainwashing of the world and not be afraid of what people think of us and just run our home the way God told us to run it. Wives just need to step out in faith and say, "If God wants me to submit to my husband, I'm just going to submit to them as under the Lord. If I don’t feel that he deserves it, the Lord deserves it. He's the one who tells me to do it." Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." I'll do it for the Lord. Then you might find that your husband will love you more and that you'll love your husband more because you're actually on God's program and God is going to bless that.<br><br> The thing that you're afraid of the scary, oh the Jews that have fallen to the Chaldeans are going to mock me. Probably it won’t even happen. Your friends will probably respect you when they see you being a good wife and your husband is not going to abuse you or take advantage. He's probably start treating you better. When you start obeying, he'll probably start treating you better. Look at Psalm 27, verse 1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."<br><br> Psalm 3, you don’t have to turn there but verse 5 says, "I laid me down and slept; I awake for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about." It's pretty easy to say that, but just picture yourself. You're in your house and 10,000 people have surrounded the house and they're all coming to get you. Could you say I'm not afraid of any of this? I'm in God's hands. I know that I've done right. I laid me down and slept.<br><br> You know what? When you can go to bed at night and put your head on your pillow and fall asleep and sleep like a baby, not because your life is perfect, not because government agencies aren't on your back, not because everybody loves you, not because you haven't been hated and threatened and on peril every hour, you know why you go to bed and put your head on the pillow and lay you down and sleep like David said and with no fear, you know why? Because you know I did what was right. God promised to take care of me if I did what's right and so everything is going to be great and let the chips fall where they may because it's up to the Lord what happens to me and He's going to protect me and preserve me unto His heavenly kingdom.<br><br> You go to bed. Look, your whole life might be falling apart. When you do what's right, you could go to bed at night put your head on the pillow and sleep like a baby and say, "I'm doing what I can. I'm trying to serve the Lord. I love God. I did what was right." You go to bed and you sleep peacefully. The peace of God which passeth to all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. You just pray to the Lord and say, "Lord, here's what I'm going through. Here's what going on."<br><br> Go to Psalm 56. We'll close with Psalm 56. I've done what I can, Lord. It's up to You now to protect me and you can have peace in your life and not live a life of fear. How do I overcome fear? First of all, you just overcome fear in the sense that even if you're afraid you do what's right anyway even if you're afraid, you do it anyway. As you develop a pattern of doing what's right in spite of fear you'll start to realize, "Hey, a lot of the stuff I was afraid of didn’t even happen." Hey, I thought I went out soul winning it was going to be embarrassing. It actually was totally normal and well. He is afraid to get up and preach a 10-minute sermon actually he did okay. You start developing that pattern.<br><br> Secondly, you pray for boldness. You pray for boldness. The bible says, "In everything by prayer and supplication, let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passeth to all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Look at Psalm 56, verse 2, "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up." Try to put yourself in the scripture. Just think about this is your life. Take it literally. You're David. You have enemies that just daily want to swallow you up. You'd be afraid humanly speaking without the Lord and His Holy Spirit giving you boldness.<br><br> It says, "Mine enemies would daily swallow me up, for they be many that fight against me, o thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me. Every day they wrest my words." You see, they're twisting my words. I say one thing they twisted like I said something else. "All their thought are against me for evil. They gather themselves together, they hide themselves, they mark my steps, when they wait for my soul." Just imagine people are just lying and wait. They're conspiring against you. They're laying trap for you. They hate you. Everything you say they're listening so they can twist it.<br><br> "Shall they escape by iniquity? In thine anger cast down the people, O God. Thou tellest my wanderings, put thou my tears into thine bottle. Are they not in thy book? When I cry unto thee, then shall mine enemies turn back. This I know, for God is for me. In God will I praise His word. In the Lord will I praise His word. In God have I put my trust. I will not be afraid what man can do unto me." This is the message tonight. We started out with the man Zedekiah who said, "I'm afraid." Zedekiah, obey the Lord. You're going to be fine. Your family is going to be fine. Your friends are going to be fine. Your city is going to be fine.<br><br> If you disobey, it's all going to be burned. Everybody is going to be killed. Everybody is going to be suffer. I besiege you, obey the Lord. I'm afraid. Here we end on the man David who said, "I will not be afraid." That’s what we need to be tonight, I will not be afraid. We started when we're talking the wrong guy that said. "I'm afraid, I'm afraid." You need to walk out here tonight and this is the … Memorize the whole chapter for crying out loud, but at least just memorize that 1 phrase. Let that 1 phrase sink into your ears, I will not be afraid.<br><br> I remember when I was much younger being n a really dangerous part of town at night by myself working. My job has sent me into a real dangerous part of town at night and by myself I'm working. What's the natural reaction? Fear. The fear is real because you're in a really bad area. It's at night, you're by yourself, there's a lot of crime. I used to quote Psalm 23 to myself and I will quote, 'Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me."<br><br> When I read this passage where he keeps saying over and over again I will not be afraid, I almost get the feeling that he's trying to convince himself a little bit when you read this passage. He's reminding himself with this Psalm. You know what? God is for me. He's reminding himself. He's asking the Lord, but he's also saying, "The Lord is for me. I know God is with me. I'm not going to be afraid. I'm not going to be afr6aid. I'm not going to be afraid Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no one."<br><br> Look, you're going to have decisions that come in your life and you're going to be like, "I know I need to start going to church," or, "I know I need to start soul winning," or, "I know God wants me to preach," or, "I know that as a pastor I need to preach the whole word and I've been holding back and I've kept back some things", or, "I know I need to submit into my husband," or, "I needed to start tithing," or whatever. I know I need to start spanking my children. The bottom line is the thing that’s going to come in is this fear is going to creep in. You have to just remember this sermon and just remember all the scriptures and just say, "I will not be afraid."<br><br> Whatever decision I make in my life, it's not going to be based on fear. It's never going to be based on fear because it's never of God. We could turn to all 727 mentions if you want of fear, afraid, and frighten and we can go through all of them. You know what you're going to find? Whenever people fear, it's wrong. I don't care what you're fearing or why. It's wrong unless it's the Lord. The Lord is the one that we fear and Him alone.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-83240647640763433062016-05-21T11:07:00.000-07:002016-05-21T11:07:00.688-07:00Sins of the Tongue <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpnPurKnhZg">Video</a>
<p><b>February 22, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/vpnPurKnhZg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>James 3, I pretty much want to preach about the subject of this entire chapter is about, which is about the tongue. Beginning verse number 1, the Bible reads; My brothers, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things we offend all. Watch this. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.<br><br> Now, just from looking at that verse, that’s to show us right away that this is something that a lot of people are going to struggle with. If he says, “Look, if you can get this area right in your life, you're complete, you're perfect. You've got everything together if you can tame the tongue. The Bible says in verse 3; Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth. Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind, but the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.<br><br> The Bible’s making it really clear here that this is going to be something that people struggle with. The tongue can no man tame. If you can bridle your tongue you can bridle your whole body. This is something that can cause a lot of harm. A little tiny part of our body; the tongue, but it said that it can kindle great fires and cause great destruction.<br><br> It says in verse 9: Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? Either a vine, figs? So can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh. Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom, but if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.<br><br> Flip back a couple of pages to James chapter 1 and we’ll see another mention of the tongue. Notice that the tongue and the misuse of the tongue is tied in with bitter envying and strife in your heart. What causes you to say things that are hurtful or that destroy people or that cause trouble and Kindle these great fires? It’s when you have bitter envying and strife in your heart. That's what causes these things to come out your mouth because the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.<br><br> The bitter envying is when you think that you're better than other people, you wish that you have what they have, you're envious of them and strife; just getting into conflict with people all the time instead of trying to be at peace with your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in the local church or being at peace in your family, being at peace on the job etcetera.<br><br> Look at 1 James 26; If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.. That’s a pretty strong statement, again, telling us how important it is that we bridle our tongue. We don't want our religion to be in vain, so therefore we want to make sure that we bridle our tongue.<br><br> Go to 1 Peter 3, this all by way of introduction. 1 Peter 3, because what I want to really preach about tonight is, specifically, what are the sins of the tongue. We can talk about generalities of just, “Hey, control your mouth, control your tongue. Don't let it get out of control,” but what specifically does God tell us in the Bible are the sins that we commit with our tongue and with our mouth?<br><br> First, look at 1 Peter 3:8. It says; Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, because, of course, if our heart is right, then the things that come out of our mouth are going to be right as well. It says; Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile.<br><br> If you want to have an enjoyable life, if you want God to bless you and prosper you, and if you want to see good days, then you need to learn to control your mouth. You can't go around speaking guile and having your tongue participate in all this evil and expect to live a good life. It's not going to happen. That’s what the Bible’s telling us.<br><br> Now, let's go to Proverbs because the book of Proverbs is a book that deals with the tongue, literally, in almost every single chapter, and as you go through the book of Proverbs you'll just see scores and scores of verses telling you how to handle your tongue and telling you what not to do with your tongue. We could go all over the Bible this is such a big subject that God deals with so much that we could go through hundreds of scriptures, literally, and this morning we're not even going to hardly scratch the surface, but I'm just going to spend the sermon in Proverbs pretty much because everything I need to preach this sermon is pretty much in the Book of Proverbs. The goal of this sermon is to get specific, not to just vaguely say, “Hey, you got to control your tongue. You got to watch your mouth,” but rather what does the Bible say, not a person's opinion, but what does the Bible say the sins of the tongue really are.<br><br> The first one that would really obviously come to mind and just jump right out at you would be lying. Go to Proverbs Chapter six. That's one of the biggest sins that you can commit with your mouth is telling a lie. Proverbs chapter number six, we’re just going to be all over the book of Proverbs this morning, but while you turn to Proverbs six I’ll read for you from Colossians 3; Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.<br><br> Look at Proverbs 6:12. The Bible says; A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a froward mouth. Jump down to verse 16; These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, so right at the beginning of this list, a thing that God hates and things that are an abomination to him, he says that a lying tongue is an abomination.<br><br> Go to Proverbs 12:17; God hates a lying tongue. Proverbs 12: 17 says this; He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. Verse 19; he lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Look at verse 22; Lying lips are abomination to the Lord: but they that deal truly are his delight.. Look at Chapter 13:5, it says; a righteous man hateth lying.<br><br> Not only does God hate lying, but the Bible says that if we're righteous we will hate lying as well. It says; a righteous man hateth lying, but a wicked man is loathsome and cometh to shame. You don't have to turn there, but Proverbs 20:17 says; Bread of deceit is sweet to a man; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.<br><br> Just imagine a mouth full of rocks and dirt. God says that’s the punishment upon those who would tell lies, and so over and over again, we could go all over the Bible with lying. Obviously, it's not just limited to a couple scripts in the Book of Proverbs, but God hates it, and I think sometimes we give lying a pass a little bit because we've all done it, because every single person has done it. I mean, the Bible says; you either let God be true, but every man a liar.<br><br> We often when we’re out so many and we want to show people that we all deserve hell, we show them that verse where it says all liars shall have their part in the lake where it’s burnt with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, and then we’ll show them a little later where it says who so make it a lie will not be in heaven.<br><br> Because we've all done it, it's easy to want to whitewash this sin. It's easy to be harsh on sins that we've never done. When we've never done it, we’ll get up, rail on it, we know how bad it is and that's why we wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole, but with lying we don't come down as hard on it sometimes simply because we know that we've all been guilty of it, and probably in the future at some point we’ll be guilty of it, again.<br><br> Just because this is universe of a sin unto us, that does that does not mean that we should take a light attitude. When God’s saying it's an abomination, when God’s saying that he hates it, when God, even, puts it in that list of things that will wind a person in the lake of fire, we ought to take it very seriously and understand that the Lord loves it when we tell the truth, and he hates it when we lie to him or lie to other people and I think since the fire lied the Holy Ghost. We need to be people who learn to tell the truth, and sometimes it hurts to tell the truth, but one of the biggest sins we can commit with our mouth. The biggest way to not have a bridle on your mouth is when you just let lies flow out of your mouth.<br><br> One of the worst things about lying is it becomes a habit with people. There are people who lie just as a way of life, and they even get to the point where they start lying when there's no reason to lie. Your average person, when they really get in a bind, and they've got egg on their face will maybe tell a lie to get out of it. Your average person will do that, but there are some people who just keep lying so much that they get to where they lie about things that don't even matter. They lie when there's nothing at stake, and they become pathological. You’ll hear of that term thrown about, where they'll tell so many lies that it just becomes a normal habit to them, too, and they even think that they're telling the truth.<br><br> I mean, God forbid that any of his people would just have an abomination coming out of their mouth constantly. Children, you'll always be better off with your parents telling the truth. You get in more trouble when you lie about it, and then, we, as God's people that are adults we're his children. He's going to come down on us harder when we lie about it. He'll show mercy unto us when we confess and forsake of our sins. What’s confession, but simply telling the truth. Confessing that you've done that which is wrong.<br><br> Obviously, lying is a big one, but look at Proverbs 4. Another sin that comes to mind with the tongue would be perversion or what the New Testament calls filthy communication. In Colossians 3:8 it says; But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.<br><br> Look at Proverbs 4:23, it says; Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Now, look over at Proverbs 15:4, he said perverse lips put far from thee. I think of the famous scripture on alcohol in Proverbs 23 where he says if you tarry long at the wine and if you go to seek mixed wine. He says your mouth will utter perverse things. It says in proverb 15:4; A wholesome tongue is a tree of life: but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit.<br><br> What do we mean by perverse lips, or filthy communication or your mouth uttering perverted or perverse things? The Bible talks about the fact that there are wicked reparable people in this world and the Bible says that it is a shame to even speak of those things which are done of them in secret. The Bible also says that fools make a mock at sin, and so the Bible tells that fools make a mock at sin, and that it's shameful to speak of that which wicked people do in secret.<br><br> That tells me that it shouldn't be something that we take lightly and turn into a joke. This is where we're talking about filth and joking about filth. The reason I bring up joking is because it seems to me that most of the time when the filthiest things come out of people's mouths, it's usually in the form of a joke. They're just kidding. It gives them an excuse to talk about something that normally would be too disgusting or filthy to bring up, but, hey, if you're doing it as a joke, it's okay.<br><br> By the way, the sodomites that are all over TV, that's how it started because if you look back to the real old movies, the hero of the film is not a sodomite, but what they'll do, they'll have sodomite characters that offer a comedy, or what’s it called? A comic relief of some sodomite, or you can even go back to the oldest black and white movies of Hollywood and you'll see people dressed in drag, men wearing makeup, but come on, it's just a joke, it's just funny or you go back to the even the Bugs Bunny cartoon. One of the common themes of merry melodies is that Bugs Bunny would be dressed in drag, put on lipstick, he's kissing Elmer Fudd on the cheek and all that. Elmer Fudd’s turning purple, green and everything like that. They’re programming the young people say, hey, it's funny. It's cute, it's funny.<br><br> This has been the progression with Hollywood; with the sodomites is that first of all it's a joke, it's funny, it's silly, we laugh at it. The devils has spent decades getting us to laugh at that sin. Even from when we were the tiniest kids with our bowl of cereal on Saturday morning in front of the cartoons we’re being taught that being a transvestite it’s funny. Being a homo is funny. I mean, just starts the programing that young and we laughed at it, right?<br><br> Then, the next thing was stop laughing at that. That was the devil ... Phase one was like laugh at the homos. Then the second one is how dare you laugh at them? Then it became the poor homo. Everyone's laughing at the filthy sodomite. That was the next stage of the ... Then, of course, now we’re onto a whole new stage of, well, this is completely normal. They're born that way. They're wonderful. Let's make them the pastor of the church. Let's go ahead and we let them get married, and lets ...<br><br> We’re just off the charts now with the except ... We're ... Even Christians now accept it. They accept it in the church and accepted in the in the house of God and everything else, and if somebody says, “Hey, no homos are allowed in this church,” it’s in the news or something just because it's says ... When in reality they never would have been allowed in any church going back a few decades.<br><br> We see that it started with a joke and what it reminds me of, too, is even when Lot was in Sodom, and he tries to preach the Word of God onto the people of Sodom; some of the people that were there, his sons in law, that were residents of Sodom that had married his daughters, he ... It was all a joke to them. They thought it was funny. They’re really real funny people. They joke around a lot.<br><br> Let me tell you something, there's nothing wrong with having a good time and the Bible talks a lot positively about making merry, being joyful and having a good time, but there's nothing funny about sodomy. It just not funny.<br><br> If you find yourself joking about it or other people joking about it, it's only because you've been programmed that way since you were a little kid watching Bugs Bunny, that where it’s coming from. It's not coming from the Holy Spirit, and it's not even coming from who you really are as a person; the new man. I'll tell you where it’s coming from, just a brainwashing where you've been taught that’s it’s funny. It’s really not funny, it's gross, it's disgusting, it's filthy and wicked. It's reparable, it's vile, it's reprehensible, but yet people joke about it, don't they?<br><br> I mean, you hear a lot of jokes about it out in the world. It's not funny, and if you're joking about homos, that's filthy communication coming out of your mouth. When you're telling stories about homos ... And it doesn't ... Look, homos are not the only perverse thing out there, there are other perversities as well. None of it should come out of your mouth. You shouldn't even be joking about committing adultery or something ... Some fool make a mock, it sin. Make jokes about committing adultery, joking about it.<br><br> You need to keep your mouth from perversity and filth from coming out of it. This is a big one in 2015 because the homos are something that are on everybody's mind because of being brainwashed and crammed down our throat every day because of the media.<br><br> Not only perversion coming out of our mouth. Not only lying, what are some other sins that we can commit with our mouth? Go to Proverbs 8. Another sin that often is committed by the tongue is the sin of boasting. Boasting; bragging. You’ve been around people that do a lot of bragging, a lot of boasting. This is not the humility that God calls us to as Christians. The Bible says in Proverbs 8:13; The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.<br><br> God said I hate that froward mouth in the same breath that he says I hate pride and arrogancy. Flip over, if you would, to chapter 25. Of course, there are a lot of scriptures on bragging and boasting in the Bible. One of the most famous ones is about our salvation when it says; For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast.<br><br> God says our salvation is not of works. If it were, someone could boast about it. Have you ever been so letting and talk to the unsaved who don't realize it's by grace through faith, and they'll boast to you. You ask him how do you're going to heaven? Man, I’m a good person. I really help a lot of people. This is the funniest one. Hey, how do you know you’re going to heaven? Well, I’ve rescued 12 animals, and so I case closed next door.<br><br> Well, we're wasting our time here, we need to go to the next person who needs it, but they'll say, “Well, I’ve rescued 12 cats. I've been good to animals my whole life.” Well, you're in like flint. They say ... They'll tell you all kinds of boasting. It's almost ... You’re almost embarrassed for them sometimes.<br><br> Honestly, whenever people brag and boast it's embarrassing to the people around them. You think are you serious when they say, “I’m just a really good person. I'm just a really good guy. I really help people.” I mean, what in the world, you really believe that about yourself? People do, and you'll hear other people just brag to you and just tell you about how much money they have. Tell you about all their achievements. Tell you what if ... What does the Bible say; Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips. We don't want to be prideful, arrogant people who go around tooting our own horn, singing our own praises, talking about how wonderful we are. The Bible says that we should not think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think.<br><br> Now, look at Proverbs 25:14, it says; Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain, because a lot of the times when people are boasting a lot, they don't really have the goods. A lot of times they boast a lot because they're insecure and they're trying to lift themselves up because they don't really have the skills that they’re claiming to have or they don't really have the money that they want you to think they have.<br><br> Some of the people with the biggest, baddest toys and all the fancy stuff are in debt up to their eyeballs and really they're going to lose it all eventually, anyway, once the bill all comes due because they're robbing Peter to pay Paul as they build up this huge debt to have all the toys and they can boast about, the four wheel drive, the boat, the RV, talk about the jewelry, all the wonderful things that they've been able to afford, just tell you how great they are, what a great Christian they are, what a great businessman they are, what a great athlete they are, how everybody just love them, and so on.<br><br> We need to be careful that we don't get prideful in our heart and let it start coming out of our mouth in the form of boasting or bragging. What is He talking about when God says; get your tongue under control. The tongue is a fire. Look, it's a whole world of iniquity. It's not just one sin that your tongue commits, it's a whole world of iniquity. What is that world of iniquity encompass? Obviously, lying; Obviously, perversity and filthy communication coming out of your mouth. What’s the third sin that we commit with our mouth? Boasting, bragging, pride, arrogancy.<br><br> Not only that, look at Proverbs 18:1. This is one that might not come to mind as readily, but this is another sin that people do commit with their mouth. The funny thing is even though this point ... If I were to go around the room and ask people name all the sins you commit with your mouth? We’ll get a lot of answers coming at me. Let's just go and do that. Let's do some sins ... We've already covered three. What other things can you commit with your mouth?<br><br> Slander, railing .Yeah, I've got that point later in the sermon. It’s common; the back biting, the tail burying, the foot ... Okay, well, you're ruining my sermon because you just ... He just nailed the point. I was going to see if no one would guess it. Saying stupid things. What's funny he said foolishness ... It's funny because that doesn't always ... Lying, of course.<br><br> You wouldn't think of just saying stupid things as being a sin, but in fact, when I looked up this subject because I just wanted to look at everything the Bible said about the mouth, the tongue, the lips, some speech. It was too much, I mean, there was hundreds and hundreds. I was just let's just look at Proverbs.<br><br> Even when I narrowed it out to proverbs, that was the one that God talked about the most. Of all this ... In Proverbs was saying stupid things or foolish things coming out of your mouth. Now, let me explain this point a bit. Look at Chapter 18:1, it says; Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself.<br><br> Now, the word discover meant something a little bit different in 16:11 as what it means now. Today, when we think of discovering something, we think of you went out and found something that no one else knew about. You went out and and uncovered something that was unknown to the rest of the world. You talk about somebody who discovered the new world, Columbus. Obviously, there are people here before that from all different places, but he discovered this, he discovered that, but here's what discover actually means in the Bible.<br><br> When you see the word discover, it actually means to reveal or to uncover. When the Bible says here; A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself. He just wants to tell you what's in his heart. Basically, translation, he likes to hear him self talk.<br><br> No delight in understanding. Not interested in hearing from someone who actually knows the subject, but rather he just wants to hear himself. He just wants to make sure that you know what's on his mind. He does want his heart to discover itself. He wants to make sure that everything that's in his heart comes out of his mouth because he likes to hear him self talk.<br><br> Now, there are a lot of verses in the Bible that talk about people not talking about things that they don't understand. Now, go to Proverbs 15. Like I said, I can't read all the scriptures on this one just because there were so many that talked about this, but Proverbs 15 says this in verse two; The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.<br><br> Verse 14; The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.. Verse 28, these all just in one chapter. The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things. Look at chapter 10 of Proverbs. Chapter 10, while you're turning there I’ll read for you from Proverbs 16:21; The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it: but the instruction of fools is folly. The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.<br><br> Look at how many verses are saying that we need to learn, study, understand and gain knowledge so that we can speak intelligently, so that wisdom, understanding, the truth and intelligence can come out of our mouth. Not just stupidity, foolishness and talking about things that we don't understand.<br><br> Jude 10 says; But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Look down when I return to chapter 10, I think. Look at verse 31; the mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom, but the froward tongue shall be cut out.<br><br> Over and over again we see this in the Book of Proverbs ... Chapter 12:23 is another good one. Look over there it’s just a page over. Proverbs 12:23; A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness. Now, this is such a profound verse when you realize it. It's saying, look, the guy who’s smart he's hiding more intelligent things than the stupid things than the stupid things that you’re just letting pour out of your mouth.<br><br> I mean, the Bible is saying that even an intelligent person with important knowledge sometimes doesn't always feel the need to just say everything that he knows or say everything that's on his mind, but yet the fool, just not only does he say everything he knows, he just says stuff he doesn't know. He just talks. He just blows off his mouth. He just pours out a stream of foolishness, and there are a lot of people today that talk about subjects that they're unqualified to talk about.<br><br> Now, I do not believe that we need to be experts in every subject. There are a lot of things that I don't know anything about, that I don't really care about, that I'm probably never going to know about, and so I don't just go into long dissertations about them and just start talking about a bunch that I don't understand. What we need to learn is that it's better to hear, it's better to listen, hear and learn things than to just talk for the sake of talking.<br><br> Now, if you have something that's profitable. If you have something that’s intelligent, that's edifying, that's helpful, that that's important, that's interesting. That is true and you've checked out, then speak the truth, teach people. Be a person who helps others understand knowledge, but there are certain times when someone asks you your opinion about something, when you should just say, “Well, I just don't know about that subject,” than to just feel like you have to weigh in on everything and just give your opinion about everything.<br><br> Even when you're not asked to ... You hear people talking about something, and you’re just, “Well, here’s what I think about that.” You've not read a single book about it. You’ve not studied the information. You got ... Look, a week ago through so many subjects today that people just talk about without knowing anything about it, and then when you start pinning people down about what they know about these subjects, they don't know anything about it, but they just blow off their mouth of foolishness.<br><br> Something just popped into my mind was I said something negative about Mother Teresa at one time as a teenager, and everybody started yelling at me telling me how bad I was at my church. I said to them, I said, “What ... Do you who anything about Mother Teresa?” I said, “What country does she live in?” They don't know. I said, “What language does she speak?” “Can you give me a quote from her?” “Can you tell me anything about her?” “Can you tell me the years in which she operated?” “Can you tell me what religion she is?”<br><br> These people literally knew nothing, but they were yelling at me telling me I was a wicked person for saying something bad about Mother Teresa. What they should have said was just, “Well, I don't know anything about Mother Teresa.” Before I can weigh in on Mother Teresa, I need to go do some study, but they said, “Mother Teresa is in heaven and Mother Teresa ...”<br><br> How do know? What do about her? How do you know her testimony of salvation? She's Roman Catholic. She’s trusting works, and if you read the quotes out of her mouth, it's anti-Bible, it’s anti-everything that is true and everything that is the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ, but you've just been told your whole life she’s one of a person, or you say something negative about Martin Luther King Jr and people are going to jump down your throat, call your racist and everything because they just don't even know the facts, they don't even know the subject or politics.<br><br> It's funny people just ... They've been told their whole lives in church just vote, just get out there and vote. Just vote. Exercise right to vote, and people literally just go to the poll and vote, and they don't know anything about the issues. They don't know anything about the candidates. Honestly, when you go down there, most of the names on that are foreign to you and you don't even know who they are. All these judges; do you want to confirm or reject this and that judge. It’s just a bunch of names. I used to go in there and just ... All the women judges I just say no to all of them just because I don't believe that women should be in authority in our government, so I just leave the man blank because I don't who they are. In the women is like no. Katherine, Susie.<br><br> I'm just saying it's ridiculous to just constantly be talking about things you don't know or you don't understand. It's funny like ... I'm ... Okay, this is maybe a petty silly example, but I really like to run. I run every day, and it's so funny how people will take me aside and give me running advice who don't run at all. They literally do not run at all whatsoever.<br><br> Now, I only started running a few years ago. Until I was 29 years old I hated running, I would never go running unless I really had to and I hated every minute of it, but in the last several years I've really learned to enjoy running. I love running. I run every day and it’s something I really like, and people will tell me you're not doing it right. I'll ask them do you ever know? Well, I run on a treadmill sometimes.<br><br> It’s just funny how people will just talk about subjects that they don't know anything about. Now, look I can name for you a lot of subjects that I don't know anything about. I don't know anything about football. I'm just going to admit it to you right now. I don't know about it, and there are certain areas of science that I don't know anything about, that I don't want to talk about. I don't really know.<br><br> People are constantly coming to me and asking my opinion about certain things, and yet anybody who knows me knows that I don't just give my opinion about everything with so many people asking me stuff I don’t know. I don't know anything about it, I don't get into it.<br><br> People come to me and tell me what do you believe about the geocentricity or whether the sun goes around the earth or whether the earth goes around the sun. They’re trying to lay out all the evidence for me. I just tell people I don't care about that subject. I don't know anything about it. I don't ... I'm not qualified to talk about all the science involved with that because I've not studied it, so I don't want to just start coming down with real strong opinions.<br><br> Here's the thing, I've seen the biblical evidence for egocentricity. Honestly, I don't think that the biblical evidence is conclusive at all, I'm not buying it, but when it comes to whether the sun goes around the earth or whether the earth goes around the sun, honestly, I don't know because I don't ... I can't ... I don't think that the bible had a firm answer on it, and I'm not going to spend the time and the energy to go out and research that. I'm not against somebody who likes science who want to do that, but, honestly, I don't know. I don't care, so I'm not going to just give these real strong opinions about, “This how it is,” because I don't know. To me, I don't think it's a biblical issue and so I don't care.<br><br> Now, I'm a pastor. Therefore, I strive to be an expert in the Bible, but that doesn't mean I'm going to be an expert in all matters of history. There are certain parts of history that I know a lot about, that I've really studied a lot and that I can speak intelligently about, but there are a lot of other areas of history where people start telling me about it and I say, “Wow, I don't know anything about that. I'm going to have to look into that.” Or what do you think about this guy, what do you think about ...? I don’t know. I’m going to have to look into that and study that. I’m not sure. I don’t know<br><br> There are things that we know a lot about and things we don't know a lot about. Now, when it comes to areas of evolution and the Big Bang, I've actually studied that a lot just because I wanted to be able to talk about it intelligently, preach about it and so I've read up on those type, but there are a lot of areas of science that I don't know anything about, because I'm just not that interested, because there's so much knowledge in the world and everybody specialize in different things. We all want to have a basic knowledge of everything, but then there are certain areas that would take a whole lot of study to delve into, really get into, and I think that, we, in America today have been taught that we just have to have an opinion about everything.<br><br> What do you think about this guy? What do you think about what he said? What do you think about him? What do you think about him? What do you think about her? What do you think about this subject? What do you think about this issue? What's your opinion on this? I think that we need to learn to sometimes just say I don't know. I don't know anything about that rather than to just are pouring out foolishness because a lot of times what people do will just start repeating stuff that we've heard, and what I've been guilty of it. We've all been guilty of it. Not saying I've never done this where you'll just start repeating stuff that you've heard, and then later you go back and study it and you realize, wow, was I wrong about that?<br><br> I can tell you something, I've been pastoring now for over nine years and I can, honestly, say that if I go back and listen to my old sermons, sometimes there are things that I said where I'm like, “Wow, I don't agree with that anymore. I don't believe that anymore,” but, thankfully, it's not Biblical issues because there are very few things biblically because I just made a practice that when I don't know things, biblically, I’ll gloss them over. Like on a Wednesday night, I'll be preaching verse-by-verse, and sometimes I’ll just gloss over a few verses because I don't understand what it's saying, okay, so I’ll just gloss them over and then people will be like, “Man, I was hoping you’re going to cover that verse. That was the one I was wondering about.” I guess I was wondering about, too, that’s why I didn’t cover it.<br><br> I remember I had pastor call me one time. He’s like, “You’ve got to help me,” because he's like it's Wednesday night I'm preaching on this chapter and I don't understand these these couple of verses, and I got to preach this in five hours. I don’t know what to say.<br><br> I told him, “Skip it. Just gloss over it. Just blow past it and talk about the stuff that you do ...” I said, “Is there enough in the chapter that you do understand?” Preach that rather than to just throw stuff out there and, well, at least I covered it. No, make sure that what you say is right.<br><br> When I go back and listen to my sermons and I hear stuff that I don't agree with coming out of my own mouth, it usually has to do with is historical stuff, political stuff, stuff that you hear, but you can't really be sure about and verify it because most of the doctrine ... I would say 99% of the Doctrine has stayed the same since I started the church because the fact that I studied it before opening my mouth, but sometimes I'll be listening to my old sermons and I’ll hear something historical or political or social that I later learned more about, and I was like, “Wow, I shouldn’t have been talking about that because I didn't know as much about it as I do now.<br><br> We need to be careful that we don't talk about stuff that we don't understand and that we don't know. I always tell this to young preachers, preach what you know. If you're coming to the preaching class and you preach a 10 minutes sermon, pick subjects that you know the best, that you've really studied, read the Bible and you know, so that you’re either ... Looks, aren't there certain things that we just know are true and we have no doubt? We know that we're not going to have to five years later change our doctrine on it, and say I was wrong about that.<br><br> By the way, if we are wrong about something we should always be humble enough to change. Some preachers have preached the same thing for 10 years and then when they realize they were wrong, they’re like, “It’s too late now ...” Say, “Well, no.” If it’s wrong, correct it.<br><br> I'll tell you one thing that I corrected real early on in my preaching was about Israel and about the Jews because I’ve been taught my whole life, hey, we got to be pro-Israel. We got to support Israel. When I started Faithful Word Baptist Church, even with all of the study, even the score of the times I'd read through the Bible, I still had that in my head that had been drilled into me. I remember I had been pastoring for about six months. I don't remember exactly what the sermon was, but I was six months into pastoring.<br><br> I found myself saying something about, hey, that land belongs to them or, hey, they're God's chosen people. That started coming out of my mouth six months into pastoring Faithful Word. The moment ... It was the first time I'd ever said anything like that from the pulpit, but it came out of my mouth. The second it came out of my mouth I thought to myself, “I don't know if that’s really true.” I don't think that's really true because I was thinking to myself, I think I'm just repeating that because I've heard that so many times. Just ... I think it was may be just the Holy Spirit telling me you're wrong.<br><br> The moment it came out of my mouth, it had just come out of my mouth I was saying that's not even true. I don't think that's true, but was, “I don’t know. Maybe it is true. I don’t know.” I literally went home and decided I'm going to read the whole Bible cover-to-cover just looking at this one subject because all these verses started flooding into my mind because I'd memorize a lot of Bible.<br><br> All these verses started flooding in my mind about he's not a Jew which is ... All these different scriptures started flooding in my mind, and I was like this is so different than what I've been taught. I waited six months before I ever preached against that doctrine, because I spent six months making sure I was right first, because I didn't want to just come out with something that was contrary to everything I heard my whole life and been taught until I'd studied it.<br><br> I spent the next six months, and the first thing I did was I read the entire Bible cover-to-cover just looking for that subject only. Just reading the Bible where just that's all I'm looking for is anything to do with the chosen people; Israel, the Jews, them in the Old Testament, them in the Old Testament.<br><br> By the time I had gone through the whole Bible, I'd studied it, thought about it and figured it out six months later in December of 2006 I preached the first sermon where I laid out that doctrine and taught it from the pulpit because I knew I was right, but there are too many preachers today just saying it's like I did. I mean, I did it. I just had something come out of my mouth, and it was just a verbatim quote from the church that I'd come out of. It was just word-for-word repeating.<br><br> We tend to repeat things that we hear. We cannot help but speak the things we've seen and heard, but we need to be careful to make sure that the things that come out of our mouth are right and that we don't say foolish things because of a lack of what? Knowledge, learning, instruction.<br><br> It's laziness that cause us not to study because much study is the weariness of the flesh. I'm not saying that we have to study all things and be an expert in all areas, but I am saying be an expert in the areas that you're going to talk about. Just learn about things and know what you’re going to talk about, or if you don't, at least, say, “Here's what I've heard or this is what I've always been told, “ but do you have something that can correct that for me instead of just being dogmatic and just blowing up. Look, I've heard it my whole life and I've done it sometime where you just vehemently repeat something that you heard. No basis and instruction learning facts, knowledge or so on and so forth.<br><br> Let's get off that point, though, but people say a lot of stupid things, and it is a sin. It's not just dumb it's a sin. The Bible commands us to increase learning, to be wise, to learn knowledge and to not lift up ourselves and utter things that are too high for us that we know not. We need to make sure that we don't speak foolishness and that we intermeddle with wisdom rather than just wanting our heart to discover itself all the time, just to hear ourselves talk.<br><br> By the way, if you’re going to be a pastor, you must be an expert on the Word of God. You don't have to be a science expert to be a pastor. You don't have to be a history expert to be a pastor. You do not have to be a language expert to be a pastor. You don't have to know Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin to be a pastor, but you do need to be an expert on the Bible.<br><br> Obviously, when you start pastoring you're not going to know as much as when you finish pastor. Hopefully, you're going to keep studying and keep learning, but you say, “What do I do when I start pastoring?” You preach the things that for sure and you save the stuff ... If Bible prophecy is not your forte, you need to save it for later when it becomes your forte. What’s sad today is that pastors will get up and preach a preacher of rapture, and then you walk up to him and say, “Hey, what about this scripture. What about ...? They'll say, “I haven’t really studied the subject that well.” Then, you shouldn’t be talking about it.<br><br> Now, look, I will admit to you right now I do not know everything in the Bible. There are parts of the Bible that I don't understand, that have me scratching my head to this day. Now, less and less as I get older, but there's a lot in the Bible that that I don't know and I've had people confront me what about this verse? I don't know. Guess what? I just don't preach on those verses, and when I preach through whole chapter, I just read that verse, and then I’m like, “Here’s what I really want to emphasize, verse 26, and yeah, I don’t want to talk about that.”<br><br> When I did the revelation series, I was like, “There’s stuff that I glossed over the first time I did it back in 2007. A lot of stuff I blew past and didn't spend time on just because I didn't really understand it, so I really try to dig in deeper and gloss over less and less, and to actually preach on every verse and talk about every verse. I think that's what I did.<br><br> We need to just spend our lives studying and learning and not talk about things until we've had a chance to verify things. Whenever I hear a preacher say something, I like to go verify it, the first thing. If somebody tells me some historical thing, “Hey, did you know that this and this?” I want to go verify that before just telling it to everyone that I've ever known.<br><br> What else? Now, this is the big one and I'm going to spend the rest of my sermon on this. Here's the big one. I have a bunch that I’m not going to get to, but here the big one that I think James is really dealing with, and this is the subject of tattling, tale burying, backbiting, railing.<br><br> This is when you're basically talking bad about other people behind their back, in general, or just saying hurtful things that are not to edify or help anyone, but they’re just to tear other people down. This is one of the big ones and I think this is what James 3 if we were to take the immediate context of what James 3 is really dealing with. I think this is a big part of what he's dealing with, but let's look at it in Proverbs, though. There are a lot of scriptures on this Proverbs, but it says in Proverbs 26; turn to Proverbs 26. While you’re turning there, let me read this from Leviticus 19:16; Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people:<br><br> Did you hear that? Going up and down as a talebearer among thy people. Neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour; I am the Lord. What does it mean to go up and down as a talebearer? It means that, basically, you’re the person who knows all the scandal, but everything bad that's going on, and if anybody wants to get the juiciest tidbit, you're the one that they're going to go to, and as soon as something happens, you're going to be on the phone, because it's not a going up or down anymore, because we have technology, so you don't have to physically go up and down and go door-to-door, “Hey, did you hear about ...” Now, it's just so much easier to be a talebearer.<br><br> I think that there are more people guilty of this sin in 2015 than they're have been in the past because you've got the phone and then you've got the Internet, you've got e-mail, you've got Facebook, you've got the text messaging, and so you're able to go up and down in just a few seconds.<br><br> It's funny because in 1 Timothy 5, you don’t have to run there, but it talks about women who don't have kids becoming idle. Not finding enough productive things to do with their time. It says with all they learn to be idle wandering about from house-to-house. That's the going up and down. Not only idle, idle means they’re not anything productive. Not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies speaking things which they ought not, I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give no occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some are already turned aside after Satan.<br><br> What the Bible is saying is that if a woman gets married, has kids and takes care of her household. The virtuous woman, the Bible says does not eat the bread of idleness. She's busy. He says if you will care for your family, that's going to keep you from getting involved in everybody else's business and becoming the tattler, busybody and talebearer.<br><br> Now, I dare say this, though, that with the technology today even women who do have kids and are taking care of their house can do this on the side because of the SmartPhone being right there that they can literally be cooking the food and everything ... Even if their hands are busy, they got the voice to text going. They can be nursing the baby or cooking the food or vacuuming the rug or doing whatever in their house and still get caught up in being a tattler, being a busybody and even being idle.<br><br> The virtuous woman wasn’t idle because she has to make her own clothes from scratch. Hard to be idle when you don't have a washing, but think about this. No washing machine, no dishwasher. You're the dishwasher, and you're kindling a fire to cook food. It's not just a little ... I mean, you've got to get the wood, you got to make the fire, you got to cook the food. You’re scrubbing pots and pans, you’re scrubbing clothes, you’re making clothes. You just don’t go to the thrift store on the dollar day is 50% off and come out with a cart full of clothes for 20 bucks or something.<br><br> I mean, back then each garment is handmade, and women today think about making clothes from scratch, but they're starting with the fabric. The hardest part is making the fabric, that's what the Bible talks about over and over, again. The wool and flax that the virtuous woman seeks are making textiles from an animal based textile, would be the wool, and the plant based textiles will be the flax; linen.<br><br> They're spinning the wool and they're making clothing from scratch, and so that kept them busy. God warns about women becoming idle and basically becoming a busybody. What is a busybody? The Bible talks about being a busybody in other men's matters. It's when you are worried about what everybody else is doing instead of just living your own life, you want to know every twist and turn of the latest drama and the latest scandal.<br><br> Your man can be guilty of this, too, of course, but the Bible is specifically, in this group, they’re directing it at women. Other scripture’s directed toward men, and it's something that a lot of people are guilty of in 2015.<br><br> Look down in your Bible there in Proverbs 26, it says in verse 20; Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out: so where there is no talebearer, the strife ceaseth. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife.<br><br> There are contentious people who start the strife and start the drama, and then there are talebearers who just fan the flames of the drama. There are people who thrive on drama. When nothing’s going on they're bored, they're unhappy, and they just love it when the latest ... The latest news flash of the drama, scandal and did you hear what so and so said to so and so.<br><br> Now, there are two kinds of people that this scripture’s talking about in Proverbs 26 here, in 20 and 21. There's the talebearer and then there’s the contentious man, and of course, it can be a contenscious man or contenscious woman just as the talebearer can be man or woman.<br><br> What it's saying is ... First of all there are contentious people. These are people who go around starting stuff with people. These are people who wear their feelings on their sleeve and are ready to be offended by every little thing that everyone says, you know what the Bible says; Great peace are they which they love thy law and nothing shall offend them.<br><br> The Bible talks about passing over a transgression and not worry about ... But, there are people who are just contentious people and they're always at strife with other people because of the fact that they are just feelings on their sleeve. Everything you say to them it's like, “What's that supposed to mean?” You can even say something nice to them and they'll interpret it wrongly like, “You look wonderful today.” “What are you saying I usually look like? What do you mean I was wonderful today?<br><br> They just interpret everything or just, “Wow, I was ... Man, I tested your chilli at the chilli cookout. I was just blown away. I was shocked by how good it was. I mean, it was amazing.” “Why would it surprise you that I know how to cook good food? What do you think I cook, garbage, and you’re surprised when it tastes right?”<br><br> I'm just saying there are people out there who are just contentious people who are just looking to be offended. They're just looking for somebody ... And then, it doesn't stop with what's actually said, but just the way that she looked at me. She gave me a dirty look, or even a step further ... And, this is the worst people. When you're getting mad about, not what someone did, but what they didn't do.<br><br> You're actually getting mad at people for what they did not do. Like for example, the pastor did not shake my hand. He did not smile at me. He did not greet me. She came to church and greeted a bunch of other people that were in the same part of the building as me, didn't greet me. Invited everybody to so and so, didn't invite me.<br><br> Basically, what you did ... Or I put up this post on Facebook and I saw that they were on Facebook liking other stuff. In fact, they liked something that was pos- ... That someone just before me posted, and then they liked something after, which proved that they were online when I was posting, and they are just ... Or just I know so and so just has a thing where they'll just never like anything I do on Facebook. I don't care what I put up on Facebook. About three weeks ago they just quit liking my posts, and never clicked like for the last three weeks. What is her problem? What is his problem? Why ... And clicking like on everybody's comment except mine?<br><br> It's getting close to home now. Then ... Look, that is a contentious person. That is an unforgiving, grudging, envious because here's the thing. A healthy person who is humble and serving the Lord isn’t so worried about what everybody else is doing all the time. They're worried about their own personal walk with God, and they're worried about making sure that they're doing what's right. They're not worried about making sure, being in the police that everybody in the church is doing everything right. No, they're just worried about, “Hey, I’m I acting right?”<br><br> They don't go to church and say, “I wonder if anybody was rude to me.” Look, who cares? What they should be thinking is I wonder if I was rude to anyone when I went to church. That's all that should matter, is that when we go to church we make sure that we're nice to people, that we love people, that they were kind to people, that we're not rude to people, that our kids are not terrorizing the place, that our kids are not treating other people bad, that we ... And that our wives are not treating other people badly, and that we are under control instead of just always being out to find the fault in everybody else, so that we can pin them to the wall, we're going to need the wall. I'm going to confront them, I'm going to expose them, and I'm going to talk to other people and see if they had the same experience.<br><br> This is what a contentious person is. Then, the talebearer thrives on this, of being sure to spread this because turn it from a little local fire that the tongue has kindled. Instead, just a local fire that the tongue is kindled of me telling brother Garrett what's going on. Then, he's like, “Okay, let's burn this all place down. He’s starting to getting on the phone, he’s getting on Facebook, he’s getting on ... I say that because Garrett is the last person who’ll ever do that.<br><br> How long ... Garrett ... Years without even owning a phone. Well, he has one now. How long did you go without a phone? You were in the wilderness, Man. He was in the wilderness. He probably had no phone, no computer. It was great, but he had no car, yeah.<br><br> Proverbs 26, let's keep reading because it goes on here. First of all, it said in verses 20 and 21 what we saw there, but look at verse 22; The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. What’s the Bible say, you're hurting people when you do this.<br><br> A lot of times you hurt people and it goes deep into their belly and it does irreparable damage. You can actually hurt people and hurt relationship, you can hurt marriages, you can hurt friendships, you can hurt churches, you can pastors, and you do irreparable damage. That's why God’s saying; Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth. You must tame the tongue and not let it get out of control.<br><br> He says in verse 23; Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. What’s he saying. You might look good on the outside, but you're worthless on the inside if you're one of these burning lip talebearer type of gossiping people. He's saying you're wicked on the inside.<br><br> He says in verse 24; He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him. Go to chapter 25. While you’re turning there I’ll turn 25: 23. While you’re turning there I’ll read for you from chapter 11:13; A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.<br><br> You say, “Well, Pastor Anderson, what do I do if someone is a backbiter or a talebearer because sometimes it puts you in a weird position when someone comes to you and starts critizing someone else or ripping on someone else or slamming somebody else or trying to get you involved in someone else’s fight.<br><br> It’s puts you in an awkward position because you don’t want to just smile and node because you feel the silence is agreement when you do that. You don’t want that person to keep coming to you with stuff because a lot of times, if somebody comes to you and tells you the _ and you just ignore him, then they’ll keep coming back with it because they feel like this is somebody who listens to me when I want to say this stuff.<br><br> This is the reaction we should have when people come to us. This is what the Bible teaches, verse 23; The north wind driveth away rain: so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue, so how do we drive away that backbiting tongue where they’re not going to keep bringing us this stuff is with an angry countenance; what’s your countenance? Your face.<br><br> When somebody comes to you with this stuff, you need to give them a dirty look and have an angry countenance. You need to make it clear to that person that you’re not interested in listening to that. I don’t want to hear that, and not laugh and smile, but rather, “What? I don’t want to hear about this.” This is the face you need ... Let’s all practice our angry face. I want to look around and see. Let me see.<br><br> I mean, you ... That should be the reaction when somebody comes. Now, look, I don’t want to be misunderstood, and there’s so much more in sermon, but I got to close it down, but I don’t want people to misunderstand this because a lot of people will get confused on this, and they’ll basically sweep things under the rag that need to be brought to someone’s attention because they’re like, “I don’t want to gossip.”<br><br> Now, think about this. What’s the difference between being a talebearer, a busybody, a tattler and someone who is actually raising a legimate concern that needs to be addressed? Where do you draw the line?<br><br> I’ll tell you where you draw the line. When you’re doing it for entertainment, you’re in wickedness there. If this is something that you’re doing because you’re bored, it’s fun, it’s entertaining you and you’re enjoying it. If you’re enjoying it, it’s probably talebearing and backbiting; if you’re having fun with it. If it’s a pleasure for you to repeat the matter, then it’s wrong.<br><br> Number two I'm just giving you some things to do a self-check on your own heart and on your own situation. If you're enjoying it, if it's fun for you ... Number two, if you're telling it to someone who has no involvement in the situation who has no authority involved. All you're doing is just being a tattler, a busybody and a gossip at that point.<br><br> Now, there's a difference between that and actually going to a person, that actually is in authority, that is responsible and saying, “Hey, there is something going on that you need to address.” The difference is you actually wanted to fix the problem with a legitimate authority rather than just, you know what, I just want to make sure everybody knows what a what a blank she, what a blank he is or I want to I just want everybody to know about it or I'm just so happy to take them down. I just enjoy talking about this or whatever.<br><br> That's the difference right there. Now, let me give you some examples. For example, let’s say someone is committing one of the sins that is on the list in 1 Corinthians 5 that the Bible Leben that we cannot have in our church because, obviously, everybody in our church is a sinner. We all sin. Nobody’s perfect, myself included. I commit sin you commit sin, but there are certain sins that God does not allow us to tolerate in the church. He says that we have put away from among ourselves these wicked people, and those are the sins that are listed in 1 Corinthians 5 that are cancerous sins that will destroy our church.<br><br> The most common one is fornication. Here’s the thing, if you find out that someone in the church is living with their girlfriend or living with their boyfriend that they’re not married to, and living in sin; living in fornication, coming to the pastor and telling the pastor, “Listen, I think you need to know that so and so is living in open fornication.” Then that’s something that I need to know about because I need to go deal with that person and discipline that person out of the church.<br><br> Or for example, drunkenness is another one. The Bible lists fornication, drunkenness, being an extortioner, being a railer and all these would take their own sermons in and off themselves. Idolatry, covetousness, and so these ... I’ve gone through sermons where I wanted to find each one and explain what exactly God’s talking about the kind of people should be thrown out for these various things.<br><br> If someone is a railer making slanderous accusations about other people, going around as a talebearer, that is someone that needs to be brought to the pastor’s attention because that’s on the list. If you see somebody out in Tempe drunk on Mill Avenue and they're drunk, that’s something that needs to be dealt with.<br><br> Now if somebody ... And, again, where do you draw the line? If somebody has one beer in their fridge, you don't have to come tell me about it. It's a sin, it's wrong. I'm against it, but that doesn't necessarily make them a drunkard.<br><br> What I'm saying is ... By the way, if somebody is smoking, you don’t have to come tell me about that. Look, I’m against smoking, but, and listen, this is ... Let me just give it to you in levels. If you’re going around to other people in the church, “Hey, did you know so and so smokes?” That’s wicked. You’re a talebearer, you’re a backbiter. That’s the most wicked version.<br><br> Then, coming to me and telling me ... Well, you’re in authority. Yeah, but I don’t have authority over people’s smoking. God didn’t say cast out that wicked smoker, you what I mean? He said to cast out the drunkard and ...<br><br> Look, I’m not condoning of smoking. I’m against smoking. It’s destructive to your body, but you know what, you don’t have to tell me if somebody is smoking anymore than you have to tell me if they’re pounding a bunch of junk because they’re both destructive to the body.<br><br> I’m saying ... And look, if you see a woman is in pants I got to tell everybody that I saw so and so; the woman out in pants or I saw ... Or I’m going to go tell pastor I don’t even know that. You know what I mean? Nobody’s perfect. People are at different stages of growth in their Christian live, and you’re just being a talebearer when you just pick apart people or, hey, I caught somebody listening to so and so; the music, and I’m going to tell all my other friends at church. That’s ungodly, that’s wicked. You’re being a talebearer at that point when ...<br><br> What if somebody is child molester? Yeah, you ... Don't hide, don't sweep that under the rag. Don't hide that. Somebody is a sodomite or a child molester or someone’s committing adultery, someone’s committing fornication. I mean, these are things that need to be ... And, even though you just go spreading them around, you take it the people that are in authority.<br><br> Somebody’s child, maybe somebody’s child is in sin, and maybe, even, a lesser sin, but because it’s a child, you go to their parent and tell them, “Hey, look, I just want you to know your child was seen doing X, Y and Z so that they can discipline their child.<br><br> See, as a pastor, I have the right to discipline those that are only committing that limited scope of fornication, drunkenness and a few things. The way that that discipline works is that that person’s given a chance to repent or else to be expelled from the congregation. That’s the discipline is that they be thrown out.<br><br> Now, parents have a much broader scope of discipline, don’t they? Parents are a lot more authority over their children than a pastor has in church, so the children, if they are committing sin and you tell their parents so that they can be disciplined, that makes sense, but when you’re just going around, “Have you seen what a brat so and so’s kids are?” “Did you see how they were acting? You’ve noticed it, too? Yeah, because I was just talking to so and so, and they think their kid’s a brat, too.”<br><br> When you’re talking about who you saw in pants, who you saw smoking, who you saw with a wine cooler in the fridge and who you saw whatever. I mean, when you’re just going around telling, “You heard the bumping music bumping out of their vehicle or whatever, and ...<br><br> What are some other examples of those things that you can catch people and say, “Yeah, the TV in their house and the DVDs that I saw.” You just go around and tell people what DVDs they have and the fact they have a TV.<br><br> You know that is? That is that's hurtful, that destructive, it's harmful. Look, this isn't a small sin, it's a big deal, and God says that your tongue is set on the fire of hell, and that if you don't learn to control it your religion is in vain. God says that you must bridle your tongue. It's an unruly evil. It's full of deadly poison. It's a world of an iniquity. You're wounding people. It’s going down in the inward parts of the belly. The whisperer separated she friends, you're hurting relationships, you're hurting people's marriages, you're destroying lives.<br><br> The Bible says death and life in the power of the tongue, and the Bible says a lying tongue hadith those who are afflicted by it, and so when you're lying, and especially, when you're a backbiter, a railer, you're a whisperer, you're a busybody and you're a tattler because you have a heart in you that has bitter, envying and strife in your heart.<br><br> Bitter, envying and strife in your heart. That is what is causing you to use your tongue in a destructive way. The Bible says that it is earthly, it is sensual and it is devilish. These are serious sins of the tongue that we need to control if we're going to be right with God, if we're going to serve God and be used by God. Bitter, envying and strife, we think that someone is better than us in a certain area, let's take them down a notch. That's where a lot of this comes from. Sad to say, but it is where a lot of it come from.<br><br> Let's close on Ephesians 4 the final verse. The Bible says in Ephesians 4, and while you turn there, let me just review the points the for you. the points were; number one, lying. Number two; talking about perverted, gross sick things. Joking about sin; dirty jokes is what we were talking about with that. Filthy communication, perverseness of the lops. Number three; boasting and bragging about how wonderful you are. Number four is ... Man, this sermon is so out of order. Here we go. Number four; being stupid and just talking about dumb things that you don’t under, and just spreading lies because you haven’t done the research. Number five; tattling, talebearing, backbiting, whispering. I think that’s the worst one that James 3 is actually dealing with, most specifically.<br><br> The one that we didn’t get to is flattery; flattering then, another one is cursing your brothers and sisters in Christ, but when I say cursing I’m not saying using words on a certain unapproved list. When I say cursing I’m saying where you actually curse someone, as in, you wish ill upon them, as in telling them, “Hey, go to hell or whatever.” Something along those lines.<br><br> Also, swearing, which is where you basically make an oath. That’s where, by the way, when you go to court, they let you do it on oath or affirmation because you know how they say do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you, God. You don’t have to do that because it’s against the Bible. The Bible says not to swear. Swear not at all, and so actually what you say when they say do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. You say I affirm that I will tell the truth because then you’re just letting your ye be ye, but you don’t have to swear or oath. That’s why even in fourth amendment it says warrants are issued upon oath or affirmation because it’s against the Bible to make an oath or to swear.<br><br> Listen to this, Ephesians 4:29; Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. Now, what is the word corrupt mean? Corrupt means it’s decaying. The Bible says a good tree does not produce corrupt fruit, but an evil tree produce corrupt fruit.<br><br> Corrupt communication is communication that is evil or harmful because the word evil on the Bible means harmful. It’s that which decays, right? If we talked about something being corrupt we’re saying it is decayed, so that’s the opposite of the latter part of the verse when He says, that which is good to the use of edifying. What’s edifying? Building up.<br><br> What Bible is saying is that the things that come out of our mouth should not harm people, tear them down and cause decay and rot, but rather the things that come out of our mouth should build people up and lift people up, so that should be the final judge of what comes out of our mouth. Is this helping the person that I’m talking to. Is this helping them ... And sometimes ... And, by the way, a lot of people interpret this as, “Hey, just don’t say anything negative.” That’s not what it says because sometimes it’s edifying to say something negative to someone. Constructive criticism; a reprove for ... can be appropriate and can be helpful.<br><br> What’s your goal when negative things come out of your mouth? Is it to edify your brother in Christ? Is it to build him up, help him and restore him or is it just to tear him down, harm him and to cause decay and rot. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to use of edifying that may minister grace unto the ears.<br><br> Let’s bow down and have a word of prayer. God, I pray that every single person who is here today would take this sermon to heart, Lord. I know it’s very tempting for people that are in the sermon to think, “Wow, I'm so glad so and so's hearing this right now. They really need it, but, Lord, I pray that every single person in this auditorium would apply this sermon to themselves.<br><br> Anyone right now who’s thinking, “So and so needed this. I’m glad they’re here.” That person is probably the person I’m talking to the most because they have that strife in their heart toward others.<br><br> Lord, help us all to examine ourselves and to be careful with our tongues that we always tell the truth, that we always speak knowledgeable and that we say things that are helpful and not harmful. Lord, help us not be an active listener when people tell us the scattle, Lord. Help us to give them a dirty look of an angry countenance in Jesus Christ we pray, amen.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-52221712601230852772016-05-20T11:06:00.000-07:002016-05-20T11:06:06.995-07:00Bringing Forth Fruit unto God <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzgRjVRicNs">Video</a>
<p><b>February 22, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VzgRjVRicNs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Now the title of my sermon tonight is Bringing Forth Fruit Unto God. That's what this chapter is about and that term is brought up over and over again in this chapter. I want to show you tonight from Scripture that when the Bible talks about bringing forth fruit unto God, that is referring to winning other people to Christ and getting people saved. That's what we call soul winning. In fact, let me just point you to Proverbs 11. Stay there in John 15, but in Proverbs 11:30, the Bible reads, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise." That's where we actually get the term soul winning that we use to talk about when we go out and knock doors and just tell people how to be saved. We just preach the gospel to them and we call that soul winning because the Bible says, The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise." I'm going to prove to you from Scripture that when the Bible talks about bringing forth much fruit and bringing forth fruit unto God, it is talking about winning people to the Lord. It's talking about getting people saved. It's talking about going out into highways and hedges preaching the gospel and someone receiving the Lord Jesus Christ their Savior. I'm going to prove to you that from the Bible.
<br><br>Let's start in this passage, John 15:1. It says, "I am the true vine and My Father is the husbandman. Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in Me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in me. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without Me, ye can to nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned." Look at verse 8, "Herein is My father, glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples." <br><br> Now first of all, before I get into the sermon, just about bearing much fruit and show you all the Scriptures, let me just start by dealing with some false doctrine that some people will derive from this chapter. They'll try to use this to teach that you could lose your salvation or that if you don't bring forth fruit, you're not really saved. That's what they'll try to use this as. Now first of all, the Bible says, "As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools." Parables can be interpreted a variety of different ways, which is why we should never base our doctrine on a parable. We should base our doctrine on clear statements from the Bible. The Bible has so many just clear statements to anchor our soul to and to act as a foundation for our faith, that we shouldn't take a parable and base everything that we believe on a parable. No, what we should rather do is base our doctrines on clear statements, then use those statements to interpret the parable. Not vice versa, not take a parable and use it to contradict a bunch of clear statements. You always start with that which is clear and use it to interpret that which is a dark saying or parable, as Jesus Christ put it.<br><br> Now in this parable, it says that every branch that beareth fruit, he purges it so that it will bring forth more fruit. Now this is, basically, talking about trimming the tree, so if there's a branch that brings forth fruit, He'll purge it so that it'll bring forth even more fruit. That purging, in our lives, would be God removing sin from our life and helping us to be cleaned up and more efficient in bringing forth fruit. What this is saying is that if we go out and win souls to Jesus Christ, I'm going to prove that in the sermon that's what this is referring to, that God will then help us to clean up other areas of our life. <br><br> Now a lot of people have this backwards. They think you know what? I need to get my life totally cleaned up, then I'm going to go out soul winning. In fact, it's the opposite. We need to get out there and at least bring forth some fruit, then God will purge us, then we'll bring forth even more fruit. Now let me say this, if you have a lot of junk in your life, you're not going to bring forth much fruit, but you still need to get out there and try to bring forth some fruit because when God sees you bringing forth fruit, He says, "Here's a branch that I can purge, so that it can bring forth more fruit." I don't believe in this thing of waiting to go soul winning until your life's all in order and going ... First of all, if you wait that long, you'll probably just never do it because none of us have all our ducks in a row, none of us are perfect, none of us are fully a purged, perfect branch. We all have sin in our life and imperfection within us, so if you're going to be waiting for that, you just wait and it never comes. <br><br> A lot of people today think that they have to get certain sins out of their life before they can do soul winning. Look at the Bible and think about, for example, the woman at the well. God used her to bring a lot of people to Jesus, just immediately, just right away. She didn't clean up, right? A lot of other people that you see in the Bible, the same day they get saved, they're soul winning. The Apostle Paul was like that. He gets saved and just immediately he goes out and starts preaching the gospel. He had more to learn, but he still got out there right away. Other people that you see in the Bible, like the guy that was demon possessed, he gets saved and just right away he just goes out and starts preaching the word of God. Why not? A lot of people say this, "Well, I don't want to go soul winning until I've cleaned up my life because I don't want to be a hypocrite." Have you heard that one before? It's pretty common. "Well, I don't want to be a hypocrite, you know. I'm telling people one thing and do ..." <br><br> Here's the thing. When you go out soul winning, what message are you preaching? The message that you're preaching is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. You're not preaching clean up your life and you shall be saved, so these people that say, "Oh, I don't want to go soul winning because I don't want to be a hypocrite," makes you wonder do they understand the gospel? The gospel's a free gift purchased by the blood of Jesus. Look, Paul said, "We preach not ourselves, but we preach Jesus Christ. We preach Him crucified." You're not a hypocrite telling people to believe on Jesus if you've believed on Jesus. Then you're not a hypocrite. "Yeah, but I'm not living a perfect life," but are you telling people to live a perfect life and you'll be saved? No, so that excuse goes out the window. That's just what it is. It's an excuse where people are timid to get out there in the highways and hedges, so they just come up with an, "Oh, I'm not ready yet," and then they're just never ready type of a thing.<br><br> Also, some churches will perpetuate this where they will hinder people from going soul winning because they have not gotten the sin out of their life. I talked to a guy one time and I approached him at our church and I said, "Hey, I really want to take you out soul winning, you know, have you ever been soul winning? Can I take you out some time?" He said, "Well, you know, the problem is, I smoke cigarettes and at every church I've been in, they had a policy that anybody who smokes can't go soul winning," or something. I'm like, "What in the world? Are you serious?" That's so ridiculous to sit there and hinder. Why would you want to add one sin upon another? Look, smoking cigarettes is damaging to your body. It's a stupid use of your money. It's bad for you and everything else, but to sit there and say, "Well, because I'm living in one sin, then I better not go soul winning," now you've just added another sin. At least get out there and go soul ... "Aren't you worried that people won't look right," I've had other people say, and, "It's going to be an embarrassment and a shame upon your church." Not at all. Not at all because nobody in this church has a worse reputation than I. No, I'm just kidding. No, just kidding.<br><br> No, because here's the thing. I'm not ashamed. I've gone out soul winning with some pretty gnarly-looking people and I'm not ashamed of them at all. Why should I be ashamed that I've got a new believer next to me, that I've got a new babe in Christ that's being trained and taught the things of God? You know what? If I walked into a church and everybody looked all perfect and everybody's all dialed in, that would just tell me they haven't reached anybody lately. When you have some rough-looking people in the church, that shows that people are being reached. Maybe you see people that don't look quite right. Hey, so what? I'm not ashamed of them. Why would I be? If they're saved and I'm saved and here's the ... I've even taken unsaved people out soul winning. Now obviously, they're not doing the talking. That would be heresy if they're preaching the false doctrine, but I've taken somebody out soul winning with me who was unsaved, just as a silent partner because I'm going out and preaching the word. If they want to listen to the word, and sometimes that person will get saved. <br><br> A friend of mine was soul winning and his dad was visiting in town and he took his dad out soul winning. It turned out his dad wasn't saved and he gave the gospel over and over again throughout the afternoon. At the last store he gave the gospel, his dad said, "I prayed that prayer, too, just now because I realize from listening to you all afternoon that I needed to be saved. I realize that I'm not saved." He prayed right there and got saved and we baptized him in the evening service. Why not go out there and just preach the gospel to whoever will listen? Somebody wants to tag along, come on along. Another thing that we've done sometimes is won somebody to the Lord and had them actually join us for the rest of the soul winning, just right then and there, just put your shoes on and come soul winning, right? Hey, that's a start to a good Christian life when you get straight-out soul winning. Why? Because if you bring forth fruit, God will purge you and then you'll bring forth even more fruit and that's how you succeed as a Christian. <br><br> As you read this, in the parable, he says that as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, in verse 4, "Except it abide in the vine no more can ye except ye abide in Me. I am the vine. Ye are the branches. He that abideth in Me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit for without Me, ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch." Now look, this is a parable. This is symbolic. He's saying he's cast forth as a branch, but then it says this, "Men gather them," it says he's withered, "And men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burnt." Now a lot of people will take this and equate this unto go to Hell. That's how they'll interpret the parable. They'll say, "Hey, when the guys pick up the withered branches and throw them into the fire, that's a picture of that person going to Hell." <br><br> Here's the thing. That cannot be what this pictures because we have a ton of clear Scriptures that talk about the fact that Jesus gives unto us eternal life, that He'll never leave us nor forsake us, that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ, that it's impossible to lose our salvation. That's a whole sermon of itself, but there's just a mountain of Scripture, so obviously, if you're interpreting this parable that way, then you have the wrong interpretation because you'd be contradicting a lot of clear statements, even in the Book of John itself. What this parable is saying when it says, hey, the branch that doesn't bring forth fruit is withered and men gather them and cast them into the fire, it's just saying that's what you do with dead branches. You throw them in the trash, you burn them, you get rid of them. What God is saying is that if we don't bring forth fruit, He has no use for us, and it's like the Apostle Paul said, he said, "I don't want to preach others and then myself be a castaway. I don't want to be cast aside."<br><br> God, for example, casts aside a whole nation of people, the Israelites because remember, Israel was God's chosen people, but when they didn't bring forth fruit, and He goes into this in great detail in Matthew 21, or Matthew 20 through 23, all those chapters He keeps coming back to that theme. They did not bring forth fruit. He came to that fig tree of Israel seeking fruit thereon. He found none and what did He do? He cast them away. You say, "Well, no, the Bible says He didn't cast aside His people," yet He cast away all the ones who didn't bring forth fruit. Because He said, "Well, I didn't cast them all away because there's a remnant of Israelites who believe and they're the ones that are still My people." <br><br> Okay, so what are we saying here? In this passage, we see that God does not have any use for Christians that don't bring forth fruit. He has no use for them. You can't be, and I want this to sink in with you tonight, you cannot be a good Christian without bringing forth fruit, period. You can't. If you're not bringing forth fruit, don't tell me, "Oh, I'm abiding in Christ. I have a wonderful relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ." No, you don't because if you abide in Christ, you're bringing forth fruit and if you're not bringing forth fruit, you're worthless under the Kingdom of God. In fact, Jesus said, "If you don't gather with Me, you scatter abroad." There's no neutrality in this. You're either one that preaches the gospel, that gathers people under the Kingdom of God, you're out there reaping the harvest, or you're a liability. You're dead weight. You're not an asset under the Kingdom of God whatsoever. He has no use. That's why Jesus said, "If you follow Me, I will make you fishers of men." That tells me if you're not a fisher of men, you're not following Jesus. <br><br> Now I'm not saying that you're not saved because to be saved, you just have to believe in Jesus, but there's a difference, and this is the key thing I want to point out in this passage, there is a difference between being saved and being a disciple. Being saved versus being a disciple. Think about in Jesus' day. How many disciples did He have? 12, right, and then there were 70 others that later He sent out. Then in that early church, how many people, after 3-1/2 years of ministry, were in that early church in Acts 1? Only 120 people, that's it. 120, but how many people got saved through Jesus' ministry? The Bible says multitudes, thousands got saved, thousands got baptized, but how many assembled at that early church in Acts 1? Only 120 people. How many did He call the Disciples that were really close to Him and willing to follow Him anywhere He would go? There were only 12 of them. Okay, so there's a difference between being saved and being a disciple. <br><br> Here's even more proof. One of His Disciples wasn't saved, okay, so don't just equate those 2 things in your mind. That's why the Bible says here, in verse number 8, "Herein is My Father glorified that ye bear much fruit, so shall ye be My disciples." This is talking about being a disciple. When you're abiding in the vine and you're bringing forth much fruit, that's when you're considered a disciple of Jesus Christ because He said, "If you follow Me, I'll make you fishers of men." You can't be a follower of Jesus, you can't be a disciple, you're not in that group, unless you are bringing forth much fruit, period. Everybody else is on the fringe. There are saved people out there that don't go to church and they're not abiding in Christ on a daily basis. They're not reading the word, they're not filled with the Spirit, they're not bringing forth any fruit. They're not disciples of Christ. Just because they're saved, it doesn't make them a disciple or someone who's following Christ and living their life in a way that's pleasing unto Him. <br><br> Now if you would, just flip back a few pages to John 12 because I want to just teach you the subject of bringing forth fruit. What does it mean when God says bringing forth fruit or bringing forth much fruit? Right here, in John 12:24, it says, "Verily, verily I say unto you except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone." That's a key word there. "It abideth alone, but if it die, if it bringeth forth much fruit." This is talking about reproduction amongst plant life, okay. A corn of wheat, that living plant, is there, but it's alone. It's by itself. In order to bring forth fruit, it has to fall to the ground and die and then that seed will go into the earth and a new life will be produced. It will multiply and it says it will bring forth much fruit. Jesus is using that as symbolic of Himself dying, okay, and then bringing forth much fruit. Also, we can apply this to us that we have to die to self in order to bring forth much fruit. <br><br> What I want to really drive in today in John 12:24 is that bringing forth fruit is, again, associated with reproduction. What's the opposite of bringing forth fruit in this verse? Abiding alone, okay, so if it's just you, you're saved, but just you're saved and you're not getting anybody else saved, that's you abiding alone. Then there's bringing forth much fruit, which is you reproducing yourself. Go to Romans 7, Romans 7. Romans 7:2, the Bible reads, "For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth, but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if while her husband liveth she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress, but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another even to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God." <br><br> Now in this Scripture in verse 4, we see that this parable or this simile is being used of being married unto Jesus Christ and bringing forth fruit unto God. Now the fruit of that wheat that falls into the ground is more wheat. It reproduces. It multiplies. We as human beings multiply by having children. That's why all the way back to Genesis 1 God said to Adam and Eve, "Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth." What's He telling them to do? Have children. He even told the animal life be fruitful and multiply. He even talked about the plant life in Genesis 1, having the seed within itself to do what? To reproduce and to bring forth after its own kind. In Genesis 1 He says over and over again, after his kind, after his own kind, after its kind. Look, why do we get to the New Testament and just totally forget that and all of a sudden, we don't know what bringing forth fruit is? <br><br> No, bringing forth fruit is reproducing after our own kind and even tying it into marriage emphasizes that because what's the fruit of my wife and I being married? It's all lined up back there. There's a whole row of fruits back there lined up. These are the fruits of marriage. This is what happens when a man and a woman reproduce. You have 8 children that are in our image, meaning that they look like us, they appear like us. They have traits that are similar to our traits and not even just physically, but also spiritually, mentally, your children are going to take after you because everything brings forth after its own kind. What we see here in this passage with Romans 7 is that bringing forth fruit unto God spiritually is a team effort between us and Jesus reproducing and bringing forth fruit. Just like He said, you have to abide in the vine, you have to abide in Me, and you'll bring forth much fruit, just as I can't bring forth fruit without my wife, and my wife can't bring forth fruit without me. It's going to take both of us to bring forth fruit. <br><br> It's the same way with soul winning, with winning people to Christ. I can't go out and win people to Christ without Jesus, without the Holy Spirit, right, because I have to have the word. Jesus is the word. The Bible talks about the sower sows the word. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. This is that spiritual seed of the word, okay. I have to have the word of God and I have to have the Holy Spirit inside me or I'm not going to get anybody saved just going out without the Holy Spirit, without any Bible verses, just going out doing it in my own words and my own strength and my own wisdom, I'm not going to get anybody saved. Just as much, if I refuse to go, if I stay home, God's not going to go out and get the people saved without me. Now when Jesus was on this earth, He did the soul winning because He was a human being, okay, but He said, "As long as I'm in the world, I'm the light of the world." He said, "You're the light of the world." Jesus Christ, the Bible says, has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation and if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. They are the ones who will continue to be blinded lest the light of the glorious gospel should shine in.<br><br> God uses us to do the soul winning and we have to have God to do the soul winning. It has to be both involved. It's a team effort between us and God in order to win people unto Jesus Christ. That's what this teaching. Now Paul also talks about this. You flip over to Romans 1, if you would. Romans 1, Paul talks about this when he refers to people who he won to Christ as his children. He's not talking about begetting a physical child. He's talking about spiritual children that he brought forth. He said, for example, in Philemon 10, "I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten in my bonds." This is a guy that he won to Christ while in prison and he says, "I've begotten him in my bonds." He said in Galatians 4:19, "My little children of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you," because he had thought they were saved, but now he's doubting their salvation. He's not going to say, "I'm travailing in birth again until Christ be formed in you," because he says, "I'm afraid of you lest I bestowed labor upon you in vain," because they were getting into so much false doctrine, he's doubting whether he'd been saved. <br><br> He says also of Timothy, "Timothy, my own son in the faith." He says, "Titus, my own son after the common faith." These people aren't his physical children, but they're his spiritual children because he won them to Christ. There are a lot more Scriptures on that. For the sake of time, I won't belabor that point, but look at Romans 1. You say, "I'm skeptical, Pastor Anderson. I still don't think that when Jesus talks about bringing forth fruit as a Christian, I don't think He's talking about winning people to Christ. I think he's just talking about living a good life or just cleaning up your life." That's what most people out there think. You know it's true because guess what? Most churches aren't soul winning. Most churches aren't winning anybody to the Lord and they don't want to be tagged as unfruitful because they know that that means they're not following Jesus. They know that that means that they're not abiding in the vine. They know that they're about as valuable as a withered branch that somebody takes and just throws away because there's no use for it. They don't want to be the one that doesn't bring forth fruit, so here's what they say, "Oh, bringing forth fruit, look how much I've cleaned up my life." <br><br> Now look, you can clean up the tree and make it look wonderful. That doesn't mean that that tree is bringing forth any fruit. You could have a beautiful tree covered in flowers and pretty leaves and you can trim it and make it look so nice and prune it, but that doesn't mean it's bringing forth any fruit. People don't want to accept the truth that I'm preaching tonight, but look at the Bible. Romans 1 is another proof. Verse 13, "Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you, but was let hitherto," let means hindered, "That I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles." Why does he want to go to Rome? He said, "I want to have some fruit among you like I've had among other Gentiles. I'm deader both to the Greeks and to the Barbarians, both to the wise and the unwise," verse 15, "So as much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also." Notice the comparison between verse 13. "I want to have some fruit among you also." What does he say that as in verse 15? "I want to preach the gospel among you also," because how are you going to bring forth fruit? By preaching the gospel. That's what it's saying here. <br><br> Hey, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He that winneth souls is wise." He said we bring forth fruit unto God just the way a husband and wife bring forth fruit when they're married. Here he equates bringing forth fruit to preaching the gospel. Now with that in mind, got to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. It's a spiritual childbirth when you go out soul winning. Paul said, "I'm travailing in birth." You want a man, soul winning's hard work. Look how hard it is for a woman who's in labor, right? We go out and we actually are begetting children unto the Lord and that's what the Bible is saying with all these times that Paul said that. Look at 2 Peter 1 with that in mind. Once we understand what it means to be fruitful, to bring forth fruit, it's talking about preaching the gospel. It's talking about winning souls. It's talking about reproducing and look, what does an orange bring forth when it reproduces? More ...<br><br>Congregation: Oranges.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: What does the apple tree produce? <br><br>Congregation: Apples. <br><br>Pastor Anderson: Apples, yeah, but what does the Christian produce? <br><br>Congregation: Good Christians.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: Other Christians. It's not that complicated. Again, people don't want to face this, so they'll say when a Christian brings forth fruit, they'll say it's love, joy, and peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness. Here's the problem. That's the fruit of the spirit. That's not the fruit of the righteous. "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise." The fruit of Christians is more Christians. Why is the fruit of the spirit love, joy, peace, long-suffering? Because here's why, the fruit of the spirit is love because God is love as He brings forth after His own kind. He is the oil of gladness. He brings forth joy. The Holy Spirit is called the oil of gladness. He's the Prince of Peace. He brings forth peace. What I'm saying is that the fruit of the spirit should not be confused with our fruit. The Holy Spirit lives inside of us and when we walk in the spirit, the fruit of that will be that we'll be a loving person. We'll be a joyful person. We'll be a peaceful person. We'll have faith. We'll be a good person. We'll have temperance and meekness. Those are the fruits of the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of us. <br><br> What's our fruit? What's the fruit that we bring forth? It's other believers. That's what it means to be fruitful. Look at 2 Peter 1 with that in mind. It says in verse 5, "And beside this giving all diligence add to your faith virtue." Now look, faith is what saves you. That's the starting point, getting saved, having faith in the Lord, but it says, "Add to your faith virtue and to virtue knowledge and to knowledge temperance and to temperance patience and to patience godliness and to godliness brotherly kindness and to brotherly kindness charity, for if these things be in you in abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." Let me first of all point out to you that barren and unfruitful are used side by side and what does the Bible call a woman who can't have kids?<br><br>Congregation: Barren.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: Barren, so notice, again, it's reproduction that we're talking about here with fruitfulness. Barren and unfruitful. Now when we talk about being unfruitful, it says here that if we have this list of things in us, we will not be barren and we will not be unfruitful. You know what that tells me? That if you're not a soul winner, if you're not winning people to Christ, if you're not reproducing spiritually, if you have not brought forth a spiritual son or a spiritual daughter unto the Lord, something's missing on this list. It has to be because God says is these things abound in you, He'll make you not be unbarren or unfruitful, so something's missing. <br><br> Here's what we've learned so far about people that are not bringing forth fruit unto God. We've learned that first of all, they're not abiding in Christ. They're not dwelling in close fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. Number 2, they're not willing to follow Him because if you follow Him, He'll make you into a fisher of men. What else do we see? We see that they lack something on this list here. Maybe they lack virtue, maybe they just lack knowledge. They just don't even know what soul winning is. I think that's a lot of people. They just lack knowledge. That was where I was at as a young person because I remember growing up with a burning desire to get people saved. I even approached my youth leader as a teenager and said, "Can we go out and get people saved, preach the gospel?" I even tried, but I was ignorant and I hadn't studied the Bible. I'm not making excuses for myself. The information was right here all along. I could've went out and found it, but I didn't have the knowledge. I remember I would try to give the gospel to my friends at school. I went to public school and I'd be giving my friends the gospel, but I did it wrong. <br><br> Here's how I did it wrong. I didn't use the Bible. I didn't use verses. I didn't open the Bible and show them Scripture. I didn't even quote Scripture. I just explained it in my own words. I would just try to explain to my friends what it meant to be saved and I didn't even do a very good job of that, but I don't care how good of a job I did. If I'm not using the word of God, there's no power there. The power is in the word. The sower sows the word. The seed is the word. There's not going to be this Immaculate Concepcion taking place when you're soul winning without the Bible. No, you better have the seed there. You better know that with these 8 children that are lined up back there, there was a seed involved that made that happen. If the seed hadn't been there, those kids wouldn't be there. <br><br> That's why soul winning without the word of God doesn't work. I had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. I wanted to get people saved, I tried to get people saved. I tried to even get guidance from leaders in the church. I went to my youth leader and said, "Can you teach me? Can you take me out?" He was so clueless that he can't teach me soul winning because he doesn't know soul winning. Therefore, I was unfruitful for a long time in my Christian work. Then, about 17 years old, I got into a church that gave me the knowledge and taught me and sent me out and got me the tools to go out door to door and win people to Christ. Then once I started winning people door to door, then I started winning people in my personal life and at work, family, friends, and it went from there. I was able to bring forth much fruit to God be the glory. It was all through the power of the Holy Spirit. <br><br> The Bible says here, "Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, to temperance patience." Something's missing when you're not bringing forth fruit. Maybe the knowledge is missing. You just don't know about soul winning. You've never even heard of it or you don't know how to do it. The great thing is, if you show up at one of the soul winning times at our church, there will be somebody there who has the knowledge to take you out and show you the ropes. There are also sermons that I've preached that explain it, the video demonstration, everything. Anybody who's here tonight, this isn't an excuse for you to lack knowledge. <br><br> What about patience? Some people lack the patience. They say, "Oh, I tried soul winning." They tried it for an hour, they tried it for 2 hours, they tried it for 5 hours and it didn't work and they gave up on it. They lack patience because we have to patiently bring forth fruit and put in the time and effort and be frustrated and fail and fail and fail. People tell us no and they tell us no and they don't get saved and they don't get saved. We continue with patience and in due season, we will reap if we faint not. You will get people saved if you continue sowing. He didn't say, "He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed might come back rejoicing." No, it says "Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him." If you go out with the word of God and do the soul winning, people will be saved. Anybody who says soul winning doesn't work, I turn around and say, "No, you don't work." You're not doing the work because if you do the work, people are going to get saved. Either the gospel's not being preached or the gospel's lost its power. Those are the only 2 options when people aren't being saved. Either it's not being preached or it's lost its power.<br><br> What other option could there be? God says it's going to work. God says that His word has power. God says that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. God says that if we go forth weeping and bearing precious seed, we will doubtless, oh thou of little faith. "Wherefore didst thou doubt? Doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him." What else could be missing? Godliness could be missing. You know what? I think a lot of times, kindness and charity are missing. Kindness and charity could be that which is missing. If you go out and you're a jerk to people, you might not win as many people to Christ. Maybe you like kindness, but what's charity? Charity is love. If we have love in our hearts and care about ... Look at the word charity. Here's another word that comes from the same root. Caring, charity, do you see how they both are made of the same root word there? Caring, okay, charity, loving others. <br><br> You know what? If you don't love other people, you're going to be unfruitful because you're not going to care enough to go out and give them the gospel. You don't care enough to take time out of your schedule, to get out there and do the work. If you cared, you'd be out there warning people. If you love people, you'd be soul winning, so can you see how having these things missing can lead to you being unfruitful in your life? What if temperance is missing? Temperance is self-control. You know what? Then you're going to get into all kinds of addictions and all kinds of other things that are going to choke the word and make you unfruitful.<br><br> Go to Matthew 13, Matthew 13. What makes people unfruitful? What causes them not to win anybody unto Christ and get anybody saved? The Bible says, in Matthew 13, that there are different types of soil where the word is sown and it talks about people who bring forth fruit, some 30, some 60, and some 100. It talks about other people who don't bring forth any fruit. Now when we talk about 30, 60, and 100, that should show you right there that we're not just talking about love, joy, and peace because those are not numeric values, 30 love, my joy is at about a 50 right now. I'm about an 80 on the peace scale right now. That doesn't make any sense, but what if we go with what we've been seeing from the Bible about what it means to bring forth fruit. Now let's apply 30, 60, and 100. Does it make sense to say 30 people were saved? I went out soul winning over the course of years or months or whatever period of time, depending on how much effort you put in and where you went. You could say 30 people were saved, 60 people I've won to the Lord in my life, or I've won 100 people to Christ. Doesn't that make perfect sense because you can reproduce.<br><br> I can put a number on my fruitfulness, 8 children that I have lined up back there. Fruit that has remained, okay, but you can't quantify some of these other things that people will try to pass off as the fruit of the Christian, but you can sure quantify salvation. Now it says in Matthew 13:18, "Here ye the parable of the sower. When anyone heareth the word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside." Now this guy's not even saved because he hears the word of God, he doesn't even understand it. Now get your finger in Luke 8 because sometimes it's helpful to compare the 4 Gospels and see things from a different angle. This same parable is found in Luke 8. Now in Luke 8, we're going to start this parable in verse number 11. It says ... Keep your finger in Matthew 13 because I want to go back and forth. Luke 8 says this, now the parable is this, "The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil and taketh away the word out of their heart lest they should believe and be saved."<br><br> These people aren't saved, are they, because before they have a chance to believe and are saved, the devil catches away that was sown in their heart. Why is the devil able to do that? Because they did not understand that which they heard. A lot of people, when they hear the gospel, don't understand it. What'll happen is the devil will come and catch away that which was sown in their heart lest they should believe and be saved, it says, okay. Now let's look at the next group. We can do it right here in Luke 8 because we're here. It says, "They on the rock," verse 13, "Are they which when they hear receive the word with joy. And these have no root which for a while believe and in time of temptation, fall away." Now some people will try to declare these people unsaved, but here's the thing about that. You're denying the fact that a person's saved when they receive the word of God with joy and believe? What else, pray tell, do you have to do to be saved? The Bible said, "But as many as received Him," remember, He is that seed. The sower sows the word. Jesus is the word. "As many as received Him to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name." <br><br> When you receive the word of God with joy and believe it, you're saved. You're a son of God. You have everlasting life. Even John 3:16 will tell you that, "Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Look, it's helpful to see it in both Matthew 13 and Luke 8 because Luke ... Flip over to Matthew 13 and let's look at that same person in verse 20, "But he that received the seed into stony places," Matthew 13:20, "The same is he that heareth the word and anon," anon means immediately, "Anon with joy receiveth it. Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while," that's like endureth for a while, "For when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he's offended." <br><br> This is exactly what Jesus warned about in John 16. When Jesus said unto the Disciples, "These things have I spoken unto you that you would not be offended." He said, "Look, you're going to be cast in prison. You're going to be beaten. You're going to be cast out of the synagogues." He said, "I'm warning you so that you won't be offended." Then at the end of John 16, He says, "These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. Jesus says I'm warning you about persecutions and tribulations you're going to go to, so that you won't be offended. He's telling this to His disciples. He's telling this to saved Christians saying I don't want you to be offended when persecution and tribulation comes. Isn't that exactly what this says in Matthew 13? He says, in verse 21, "Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word by and by he's offended." <br><br> Plants have a major root system, in many cases, that will keep them and hold them secure through all the storms that they're faced with. Other plants, because the ground is very stony, they have no root in themselves. Basically, they try to send their root down and they hit that stony place, so they grow sideways with the roots and it's very shallow. Arizona is a place where we can understand this. For example, sometimes, in a storm, you'll see trees falling everywhere, won't you? Sometimes, it won't even be that intense of a storm and yet you see trees falling all over Arizona. Why? Because Arizona is a very stony place. Arizona has all kinds of places where it's just really dry and hard as a rock or even rock itself. These trees don't often have deep roots that go down deep, so when the storm comes, they're knocked down or washed away because they don't have that root system that goes down deep, okay. <br><br> I had a tree at my house and I thought that that was the case with this tree because a big storm came and it was a giant tree. It was the biggest tree in my whole yard. This tree came crashing down, but it didn't come crashing all the way down. It basically fell like this and then it was leaned against my house. We're looking at this saying how can the house have stopped this giant tree because usually when a giant tree comes down on a house, it's going to bash in the roof and it's going to dent it in, especially a tree of this size. Yet, the tree had crashed down and just stopped right there. Now we thought wow, this is a tough house. We were just praising the Lord. Thank God that it didn't destroy our house, didn't destroy the roof at all. This is great. <br><br> Then when I started to investigate further, I started trimming away some of the branches and I trimmed away the branch that looked like it was holding it up. I trimmed all that stuff away and the thing was still just at that same angle. I think, it's not the house that's holding it up. It's the root. It had a part of the root system that was shallow that fell over, but then the main root was still secure, so this thing had fallen over and I chopped it all apart and everything and that root was in very firmly. Finally, I cut down the whole tree down to the stump, got rid of the tree, and we had this stump there. Brother Jerry was there and basically, Corbin, I think you were there, too, when we were working on it. The first thing we did was we said, oh, this thing's already fallen over. Maybe we can hook up a chain and try to pull on it with Jerry's van and see if that will dislodge it. He's trying to get rid of this thing and it just wouldn't budge, so I got in there with a shovel and just dug and dug and dug, right, I just kept finding more roots, big giant roots that went just way down deep. <br><br> I just keep digging and digging and digging and going down real deep. Then I kept taking my chainsaw and just cutting these giant roots, but there just kept being another giant root. I just kept up. Then we tried to hook it up to the back of our van with chains, step on the gas, nothing's happening. Dig, dig, dig, cut, cut, cut, finally, we got to the point where we chopped out all the roots and we were able to just yank it out with the van and chains and pull it out. That thing wasn't going anywhere. You know what? In the storm, it did falter a little bit, but that thing would've continued. It took a lot to get that thing out in the end. All that horsepower couldn't even budge it. Why? Because it had a deep root. That's how we want to be as Christians. We want to have our root down deep, not be just a drifter, not be a tumbleweed Christianity that just has a root that's so shallow where we barely know the Bible, we're not really that attached to the church we go to, we're not really plugged in deep into the word of God or the house of God or anything like that. Then the smallest little wind will send us just tumbling down the road.<br><br> Look, that's what this is talking about. People fall away. What's that referring to? People who get saved, they get in church, they're excited about being in church, then as soon as they run into any opposition or any problems, they quit the church. Look, we could ask, we're not going to, but we could ask for stories. Everybody, in their mind, who's been in their church for many years, can think of people who were really zealous and excited and serving God and soul winning and doing great that eventually fell away and today, they're not in church at all. Today, they're in a liberal church or today, they're just in some other church and not doing any soul winning, but just warming a pew somewhere. That's what the Bible is talking about people that fall away. It's people that are not fruitful. They don't bring forth any fruit. Why? They were not rooted deeply enough. <br><br> What else is the problem with people when they don't have a root? Not only that, these people in stony places are people who begin to even doubt because it talks about they believe for a while, but then they start to doubt. They'll be, "Well, I don't really believe that way anymore, the way that they believe." They're still saved, but they start to doubt the word of God and then doubt the preaching that they were taught from the people who won them to Christ. Look down at Matthew 13. Let's look at this next group. The first group was the one that didn't understand it, so the foul of the air came and took it. The second was the one in stony places, no root. It says in verse 22, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he becometh unfruitful." <br><br> Look at Luke 8. Let's see that in Luke 8. It says in verse 14, "They which fell among thorns are they which when they've heard go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life and bring no fruit to perfection." Look, we've know Christians like this, haven't we? Christians who just simply get busy and distracted with other things. It's not that they weren't saved. It's just that they're not bringing forth any fruit because they're too busy with the cares of this world, the pleasures of this world, and a pursuit of riches. They just get too into their job, too into make money. Look, some of you that aren't supporting your family might need to get into making money. Hello? Anybody out there? You need to get into making some money because God does want us to go out and work by the sweat of our brow and 6 days shalt thou labor and with quietness work and eat your own bread. Look, I'm not telling you, "Oh, yeah, Pastor warned me not to get too into work." <br><br> No, some of you need to get more into work, okay, but you don't want to get so into work that you're neglecting soul winning to where you don't care that the lost are dying and going to Hell anymore. You don't want to just get so busy that it becomes just about getting the 3-car garage and it becomes all about getting the boat and the RV and living in the lap of luxury and the retirement and the 401K and the stock portfolio and it's all about having 2 cars or fancier cars or a third car or it's about whatever, motorcycles or whatever. Look, I'm not saying that any of those things are bad, but you know what? If that's what your life is about, you're living a sad life. We need to live a life that's about serving the Lord and have joy unspeakable and full of glory, not chasing after this dream of just more money and more toys, so that's what he's saying, where the deceitfulness of riches comes in and people are just so into their career and their job that the main thing stops being the main thing. <br><br> Look, work as much as you need to work to put food on the table and provide your family with a place to live and clothes and food and support them, but you know what? You need to carve out some time and get out soul winning every week. There's 168 hours in the week. You need to take some time to go out and win some souls. That's what I'm saying. Don't get unfruitful. Don't let that choke you, but not just riches or pursuing riches. Notice we didn't say pursuing a normal living. That's something you should be doing, but we should not be pursuing riches. Not only that, he says pleasures of this world and just other things entering in. This could just be playing and having fun, where people just get so into hobbies and so into video games or just movies or just sports or whatever it is, where it just takes away from serving the Lord and serving the Lord's no longer important to them because they're just so busy doing everything else. It chokes out the word and that person becomes unfruitful. <br><br> In Luke 8, notice it says they bring forth no fruit to perfection. Why? Because of cares, riches, and pleasures of this life. They just get all into just whatever makes them feel good and whatever's fun for them, but look at the end. It says in verse 15, "But they on the good ground are they which in an honest and good heart having heard the word keep it." Look, they keep it. They obey it, is what he's saying, keeping God's commandments, obeying God's word. It says they bring forth fruit with patience. Over time, they bring forth fruit. Maybe not immediately, but over time, they bring forth fruit. Back to Matthew 13, we'll see the same thing. It says in verse 23, "But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth some 100-fold, some 60, some 30." There's your numeric value of the person who brings forth fruit.<br><br> Now again, a lot of people will mix this up and I've heard this parable interpreted as the only people in this parable that are saved are the last group. Have you heard that teaching? The only one is the last group that brings forth fruit, they're the only ones who are really saved, is what they'll say. Now here's why they're mixed up on this parable. I'm going to give you a few different reasons why they're mixed up. Number 1, they're mixed up because they have the wrong view that every single type of person is included in this parable and that's simply not the case because for example, it talks about the person, the only person who rejects the word of God, right, is the first person. The other 3 receive it. One receives it into stony places meaning they're excited, they believe it, but they don't get rooted. The other group that receives it receives it among thorns. They grow up, the plant grows up, but they get choked out of nutrients, okay, don't bring forth any fruit. Then the third one is the good one. The only person that rejects it in this parable is the one in the first instance and it doesn't even say that they reject it. It just says they didn't understand it. Do you get that? It says they hear the word of God and they don't understand it. <br><br> Basically, all 4 people in this parable are sincere in the beginning, in a sense. One of them is listening, at least, but they just don't understand. Then the devil comes and takes it away. Another person doesn't get rooted, whatever, but here's the thing. Think about all the people who do understand the gospel and reject it. Are they included in this parable? Where is the parable about the guy who hears the gospel, says yeah, I understand it, but I don't believe it. He's not here, so to sit there and say this is just everybody on the planet falls into this parable, no. How about people who don't even hear the gospel? Are they included? No, because this all the seeds coming at them, okay, and these are people hearing the gospel. There's nobody here who heard it and understand it and said, "Well, I don't believe that." Yet, there are a lot. You go out there, you'll find people. I've given the gospel to people that understood every word of it. They repeated it back to me, it all made perfect sense to them, and I said, "Do you believe it?" "No." Get real, people. There are people who are like that.<br><br> Number 1, they make the mistake of thinking that everybody is included in this parable, so because most people are unsaved, they think most of the parable's unsaved. No. The only person in this parable who's not saved is the first person because everybody else received the word and believed it and that's all you have to do to be saved, okay. The other mistake that they're making is that if that were the case, then the Bible would be teaching that if you don't bring forth fruit, 30, 60, or 100, then you're not saved, okay. That's a work salvation. If you have to keep the word of God with patience, that would be salvation by works, okay, but not only that, let me even just prove to you using math that there's no way that everybody's who's saved brings forth fruit. Even math will tell you that that is false. <br><br> This math is based on exponents of the number 2, which are my favorite kind of math, but anyway, if you double, it's like the old parable of the guy who said just pay me with one grain of rice on a checkerboard. Put 1 grain of rice on the first square and then put 2 grains of rice on the second square and then keep doubling it, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16. When you get to the last square of the 64th square, it's 18.44 quintillion, is what you end up with, is my understanding because it's 2 to the 64th power, okay. Here's the deal. I guess since you started with 1, okay, maybe it's half that, but the bottom line is, when you double it, it goes to an astronomical number more than you'd think, so let's deal with this in soul winning. Let's test the theory that every single person, every single person who gets saved is going to bring forth at least 30 fruit. That's what these people are saying that are interpreting this wrong. Okay. Let's say everybody is going to bring forth minimum because some 30, some 60, some 100, right, so the minimum here is 30, okay, so let's just go with the number 30.<br><br> Let's say every saved person's going to win 30 people to the Lord, okay. Here's why that math doesn't work because let's pretend that there's only 1 saved person on the whole planet, which we know there are many more than that, but just for sake of this discussion, let's say there's 1 person that's saved on the planet. Let's say for the entire year they go soul winning every week for the whole year and they only have 1 person saved. Now that's a pretty low expectation, right, but they went out and they got 1 person saved. Or maybe they only went soul winning once a month or once in a blue, but let's just say they go out and they get 1 person saved in the whole year, okay. Then in year 2, how many people are now saved? This isn't that complicated, folks. No, no, no, 2 people because the first year ... Let's pretend I'm the only person who was saved and I go out and I win 1 person to the Lord just in year 1. We're not talking about a lifetime yield here. Just year 1, I win 1 person to the Lord, now there's 2 of us that are saved, right, so we've doubled.<br><br> Now the 2 of us, we're going to go out soul winning because I'm going to win this person to the Lord. I'm going to teach them to be like me. I'm bringing forth fruit. I'm reproducing after my own kind. Hey, I'm a soul winner. I'm going to make you a fisher of men like me. Then the 2 of us go out soul winning all year and we only have 1 person saved, each. I have 1 saved, he has 1 saved. At the end of year 2, we have ...<br><br>Congregation: 4.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: ... 4, okay, so what do we have? 2 to the second power or 2 squared. The third year, we double again. The 4 of us go out and get 1 person saved each. We have 8, which is 2 to the third power. I was right about that checkerboard number, by the way, 18.4 quintillion because it's 2 to the 64th power because on the first square is 2 to the ... Okay, I don't know. Anyway, I'm getting too complicated. I'm confusing myself, but think about it now. We're in year 3, let's keep it simple. Year 3, we've got 8 Christians in the whole world. Now would you say that we're just a soul-winning machine? <br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: We're awesome, 3 years, 8 people saved. Okay. Are we one of the fastest growing churches in America? We're running 8 after 3 years. Are we the fastest growing church in America? No. Is anybody impressed? No, but then we go out the fourth year and all we do is just get 1 person. Look, is it too much to ask of you Christian to win 1 person to the Lord in the whole year? It's pretty realistic, I think. Very realistic. Okay, so then in the fourth year, we've got 16. We're doubling, okay. The fifth year, 32, the sixth year, 64. People still are thinking this is a slow growth, okay, but then it goes to 128, 256, 512, and after 10 years of effort, after a decade, we've got 1024 people saved. Now that's substantial and not only that, we didn't just get 1024 people saved, we got 1024 people who all are soul winners. Now that's a pretty amazing church, huh? Church with 1024 soul-winners in it after 10 years of effort? Now we're an amazing church, even though our beginnings were humble. <br><br> Okay, we keep doubling from 1024 we double to 2048 and we keep doubling. Listen to me. When we get to the 20-year mark, we would have over a million people saved just if every Christian, just starting with 1 saved person only and every Christian just wins 1 person to the Lord the whole year. We haven't done a big TV campaign. We didn't go on the radio or the TV or have giant crusades in baseball stadiums. No, we just went out one-on-one and just won 1 person to the Lord per year, the whole year. That's all we did and then just taught that person to do the same thing we do, to be a soul winner. After 20 years, we would have over a million, and after 30 years, we would have over a billion. Now how many people live in the world today? About 8 billion, right, something like that, so let's say it's 8 billion, okay. Think about it. After 34 years, okay, or no, 33 years, after 33 years, every single person in the whole world would be saved. Since we're not starting with 1, yeah, if every Christian right now that's a saved Christian on the earth right now would win 1 person to the Lord per year, it would happen way sooner. It would just happen in a few years that the whole world would be saved.<br><br> Now the question is is the whole world saved? <br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor Anderson: You know what that proves? That 99% of Christians are not winning anybody to the Lord. That's what it proves because if every Christian was bringing forth 30, then that would mean in 30 years, they've had 30 saved, 1 a year, and the whole world would've been saved a whole bunch of times by now. Now we know the whole world's never going to get saved because some people reject the gospel. Of course, most people reject God, so that's not the point. The point is that when you look at the numbers, here's what you learn. Soul winning works. God was pretty smart when He told us to go out and win people to Christ, baptize them, and then teach them to observe all things that we've commanded because if we can reproduce and bring forth after our own kind and teach them to observe what we observe, we can easily win the whole world to Christ, or, at least, give everybody the gospel. It's not happening and it's not going to ever happen and the reason why it's not ever going to happen is that 99% of Christians are zero soul winning. <br><br> That is what's wrong with our country, that is what's wrong with the world we live in, and that is why masses are going to Hell tonight because Christians are not abiding in Christ and they're not bringing forth fruit and they're not falling to the ground and dying, they're not willing to travail and burn. They're on a spiritual birth control pill and they won't go out and do the soul winning and they're not seeing anybody saved. You say, "Well, we're not going to get the whole world saved," but you know what? We should experience in this church that exponential growth to where we would multiply greatly. Look, our church is almost 10 years old. Why is our church not running 1024 red-hot soul winners? There aren't 1000 people here today and there dead sure aren't 1000 people in our church going out soul winning and winning 1 person to the Lord per year. Why not? You know why? Because a lot of Christians, most Christians are dropping the ball and not doing the soul winning, that's why. <br><br> Let me ask you this, are you one of the people that's winning somebody to the Lord every year? Obviously, there are a lot of people in our church who win somebody to the Lord almost every week because why? You say why are certain people winning somebody to the Lord every week? Because they're actually out putting in the most hours of doing it. The people that are having people saved on a monthly basis, it's because they're out soul winning a lot in the course of that month. The people that even bring forth in a year, it's because they're putting in time. It doesn't always happen after just an hour, 2 hours, 3 hours. You have to, with patience, go out there and bring forth fruit and go out there week after week after week and keep doing it. Look, somebody is dropping the ball big time in Phoenix, Arizona. I'll bet there are a whole bunch of independent Baptist churches that are dropping the ball, not doing the soul winning. There are people in our church that look, they're a withered branch. <br><br> Let me tell you something tonight. I'm preaching this sermon for a couple reasons. Number 1 is because we need to be fruitful as Christians in order to glorify the Lord. He said, "Herein is my Father glorified that you bring forth much fruit so shall you be my disciples." You want to glorify God? Be a soul winner. Number 2, people are dying and going to Hell out there. We need to be a soul winner. Soul winning works. Anybody who says it doesn't work doesn't understand math and doesn't understand the Bible and is just not willing to go out there and roll up their sleeves and do the work because it's hard work. Why am I preaching this tonight? A third reason, not only because we want to glorify the Lord and obey Him, not only because of the fact that people are dying and going to Hell and soul winning is the answer to get them the gospel, but thirdly, because if you do not participate in bringing forth fruit, you are in danger of falling away. I'm not saying you're going to lose your ... You can't lose your salvation. It's by faith, it's eternal life, ye shall never perish, but you are in danger of getting backslidden and quitting the church and washing up and you may not even be here a few years from now.<br><br> You say, "Well, I'm here now. I'm an active member of the church. I don't go soul winning, but I am an active member of the church." You know what? I hope you stay for as long as possible, but honestly, I'm predicting that if you never get of soul winning, I'm predicting you're going to fall away. You got to have some soul winning in your life. A lot of people say, "Well, you know, my soul winning is just not door-to-door." You hear people say, "My soul winning's just not door-to-door, Pastor Anderson. It's not that I'm unfruitful. It's just that my soul winning's not door-to-door. My soul winning is in my daily life of giving the gospel to people that I come across and people that I run into, friends, family, loved ones, coworkers." Here's the thing about that. Its usually not really happening. It sounds great in theory that you're just winning people to the Lord in your personal life and that you're constantly giving the people the gospel everywhere you go. You know what? If you're really doing that, if you're really just walking down the street and you come across people and you're stopping them and giving the gospel and you're stopping people at all manner of areas of life, and you're actually giving the gospel to everybody in your family, everybody at your work, and all these different things, you know what? Then great, you're bringing forth fruit. <br><br> Wonderful, but you know what? You know and I both know that that's not happening and that it happens once in a blue moon. Look, that was my philosophy growing up. I tried that, and ask me how many people I won to the Lord. The answer's zero. I went out soul winning door-to-door, and then you're going out consistently every week and putting in the time. That's when I started getting people saved, was door-to-door soul winning. Then after I got good at it and got in the habit of it and God purged me and I brought forth more fruit, then I got to where I was doing the daily life soul winning. Look, all of us should have both in our life because God tells us to preach the gospel to every creature. Every creature doesn't work at your job. Pretty soon, you're going to run out of relatives to give the gospel to unless you're Hispanic and just have 5 million cousins and second cousins and third cousins. Okay, you're never going to run out of family to give the gospel to. Great, give it to all them until Jesus comes. <br><br> When we as Caucasians say oh, my family, we're talking brothers and sisters, mom and dad, and children. Sometimes, when Hispanic people talk about family, it's a real extended family. It's third cousins, it's a great big thing. They have a little family gathering and it's huge. There's cars parked down the street for miles. I got to help this guy out. He's family. It's a third cousin once removed. Look, here's what I want to emphasize to you. Bringing forth fruit, He said bring forth fruit to perfection. That's completion. Okay. You're not bringing forth fruit if you give someone the gospel. That's not bringing forth fruit. You're bringing forth fruit when a person gets saved. Are you getting this? Just giving somebody the gospel is not bringing forth fruit. Getting someone saved is bringing forth fruit. Okay. <br><br> That would be like if I got married, right, and I have a physical relationship with my wife, I say, "Well, I planted the seed," but does that mean that any fruit was produced? Fruit is produced when the baby's born. When that person's born again, that's fruit that's being produced. Just saying, "I planted the seed, therefore, I've been fruitful," you wouldn't look at somebody who has no kids and say, "Oh, that person's fruitful." The evidence is that the husband has planted the seed. No, that doesn't make them fruitful until reproduction runs its course and the child is brought forth. Now you say, "Well, you know, I'm a woman and I'm physically barren. What do I do?" This is where the patience comes in, too. Look at the women who were barren physically. They waited on the Lord and eventually, God answered them and they had a child as they waited with a ... Same thing with soul winning. The parallel is there, so don't tell me, "Well, I just plant seeds. That's what I do." That's not going to put a baby in the crib. "Well, I just planted seeds." <br><br> Look, here's the thing. If you're not winning people to the Lord, you're doing something wrong because the Bible says, "He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing his sheaves with him." Don't just view this cop out of, "Oh, well, you know ..." Some people won't even go through a full plan of salvation with somebody. They'll just barely drop some hint of Jesus and they'll go, "Oh, that was my witnessing for the day. Hey, buddy, Jesus saves. God bless you. Oh, man, I'm so gland I got to witness that guy." We've set the bar so low on witnessing or how about this. I don't have it right here, but whose got the ... Here we go. Here's my witnessing for today. "Hey bud, hey pal, read this later." That's not soul winning. That's not bringing forth fruit. That's not ... "Well, but I planted the seed." That's not relevant. Where's your son in the faith? Where's your daughter in the faith? Where's the reproduction? Where's the fruit that you're bearing today spiritually? You need to get out there and not just say, "Well, I'm just planting seeds." No, you need to get out there and win somebody to Christ. <br><br> You say, "Well, I can't control whether they get saved or not." You can take the horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. Yeah, but guess what? If you go out there and go through the whole plan of salvation with somebody with your Bible, eventually somebody's going to get saved. If you're not getting people saved, it's probably because you're not going through the whole plan of salvation with people and using your Bible. I'm speaking from experience. I got saved as a 6-year-old boy, but I wasn't fruitful until I was 17 years old. Why? Because as a child and as a teenager, I was given a partial plan of salvation without using the Bible. As soon as I started actually opening my Bible, going through the full plan of salvation, explaining the whole thing and showing all the Scriptures, then I started getting people saved. Maybe not instantly, but eventually, it's going to happen. I don't want you to be barren or unfruitful because I'm afraid you're going to wither away. I'm afraid you're going to be cast aside. I'm afraid you're going to fall out because you're just a dead weight. You need to get out soul winning. <br><br> I thank God that the vast majority of people at our church go soul winning, praise the Lord for that, thank God for that. Look, there's no excuse not to go soul winning in this church because we've got all different times. We meet in different parts of town and if none of that works for you, you can find somebody, myself included, that'll take you at another time and get you out there doing the soul winning. There's no reason to be barren or unfruitful. It's time to put the root down. It's time to cast aside some of the pleasures and cares and riches that are maybe slowing you down and carve out some time to get out there. "I don't know what I'm doing," silent partner. All you do is show up at a soul winning time, we'll put you with a loudmouth that'll do all the talking. All you got to do is come along for the ride. That's where it begins. You learn, you get the knowledge, then pretty soon, you'll be saying this, "Let me get the next door. I got the next door." That's a glorious day when you do that. <br><br> Lets' bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank You so much, Lord, for giving us this ministry, Lord, because the ministry of reconciliation, the job of going out soul winning is such an honorable job that You've given us. You've given us a major purpose in our life where we can actually do something of eternal value. We can reap a harvest of souls unto salvation and inherit all these wages and rewards, Lord, for the work that we do that no one can ever take away from us because it's riches in Heaven, not a 401K on this earth. Lord, I pray that every single person in this room today would say, "You know what? I'm going to get serious about winning souls. I don't want to be unfruitful. I want to win somebody to the Lord." Show up at a soul-winning time. Open their mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-50231046179996924622016-05-19T11:04:00.001-07:002016-05-19T11:04:46.748-07:00Repentance in the Book of Acts<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIq4e2UQzaM">Video</a>
<p><b>March 1, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dIq4e2UQzaM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> This morning I want to preach on the subject of repentance, and specifically repentance in regard to salvation. The reason that I want to preach about this is that I believe it is one of the greatest battles of our generation. Let me rephrase that. It's the greatest battle of every generation. The doctrine that salvation is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, "Not of works lest any men should boast." All the way to Cain and Abel, this is what it comes down to. Is it our produce, is it the works of our hand, that will be acceptable for the Lord as an offering for our sin? Is it the blood of the land, when Abel brought of the first flings of the flock that saves us from our sins? Is it Jesus Christ finished work on the cross and the [perpetuation 00:00:51] through faith in His blood? Is it turning over of a new leaf? Turning from our sins? Turning from our wicked ways in order to be saved?
<br><br>What is salvation? Is salvation by faith alone in Jesus Christ or is it by faith and you have to clean up your life, or and you have to be willing to clean up your life, or and you have to give up this sin, or give up that sin, or turn from this evil way, or turn over there? You hear these phrases that roll off the tongue like, "Turn from sin to the savior. Turn from sin unto Christ." But turning from sin is works.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Okay? The proof for that, and I'm not going to turn there for the sake of time, I do want you to turn to Luke, chapter 1. While you're turning there, I'll just quote for you from Jonah 3:10, where it says, "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not." What that's saying is, that turning from our evil way is works in the side of God. When God looks down and sees people turning from their evil way, He calls it works, in Jonah 3:10.
<br><br>Now, turning from your evil way is great, but it's not going to save you. Going to church is great; not going to save you. Getting baptized is great, but it's not going to save you. Reading the bible every day is great; not going to save you. Praying every night is great; not going to save you. Whatever you do on a continual basis to serve the Lord, whether it be feeding the poor, or whether it be going to door to door and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, those are all good thing to do but none of them saves you because salvation is a free gift of God that's been purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. You either get saved for free or you don't get saved.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: You receive it as a gift or you don't receive it. <br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: You get saved easy or you don't get saved at all, because if it's hard it's not salvation. Because "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe."<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: What I wanted to turn to in Luke Chapter 1, to show you, is the purpose of the Book of Luke. This morning I want to focus on 2 books because this is such a big subject of repentance. In order to just cover this subject in the whole bible, would not be possible in one sermon. I want to focus in on 2 books. I want to focus on the Book of John, and I want to focus on the Book of Acts. Especially, I'm going to focus on Acts. The reason that I've chosen these books is because of the fact that John is the book the flat out tells you, it's written to tell people how to be saved. It's the only book that makes that claim and says that it's written for people to get saved as a result. <br><br> The reason that I've chosen the Book of Acts is because Acts is one of the books that mentions repentance the most in the New Testament. John doesn't mention repentance at all. The word repent is never found in the whole Book of John. Now it's interesting that a book about about how to be saved uses the word believe 101 times. 101 times he said believe. He didn't use the word repent at all. My question to these people who want to make salvation all about you repenting of your sins and turning from your sins is, how did God give us a book that claims to be about getting people saved that never mentions it one time?<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: Okay. I want to show you that in John, but I also want to show you in the Book of Acts because Acts is one of the books in the New Testament that mentions repentance the most. I want to look at every time the word repent is used on the Book of Acts and see what God is telling people to repent from, what is the context, what's going on in that story. First of all, another book that uses the word repent a lot is the Book of Luke, okay? In fact, the 3 books that use the word repent the most in the New Testament are Luke, Acts and Revelation. We could have focused on Luke this morning, we could have focused on Revelation. I've chosen Acts to be the focus this morning. What's interesting is that John wrote Revelation, so it's not like John just doesn't know the word repent or it's just not a word that he uses, he likes to use different words. When he wrote Revelations he used it 12 times, so that's a word he used. <br><br> Let's look at the purpose of the Book of Luke versus the purpose for the Book of John. Look at Luke, chapter 1, verse 1. "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed." <br><br> Now, there's no doubt, from these first 4 verses, that this book has been written unto us as believers who are already most surely have believed in Jesus Christ, in order to confirm us and show us the certainty of the things that we believe in. Isn't that what it says? Even in verse 1 he says, "I'm writing a declaration ..." Look at the second half, "... of those things which are most surely believed among us ..." He says, in verse 4, "... that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed."<br><br> Go to John, chapter 20. Let's compare that with what the Book of John says. John, chapter 20, verse 30 says, "And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name." In John we see the book is being written that you might believe on Christ and have eternal life. Whereas Luke is saying, "I'm writing unto people that believe on Christ so that you can know the certainty of what you believe, and so that you can be straightened and confirmed in the faith that you already have."<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Different purpose. That's why there is a Matthew, a Mark, a Luke, a John. They have different purposes that God spells out, and they have different emphasis. Matthew emphasizes things in regard to the Hebrew Old Testament that are not as emphasized in some of the other books, and so on and so forth. Turn to Acts, chapter 2. While you're turning there, let me just give you some verses from the Book of John because, remember, John is the book to tell us how to be saved. That's what it says. These are written, "that you might believe." Unlike Luke, which said, "Hey, there are written to you that are already saved, that already believed."<br><br> Listen to some verses from the Book of John. John 1:12. You don't have to turn there. "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." John 3:16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:18. "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:36. "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." <br><br> How about John 5:24? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." How about John 6:47? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life." How about John 10:28? "And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." How about John 11:25-26? "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?"<br><br> There're more scriptures. There're 101 mentions of the term believe. We could go through John 6 alone and see there's a tour de force of believe scriptures. The bottom line is, that over and over again in the Book of John, he tells us that if we believe we will have eternal life, we will have everlasting life, let alone all the other scriptures that talk about the fact that "by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." One of my favorites, Romans 4:5, "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works saying, 'Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.'"<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: He said, "him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." So many scriptures, so many places in the bible that tell us this. Yet people come along and they tell us, "No, believing is not enough." "What must I do to be saved? And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." No, not enough. You also must turn from your sins. You also must repent of your sins in order to be saved. Now, we're going to look at every time repent is used in Acts because this is one of the books where it's used the most. These are the verses that people try to point you to many times, to tell you, "Hey, you have to repent of your sins to be saved." <br><br> What you'll notice about people who teach this doctrine is that they just add the phrase "of your sins" to the word of God. The bible says repent, and they have this filter in their mind, where every time they see the word repent, what they hear is, "Repent of your sins." They're not getting just the pure word of God. They're adding their own bias of saying, "Oh, repent of your sins." You'll say, "Show me in the bible where you have to repent of your sins to be saved." They'll show you a verse that says "repent." Okay. The problem is that today, in our modern vernacular, we don't really use the word repent in everyday speech. <br><br> In Spanish they do use it in everyday speech. They'll use the word repent in an everyday situation. "Hey, I was going to go to the grocery store but I repented." Now if we said that in America, speaking English, people would think, "Whoa. You're talking in the King's English? How art thou, my friend?" They'd think, "What are you doing?" In other languages that word has stuck around. In English, unfortunately, it's a word we don't really use. Therefore, because it's a word we don't really use, a lot of people have forgotten what it means. It's really easy for a preacher to get up and tell them it means something different than what it really means.<br><br> A Spanish person, they hear somebody say, "I was going to go to the grocery store but I repented." They're not thinking, "Well, was it sinful for you to go to the grocery store?" Because they don't have the bias of, "Just repent is repent of your sins." You know? They haven't been taught that. They just hear repent, "I repented of going to the grocery store." How do we say that in English? "I was going to go to the grocery store but I changed my mind." Or, "I was going to go to the grocery store and I changed plans or I did something different." The word repent, just to help you understand it, it simply means to turn or to change, okay? That's what the word repent means. Now, how do we know what's being turned from, or what's being turned to, or what are we changing, or changing our mind about, or changing our axis about?<br><br> It's always determined by the context. You have to look at the context to see what is being turned from, what is being repented up. "No, no, no, repentance means to be sorry for your sins. It means to turn from sin." Wait a minute. God repented more than anyone else in the whole bible. If you look at all of the 105 verses in the bible that use the word repent, look all 105 of them, and see who repented the most. It was God. God doesn't have any sin.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: If repent means turn from sin, be sorry from sin, then God would be a sinner. We know that that's false. God is not a sinner. Let's look at these mentions in the Book of Acts and let's see if we can get a context of what is being repented of in each. I'm not just going to cherry-pick this morning and just say, "Hey, let's just cherry-pick certain verses that bolster my doctrine." You know what we're going to do? We're looking at every mention in the Book of Acts. A major book in the bible. We could have done this in Luke, we could have done it in Revelation. A couple of years from now I'll probably do that in a different sermon, but today it's Acts. It will be just as easy to do with those. <br><br> Let's go to Acts 2 and start reading at verse 21. Let's get context to figure out what's being repented of. Acts 2:21. This is a great verse. "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Does that have anything to do with giving up your sins, or turning over a new leaf, or living a godly lifestyle, just calling on to the name of the Lord? Does that sound like you joined Alcoholics Anonymous and you quit drinking? <br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: No. You call on the Lord by faith. It's the word of faith which we preach. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Let's keep reading. "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "Ye men of Israel ..." Verse 22. "Hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it."<br><br> Jump down to verse 37 for sake of time. "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, 1Men and brethren, what shall we do?1" Then Peter said unto them, "Quit drinking. You guys were drunk when you crucified Jesus." Is that what he's saying?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: What should we do? "Stop living with your girlfriend, Pharisee, a bunch of Pharisees, and your concubines." Is that even the subject of the chapter at all? People giving up their sinful life? Did he say, "I'll tell you what to do. You need to quit going to that casino that you're going to. You need to quit going to the gentlemen's club. You need to quit watching all that garbage on your TV." Is that what he's saying here?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: Let's get the context here. He says, "Look, you rejected Jesus. You crucified Jesus. You didn't believe in Jesus. He rose from the dead. This is the fulfillment of prophecy. Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That name of the Lord in the New Testament that we revealed is Jesus."<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: They're pricked in the heart. About what? "I knew I shouldn't have drank so much last night." No, they're pricked in the heart about rejecting the Lord Jesus, and so they're like, "What do we do?" He said onto them, Peter said them, "Repent." Now he said repent of your sinful life? No. He's saying, "Repent and be baptized, everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ." Look, why is he bringing up the name of Jesus Christ? Who did they reject?<br><br>Congregation: Jesus Christ.<br><br>Pastor: Jesus Christ. They're like, "What should we do?" Well, you should repent and you should be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ because "that's the name that's been given among men whereby we must be saved." When we see the word repent, which simply means to turn, or to change, or change your mind, what is it that needs to change here? The thing that needs to change is that they need to accept Jesus as their messiah because what did they do wrong? They rejected Him. What needs to change? They need to turn to Him. How are they going to make a public show of that? By getting baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. To publicly acknowledge whom they publicly condemned.<br><br> It says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins." The word "for" there means "because of." Like, "Wanted for murder." It doesn't mean you're trying to hire someone to go commit murder for you. When you say, "Wanted for murder." They're wanted because of a murder that already took place. The bible says, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." We see in the first mention in Acts, there's no repent of your sins here. There's no turn from a life of sin. There's no, you're not going to walk in your old ways anymore. No, it's all about putting your faith in Jesus.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Go to Acts 3. We're skipping nothing. We're leaving no stone unturned. Every mention of repentance in the Book of Acts, we're going to look at it. Acts, chapter 3, verse 12. "And when Peter saw it, he answered unto the people, Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses." <br><br> "And his name through faith ..." Through faith, through faith, through faith "in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. But those things, which God had before shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you."<br><br> What's the context? What are we talking about here? Same exact thing as chapter 2. This is pretty much a repeat of the chapter 2 speech of, "You killed Jesus. You were wrong. You need to change here. You need to get under the name of Jesus Christ because that's where salvation is." Same thing. No mention of, "You're living a wicked lifestyle. You got to turn from that in order to be saved." That would be works, salvation. Not only would it be works ,salvation, I'll go a step further. If that's how a person get's saved, than no one's saved.<br><br>Congregation: Right. Amen.<br><br>Pastor: I defy anyone to come up to me, "You know what? I've turned from all my sins. I've turned from sin in general. I just don't sin." "Well, we're not saying you have to top sinning. You just have to turn from sin. Turn from it and still do it, and thou shall be saved." See how weird this becomes when you actually stop and think about it? "Well, you have to at least be willing to turn. What if I'm just ..." Goodnight, I'm losing cuff-links. I'm losing a microphone. I need to settle down this morning. I'm falling apart up here. Here's the thing. "Oh, you just have to be wiling to turn." Yeah, but show me that. Like, "Be willing to turn and thou shall be saved." How willing do you have to be? "Well, I'm willing but I'm not going to do it." When you say, if I'm willing to do stuff, it probably means I'm doing it. <br><br> "Well, you have to be willing to stop sinning." You're not even able to stop sinning. You're human. You're flesh. God knows that we're flesh. God said that back in Genesys, after he flooded the earth. He said, "You know what? I just know how men is. He's sinful." That's why he has that mercy and grace for us to be saved. We just looked at chapter 2 and chapter 3. Pretty clear, right? Now let's go to chapter 8. Let me tell you something. Chapter 8 is a guy being told to repent of a sin. Here's the thing about chapter 8. Nothing to do with salvation. Does the bible ever talk about people repenting of their sins? Sure, but it's not about salvation. <br><br> For example, God talks to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, and keeps telling them repent of this, repent of that. They're already saved. Repentance is daily for the Christian. Why? Because we sin, so we have to keep turning from sin. Let's look at Acts, chapter 8. So far, chapter 2, repent of rejecting Jesus. Chapter 3, repent of rejecting Jesus, to be saved. Look at chapter 8. Verse 12. "But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women." Verse 13. "Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done." Now look. Isn't the bible pretty clear in verse 13 that this guy is saved?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: It says he believed. That's Luke, under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost telling us that he believes, so we know he really did believe. Not only did he believe, he got baptized after he believed. Not only did he get baptized, he continued with Philip. There's nothing in this to say that he didn't get saved. In fact, anybody who says, anybody who can read Acts 8:13 and say this guy didn't get saved just doesn't know the gospel. It would be a contradiction of John 3:16 that says that, "Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." This guy believed, and he got baptized to boot. Not that has anything to do with salvation, but it was a nice public profession of his salvation to others. Even continued with Philip. I think this guy is a pretty good guy in the sense that he had his heart in the right place. He received the word, and he got saved, and he believed, and he's following Philip. I mean, this guy has got ... Now look. Watch the sin that he commits. Let's keep reading. <br><br> Acts 8:14. "Now when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter and John: who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost: for as yet he was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, saying, 'Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.' But Peter said unto him, 'Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness.'"<br><br> What's this guy being told to repent of? His wickedness. What's the wickedness? Thinking that he could purchase the power of the Holy Spirit with money. He thought he could give money unto the apostles and receive the power of the Holy Spirit through money. That's not something that you can buy with money. It says, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity." Then answered Simon, and said, "Who do you think you are to tell me that? Why are you judging me? Only God can judge me."<br><br> Look what he says. "Then answered Simon, and said, 'Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.'" This guy is a nice guy. I've been a pastor for a long time, and I've come to a lot of people, and rebuked them. You know what? It's very rare that you rebuke someone and they're that humble. To find this in the bible you got to to David, the man after God's own heart. Where the prophet comes, and rebukes him, and he's humble. This guy has his heart in the right place. Look, he did something stupid. He said something stupid. He thought something stupid. Okay, we all have. You know what? All of us don't do, all of us don't receive correction as well as Simon did. This should be an example. This could be a whole sermon on how to receive correction.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: How to handle correction rightly. When somebody comes to you, and corrects you with the truth. The bible says, "Rebuke a wise man and he'll love thee." What did Simon say when he's rebuked? "Would you please pray for me that none of those things happen to me? Because you're right. What I did was wrong." There're Hollywood movies that depict this guy Simon as being just a devil worshiping sorcerer. He was a sorcerer before he got saved but after he got saved, he's learning, he's growing. Being rebuked for stupid things and getting them right is part of the Christian life. If you can't take rebukes as well as Simon did, you're going to fail. We never hear about Simon again in the bible. I believe that this guy succeeded in his Christian life because of the fact that he's so good at taking correction. He's so humble. Those are such important characteristics for a Christian to have. <br><br> Again, this guy is repenting of wickedness after he's already saved as just part of his Christian life. This isn't teaching, "Hey, you have to repent of your sins to be saved." Is that what this teaches? "Repent of all your sins in order to be saved. That's part of salvation. You have to turn from sin." No. This is a Christian who gets caught up in sin after he's saved and has to be corrected, and told, "Get it right." Now some people will declare him unsaved because it says in verse 23, "I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." First of all, the bible says, "Whosoever commiteth sin is the servant of sin." The bible says it's possible for us, after we're saved, to go back into bondage of sin, and to put ourselves back in bondage. Number one. <br><br> Number two, Peter is not God. Peter is looking at the outside and saying, "I perceive that you're still in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity." That's man talking to him. His answer shows is that actually no. Actually it was just a screw up. Actually it was an honest mistake. "Actually, as soon as I heard what was right, I got it right. He's told repent of your wickedness." He says, "Yes, sir." See, other story can be misused thought. I've heard people say he wasn't saved. Well, the bible said he believed, and that he was baptized, and then he [fall 00:28:59] on Philip. Then he screwed up. Well, join the club. We've all done stupid things and said stupid things.<br><br> Let's go to chapter 11. I don't think there's any question about that story. I think that story is a great story to teach how to accept correction in your life. The catholic church has this sin that they talk a lot about, called Simony. Who's heard of it? They have a sin that they call Simony. They condemn Simony. You know what? Simony should be when you actually are corrected right. That should be called Simony. If you're going to name something after this guy, let people live it down. Why are you just so unforgiving of this guy that for the rest of humanity we're just going to call it Simony? When the guy repented on a dime. Give the guy a break. Man alive. It's too bad the Catholics won't be able to apologize to Simon when they get to Heavens since they're all going to Hell.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: You know what I mean? They owe him an apology. Acts, chapter 11, verse 15. I'm serious. I'm going to go up and be like, "Man, you've got a bad rep." When I get to Heaven I'm going to seek this guy out. I'm going to be like, "I stood up for you. I preached the sermon on repentance on the Book of Acts. I gave you a big eulogy and everything." He's going to be like, "I know. I was listening up in Heaven. I was like, yes." It reminds me, I asked my son, John. I said, "Who do you want to meet when you get to Heaven?" He said, "I want to meet Legion." I'm like, "What are you ... Legion? What?" He meant the guy. He meant the guy who had the Legion. The guy who Jesus, He saved him, he was cutting himself. He's like, "I'm going to meet that guy." You expect him to say Moses, Elijah, Jonah. He's like, the demon possess guy that got saved. I mean, he would be a cool guy to meet. <br><br> Let's go to Acts 11. We're leaving no stone unturned. Acts 11, verse 15. My notes start in verse 15, but doesn't verse 14 say, "Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved"?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah. Right.<br><br>Pastor: That's a great verse too. Verse 15. “As I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them as on us at the beginning." By the way, how did they know the Holy Ghost fell on them? Because of what came out of their mouth. They spake. That's another story. "Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost. Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, 'Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.'"<br><br> When the bible says here "repentance unto life" did he just finish telling a story that said, "You know what? You should have seen it. I mean, people were quitting drinking, they were quitting smoking, they were getting off drugs, they stopped stealing, they got out of fornication." Then they were like, "Well, God granted them repentance unto life." Is that what this says?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: No, what it actually says is that they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ in verse 17. They were told words whereby they and all their house would be saved. They heard those words, and then it says in verse 17, "Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?" Then when they heard that they said, "God is giving him repentance unto life." What was the change? What they turned to? They turned to Jesus. They changed over from being ignorant of biblical salvation, to understanding biblical salvation. From not having heard the word of God to hearing and believing the word of God, and God granted them repentance unto life. It's pretty clear, isn't it?<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Move on. Acts 13. Verse 23. Man, I'm losing my voice. With this one we're going to hit kind of a 2 for 1 here. I want to show you 2 verses together. Look at Acts, chapter 13, verse 23. It says, "Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Savior, Jesus: when John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose. Men and brethren, of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you that feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent."<br><br> This word of salvation about the one that would come after, John the Baptist, whose shoes he was not worthy to unloose. Obviously Jesus. Look at verse 24 again. "When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel." Keep your finger there. Go to Acts 19:4. We're going to cover 2 mentions at the same time. Put them side by side because we have an interesting term there. In Acts 13:24, the baptism of repentance. Everybody see that term? He preached the "baptism of repentance." Look what it says in chapter 19, verse 4. "Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus."<br><br> When Paul was preaching the baptism of repentance, what words did he use? What did he say? What does it mean that he preached the baptism? He preached that they "should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ." If you go back to chapter 13 it's right there. Same thing. Verse 24 says baptism of repentance. Verse 25, as John fulfilled his course, he said, "Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose." Who's he talking about? "Believe on him that's coming after." Same thing. It doesn't say John preached the baptism of repentance and in regard to salvation ... Hey, [Juja 00:36:18], if you're making me something to fix my throat, pour of salt in water. Salt and warm water. I'm going to fix my throat and finish this sermon. This is an important subject.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: This Ricola is not getting the job right. Some warm salt water up here. I'm going to drive it until the wheels fall off this morning. I'm fired up about this stuff.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: I'm leaving no stone unturned, all right? If I have to start doing sign language or have an interpreter, I'm getting through these notes. Let's go to Acts 17. We've only got 3 mentions left in the Book of Acts. So far it's not looking real good for this repent of your sins salvation crowd, is it?<br><br>Congregation: Right. No. Amen.<br><br>Pastor: And we only got 3 more left. Hopefully, for their sake, they've got an ace up their sleeve or they're in trouble. They're going down. Acts 17:29. "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." What are they repenting of in verse 30? Their ignorance. What specifically was their ignorance? They thought that the Godhead could be liken unto gold, or silver, or precious stones. They thought a statue is God. He said, "You know what?" "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where ..." To quit drinking. You heard me. Quit drinking. <br><br> You used to think God was gold, and silver, and stone. That's why you need to quit living with your girlfriend. Look, don't anybody twist my sermon. I'm not saying that you should be drinking, or living with your girlfriend, of smoking pot. Those are all things that you should repent of, but remember back in ... You should go to church. You should read the bible. You should [tide 00:38:29], you should go soul winning. You should help the poor. But is that how you get saved?<br><br>Congregation: No.<br><br>Pastor: No, because those are all good works. Notice the word good. Good works. We're not against works. We're not against repenting of your sins. In fact, I just spent several minutes praising Simon for repenting of his sin, but when it comes to salvation it's faith, it's belief.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Yet people will pull out Acts 17:30. "Here's the proof that you got to repent of your sins to be saved." It isn't there. "But isn't that idolatry a sin?" You know what my answer is to this, isn't idolatry a sin? My answer is avoid foolish questions. Let me put that into modern vernacular. Avoid stupid questions because that is a stupid question, because any mathematician who knows anything about logic would know that that is illogical to say that, "Well, if you have to repent of believing in a false god, if a false god is a sin, then therefore you have to repent of your sin." This might go over the head of some of the people in the auditorium. <br><br> Who in here knows a lot about math or you're computer programmer of some kind. Put up your hand if you're a computer geek or a math ... Don't put your hand out just because I added geek. Computer geek, math nerds out there. I'm guilty. I'm one of them, okay? Hopefully everybody understands what I'm saying. Everybody turn on your math brain for a second. Idolatry does not equal sin. Idolatry is a subset of sin. Who understood what I just said? Okay. Unbelief is not equal to sin. Unbelief is a subset of sin. Therefore all unbelief is sin, but not all sin is unbelief. They're not equivalent. Let me put it to you in a way that might be simpler. This is the logic. Cat equals mammal. Dog equals mammal. Therefore cat equals dog. Stupid isn't it?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: You must repent of bowing down to a statue and thinking it's God to be saved. Bowing down to a statue and thinking it's God is a sin, therefore you have to repent of your sin to be saved. It's the same logic. They don't understand the difference between something being a subset of something. A cat is a subset of the group mammals. A dog is a subset of mammals. "Oh, but a dog is a mammal." No, but that doesn't mean that every mammal is a dog. If you don't understand that, it doesn't matter. Anyway, go to Acts 20. Some people understood it. They're like, "That computes." Other people are just like, "Oh, man. Quit talking about math." Is this my salt water?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: Sorry I have to subject you to that but it's the only way. Still not working. All right. That's always the best thing so if that doesn't work, I give up. What's that?<br><br>Congregation: That's [the sheer word 00:41:47] you're preaching.<br><br>Pastor: Yeah. I know it. Acts 20:21. I'm just going to have to power through this thing. Go back to Ricola. All right, Acts 20:21. It says this, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." In this passage there's really no context to tell us exactly what the repentance of, except that it's toward God. It's turning to God. It's coupled with faith toward Jesus. This does not bolster a repent of your sins to be saved one iota because it's talking about putting your faith in Jesus as turning toward God, okay? <br><br> Now let's go to Acts 26. The last mention in the Book of Acts of repent. It says in verse 19, "Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision: but shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple, and went about to kill me." Look at this verse. If you would, go to Ephesians 2:10. Keep your finger here in Acts 26. Let's compare this to Ephesians 2:10. It says here, in Acts 26, that Paul is going around preaching that they should repent, and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.<br><br> If this was all about just everything you have to do to be saved then this would be teaching work salvation. You have to repent, turn to God, do works meet for repentance. Look at Acts 2:8. It says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, lest any man should boast. For we are His workmanship ..." Watch this, "... created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God had before ordained that we should walk in them." Notice it doesn't say we must walk in them to be saved. Does it say, "Hey, God has ordained good works that you must walk in in order to be saved." No, He said you're saved by faith not works, but that there are works that has God has ordained that you should walk in. Is there a difference between what we should do and what we must do?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah. Yes.<br><br>Pastor: What must we do to be saved? Believe?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: What should we do? Good works?<br><br>Congregation: Right.<br><br>Pastor: What should we do? Works meet for repentance?<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: Again, we just looked at every single mention in the Book of Acts of repentance. People will say, "Oh, the bible mentions repentance so much." I know, but none of it proves your stupid doctrine, because salvation is by grace through faith plus nothing minus nothing.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: A lot of us, we have it down, as Independent Fundamental Baptists, the plus nothing part. That it's by faith plus nothing. Just faith. Here's the thing, it's plus nothing minus nothing.<br><br>Congregation: Amen.<br><br>Pastor: You don't have to minus all of the sin out of your life in order to be saved. Okay. I wanted to go through this also. I'm going to have to skip part of my notes just so that I don't completely destroy my throat for life here. I want to cover one more thing. Here's an article. You say, "Why do you preach on this? Why are you teaching this? Why do you go through it line by line?" Because it's a major false doctrine that's out there even amongst Independent Baptists. Even in our own area. I'm not going after anybody in our area this morning. I have other times. This is an article that I found online. This article just blew my mind. The blindness of anyone who wrote this article or thinks that this article is the truth. The blindness, it just blew my mind.<br><br> Let me show this to to you. This is written by a guy. I have never even heard of this guy. It's written by a pastor called Matt McPhillips. He's a pastor from Port Huron, Michigan. I don't even know who this guy is. This was on the website of a church called Old Paths Baptist Church, pastored by a guy named Jason Cooley. Not only that, but at the end of it there's this paragraph added by a traveling circus of Evangelist known as brother Ted Alexander. He basically says, "I'm Evangelist Ted Alexander and I approve this message." So 3 heretics and false teachers are promoting this article. In fact, when you go to that Baptist church where I found it, under Bible Doctrine they have one article, one tab, Repentance, and this is the article.<br><br> Just listen. You've seen what the bible said. You've seen what John said. You've seen what Acts said. We didn't go through the other 64 books today but we saw a lot. "I am going to attempt to write about the doctrine of repentance." Okay, that's not how you start an article. That's just something you think in your mind. You think to yourself, "I am going to attempt to write about an article." Then you start writing the article. This is like when people are writing a letter. They're like, "Hi. How are you? I'm fine." You can go on and leave that out. "I am going to attempt to write about the doctrine of repentance. About 2 years ago I became so troubled about my lack of study about the Gospel and my acceptance of 4 points and a prayer that I dove into studying it head first." When you hear that, don't you expect that he's going to get out of the bible? He's going to be, "I want to see what Luke says. I want to see what John says. I want to see what Acts says. See what Romans says." Right?<br><br>Congregation: Right. <br><br>Pastor: He says, "I dove into studying it head first. Not knowing completely what my conclusion would be, I saturated myself with ..." Scripture, the bible, the word ... No, no, no. "I saturated myself with books, articles, and sermons by men." I'm reading it verbatim. "I saturated myself with books, articles, and sermons ..." You're saturated with something else, buddy. Anyway. "Saturated myself with books, articles, and sermons by men of the 1900’s, 1800’s, 1700’s, and 1600’s only to find an amazing thing. The issue of what is repentance in reference to salvation is a modern issue." What's he saying? This is only controversial in modern times. I mean, when you look at the 1900’s, the 1800’s, the 1700’s, the 1600’s, everybody is saying the same thing about repentance. "This is modern." <br><br> Listen to what he says. "I looked at the numerous confessions of faith only to realize they all defined it as a sorrow for and turning from sin. This would include the London Confession, 1644, the Armenian Confession of 1834, the Philadelphia Association of 1734, the French Confession of 1879, the Swiss Confession of 1848, the New Hampshire ... " Yeah, because when everybody in a country all gets together, all the Baptists in a country all get together, and agree on what they believe, that's being an Independent Baptist, right?<br><br>Congregation: Yeah.<br><br>Pastor: When the whole country of France gets together and writes a confession. The whole country of Switzerland, all the Baptists get together. Is it? "And many others. As much as it pained me, I even began to look at non-Baptist confessions only to find the same." Even unsaved people are agreeing with my definition of repentance. "So, maybe it was that I would find men from the past that would define it as a change of mind from unbelief to belief or from one’s dependence ..." Like depending on something else to save you. Depending on Christ. "I was amazed at what I found. Notice that all of these men agreed as to the true nature of repentance." He gives a bunch of quotes from famous preachers of the past. Most of which were not Baptists.<br><br> He's like, "Oh, it's really painful for me to look at non-Baptists." Well, it must not have been that painful since more than half of who you quoted was not a Baptist. Otherwise you were in a lot of pain when you wrote this article. Then after he quotes all these men, which mean nothing to me, then at the end, he has these questions. He's like, "I'm going to leave you with these questions." He confronts us, the reader, with these questions. He gets 5 questions. Question number 3 is this. "Can you find our modern day definition of repentance more than 100 years ago?" What's he saying? "Hey, I looked at all this stuff. Everybody agrees. There was no dispute. This controversy is a modern day issue. Everybody defined it the same way." Okay. <br><br> He says, "I defy you to show me anyone that was more than 100 years ago saying they changing your mind, turning from unbelief to belief or just trusting in one thing to another." You want to know what's funny? He gives the answer in the article. One of the people that he quoted was Charles Spurgeon. Listen to this. From 1872. Somebody help me out. Is 1872 more than 100 years ago? This is in his article. I didn't even have to go do reading. "I'm going to find people. I'm going to go find people that define it." No, no, no. It's right here in his article. Listen to the quote that he gives from Charles Spurgeon. "Just now ... " Meaning in what year? 1872. This is the first words out of Charles. It's one of the first quotes he gives.<br><br> "Just now some professedly Christian teachers are misleading many by saying that 'repentance is only a change of mind.'" What in the world? He just spent 2 paragraphs like, "I checked, nobody believed in this. Nobody has ever heard of this modern thing of changing your mind, be in repentance. You can't find it anywhere. I defy you to find in more than 100 years ago." Let me just show you. Here's a quote from Charles Spurgeon in 1872, and Charles Spurgeon says, "Just now some professedly Christian teachers are misleading many ..." He's like, "There's multiple preachers and they're misleading many people, teaching them that repentance is only a change of mind."<br><br> Here's what he says next. "It is true that the original word does convey the idea of a change of mind." I'm not leaving anything, I'm reading this verbatim. This is like a parody. You can't even make this stuff up. Well, "it is true that the original word does convey the idea of a change of mind, but the whole teaching of Scripture concerning the repentance ..." Is more radical than that. Here's what's funny. He doesn't quote a single scripture in this quote. In fact, there is virtually no scripture quoted almost in this entire article; 4 pages, no verses backing up their position. Okay, one of the quotes, a guy references Isaiah. In one quote. The rest of it is just void of scripture.<br><br> What's funny is, you're like, okay, Charles Spurgeon give us scripture. Well, okay. "That is what repent means, to change your mind." Okay, well, Spurgeon give us a scripture to tell us that it means something different. "It's just the whole scripture." Don't you love it when you tell people, "Can you show me the preacher at [inaudible 00:54:43] scripture?" It's just like, "Just the whole bible." Where is the bible teach that you have to repent of your sins to be saved? "Whole bible." Can you point me to a specific verse? "The whole thing." <br><br> "Just now some professedly Christian teachers are misleading many by saying ... " It sounds like, man, praise God for all that soul winning that was going on in 1872. Sounds like to me that there're a bunch of faithful word Baptist charities over there in England that were doing the real soul winning while that phony Charles Spurgeon is just all famous, and everybody loves him, and he's all interdenominational, and he's all big and popular. Are all the popular preachers today phony? Name a big popular name preacher on TV that's not a phony. Name one.<br><br>Congregation: Joel Osteen.<br><br>Pastor: Oh, he's not a phony? You mean he is a phony.<br><br>Congregation: Yes.<br><br>Pastor: All right. Good. You need to pay a little more attention. Joel Osteen. Rick Warren. Bill Hybels. Kenneth Copeland. What's the [hackalagandla 00:55:51]? Benny Hinn. Benny Hinn. T. D. Jakes. Billy Graham. Billy Belem. When we name the big name preachers of our day ... If we look at the biggest churches in Phoenix. Phoenix First Assembly. Cornerstone down in Chandler. These are churches that are so apostate. Where do we begin? Yet, we have this weird idea, "Oh, the popular preachers of the past, they all preached the truth." No, even in Jesus day he said, "Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you." So at the end that [Paul's prophet 00:56:31]. <br><br> Why does everybody love Spurgeon? Because he's a phony? Why is he so popular amongst a whole bunch of denominations? Because he was phony? Because every popular preacher has always been a phony? You know what's funny? We don't even know the names of all these Christian teachers "who are misleading so many people by telling them it's by faith alone, and that repentance is just changing your mind and believing on Christ." We don't know who they are but you know what? They're the ones with all the crowns in Heaven. We don't even know who they are but, they were doing some major soul winning to the point where Charles Spurgeon is like, "Man, I need to deal with this. This is spreading. This doctrine of faith alone salvation. I need to get up and teach all my Calvinistic garbage. I need to ramp up my teaching of Calvinism and repent of your sins salvation."<br><br> This is what it is folks. "I delved in and figured out my doctrine by reading a bunch of men." Not only that, you're reading the phonys. You know why? He's like, "Well, everybody I read was a phony." Yeah, because you know what? The real preachers, they didn't get published by all of Satan's media institutions. They couldn't get a book published. They couldn't get on TV. They couldn't get on the radio. Why? Because they're telling the truth. Think about it. What if, all of a sudden, what if our country somehow ... Let's say our country was just nuked, and everything crumbled and collapsed. Everything's dead. Hundreds of years later somebody comes and excavates it as an archaeologist, and they want to talk about what Christians believed in America in the 21st century. What are the chances that they're going to find an "After the Tribulation" DVD versus finding a Joel Osteen DVD? What do you think there's more of in circulation?<br><br>Congregation: Joel Osteen.<br><br>Pastor: Yeah. They're going to be brushing off. This artifact from 2015 is of a Joyce Meyer book. That's what they're going to find. Go walk into Wal-Mart. It's not like, "Hey, you get a deal when you buy 'After the Tribulation' and new [other 00:58:45] bible versions. You get a discount." No, in Wal-Mart, it's all going to be ... Who?<br><br>Congregation: "Left Behind."<br><br>Pastor: "Left Behind." Rick Warren. Joel Osteen. Rabbi Jonathan Cahn, "The Harbinger." It's everything that's false. Don't even get me started on that. I don't have the throat for that. Let me tell you something. Whoever wrote this article was blindfolded while they wrote it. How can you sit there and defy us, "Show me one, show me one person 100 years ago." Then they provide it. Here's the noose to hang me with. Here's a gun, shoot me with it. It's like, "Here, let me dig my own grave real quick." These people are nuts. That's why we go to the bible. "Well, but what's the historical position?" Not important to me. I don't care. What does the bible say? There's power, is in that word.<br><br> A prayer. Father we thank you so much for this morning Lord, when we could come together and assemble with your people in your house, Lord. I just pray that you would please just let these words sink down into our hears, Lord. There's a lot of error and false teaching out there, Lord. I pray that you would help us to steady, to show ourselves approved. Not approved by famous men of the past, but approved unto God. Lord, help us to rightly divide the word of truth. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. </p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-1713335655345285102016-05-16T10:47:00.000-07:002016-05-16T10:47:10.657-07:00The Bishop, the Elder, and the Pastor <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUnTiRZkRyA">Video</a>
<p><b>March 8, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cUnTiRZkRyA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>All right, 1 Timothy 3, of course this is the famous passage where it goes through the qualifications of the bishop. What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of the bishop, the elder and the pastor. These are all the same person in the Bible, but who is this person? What is this position? What does it mean to have the office of a bishop? What are the roles and responsibilities that the pastor or the bishop has? What does he deserve in return? Let’s see what the Bible says.
<br><br>First of all, let me just lay down for you that when the Bible uses the term “bishop” or “elder” or “pastor”, that these are all interchangeable for the same thing. Let me show you that. First of all, look at verse 1, it says, “This is a true saying: if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach; not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity. For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must have a good report of them which are without, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.”
<br><br>Now, flip over to Titus 1. Titus 1, so you see that the Bible actually has a lot of qualifications on being the bishop. It’s not just one or two criteria, it’s actually a long list of very difficult criteria that encompass a whole scope of aspects of this man’s life and experience in order to be able to even become a bishop. Look at Titus 1, we have a parallel passage. It says in verse 5, “For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting,” wanting means lacking or needed, “and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee.” Notice, now we’re using the word “elders” instead of the word “bishop”.
<br><br>It says, “If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. For a bishop must be blameless.” You notice how he’s going back and forth between the two? He says we’re looking for elders that meet these qualifications because a bishop must be blameless, because the bishop and the elder are one and the same. Then he says, “A bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
<br><br>We’ll turn to other scriptures later in the sermon where we tie in the term “pastor” and show the scriptures that tie that in. Let me start out for you by just defining these three words. Why does God use three words to describe the same person? Why not just stick with one term? Why not just always call it the pastor? Or why not just always call it the elder? Or why not just always call it the bishop? Because these three words actually tell us three things about the role that the pastor plays in the church. These are three aspects of the position, and I’m going to go through those with you this morning.
<br><br>First of all, the term “bishop” means overseer. It has to do with the fact that the pastor takes the oversight of the congregation, oversees the work and is the ruler of the congregation, okay? Then the term “elder” would point to the pastor’s experience and spiritual maturity because, if you remember, one of the qualifications for being a bishop or a pastor, it said not a novice. Now, what is a novice? Well, a novice simply means someone who is new, or someone who is a beginner. It’s funny because sometimes people will use the word “novice” as an insult, “Oh, he’s a novice.” Here’s the thing about that, there’s nothing wrong with being a novice because everyone starts out as being a novice.
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Just like there’s nothing wrong with being a baby. If you were just born, I mean if you’re one year old, then being a baby is just fine, okay? Now, when you’re 20, 30, 40 years old, you don’t want to be a baby, obviously, but there’s nothing wrong with being new or being a novice. Why is it that God warns and says that the bishop should not be a novice? It says, “Lest, being lifted up with pride, he fall into the condemnation of the devil.” When we think about a novice, you might ask yourself, “Who in the world would make a novice the pastor anyway? Why did God even have to put that there?” The Bible talks about, for example, even in the parable of the sower. Plants that receive the word of God and get salvation, and they spring right up but they have no root in themselves. They endure for a time and then they fall away.
<br><br>Part of the reason why the pastor needs to not be a novice and why he is supposed to be an elder is that he has to be battle-tested. He has to go through some of the trials and tribulations to prove that the ground of his heart is good ground and that he is not a shallow believer. What my pastor back in Sacramento used to call a Roman candle Christian, where they get saved and it’s just “boom!”, big explosion, and “pa, pa, pa, pa, pa!” and then just gone. If you’ve been at this church for a long time, there have been a lot of people like that, who just, man, they’re fired up, they’re doing great works for God, and then just “pfft”, gone.
<br><br>Also, the fact that the third aspect of this position is being a pastor, and being a pastor has to do with being a shepherd. The word “pastor” is synonymous in the Bible with the word “shepherd”. That has to do with the pastor’s job of feeding the flock, which is mentioned over and over again, and the Bible talks about feeding them with knowledge. Where does knowledge come from? Experience. Yeah, it comes from the Bible, but it doesn’t come from the Bible that you just bought yesterday, or a year ago, or two years ago. It has to do with reading and reading and reading and studying and meditating and hearing and understanding. If someone’s going to feed the flock of God, it has to be certain that what’s being fed is the right doctrine, and it’s the truth, and that it’s based on knowledge, and that it’s not a message that’s coming from ignorance.
<br><br>If somebody’s a brand new believer, no matter how excited they are, no matter how zealous they are, no matter how fast they’re growing, they cannot lead the church because of the fact that they will mislead the church. Because I could tell you all the things that I’ve been wrong about so many times and, let me tell you something, the younger I was and the more newly-saved I was, the more I was wrong about. Then, as you read the Bible, you make correction. As you learn and grow, you keep correcting things and correcting things and correcting things, whereas new believers will often go into false doctrine. I’m going to get into that later in the sermon because I want to go through each of these three in order: bishop, elder, and pastor. These are all three words that are important, and I’m glad that God didn’t just put it all in one term because we need all three terms, because they’re three different roles that the pastor has.
<br><br>First of all, let’s talk about the role of being bishop. Go to Hebrews 13. Hebrews 13. Let me tell you something, this doctrine that I’m preaching this morning, on the subject of the being the bishop is something that will make a lot of people angry. I don't think it’s going to make people angry within the four walls of our church, but a lot of the Internet listeners who are eating chips off their chest now, too lazy to get out of bed and go to church? They’re the ones who resist this doctrine. Now, there are a lot of great people who listen on the Internet, of course, that actually go to church, that actually attend church.
<br><br>Listen, if you live in the United States, you have no excuse for not attending church. If you’re living in Timbuctu, okay, there might not even be a Bible-believing church there because there are many dark places of this earth that are full of the habitations of cruelty and where the gospel is very scarce and hard to find. Let me tell you something: in the United States of America, people need to be in church. There are good churches out there, and if Faithful Word cease to exist tomorrow, there are all kinds of other churches in the Phoenix area that you could go to, even if you don’t agree with everything about those churches, that still love God and are serving God and winning souls. They’re out there. We are not the only good church in this area or any area. So, honestly, people that don’t go to church are not right with God. All God’s people said--
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Congregation: Amen!
<br><br>Yeah. We need to be in church, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. There are those out there who think, “Oh, assembling of ourselves? Well, we just get together with a buddy and call it church.” No. God has ordained a structure in the local church, and he has put leadership in the local church. Why sit there and have a whole chapter in 1 Timothy 3 about the qualifications for the bishop if you’re not even going to have a bishop?
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Congregation: Right. Yeah.
<br><br>We don’t even need a bishop. We don’t even need a pastor. We don’t even need a leader. We don’t even need leadership, okay? Then why would you sit there and over and over again teach what I’m about to teach you if it doesn’t matter? Well, it does matter. Let me tell you something, there are a lot of people out there who hate this doctrine that I’m about to preach that the pastor is the ruler of the house of God and that he is the overseer. I think part of it is just an agenda and a brainwashing campaign in our country by Satan himself to destroy all authority except the state.
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Congregation: Amen.
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That is the devil’s agenda, destroy the father’s authority in the home, destroy the husband’s authority over his wife, destroy the pastor’s authority in the church, and leave only one authority left, the state. The number one authority that they’re going after is the Lord Himself. They want to destroy the Lord’s authority because He is the ultimate authority. He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, above all principalities and powers, and so they want to turn us away from God being our Lord and they want the government to be our lord. They want to attack any other authority that competes with them, where the only morality will be is it legal or illegal? The only god will be the state. The only parent that we have is our fearless leader or whatever.
<br><br>I mean, this is how governments have operated. All the way back 3,000-some years ago or whenever it was, when Plato’s “Republic” was being written, and that sodomite, Plato, laid out a plan for a totalitarian government. He said, “We need to take children away from their parents. We need to put the government in total authority and take away the parents’ authority to raise their children.” It’s always been Satan’s plan, and today in America we see it being rolled out.
<br><br>Let’s see what the Bible actually teaches. Honestly, let the Bible speak for itself. There are plenty of scriptures on this. Let’s look at some of them. Hebrews 13, and let’s look at verse number 7. It says, “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with diverse and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.”
<br><br>Now, there’s so many points in that scripture that actually would spill over into points two and three in the sermon, because all of these things overlap. Let me just focus in on the part where it says, “Remember them that have the rule over you.” It’s impossible to remember somebody who has the rule over you if no one has the rule over you. The Bible says, “Remember them that have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”
<br><br>Look at verse 17. It says in verse 17, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” To those who would want to take away the authority that the pastor has in the church and say, “He’s not a ruler. He’s not an overseer. He doesn’t have the authority,” but yet the Bible says that the pastor has to give an account. Why would I want to give an account for something that I have no authority over? That wouldn’t be fair to hold me responsible for something that I don’t have any authority over.
<br><br>It reminds me of how the government treats parents where they tell parents in some places, “You can’t discipline your kids.” Then, when the kids go out and commit crime and everything, then they hold the parent responsible. Well, if you can’t discipline your kid it’s like how can you control whether they go and commit crime? The same thing here. How can God sit there and say, “I’m going to hold the pastor accountable for what’s going on in that church, but he has no authority. He’s not a ruler.”
<br><br>Look at the last verse there, second to last, verse 24. It says, “Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.” Three times in this passage he identifies that there are people that have the rule over you in the house of God, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose faith you should follow, considering the end of their conversation. Go to 1 Thessalonians 5. 1 Thessalonians 5. So far, we’ve seen 1 Timothy 3, he said that, “If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” Then we see Hebrews 13, over and over again, three different times it’s mentioned.
<br><br>Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:12. It says, “And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” That right there states there are people that are over you in the Lord, who admonish you, meaning they preach to you. That’s one of the things that we’re supposed to do as preachers. It says, “To esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. And be at peace among yourselves.” Then look at verse 14, “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly.” Are there people that are unruly? That say, “Hey, we don’t have a ruler,” or, “We shouldn’t have a ruler,” or, “We don’t need a ruler,” or, “The pastor’s not a ruler.”? The Bible says warn those people that are unruly.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Look, I didn’t write the Bible. You say, “Oh, you’re just up there, tooting your own horn.” No. I’m up here, preaching the Bible. Welcome to church, where the Bible is going to be preached this morning. I’m not afraid to preach what the Bible says for fear of somebody accusing me of tooting my own horn or abusing my authority. No! I’m preaching the Bible.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>Do what you want with it. “Well, I just want to go to church where nobody’s [inaudible 00:15:27], where nobody’s over them. I don't want anybody over me.” Fine. That’s not Faithful Word Baptist Church, and it never has been. We’ll get more into that as the sermon goes on, but look at 1 Timothy 5, just a few pages to the right in your Bible. 1 Timothy 5:1 says this, “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.” What does it mean to rebuke someone? To rebuke someone is to sternly tell them that they’re wrong. The Bible used the word “reprove” to tell someone that they’re wrong. That’s a milder word. Reproving someone is just to say, “Hey, you’ve done wrong.” A rebuke is to say, “What are you doing? You are wrong!” All it is, is just a stronger word for the same thing.
<br><br>He says, “Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father.” What is the Bible saying? To beseech the pastor if there’s a problem, if he’s preaching something wrong, if he’s doing something wrong, to come to him and say, “Would you please consider another point of view?” not just finger in the face, and what does this all have to do with? Just respect. It’s not saying, “Hey, don’t ever tell the pastor he’s wrong. Don’t ever confront the pastor about something,” because sometimes the pastor might need to be confronted, but it needs to be done humbly and respectfully.
<br><br>When people come to me and seek to rebuke me and put their finger in my face, which has happened before, then basically I will not receive it, because people have to respect the office of the bishop. Even if they lose respect for me as a person, they need to respect the fact that I am the pastor of this church. I have been ordained by God as the ruler here, okay? What does the Bible say in verse 17? Verse 17, “Let the elders,” that what?
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Congregation: Rule.
<br><br>Look, is it just me, or does this come up over and over again? I don't think this is some isolated scripture, one verse being taken out of context. No. This is over and over and over again, rule, rule, ruler, ruler, ruler, and yet many people just completely ignore this doctrine.
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Congregation: Yeah. Uh-huh (affirmative).
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“Oh, you’re one of those people that believes in pastoral authority. Ah, ah.” That’s what the Bible teaches. It’s what the Bible says.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>You know what? This house church movement, a bunch of people just getting together and hanging out with no qualified pastor, no one meeting the criteria of 1 Timothy 3, no one meeting the criteria of Titus 1, no bishop, is not following a New Testament model, and they can say, “Oh, we’re just like the New Testament. We have all things in common.” No, you’re not. You’re not following the clear directives and teachings that the Apostle Paul laid out over and over again for how the church is supposed to be laid out.
<br><br>Look at 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, the laborer is worthy of his reward. Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” What is the Bible teaching here? It’s saying, “Look, first of all honor and respect the pastor. The pastor should be counted worthy of double honor if he’s laboring in the word and doctrine.”
<br><br>It says that he is ruling well, hopefully, and it says that we should not receive an accusation against him, except before two or three witnesses. It doesn’t say believe an accusation against him. It says don’t even receive an accusation against him but before two or three witnesses. “Them that sin, rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” Now, don’t bother turning there for sake of time, but back in Deuteronomy, because this is a quote from Deuteronomy where the Bible talks about someone who would be a false witness, where false witnesses rise up. The Bible says, of course, that they need to be punished so that others would fear. People who would make false accusations, and we won’t turn there for sake of time.
<br><br>Go to 2 Corinthians 10. 2 Corinthians 10, and while you’re turning to 2 Corinthians 10, I’ll read for you from Romans 12. Romans 12 talks about the spiritual gifts and how different members in the church have a different role and a different function, and they have different gifts spiritually. The Bible says, “So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,” which would be preaching, “let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering; or he that teacheth, on teaching; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation; he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth mercy, with cheerfulness.” So there is a person in the church or people in the church who have the role of ruling. That is their job. That is their gift. That is their calling.
<br><br>Look at 2 Corinthians 10:8. It says, “For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed.” Go to 1 Corinthians 4, and as you’re turning to 1 Corinthians 4, let me just point out for you the fallacy that sometimes those who are prideful and arrogant and puffed up will sometimes have this attitude that says this, “I’m not going to follow man.” It sounds real spiritual on the surface, until you actually read the Bible.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>“Well, I’m not going to follow man. We ought to obey God rather than man.” Taking a verse completely out of context where they’re being told, “Do not preach in the name of Jesus,” by the government. “Don’t preach in the name of Jesus,” and they said, “We ought to obey God rather than man.” They’ll say, “We shouldn’t follow any man. We just follow God. We don’t need a man to tell us. We’re not going to follow man.” No, that is a false doctrine.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
<br><br>Because let’s see what the Bible says, and let’s see how many times it says it. 1 Corinthians 4:16. This is the Apostle Paul speaking, “Wherefore I beseech you, brethren, be ye followers of me.” What does that say? “Just don’t follow any man, just follow the Lord.” Is that what it says?
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Congregation: No.
<br><br>It says, “Be ye followers of me.” 1 Corinthians 11:1, flip over two pages to the right in your Bible. 1 Corinthians 11:1 says this, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.” He says, “Look, I’m following Christ. You be a follower of me.” Now look at Philippians 3:17. Philippians 3:17. Just to the right in your Bible, a few pages. While you’re turning there, I’ll read for you from 1 Thessalonians 1:6, where the Bible says, “And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost.” Philippians 3:17, “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample.”
<br><br>Flip over to Acts 20. While you’re turning there, I’ll read for you from 2 Thessalonians 3, “For yourselves know how you ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you. Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.”
<br><br>Now look, six times we just saw, six times he said, “Be followers of me. Be followers of me, even as I also of Christ. Brethren, be followers together of me. Ye became followers of us. Yourselves know how you ought to follow us. Unto you to follow us.” Six times, but these verses just don’t exist, apparently, because, according to some people, “We don’t follow man. We just follow God.” No, the Bible says follow man and follow God. Follow men of God.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>Follow leaders. Follow a bishop that is preaching and teaching the word of God faithfully. You say, “Well, what if he’s not teaching faithfully?” Then you need to find somebody to follow that is. [Inaudible 00:24:00]. If he’s to go, “Well, I just can’t find anybody that’s preaching right,” then you know what? You’re probably ready to go start your own cult now.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>Because that sounds a lot like somebody else I know, Joseph Smith. “All churches are corrupt.” That’s what Joseph Smith said. Yet, isn’t it amazing today how we have all these so-called Christians today and all these know-it-alls today who don’t go to church anywhere and they say the exact same thing. Just all churches are corrupt. Every church is apostate. All bishop … No, they’re not!
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>You’re wrong. There are a lot of churches out there that are preaching the true word of God and that are preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Look, is any church perfect? No. But let me tell you something, there are plenty of godly, Bible-believing churches out there. It’s just the people get puffed up and think that they know everything and think that they’re better than everybody else, and, “Every church is bad, where everybody is false.” Look, if everybody’s false but you, then you are not right. The reason why I say that is because the Holy Ghost has been given onto all believers. True or false?
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Congregation: True. Amen.
<br><br>He had part of His ministry is to guide us into all truth. The word of God is readily available in the United States. Even at the Dollar Tree, even at Walmart we can all pick up a King James Bible. If the King James Bible is everywhere in this country and in millions and millions of homes, thousands and thousands of churches; and if the Holy Ghost is residing in the heart of every single person who’s saved but only a couple of people are right. There’s only 10 people who got it right. No. I don’t believe that for one second. Let me tell you something, there is not a single doctrine that I preach, I defy you to come to me after the service and point to one doctrine that I preach that is not believed by millions of other people in this world.
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Congregation: Amen. Right.
<br><br>You can pick the most radical thing that you think is so radical that I preach and I can point to millions of people who believe the same thing. You know why? Because the Holy Ghost and the word of God has led millions of other people to the same truths that are true spiritual truths. This spirit that says, “Everybody’s wrong. Everybody’s apostate,” that is the Joseph Smith spirit, who baptized himself.
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Congregation: Yeah.
<br><br>He literally. This is what I mean, nobody’s worthy to baptize him so he baptized himself and started one of the worst cults ever, the Latter Day Saints.
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Congregation: Right. Yeah.
<br><br>Acts 20:28, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves …” Why bring all that up? Because you know what? We do need leadership. That’s why. We do need people to follow and look to in our early days in Christ. When you’re a babe in Christ, when you’re growing up in the word of God, when you’re learning, you need to follow somebody. That’s what the Bible teaches over … How many scriptures have we seen so far? Pages and pages of notes here. Let’s keep going.
<br><br>Acts 20:28, this is Paul. He has just called the elders unto him. The elders of the church have been called unto him. He says in verse 18, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, that He has purchased with His own blood.” He says your job is to take the oversight, to be an overseer of the house of God, and to feed the church of God, which He had purchased with His own blood. “For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.”
<br><br>Now, we see all three aspects in this passage because, remember, what are we preaching about this morning? We’re talking about the three terms used to describe the pastor in the Bible: bishop, elder and overseer. I’m sorry, [inaudible 00:28:07], bishop, elder and pastor. Those are the three biblical words. It does use the word “overseer”, but bishop, elder and pastor, and they have to do with the three aspects of the ministry of the pastor. Bishop is overseer, ruler. Elder speaks to experience, maturity, just the time and experience and knowledge gained. Then a pastor has to do with the ministry of feeding the flock of God, and dispersing that knowledge and making sure that the people are taught well.
<br><br>That’s why the Bible says the pastor must be apt to teach, because he has to feed the flock. That’s why he can’t be a novice, because he’s supposed to be an elder. That’s not just talking about physical age. That’s talking about elder spiritually. Been saved longer is what that means, elder in the Lord. Then of course the term “bishop”, overseer. That’s why he said, “If a man know not how to rule his own house, how should he take care of the church he got?” You can see that the qualifications are pointed toward making sure that whoever fills that position of pastor can fulfill these three functions.
<br><br>Why are these things so important? Because he says that grievous wolves will enter in, not sparing the flock. Now, Jude is one of the most famous passages about people creeping in and bringing in false doctrine and false teaching. 2 Peter 2 is also a parallel here; Jude is the other. It says in Jude 11, about these people who creep in, “Woe unto them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.”
<br><br>Part of the reason why a church needs a bishop or a pastor or an elder is in order to guard against false doctrine and false teaching. That’s big. He says, “Look, you need to feed the flock because there are going to be these grievous wolves that come in and they’re going to bring in damnable heresies. They’re going to bring in false doctrine. They’re going to bring in sin and iniquity and things. The pastor is there to be a watchdog to make sure that that doesn’t happen.” Well, it takes knowledge and experience to be able to identify the false doctrine. It’s not going to work for just the pastor to see it. He has to teach the people so that all the people will be able to spot false doctrine right away. That way everybody’s vigilant. Everybody’s being sober because the people in the pew have been taught the doctrine.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>Not just the pastor knows the doctrine and nobody else. No. That’s why he has to be able to teach the doctrine onto the people. Obviously, just an overseer is just watching to make sure that the doctrine stays correct.
<br><br>Now, in this passage there are men that are brought up here, Core, Balaam and Cain. Now, these three men had different issues. Balaam was one who was motivated by money. He was motivated by covetousness and greed. He had error, according to Verse 11 there, you’re looking down in Jude? Verse 11 it says, “Don’t run after,” he says that, “these bad people have run greedily after the error of Balaam.” Why? For reward. Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness, the Bible says. He loved to do that which is wicked, in order to be paid. That was his problem.
<br><br>Cain, what was Cain’s problem? Well, Cain was one who brought in a work’s based salvation. If you look at the story of Cain, instead of the blood of the lamb as an offering, instead of the fat of the first things of the flock, it became his works, his fruits and vegetables and the produce of his hands. Then, the gainsaying of Core is something that maybe other people don’t understand as well as the other two. Because if I talk about, hey, people coming in it for filthy lucre’s sake, it’s pretty easy for us to understand that because we can look back at Judas and say you know what? Judas was amongst the disciples and the Bible says he was a thief and had the bag and was stealing money from the rest of the disciples and of Jesus.
<br><br>People would give money onto that early church of Jesus and his disciples. People would give an offering onto them for preaching the word and their needs will be met and Judas was skimming off the top of the offerings. He was one that was like Balaam. He loved the wages of unrighteousness, where he would sell out the Lord Jesus Christ for 30 pieces of silver. That’s pretty easy to understand. We hear all the time about people stealing and robbing in a church setting and siphoning money and whatever the case may be. Or just preaching complete lies, like a Joel Osteen or a Rick Warren, just in order to bring in the multimillions, Benny Hinn or whatever.
<br><br>What was the issue with Cain? Work salvation. This is something that’s always creeping in, where people would creep in with doctrines of, “Hey, you have to turn away from your sins to be saved. You have to clean up your life,” or, “Hey, you can lose your salvation.” These are the types of doctrines that’s always creeping in where they tamper with the gospel itself. They tamper with the plan of salvation. What is the gainsaying of Core? Let’s just focus on the last half of that word, “saying”. Gainsaying, okay? Because wouldn’t you agree that the word “gainsaying” has something to do with something that comes out of somebody’s mouth?
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Congregation: Right. Yeah.
<br><br>Gainsaying, okay? Now, this term is used in other places in the Bible, what it means to gainsay. The Bible talks about God will give us a spirit and wisdom where we could preach to where no one will be able to gainsay or resist. No one will be able to argue with what you’re saying. Let’s go back to number 16 and look at the story of Core and figure out what Core’s problem was. What’s the issue? If God’s going to pick these three men to be archetypes of false doctrine, false teaching, infiltrators creeping in, these three archetypes had three separate issues. He’s taking an example of someone who’s into work salvation, Cain. Then he takes an example of somebody into covetousness and the love of money and greed, Balaam. Then he brings out another archetype of the gainsaying of Core.
<br><br>Now, here’s the thing that makes it easy to find the gainsaying of Core. Core only said one thing in the whole Bible. That makes it very easy. It’s like, okay, when God said the gainsaying of Core, well, I guess we had to look at everything that Core said and try to figure out what it was that God didn’t like that he said. Well, here’s what makes it easy. Core only made one statement in the entire Bible. There’s only one verse to look at, to figure out what Core said that was the gainsaying of Core. Now, look, is Core the only one? No, because Core had also Dathan and Abiram and 250 other people that followed him. Not only that, but the New Testament says that we have modern day Core, Dathan and Abiram, because he said, “Woe unto them that have crept in, they’ve gone in the way of the gainsaying of Core. They perished in the gainsaying of Core.” Why perished? Because Core died.
<br><br>Now, let’s see what the Bible says about Core. Let’s find the one statement that Core made that is recorded in scripture for all eternity. Look at verse 1. Now, Core, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi; and Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab and On, the son of Peleth, sons of Reuben, took men and they rose up before Moses with certain of the children of Israel, 250 princes of the assembly famous in the congregation, men of renown. They gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, “Ye take,” better get ready for it, the gainsaying of Core, “You take too much upon you, saying all of the congregation are holy, everyone of them and the Lord is among them. Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.”
<br><br>What was the gainsaying of Core? Saying to Moses and Aaron, “It’s not right for you to be over the people of the Lord when all of us are equal, all of us are holy. You are taking too much upon you and you have put yourself above the people as a leader,” and that is the gainsaying of Core. Let’s read it again and, you know what? If I’m wrong, then I’d like to hear your interpretation of this verse. “They gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron and said to them, ‘You take too much upon you, saying all the congregation are holy,’” congregation means church. “’Saying all the congregation are holy, everyone of them and the Lord is among them. Wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord.”
<br><br>Flip over to 26:9, where this event is referred back to. If we were to read the whole chapter, of course, Moses and Aaron stand up to them and God kills all of them. God kills Core, Dathan, Abiram and all 250 men. He opens up the earth and they drop into hell. Look at 26:9, it says this, “And the sons of Eliab, Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram.” This is that Dathan and Abiram which were famous in the congregation, who strove against Moses and Aaron in the company of Core when they strove against the Lord. Look at verse 3 of chapter 27, just a few pages to the right in the Bible. Numbers 27:3, “Our Father died in the wilderness, and he was not in the company of them that gathered themselves together against the Lord in the company of Core, but died in his own sins and had no sons.”
<br><br>What we see here is that these people rebelled against Moses and rebelled against the Lord, but who were they really rebelling against in their heart? According to the scripture, it’s the Lord. Because who is Moses? Who are Aaron? All they’re doing is carrying out their instructions from God. God tells them “Moses, say this to the people.” He says it. They all get mad at him. Moses is saying, “You’re not angry at us. You’re not murmuring against us. You’re murmuring against the Lord, because I’m doing nothing other than preach unto you the word of the Lord.” What is the gainsaying of Core? The gainsaying of Core says that we don’t have a ruler, because all the people are holy. God’s among all of us, so we don’t need a leader. We don’t need a ruler. The pastor is just on a power trip and he shouldn’t have this pastoral authority and that it’s false.
<br><br>Look, I’ve heard it a million times. Well, not a million, but I’ve heard it a thousand. I’ve heard it a lot of times. Well, God warned us. How many times have you heard the word “salvation”? How many times have you seen people preaching false doctrine and lies for the sake of money? How many times have you seen people going to their job or the church or anywhere else and skimming from the cash register or skimming from the till? Okay, so why do we think that the gainsaying of Core is going to be rare and hard to find when the other three are abundant around us everywhere we go? I’m hearing more and more of this with the Internet because of the fact that the Internet makes people feel like they don’t need church anymore.
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Congregation: Yeah.
<br><br>We don’t need church anymore because we’ve substituted it with the Internet. They get out of church and then they just start surfing the net and listening to all kinds of false prophets. Now, listen to me. We should not listen to those that are false prophets. Now, if somebody is preaching out of false Bible versions, they are false prophets. If they’re not preaching the word of God, if they’re not preaching the King James Bible but they’re preaching one of these messed up ESV, NIV, Living Bible, whatever, that’s a false teacher.
<br><br>Don’t come to me and tell me, “Oh, man, this guy, he doesn’t use the King James, but man, you can learn a lot from this guy.” Look, if some … By the way, if somebody’s wrong on salvation, “Well, but they preach a lot of other good stuff. It says on the salvation,” where they’re wrong. Then we shouldn’t be listening to them.
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Congregation: Right. Yeah.
<br><br>Because they’ve crept in unawares. They’re under the error of Cain at that point.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>What happens is it’s so easy to just basically get sucked into all these divers and strange doctrines on the Internet. Listen, I’m not against the Internet, because I think that the Internet is a great tool in order to mass communicate information. It’s the modern day equivalent of getting up on the house tops. You can get the word of God out to millions of people and it’s great, and you can learn a lot of great things on the Internet. I mean, they’re just a lot of good things to learn on the Internet. For example, you can go on the Internet and you can learn how to do work on your car and just watch someone do it. I mean, I wanted to fix something on my car. I type in the exact model of my car. I type in exactly what I want to fix and there’s a video of somebody doing it. It’s wonderful.
<br><br>I remember one time I wanted to do some construction work around my house and I bought a book about construction. I tried to figure out from that book about how to build things. I’ve been around job sites but I couldn’t make heads or tails of that book about construction. Once I went on YouTube and typed in how to frame walls, how to install a window, how to lay a tile, then all of a sudden it was like, “Wow, I can do this.” The Internet is a wonderful tool where you can just learn information. It’s like having a library, an entire library in your pocket. Pull out the smartphone and you can look up facts and information and so forth.
<br><br>Here’s the thing, though, it is also a dangerous thing. It really is. Because what else is on the Internet? All kinds of things, all kinds of horrific things, violence, pornography, just things that we shouldn’t be looking into and studying and filling our minds with. Also, you know what there’s a whole lot of in the Internet too? False doctrine.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>False doctrine. Now, here’s the thing. God … Go and answer that. No, I’m just kidding it. Anyway, God ordained a pastor for a reason. Not only that, He got qualifications for a reason. Why didn’t He just say, “Hey, anybody who feels led just get up there and preach and lead,” and so forth? Why didn’t He say that? Because He wanted people to be taught and led and fed by someone who is a proven qualified person, that’s why. That’s what’s wrong with this whole model of breaking the church into a bunch of Sunday school classes where you put a guy who’s been saved for six months and give him a Sunday school class. Somebody who’s been in church for nine months and they’re teaching a Sunday school class, “Oh, that’s going to help them grow.” Yeah, but what’s he teaching? It could be the wrong things that are being taught.
<br><br>That’s why God says, “I want the pastors to feed the flock. I want elders. I want bishops and even deacons that can preach and feed the flock. These are all tried and tested men, that are not new, that have gone and done their time. They are meeting the qualifications that have been laid out and there are a lot of … That’s a whole another seminar. I’m not going to spend the time belaboring the qualifications, because that’s a whole seminar of itself. There’s a long list of qualifications. Why is it then that people will just tune in to someone who is completely unqualified?
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Congregation: That’s right.
<br><br>Just listen to hours and hours and hours of Bible teaching of someone who is not a bishop? Someone who is not a pastor? Someone who is not biblically qualified? Why? Is that really how God intended for you to get your spiritual meat and drink? No. He intended you to read your Bible and listen to the preaching of someone who’s qualified to teach you and preach you the word of God. You say, “Are you against people going online to get a preaching?” Absolutely not. Because, let me tell you something, when I was a young man, I loved going … I loved my pastor and I listen to my pastor’s preaching, but I loved going online and getting other preaching as well. I would download other sermons.
<br><br>I literally listen to … While I went to Regency Baptist Church in Sacramento, California, I literally listen probably close to 1,000 sermons on recording during that time in my life, from other preachers that I would download from the Internet on dialup. It took a long time to download the sermons and I had to put them on cassette tapes. There was no … I’d never seen an MP3 player until I was I think 23 years old. I was doing it. I was putting them on cassettes. I was listening to them on my computer and I was dubbing them onto cassettes in real time. It took hours and hours. Over the course of many years, I listened to literally about 1,000 sermons that I listened to on the Internet. Guess who I was listening to? You want to know who I was listening to?
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Congregation: Yeah.
<br><br>Baptist pastors that were qualified to be Baptist pastors. I wasn’t just downloading every fool, every novice, every … I’m not saying novice is a fool. There’s nothing wrong with being a novice. Everybody starts out as a novice, but I’m not going to listen to 1,000 hours of a novice in order to get trained and taught. I didn’t listen to every Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal, Charismatic, non-denom John. I did not sit and listen to every rabbi and every just person in their living room and in their basement and whatever. You know what I listen to? Baptist qualified pastors that were actually qualified and had experience and that learned things, and it was a great help to my growth.
<br><br>I’m not going to stand up here and say, “Hey, don’t download preaching from the Internet. Only listen to me only.” No, because you know what? I’m all for people downloading sermons from the Internet if they want to get some extracurricular preaching in. Because, look, some people are just dull. I know some of you can understand this because you could hardly drag yourself here once a week to listen to me preach. There’s some people who come here three times a week. Then there are some people who not only come here three times a week to listen to me preach, they’ll download sermons from other pastors and listen to them to get extracurricular preaching, because they just loved preaching. I loved preaching.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>I think it’s wonderful. I think it’s great. Does that mean that you should just go out and just listen to anybody?
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Congregation: No.
<br><br>Just listen to whoever? Why don’t you use a little bit of discernment who you’re listening to?
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>Say, “Well, wait a minute. If these people are using false Bible versions, if this people are denying major doctrines of the Bible, if these people are from some total other phony baby-baptizing denomination, or these people are just totally not qual …” How about this, you’re listening to hours and hours of women preaching on the Internet. Is that what God ordained in the local church? They just listen to hours and hours of just these people who get up with strange doctrines, diverse doctrines. They’re young and they haven’t had the experience to learn and get up and preach sound doctrine. It isn’t right. I don’t believe in it.
<br><br>They’ll say, “Well, but who are these pastors? What gives them the right?” God.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>God’s ordination that He laid out qualifications and for people to meet those qualifications and for people to actually pastor a real church. When I say a real church, I mean, there’s people there. I mean, it’s a bona fide, real church. Now, I’m not saying it has to be big. It could be small, but it should be growing. Now, it’s just us four, no more. That isn’t right. That’s not what God ordained. That’s not in the Book of Acts. People will criticize verses like Psalm 105. This verse is found in two places, identical places, where it says, “Touch not my anointed and do my prophets no harm.” There, if I have a nickel for every time I heard somebody say, “Oh, that’s just referring to all the people.” Is that right? Is every person a prophet?
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Congregation: No.
<br><br>No, they’re not. That is the spirit of the gainsaying of Core. Now, I especially want to mention this morning to those who want to pastor someday. I think this is really … You know what, I’m not going to ask for raise of hands, but there are many men in our church who’ve expressed the desire for the office of the bishop. They want to pastor someday. They want to preach someday. They want to start a church someday. That’s wonderful because the Bible says if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desire to do good work.
<br><br>Let me speak especially to those men who want to be a pastor someday. Great leaders start out as great followers. If you are failing to follow the leader around here, you’re going to fail to ever be a great leader. Because, you know what? I have trained three pastors so far that are pastoring right now. Let me tell you something, the three pastors … By the way, if you’re looking for extracurricular preaching, those three guys are three great guys to listen to. You won’t just listen to them and it sounds exactly like me. No. They’re all different than me. They’ll preach things that you’ve never heard me say. They’re their own independent, independent Baptist churches. There are plenty of other great … You say, “Why do I listen to them?” Then see me after sermon. I’ll list for you a bunch of great Baptist pastors that I would listen to.
<br><br>Let me tell you this. The three guys that I have trained for the ministry in my young career, because I’ve been doing this for about a decade now, pastoring, well, I approve of the job that all three of them are doing. I have greatest respect for all three of them. I think that all three of them are great men of God. That would be Roger Jimenez, and that would be David Berzins, and that would be Donnie Romero.
<br><br>Let me tell you something about these three guys. They were always and have always been very respectful to me, always. They have always followed me when it was their time to follow me, but now they don’t follow me anymore. Guess what? I don’t want them to follow me anymore. If those three guys are following me now, something is wrong because they’re on their own now. They’re supposed to be independent. This isn’t a denomination. Let me tell you something. When they were under my ministry, when I was teaching them, they followed and they learnt and they were humble and they were respectful. That’s why they’re succeeding.
<br><br>Let me also say another thing beyond that, is that the way that you treat your pastor now is going to come back around and get you someday when you’re pastoring, because you know what? Whatsoever men soweth, that shall he also reap. I can tell you something. When I was at Regency Baptist Church, I can stand up here and tell you from the bottom of my heart that when I was at Regency Baptist Church in Orangevale, California, when I was there I was not a troublemaker. I loved and respected the pastor and I would have never dreamed of rebuking him or being rude to him or being disrespectful to him. Let me tell you, there were things that I didn’t agree with. I mean, preacher of rapture was a big one, but there are a lot of other things that you don’t agree with. You know what I did? I sat down, I shut up and I learned a lot.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>I thank God for that church. I thank God for that pastor, because he is a big reason why I’m here today because he taught me a lot and he inspired me and I followed his lead. Now, after I went out and started the church, okay, was there some strife at times? Yeah, but you know what? I love him and he loves me and he and I are at peace and I thank God for that. You know what? When I was a member of his church, I was an asset, not a liability, period. I can stand up here and tell you that that there was not any exception to that as far as me fighting him or showing discord against him. It never happened.
<br><br>You know what? That’s why, for the last 10 years, I’ve rarely had a problem in this area, because I believe that God has blessed me for being respectful to my pastor so people have been respectful to me. I thank God for that, because that’s how life works. If you do good, it will be done unto you. If you do evil, it will come back unto you. I’ve done wrong things in my life and those things have come around and bit me too, okay? I’m just warning you and saying, “You want to be a pastor someday? Well, you know what? It’s a little harder than you think and it’s all going to come back and get you.” That’s all I have to say about that.
<br><br>Think about the great leaders in the Bible who started out as great followers. One that comes right away to mind is Joshua, right? Joshua, faithful follower of Moses before he was ever the great leader. How about Elisha, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, followed Elijah whithersoever he went and served Elijah? Then he was lifted up to be a great leader where all the prophets were coming to him and looking to him. What about David? Best example in the whole Bible. I mean, you want to talk about disagreeing with something about your pastor? What about when your pastor’s throwing a javelin at the wall? I mean, David went above and beyond. I mean, Saul hated and fought David, but do you ever see David turn on Saul ever?
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Congregation: No.
<br><br>Show me in the Bible where David turns on Saul and disrespect Saul. No. He stayed humble. That’s why God exalted him to be a great leader, because he was a great follower. How about the apostles? Great leaders, right? What did they do first? Followed Jesus for three and a half years. Even Jesus himself, the greatest leader of all time, obeyed the Father. He said, “I do always those things which please Him.”
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>He said that even the Son was subject onto the Father. If you think that’s a false doctrine, you’re probably one of these ignorant novices who hasn’t studied the Bible. “Oh, I’ve read on the Internet that the Trinity is a false doctrine.” You know what? You don’t know what you’re talking about because I could prove that up one side and down the other, and you’re fooled if you don’t believe in it. Because there are plenty of scriptures that talk about the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, that these three are one.
<br><br>The Bible says in Proverbs 15 … Don’t turn there. I want you to turn to Ephesians 4, but I’ve got to hurry up for sake of time here, but the Bible says in Proverbs 15:32, “He that refuseth instruction despises his own soul, but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.” The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility. What’s part of being a pastor? It’s a position of honor, but first comes humility. First, you pay your dues. First, you’re humble. Again, in Proverbs 18:12, “Before destruction the heart of man is haughty and before honor is humility.”
<br><br>What does it mean to be the pastor? We talked about being a bishop and, we’ve touched on this a little bit, being the pastor is to feed the flock, right? The bishop is what? Overseer is what that means, ruler. The pastor is what? The shepherd, the one who feeds the flock. Then the elder is what? More experienced and more knowledgeable than you. That’s what the elder in that sense, not necessarily just talking about physical age, but also spiritual age.
<br><br>He says in Ephesians 4:11, it says, “And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.” Why are pastors there? It says, “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him and all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
<br><br>Why do we need the pastor? Why have we been given the pastor? To feed the flock of God, it said in Acts 20:28. He said because grievous wolves will come in. Here, He said, “You need to be fed by the pastor so that you will not continue to be children, tossed to and fro, with every wind of doctrine and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
<br><br>That’s why the Bible said in Jeremiah 3:15, don’t turn there. You turn to Acts 17, Acts 17, but Jeremiah 3:15 says, “And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding.” The pastor is there to feed you with knowledge and understanding so that you won’t be a child. So you can grow up and be able to be on the lookout for false doctrine and be alert to it. The pastor’s job is to be a ruler, an overseer, a guide, but not only that, the pastor’s job is there to feed the people. Feed the flock. Teach them the word of God. What should be your attitude, as the church member, toward the pastor in his capacity of feeding you, of shepherding you?
<br><br>Well, let’s see what the Bible says in Act 17:11. Because this is the verse that people really understand half of it, but they seem to ignore the other half of it. Let’s read the whole verse. “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Now, there are two aspects here, and I’ve seen people go to two wrong extremes by ignoring this verse. Now, a lot of people would go to the extreme of just whatever the pastor says, they just believe it no matter what, and they never check it out in scripture for themselves. Is that right?
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Congregation: No.
<br><br>It’s horrible because of the fact that they are just blindly following someone and they have no idea whether what’s been taught is right or not. This is like a cult-like mentality of just, “Well, whatever the pastor says must be right.” That’s the wrong extreme on one end where they’re not searching the scriptures daily whether these things are so. They don’t care to search the scriptures daily whether these things are so. They just, “Well, the pastor said it. That’s good enough. Next.” That’s not right.
<br><br>Then a lot of people go to another extreme though, where they’ll basically sit in church, skeptical of everything that’s being preached and just waiting for something to be false, waiting for something to be wrong. Just skeptical going in instead of going in, as the Bible says in verse 11 here, to receive the word with all readiness of mind. Instead of going in and saying, “Hey, I’m ready to learn something. I’m ready to receive the word with all readiness of mind.” They go into it with an attitude of, “What, is this really …? Is this really right, what he’s saying?”
<br><br>Just going into it with a skeptical attitude instead of going into it ready to receive it, ready to say, “You know what? The pastor knows more than I do. The pastor is a God-ordained leader and ruler in the church. The Holy Spirit has made him the overseer and has set him in this position in order to feed me, in order to teach me, so I’m going to come ready to receive what God has for me.” No, no. They don’t have that attitude. They have this attitude of, “Well, I’m going to show up and see if what he’s saying is right or not.” See, that’s not what this verse is teaching. What the verse is teaching is you show up, you’re ready to hear it. You go into it positive. You go into it saying, “This is my pastor. This is the guy who knows the Bible. I’m ready to learn something from him.”
<br><br>Now, then you search the scripture and verify that what was said was right, but you’re not just going into it with a negative attitude of finding fault and finding flaw and picking it apart because, guess what? You may not know as much on certain subjects, so just because you hear something, “Well, that doesn’t sound right,” that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not right. Because there are many things that don’t sound right that turn out to be right. Who thinks that that’s true, that a lot of things you first hear, “That doesn’t sound right. Oh, it turns out I was brainwashed. It turns out I’d been taught wrong.”
<br><br>Look, it’s true, my friend. Just sitting there and just, “Well, I don't think this is right or I know about that. I don't know about that.” No. You come and hear the word of God with readiness of mind. Then you search the scriptures to see whether these things are so. Meaning that if something’s not right that’s being preached, it’s because you see contradiction in scripture. This is part of why we bring our Bibles to church, because while I’m preaching you have your Bible in your lap. You’re using your own judgment and judging as you hear the word of God and I say, “Turn to Acts 20,” or wherever I have you turn, Acts 17 in this case, and you’re looking down at your Bible and you’re seeing whether these things are so.
<br><br>What I say to you, you’re making sure that I’m not saying, “Hey, the Bible says,” and I’m saying some totally different. You’re looking at your Bible like, “What? Where does it say that?” See, that’s where there’s a problem. Or the next day you wake up, so during church you have the Bible, you look at it, but then the next day you’re reading the whole chapter in context. Because you’re doing your daily Bible reading and you’re reading full chapters and you’re saying, “You know what? I’m seeing stuff in here that doesn’t jive with what I’m being preached. Something’s wrong.”
<br><br>That is something that you should be doing. Not just blindly accepting but reading the Bible yourself to see whether these things are so, but that does not mean an attitude that says, “Well, you know what? I’m just going to show up and see whether the message is true today or not.” Just going into it with that type of skeptical attitude is not what the Bible … Because that’s not readiness of mind to receive the word of God. Be more ready to hear than to give the answer of fools.
<br><br>One last place I want to turn is 1 Peter 5. This will tie a lot of things together in one actually. 1 Peter 5. Writing this sermon, there was no shortage of scripture. A lot of scriptures to choose from, easily filled four pages with just pure scriptures, a lot of verses, scores of verses on this subject. Look at 1 Peter 5. Again, one thing that I would submit to you is that God wouldn’t give all these tons of scripture if church is just getting together with your buddies and there’s no clear leader.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>“Well, but pastors, I just believe that we need multiple elders and multiple deacons and multiple pastors.” Okay, right. Let me ask you this, how big is the church have to be before you need that many multiple pastors and multiple elders and multiple deacons? Since according to the Bible those are all fulltime, paid positions and since, according to the Bible, those all have very strict qualifications. Okay, great. Yeah. Let’s have multiple pastors. As soon as we have the money to hire deacons and as soon as we have the money to pay all of these people, and then as soon as we have just this abundance of men that meet that qualification, which we don’t, then we’ll talk.
<br><br>I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the church having multiple leaders. Of course, when a church grows and gets big, that becomes necessary. When you have a church like ours that’s running 130, 140 people, not there yet. The church of Jerusalem was running like 10,000. Let me tell you something, when Faith Forward Baptist is running 10,000, we will have multiple bishops and deacons.
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Bigger room, too.
<br><br>Yeah. We will have to move to a different facility, yeah. “Well, that will never happen.” Well, maybe it will, maybe it won’t. I wouldn’t be shocked if our church someday runs 1,000. Why not? It doesn’t mean … That’s not really the big goal. I mean, the goal is to be faithful and do right and keep winning people to the Lord. The goal, in my mind, you know what I’d rather see happen than to see our church just get huge? You know what I’d rather see? Us to just send out a multitude of young guys that would go out and start churches in other places. That way all the eggs aren’t in one basket.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>You know what I mean? Spread it out so that you can basically have all kinds of churches. That way if one goes under, they don’t all have to fail. You could send them out and they’re all independent. That’s the plan. I’d much rather see that. You know what? We’re sending out a lot less people to start churches than I would like to send out to start churches, and there’s one reason. Because the harvest truly is plenty, but the laborers are few and the qualifications are stringent.
<br><br>Look at 1 Peter 5:1, it says, “The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” This is an elder, a pastor, Peter, and he’s exhorting other elders, other pastors. He says, “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind.” Now, look at verse 3, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd shall appear,” why does he say the chief shepherd? Because the pastor is an under shepherd and there’s the chief shepherd over him, Jesus. “When the chief Shepherd shall appear …” By the way, here’s another word for chief shepherd, “archbishop”. That’s Jesus, not some guy in a funny red Jewish hat.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>Some cardinal or archbishop with their Jewish Satan hat. It says, “Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock. When the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.”
<br><br>Now, when we talk about the pastor’s role as an overseer, it says here, “Taking the oversight thereof,” you say, “Does that mean that the pastor just has total authority, just total authority over every aspect of our lives?” No, that’s … Now, what the Bible teaches here is clear because it says in verse 3, “Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being examples to the flock.” What’s the difference between a lord and a ruler? Because here’s the thing, at the beginning of the sermon I showed you a plethora of scriptures that said that the pastor is the ruler. Here’s one that says, “Well, you shouldn’t be a lord,” okay?
<br><br>What’s the difference between being a ruler and being a lord? Because a lot of people, you know what they’ll do? They’ll look at this verse that says “not as being lords,” and they’ll say, “He’s not the ruler. He’s not the boss. See? It says they’re not the lord. They’re just an example.” Is that really true if all those other verses say he’s the ruler? No. See, here’s the big difference from being a ruler and a lord, because if we let the Bible to define itself and when we see the word “lord”, we’re not talking about The Lord. That’s a name. We’re talking about a lord and if we wanted to find the word “lord” we can use the Bible itself to define it. What did Jesus say? “The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his …”?
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Congregation: Lord.
<br><br>“… Lord.” When you’re a lord, that means you have servants. Everybody understands that? What do masters have? Disciples. What do lords have? Servants. Okay, so what is this saying? This is saying that God’s people are not here to serve the pastor. They’re not here where you are my servants, where I am here as your lord and you’re my servant. That’s not what the Bible teaches. Of course not. Now, here’s the thing, the Bible does say that the woman, that Sarah, is the example of a wife because she called her husband lord. Why? Because wives do serve their husbands.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>Breakfast, lunch and dinner, amen?
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>Wives do serve their husbands. I mean, that’s the … God created the woman for Adam and said, “I’ll make a helpmeet for him.”
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>What’s her job? To help him.
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Congregation: Amen.
<br><br>To serve him, to minister unto him. Okay?
<br><br>The Bible calls the pastor the minister. Have you ever heard what I do being called being in the ministry or being a minister? Actually, I’m a servant. I’m serving you. I’m serving you breakfast Sunday morning, lunch, Sunday night, dinner Wednesday night, okay? I’m serving you. I’m here to help you. I’m here to serve you. I’m here to be there for you in your time of need. This isn’t about exalting man and saying, “Hey, everybody. We’re all here to serve me. It’s all about exalting me.” That’s an abuse of power, isn’t it?
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Congregation: Yeah.
<br><br>That’s not what the Bible teaches about a pastor. Are there people who’ve done that? Of course, other pastors and leaders who abused the power and basically turned it into a thing where everybody’s serving and exalting them. Of course, that’s an abuse. That’s why God is giving this warning. That’s not what it’s about. Set the example. Don’t say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Get in the trenches and do the work and say, “As you see me do, do likewise.” Look, how do you say follow me unless you’re out in front, doing it? Why could Paul say be followers of me? Because he’s doing it.
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Congregation: Right.
<br><br>This is saying not to be lords over God’s heritage, but to be examples of the flock. That does mean that they’re not supposed to take the oversight? See, the difference between being a ruler and a lord is that a pastor who’s ruling is calling the shots. He’s the boss. He’s calling the shots, but not for his own advancement or his own glory, but rather making things work toward the gospel being spread and making things work toward the growth of the individuals and the church. That they would grow and thrive, and that families would grow and thrive and that people would be served and that people would be reached. There’s a big difference between saying, “We have no leader,” and between saying, “Hey, our leader is not our lord that we serve, but rather he is our example and our overseer.”
<br><br>I mean, think about it. If you go to work, there’s the owner of the company, right? You’re his servant. He’s really the lord there. I mean, he’s the one who’s profiting from you in a sense that everything is done for his benefit. I mean, look, when you go to work, you’re doing it for the company, and the owner of that company is the lord of that company in that situation. Then, don’t you also have sometimes an overseer, a manager, a boss, not the owner of the company? It’s no skin off his back, in a sense, whether the company makes a profit or a loss, except that he’s going to be held accountable, but it’s not him that’s being served. He’s just there making sure that things are going the way they’re suppose to go. He’s working with you and he’s leading and you’re following him and you’re taking orders from him.
<br><br>Look, that’s all I got, plenty of scripture for you to chew on. I don’t see how anybody could walk away from this sermon and still follow this Core mentality. I’m just telling you that in the last 9, 10 years that I’ve pastored, most of the time people have been very respectful to me. The vast majority of people have treated me with the utmost respect and I really appreciate that, and I’m very thankful for that. Honestly, there have been times throughout my ministry where people lose all respect for me. I don't know why they do, but they do. They treat me with disdain and disrespect.
<br><br>I remember, when I was in Bible College I was taught … Like I said, it’s been very rare. Very rare. Let me say this, when I was in Bible College, here’s what I was taught. They told me, “Do not be friends with any of your church people. You cannot interact socially with any of your church members. Do not be their friend, because they will lose all respect for you.” Now, I don’t believe that. I don’t follow that teaching because the Bible says, “Now, we beseech you, brethren, to know them that are …” I’m sorry, I’m quoting it wrong. The Bible says, “We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves.”
<br><br>Now look, if the Bible says to know them that labor among you and are over you in the Lord, it doesn’t sound like they need to be at some distant, off on some pedestal or ivory tower. No. I don't believe in that, because you know what? I’m not going to sit there because 99% of people can handle being my friend and can handle interacting socially with me. That’s why many of you have gone to eat with me, and gone running with me, and gone hiking with me, and gone skiing with me, and hung out together, and other recreational ways, because of the fact that the vast majority of people can handle that.
<br><br>I think it’s profitable. I think it’s good for us to have communion and fellowship and friendship and for the pastor to love you and for you to love him. To just be able to just sit down and talk and just treat each other as friends and so forth. You know what? For some people, they can’t handle that. Basically then it just becomes, “Oh, I’m just like the pastor. He’s just like me. Oh well, who is he then?” Well, you know what? I think I’ve shown you plenty of scripture that the pastor is somebody important and is somebody to be reckoned with and is somebody to be respected. Not somebody to be disdained or looked down upon.
<br><br>Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and the clear teaching thereof. I pray that you would just help these words to sink down into our ears, Lord. I thank you for men of God that I’ve followed in the first part of my life, Lord, because without them I would not be where I am today, Lord. They taught me so many things. I was once very young and inexperienced and have many foolish ideas, but I got under the preaching of great men of God and listened to others. Lord, I just thank you for those men’s influence in my life. I pray that you would use me to influence the lives of others, Lord, and that we would not follow after false teachers, but that we would follow after men of God who tell the truth, Lord. I just pray that we would all be at peace amongst ourselves and to have respect one for another. In Jesus’ name, we pray, amen.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-33892278504251782652016-05-15T10:46:00.000-07:002016-05-15T10:46:01.118-07:00The Devil's Master Plan for the End Times <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yea9PLUMuzs">Video</a>
<p><b>March 8, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yea9PLUMuzs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Flip over, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians 2. We're going to come back to Revelation 13, but let's look quickly at 2 Thessalonians 2. What I want to preach to you about tonight is the devil's master plan for the end times. The devil's master plan for the end times. What is he doing? I've done a lot of sermons on Bible prophecy. A lot of them were devoted to just attacking the fallacy of the preacher of rapture and just exposing that for the fraud that it is. Obviously, I've done the Revelation's whole series where I went through and preached each chapter in the Book of Revelation and so forth.
<br><br>I want to just fill in a few gaps tonight and just give a big picture of what is the devil doing in our world today in these last days. As we get in to the final days, what is the master plan? What is the overarching design behind it? Look what the Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him," which is obviously a reference to the rapture when we will be gathered together, caught up together with him in the clouds, "That you be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
<br><br>Of course, this, just very quickly, tells us that this teaching that Jesus Christ can return at any moment is a lie and that the day of Christ at hand, that's not really true. There are all these other things that happen have to happen first, and the Bible says that the falling away is going to come first. Now, what is that falling away that's going to come first? Well, it is apostasy. It is people falling away from the faith and turning from the truth unto fables. The Bible says in verse 4, right after saying that the son of perdition, the man of sin will be revealed, says in verse 4: "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God."
<br><br>Now, before the day of Christ comes, the Bible is telling us very clearly that there is going to be a man known as the man of sin or the son of perdition. This man will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. This man of sin, this son of perdition, will claim to be God. He will claim divinity and he will seat himself in the temple and claim to be God.
<br><br>Let's keep reading. Says in verse 5: "Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?" this is something that Paul has already preached to the Thessalonians while he was there. They'd heard a sermon audibly about this. Now, he's just writing it to them because they've gotten a little bit confused on it and he wants to set the record straight. "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." letting means hindering. When it says, "He who now letteth," it's talking about he who is hindering, which has to do with the withholding in verse 6.
<br><br>It says, "He who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
<br><br>This man that's going to claim to be God and he's going to declare that unto all men and he's going to be seated in the temple, the Bible says that he is coming is after the power of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Now, what are wonders in the Bible? What's the more common word that we would use for that?
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Male: Miracle.
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Pastor Anderson: Miracles, right? This man, through the means of miracles and power that he has, is going to deceive the people that dwell upon the earth. Then, ultimately, he is going to be destroyed by the Lord Jesus Christ. One thing I want to point out here is in verse 7 where the Bible says, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work." Keep in mind, this was being written all the way back in the 1st century AD. This is almost 2,000 years ago. The Bible is saying the mystery of iniquity doth already work. This working toward this antichrist being in power, and that's who we're reading about, the antichrist. That is a Biblical term that God uses. That spirit of antichrist was already at work even back in the days of the Apostle Paul.
<br><br>Go to 1 John 2. 1 John 2. Obviously, it if was already at work back then, then we know that it is working today. These things are happening around us. You say, "Well, why is this relevant to preach about this?" What if we're not in that generation or what if this happens after we're gone?" No, the mystery of iniquity already works. We need to be able to see this and understand this and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
<br><br>It says in 1 John 2:18: "Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist," that singular, "Shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time." You see, even now there are antichrists. Flip over, if you would, to 1 John 4, just a couple chapters to the right there. The Bible says, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God," and this is that spirit of antichrist. Notice that term. "The spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." The thing that I really want to drive in with this is that today, there is already a spirit of antichrist in this world and there is already a mystery of iniquity that is at work today that is taking this world to the point where the antichrist will be the supreme leader and where all nations will worship him and he will declare himself to be God on earth.
<br><br>Go, if you would, to Revelation 13 with all that in mind. Let's look at this chapter. This is the key chapter about the antichrist in the Book of Revelation. Revelation 13:1, the Bible reads, "And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."
<br><br>Now, I don't have time to delve into this too much because I'm trying to give an overview. These animals that are listed there do have significance when we go back to the Book of Daniel. We don't have time to delve into the Book of Daniel tonight. In the Book of Daniel, these same beasts are mentioned. These beasts are mentioned in the context of these great empires of man that were taking over huge portions of the world. If you remember, Daniel received a vision that there would be that Babylonian empire followed by the Medo-Persian Empire, followed by the Greek Empire, and then ultimately followed by the Roman Empire. That Roman Empire was in power at the first coming of our Lord Jesus Christ when Jesus came to this earth. Rome is at rule.
<br><br>You remember how when Jesus Christ was born in that Christmas story that we've heard so many times in Luke 2, that Caesar Augustus gives a decree that the whole world should be taxed? I mean you have a lot of power when you're making a decree that the whole world should be taxed. What the Bible shows us in Daniel and even into the New Testament with that world empire of the Roman Empire is basically a prototype or a foreshadowing of the global government that Satan will one day institute upon this earth. In Daniel, we have a foreshadowing of that. The Babylonian empire represents that and the Roman Empire represents that.
<br><br>That's why even in the Book of Revelation, we're reading about Babylon because it's that spirit Old Testament antichrist, that spirit of a one world global government and global religion. This is often popularly referred to in 2015 as the new world order. That's become the buzz word for a global government. You say, "Well, what does this have to do with global government?" Let's keep reading, and I just want to point out though that in verse 2, the beast here ties in with those world empires of Daniel chapter 2 and elsewhere in Daniel.
<br><br>It says in verse number three: And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast." Obviously, the dragon is Satan, "And they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."
<br><br>This is global government when one man has power over all kindreds, tongues, and nations. One man in power over all nations equals global government, because they're all under his rule. That's what we mean when we say that the Bible teaches that there will, one day, be a one world government. Now, when you look at this Scripture, sometimes you can read it and become confused just because there's so much talk about the beast and the seven heads and the ten horns. It can seem to be cryptic and difficult to understand. What you have to understand is that when the Bible talks about this beast, it's not just talking about one person but it's talking about a whole system, the whole government structure.
<br><br>That's why there are seven heads and ten horns. But then one of those heads is wounded to death. That's the singular person. When the Bible talks about the beast here, it's talking about, in one sense, this great worldwide global kingdom, but then it is also used to refer to the single pan, the son of perdition, the man of sin, the antichrist. That one of the heads that basically has the deadly wound that is healed. Basically, out of this one world system, there's going to be one guy who basically receives a deadly wound and that deadly wound is going to be healed. When that deadly wound is going to be healed, this man is going to be worshipped by the entire world.
<br><br>Now, you can see why this man will be worshipped after his deadly wound is healed because of the fact that we know that this man is known as the antichrist elsewhere in Scripture, in 1 John and 2 John. If he's called the antichrist, what does that mean? That means that he is impersonating Jesus Christ. What did Jesus Christ do to prove and authenticate that he was the Son of God? He died, he was buried, and he rose again. This is a counterfeiting of that. The deadly wound is healed.
<br><br>Now, you can say, "Well, it doesn't say he died. It just says he got a deadly wound and it was healed." First of all, the world would not wonder about that. The world would not be amazed by someone receiving a deadly wound and not dying, because there are often people that you hear about in the news who get shot right in the face, shot right in the head, and everybody thinks they're doomed and they end up pulling through. That's not really that amazing.
<br><br>Go to Revelations 17, just a few pages to the right in your Bible. We'll come back to chapter 13. Look over at Revelation 17:8 and let's get another clue about this beast or antichrist or man of sin or son of perdition, all terms for the same person. It says in verse 8: "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not …" Now, you have to understand, when you're reading the Bible, it'll often use the term "is not" to refer to someone who is not alive. For example, back in Genesis, when Joseph had been sold into slavery, but his father thought he was dead. His father said this: "Joseph is not," meaning he no longer is alive. He no longer exists on this earth."
<br><br>When it says "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not," meaning he's dead, "And shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder." Why are they wondering? Well, because he was and then he is not and then he ascends out of the bottomless pit. Then it says, "That they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written on the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is." Now, we may not be able to fully understand what is being described here, but I can tell you one thing for sure. He receives a deadly wound. He dies. He goes to hell and somehow is brought back or somehow is revivified.
<br><br>We don't know the exact details of how it's going to play out. That is what the world finds amazing. That is part of how he deceives them that dwell on the earth. This is one of the signs and wonders that he works in order to deceive those that dwell on the earth. He gives us a little bit of a hint here in verse 9. It says, "Here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not," see how it keeps emphasizing that? "Even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest …"
<br><br>Remember how that beast had seven heads and ten horns? It says, "The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast." What do we see here? We see ten man who are ten great world leaders, ten kings as it were, who will then all vote unanimously to relinquish their own sovereignty and their own power and to just give all the power onto the antichrist. Just ten leaders that will give all the power. They'll have one mind and they'll be in total agreement. Yes, this is our savior. This is our leader. We're going to give him all the power. Is the picture starting to come clear for you?
<br><br>Go back to Revelation 13. I'm just trying to simplify this because some people become confused by the different symbolism of the beast and the horns and the heads. Back to chapter 13 where we were, it said in verse 7: "It was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them." He is persecuting God's people. Now, the saints are the saved. That's what it means to be a saint. You can study that all through Scripture. There are plenty of Scriptures you could use to prove that saints are people that are saved, people who have been sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ once for all are known as saints.
<br><br>For example, I mean just one place out of scores of places we could turn, but this popped into my mind, 1 Corinthians 1:2 where it says: " Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's." All people in every place who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ are saints. That's just one Scripture. We've got many others.
<br><br>Who is it that the antichrist is making war with? He is making war with the saints, the saved, true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have called upon the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, let me just stop and mention what the word antichrist means, because a lot of people misunderstand this word. We have a prefix in modern English, "anti," and it means that you're against something. If I said I'm anti-abortion or anti-vaccine or anti-war, what does that mean? I'm against those things. That is not what the "anti-" in antichrist means. That is a modern prefix. That is not a prefix that is ancient. That is something that is in our modern English tongue.
<br><br>In fact, the prefix "anti" in the Bible, because this is a Greek word, antichrist, it's taken directly from Greek straight into English, "antichristos" to just antichrist. It means one that is in the place of Christ. That's what that prefix means. We don't want to become confused by the modern anti definition and lose sight of what the antichrist is. For example, a place where this word is used is where it talks about how when Jesus went down into Egypt in Matthew chapter 2 as a baby and grew up there as a young child. Not a baby, but a young child. Then when he comes back, it says that his father Joseph heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father, Herod; in place of his father. That is "anti," is what the word is there.
<br><br>What it's saying here, "antichrist," is saying in the place of Christ, a substitute for Christ, a different Christ. Not Jesus Christ, but a different Christ. Someone who is in his place. Of course, Jesus said, "Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive man." Then there are many antichrist, but then there's going to be one big antichrist someday who pretends to be Jesus Christ. Let's keep reading. It says in verse 8: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear." Let's jump out for sake of time.
<br><br>Verse 11: And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles." Sound familiar? Remember, all the lying signs and wonders it said in 2 Thessalonians 2? Not only is he rbrought back from the bottomless pit, but now he has this false prophet that basically preaches before him and prophesize before him, basically a false John the Baptist, to point people unto him.
<br><br>This is the anti-John, all right, is what we'll call him. And this guy is performing miracles where he brings down fire from heaven in the sight of men on the earth, like Elijah called down fire from God. If you remember the children of Israel, when they saw Elijah bring down from heaven. They said, "Oh, the Lord, he is the God." Why did they need to see that? We're suppose to just believe God's word and it's a wicked and adulterous generation that seeketh after a sign. The Bible says the Jews seek after a sign. The Greek seek after wisdom. We preach Christ crucified to the fence on the both because we don't believe in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ because of a sign and we don't believe in it because of the wisdom of this world. We believe in it by faith and faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: This weak Israelites, they did not have faith when they saw a fire come down and their … If that fire would have come down for Baal, they would have worshipped Baal. They would have. They would have worshipped Satan right then and there. Then Elijah brings down the fire, but there were 7,000 men who already had not bowed to the knee to the image of Baal before Elijah ever brought down any fire. They just believed it by faith in the Word of God. That's something that we see here, the deception of false miracles, lying signs and wonders.
<br><br>The Bible warns of this in the Book of Deuteronomy, that a false prophet would come along and do wonders and do miracles and believe him not. Some of it is through sleight of hand and some of it is through the power of Satan. The Bible says that he deceiveth them, verse 14, that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live.
<br><br>"And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."
<br><br>Now, in order for this all to play out, there are things that work right now to bring this to past, because the mystery of iniquity does already work. The spirit of antichrist is even now already in the world, and so this is where our evil world is headed today. In order for this story in Revelation 13 to play out, there are some things that are going to have to happen first. In order for ten kings to give all the power unto the antichrist, what do you have to have? You have to have a global system of government in place for the antichrist to take the helm. You're not just going to go overnight from just every nation being completely separate and completely sovereign to just being all united overnight.
<br><br>No, they're already starting to unite right now and the world government is already in its embryonic stage and it's known as the United Stations. That embryonic world government has to be there in order for this to play out. Not only that, but in order to keep anyone from buying or selling without a mark in their right hand or in the forehead, you must have a cashless society. You see, if you don't have a cashless society, how can you stop people from buying or selling? People do all kinds of illegal buying and selling everyday and no one can stop them because they use cash. You can buy drugs. You can buy illegal weapons. You can buy whatever you want but you're going to be paying cash. If they said, "Hey, you can't buy or sell, but you can produce gold or silver or cash," then could they really stop you from buying or selling? No, you have the black market going.
<br><br>If there's no cash, if it's all electronic, if it's all on a card, if it's all credit, it's all PayPal, it's all Visa, it's all MasterCard, it's all an electronic debit from your account, then it could easily be rolled out to where you can't buy or sell without a mark in your right hand or in your forehead. These are the things that we already see happening around us preparing for this world system.
<br><br>Economically, what does this look like? A one world currency where all of the monetary systems have been connected to where you get a mark in your right hand or in your forehead and you can't buy or sell without that mark. Cash will no longer be of any value. Now, why would the cash be of any value? It's a piece of paper. The only reason that that piece of paper that you call a dollar bill has any value is because we think it has value. As long as we have confidence in it and think it has value, it will be worth something. As soon as the government just says, "Your bills are no longer worth anything," they won't be worth anything.
<br><br>I mean if the government came out today and said, "I'm sorry, but every federal reserve note is now null and void," you could go to the store, you could go to your buddy and offer them stacks of hundred dollar bills and they're not going to take it because they would say this stuff is worthless. It's trash. It's a piece of paper, what good is it? You're trying to get real goods for me, this is worthless money. Now, this has already happened before. I mean all throughout history this has happened. For example, in Germany, after all World War I, when the inflation was driven up so high that literally wheelbarrows of money were needed to buy a load of bread, they just kept adding zeroes and zeroes on to the end of the German currency.
<br><br>Not only that, but the Confederate States of America was defeated by the United States of America and then the Confederate States of America money was declared to be worthless. You have paper money that has zero value and people had saved up a bunch of Confederate money stuffed in the mattress and is worth nothing. Why? Because it's paper. It has no real intrinsic value. That's what we see with the economic system of cashless society. We see the banking system in place to facilitate these electronic transactions. I mean we're already there to the point where this story could play out.
<br><br>I'm not saying that this is going to happen in the next year or two. I don't know when this could … It could happen in the next few years. It could happen a hundred years from now. We don't know. Everybody thinks it's always in their generation, but I'll say this. We have the technology for everything in this story to play out now. It's already there. It could easily shut off access to paper money transactions and just say, "Hey, it's all electronic." I mean now people can take credit cards on a smartphone. You go to a lot of businesses now and it's the trendy thing for them to come to your table with like an iPhone. Who's ever been to a restaurant where they took your credit card on an iPhone literally at a big restaurant? Yeah, I've been seeing it lately.
<br><br>We've gone places where the waitress will just whip out an iPhone and just "tjjiitt" and just scan your deal and you pay right there with the card. You know what? What do we need cards for? Because cards could be stolen and lost. Why not just get it in your hand and then just "prrrrt," you've paid. That's where this is all going economically. We see where it's going politically where the Europeans have already … I mean, look, if anybody has hated each other and fought each other historically, it was these European nations. Think about all the wars over the last few thousand years where the European nations have fought and fought and hated each other and fought and fought and fought. Now, we see them all united in the European Union. They're joining together in that conglomerate.
<br><br>We already have the United Nations. We have the loan superpower, the United States, that literally has bases everywhere. I mean almost every nation in the world is subservient unto the United States. We give money to almost every country in the world. You hear about foreign aid, how our country gives money to almost every country in the world. Why? Because the one who pays the bills is the one who makes the rules, and when you accept people's money there are strings attached. That's why you say, "Why does out country give all these money away? We're in debt up to our eyeballs?" Why? Just to show our power. Just to dominate them. Why? Because we are the headquarters of the world government. In New York, in the United Nations and so forth, I mean we're the main sponsor behind the United Nations as a nation.
<br><br>We see what's happening monetarily. We see what's happening politically, but what is the devil's plan spiritually? That's what I want to talk about now. What is the spiritual plan here? Because in order to get all nations and all kindreds and all tongues to worship this man, the antichrist, he's going to have to basically create a religion that everybody can agree on. Isn't that right? I mean if you're going to get Hindus to worship this guy, you're going to get Buddhist to worship this guy, you're going to get Muslims to worship this guy, Jews, Christians, and I used the term Christian loosely because the Bible says that none of the elect will be deceived.
<br><br>No true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ will be deceived, but there are a lot of people who think that there are Christian and there are not. There's a lot of false Christianity out there, apostate Christianity that will be deceived, the unsaved false Christians will believe on the antichrist. Now, who is the antichrist, because what is this going to look like? You say, "Well, why speculate? What does it matter?" Because the mystery of iniquity doth already work. That's why. Let me tell you something. The spirit of antichrist and the mystery of iniquity that is bringing us toward this financial system of the end and it's bringing us toward this political system of the end.
<br><br>Let me tell you something. It is at work in churches today to bring us toward a one world religion, and that spirit is already infiltrated into even Baptist churches, Christian churches, non-denominational churches to bring us into conformity with this religion that's coming, this worldwide global religion. It's funny. My wife was in Costco today and this guy was behind her in line. He pressured her to let him go first because he had less stuff and my wife, because she's buying a lot of stuff because we have a big family. She's at Costco and this guys tarts talking to John about how sharp he is dressed and he must be at church this morning. He asked him about church and John said, "Well, my dad is a pastor, Faithful Word Baptist Church."
<br><br>This guy said, "Oh, I'm a pastor, too." This guy's church was called The Logos Center in Scottsdale, and he is explaining to my son that the Greek word "logos" means word which he already knew but he was polite and pretended not to have already known, because it's not polite to be a know it all. When people tell you things, you act like you're hearing them for the first time. That's a polite way to handle that. He told them that and he said, "Oh, check us out online. My wife pulled up on the phone and this guy literally had all these symbols on the website showing like a cross, a yin yang, a Star of Remphan, the crescent of the Muslims, all the different symbols of the world.
<br><br>He had a book for sale called "Why Jesus Taught Reincarnation." He's talking about giving psychic readings and it says this organization that's bringing all these religions toget- … You know what? This getting more and more com- … Baha'i faith, have you heard of it? It's a major religion today and Baha'I faith is all about uniting all religions taking something from Christianity, taking something from Judaism, taking something from Islam and putting it all together, Buddhism, putting it all together. Another one of these religions that's out there that's trying to synthesize religion is the Nation of Islam, the Nation of Islam; Louis Farrakhan and Elijah Muhammad, whatever they're called. These guys with the newspapers and the sharp haircuts and the suits and they walk around and they sell the newspaper. Who knows what I'm talking about? Yeah.
<br><br>By the way, did you know that Louis Farrakhan lives in South Phoenix and I've been to his door three times on [inaudible 00:33:33]? He was never home. I've been there three times. I've spoken to his servants. I've preached the gospel onto Louis Farrakhan's … I don't want to call them servants, I'm getting all in Bible mode … his employees there, I guess, you'd call them in our modern vernacular. We've been there? Who's been to his house with me [inaudible 00:33:53]? A couple of people been to his big mansion. It's funny because he lives in a very humble neighborhood but he's got a big, nice house and everything. We talked to those servants and we have gone back and forth with them and given them the whole salvation and they'll tell you we believe in the Bible and the Quran.
<br><br>That's what the Nation of Islam is. It is a mixing of Christianity and Islam and it goes even beyond that because they will sit there and say that, "Hey, all monotheistic religions of the world are all worshipping the same God," and they're very inclusive and they also were praising the Torah unto us, which is the first five books of the Bible, but they were saying that the Jews, the Jews are wonderful also and their religion is wonderful. We can learn from them and we all go back to the Torah. They said, "Hey, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, we all agree on the Torah and we all agree on Moses, and stuff like that." We're seeing more and more of these interfaith type movements and this uniting of various religions.
<br><br>I remember, I was putting a fire alarm in a Catholic school one time and lo and behold, I walked in to the Religion class in a Catholic school and the teacher looked like a hippie kind of a guy and he was teaching them about the Tao Te Ching and he was teaching them eastern mysticism as truth as I sat there and worked on the system. I walked down the hall to the Science class and they're teaching evolution. Anyway, all these things are just signs of these religions coming together and putting aside differences and "Hey, let's all agree on one thing.
<br><br>On the surface, it can sound good, but that's not what the Bible teaches. Now, I got to hurry up because I really want to get in … This is the main thing I want to get into. Who is the antichrist? What is the spirit of antichrist? What is the focal point of this one world religion? Go to 1 John 2 quickly. 1 John 2. What is it that is going to identify this one world religion of the antichrist? We don't have to wonder about it. It doesn't have to be a wild speculation. The Bible tells us the answer because it says in 1 John 2:22: "Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ?" Let me point out that the word "Christ" means Messiah over and over again. John 1:41, for example, "We have found the Christ," which, being interpreted, is the Messiah.
<br><br>I know that when Messiah's cometh, that is Christ, he'll show us all things. what is this saying? Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Messiah. He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son. Now, what religion would be best identified by the denial that Jesus is the Messiah? Judaism, because they're the ones who say, "Hey, there's a Messiah. It's not Jesus. They're denying that Jesus is the Messiah and they deny the doctrine of the Father and the Son. That is the antichrist. If one religion is the anti- … Now, a lot of people say, "Well, all false religions are against Christ." Wait a minute, that's not what antichrist means. Antichrist means in the place of, a guy who's coming in the place of Christ.
<br><br>Look, if you don't believe Jesus the Messiah, you still believe another Messiah is coming, of course, that's the spirit of antichrist, because who's really coming? The antichrist. Judaism is the antichrist religion that says, "Hey, there's a Messiah out there but it's not Jesus." You can't believe that Jesus is not the Messiah unless you believe that there is a Messiah. If you believe the Messiah doesn't exist, you can't believe that Jesus is not the Messiah because you don't believe in any Messiah. If you say, "Well, there is a Messiah, it's not Jesus," that's Judaism, that's antichrist. Now, this makes perfect sense that Judaism would be the focal point of this world religion because what is it that Islam, "apostate Christianity," and Judaism all have in common? Hey, we all looked back to the Old Testament, the Torah.
<br><br>Muslims talk a lot about the Torah. We, of course, believe in the true Torah, Genesis through Deuteronomy as found in our Bible here, and then, of course, Judaism tell the Torah even though they don't really follow any of it, but they claim to believe in the Torah. This is basically going to be the religion upon which all these other religions are attached. It's not going to be a situation of just, "Hey, it's going to be a brand new religion out of nowhere." No, it's going to be Judaism. The whole world, listen to me, listen to me now, the whole world is going to be brought into conformity with Judaism. That is the antichrist religion.
<br><br>If we just look up the word "antichrist" in the Bible, that's what we find, a religion that denies that Jesus is … That's why he calls them the synagogue of Satan in the Book of Revelation. In the Book of Revelation, the term Jews is only mentioned twice. Both times it refers to them as the synagogue of Satan. Revelation 2:9 and Revelation 3:9. Now, what's interesting, you say, "Okay, well, I can see how the Jews are bringing in these other faiths, because of the fact that, for example, we see a mass movement in 2015." Listen to me. A huge movement of Christians finding their Hebrew roots. It's huge. It's everywhere. I am 33 years old. I'm a young man, but I have never seen or heard of anything like this my entire life except just in the past few years, this mass Hebrew roots movement.
<br><br>I don't remember this in the '80s. I mean who can testify? I mean do you … Brother Garrick, do you remember a lot of talk about this in the '80s, '90s, of just every things about going back to the Hebrew roots, but it's everywhere now. Everywhere. It's like, "Oh, we got to get on the Hebrew calendar and the blood moons and the harbinger and Rabbi Jonathan Cahn," and "Oh, we've got to get back to celebrating these feast days and Shabbat, Shalom and gideons," and all this. It is like never before being pushed, this Hebrew roots movement. It's everywhere you turn today more than ever. Then you have on the Pentecostal side this foaming at the mouth, John Hagee, saying, "Hey, Jews don't have to believe in Jesus to be saved because they're saved under the Old Testament and we're saved under the New Testament."
<br><br>You got that with the charismatic. By the way, did you know about 18,000 people go to his church every Sunday? Isn't that small movement. John Hagee who gets up and says, "Don't evangelize the Jews. Don't give them the gospel. They don't have to believe in Jesus. They're already saved." Eighteen thousand people come to his church. It's huge in San Antonio, Texas. I've talked to people who go there. Then you've got just amongst other Christian groups just this huge movement toward the Hebrew roots and the … Look, it also goes by this term: Torah observing Christians. It's everywhere.
<br><br>When you go to the home school convention, it's the buzz amongst the homeschoolers, they're all into it. Whoa! Where is this coming from? You say, "Okay, I can see how they're infiltrating Christianity big time when you've got the Israeli flag and the Star of Remphan and all these other things being portrayed in Christian churches now." You say, "Well, what about religions outside of Christianity, Islam, Judaism. How's Judaism going to bring in the Buddhist and the Hindus. That seems a little far-fetched Pastor Anderson." Oh, not at all. You apparently have never heard of the Jew-Boos. There's a movement known as the Jew-Boos, Jew Buddhist. Now, sometimes they're known as the Boo-Jews. Take your pick: Boo-Jew, Jew-Boo.
<br><br>Listen to this. Did you know that Jews only make up 2% of the American population but that it is estimated that at least one-third of Western Buddhist in America are Jewish by birth? Aside from all the Asians that are … Obviously, Asians are coming from Buddhist countries and so forth, but amongst, translation, White people or Black people that are Buddhist, it says one-third of non-Asians that are Buddhist are Jews, even though they're only 2% of the population. Is that a little odd that there's just this huge percentage of them that are these Jew Boos?
<br><br>Moreover, many of the leading Buddhist teachers in America come from Jewish families including Bernard Glassman, Sharon Salzberg, Joseph Goldstein, Jack Kornfield, Norman Fischer, Bhikkhu Bodhi, Natalie Goldberg, Thubten Chodron, Sylvia Boorstein, Allen Ginsberg, Lama Surya Das, just to name a few. Not only that, but more than one-fourth of the professors teaching Buddhism in American colleges and universities were born Jewish. Hold on. It seems to me that Jews are a major force in Buddhism. They have taken over Buddhism and hijacked Buddhism in a sense. Why? Because there's going to be a uniting of even Judaism and Buddhism. It's already happening.
<br><br>You hear a lot about the ecumenical movement amongst Christians and you hear a lot about the Chrislam and the Nation of Islam and the merging of the Bible and the Quran and you see the Hebrew roots movement and then you see even Jews saying, "Well, Jesus and the Son of God, he's not the Savior of the world, but he was a Messiah. He was a good teacher. He was a good rabbi," or whatever. Just this merging. Even the Buddhist, my friend, are getting in on this and they're being merged. It's all being brought together.
<br><br>Listen to what Rabbi Irving Greenberg said: "Tha Dalai Lama taught us a lot about Buddhism, even more about menschlichkeit, and most of all about Judaism." Here's what he's saying. The Dalai Lama taught us about Judaism. Are you listening? "As all true dialogue accomplishes, the encounter with the Dalai Lama opened us to the other faith's integrity. Equally valuable, the encounter reminded us of neglected aspects of ourselves, of elements in Judaism that are overlooked until they're reflected back to us in the mirror of …" what? Buddhism. Buddhism is helping us understand Judaism. The Jew Boos. They're of antichrist.
<br><br>In fact, I watched a thing recently of this guy, Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel and this guy was speaking at fellowship Bible chapel at a non-denom Christian church. They bring in a Christ-rejecting rabbi that just file and says, "I don't believe in Jesus" and he let him speak for two hours. This guy gets up and he's talking about the Messiah, because they're saying, "Why don't you believe in Jesus?" Because he's like, "Ask me anything. Nothing offends me." Of course, somebody asked him like, "So why not believe in Jesus?" He tells them, "Well, you know, we don't believe in Jesus. Not the Messiah and this and that."
<br><br>Then somebody else raised their hand and said, "Well, you know, I love you so much and you're so wonderful thou special chosen one, but I'm just nervous that the Jews are going to believe in the antichrist when he comes since they're still looking up for a Messiah. What do you think about that?" I was thinking, "That's a good question." This guy is like, "Well, you know, we don't have any prophecy of the antichrist in the Old Testament or the Talmud, so I'm just not really worried about it. I don't believe in the antichrist." He said, "I'll tell you this."
<br><br>He said, "When a guy comes and unites the whole world and all religions of the earth accepting and believe on him and all nations believe on him, then I will bow down to him and say, 'You are the Messiah. You are the king of Israel' no matter who he is." He said, "You know what? When that happens," he said, "We'll say it's the first coming. You'll say it's the second coming, but you know what, it won't even matter." This is what he said. He said, "You know, we're going to have some questions for the Messiah when he comes. Is this your first time or your second time here? If he's smart, he won't answer us. He won't tell us if he's smart."
<br><br>They're like, "I don't have any problem. You think it was Jesus the first time, no problem. They're already ready. The Jews are already saying, 'It's okay if you think it's his second time and we think it's the first time as long as we're already; rallying around him now, as long as he's brought peace now, as long as we're all uniting around him now.'" He said, "The one enemy that has to be destroyed," he said, "is radical Islam and then we'll all be ready." This is what he said. He said, "The Messianic era is so close, oh, we can't taste it. So close I can taste it. It's right there. It's right there." He said, "There's just one more enemy we have to destroy: radical Islam."
<br><br>Here is the thing. How many Muslims are there in the world? There are over a billion Muslims. I mean Muslim make up a huge population. Here's what he said. He said, "Well, it's not …" Listen. This guy was foaming at the mouth about how bad radical Islam is and he's real upset about it. Let me tell you this, and of course, I'm totally against Islam. Let me tell you this. He said, "I don't want to get rid of Islam." He said, "We don't need to get rid of Islam." He just said there just needs to be a different way of interpreting Islam where it's compatible and can co-exist with Judaism.
<br><br>See? That's the message today. It's not, "Hey, get rid of Islam; get rid of Christianity." No, no, no. it's unite Christianity and Judaism and Islam and Buddhism and we're all going to join together, but listen, it's the dragon that's behind it. You know what? If you're deceived by it, if you're deceived by it, the Bible … What's the Bible saying? You're not even saved if you're deceived by it, but we see it creeping in. The Bible says the elect will not be deceived. Look, you can see how people could be fooled by this stuff, don't you? If they don't believe the Bible, they haven't studied it. We see that all coming together now.
<br><br>Just quickly, let's compare Jesus Christ versus the antichrist as far as what is he going to do when he comes. Go to Psalm 2 quickly. Psalm chapter 2. The message that Judaism is … By the way, this guy wasn't some liberal … This guy was an Orthodox Jewish rabbi. He was of one of the straightest sects. I mean he had the fringes, he had the funny hat, and he was literally an important player. He's even a guy that is a political guy over there and he's a player in the Israeli government. He's a an Orthodox rabbi. He's high up in a couple of different organizations and so forth. Even the most Orthodox of the Orthodox is saying, "Hey, we'll co-exist. Hey, we're looking forward to joining with you Christians when our Messiah comes. I can't wait until the Jews and the Christians are worshipping the same God." That's even the Orthodox.
<br><br>Look, you talk to the liberal Jews, the reformed Jews, they're even more like, "Come on in, Buddhism. Come on in, Hindu. Come on in homosexuality. Come on, it's great. It's wonderful." Look at Psalm 2 because let's see what the differ- … Because what's the antichrist going to do according to the Bible? All nations and tongues and kindreds will all be won over to him by the miracles. He'll do the miracles and they'll all worship him. He'll unite them all. Let me ask you something. Will Jesus at his second coming unite all religions and be believed on by all the world because of miracles?
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Male: No.
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Pastor Anderson: No. Let's read what the Bible says in Psalm 2. We'll read the entire Psalm. "Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against his anointed." See, this uniting of rulers, these nations coming together? It's against the Lord. They're uniting against Jesus. They're uniting against the Bible. They want to unite and bring in wickedness and blasphemy and everything that is anti, everything that we stand for. God says it's in vain. You can't win. You're imagining vain thing.
<br><br>They take counsel against the Lord and against his anointed. Now, the word "anointed" means Christ. This exact verse is quoted in Acts chapter 4. It says, "Take counsel against the Lord and against his Christ. "Saying," so it's, "Against the Lord and against his Christ saying, 'Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.'" Basically, this is that parable that Jesus told where they said, "We will not have this man to rule over us," refusing the prince of life, refusing the true Messiah, refusing the Lord Jesus Christ and his righteousness.
<br><br>"We will not have this man to rule over us. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee. Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."
<br><br>Does it sound like he is just going to come in do some miracles and everybody is going to believe on him? Now, the first time he came in, did miracles, was rejected. Many believed the words which he spake, but, of course, by the nation as a whole, he was rejected. The Bible says here that when he comes back the second time, he's not going to come meek and lowly riding upon a donkey, riding upon the foal of an ass. He's going to show up the second time in wrath and vengeance to punish the earth. He will set up his kingdom and he will rule with a rod of iron.
<br><br>He's not going to sit at the negotiating table with Islam, Buddhism, and Judaism. It's not going to happen. He's not bringing Judaism and Buddhism and Hinduism all together. Here's the thing, you say, "How are Hinduism and Buddhism going to unite?" They're already so similar. These Eastern religions are all connected. He says, "Ask of me and I shall give thee." I mean the Lord just gives it to … The Lord just gives the king of the world to Christ. It's all in his power. Jesus said, "All power is given unto me." He's going to rule with a rod of iron.
<br><br>Look in verse 10: "Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." Jesus Christ is not coming to unite the religions of the world. He is actually coming to destroy all false religion and to destroy the armies of the antichrist and to just wipe them out. He just has the power to do it, by pouring out his wrath supernaturally. He's not going to come and take power and die and come back again. He's already done that the first time. He's going to come in and he's going to destroy false religion.
<br><br>What is the Lord Jesus Christ kingdom going to look like? You know what? It's going to be a kingdom of righteousness and godliness and it's going to be a kingdom where he rules with a rod of iron. Look, it's not saying that he's ruling with a wet spaghetti noodle. He's ruling with a rod of iron.
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Male: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: He's going to break these nations in pieces like a potter's vessel. He's not coming with some … Here's what's so funny. People think he comes and he's going to be this soft leader that's just going to be like, "Yeah, open sodomy and just total permissiveness." No. Remember all those laws that everybody hates from the Old Testament? Oh, so strict. What do you think is he going to be ruling with?
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Is he going to rule out some whole new law? No, it's going to be the type of laws that you see in the Old Testament. Why? Because it's perfect. It's so funny that we think in our minds as Christians often that he is just going to show up and turn everything into a big United States of America. Like he's going to have a Congress and a Senate and it's going to be all this prison industrial complex and everything. No. It's going to be all the punishments that are in the Bible. That's what's going to be meted out.
<br><br>Some of you, if you want to rule and reign with Jesus Christ, need to figure that out or else he's going to be like, "You know, I don't know how high of an authority I can give you. You don't even understand my law."
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Male: That's right.
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Pastor Anderson: I mean think about it. If you want to rule and reign, you better understand his laws in order to rule justly. At least you'll have some time up in heaven to get some remedial training. Take Law 101 up there when you get there. Look, I'll just close with it. What's the master plan? What's the title of the sermon? The title of the sermon is "The Devil's Master Plan for the End Times." What's he doing? We could see what he's doing financially. We could see what he's doing politically, this globalism, this internationalism, but what's he doing spiritually? He's bringing all religions together.
<br><br>When you see a spirit of "Hey, let's bring in the rabbi and start learning stuff from Judaism," that's the worse, because that is actually … On that wheel of all these different false religions of antichrist, the spoke would be that Star of Remphan. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the mark of the beast is that star, because it's a perfect 666, because it's six points and six triangles and it's made by drawing six lines. I mean it could easily be that symbol. Wouldn't surprise me one bit at all if that were the symbol.
<br><br>Christians are so gaga about the Hebrew roots. They just be so excited to finally get to have their Star of David tattoo or whatever. Just, "Oh, this is how I show my support for Israel." I don't know. I'm not going to try to speculate about that, but the bottom line is this spirit of antichrist that's already in the world, the mystery of iniquity is already working, it's to unite Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism. That's why we hear Christians talk so much bout karma. It's not karma. It's called whatsoever, a man soweth that shall he also reap. Why don't we use the Bible's term? You're Christian talking about nirvana. It's heaven. Where do we get this eastern mysticism coming in?
<br><br>This spirit that wants to just bring in all these junk from other religions and bring in all their junk and try to import it into Christianity, that is the spirit of antichrist. When it's coming from Judaism, it's double antichrist. We need to keep our doctrine pure. This is the only book, the Bible. No Tao Te Ching, Quran, none of it. The Bible. Period. End of story. By the way, this teaching out there that says, "Oh, intelligent design." I'm sick of intelligent design. It's Jesus' design.
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: I'm sick of people talking about God and the Lord without using the name of Jesus, because it's the name of Jesus that … There's no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. When you hear somebody just talking about God, God, God, God, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, intelligent design, no. It's not intelligent design. It's Jesus spake and created all things. According to Colossians 1, "All things are created by Jesus." According to John chapter 1, "All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made."
<br><br>Rallying around creationism with Jews and other religions, you just believe in intelligent design, that's why I'm not going to get all excited about, and I've never seen this, but everybody talks about this movie with Ben Stein called … What's it called? Expelled?
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Male: Expelled, yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Expelled. It shows how there's an agenda to make sure that all the public school kids are brainwashed with evolution, I guess. I guess it's a film exposing out any scientist who comes out in favor of intelligent design. It's basically being exiled from the scientific community, blackballed, can't succeed. That doesn't surprise me. I'm sure that that's true, but I'll tell you what, I wouldn't give you a nickel for that movie because it's made by a Jew. Oh, that's racist. It's not a race. It's a religion. Ben Stein is a White dude and so am I. Am I being accused of being racist against White people?
<br><br>I'm White. Is there any doubt about the fact that I'm White? Okay, well then, why am I accused of being racist against White people? That's just a cover that they play of we just point out the lies of their religion. I don't want to watch a movie by a guy who denies that Jesus is the Christ. Oh, but it's for intelligent design. Guess what? People were going to hell long before evolution was ever even come up with because evolution is a new teaching form the 1800s. Oh, if we could just defeat evolution, we're going to get everybody saved. No, because people didn't … By the way, intelligent design isn't even saying that evolution is not true because a lot of them will believe in like atheistic … Well, it's intelligent design. He designed evolution. No, it's garbage.
<br><br>We don't believe in intelligent design. We don't believe in theistic evolution. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is our creator and he's our God. There is no salvation in any other. He created this world and this world is not millions of years old. That is a fraud from the devil. You say, "Well, how do you know? Show me the science?" The Bible.
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Oh, you just believe that book. Yes!
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Oh, say, "Oh, so you teach your kids about science. I'm going to teach my kids the Bible."
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: This is the true Word of God. This is the science. This is all knowledge that I need. "Ah, you're just an imbecile because you don't understand Star Trek and Star Wars." No, I don't need the science falsely so-called. You know what the Bible says? Avoid oppositions of science falsely so-called. You know what? I know that the Bible is true by the power of the Holy Ghost.
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Group: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Not because of any fossil that I've discovered. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much, Lord, that we're saved through the blood of the Lord Jesus. Lord, help that name to be on our lips, Lord, where we don't just talk in vagueness about God like we're a politician but that we actually use the name of Jesus. Lord, when we get around Jews, help us not to just all of a sudden stop using the name Jesus and just switch to God so that we can all rally around it. Lord, help these Hebrew roots teachings not to slip into our church because, honestly, we are different than these other religions and we need to stay separate from them.
<br><br>If our nation were following you, we would stay separate from the other nations of the world and not be a part of this conglomerate that is against the Lord and against his anointed. Father, help us to be wise and to know the times and to be awake and to watch and be sober and to understand the book that you titled Revelation because you wanted us to understand what you have revealed, not concealed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-41272347187852436322016-05-14T10:44:00.000-07:002016-05-14T10:44:14.025-07:00Loving Your Wife <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_8COPEILgA">Video</a>
<p><b>May 10, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_8COPEILgA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Now, being Mother's Day, I wanted to preach a sermon that would pertain unto the mothers. This whole sermon's not going to be just about our mothers, though, it's also going to be about our wives, because of the fact that today we should show love and affection to our mother, and also to our wives because they are ...
<br><br>Ephesians chapter number 5, and the bible reads, beginning at verse number 25 it says, "Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself forth, that he might sank the ... way to love your wife and show her that you appreciate her is to basically just to tell her that you love her and just reassure her of that frequently. Flip back to Proverbs, if you would. I'm going to show you some things in Proverbs starting at verse, chapter 27. Go to Proverbs, chapter number 27. Often we hear the phrase, 'husbands love your wives' but we want to get more specific with that. You know how can we love our wives? Honestly, I think that there are a lot of men who truly do love their wives or love their mother but that doesn't necessarily mean that their wife knows that or that their wife feels loved or that their mother feels it.
<br><br>You want to make sure that you love your wife in such a way that she's going to know that she's loved. She's going to understand that you love her. The fact that you love her in your heart is not really enough if that message never gets across to her. Look at what the bible says in Proverbs 27, verse 5, "Open rebuke is better than secret love." See, secret love isn't really going to do anybody any good, is it? If you love your wife from the bottom of your heart but you're not expressing that, you're not saying that, you're not showing that with your actions, then that's not really enough. It says, "Open rebuke is better than secret love."
<br><br>Flip over to Proverbs, chapter 31, just a few pages to the right in your Bible, the passage about the virtuous woman. The Bible reads in verse 28, "Her children arise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." The Bible says that the husband rises up and calls his wife blessed and he praises her. He verbally affirms her and tells her what a great wife she is, how much he loves her. We need to obviously express our love to our mothers as well. Tell her what a great mother she is. Praise her, what does it mean to praise her? When we think of praising the Lord, which is a common theme throughout the Bible, what does the Bible say about praising the Lord? It says, "Praise Him for his wondrous acts." Praise Him because his mercy endured forever.
<br><br>When we praise the Lord we want to be specific. We want to praise him for great things that he's done, great attributes that he has. It's the same thing if we were to praise our mother, or praise our wife. We would basically bring up specific things and specific acts that she's done. Say, "Hey, you did a great job with this." Or, "Thank you for doing this.", "This is why you're a great mother. This is why you're a great wife." That's the type of praise that we're talking about.
<br><br>The Bible says in verse 29, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all." When you let her know that she is number 1 in our life and that we're glad that we married her and not someone else, and that we love her above all others. It says, "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain." You might want to leave that part out. "But a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised." That's just for your benefit, the reader, okay. "Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates."
<br><br>A wonderful thing about the Bible is that the Bible it really lifts up and exults femininity and the position and the role that wives and mothers have. It's amazing how sometimes fundamentalist, Christianity, or being an independent Faithful Word Baptist gets a bad rap as being down on women, or negative toward women. Misogynistic or this kind of garbage, just by fools who don't understand between men and women. What do you expect from people who can't even understand the sign on the bathroom door, that don't even know that there are only 2 genders, male and female. Of course, they're going to get confused and think that we as Christians are down on women, negative toward women, misogynistic. Actually the Bible exults and gives honor onto women, and respects women for who they are.
<br><br>Even the term feminism is so bizarre because feminism basically teaches women to act like men. Why don't you just call it masculism? That will make a lot more sense. See, the Bible is the true feminism, teaching women that there's glory in being feminine, there's glory in being a mother, that being a wife is a wonderful role that they could fill with their lives. Like I said tonight, I'm preaching a sermon on Islam. Going through and sharing the heresies and false teachings of Islam. To me, Islam really is down on women. That's not just a stereotype. It says right in the Quran that men are superior to women. That's not what the Bible teaches so.
<br><br>The Bible teaches that in Christ there is neither male nor female. When it comes to spiritual things in our value and our worth when it comes to our position in on Jesus Christ we are equal in that sense. Obviously the Bible does teach a difference in the roles between men and women. We don't fill the same roles. The Bible does teach that the wife is to submit to and obey her husband. That's not because she's of lesser value. It's just because of the fact that there's a certain chain of command, an authority structure, and an order that God has set up for us to live our lives by.
<br><br>The Bible actually exults and lifts up and says, "Hey, praise her. Lift up your voice and praise your wife in the gate. Give her the fruit of her hands." The Bible say that we are to appreciate our wife and not just take her for granted and just withhold everything from her. The Bible says, "Give her the fruit of her hands. Praise her, appreciate her. Love her, honor her." This is what the Bible teaches. It's important to compliment our wives. The whole book of Song of Solomon, we don't have time to read it but there are just so many compliments pouring forth for the husband unto his wife, praising her beauty, telling her how much she adores her and so on and so forth.
<br><br>Flip over to Proverbs chapter 15. First of all, number 1, in order to love our wives we want to make sure that we tell them that we love them and praise them, compliment them, verbally express that. Reassure them of that and make sure that they know that they're loved. You see women have a need to be loved. Now, if you look at the instructions unto a married couple the biggest thing that God emphasizes for the ladies is that they reverence and respect their husbands and submit to him. Why? Because the greatest need that we have as men is to be respected.
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Audience: Yeah.
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Pastor: If we have a choice between being loved and respected we want to be respected.
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Audience: Amen.
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Pastor: It's important to us as men. Ladies are not like that. Ladies have a great desire ... We all want to be loved but obviously ladies even more so, that's their greatest need, it's to feel loved. Just because you married them doesn't mean that they just know that you loved them for the rest of their life. Like the famous story of the woman who said to her husband, "Why don't you tell me that you love me anymore?" He says, "You know I told you why I married you and if it changes I'll let you know." That doesn't work because we need to constantly assure our wives that we still love them and let them know that we would still choose them again. We don't want them to think that while we're with them because we're stuck with them. Because we made that vow ''Til death do us part', and we're just biding our time and even so, come Lord Jesus you know. Like we're just biding our time.
<br><br>Then we actually do love them, we're glad we married them, we appreciate them. We need to love our wives and make sure that they know that we love them by verbally reassuring them because open rebuke is better than secret love. Don't keep it a secret, be open with our love. Secondly, women not only desire to be affirmed of the love that we have for them. Not only that, they also want security. Women desire security and stability. Now, when we think of this a lot of times we think of financial. They want money and a bank account. Although that is part of it more important to women than that is actually just feeling secure in the sense that they know that you love them, again.
<br><br>Look if you would at Proverbs 15, verse 15. The Bible says, "All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart has a continual feast. Better is little with the fear of the Lord that great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith." Right here in this passage we see in 3 different verses, God is explaining the concept that it's more important that we show our wife that we love her, spend time with her, appreciate her than even the type of provision that we do.
<br><br>Obviously it's important for us to provide for our wives. The Bible says, "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." That's not really the number 1 most important thing. That's not the only thing that we do as husbands or, "Hey, I'm paying the bills so just shut up and just be happy." No, because the Bible says that, "It's better to have a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith. It's better to have a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and troubles therewith." If we have a merry heart then all our days are a continual feast. Even if we only have a little bit to eat or even if our dwelling place is a modest dwelling place. Maybe we don't have a car or we have a cheap car. Maybe don't have nice clothes and nice things but you know what, love will cover a multitude of sins.
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Audience: Amen. Right.
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Pastor: We need to understand what the important things for our wife are and that is that we love her, that we appreciate her. Then she feels secure that we're never going to leave her nor forsake her, and that we still love and cherish her as when we first married her. It's important that we make sure that she knows that. Not only that. Go to James chapter 3, because we're about ways that we can show our wives that we love her and express that love to her in a way that she's going to understand and feel loved. Again, some of these points do carry over that you could show your mother that you love her. Make sure that you tell her that and compliment her and praise her. I really appreciate my mother because first of all my mother is the one who won me to Christ when I was just a small child. I still remember kneeling by my mother's bedside and praying to the Lord Jesus Christ and ask him to be my savior. I remember she showed me John 5:24, "Very truly I say to you, either heareth my word and believe upon Him that sent me hath everlasting life, and shall not come in to condemnation but has passed from the death into life."
<br><br>She showed me that scripture and showed me that eternal security and a believer when I was this a young 6 year old boy. Not only that but she taught me many great things from the Bible. I was thinking about it recently and I was trying to remember different churches that I went to and sermons that I heard and I was wracking my brain and I could barely think of any sermons that I heard as a child. I thought back to the church that I went to for 3 or 4 years. I wracked my brain and I remember 2 sermons that were preached in 3 or 4 ... We went there 3 times a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. I only remembered a couple of sermons out of hundreds of sermons.
<br><br>Then I thought of another church that I went to. I could only remember one sermon of the whole year that I went there, a 150 something sermons that I heard. You know what, I can remember lots of things that my parents taught me. Remember lots of doctrines and scriptures and things where my parents would say something to me, things that came out of the mouth of my mother that made more of an impression on me than what I was hearing in church. You ladies need to understand that your job as a mother is so critical. The Bible says in Proverbs 31, for example, the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. Mothers teaching their children the word of God, it's powerful. I appreciate my mother teaching me the word of God and would not be who I am today if it were not for me being brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and being taught the gospel and being taught other biblical doctrines throughout my childhood. Praise God for that.
<br><br>Other people didn't have that advantage. They didn't grow up with a mother that loved the Lord and that taught them how to be saved and other important biblical truths. Not only should we, number 1, arise up and praise our mother and praise our wife and give them the honor and respect that they deserve. Not only should we verbally affirm that love, not only should we provide security for our wives, not just financial security. I mean that's great, but also security of just feeling secure in our relationship, that she knows that she's loved and that we're not going to leave her nor forsake her. That's even more important than just the financial side.
<br><br>Not only that, number 3, a way that we can show our wife that we love her is to be approachable if she has an issue with something that she can come to us and talk to us without us freaking out. Now, look what the Bible says about this. In James chapter 3, verse 16, it says, "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable," watch this, "... gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." Notice that term, 'gentle, and easy to be intreated'. What does it mean to be 'easy to be intreated'? It means that somebody can come to you and ask you for something or intreat you for something or bring up an issue with something or a problem without you making it difficult to bring up anything, without getting rude, defensive or angry or just blowing your top. The Bible says that we should be slow to anger.
<br><br>Now, flip over if you would to first Timothy chapter 5, just a few pages to the left in your Bible. Because here's another place in the Bible that uses the term 'intreat' so that it'll help you get and understanding of what the Bible means when it says, 'easy to be intreated'. In first Timothy, chapter 5 verse 1, speaking of the pastor, it says, "Rebuke not an elder but intreat him as a father, and the younger men as brothers. What's the Bible saying here? Rebuke is to sternly tell someone that they're wrong. What the Bible is saying is that we should not be rude to a pastor and just rebuke an elder, get in their face, mouth off to him, be disrespectful. Does that mean that we never should approach a pastor and tell him that he's wrong about something or correct him on something? Of course not.
<br><br>Of course, the pastor should also be easy to be intreated. That doesn't mean that he should be rebuked and it's the same thing obviously with a husband and wife, even more so with a husband and wife. Even more so should the wife not rebuke her husband but she should intreat him. Here's the thing, he should be easy to be intreated. That's what the Bible says, we should be gentle and easy to be intreated. Meaning that obviously a wife should not be rebuking and mouthing off to her husband. If she does come to him with a concern with an issue, with a problem, he should be ready to hear and ready to be gentle and listen and not just blow his top or get really defensive or get really angry, but to be gentle and easy to be intreated.
<br><br>You don't have to turn there. You can flip over to Galatians 5, since you're in the neighborhood there. I'll read for you from Proverbs 18, verse 21 where the Bible reads, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing and obtaineth favor of the Lord. The poor useth intreaties; but the the rich answereth roughly." Now, why didn't you see that contrast there of two opposite things. The Bible says, "The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly. Do you see the difference there? The opposite there? There's using intreaties and then there's answering roughly. That's what it's saying when it says, "Rebuke not an elder but intreat him as a father." What's the difference? It's the difference in tone. The difference in respect.
<br><br>What the Bible is saying here is that the opposite of an intreaty is to speak roughly. Okay. What the Bible is saying is that we should be easy to be intreated. Our wife should be able to come to us and tell us if there's a problem or ask us to fix something without us getting real defensive and upset. We should be gentle and easy to be intreated. Look, at Galatians 5, 22. More of this concept on being gentle and easy to be intreated says, in Galatians 5, 22 "But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such things there is no law." Gentleness is one of the fruit of the spirit of the Bible says. Also, temperance, what does temperance mean? You've heard of somebody having a bad temper. What does that mean? That they can't control their anger, that they blow their top very quickly, that they lose their temper.
<br><br>Now, listen, anger is not always a sin. There is a time to be angry. There is an appropriate righteous time to be angered. The Bible does teach that we are to be slow to anger. We even see God and Jesus becoming angry in the Bible but he was slot to anger. Even when you look at the time Jesus blew his top the most. When he went into the temple and was flipping over the tables and chasing people out with the whip, that was not jesus losing his temper, because before he did that he sat outside the temple and he fashioned a whip of cords. In order to make a leather whip by hand that shows that he thought about what he was doing, he premeditated it. It wasn't just some worry, you just walk in there and just lost it and just (screaming) started throwing tables over.
<br><br>Now, he planned it. Now, a lot of people whenever you get angry they'll condemn you. Here's the thing, what if it's planned? What if it's appropriate? What if it's necessary? What if it's righteous. That's what jesus did. He had an angry fit where he flipped things over and swang away but it was something that was not or it just out of control. Most of the anger in your lives is sinful. Most of the time it's just blowing our top about something stupid or it's just we're getting angry at the top of the hat and the Bible commands us to be slow to anger and says, "The Lord is slow to anger." If we're going to emulate him we should not be one who has no control, just blowing our top.
<br><br>The Bible teaches us to be gentle, that's one of the fruit of the spirit, gentleness and temperance. Now, turn over back at Psalm 18. The Bible says this in verse 35, "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation." This is David speaking unto the Lord. "And thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great." Now, the verse before that says, "He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms." This is not an effeminate man here speaking. David's not just some little sissified guy who's real gentle, okay. No. See, you have to understand that there's nothing effeminate or sissy about being gentle in the appropriate context. We see a man here who is clearly a manly, if there ever were a manly man in the Bible it woul be David, who's this great warrior, he's breaking steel with his bare hands, he's a tough guy. He's a man of war.
<br><br>He talked about gentleness. Why? Because there is a time to be gentle and there's a situation where we need to be gentle. Honestly gentleness is a virtue of the Lord and it's a virtue of spiritual people because it's one of the fruit of the spirit. We go out still winning and we want to get people saved. The Bible says in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves if God [inaudible 00:21:13] will give them repentance in the acknowledging of the truth, and that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken captive by Him in his will. We shouldn't go out soul winning and just get angry at people, blow our top at people, the drama or just flip out because people don't believe it. We should be gentle. Honestly, I go out soul winning with people and sometimes they're surprised, they go soul winning will be like, "Wow, you're a lot more gentle than I thought you would be. You're a lot nicer than I thought you would be."
<br><br>Because they see me up here on the pole. I mean, you really think I'm going door-to-door and screaming at people's faces at their door? No, because you say, "Why scream of this?" Because you ought to know better, that's why. You're an independent Faithful Word Baptist. This is why, because the church I'm preaching under is just saved. I'm preaching to the saints and you can handle it, you can take it and I'm trying to start you up and get you excited and rebuke sin. You know what, when we go to the unsaved, the Bible says, "I determine not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified."
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Audience: Right.
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Pastor: We don't go door-to-door preaching on the way women should dress, and preaching on what's wrong with the television, and preaching against alcohol. That's not why we go door-to-door with that message. A lot of people they do that and they think it's evangelism and it's not. Evangelism is bringing the good news of the gospel of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. There's a time to rephrase and preach hard to get sin in the house of God. When we go out soul winning, when we go out amongst the lost, what they need is be saved.
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Audience: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: They need to be saved, because cleaning up their life isn't going to fix anything if they go to hell. I mean, they can get saved. The gospel, they need Jesus. That's the message that we emphasize. There's kind of street preaching crowd where they go out in front of the movie theater and scream about how bad the movies are. It doesn't work. "But the laws are [inaudible 00:23:12] ..." Look, it doesn't work, man. You must be misinterpreting that passage. Because you go out and scream at people all the time and get almost no one saved. We go out door-to-door and get people saved daily.
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Audience: Amen.
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Pastor: I mean there are people saved in this area almost everyday through the door knocking, soul winning efforts of our church. In the Book of Act, the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. What in the world do we think is wrong when you're going out screaming at people and nobody's getting sa-, you're doing some wrong.
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Audience: Right.
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Pastor: You're doing some wrong. If people aren't being saved you're not doing it right. Because the Bible says, "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seeds, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing bringing the sheaves with them." If people are never getting saved you're not doing it right. Period. Well, I'm in a hard area. Look, even in the hard area you'll get people saved.
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Audience: Yeah, that's true.
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Pastor: It'll take longer. You might have to spend about 20 to 25 hours of soul winning before you get somebody saved in the worst possible ... I'm thinking of some of the hardest areas that I've ever been in where I literally put in like 20 hours of soul winning. Eventually someone will get saved in every area.
Audience: Yeah.
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Pastor: I don't care what country you're in, I don't care what the demographic is, I don't care financially, I don't care what the situa-, what religion they are, if you go out and preach the gospel with a tear in the eye and the Bible on a hand, you will get people saved. This is failing ministries it's because they're not gently preaching the truth in love ... They're not giving the gospel of Jesus Christ, they're not bringing the good news. When I go soul winning I want to be gentle with people. Why? Because my goal is to get them saved.
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Audience: Yeah.
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Pastor: I don't want to just put them in just a flight or fight mode and just get them on their defense right away just right out of the gate. I don't knock on a Jew's door and just, "Hey, why did you kill Jesus?" I'm not going to knock on a Catholic's door and say, "Your religion is the great whore of Revelation. Can I show you the Bible? You've got 5 minutes?" I don't go to a Muslim's door and just say, "Did you know your prophet's a pedophile?" I mean that's not the first thing out of my mouth? It's true but it's not the first thing on my mouth. I don't just walk up to a Hindu and say, "You worship Satan. Have you got 5 minutes? I can show you." It's stupid. That's why this is my policy when I go soul winning. I always give people the gospel first before I talk negative about their religion. You do have to show them what's wrong with their religion. You know what, I start out by giving them the plan of salvation first. You know why? That's the power of God, salvation.
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Audience: Amen.
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Pastor: If you just start out with the other thing, you're just going to get an argument before you even get to the meat and potatoes. I start out first going through the plan of salvation, showing them how Jesus died for our sins, and he's buried, he rose again. How salvation's by faith. How you can't lose your salvation. Because look, they don't believe that. They're all wrong on that, that needs to be corrected. Whether you're talking to a Catholic, a Mormon, a Muslim, they all believe in salvation by works. That's where you start, with the gospel that Jesus paid it all and you show him all the scriptures about how we deserve to go to hell because of our sins, but Jesus has paid the full price. If we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. He gives us this eternal life and He'll never leave us or forsake us.
<br><br>Then once I go through that then I say, "Now, you mentioned you're a Catholic." I say, "Now, here's what the Catholic church teaches. They teach that you do have to go to church to be saved. Do the works, confess to the priest. The Bible is saying it's all by faith. Now, which one do you believe?" Make them make that choice. A lot of the time they'll say, "I'm going with what the Bible says."
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Audience: Yeah. Right.
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Pastor: Then you could lead, you could pray with them right there to call upon the name of the Lord and be saved. I don't just jump in right at the beginning with that. Why? Because I'm trying to be gentle, because I want to achieve the goal. I'm not out to show how big and bad I am. I'm out to get somebody saved. That's the goal. You're more likely to get somebody saved by giving them the gospel. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation. In any soul winning plan that does not emphasize the good news is a failed soul winning plan. Period. That's important. If they are Muslim, then I'll go through the part about how it's by faith, it's not of works and everything. Because they believe in works. Then at the end I would say at that point, "That is not what Islam teaches. Islam doesn't offer you that." Then I'll say, "Which one do you believe?" Then I bring them to that crossroads right there. That's important at that point but not before that.
<br><br>We need to be gentle, okay when we're soul winning. What do we need to do in our marriages? We need to be easy to be intreated. That does lead to my next point of listening to your wife. Go to James chapter 1, James chapter number 1. I already alluded to this verse a little bit earlier but let's look at another part of this important verse. In James 1:19 the Bible says, "Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath." We just talked about slow to wrath. Did he say, "Just never, never use wrath."? No. There isn't ... The Bible says, "Be ye angry and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath." There is a time and a place but it's rare and we should be slow to wrath. He says, "Let every man be swift to hear." What is swift mean? Quick.
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Audience: Right.
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Pastor: Be more ready to hear than to speak, he's saying. He's saying be swift to hear, slow to speak. Slow to wrath. Now, why do we need to be slow to speak? Well, number 1 because we want to think about what we say before we say it. Because there is He who's ... I'm paraphrasing this because I don't have this memorized, but there's one who's speaking and his words are like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the righteous it is health, something like that. What the Bible is talking about when it says being slow to speak is that we would think about what we say before we say it. Also that we spend time listening and not just have a one way type of a conversation where we're doing all the talking. Have you ever talked to certain people where you just can't get a word and advice?
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Audience: Yup.
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Pastor: I mean you cannot get a word in. You start to say something he says, over you. I'm thinking of a certain person like this right now. It's funny when I talk to this person because somehow when you talk to people like this and you really want to get in there. I'm not talking about Alex Jones interviewing me but that ... Anyway, there's just certain people you just can't get a word and that's ... It's funny because sometimes when I'm done with situations like that, sometimes you just have to just start talking.
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Audience: Yeah.
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Pastor: Just not stop, right? You just keep talking and then they finally kind of lose the battle as it were. There's a certain person that I talk to, I'm not going to mention any names. If I try that method with this person they will never stop. Sometimes I'll try to just, I'm just going to face off because I mean, all is right, 15 minutes, how do you say something here? Also, talking and literally you can't win this face off. I'll get 3, 4, 5 sentences out and the talking just never stops. I'm just like I give up. I bow to your superiority. It's like playing chicken. Eventually you got to swallow that, that wheel. Anyway, we need to be one that is swift to hear, slow to speak, et cetera. This is the part especially in our marriage.
<br><br>We don't want to be one that doesn't listen to because if you don't listen to people you're not showing them love. It's a sign of love if you want to hear what they say. If I love you then I must love something about you like your personality, like what you say, I want to hear what you have to say. When you're constantly shutting somebody down and not listening to them and don't care what they have to say that's not very loving. That's showing a selfishness. "Hey, it's all about me. Listen to what I have to say." You don't want to hear what anybody else has to say. We as husbands, if we want to show love and affection to our wife, we should be easy to be intreated, as the Bible says. We should also be swift to hear, ready to listen and not ... by the way, this is not listening, "Yeah, great, uh, huh." Isn't that how a lot of people listen?
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Audience: Yeah.
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.; You know, if it's not this, this, then this, "Yeah. Uh, huh. I'm listening keep talking." Be an active listener. Actually when people talk to you look at them and listen and then comment on what they're saying. Don't just change the subject every time to something completely different. Actually listen to what they're saying and discuss it with them and comment on what they're actually saying. Engage in actual dialogue and active listening. That's going to show love to your wife not just you don't really care, don't really appreciate her, don't want to hear what she has to say.
<br><br>Flip over to Peter, chapter 3. First Peter chapter 3. Again, number 1, we're talking about how to love your wife, number 1 was to tell her that you love her. Praise her, compliment her, constantly reassure her. You may not understand this is as a man because you don't necessarily have this type of insecurity. Your wife does and you need to be there to make her feel better and tell her that you love her and reassure her. Man have their own insecurities that are different. Men want to be respected more and so on, and so forth. There's a difference there. We need to tell our wife verbally, praise her, compliment her.
<br><br>Number 2, provide security for her. Not only just financial security but more importantly just security that we love her and that we're never going to leave her nor forsake her. Number 3 we need to be approachable if she has an issue with something. Gentle and easy to be intreated, the Bible said. Number 4, we should be a good listener. Not just always swift to speak. Slow to speak and swift to hear. Ready to listen. Lastly, fifth, we need to dwell with our wife according to knowledge. We need to know our wife. The Bible says in first Peter chapter 3, verse 7, "Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered."
<br><br>I think this is so important that we dwell with our wife according to knowledge. What does that mean to dwell with her according to knowledge? We need to know our wife and understand our wife. The new book is in, understanding women. Have you ever seen that picture where they show a kind of a nerdy looking guy with a book that's this thick and it says, "Hey, this is volume 1" or whatever, understanding women and hey, women are impossible to understand. For all the hype of women being impossible to understand, they're really not impossible to understand. It really is possible to figure it out. It's just that sometimes men just don't want to necessarily take the time and the energy to try to understand their wife.
<br><br>Instead they just assume, "Well, here's what I would want. Why don't she want the same thing?" You're not married to a man. That's why. You're married to a woman and women are different than men. It was a great day when I realized you know what, doing to us, you know, 'therefore all things whichever you would that men should do unto you' do you even start to them? For this is the law on the prophets? It was a good day when I realized just because I want something or I think a certain way that doesn't mean that my wife is going to think that ... Because she's a woman and I'm a man and I should stop trying to say, "I just can't figure this out." It doesn't really matter why. Just figure it out. Just figure out what works and what doesn't. Dwell with your wife according to knowledge. Figure out which light bulb comes on when you push each button.
<br><br>You don't have to understand. I mean look, you don't have to see a schematic of all the diodes and understand all the electrical engineering behind it. If you push a button a light bulb go. Good. If I turn the key in the ignition of my car do I really have to understand everything about why the car is turning on in order for that car to drive me from point A to point B? No. You do need some knowledge to drive a car, don't you? You don't need to be able to draw a diagram of a four stroke engine. You do need to know how to turn the key, how to put it in gear, how to release the parking break, how to step on the gas, how to use the [inaudible 00:36:32]. There's a lot to learn when you're learning how to drive, isn't there?
<br><br>At first it's hard. Teenagers are struggling with it. The windshield wipers are coming on. They're trying to get the thing going. They don't know what's going on. Once you get good at it it's a piece of cake. You get in the car everyday and you don't even think about it, do you? You're not going through some mental flight checklist or something like an airplane pilot. You just get in the car and just mindlessly, you can practically do it in your sleep. Don't do it on your sleep but you could. You're just release the break, spin the wheel. It's like second nature. It's like riding a bicycle. You know that's how it is because you know how to do it. Because you took time to learn. You don't have to sit there and, "Well, I just don't understand why she wants this or doesn't want this." So what? That's meaningless information.
<br><br>Why? All you need to know is what she wants and give it to her. I'm not saying give your wife everything she wants. Don't misunderstand me. What I am saying is that you want to know how to show your wife that you love her in a way that she understands and learn her likes and dislikes. If you've been married for a decade you should be able to order for your wife at a restaurant and order something that she's going to like. Bring her home food or treats that she's going to like. Not bring her home that which she hates, or just have no clue. Just, "I have no idea what she likes. What kind of food she wants." That just kind of shows that you're not paying attention. That shows kind of a lack of love and knowledge.
<br><br>Dwell with your wife according to knowledge. Women are not as direct as men. Men are a little direct, we say what we mean, we mean what we say. Women are more indirect in the way that they say things. We have to learn that secret language. We have to decrypt what they're saying. We have to learn what they mean and their woman speak. Be able to decrypt it and understand what they're really saying. Because sometimes what the words that are coming out of their mouth is not really what they're saying. It's really indirect. Sometimes these cues, this little subtle cues, you have to pick up on them. She's not going to say, like as a man we just say, "I want to go out to eat right now. This is the restaurant I want to go to. Let's do it." That's man language. Okay. Women language is like, "What should I make for dinner tonight? Yeah. You know what, I've kind of got a late start on dinner tonight. What can I whip up real fast?" Hint, hint. "I guess we'll have an oatmeal for dinner again." We're just like, "Okay. Great. Make sure mine has raisins in it."
<br><br>"Great, it's good for you." She's like, "Get the hint." Look, ladies, you can't pull this every night. All right? I'm just kidding. Maybe that's a silly example. I'm just saying these little kind of subtle cues and little thi-, or you know the fishing for compliments. Obviously it's a bad habit to fish for compliments. If your wife's fishes for compliments you need to put one on the line for her. You need to stock that lake. You know what I mean? You need to stock the lake with like farm-raised fish. You need to keep that lake stocked so that when she's fishing for compliments she better catch something on that line right away. It's just the little subtle cues like, "Oh, I look awful today." You're supposed to jump in there and be like, "No, you look amazing."
<br><br>I'm just saying you have to dwell with your wife according to knowledge. Here's the thing, that big, giant book isn't going to work because they're all different. That's what I can't understand for the life of me why would someone want to get divorced and marry someone else. I don't want to start over. I mean I already spent years and years trying to figure out the woman I married to, I don't want to start over. Anyway, they're all different, right? You have to dwell with your wife according to knowledge. I can't even get up here and tell you, "Hey, this is the one size fits all. Here's how you're going to have a perfect marriage, step 1, step 2, step 3." You need to learn and take an interest in and understand your own wife and that's one of the ways that you can show her you love her is by dwelling with her according to knowledge.
<br><br>What's the sermon about? We want our wives to feel appreciated. Of course we all want to appreciate our mothers today. It is mother's day, that's very important, too. For many of us our wife is also the mother of our children. You want to think about her today as well. If we love our wives we don't want that to be secret love, as the Bible says. Open rebuke is better than secret love. We want that to be openly expressed, and our love in our heart is not going to do any good unless it gets out of our heart and it gets transmitted to our wife in a way that she understands. We need to transmit our love to our Mom in a way that she understands. It has to get there. It's like if you say to someone who's naked and destitute of daily food, the part of peace being warm and filled, notwithstanding you give them not those things which are needed of the body, what are the profit?
<br><br>If it doesn't get to the destination, the love in our heart is kind of meaningless at that point, isn't it? If our wife doesn't find out about it or other important people in our life. We need to express our love and what I showed you from the scripture this morning are just some practical ways that are all biblical to show your wife love in a way that she's going to understand.
<br><br>Let's bow to a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for our mothers, Lord, and for our wives, these important ladies in our life. Thank you for the word of God that exults femininity in women and exults the positions of being a wife and a mother. Lord, help us to appreciate and honor these important people in our lives especially today, but all days. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-69794534706100809302016-05-13T10:43:00.000-07:002016-05-13T10:43:02.880-07:00Having Character <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yv_HtjvOA4">Video</a>
<p><b>May 3, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/6yv_HtjvOA4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p>Now, come to Psalm 15 in just a moment, if you want to stay there, but this morning I want to preach on the subject of character, having character. Now what do I mean by having character? Well being someone who can be relied upon, someone who is a good worker, someone who keeps their word, and does what they say they're going to do, and so forth. Let me read for you a few verses as I get into this. Proverbs 25:19 says, "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble, is like a broken foot, or ... " I'm sorry, "A broken tooth, and a foot out of joint." If you think about that, those are some of the most annoying problems you could have. If you have a broken tooth, it can be such excruciating pain that it's just debilitating, you can't do anything, you can't even think straight, because you're in so much pain. Or a foot out of joint, would be another thing that would be very irritating. You know you're hopping around, you can't walk right, you can't run right.
<br><br>It says in Proverbs 10:26, "As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him." Again, we're talking about just unreliable people, people who have no character, people who are unfaithful, and just what a curse they are to the people that are trying to rely on them to get things done. Now, when it says unfaithful, what that means is that you cannot put faith in this person. The word faithful is used 2 different ways in the Bible. Sometimes in the Bible when it says faithful, it's referring to a person who has a lot of faith, a person who is full of faith, is known as a faithful person, but often the word faithful means someone that you can put your faith in. Like the Bible says, "The Lord is faithful," meaning he's going to keep his promises. You can rely on him, you can trust him, he's trustworthy.
<br><br>When we talk about having character we mean that you are someone who is faithful, someone who is trustworthy, someone who is a good worker, that can be relied upon to do what you say you will do. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 6, "Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness, but a faithful man, who can find?" This reminds me of people when they're filling out a job application, or turning in a resume, they proclaim their own goodness, and tell you how great of a worker they're going to be, but then the Bible says, "But isn't it hard to find someone who actually is going to be faithful? A faithful man, who can find?" They're all saying that they're going to be faithful, they all say they're going to be reliable, and be on time, but that doesn't mean that it's necessarily reality.
<br><br>Proverbs 25 verse 13, on the other hand, says, "As the cold of snow, in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to him that send him, for he refreshith the soul of his masters." He's a blessing to those for whom he works. It says in 1 Corinthians 4:1, "Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of Go. Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." God is saying that if we're going to serve him, he wants us to be faithful, he wants us to be trustworthy, he wants us to have character, and be reliable. He says in 1 Timothy 1:12, this is the Apostle Paul, "I thank Christ Jesus, our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry." You say, "You know, I'd love to be in the ministry someday, I want to pastor, I want to preach, I want to teach." Well God will put you in the ministry when he finds you to be faithful, because it's required in stewards that a man be found faithful.
<br><br>Notice he doesn't say, "Hey I'll make you faithful." No, he wants to find you faithful, all right? You need to get faithful, you need to get reliable, and trustworthy, and get some character, so that God can use you in a greater capacity. Now let's get specific this morning. What are we talking about when we say, "Hey get some character, be faithful, be trustworthy, be someone who can be relied upon." Well number 1, do what you say you will do. Do what you say ... Now, 1 way to remember this is D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D, all right? Now I know that's not very easy to remember, but that was taught to me a long time ago. D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D, just as something to remember, and I constantly think about that. Whenever there's something that I said I was going to do, and the temptation is there to not do it, I always just think, "Do what you say you're going to do, do what you say you will do, do what you say you will do."
<br><br>This is such an important point. People so often say they're going to do things, and they don't get them done. Now, let me give you a scripture on this. In Psalm 15, for example, this talks about someone who maybe commits to do something, or swears that they're going to do something, or says that they're going to do something, and then circumstances change. Now all the sudden they're not going to get it done, or do they get it done any way because they said they were going to get it done. Look what the Bible says in Psalm 15 verse 1, "Lord who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth of his heart, he that back biteith now with tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor, in whose eyes a vile person is condemned, but he honoreth them that fear the Lord." Watch this, "He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not. He that puteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh award against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved."
<br><br>Do you see there that one of the great attributes of a godly person is that they swear to their own hurt, and yet they change not. What does that mean? Well often in the business world this will come up, you quote a job, you put a bid in on a job, and you say, "I'm going to do this job, for this much." Well guess what sometimes happens, you get into the job, it ends up being harder than you thought it was going to be, and so you end up losing money, not making any money, or making very little money. Now a lot of people will then try to think that they can say, "Oh whoops, I'm halfway into it, it's harder than I thought, now I need to charge you more money." Anybody who has worked in business knows that this is what people try to pull all the time, and they try raise the price after they've already agreed. You're like, "Well I wouldn't have hired you if I would have known it was going to cost more."
<br><br>That's the whole point of quoting, and giving a bid. The thing about quoting and giving a bid is that sometimes it's easier than you thought, and you end up making extra money, and you don't complain about that, and you don't come to the customer then and say, "Oh let me charge you a little less because it ended up being easier." No, you'd go, "Score," and you make the extra money. See you do what you say you will do, you swear to your own hurt, and then you change not. You stick with what you've said you're going to do. Now a great example of this is marriage. When you get married you are swearing, "Til death do us part." You're saying, "I take thee to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sicknesses and health, and poverty and in wealth, and forsaking all others. I'm going to keep myself only unto you so long as we both shall live." I mean, you say, "Well that's kind of a mouthful of vows." Right, because we're trying to impress upon people all the different things that could go wrong, and yet you're still going to keep true to the vow.
<br><br>You see when you swear to it, you change not. It's like Jephthah said, "I open my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." Once you say you're going to do something, you're suppose to follow through and do it. So many people today, they get married, and then, "Well I didn't know that she was going to be this way. I didn't know that he was going to be this way. But I didn't know ... I didn't ... " It doesn't matter. That's what it means, for better for worse.
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Congregation: Yes.
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Pastor: I was taught, who was it that ... Were you the one that was telling me in Africa how they did the vow? They were in Africa, and they said, "Instead of for richer for poorer," they said, "For rich or for richer." Rich or richer, good better, health healthier, that's stupid, because the whole point of saying the the vow ... No offense to Africa, but it's stupid, because the whole point of the vow is you're saying that if things go wrong, I'm still going to be faithful to you. You could still rely on me. Not just as long as rich or richer, count me in. I mean, it's ridiculous. People today have no character.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: If they're willing to sit there and say, "Oh yeah, it's for better for worse, it's til death do us part," and then, "Uh it's to hard, oh we can't get along. Oh ... " We'd hate for you to do anything hard, now wouldn't we? People who say that everything is too hard, are people who lack character. If you say you're going to do something, you do it. Especially when you make an oath like marriage before God, you better do what you said you will do.
<br><br>Go to Matthew chapter 5, Matthew chapter 5. Do what you say you will do. You say, "Well Pastor Anderson that's talking about swearing, that's talking about an oath." It's like when you go to somebody and say, "Hey you promised you were going to do this," and then they say, "Well I didn't promise. I said I would do it, but I didn't promise I was going to do it." Like as if that makes a difference. If you say you're going to do it, you're suppose to do it. Look what the Bible says in Matthew 5:34, "But I say unto you, swear not at all. Neither by Heaven for it is God's throne, nor by the earth for it is his footstool. Neither by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head because thou can't not make one hair white or black, but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay, for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
<br><br>Now flip over to James, because there's a connected passage in James that you can look at in light of Matthew chapter 5, that we just looked at, where he basically says something very similar. In James chapter 5 verse 12 he reiterates the teaching of Jesus there. He says in verse 12, "But above all things my brethren swear not, neither by Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath," and that's what Jesus had also said, "But let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay, lest ye fall into condemnation." The Bible says, look, when you say yea, it better be yea, and if you say nay, it better be nay. You need to do what you say you will do, that's part of having character. It's amazing to me, in the business world, how many times people will say they're going to do something, and it's almost like 50% of the time, that they don't deliver, that they don't get it done. "Oh I'll have this done by Friday." Friday rolls around, not done.
<br><br>Now here's the thing, if a person had character, and something really did come up, that really did providentially hinder them, then they would contact you and tell you, "Hey I'm sorry, X, Y, and Z, has gone wrong. I'm not going to be able to deliver on Friday. I'm going to have to do it on this ... Let me know if that work for you, let me know what we can do to fix this." When you have to go chasing after that person, and that's 50% of the time, where you have to call them up Saturday morning, or something, and say, "Hey what happened on Friday?" "Oh this came up." "Why didn't you tell me that?" Because you don't have character, that's why. People who have character are reliable, they're faithful, and you can just count on them to get done what they've said they will do. Isn't it amazing how the same people are constantly providentially hindered, all the time? Are constantly having all kinds of things go wrong?
<br><br>I remember I was working with a guy, and he called in that he had to go to his grandma's funeral. I remember my boss said to me, "You know this is not the first time his grandma has died." He said, "I think his grandma has died several times. She's like a cat, she has 9 lives. She keeps dying, and he has to keep attending the funeral over and over again." Don't be a person who says you're going to do something and then you don't do it. Secondly, don't be lazy. Another sign of a lack of character is those who are lazy. Go to Proverbs, if you would, and we're going to rapid fire through a bunch of these great verses in Proverbs that talk about being lazy. The word that the Bible uses for laziness, is usually the word slothful, it talks about being slothful."
<br><br>Let's start in Proverbs chapter 12 verse 24, the Bible reads, "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule, but the slothful should be under tribute." Now tribute is taxes, and he's saying if you're diligent ... A person who is diligent is someone who patiently works hard, they keep plugging away at something, doing a good job, working hard, and patiently getting it done. He says, "That person is going to bear rule." You say, "Well how do I climb the ladder at my job? How do I become a management level worker?" You need to be diligent, and he says you'll bear rule. He says, "The slothful shall be under tribute." You know, as a country gets lazier the taxes go up. Isn't it amazing how our taxes are so high, and there are other places in the world where the taxes are even higher? Then you look around and it's hard to find good workers in America any more because people are so lazy nowadays. You can say whatever you want, and you can rah rah, chest pounding, 'Merica, and red, white, and blue, and American exceptionalism, and the best workforce in the world, and blah, blah, blah, but you know what? American workers, these days, are getting lazier and lazier. It's hard ... Anyone who runs a business can tell you that, it's hard. People complain that there are no jobs out there, no, it's that people don't want to work.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: You'll offer people work, you'll offer people jobs, and they won't take you up on it, because of the fact that they're lazy. There are so many slothful people in America, that's why we pay so many taxes. You know it's funny, if you think about some of the places that the taxes are the highest, in the world, would be like the Scandinavian countries, right? A lot of people are so deluded they think, "Oh yeah, America needs to be more Sweden, and Norway." Those places are wicked messed up places, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Whenever you hear something in the news about, "Oh they're teaching pedophilia at a 5 year olds in school," it'll be Sweden, Norway, Denmark, where all this perversion is taught. It's funny because we've been doing all this translating, and everything of our movie marching design, getting it translated into a bunch of different languages. A lot of it's being done by volunteers, and a lot of it is hiring people, and let me tell you something, virtually, I found 1 person in Scandinavia who actually did their job right.
<br><br>Literally, every other Scandinavian language I'm on the third person, of like, "Here you go, here's the job, get it translated, get it done. The money is ready to go, just do the work." Weeks go by, nothing, nothing. Do you think it's a coincidence that it's just Scandinavia where I've had 9 people drop the ball? Everywhere else people are getting things done. What in the world? I don't know what Adolf Hitler was talking about, those people being the master race, or whatever, up in the Nordic man up in Scandinavia. I don't know what he was talking about, because all those propaganda posters of a bunch of Scandinavians swinging a pickax, and everything, and, "They love to work hard." I'm not seeing it. I'm sorry to to just slander a whole nation like that, but I'm just telling you that those people pay taxes, like 60% or something. I know in Germany they pay like 60% or something. Then you try to get them to work, and you can't get them to do any work. They're lazy.
<br><br>"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster," look at Proverbs 15 verse 19. Proverbs 15 verse 19. Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest about these bunch of Scandinavians, and you know I'm sure there are a lot of great people over there, but honestly, I'm not impressed with the work ethic of some of these people. Proverbs 15:19 says this, "The way of the slothful man is as a hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain." You know what this is saying? When people are lazy everything's always hard, there's all these obstacles, you know what I mean? You tell them, "Hey get this done," it's like, "No, no, there's all these obstacles. These are all the reasons why it can't be done. These are all the difficulties." Then it's funny, you give it to the righteous man to get it done, and all the sudden it's just ... There's just a plain course of action, just point A to B to C, we're going to get this done.
<br><br>You see, the righteous man comes to the boss with solutions, and then the lazy person comes with problems all the time. "Oh, I can't do it. Oh, it's not going to work. Oh, thorns everywhere I turn. Oh, it's a hedge of thorns." Isn't it amazing how some people just get things done, and then other people it's just always problems. It's always obstacles and excuses why they can't get the work done. It says in chapter 19 verse 15, "Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." You ever get around people who just say that they're tired all the time? "I'm tired," and you'll be at work with these people. Monday they're tired, Tuesday they're tired, Wednesday they're tired, Thursday they're tired. I remember when I was in school every kid, every day, at one point in the day said, "I'm tired." You remember that? I mean that's how it was when I was in school, it's just, "I'm tired. I'm tired. I'm tired."
<br><br>You know why? Because slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep. Not doing anything, being lazy, makes you tired. Now you'd think like, "Oh man if I sit around a lot, then I'll have all kinds of energy because I'm just saving up all the energy." In reality the more you do, the more activity you preform, the more energy you get, from working. It's the idle soul that suffers hunger, and it's the idle, slothful, soul that's just tired all the time. You'd think the people who worked hard would be tired all the time, but they're bouncing off the walls. It's the people that are lazy and sitting around that are just always tired. I know this might be a harsh sermon, but you know what? People need to hear this stuff.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We need to raise up a generation with some character.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Honestly, sometimes times are tough, financially, and if you want to make it in this world, you need to listen to what I'm saying so that you can succeed at your job. When times are tough you can actually be able to bring home a paycheck, okay? We need to raise our children to learn how to grow up, and work, and make things happen, and find a way to get things done, and not just always have a problem. It says in chapter 19 verse 24, "A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again." He's saying laziness will get you to the point where you're so lazy, you're too lazy to even pick up the food and put it in your own mouth. That's pretty lazy. It says in verse ... You're so lazy you can't even get up off the sofa and walk to the fridge to get the next ice cream bar. Imagine being that lazy, but this is a downward spiral where laziness takes you, where slothfulness takes you.
<br><br>Chapter 21 verse 25, "The desire of the slothful man killeth him, for his hands refuse to labor." He wants to work, but his hands are just refusing to do the work. Look at chapter 22 verse 13, "The slothful man sayeth, there's a lion without. I shall be shall be slain in the streets." Isn't it amazing how lazy people always find an excuse why they can't work? "There's a lion out, there's a lion on the lose, I can't go anywhere." Or, "It's too hot outside. It's too cold." I know that there are churches that cancel soul winning for literally half the year because of the weather, because they live in a cold place, so they'll cancel it for 7 months. Then I suppose in a hot place like Arizona we could just cancel it for the next 6 months, it's way too hot to be out there. Well you know, it's hotter where people are going if they don't get saved, if we don't give them the gospel.
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Congregation: Amen. Amen. Amen.
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Pastor: Hell is hot, but so many people will come up with excuses of, "Oh, that job is too hard, it's too dangerous." Look, a lot of jobs are dangerous, okay? If you don't want to work a dangerous job then, you know, you've got to find the safest job that you can, but you got to work. You got to do something, you can't just say everything's too dangerous. If you're looking for a really safe job be a police officer anyway.
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It's true. Being a police officer is not even in the top 10 for being a dangerous job. Everybody talks about, "Oh man they risk their life everyday. They go out they don't even know if they're ... " they're wearing a bullet proof vest. You know what? You know what? If you look at how many officers have died [inaudible 00:21:19], you know how most of them die? Car accidents. You know what the most dangerous jobs are? Being a taxi cab driver, these are the number ... Look at a list of the 10 most dangerous jobs. Taxi cab driver, truck driver, over the road truck driver is a very dangerous job, being an electrician is in the top 10. Do their wives wonder if they're coming home every night because they're going to do electrical work, because they're going to drive a cab? Even being a fast food worker is more dangerous than being a police ... What I'm saying is, look, every job ... You say, "Why bring that up?" Because every job has some danger inherent in it.
<br><br>No matter what you're doing. Whether you're driving a cab, you could be held up, you could be held at gunpoint, but you're probably just more likely to get into a car accident. If you drive a truck you're very likely to get into a car accident, it's just the law of averages, the amount of miles that you're driving, very dangerous job. Electricians get electrocuted, I've know of electricians who ... I actually known who were electrocuted. They fall off of high places that they're working, you know 1 who is a plumber could be injured and killed. Any kind of a construction trade where you're working around tools, and you're working with scissor lifts, and you're working with heavy equipment, and machinery, you can be killed, you can be injured. There's a danger that's inherent in pretty much any job. Here's how you can be safe, just don't get out of bed. Just live in a white padded room, that's the safest place for you to be.
<br><br>I'm pointing this out here, the slothful man saying there's a lion in the street, I can't go to work. I can't be a cab driver because it's too dangerous, I can't be an electrician because I'm afraid of electricity. You know what? You have to go and get some job, and there's going to be some danger inherent in any job, but you need to go and work hard, and succeed at something, and pray for the Lord to protect you. Okay? And also be as safe as you can. The Bible says in Proverbs 24 verse 30, it says, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding." It says in verse number 31, "And lo it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles, that covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw and considered it well. I looked upon it and received instruction, yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall thy poverty come as one that traveleth and thy want as an armed man."
<br><br>The Bible says you got to be really vigilant and careful about working hard, because it'll sneak up on you, and destroy your life. If you find yourself falling into this trap of becoming slothful, idle, lazy, etc. the Bible says again ... Well you flip over to chapter 26, while you're turning there I'll read for you from Ecclesiastes, it says, "By much slothfulness the building decayeth, and through idleness of the hands, the house dropeth through." Here's what this verse is teaching, something a little deeper than what's on the surface. When it talks about, "By much idleness the house dropping through," what it's saying is ... Anybody who owns a home knows this, is that if you do nothing about your home, it'll get worse and worse. It'll decay and fall apart, because there are constantly things that need to be fixed around the house, right? The Bible is teaching us a deeper truth here, that just if you just sit there and are passive, it's not that you're neutral, you're going into the negative is what it's saying here.
<br><br>You have to actively be making something happen in your life. You have to actively be out striving and working hard, not just coasting, because if you coast you're going to move backwards in life. That's what the Bible is teaching here. He's saying, "If you're idle the house is going to decay, and get old, and drop through, over time." It's like when Jesus said, "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth." It's not just if you're not gathering with Jesus, you're just not affecting the Kingdom of God, no, he said you're harming the Kingdom of God by not doing anything. You have to do something. Look at Proverbs 26 verse 13, "The slothful man sayeth there's a lion in the way, a lion is in the streets." We already talked about that one.
<br><br>Verse 14, "As the door turneth upon his hinges, so do the slothful upon his bed." I mean just flipping over in the bed, picture the laziness. He says in verse 15, "The slothful hideth his hand in his bosom, it greiveth him to bring it again to his mouth." You don't have to turn there, but Matthew 25:26 said, "His Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and slothful servant. Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I've not straught." Notice that he associates slothfulness with wickedness. It's wicked to be slothful. Is it just me or are there a lot of Bible verses about this?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: This isn't just a few verses, I mean this is the whole book of Proverbs. This is almost every chapter in Proverbs, tell in you, "Don't be lazy. Don't be a sluggard. Work hard. Get some character, and work ethic, and get something done." The Bible tells us in the New Testament, Romans 12 verse 11, he said, "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit serving the Lord." What does it mean to be fervent? Fervent comes from the root word fire, fervent, fire, okay? He says, "You're fervent in spirit," meaning that you are zealous about your job. He says, "Don't be slothful in business, but be fervent in spirit," and then he says, "Serving the Lord." Why? Because the Bible says that, "Whatsoever you do, you're to do it heartily as unto the Lord, and not unto men." You might sit there and think to yourself, "Well, I have a crummy job, so that's why I'm just not really that fervent about it. I'm not really that fired up about it." Well you know what? Then you're in sin, and you need change, because God commands us not to be slothful in business, and he commands us to be fervent in spirit, and he commands us to serve as unto the Lord.
<br><br>He said, "Whether therefore you eat or drink, or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. Whatsoever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men." In Ephesians 6 he makes it crystal clear, even in the context of serving your masters on this earth, he says, "You do it as the servants of Christ. You do it as unto the Lord." You say, "Well but my job is just not that glamorous, it's just not that exciting of a job. You don't understand Pastor Andersen." I don't want to degrade anybody's job here by throwing out an example. You know, really, anybody who goes out and works an honest job has my respect.
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Congregation: Amen.
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I'm not a respecter, but I never would look down on anybody, for any blue collar job that they do. I've way more respect for you if you work a blue collar job, and work hard, and roll up your sleeves, no matter how degrading, or dirty of a job it is. I have way more respect for you then I do for people who are usurers.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Right? Who are bankers, you know, that are stealing money from people, you know, and stuff like that. Honestly I've way more respect for people who work an honest job, and there is no honest, blue collar, job that I would ever look down upon. I would do just about any blue collar working job, if that's what it took to feed my family, then I would do it. You know what? I would never look down on any ... If you do look down on people because of their job, then you're not right with God.
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Congregation: You're right. Amen.
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Pastor: You know, if you just praise those who ... You look to politicians who are a bunch of crooks, and liars, and you look at them and have respect unto them. Or even just ... Everybody has so much respect for the police, even though the police do all kinds of crooked, and dishonest, things all the time.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: And enforce a bunch of wicked laws that have nothing to do with the Bible. They defend a bunch of homos, and defend abortion clinics, and defend everything else. I mean look, you say, "Why don't you like the police?" Oh maybe because they came to my house in the middle of the night, and threatened to take my kids away, because of an anonymous phone call.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: That's all part of freedom in America? Sorry not interested in that kind of freedom.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Somebody needs to speak out about this garbage.
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Congregation: Yep.
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Pastor: You know what? You say, "Oh you need to respect them. Oh, their job is so dangerous." It's not even in the top 10, it's not even in the top 20. They die of car accidents like everybody else. Yeah, yeah, they have all these fallen officers in the line of duty, they're counting the dogs. They count the dog as a fallen officer, literally the K9. I've way more respect for somebody who does an honest, hard working job, then some cyber policeman who looks at child porn all day, or goes to the strip club every night, and the gentleman's club, and the bar, on the vice squad or whatever. I have way more respect for whatever the menial ... I don't care if you're picking up dog doos for a living, you know what? I respect that job.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You're working an honest job, and you know what? Being a trash man, or picking up dog doo, or digging ditches all day, you know, praise God for people who work hard, and are reliable, and are out making honest living, and have integrity.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You know what the Bible says? "If a ruler harken to lies, all his servants are wicked." That's what the Bible says. What in the world does that have to do with the sermon? Where are we in this passage? Oh yeah, "Being fervent in spirit." Get fired up about your job, get zealous about your job. Don't be one of these people where every ... "Oh thank God it's Friday."
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Right? Where you just live for ... "Hey how you doing?" "Oh well it's Monday." You got to learn to enjoy your job.
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Pastor: The Bible tells us to be fervent in spirit about our business, and to get excited about our work, and not to have a bad attitude. Where you go into work, and you're just dragging through the motions. You know what? It shows in your work if you have that wrong attitude. You need to get zealous about your job. Look, yeah, the world is going to respect you when you have all these crooked jobs. I respect you if you're a plumber, a carpenter, an electrician, a computer programmer, you know. If you're digging ditches, if you're picking up dog doo, if you're a janitor, you know what? I have just as much respect for you as any body else, because you're working an honest job. You know what? It's time for you to get excited about digging that ditch, it's time for you to get excited about electrical work, or plumbing, or carpentry, or whatever you do, and be fervent about it. Look, we as men, we spend half our lives working, we spend half our time working. I mean, are you just going to go through half your time just wishing that you were somewhere else? You need to live in the moment of what you're doing, and learn to like your job, and learn to enjoy hard work.
<br><br>You know what? Part of having character is applying yourself to work, and taking pride in your work, and building something, or fixing something, or doing something, and then taking pride in doing a good job. Part of the reason why some people are not very fired up about their job is because they don't put a lot of effort into it, they don't try that hard, so they can't really be proud of the output of their labors. Having character is about working hard, and taking pride in what you do, which leads me to my next point which is that we should not do a hasty job when we do our ... Part of having character is not to just quickly get the job done because we're lazy and we want to take a break, and we want to relax, so we'll just kind of quickly crank it out, and just kind of be done with it, and move on to the next thing.
<br><br>Well what does the Bible say about that? Proverbs 21 verse 5 says, "The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plentyousness, but of everyone that is hasty only to want." The Bible is contrasting 2 types of people in Proverbs 21:5, the hasty person, and the diligent person. Okay? The hasty person is the person is the person who is just in a hurry to get the job done. Sometimes you'll give your kids a job, and they'll do it hastily, and they won't do it diligently. For example, you might say, "Vacuum the carpet." They'll miss a whole bunch of stuff, miss a bunch of spots, and then you have to go back and tell them, "Hey look, you need to go back." They were just in a hurry to get it done, because it's like, do your job, and then you can go play. "Hey pick up the trash in the front yard, and then you can go play," and they just pick up a few things, and then, "All right I'm done, can I go play?" That's how a lot of adults are in their job, just quickly throw something together.
<br><br>Maybe they're in construction, they're not using a level, they're not getting things right, they're doing things in a sloppy way, just to try to do the minimum to get it done, and get out of there, and get paid, and that is a lack of character. We need to be diligent with our work and not hasty just to get the job done. The Bible says, "A faithful man should abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent." Go to Proverbs chapter 6, Proverbs chapter 6, no only do we need to do what we say we will do, very important.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Yes, we need a big amen on that one. Do what you say you will do, D-W-Y-S-Y-W-D. Number 2, don't be lazy, don't be slothful, and remember if you just sit back and coast, that's where your life is headed, towards slothfulness. You have to take initiate, and work hard, and make things happen. Not only that, don't do a hasty job, but be fervent, and zealous, about doing a good job, and taking pride in accomplishing good work, and not just throwing something together, do the minimum. You know you'd probably find yourself enjoying your job more if you started doing a better job, and started taking pride in your work a little bit, then it might mean something more to you now that you're giving it a little more value. Also, we talked about the fact that some people, they're not fired up about their job, or not doing a good job, because they think, "Well my job is a crummy job." Or some people have an attitude that says, "Well you know, if you don't pay much, you don't get much. Since I'm not getting paid that much, I'm not going to do much."
<br><br>You know why you're not getting paid much? Because you don't do much. You've got it backwards, you've got ... You think, "Well I'm not going to work that hard because I'm not really getting paid that well." No, you're not getting paid well because you're not working hard. "Well no, because you don't understand the job I work at, they're never going to pay you well, no matter what you do." Yeah, but you know what? God can give you a new job.
Congregation: Amen. Amen.
Pastor: If God looks down from Heaven, and sees you working hard, he can give you a good, new, job. Or he can look down from Heaven and see you slacking, and lazy, and making excuses, and not fervent about your work, and he can look down and say, "Well you know what? That's where they belong, in that minimum paying job, because that's what kind of work they're doing, that's what they deserve is a minimum rate." Don't ever get this attitude that says, "Well if you don't pay much, then don't expect much, and I'm just going to do ... " No, whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," the Bible says. Get fervent, and zealous, about your job. There is no job that is not honorable unto the Lord, that is an honest job. Okay?
<br><br>God will respect you if you work hard at your job. Honestly, there's this big distinction sometimes in people's minds of being in full time Christian service, or being in the ministry, and almost a looking down on pastors who work a side job. Like they're not in the ministry full time, or something like that. You know what? It's just as spiritual for you to go out and mow lawns all day, and do it heartily unto the Lord. God is just as pleased with that as a pastor doing his job heartily unto the Lord.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: All day, and all night. It's not just a thing of, "Well you're in the ministry now." No, every job is unto the Lord, every job is unto Christ. You know what? We're all in the ministry full time in a sense, because we should all, whatsoever we do, whether we eat or drink, we should all be doing it unto the Lord.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We're all serving God on a daily basis. You know what? Going to your job ... These aren't just words that I'm saying, this isn't me just trying to sound dramatic or something. I'm serious, I believe this, I am serious right now that if you go to your job, and you work hard, and are fervent about that job, and you do with zeal, and you put your heart into it, and you pray and say, "Lord I'm doing this because I want to honor you, Lord, and I want to be a good testimony of a Christian. I'm going to serve these people like I'm serving Jesus." You know what? God will look down and be pleased with that.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You know what? You're just ... You're every bit as good of a Christian as the guy who is in the ministry full time, quote, unquote. Honestly, it's not everybody is cut out to be a pastor. Not everybody is cut out to be a missionary. People have different talents, and gifts, and abilities, that they've been given. You know what? If you're a housewife, or if you are a stay at home mom, do it heartily unto the Lord, and be zealous, and you are every bit as spiritual as someone who has a more glamorous job, or a more spiritual job, or a more important job. No, every job is important. Every job doesn't seem important until someone stops doing it. The garbage man is going to seem pretty important in about 3 weeks of nobody picking up the trash.
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Congregation: Yeah right.
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Pastor: All the sudden he's going to be a real important guy. Any job ... "Oh changing diapers, such a menial job, not important." Well let's wait a couple of days and see if it's important. Let's not do it for a couple days and see how important ... Yeah it's real important. Every job is important. Honestly, it's amazing how our country denigrates, and looks down upon people who do honest work, and acts like, "Oh, but if you don't go to this school, and get this degree then you're going to do one of these menial jobs." So what? Have integrity, do a menial job, work blue collar jobs, so what? Who cares what people think? Sometimes you make more money being a garbage man then doing somethings that people have more respect for.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: I'd rather come home and take a real hot shower after being a garbage man then to work a job where I don't have integrity. I'd rather be a garbage man then a bar tender. I'd rather be a garbage man then a lot of things that are dishonest, that's a whole sermon of itself. Did I have you go to Proverbs 6? Here's the next point, having character is when you can work without someone standing over you, and cracking the whip to make you work. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 6 verse 6, "Go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise, which having no guide," watch this, "No guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. How long will thou sleep o sluggard? When wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep, so shall I poverty come as one that traveleth, and thy want as an armed man."
<br><br>The Bible is saying here that we need to be a worker that doesn't always need a guide, an overseer, a ruler. Now, you have to be self motivated, and there are 2 kinds of workers, there are the kind of workers where you can just give them a day's worth of work, or even a week's worth of work, and literally never talk to that person again. I've given worker, "Here's a week of work," I've laid out their whole week, and then just sit back, and just let it happen. There are people who you can trust to do that, because you know that at the end of the week, it's all going to be done. Then there are other people where you have to be on them, literally, every 5 to 10 minutes, where you have to just stand them. "Hey get back to work. Hey, you're not doing that right. Hey, quit talking. Work, get serious about getting your job done." This is how it's going to affect your paycheck, you can either be a person who manages yourself, and actually gets things done on your own, or you could be a person who needs a ruler, guide, or overseer.
<br><br>Guess who is going to make all the money? The overseer, they're going to make all the money that you could have been making, they're going to make it for babysitting you while you do the work, they're going to babysit you, and a couple other people, and make you guys work, and they're going to make the big money, and you're going to make very little money, because you're as replaceable as a washing machine part. You can just be swapped out for another drone, because you don't even have character anyway. They can find people with no character whenever they want to replace you, because you need someone to stand over you, and tell you, "Get back to work, you're doing it wrong, I just told you how to do it. Pay attention. Wake up. Get up, quit sitting around." You have to be the kind of person ... And look, what does he say? Did he say in verse 6, "Go to the ant if you want? Go to the ant." He's not saying this is optional, these are the commandments of God, this is God's word.
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Congregation: That's right.<br><br>
Pastor: God didn't say, "Hey being fervent in spirit is great if that's how you are." No, he said, "It's a commandment to be fervent in spirit. It's a commandment that you not be slothful in business. It's a commandment that you go to the ant and learn her ways, and you learn how to work without a guide, without an overseer, and without a ruler, that's how you're going to succeed." It's also going to be pleasing in the eyes of God when you can actually work and get things done without somebody having to stand over you. Now another thing about this, go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 3, is that some people, all they do is just talk when they're suppose to be working. Now, there's a time to talk, and then there's a time to shut up.
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Congregation: Yeah. You're right.
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Pastor: No look, part of my job is talking, I'm a preacher. I'm constantly talking to people, because here's a big part of my job, getting up and talking for an hour, preaching, right? Then another big part of my job is going out soul hunting and talking to people. Another part of my job is talking to my church members, I'm constantly ... People are calling me, and I'm talking to them, and helping them, and whatever. I'm constantly talking to this person, talking ... I talk a lot for my job, but there are parts of my job that are talking, and parts of my job that are not talking. Some people, they just chit chat on the job instead of getting their work done. What does the Bible say about it? 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 10, "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." By the way, tell that to these welfare states up in Scandinavia. If anyone won't work, they shouldn't eat. You can't just have this system where the people who go out and work hard get taxed at 50, 60, 70% of their income, and then other people sit around, lazy, doing nothing, and sucking up all the money, and then they're all under tribute, because they're slothful.
<br><br>"If anyone doesn't work, they shouldn't eat," that's what the Bible says. Look at verse 11, "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." Now why did God say with quietness? Why did he say with quietness they work and eat their own bread? He's saying, "Shut up and get your work done."
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Congregation: Amen. Yeah.
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Pastor: Isn't that what he's saying?
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: He's say be quiet, because people, sometimes, that don't work, they just talk, and gossip, and chit chat, and this is what the Bible says, "In all labor there is profit, but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury." The talk of the lips is going to make you poor, and he says that if you work hard you're going to be blessed. He says, "With quietness, work and eat your bread." Another thing, you don't have to turn there, another thing that the lazy person, or a person who lacks character will do, is that they'll always make excuses why they don't do what they say they're going to do, why they can't work hard, why they don't have a job, or can't get a job. Let me tell you this, when it comes to getting a job, this is the motto, "If you don't have a job then looking for a job is your job."
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Congregation: Yeah right. Yeah.
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Pastor: Does everybody understand that? If you're man, and you don't have a job, then looking for a job is your job. If you treat that as a full time job, meaning that if you get up in morning, get dressed, right? Like you're going to work, get dressed, put on your clothes, leave the door at a set time, and go out and let's say you want to spend 40 hours a week at your new job that you want to find. Okay, then you spend 40 hours looking for a job that week. Here's how everybody wants to look for a job now, they want to roll out of bed at 10 am, and then they want to go down to McDonalds and hop on the wifi, and they got Facebook on one tab, and they got YouTube on another tab, and they're going to look for a job online, for 90 minutes, online. Then it's like, "I can't find a job." Or they'll get 1 job that's like a pie in the sky, well call you, whatever, and then it's like, "Well I'm just waiting to hear back from these people that might hire me." Or, "I've got an interview a week and a half from now, so I'm just going to wait for that and see what happens with that."
<br><br>No, you need to be out looking for a ... Every day between now and then, looking for other stuff, and have other irons in the fire, not just this, "Oh well this thing might come through, so I'm just going to sit around and do nothing until then." No, looking for a job is your job. Look, everybody I've known who followed this, where they went by this philosophy of looking for a job is my job, so I'm going to go there for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, whatever. Look, I'm not saying that you can't find a job on the internet, I'm not saying not to use the internet, but you know what? You also should go physically and show up at places. I don't use, "Well it's all online now." You know what? That's what people tell me, but it seems like the people who tell me that, "It's all, all of it, it's all online now," the people who tell me that, are the people who seem like they don't find a job for weeks and weeks. The people who actually physically knock doors, they end up getting jobs.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: How about this? Do both. How about this? Find 3 ways to look for a job, because a 3 fold cord is not quickly broken.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Why don't you find it on the internet, and make phone calls, and go physically and show up? Because you know what? There's something about showing up, dressed nice, firm handshake, look them in the eye, presentable, that gets you the job. You know what? Whenever I've looked for a job, I always wore a suit and tie, when I went looking for a job, and every time I've gone out looking for a job ... It's not because I'm a high roller, because all my suits are from the thrift store, this is from the goodwill on Bayside and 48th, okay? Or Savers on Priest and Elliot, or whatever. This message has been brought to you by Savers by the way. Anyway, this wardrobe provided by Savers. You know what? This is what happens every time I go out looking for a job, I wear a suit, or I wear a nice shirt and tie, and every single place makes fun of you for wearing a shirt and tie, and then they hire you. Okay? It's true. First they make fun of you for being overdressed, and then you get the job.
<br><br>Would you rather go around looking cool, and not getting the job, or do you want to show up in the shirt and tie, they laugh at you, "You don't have to ... You're over dressed, what are you wearing a shirt and tie for?" Then you get the job. What's your goal? Too look cool or to get the job? I'm telling you, and especially, you go to a job where everybody is wearing shirt and tie, and then you show up for the interview in a shirt and tie, then they can picture it. They can picture you in this job, and then you're hired. Look, I've known people who follow this advice, and they get hired on the spot. They start work that day, because they're already in the outfit. It's like, "Fill this out, go clock in." Literally.
<br><br>I went to a job interview when I lived in Chicago, and I showed up in a suit and tie, I walked in, and the guy hired me, and I started working that very hour. That hour. He handed me, "Here are the materials, here are the jobs," and he sent me out the door into work. Straight to work, and when I talked to him later, he said it was because I walked, and I had a suit and tie on, and I looked sharp, and I gave him a firm handshake, and looked him in the eye, and I just seemed like I had it together. That's what he said, why he hired me. Okay? That's why just this method of finding a job, don't put all your eggs in that internet basket my friend. Get out there, dress nice, firm handshake, big smile, look them in the eye, and go get a job for crying out loud.
<br><br>See, the slothful person, the sluggard, will always make excuses for why they don't have a job, why they can't work, all these ... Sometimes even just phantom aches and pains will come into the picture, seriously. Now look, I understand that people have aches and pains, and people are injured, I'm going after people, obviously, that have legitimate handicaps, that's not what I'm talking about. You know a lot of people, they just have pain. Where is it? It's everywhere, you know. Fibromyalgia, what is it? It's just pain, it just hurts ...
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Congregation: That's so great.
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Pastor: ... to sit around a lot, and start hurting. Well first of all your body is not designed to sit around a lot, and you'll feel a lot better if you move around.
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Congregation: Right. Yeah.
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Pastor: You say, "Well, you know, I'm not into exercise." Well you need to get out and move around, go walk or something. Walk around for a few hours, so soul winning for a few hours, that's a good way to walk around. It's kind of like urban hiking when you go soul winning. Go to the apartment complex, it's like Stair Master, go up and down the stairs, invite people to church, give them the gospel. A lot of people just have excuses. The Bible says in Proverbs 20 verse 4, "The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing." Listen to this verse, "The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit than 7 men that can render a reason." In their own mind the lazy person has it all justified. They are wiser in their own conceit then 7 men that can render a reason. Seven men who actually have legitimate, bona fide, reasoning skills. He said, "No, no, this guy is smarter than all of them." Lazy people have all the answers when you ask them about their lack of job, or lack of ability to work, they've got it all figured out, and they don't need you to give them advice.
<br><br>They don't need you to help them, or give them tips on finding a job, or succeeding at their current job, because they're already so wise in their own conceit, they've got it all figured out, and they can tell you exactly why your plan is not going to work. Of going door to door looking for a job, it's just not going to work, and here's all the reasons why, and meet me at McDonalds, you know, so I can eat garbage food, and use their free wifi to look for a job for 90 minutes, while I'm surfing YouTube, and while I'm surfing Facebook, and then walk away and say, "There's a lion in the streets. I can't get it done." You know what? We need to get some character, and I want to raise my ... Look raise your children with character. The Bible says this, "Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right." Even in our culture today it's become faux paus to make your kids work too much.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: They'll be like, "Oh man you make your kids work. Don't make your older kids help with the younger kids, they shouldn't have to do that. They should get to enjoy their childhood. Blah, blah." Yeah but what you're not understanding is that righteous people enjoy work.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: If you go to little kids that haven't been corrupted by video games, and by our lazy sedentary society, little kids are actually signing up to go to work. Think about little kids, "Oh can I help? Can I help?" Right? They want to help, they want to work. There's that innate desire to work that gets corrupted as they grow up in our culture. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, whether be right. One of the best things you can do to raise your kids right, is to make them work. Make them help with the ... Plus, you know, some mothers are so frazzled and beating their head against the wall, that you need to delegate some of that work. Then you could relax a little bit. They need to be doing the ... Once they get to a certain age they need to be doing the laundry, they need to be doing the dishes, they need to be doing the landscaping around the house, and pulling weeds, and mowing lawns, and cleaning, and cooking, and doing these things, and help out, and pull their weight around the house. Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.
<br><br>Who is he known unto? The Lord, number 1. How does God know us? By our works. You say, "Oh well but salvation is by faith." Yeah but guess what? You only get saved once, and then you're a Christian for decades.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Okay? Good works are a part of the Christian life. The Bible says, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man shall boast." Yeah, salvation is not of works at all, but it says, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God of before ordained that we should walk in them." What must we do to be saved? Believe.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: But what should we do? Good works.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We should do good works. Jesus said, "Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his faith shall be." Is that what it says?
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Congregation: No.
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Pastor: No, he said, "I come quickly, to give every man according as his work shall be." At the judgement seat Christ we're going to receive for the works done in our body, whether it be good or bad. How is your work? God looks down from Heaven at you, as a Christian, and your being judged by your works when it comes to your Christian life. A child of God is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right. Again, nothing to do with salvation, every body ... Who here thinks that works will get you to Heaven? Nobody. Who here thinks it's salvation by faith alone? Put up your hand.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Yeah, see, so we're all clear on that. Done, move on to the next subject. Get to work.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You can't just sit there and just, "Oh it's all by faith, it's all by faith," then sit around and do nothing. Yeah it is all by faith, you're going to go to Heaven no matter what, but let's go to work.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We want to have character, and because we want God to be pleased with us. The Bible says, "Wherefore we labor that whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him."
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Congregation: Amen. Amen.
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Pastor: What's the Bible saying? How are you acceptable before the Lord? When you're working. What's unacceptable? Sitting around and doing nothing, is unacceptable. What is the Bible saying? Is everybody seeing the same verses that I'm seeing? Slothful sluggards, lazy, idle, these are the things that God warns us over and over again, not to let us creep in. You know what? You don't want to just only go out and do our secular job, and I do believe that our secular job is honorable before the Lord as long as it's not banking, or being a policeman, or something like that. If you actually have an .... Or a gangster, or a drug dealer, or something like that, those are bad things to do, right? There are jobs out there that are bad. Being a bartender, I don't respect that. Mixing drinks, and everything, it's wrong.
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Congregation: Amen. Amen.
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Pastor: There are a lot of jobs that are dishonest jobs that I don't approve of for myself. You say, "Well I disagree with you." Okay well it's between you and the Lord, but I'm just telling you, I'll respect any honest job. Look, we don't want to go through our lives just trimming the grass, and just wiring the outlets, and just bending the pipes. We also want to do service unto the Lord.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: God also wants us to go work in his vineyard.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Not to just work in our own vineyard, and it's important that we work in our own vineyard, but God said go, son, go work in my vineyard. He wants us to go out and win people to Christ. He wants us to get involved in the battle, he wants us to roll up sleeves and do work for the Kingdom of God, and to receive wages unto eternal life. The wages of sin is death, right? The gift of God is eternal life, so the gift is eternal life, but he said this, "You can receive wages unto eternal life," meaning you can earn wages that you will enjoy throughout eternity. That's what the Bible says. Don't get this communist mentality, like we're going to get up there and we're all going to be equal, it's a lie.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: God's going to reward everyone according as his work shall be.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: God clearly said that he's going to say to one, "Be thou over 10 cities," and, "Be thou over 5 cities," and, "Be thou over 2 cities," it's going to matter what you've done. You will be rewarded according to your works, and he says that, "He that laboreth receiveth ... " This is in John chapter 4, if you want to look it up later, he said, "We receive wages unto eternal life." Listen, when it comes to money, and the things that we earn in this life, you can't take it with you, can you?
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Congregation: That's right.
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Pastor: You can send it on ahead. You cannot take it with you, but you can send it on ahead, because if you work for the Lord, what's the Bible say that you're doing? Laying up treasures in Heaven. Why is it that then people will turn around and act like, "Oh we're all going to be the same up there. Nobody is going to care." Then why did he say lay up treasures in Heaven? Then he's like psych, there's nothing up there for you, we're all the same." No we're not, because you're laying up treasures in Heaven. That means some people have more treasure up there then others.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You say, "Oh that's so carnal to desire treasure in Heaven." What?
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Congregation: That's right.
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Pastor: He said, "Set your effects on things above, not on things on the earth."
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: He said, "Don't lay up treasures on the earth, lay up treasures in Heaven, for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: It's nothing carnal about desiring rewards from the Lord.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: That's so bazaar, but I've heard that so many times. "Oh well you shouldn't be in it for the rewards." So what? Why you're in it, while you're serving Jesus, and loving him and obey him. "Oh I don't want to ... " Yeah, wouldn't you just hate it if you offered your children rewards, and then they did things and earned the reward? Why are you doing it for the ... You offered the reward. That's like saying, "What you guy, you just memorize Psalm 92 just because you wanted that prize." So what? Okay, look, do we have to peer into the soul of every child who memorized the chapter to see was it because they wanted the Lego watch, or was it just because they just love the Lord, and they love his word? Either way they're learning the scripture.<br><br>
Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: It's okay to reward people for things folks. It's okay to go to work and get paid.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: The laborer is worthy of his reward.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We get these weird communist ideas, like, "We shouldn't want to earn stuff, or lay up treasure in Heaven," or, "We shouldn't want to be ... We should all want to be the same up there." We're not going to be the same.
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Congregation: No.
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Pastor: There's going to be a reward, and let me tell you this. This is the last point, is that if you volunteer to do a job, you should treat it like a job where you're getting paid, because of the fact that sometimes you can be more of a burden by volunteering to do something and then doing a bad job, as if you had just not volunteered at all. A lot of people have this mentality, it's sort of like if you don't pay much, you don't get much mentality. Of saying, "Oh, well I'm a volunteer, so I can show up late, do a bad job, slack off," right? "Do it hastily, do it half way," you know what? Here's the thing, if you're going to volunteer to do something, you give it your best.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Otherwise don't volunteer to do stuff, because you can actually be like that foot out of joint, you can be that broken tooth, that smoke in the eyes, that vinegar to the teeth, of people when you ... Say you're going to do something, and then you do it real sloppy, and do a real poor job at it, it's like, I might as well have done it myself, because it would be easier than to redo that which you've done wrong. Whatever we do it needs to be heartily, and you say, "Well okay, I better just never volunteer for anything then." Well okay, it's your loss of wages unto the Kingdom of God. You know what? Soul winning is the most ... You say, "Well what do people volunteer around here?" The biggest thing around here to do is the soul winning.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: The evangelism. I think everybody should be out soul winning, everybody.
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Congregation: Amen. That's right.
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Pastor: I think it's something that everybody should have some part in, man, woman, boy, and girl. It's something that all of God's people can be used greatly, to win souls to Christ. You know what? When it comes to soul winning, we need to do a good job.
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Congregation: Right. Yeah. Amen.
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Pastor: Not hasty, right? Can people sometimes be hasty with that?<br><br>
Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: Just, "Oh you know, couple verses, oh pray this prayer," and not really doing a good job ...
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: ... of actually explaining it, being thorough, they're just in a hurry to get to the next. Why are you in such a hurry to get to the next door? Just do a good job at the door that you're at. I'm not saying to beat a dead horse.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: But do a good job where you're at. Take it seriously
, and don't just, "Well I'm a volunteer, so anything is better than nothing." No, anything is not always better than nothing.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much Lord for all this teaching, and you gave us some practical things Lord. Today's sermon is more of a practical thing on especially for the men going out to work, but even the ladies Lord, there's a great work for them to be done in the home. I pray, Lord, that these things would sink down into our ears, and that people would walk away from the sermon with a few of these points, even if it's just doing what they say they're going to do Lord. It's so important. Help us to just become that kind of a person that's reliable, and that does what we say we're going to do Lord. Please just help us to be diligent workers, to work hard, not to be lazy Lord, in a culture where people are getting lazy, help us to be different Lord, help us to be a peculiar people that actually are fervent about our work. In Jesus name we pray, amen.</p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-13697519851628000442016-05-12T10:41:00.000-07:002016-05-12T10:41:07.654-07:00"Abraham's Bosom" - preached by Tyler Baker <p><b>"Abraham's Bosom" - preached by Tyler Baker</b></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9shZsN-EFs">Video</a>
<p><b>April 1, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/O9shZsN-EFs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Turning your Bibles quickly to Hebrews 13:9. We're going to come back to our text in just a moment in Luke 16. I'll read to you quickly from Ephesians 4:14. It says, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive." Then, look there in Hebrews 13:9. It tells us, "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein." Now, turn if you would back to Luke 16 and we'll start reading in verse 19. The Bible also talks about in Acts 17:21, it says, "(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)" That verse I read to you from verse 14, taught the same thing. It was an admonition not to be carried about with every wind of doctrine, so new doctrine all the time. Just interested in hearing something new.
<br><br>Where we were just at, there's another commandment that says, "Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines." That's the one I'm going to preach about tonight about is a strange doctrine. It's the strange doctrine of Abraham's bosom that's taught all over. I grew up in a Fundamental Baptist church that in a lot of ways is very similar to this but there's a lot of strange doctrines that are in churches and this is one of them. It's very weird. It's very, very weird. If people that aren't familiar with Abraham's bosom, basically what's taught by people that believe this is that the people that lived and died before Jesus Christ's crucifixion, before he died on the cross, the people that lived and died in the Old Testament, that there was a special place. These people didn't go to Heaven when they died. The saved, the saints, the believers didn't go to Heaven they say. They say that they went down not to Hell, but the center of the earth in a place adjacent or just right next to where Hell's located in the center of the earth.
<br><br>Abraham's bosom is a strange doctrine. It's very weird. It definitely falls into that category and it's basically the Baptist purgatory is what it is. What's funny about it is this. The Baptists that believe this, they're always the dispensationals. They're always really dispensational. The reason why they've created Abraham's bosom is because they believe in warps in the Old Testament. You know why Catholics believe in Purgatory? Because they believe in a works base salvation. That's the whole reason that Abraham's bosom today is taught in so many fundamental Baptist teachings is because of the false teachings of dispensationalism. Look down if you will. We'll start reading in verse 19. I'm going to prove from this scripture here because if you ask somebody to turn me to this - thank you - where is Abraham's bosom mentioned in the Bible? The phrase is only found one time. Abraham's bosom is found one time here in Luke 16 and this is where they'll turn you. They have no other supporting scripture. This isn't even a supporting scripture. It's something they twisted.
<br><br>We're going to pick up in verse 19 so I'm going to prove from here first that this is actually speaking of 2 people. One that goes to Heaven and one that goes to Hell. Then, we're going to go and look in the Old Testament and over and over again, the Bible teaches that believers and saints were going to Heaven in the Old Testament. From Genesis to Revelation, your soul either goes to one or 2 destinations. Heaven or Hell. Pick up in verse 19. The Bible reads, "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores." There's 2 men. One rich man who lived a very pampered life and then there's the beggar, his name is Lazarus.
<br><br>Verse 22, "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." The first thing I want to point out here is in verse 22, we have the 2 men. They both died. Both of them died but notice it does not describe their deaths the same way. Look what it says in verse 22. "And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom." What direction does carried imply? Up. Now, look again. "... into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried." What direction does that imply? Downward, right. We have one man going upward, one man going downward. What are angels? Heavenly beings. Wouldn't it make sense that they were to carry? We know obviously throughout the Bible we have abundance of Scripture that Heaven is above and Hell is below.
<br><br>Keep reading in verse 23, "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Paint the picture in your mind. You have the 2 people, the 2 men. The rich man dies and is buried and then you have the beggar who dies and is carried. If we're right about that interpretation, in relation to the rich man, where is Lazarus? Up. Now, look at verse 23 again, "And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." Wouldn't it make sense if Lazarus is above him and then when he looks up that he's seeing Lazarus above him? Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Keep reading there in verse 24, "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame."
<br><br>Turn if you will, you can keep your hand here but turn if you will to Genesis 16:5. The reason obviously is heads up, that's a natural position when people are in pain, they'll throw their head back. That's the type of position people will put their head in. You guys are in Genesis 16:5. In verse 24 there where we were at in Luke 16:24, I'm going to read verse 24 one more time and it said, "And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." What they'll try to turn you to is verse 22 and verse 23. Where they have a problem is when actually he starts referring and speaking personally to Abraham. That proves that Abraham himself as a person was present. Both people at the same time are visible to him. He can see both of them and he's facing up and it says, the one man was carried and the other man was buried.
<br><br>The problem that they have that obviously disproves what they're trying to teach because they look at verse 22 in Luke and they tell us, "by the angels into Abraham's bosom." Now, every time the word bosom comes up I think 38 times, I looked it up. Thirty-eight times in the Bible and you can look it up. If you want to look it up ever time but this, every time, it is referring to the chest area. I looked up the definition actually in a modern dictionary. Merriam-Webster's dictionary and it's so simple that it just says, "A person's chest." That's how simple that it is for people that don't understand a bosom is. That's not a location. It's not geographically somewhere in the center of the earth. It's a body part. It's crazy you even have to define that. Even what I'm about ready to do right now in Genesis 16, you'd think that you don't see ... the Bible defines itself over and over again, right? I said earlier that the phrase Abraham's bosom is only found one time in the Bible and that's true but Abraham's bosom is mentioned one other time.
<br><br>Where you're at right now in Genesis 16:5 and it says, "And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee." Do you think they would turn you to this passage and try to argue that this is a location in the center of the earth? Then I want somebody that believes in this doctrine to show me these 2 scriptures side by side and tell me the difference between them. Show me something different between these 2 right here. It's Abraham's bosom. What's the difference? A bosom is a chest area, over and over again. Then, John 13:23, the very famous verse of Jesus. You don't have to turn there. "Now there was leaning on Jesus' bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." The famous passage of John the disciple leaning on Jesus' chest. You can turn back to Luke 16 if you will and we will pick back up in verse 25.
<br><br>The Bible reads, "But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." Why is he comforted? Because Abraham is basically hugging Lazarus. He's in his bosom. That's what he's doing. He's giving him a hug. You want to know what the second definition, let me find it here. The second definition in Merriam-Webster's dictionary, I thought I put it down here but it's, "To embrace." It's to embrace one another. Another definition of bosom is actually to hug or to embrace and that's the reason why he's comforted, because the beggar is in Heaven. Obviously, it says the rich man is in Hell and there's no argument about where Hell is. We know that that's in the center of the earth. We will pick back up there. Look at verse 26, "And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence."
<br><br>Now, turn your Bibles if you would to Job 11:7. Job 11:7. They say see there is a great gulf. That great gulf can't be between Heaven and Hell. That's another argument that they use. Which ironically, the greatest gulf that there is from Hell is in Heaven so I mean it's crazy the kind of stuff that people will go to. It's to defend a doctrine and some of these people are saved people. It just shows how screwed up you can be on things when you just listen to whatever is preached from people and watching online and without searching the Scriptures daily for ourselves. I'll read to you Psalms 139:7, David says, "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." Then you're in Job 11:7 and it says, "Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deeper than hell; what canst thou know? The measure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea."
<br><br>The whole purpose that David and Job both used heaven and hell as his references is because they're the farthest points from one another. The great gulf that's fixed between these 2 people, these 2 men in Luke 16 is the gap between heaven and the gap between hell. That's what that is. Turn back to Luke 16. That makes perfect sense because once you're in heaven, you're going to be in heaven forever. Once you go to hell, you're going to be in hell forever just like how Abraham said. He said, "... so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." Look at verse 27. Then he said, "Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead."
<br><br>Turn your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 12:1. What they'll refer to Abraham's bosom as, in the center of the earth where we know that hell is, they will refer paradise. They'll say that that was paradise only in the Old Testament though, that it was paradise in the Old Testament. Also, I want to point out real quick, I will go into it, verse 28 where we read. He said, "For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." This place, the place that the rich man's at which is a different place obviously by the wording of that and the language that he uses than where the beggar is and where Abraham is. These are 2 different places. You know what I thought of when I was preparing a sermon too is the verse in Isaiah I think it's chapter 5 when it talks about hell hath enlarged her borders. You think about how crazy that is if hell is enlarging her borders and hell's getting larger and larger and then you have paradise right next to it. What point do they have to relocate paradise a little further?
<br><br>Abraham's like, "We're going to have to scoot back a little guys." It's ridiculous. You see how even logically, think about this. It's ridiculous and if you are continually seeing people burning in hell, would you really consider that paradise? It's ridiculous. I mean, I don't see how people can't see through this. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:1. I'll read to you real fast before Revelation 2:7. I'm going to read real fast through these. You're in 2 Corinthians and I'm going to read to you from another mention of the word paradise. Revelation 2:7. We'll look at all of them. "7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." It tells us the tree of life is in the midst of the paradise of God. When you look in Revelation 22:2, the Bible says when it's speaking about heaven, it tells you that in the midst of the street in heaven is the Tree of Life.
<br><br>That tells you, where's paradise? Paradise is in heaven. Paradise is in heaven obviously. Look at 2 Corinthians 12:1. It says, "It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;)" Now, watch this, he's going to reiterate. He's going to restate something. "How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter." Notice he restated himself and he made 2 words interchangeable. Third, heaven just as we saw minute ago, that paradise is heaven because the Tree of Life is in paradise, Tree of Life is in heaven. He restated himself here. He said he was caught up to the third heaven and then he said he was caught up to paradise.
<br><br>Again, a definition the second time in the Bible of where paradise is, is in heaven. Now, turn if you would to Luke 23:43. Luke 23:43. This is the third mention and the last mention of paradise and this is the one that they try to twist because they have to get ahold of a scripture. They don't have a scripture there but they have to find one that's going to continually support their doctrine. What happens is, they have so many holes in these doctrines that when you attack one and you show one of the problems, one of the faults or the chinks in the armor then they have to go to another verse. That's basically what they've done here. If you look at Luke 23:43, this is Jesus when he's dying on the cross and he's speaking to the thief on the cross. In verse 43, he says, "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise." Now, turn to Revelation 21. No, I'm sorry, that's not correct. Revelation 14. Turn to Revelation 14:10.
<br><br>Revelation 14:10, they're arguing about this passage. Their argument is that we know when Jesus died that Jesus went to the center of the earth so that means that this man also, he got saved and he's going to go to paradise which is in the center of the earth. That's their argument. That's what they try to say. Number 1, we know that paradise is not in the center of the earth, that it's heaven. Number 2, they're real deceitful too because I've had that exact statement given to me before. "We know Jesus went to the center of the earth." See, they don't want to say hell. You see what they're trying to do? They don't want to say hell because what's the Bible say? He's seen this before. Spake of the resurrection of Christ that his soul was not left in hell. Jesus didn't just go to the center of the earth. Jesus didn't go to Abraham's bosom. Jesus went to hell is where Jesus went. They don't want to say oh, this guy went to hell. He went to paradise which is in the center of the earth. That's what they try to say.
<br><br>Their argument, this is how their argument actually goes, "If Jesus went to the center of the earth and this man is saved now, he's going to go wherever Jesus is so that makes sense that he's going to be with him in paradise. Look at Revelation 14:10. It says, "The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb." It says, they will be tormented for eternity in the presence of the Lamb, right? You look in Revelation 21:3, this is speaking about Jesus, because we see God the father in Revelation 22. If you look at Revelation 21:3, it tells us, "And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God."
<br><br>You see in Revelation 21:3, God is going to be eternally with us in heaven, right? Then you see in Revelation 14, God is going to be eternally in hell. You see that? Do you understand? The only reason why God is is because he's omnipresent. God's obviously not being punished in hell. God created hell. God's the one that created hell. He's eternal so he's everywhere. He's omnipresent and he'll always exist. That's how it's possible. Even Jesus Christ himself said in John 3:13, "And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is," present tense, while he's walking on this earth. This was the words he said, "which is in heaven." What's in heaven? Paradise. Makes sense how he could tell that man on the cross? "Today thou shalt be with me in paradise." Perfect sense. That's present tense he says that. Turn to Genesis 5:24. Now we're going to look at Old Testament mentions of different men that were going to heaven.
<br><br>Old Testament mentions of heaven and then saints and believers in the Old Testament that at that time were going to heaven. If you turn to Genesis 5:24, the Bible reads, "And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him." You compare that to Hebrews 11:5, it tells us, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God." All the way back to Genesis, just a few generations from Adam, we have people going to heaven. Just a few generations from Adam, we have men that are saved, that please God because of their faith that were going to heaven. Not of their works. They didn't have to go to Abraham's bosom because they didn't work their way yet, because they weren't good enough yet. Because of their faith, they went to heaven.
<br><br>Turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 2:11. I'll read to you from Ecclesiastes 3:21. It says, "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" It says the spirit of man goeth upward, that goeth upward. Then you're in 2 Kings 2:11. The Bible reads, "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven." Where's Elijah going in the old testament? Into heaven. Into heaven. Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. Were only Elijah and Enoch the only ones that were going to heaven in the Old Testament? That's what you would have to believe because the Bible clearly says that both of these men were going to heaven. Then if you remember, Moses and Elijah appeared at the Mount of Transfiguration. You would literally have to believe that God took Elijah out of heaven and then he went down and got Moses out of somewhere different.
<br><br>Then he brought them up to the Mount of Transfiguration. Think about that. Then if you were to say, "Okay, I believe it was just Moses and Elijah and Enoch just because those are really good people." At Moses' death it says that he was gathered unto his people. You know what? If you look that statement up, that is not his body because Moses for one was buried on a mountain away from his people. That's talking about his soul. You know who else it said that about? Abraham, Jacob, Isaac. If Moses is in heaven, same statement is given to all these other people, where's everybody else at? Heaven. Just like the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 2:21, I have to read it again. "Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?" Turn your Bibles to Revelation 13:8. Like I said, the reason this is even believed by so many fundamental Baptists is because of dispensationalism. That's the whole problem and this is a perfect example of how being wrong on one doctrine that seems minor can make you believe all kinds of other crazy stuff.
<br><br>It's a perfect example of it. Just being wrong on one doctrine. If you're able to buy that the Jews are still God's chosen people then you're able to buy the pre-tribulation rapture. That's how it works, I'm serious. I was joking with somebody. I can't remember who I was talking to. I think it might've been Rick. There's an order that we could give out the Faithful Word Baptist Church DVDs. If you give them Marching to Zion and they understand that one, then the other ones are easy because that's the core problem, really. They'll be able to accept the tribulation if they realize. Because the only reason why there's a pre-tribulation rapture invented? For the Jews. You know why there's a kingdom of God and a kingdom of Heaven? For the Jews so they can try to keep ahold of a piece of the pie for later. That's the whole reason why it is. People will ask you. They'll say, "How could man get to heaven before Jesus died for our sins?" That's their question all the time. That's the question that they'll come at you with.
<br><br>I've had that question asked to me numerous times. You guys are in Revelation 13 and I will turn there. We have the verse in Titus 1:2 that tells us, "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began." You know what the Bible says over and over again about Abraham? That God counted it onto him for righteousness. Was he given his righteousness later or was he given it at that moment? If Abraham had righteousness, why would Abraham have to be in a holding tank or reserved until later, until he's going to heaven? Does that make any sense? He has his righteousness right then at that moment. Then, you guys are in Revelation 3:8. Let me turn there. Let me get there. Revelation I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I heard everybody rustling their pages. Another point too I thought about, in the Old Testament, you have over and over again, the talk of people's names being written in the Book of Life. Moses is like, "Don't blot out their name." That means their name at that time, in the Old Testament, was written in the Book of Life, so they had life.
<br><br>Revelation 13:8, this will be the last verse that we read. The Bible tell us, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Nothing was going to change the fact that Jesus Christ was going to die on a cross for us. God promised that even before the world began. God didn't have to wait to give you your salvation once you fulfilled that requirement, the one requirement. Whether it be in the Old Testament or whether it be today, Jesus Christ was going to die and his promise is just as good as it happening. His word is just as good that it's already happened. All he has to do is tell you and there's nothing that's going to change that. Once the words go out of his mouth, there's nothing that can alter that. In summary, the Bible teaches 2 destinations for the soul, period. Heaven and hell. Abraham's bosom is a strange doctrine.
<br><br>I heard it preached my whole life growing up in Baptist churches and I thought it was weird my whole life. I'm serious. I thought it was very weird and there were so many things that I'm just trying to wrap my mind around. I'm like, "Science has found in the core of the earth that there's burning magma so what in the world? It just doesn't make sense. The Bible is right again. It's heaven and it's hell and man is the one that makes up these weird doctrines. We need to study our Bibles and know for ourselves what we believe and search the scriptures daily to see if those things are so. The things that are going out from the pulpit because this is a prevalent doctrine. This is not taught in a couple of churches. I would say this is taught in over 75% of fundamental Baptist churches today. People maybe that didn't grow up in church, that might be mind-boggling to you but that's a very close estimate. I lived in Kentucky so there's a lot of Baptist churches around my area.
<br><br>When I talk to people, people are always complaining where they came from there was no churches. There was 40 churches that were fundamental Baptist King James only. Some of them were really wrong on stuff but there was 40 of them. I would even say in that area, probably 90%. I was being lenient with the 75%. You're going to run into people when you're trying to give the gospel to people and this can be a hangup to somebody too. Somebody that believes those works in the Old Testament, how is that not going to effect your salvation today? We need to be sound on this so when we encounter somebody that we can show them scriptures in the Bible and show them. Another reason to be sound on our beliefs and our doctrine is because we see these false doctrines can create more false doctrine. It could be a snowball effect so we need to be sound on everything that we believe. All right, we'll bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
<br><br>Dear Heavenly Father God, we thank you for this night, dear Lord. Thank you for the opportunity to preach here, dear Lord. I pray for Pastor Anderson, that he'd feel better dear Lord God and you'd be with him. Help him to be back on Sunday, dear father. We thank you for your word, that it's true and that it's either heaven or hell, it's either right or it's wrong, dear Lord. There's not gray area and making it easy to understand. In Jesus Christ's name, Amen. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-43064443161935469732016-05-11T10:39:00.000-07:002016-05-11T10:39:01.623-07:00Teaching by Example <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SWC4VfjZOE">Video</a>
<p><b>March 15, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5SWC4VfjZOE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Beginning there in verse number 11 where the Bible reads, "These things command and teach, let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of teaching by example. Teaching by example. He said in verse 11, "These things command and teach." That would be verbally instructing others in what they should be doing, but then he follows that up with a statement of, "Let no man despise thy youth, but be thou an example of the believers." Many things in life are even taught better by example than just by giving instructions. Some people have said, "Do as I say, not as I do." That's not really how things work. In fact, people learn more from your example than your words, in many cases.
<br><br>If you would, flip over to Titus, just a few pages to the right in your Bible, Titus, chapter number 2. While you're turning there, let me just show you ... I'll just quote for you a couple of scriptures about Jesus being our example. John 13:15 says, "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." Jesus also is mentioned in 1 Peter 2:21 when it says, "For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also had suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps."
<br><br>Look at Titus 2, verse 6. It says, "Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded, in all things shewing thyself a pattern." He is saying be an example. Be a pattern that other people can follow. "Shewing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. Now, what does the word doctrine mean, it means teaching. We see these things are hand-in-hand. He says, "Teach the Word of God, use doctrine, but also be a pattern. Also be an example."
<br><br>In Acts, chapter 1, if you want to flip over there, it speaks of Christ again in this way when it says in verse 1, "The former treatise have I made, oh Theophilus." Look at the end of verse 1 there of Acts, chapter 1, "Of all that Jesus began both to do and teach." He's not just talking about it, but he's doing it. He's doing it and teaching it. You don't have to turn there, but also in Matthew, chapter 10, Jesus gives this big long teaching to His disciples about going out and preaching the gospel in the villages, and He sends them out with a message to preach. Then it says in verse 1 of chapter 11, "And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding His twelve disciples, He departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities."
<br><br>Notice, He finishes instructing them on going out and teaching and preaching in all these villages and then He turns around and goes and does what He just told them to do, so He's showing them an example. First He tells them how to do it and then he says, "Let me show you how to do it," and He sets the example. We teach things best when we set the example and when we do what we're telling other people to do, and when we are the first in line to do those things ourself.
<br><br>I'll just read for you these verses. You don't have to turn there. If you would flip over to 1 Samuel, chapter 2, but while you're turning there I'll read you some scriptures. Philippians 3:17, Paul said, "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample." Paul told the church at Thessalonica, "You were examples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia." Paul said, "Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us." 1 Peter 5, speaking to the pastor says, "Neither is being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. Over and over again, God is telling people to lead by example.
<br><br>This isn't just about pastors. This is about parents, this is about on the job, if you're the manager at your job. Any position of leadership, no matter what it is, you should lead by example and you'll have better results and more people will follow you when you set the example, and when you're not a hypocrite who tells other people to do something and, like the Pharisees who said ... They bound heavy burdens that were grievous to be born and it says, "They wouldn't even touch them with one of their little fingers." Jesus accused the Pharisees of teaching all these really strict rules and then just living however they want, not even trying to follow the rules that they were imposing upon other people. That's why they were a failure of leadership, okay.
<br><br>How are we going to be a great father, mother, manager, pastor, parent, whatever the case may be, we're going to do it by being an example. I was just thinking of so many examples of this that I've seen in my own life, just with my children. We're constantly telling our children to do things or to not do things. I've noticed that the children follow examples much more than any command that you'll ever give them. It shouldn't surprise us, because all the way from Genesis 1 the Bible is teaching us that things bring forth after their own kind.
<br><br>Your children are going to grow up and be like you, whether you like it or not, that's what's probably going to happen, that they're going to grow up and act like you. You can tell them, you know, "Don't smoke kids." hack, hack "You don't want to end up like me. Don't smoke." You know what they're going to do, they're going to grow up and smoke because you smoke, because they're going to follow the example more than they follow your words. We could use all kinds of examples of things like that with children.
<br><br>I was just thinking of the example of my son, Solomon, who plays the organ. He practices all the time, but for a long time we had trouble getting him to practice. "Solomon, practice your piano. Solomon, practice your piano." Keep telling him to practice. He's not practicing. Then I went through a phase where I decided, "You know what, I want to get better at playing piano, and I want to brush up my piano skills." I went through a phase where I started just playing about two hours a day and just really doing a lot of practice. All of a sudden, my son, Solomon, wanted to practice piano, and we didn't even have to tell him to do it. He was just, "Dad, when are you gonna be done. I need to play now." It becomes fighting over the piano. Why? Because that's what children respond to more than just being told, "Hey, do this." When you do it and they see dad doing it, they say, "Well, I'm gonna do the same thing." If dad's gonna practice, I'm gonna practice." He started playing for hours a day, because he saw dad doing it.
<br><br>Another example is with running. The thing about it is I grew up and I always hated running my whole life, until I was almost 30. I just remember that everybody in school all hated running. When you're in PE class, what's the punishment? "Take a lap." "Oh, man," you know. It wasn't something that's like, "Yes, we get to do another lap." Everybody hated it. I cannot remember a single kid - I'm sure there were kids that did - but I'm just saying I cannot remember a single kid in Christian school that liked to run and that enjoyed the running part of PE, or the running part of basketball practice, and things like that. They're being told, "Run, run, run," every day, every day. Don't want to run.
<br><br>You know it's funny. I run all the time now because I like it, and my children beg me to go running every day. Every single day my kids beg, "Dad, take us running. Dad, we want to go running." I'm like, "No, I'm not running right now. I'm busy. I'm working." "Dad, we want to run. We want to run." They're like, "No, we don't want to go one mile, we want to go two miles, we want to go three miles, let's go four miles." I'm not kidding, my kids beg me to go running. You could ask them after the service. They love to run. Why? Is it because I force them to run? No. Is it because I give them chocolate peanut butter cups when they run? Maybe. That might be part of it. No, honestly, they love running, and it is simply because they just see me running all the time and it's just natural for them to want to be like dad. They see dad running, "Hey, let's go running. Let's do it." Why? Because they're learning from example.
<br><br>You can tell them to do this and do that till you're blue in the face, but you know what's a lot more powerful? When they see you doing it. You say, "Well, piano, running. Okay, how about reading your Bible?" What's more powerful, just telling the kids to read their Bible every day or when they see you pull out the Bible and start reading it? I heard my whole life, "Read your Bible. Read the Bible. You got to read the Bible every day." I heard that in Christian school. I heard that in church. That doesn't mean that I always did it when I was growing up. I remember when I would stay up at my grandparents' house, my grandmother would get up every morning and have her cup of coffee and have her Bible and did that ritual every morning. I remember when I was up there, I always wanted to wake up early and go there and sit next to her and read the Bible next to her, because that example is more powerful sometimes than just words.
<br><br>I'm not saying that we shouldn't command and teach. The Bible says we should command and teach. The Bible says that Jesus both did and taught. That's what we need, both. We need clear commands to our followers, to our children, to our employees, whatever, but we need to set the example and show them how it's done. That is effective leadership. Let me show you a negative example of this in 1 Samuel, where we see the children following the example of the parent, not listening to the parents' words but rather following the example.
<br><br>Look what the Bible says in 1 Samuel, chapter 2:12. It says, "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial." Belial is another name for the devil, Satan, Baal, Belial, Beelzebub, these are all the same person. It says, "Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord." And the priest's custom with the people was, that, when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething" - seething means boiling - "with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand. And he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron, or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up the priest took for himself.
<br><br>So they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat, the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, Give flesh to roast for the priest; for he will not have sodden flesh of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him, 'Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take as much as thy soul desireth,' then he would answer him, 'Nay, but thou shalt give it me now, and if not I will take it by force.' Wherefore the sin of the young men was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering of the Lord."
<br><br>Let me just break this down to you what's going on in this story. They're supposed to bring an animal sacrifice under the tabernacle, and Eli is the high priest and his sons are also the priests, and they're supposed to burn the fat unto the Lord. God gave these really clear instructions in the book of Leviticus about which parts of the animal they were supposed to eat and which part were supposed to be burned unto the Lord on the altar, and the sweet smelling savor. There is chapter after chapter in Leviticus making this very clear. What's the priest's job back in the days of the judges, in the days of Eli? He's supposed to be following the Word of God, and he's supposed to be honoring that law.
<br><br>What these men are doing is, they wanted to take more than what God had provided for them, and they wanted to take all the certain parts of the fat that God had said to burn off. They wanted to just eat that, okay, because these men were glutinous men. People noticed what was going on, and a lot of people are thinking, "You know what, this isn't consistent with what the Word of God teaches," and they would just shut these guys down by saying, "You know what, if you won't give it to me," and remember this is something that belongs to the Lord. "If you won't give it to me, I'll take it by force." Then it says, "Men abhorred the offering."
<br><br>People started having a bad attitude about bringing that animal sacrifice down there, because they're thinking to themself, "You know what, I'm supposedly bringing this to the Lord but it's just going into these guy's bellies who are glutinous men, and they're stealing and so forth." That's what was going on, and it was a great sin because of the fact that it caused people to have a bad attitude about the House of God when they saw this blatant disregard for God's Word and this lust of the flesh being indulged.
<br><br>Now look what it says in verse 22. Jump down to verse 22. "Now Eli was very old and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation." Not only are these men taking parts of the offerings that were not allotted unto them, but they're also lying with the women that assemble at the door of the tabernacle, so they're committing fornication. They're basically sleeping around. They're whoremongers, as the Bible would call them. "And he said unto them, 'Why do ye such things?'" Why are you doing this? "For I hear of your evil dealings by all this people. Nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. Ye make the Lord's people to transgress."
<br><br>This weak man who cannot control his household, who will not stop this sin from going on. He verbally corrects it, weakly, but why is it that his sons don't listen to him, and why are his sons involved in these sins in the first place? Well, let's keep reading. "If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him, but if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them."
<br><br>Let me just point that out real quick. When the Bible says the Lord would slay them, which means the Lord wanted to kill them, the Lord wanted to slay them. I don't want you to misunderstand that, because a lot of people will derive false doctrine from something like this and just say, "Oh, well it's just God's will for some people to be bad and for God to punish them," like a Calvinistic, you know, God chooses some to be good, some to be bad, some to be saved, some to be unsaved. What's really going on here is that people get to a point where they've pushed God so far that He's through with them. That's what's really going on. The Sons of Belial, sons of the devil, reprobates, or whatever you want to call them in the Bible, are people who've crossed that line with God.
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Congregation: Right.
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<br><br>That's what's going on here. It's sort of like where Pharaoh hardened his heart. Moses stood before Pharaoh and said, "Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, let my people go." What did Pharaoh say, "Well, who is the Lord? I'm not going to let the people go." It says that, "Pharaoh hardened his heart," but then later in the story what does it say, "God hardened Pharaoh's heart," because it gets to a point where God will harden somebody's heart, but it's only after they've already turned away from the Lord and rejected the truth. It's not that God just damns people without even giving them a chance. The Bible says that, "The Lord is not slack concerning His promises, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."
<br><br>A lot of people would look at this and say, "Well, if the Lord's not willing that any should perish, and if the Lord wants everybody to repent, why doesn't he want these guys to repent? Because, these guys had crossed the line. They pushed it too far and now it's to the point where God just wants to kill them. He's just done with these guys. That should be a chilling warning to us. There are lots of stories like this in the Bible. This is not an isolated scripture. It should be a warning to us not to push God too far.
<br><br>First of all, if you're not saved, that's where you're in danger of becoming a son of Belial. Now, obviously once we're saved we can never lose our salvation, and we have eternal life and we shall never perish, but even as God's children, though, we can incur great punishments and great chastisements from the Lord. The Bible says that the Lord will judge his people. We need to be aware of God's wrath even on us as His children in the form of chastisement, punishment, discipline. Just as our children sometimes incur our wrath and receive great discipline. We need to realize that God is not just up in Heaven with an anything goes type of an attitude. He'll get sick of people and he'll deal with them. That's what we see throughout the Bible.
<br><br>It says that they wouldn't hearken because the Lord would slay them. God has clearly hardened their hearts, which is consistent with the fact that the Bible told us that they were sons of Belial. It says in verse 26, "And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favor both with the Lord, and with all men. And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord, did I plainly appear unto the house of thy father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? And did I give unto the house of thy father all the offerings made by fire of the children of Israel?' Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation,' Watch this. 'and honorest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of the offerings of Israel, my people?'"
<br><br>Now, right there notice that Eli is lumped in with this group. He doesn't just say, "Well, you're allowing your sons to do this." He says, "No, you've put your sons above me. You've honored your sons above me," and, by the way, Jesus said, "He that love a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." He says to Eli, "You've put your sons above me. You've honored your sons above me," and He said, "You," all of you, including Eli, "have made yourselves fat with the cheapest of all the offerings of Israel, my people." Okay.
<br><br>Now, what I see there is that Eli is rebuking his sons about the sin that they're committing by stealing from the offering and committing fornication. Notice, he doesn't mind sitting at the table and chowing down on what they've stolen. You know, he's receiving stolen property, as it were. He says, "Oh, guys, don't do that, guys. Don't steal that stuff." Man, that smells good. Let's load it up. Pass the gravy. He is literally participating in the sin himself. What we see in this story is that Eli is telling them, "Kids, don't do that," but what are they looking at Eli actually doing? Participating in it himself. The proof of this is that a little bit later when Eli dies it tells us Eli was a very heavy man, which makes sense in light of the story. How'd he get that way? Well, by stealing this stuff that was supposed to be for the Lord. It was the fat above the liver and all the different things that God had said were off limits unto them.
<br><br>We see here a guy who is failing as a parent, not because he's not preaching the Word of God to his kids, but because of the fact that he's setting a bad example. He is failing in his own personal life and they're looking at dad and they're following the example, not following the words that are coming out of his mouth. Eli, we don't have any record of him committing fornication or of committing any sins in that regard, but we see that the children have taken it to a whole new level. Eli is committing one sin. They're taking it to the next level. That's often what will happen with our children. We have a certain sin in our life and I've often said that what the parents do in moderation the children will do in excess. We need to be careful not to set a sinful example for our children, because a lot of people in the Bible committed sin and then their children took it to a whole new level.
<br><br>Eli is gratifying the lust of the flesh through gluttony, and then his kids just expand the gluttony and add to it the sin of fornication, gratifying another lust of the flesh. You think about David having multiple wives, but at least you could count them on a couple hands, but then his son, Solomon, what's he do? Hundreds of wives, because of the fact that he sees dad do it. Why not? They take it even further. You need to be careful what kind of example you're setting for your children. As the saying goes, "Your walk talks, and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks." Right? Say that five times fast.
<br><br>Also, turn to Esther, chapter number 1. Esther, chapter number 1. This is a sermon that can be put into practice in pretty much every single person's life. Virtually everyone is a leader. You might think that you're not a leader whatsoever, but I guarantee you somebody is probably following you or at least some day will follow you. You say, "But, I'm just a child," but your younger siblings look to you as a leader. When you're an older brother or an older sister, you are setting a pattern. You're setting an example, and no matter what you tell your younger siblings, they're more likely to follow your actions and your deeds than to follow your words, okay.
<br><br>If you're a parent, obviously you're a leader. Even if you're just a person in the church and you don't even have any family in the church or anybody that's younger than you that's looking to you, other church members may be looking to you. You think, "Oh, nobody would ever look to me," but you'd be surprised who kids choose. Kids will just choose a certain person in the church and say, "Wow, that guy's really cool," or "That woman is a wonderful lady," and they'll just look to that person and want to be like that person. It's inexplicable to us sometimes as parents, "Why do you want to be like them?" No, I'm just kidding.
<br><br>Anyway, they look to certain people and just that's their hero, for whatever reason. You need to be an example of good works. Yes, command and teach but be an example. You know, when you go to work and you just set all these grievous burdens upon your employees and then you just kind of sit back and just let everything get done, that's not great leadership. What's better is when you get down in the trenches and you work with people and you show people how to do it, and you set the example. You want people to be on time, so you show up and be on time.
<br><br>You want people to go to church, then you be faithful to church. You want people to tuck in their shirt on the job or whatever the rules, then you do that. You're going to be more likely to have people follow you and obey the commands when they see the example, because the example's more powerful than the command. That's one of the reasons why I have rarely in the last nine years that I've been pastoring, why I virtually never am gone on a Sunday morning, Sunday night, or Wednesday night. It happens, obviously, but it's been extremely rare.
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Congregation: Good.
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I've been gone for a couple of childbirths. Some of them I didn't even miss church because it was just, you know, my wife was able to schedule it for me between services. You know there were a couple of births that conflicted with services and so I missed a service for one of my children being born. I went to Europe a couple of times where it's just impossible to go to Europe and back, you know, and make it back for church. Doesn't really work. I've done that twice in the whole last nine years. I never missed it for work and I have only missed it for sickness a few times, because, obviously that's an act of God. I can't really control that. I've missed it very rarely.
<br><br>I've had people invite me to preach, not very often, admittedly. The invitations are not pouring in, okay. I've had people invite me to preach on a Sunday somewhere, or on a Wednesday somewhere. I always tell people when they invite me to preach, I say, "Listen, I'd love to come preach for you, but it must be on a weeknight. It cannot be on a Wednesday night and it cannot be on a Sunday morning or Sunday night, because I don't want to miss my church to go preach at your church. I'd rather preach in my own pulpit. I will preach other places, rarely, occasionally, when somebody actually is crazy enough to invite me as a guest speaker, then I'll do that on like a Thursday night, or a Friday night, but I'm not going to do that on a Wednesday or Sunday, just because of the fact that it's been very important to me over the last nine years to set an example of making church important, and taking it seriously, and being here all the time.
<br><br>I think that that speaks louder than if I just got up here and just said, "Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, you need to be here. The doors are open, be there." Now look, I've said that sometimes, but, you know, I've said that very rarely, very rarely. In fact, I've even often said, "You know what, there's no place in the Bible that commands you to be at all three services, but you know what, I'm gonna be at all three services, because I want to get as much church as I can. The Bible says that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is but exhorting one another and so much more as we see the day approaching."
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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We don't need less church. We need more church.
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Congregation: Amen.
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I want my family to be in church three times a week hearing the word of God three times a week, singing the hymns three times a week, and I've even gotten up many times and said, "You know what, if you ... You know, "Do I have to go to church on Sunday night or Wednesday night?" I even tell people, "You don't even have to come on Sunday morning. Come three times a month for all I care, but you know what, I'm coming three times a week.
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Congregation: Amen.
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I made that decision a long time ago, and I made that decision before I even started pastoring, and I was coming three to thrive, Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday. Here's what they say, "Three to thrive, two to survive, one to backslide." That's what I've heard. So, you know, I'd three to thrive. I want to be here at all three. I've not emphasized that or gotten up and said, "If you don't come to all three you're not right with God. I'm not gonna teach for doctrines the commandments of men."
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Congregation: Right.
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What does the Bible teach. Well, the Bible teaches that we should not forsake the assembly. The Bible teaches that we should go to church. The Bible doesn't specify, "Hey, you must go three times a week," or "Hey, you must go two times a week." It'd be pretty hard to justify, I think, coming less than once a week, but, you know what, I want to come three times. I'm not trying to see how little I can come and God won't just get angry at me. I like church. Who likes church? Yeah, I like church. I enjoy the preaching. I like the singing. I like to see God's people in fellowship.
<br><br>You know what, I notice a spiritual deterioration when I'm not in church because of sickness or whatever the reason, or just throughout my life. The longest I've ever gone without church in my entire life was 20 days. One time I got very sick as a teenager and I was out of church for it was 20 days between church services, and I hated it. I just felt like, "Man, I need to go to church. Something's wrong here. I need to be in church. Church is encouraging. Church is helpful. Church is profitable. You learn things at church."
<br><br>Now with all that being said, even though I haven't made a big deal about that, why is it that our church has a way higher percentage of people who come back Sunday night and Wednesday night than most Baptist churches? If we went to the typical Baptist church, we have 80%, 80% of our people will be back tonight, 80% of our people will be back on Wednesday night. If we run 140 on Sunday morning, we run 110 at night, 110 on Wednesday night. That's about what we've been having lately. Okay, why is that? Why do 80% of people come back? Here's why, because of the example. Because of the fact that they see other people doing it.
<br><br>It's not just me setting the example, but they see all the people around them coming to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. They see a culture in our church that says, "We like church. We look forward to church. We enjoy church. We go three times." They see the pastor is going three times, and then they see me sometimes even move mountains, so-to-speak, to make sure I'm here on a Wednesday night and not miss it, just be there on a Wednesday night. Then they see other people making it a priority. You know what it does, it sets the example and that's why there's so many people. Why are there so many people who go soul-winning at our church? Because of the fact that they see other people go soul-winning. Then it becomes exponential, it compounds. They want to get in on the action.
<br><br>It's funny, because you talk to other pastors and sometimes they won't have a lot of people going soul-winning. I always tell them this, I say, "Look," I say, "You'll go from having barely anybody soul-winning to a ton of people soul-winning." There's like nothing in between, because what happens is, at first it's just the pastor going and maybe one or two people, three or four people, and then what happens is, all of a sudden a few other people start going and then it's like a snowball effect.
<br><br>I've told other pastors, too ... Sometimes they said, "Wow, I just have so many silent partners," and very few talkers when we go out soul-winning. I'll always say to them, "Watch, you'll go from like no talkers to just everybody's talking." Why? Because, here's the thing, a lot of people, if it's just the pastor talking then they think like, "Oh, well, that's the pastor. He can do it because he's the pastor." When you get a whole bunch of people that are talkers, here's what people will think, "Well, if he can do it, I can do it. If she can do it, I can do it," because they feel like, "Okay, these are just people in the pew. These are lay people like myself and look how they're doing the soul-winning. I can do this, too. I'm gonna give it a shot." Look, you're leading people by example, even if you're not the pastor, even just by being a church member ...
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Congregation: Amen.
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... who shows up all the time, who shows up to church on time, who shows up to church all the time, who goes soul-winning, who's happy and excited about the things of God and reading their Bible and talking about the Bible and talking about things of God. That sets an example and it is more powerful than any command that could ever be given.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: That example.
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Congregation: Amen.
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You know, God has a lot of commandments in the Bible, doesn't he? He also showed up in human flesh and took upon Him the form of a servant and followed all the laws that He expects us to obey. Isn't that interesting? I mean, God expects us to obey all these laws, so what did He do just sit back and say, "Well, do as I say, not as I do. I'm God I can do whatever I want." No, He came down here and took on the form of a man and He showed us how to do it. He left us a pattern and an example that we could follow in His steps, and He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin.
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Congregation: Amen.
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He's a pattern for us. He's an example for us. We see over and over again in the Bible, and in our own lives, how powerful examples are versus just telling people what to do. There is a time and a place to tell people what to do, but you also need to set that example. In Esther we see another story about basically a wife rebelling against her husband. This is the story of Queen Vashti and King Ahasuerus. It says in verse 9, " Also Vashti the queen made a feast for the women in the royal house which belonged to King Ahasuerus." Let me just bring you up to speed in the story. King Ahasuerus is the most powerful man in the world. He is the leader of a gigantic kingdom that spans 127 provinces from Ethiopia to India. All right, this is just a huge realm of the civilized world at that time.
<br><br>King Ahasuerus is throwing a great banquet, a great celebration. Well, his wife decides to kind of do her own thing. She's going to make her own feast, kind of a competing activity on the same day, at the same time. She's going to have her own feast for the women. It's funny because it just kind of brings up the fact, she's doing it in the house that belonged to King Ahasuerus, you know her own little program that's going on. Well, so what happens? The king wants her to be a part of his feast and he wants her to come over. She's very beautiful. He wants her to put on the royal apparel and have the crown and everything, and he wants to show off his queen at this event. He doesn't want to be going solo to this giant feast that he's put on. He wants his wife at his side, which is pretty normal and pretty reasonable. She just refuses to come. "No," I've got my own little tea party going on," or my own little brunch, coffee klatch, or whatever she had going on. "I'm busy."
<br><br>He doesn't know what to do. It says here that they were commanded, verse 11, "to bring Vashti, the Queen, before the king, with the crown royal to show the people and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to look on. The Queen, Vashti," verse 12, "refused to come at the king's commandment by his chamberlains. Therefore, was the king very raw and his anger burned in him." I mean, this guy's mad. Now look, I'm not saying this guy was a great husband. I'm not saying he was a great leader. I did a whole sermon on this when I was preaching through Esther where I went into a lot more detail.
<br><br>You know what, he is the boss, and, obviously, the Bible does command wives to submit and obey to their husbands. It doesn't say that if they're a great husband, if you like what they're doing and what they're saying. No, it just says that wives are supposed to submit under their own husbands as under the Lord, and wives to be obedient under their own husband. This woman is rebelling against her husband. The King's angry. He's infuriated. His wrath is kindled. Here I am the most powerful man in the world. He snaps his fingers and all kinds of people are snapping to attention, generals, and governors, and princes, and kings that are under his power, and then his wife won't obey him. It's embarrassment. It's humiliating. It's infuriating. This woman is defy ...
<br><br>He's defied and conquered the armies of the world, but his wife is one that he cannot conquer, okay. This guy's enraged. He's angry. He's very wroth. His anger burned in him. Verse 13, "Then the king said to the wise men, which knew the times, for so was the king's manner toward all that knew law and judgment. And the next unto him was Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, which saw the king's face and which sat first in the kingdom." He says, "Okay, I need to bring seven of my most trusted advisors to bring this rebellious Provence into subjection, my wife." He brings these seven counselors in. "What do I do? How do I handle this?"
<br><br>It says in verse number 15. "What shall we do unto the Queen Vashti according to the law, because she hath not performed the commandment of the king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains? And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the Queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to the princes and to all the people that are in the provinces of the King Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes when it shall be reported, the King Ahasuerus commanded Vashti, the Queen, to be brought in before him, but she came not. Likewise, shall the ladies of Persia and Media say this day unto all the king's princes, which have heard of the deed of the queen. Thus shall there arise too much contempt and wrath."
<br><br>What are they saying, "Look, King Ahasuerus, it's not just an issue about you and your wife. It's not just about you having strife with your wife. What it has to do with is that you are the leader of the world here, in a sense, and everybody's looking to you. If they see your wife rebel against you and get away with it, basically all the wives in your whole kingdom, from Ethiopia to India, are gonna be rebelling against their husbands, and disdaining their husbands and have no respect for their husbands." It's going to be a women's lib movement throughout the whole world, and it's going to be like thousands of years early. It's going to be like 2500 years early. That's not supposed to happen until the idiots of the 20th century allow it to happen. We're not that stupid.
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Congregation: Right.
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We've not Billy Sunday. We actually are smart enough to nip this thing in the bud. Anyway, what am I saying here, is that people that are leaders, people are following their example. They are looking to them. Look how throughout history, let's say the president's, well not this president's wife. I don't think anybody wants to dress and look like her, but other people, we look to the president's wife throughout history, the first lady, right? You look through history where first ladies have set trends, where they wore a certain hat or wore a certain dress. Jackie O, or whoever, you know, Jackie Kennedy. Even if you go back further. When you read the history of presidents in the 1800s, their wives would wear a certain dress, or wear a certain hat, or a certain style and that just became the style. They followed that example. Why? Because they're celebrities. They're important people. What they do other people follow their lead.
<br><br>You have to ask yourself, "What kind of example are you setting for your children?" Because, you're the king to them. You're the one that they look to. What kind of example are you setting to other people in this church? What kind of example do you set on the job? As a pastor, what kind of example am I setting? What kind of example are you setting as a father, or a mother? Because, it speaks much louder than your words. Actions speak louder than words.
<br><br>Now, on this particular subject of the wife obeying the husband, think about this now. What do you think's more powerful for a woman to do, to say to her children, "Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right." Now that needs to be said. Amen. That needs to be taught. But, how about this, "A wife that obeys her husband, what's she doing? Setting an example of obedience. I submit to you that the wife who obeys her husband, I'll bet you her children will be more obedient to her, because they see her obeying her authority. They see her being respectful to her husband. What are they going to do? They're going to then be respectful to their mother, because they're following the example. Much more powerful than just, "You need to obey. You need to obey your parents. God said to fear your father and mother." No, set the example.
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Congregation: Amen.
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By being in obedience. You know what, when they see both of their parents in obedience to God, then that also helps them to see the need to obey their father and mother. These are powerful examples that are set. How about the opposite? The wife who argues with everything that comes out of her husband's mouth, and then she's just shocked, "I don't understand why the kids argue with everything that comes out of my mouth." Where are they getting it? From you. What we see is that the example is more powerful than just the instruction. In order to be a great leader, you do both. Jesus began both to do and teach. Preachers need to preach the Word of God.
<br><br>There are some preachers who get this backwards and they have the opposite problem. They do great works and are great, but they never preach what needs to be done, and then they also fail as a leader. You must have both. You can't just, "Well, I'm just setting the example. I'm just waiting for people to get on board." You do have to speak the truth. You do have to quote the verse to your kids, "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor they father and mother," but you also need to show them an example of following authority in your own life and respecting your own parents and respecting your own Heavenly Father, and respecting your own boss at work, etc. etc.
<br><br>Also, if you're on the job, how you treat your higher ups is going to affect how the people below you treat you, if you're at that mid management level in the company. You are going to receive what you put out. What's the Bible say, "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." Setting that example is a powerful, powerful thing. We should, in all things, in all areas, show ourselves a pattern of good works. God said, "Let no man despise thy youth." This is even speaking to the young, "But, be thou an example," and He said, "In word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." The things that come out of your mouth, word, but also our deeds should be an example that other people can follow. Just as Christ left us an example that we should follow in his steps.
<br><br>Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and for the example that you gave. Thank you for being the ultimate leader and, Lord, as we read the pages of scriptures, you many times assert your authority and you many times states, "I am the Lord. I am God." You states that many times, Lord, but thank you for also humbling yourself and taking on flesh and showing us how to do it, and showing an example of good works and of submitting to heavenly Father while you were on this Earth. Lord, we just pray that you would help us to be leaders. Every single person in this room, even children, that they would lead the children around them by setting a godly, right example. Help us, especially, as parents not to be an Eli. Help wives not to be a Vashti. Help us all to set a godly example in Jesus name we pray. Amen. </p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-43434603244217745342016-05-10T10:37:00.000-07:002016-05-10T10:37:03.204-07:00Loyalty <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9fPbnEe6sc">Video</a>
<p><b>March 22, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/F9fPbnEe6sc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Now, tonight I want to preach about the subject of loyalty. Now, loyalty is not a word that's used in the Bible, but the Bible does use the word faithfulness over a hundred times, and if you look up the word loyalty in a dictionary, the dictionary I used had three definitions for loyalty and they all included the word faithfulness in the definition. I looked up loyal in the dictionary. It said, number one: The state or quality of being loyal; faithfulness to commitment or obligations, is loyalty. Faithful to commitments or obligations. Number two, it said: Faithful adherence to a sovereign government, leader, cause, et cetera; and Number three: An example or instance of faithfulness, adherence, or the like.
<br><br>The reason I use the word loyal is that faithfulness has a lot of definitions. It means a few different things, whereas loyalty is a little bit more of a specific word that kind of narrows down exactly what we're talking about. I want to preach about the fact that we must be loyal to certain people in our lives and in a certain order of priority. Now, first of all, it should go without saying, go to Matthew, Chapter Ten, that the number one loyalty we should have in our lives is our loyalty to Jesus Christ. If you look up that word faithful in the Bible, and you look at the scriptures that are admonishing us to be faithful, most of them are telling us to be faithful to the Lord and be faithful to Jesus Christ, because obviously that should be our number one loyalty.
<br><br>Matthew, Chapter Ten, Verse Thirty-Seven reads: "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me and he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me." In this scripture we see that some of our dearest relationships - our parents, and our children - should not be closer to us than our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. We can't love them more than we love Jesus Christ. Our number one loyalty is to the Lord Jesus Christ. Go to First Samuel, Chapter Two. This is one that we looked at last Sunday in a different sermon, a different context. First Samuel, Chapter number Two.
<br><br>While you're turning there, I'll read to you from Mark Ten-Twenty-Nine, where the Bible reads: "And Jesus answered and said, 'verily I say unto you, there is no man that had left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the world to come, eternal life.'" Again, God is telling us that there's a time when you have to choose God over family. You have to choose God over your friends. You have to choose God over houses or lands. You have to choose God over a spouse, over parents, over children.
<br><br>Jesus Christ must hold the number one place in our lives. In all things he must have the preeminence and we should never be more loyal to anyone or anything than we are loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ. First Samuel Two-Twenty-Nine, this is where Eli is being rebuked and it says in Verse Twenty-Nine: "Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honors thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel, my people." This is a case of someone putting their children above the Lord and being more loyal to children than the Lord. Another example of this that would be a positive example, is First Kings Fifteen. Flip over there. First Kings, Chapter Fifteen.
<br><br>Now should be loyal to our parents? Absolutely. The Bible teaches, for example, in the Ten Commandments: "Honor they father and thy mother, that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord they God giveth thee." Then Ephesians Six in the New Testament says, "Honor they father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with thee and that thou mayest live long on the earth." Proverbs Twenty-Three-Twenty-Two tells us: "Hearken under thy father that begat thee and despise not thy mother when she is old." Should we be loyal to our parents in the sense that we love them, honor them and when they get old, take care of them? Absolutely. He says, "Look, don't despise your mother when she's old. Honor your father and mother."
<br><br>First Timothy Five teaches that, I'll read it for you, you don't have to turn there, but Verse Three: "Honor widows that are widows indeed, but if any widow have children or nephews, let them learn first to show piety at home and to requite their parents, for that is good and acceptable before God." What's the Bible saying? Your mother is a widow and she's old and needs to be taken care of, it is your job as the child or the nephew to take care of your destitute mother because we should not forsake our parents and have no loyalty to them. No, we should have loyalty to our parents. The Bible teaches that. It says in First Timothy Five-Sixteen: "If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them and let not the church be charged that it may relieve them that are widows indeed."
<br><br>God teaches that we should honor our parents and when the Bible uses the word honor it has to do with providing for their needs and it's talking about financially. That's what the word honor often means in the Bible. Just if you study the English word honor and the origins of it, for example, the old English word, if you go back to old English, like a thousand years ago, the word was [árweorðung 00:05:34] and it meant, not only honor in the sense of giving someone respect, but it also meant that you were actually paying tribute to a king in a financial way. Because old English was spoken by the sea-faring people around England and so forth, and so a lot of them were conquered by the Vikings and so forth, and they had to pay [árweorðung 00:05:56] or they had to pay honor to these kings.
<br><br>Now it makes sense that those two definitions would kind of merge together in the word honor, because if you're honoring a king, what do you honor him with? You honor him with gold and gifts, and so forth. When the Bible says to honor your father and mother, it's often tied in with taking care of them financially when they're old. Like, for example, the Bible said that Jesus was disputing with the Pharisees in Matthew Fifteen and he told them, "Hey, the scripture says honor they father and mother, but your tradition is saying any man that says corban, that is to say it is a gift, concerning whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me, and it says you don't suffer him to do ought for his mother and father, you're making the word of God of no effect when it says honor they father and mother."
<br><br>Honor thy father and mother isn't just saying honor them like respect them or treat them well. It does mean that also, but it also contains the meaning of paying for their needs when they become old and need that if they don't have any money. That used to be the retirement plan by the way, before social security was instituted in the 1930s, parents were taken care of by their children when they were old. Children and grandchildren would chip in and take care of their parents. That's what the Bible commands, and I could do a whole sermon where I go over that, but there's a lot of scripture about honoring your parents, loving your parents, taking care of them, not despising them when they're old, not forsaking them. Loyalty to your parents is important, but loyalty to Jesus Christ has to trump loyalty to parents. That's your number one loyalty.
<br><br>Look if you would at this story of a guy who understood that. First Kings Fifteen-Eleven. This is King Asa and the Bible says: "And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord as did David his father." We don't have to wonder whether what he did was right here or not. God comes right out and tells us Asa did what was right, and he's going to explain to us the right thing that he did. Verse Twelve: "He took away the Sodomites out of the land." That's always a good place to start. "He took away the Sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made. And also Maachah, his mother, even her." Look at those two words - even her. "He removed from being queen because she had made an idol in a grove and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the brook Kidron, but the high places were not removed. Nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days."
<br><br>The Bible is saying that it was right of King Asa to take his mother out of the position of being queen because she had made this idol and was teaching false religion, and he even destroyed her idol and burnt it and destroyed it. The Bible is showing us a great example here of a guy who understood. Look, we love our parents, we should honor our father and mother, we should respect them, but there comes a point where if we have to choose between honoring the Lord and honoring our parents, our loyalty is to Christ first and foremost. That has to be our main loyalty. Now, not only does the Bible teach that we should be loyal to Christ; it teaches that we should be loyal to our parents. It also talks about the fact that we should be loyal to our friends.
<br><br>Turn if you would to Proverbs Twenty-Seven. Proverbs Twenty-Seven, and while you're turning there I'll read you an example from Second Timothy, Chapter One, of a guy who was loyal to his friends. This is a guy by the name of Onesiphorus. Onesiphorus was a friend of the Apostle, Paul, and he was loyal to him. It says in verse Fifteen: "This thou ..." Wait for me there in Proverbs, I'll be there in a moment. "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia, be turned away from me." These were people that were disloyal to Paul. They were not faithful to him. In his hour of need, they weren't there for him. It says, "All they are in Asia be turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. The Lord give mercy onto the house of Onesiphorous, for he oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain."
<br><br>What's he saying? He lost a lot of friends by going to prison. He'd gone to prison and a lot of his friends were ashamed of his chain. That kind of reminds me of another situation, but anyway, friends and loved ones and family don't want to be associated with him because they're ashamed of his chain, but Onesiphorous was faithful to him. He was a loyal friend, and he says, "He oft refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain, but when he was in Rome he sought me out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that he may find mercy of the Lord in that day and in how many things he ministered unto me in Ephesus, thou knowest very well." Look down at your Bible there, Proverbs Twenty-Seven, Verse Ten: "Thine own friend and thy father's friend, forsake not. Neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity, for better is a neighbor that is near than a brother that is far off."
<br><br>Flip back to Chapter Eighteen. The Bible's saying be loyal to your friends and you're going to be able to rely on them in times of need, sometimes even more than your own family, if you have good friends to rely on. Be loyal to them because if you're going to expect loyalty or want to have friends that are there for you in your time of need, you need to be there for them in their time of need. That's why the Bible says in Chapter Eighteen, Verse Twenty-Four, "A man who have friends must show himself friendly and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Sometimes our friends can even be closer to us than our own family. It's important to be loyal to them and to be there for them in their time of need.
<br><br>There are a lot of other scriptures on friendship, but go if you would to Ephesians, chapter Five, where we started tonight, Ephesians, chapter Five. While you're turning there, I'll read to you from Third John, Verse Fourteen: "But I trust I shall shortly see thee and we shall speak face to face. Peace be to thee. Our friends salute thee. Greet the friends by name." You know, the Apostles took great ... They held great importance in the friendships that they had, because you'll notice at the end of their epistles, like he says, hey, "greet the friends by name." Paul even went to the great length of listing what seems like every friend he's ever had at the end of Romans. Romans, Chapter Sixteen, he just lists friend after friend after ... Say hi to this person, this person, just shout out after shout out, friend after friend, in Romans Sixteen. He just goes on and on, but you know what? It shows that he valued his friends.
<br><br>Often at the beginning of his epistles, he'll say something like, "You know what? I've been praying for you by name. God is my witness that I have been making mention of you in my prayers night and day." That's a pretty bold statement, to say I'm praying for you by name every day, because it's in scripture, so it must be true, that he was really doing it. Paul was somebody who loved and took care of his friends and was loyal to his friends and therefore he had a good friend, Onesiphorous. Luke was a good friend, too, other people that were loyal friends. It's important to be loyal to Christ. We should be loyal to our parents, we should be loyal to our friends, but let me say this: Our number one loyalty outside of the Lord Jesus Christ, should be to our spouse.
<br><br>This is a conflict that people often come into in their lives and people often come to me and ask me, I've been asked this many times, where people bring me a situation, a stripe in their family problems, and when you're a pastor, people come to you and talk to you about this kind of stuff because they want to get some kind of advice from the Bible. A lot of people have asked me about situations, and I always tell people the same thing, and I'm going to show you why I believe that from the Bible is that your number one loyalty is to your spouse, outside of Jesus. Because more important than your relationship with your parents is your relationship with your spouse. Brothers and sisters are not as important as your spouse. Friends are not as important as your spouse. That I believe is your number one loyalty outside of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
<br><br>Now look what the Bible says and tell me if I'm wrong. Look at Ephesians Five, verse Twenty-Eight. "So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourish it then cherisheth it. Even as the Lord the church, for we are members of his body, of his flesh and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church, nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband." What do we see in this passage?
<br><br>We should love our wife as our own body and we should consider our wife bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. You say, "Well, yeah, but this is family." No. Your wife is your family. Your husband is your family. That is bone of your bone and flesh of your flesh. Who's your closest relative? Your wife, and it's not because you're from Kentucky. I'm saying, now that you're married it's your closest relative, okay? I'm not saying that you're inbreeding. I'm saying that when you marry your spouse, you're supposed to leave father and mother and cleave unto your wife and be one flesh with her. That is the great mystery. That is the great relationship in our lives. Now, let me show you a scripture that's one that most people have never even read, let alone has it ever been preached hardly at all.
<br><br>Go to Numbers, Chapter Thirty. It's an interesting chapter. Numbers, Chapter Thirty. I don't remember ever having heard a sermon on this. Maybe I preached on ... I'm pretty sure I preached on this once before in a sermon somewhere, but I'm not even sure. It's kind of one of those obscure chapters in an obscure book that people don't really think about, but there's an important lesson in this chapter. Because I think Ephesians Five makes it pretty clear where your loyalty is when it says you leave your father and mother and you cleave to your wife. Okay? There's a leaving and cleaving. That's a good way to remember it. Leave and cleave. There's a leaving and cleaving that needs to take place in our lives where we leave our father and mother and cleave unto our wife and that becomes our new family, our new loyalty right there.
<br><br>Look at Numbers Thirty and let's look at it from the woman's perspective. The Bible says in Verse One: "And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying 'This is the thing which the Lord has commanded." We're going to read the whole chapter. Listen to this chapter. "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." That's just a great verse right there in and of itself. That's if a man vows a vow unto the Lord, he must stick with it, he must keep the vow, he must do the thing that's gone out of his lips. That's Numbers Thirty, Verse Two, but for the rest of the chapter, he's going to talk about women.
<br><br>First he says, okay here it is for a man. Real simple. You make a vow, you keep it, period. Okay, now we're going to spend the whole rest of the chapter talking about women making a vow. It says in Verse Three: "If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth ..." This is a young lady that's still at home, still living with her parents, and she makes a vow. It says in Verse Four: "And her father hear her vow, and her bond were with she had bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her," meaning he doesn't say anything. He hears her make the vow and he doesn't say anything. "Then all her vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
<br><br>But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows nor of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand and the Lord shall forgive her because her father disallowed her." Now, let's just explain this real quick. What this is saying is that if a girl who's living with her parents at home swears to do something, makes a vow that she's going to do this or not do this, and her father hears her make that vow, and doesn't say anything about it, then that vow stands. But, if she makes that vow and her dad says, "No, you're not going to do that. No, that vow is not legitimate. No, I do not approve of you vowing that," then that vow just went out the window and means nothing. Why? Because it's not her job to control her own destiny. Her father is an authority figure in her life, and she can't just say, "Well, I'm going to go do this," or "I'm not going to go do ..." No. You're not. He can shut that down.
<br><br>Now when it says "in the day that he hears of it," that means that if a young lady makes a vow unto the Lord, and it's not in the presence of her father, and then he hears about it two weeks later, he can disannul it the first time he hears about it. When he hears about it, even if it's six months later, oh he hears about it, that's null and void because I said so. But if he hears about it six months later and he holds his peace at that time and the whole day goes by and the next day, well then that vow stands because he didn't say anything. But if he didn't hear about it ... It's when he hears about it. Does everybody understand? Let's keep reading.
<br><br>It says in Verse Six: "And if she had at all a husband when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips wherewith she bound her soul and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it, then her vow shall stand and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand, but if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it ..." Again, notice it's when he hears about it. "Then he shall make her vow which she vowed and that which she uttered with her lips wherewith she bound her soul of none effect and the Lord shall forgive her. But every vow of a widow and of her that is divorced wherewith they have bound their soul shall stand against her, and if she vowed in her husband's house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath and her husband heard it and held his peace at her and disallowed her not, then all her vows shall stand.
<br><br>And every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand, but if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day that he heard them, then whatsoever proceedeth out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the bond of her soul shall not stand. Her husband hath made them void and the Lord shall forgive her. Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it or her husband may make it void. But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he establishes all her vows." What is he saying? Silence is agreement. "Or all of her bonds which are upon her, he confirmeth them because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. But if he shall anyways make them void after that he hath heard them, then he shall bear her inequity."
<br><br>That verse is important, too, Verse Fifteen. Let's stop and understand it. "But if he shall anyways make them void after that he hath heard them, then he shall bear her inequity." What does that mean? That means that if he later on hears about a vow and he hold his peace when he hears it or if he immediately hears about a vow and just doesn't say anything, and then a few weeks later he's like, "You know what? I changed my mind. That vow's not going to stand." Then at point, the vow does not stand, but he's the one now who's broken the vow and he gets punished by God. The curse is on him for breaking a vow. Now, I don't know about you, but doesn't this chapter seem repetitive? Now, there's always a reason when God is repetitive. He's not just being repetitive because he just wants to make the Bible a certain length and he's just trying to fill space and needed more chapters.
<br><br>If God repeats something, it means that it's important and if God repeats something in a bunch of slightly different ways, and saying it a little differently over and over again, a little different here, a little ... It's because he doesn't want to be misunderstood, so he's going over it from a bunch of different angles, just making it really clear to make sure that we understand. If it gets a whole chapter, it must be important. That tells me that it's pretty important to God whether we keep our vows. If you make a vow, you better keep it. There's a whole chapter just demanding that you keep the vows. He says, if you're a father and you have a daughter living at home or if you're a husband that has a wife, you have the power to either establish or disannul your wife's vows in the day that you hear them. That's when you're supposed to disannul them if you have a problem with them. If you do, it's all forgiven. You're not in sin, she's not in sin. The vow is as if it had never happened.
<br><br>But, if he does it later, if he waits a few weeks or months and says, "I changed my mind," now he's the one who gets punished, but the wife or daughter is still supposed to obey the father or husband. "Well, no. I vowed that. You didn't disannul it in time." Well, no. He's disannulling it, but he bears the sin. He bears the burden for that. That's what Verse Fifteen is teaching. Then it closes things up in Verse Sixteen by saying: "These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter being yet in her youth in her father's house." Now, what we see in this passage is there possible phases of life. We see first of all, the daughter who is living at home in her father's house in her youth. That's one phase. Who's the authority in that situation? The father.
<br><br>Then we see her as a married wife. Who's the authority in that situation? Her husband. Then we see a 3rd possible scenario that's brought out of a woman whose husband has died or divorced her. In that case, the Bible says, no one is going to either establish or disannul her vows. If she makes a vow, it just stands because at that point she's on her own. Now, the Bible does talk about a girl going back and living in her father's house and being supported by her parents if her husband dies or divorces her, but at that point, it's not the same structure of disannulling or establishing vows. That's what the Bible says in Numbers, Chapter Thirty. You say, "Well, why does that matter?"
<br><br>Well, it matters because we should keep our vows and of course one of the biggest vows we make in our life is when we vow to our spouse when we get married. That's a vow that we're taking, but not only that, and that's why, by the way, that's why we should be married publicly, to make sure that everybody hears that vow and then you say, "If anybody has any reason why these two should not be joined together, speak now or forever hold your peace." Now, I'm not teaching some strange doctrine that after people get married, dad can come in later and disannul, because here's the thing. When you get married, it's the husband who's the new authority. If he disannuls it, that's called divorcing your wife, that's wrong. The Bible says, God hateth ... Listen to me, "The Lord God of Israel hateth putting away." He hates divorce, that's what Malachi, Chapter Two teaches, so don't get mixed up on that.
<br><br>Why am I teaching this is this sermon about where our loyalties should lie? What I'm showing you is that after the woman gets married, her father ceases to become the authority in her life. Does everybody see that? Her father ceases to be the authority in her life. The husband is now the authority in her life, not the father and not only that, but even after the husband's dead, he doesn't have the same authority that he had before. That should just make it clear to you that the husband replaces the father as the authority figure in her life. Is there any doubt about that? It's a clear, it's an important teaching. You say, "Why is that important?" Because of the fact that one of the greatest causes of marital strife in the world today is meddling in-laws.
<br><br>If you look at a list of top ten marriage problems, probably even top five marriage problems, you know what's always going to be on that list? In-laws. When you get a list of just, hey, just name the big five. Talk to a pastor who deals with people or talk to just a statistician or just talk to any kind of a family counselor or maybe a judge that deals in divorces or something, or a lawyer that deals with divorces. Anybody will tell you that is one of the top marriage problems, because what are the marriage problems that you're going to hear about? A big one is money. That's why it's so important what I preached this morning about covetousness in regard to marriage, because money can be a big issue in a marriage, financial problems.
<br><br>What's another big issue that people have? Basically in-laws is right up there toward the top. That's a major ... Another thing that's always maybe a problem, in the bedroom. That's another thing that's high up on the list with people. What else? Somebody help me out. Adultery, obviously, is a big one, adultery, whether it's total adultery or just flirtation, flirting with adultery or whatever, right? What else? Somebody help me out. I don't have the list in front of me. Drug abuse, alcohol, obviously those are things that can be damaging to a marriage, but if you look at a list, the in-laws are pretty high on the list for a reason. Money, in-laws, adultery, these are the type of things that destroy marriages.
<br><br>Now, why are in-laws such a big issue? Look, as a pastor, I can just tell you, people come to me with marriage problems all the time, and it's not usually people in our church. Sometimes it is, obviously. There are people that have issues, but because my sermons are online, basically people from all over the country and all over the world will sometimes contact me with marriage problems or just trying to get advice and what do I do? Usually I try to, if I can, because I sympathize with people in their situation, I try to direct them to a sermon or something that I've preached that could help, or try to direct them to a scripture or something, but I hear as a pastor ... When you're a pastor, people tell you stuff. People just come to you and tell you all kinds of stuff.
<br><br>You hear about problem after problem after problem regarding in-laws. It's a major problem that people have, and I'm constantly telling people the same advice. You need to put your spouse before your in-laws and your family. You know what? Fathers of women need to be told that they're not the boss anymore and they need to bug off and let the husband rule that home. That is what the Bible teaches and you know what was one of the most wicked things that is a tradition in our western culture that you hear about all the time is this kind of a talk that a dad will have with this daughter, where he basically says to her, "Now listen, honey, you know you can always come home to us, don't you?" You know what I'm talking about. "You know that if it doesn't work out, or if there's problems, you just come ... You always have a place here, honey, to come and bad-mouth your husband and to come talk crap about your husband. Just come and see us. The door's always open, and you can always move back in with us, honey."
<br><br>That is wicked and disgusting and you know what? I will never say that to any of my daughters. You know what I'm going to say to my daughters? I'm going to say, "Look, this is your husband. I'm going to hand you off to him in that wedding, and you belong to him now and you are to obey him and your loyalty is to him, not me." That is biblical. That is the truth, and look, no man can serve two masters. You can't sit there and have these two competing authorities and parents who don't want to let go of their kids. Now look, it's great to love your kids but there comes a time when you have to cut the apron strings and when your son needs to leave and cleave, and when your daughter needs to be handed off to the husband. You know what?
<br><br>If my ... I just want to tell this to my three little daughters right now that are way too young to be even thinking about any of this, I just want to say to my three daughters right now, "Don't ever come crying to me about your husband, because I'm going to tell you to turn around and go submit yourself to your husband and go obey him and submit to him and I don't want to hear about it." That's true. That's right. You know what? A lot of marriages would be helped, a lot of marriages would be saved if that were the mentality. If the wives would ... It's like a cliché of the wife goes crying to mommy and crying to daddy. No, she needs to suck it up and learn how to submit and make that marriage work and obey her husband. That's what the Bible says.
<br><br>You say, "Well, oh, but what's this submit and obey? What if he's a jerk? What if he's this?" Why'd you marry a jerk? You know what? My daughters aren't going to marry a jerk because I'm going to kick his backside if he's a jerk - before the wedding. I'm not going to kick his butt after the wedding because you know what? It's none of my business after the wedding. Because she's not mine anymore, she's his now. That's what the Bible teaches. Any butt kicking needs to happen before the wedding, all right? That's the way it works, because you can't sit there ... Look, if some guy wants to be around my daughter that I don't want around my daughter, he's not going to be around my daughter, because I'm going to be stronger than him or I'll get a bigger stick.
<br><br>The bottom line is, you know what? After the wedding, people need to realize it's over. You're done. You had your chance to raise your child, and to bring them up in the nurtured admonition of the Lord and to teach them and to guide them and now you are passing that baton off to hopefully a godly man, hopefully a worthy man and you have to ... You're trusting him now with your daughter. Now it's up to him and I'm just telling you that if you have adult children who come to you bad-mouthing their husband and, "Oh, come on over, sweetie, stay at our house for a few days. You need some space." No, you need a swift kick in the pants is what you need, and I'm talking to you, Dad. I'm talking to everybody involved. Everybody involved needs a kick in the pants. Well, the women shouldn't be in pants, so that proves I was talking about the dad.
<br><br>Bottom line is that meddling in-laws are destroying marriages today. It's the truth. It's fact, because they provide that Plan B also, that we talked about this morning that shouldn't exist. There shouldn't be a Plan B for a man or a woman going into it. They should go into it as do or die, literally. When in-laws get involved and they can cause strife and friction, but not only ... That's kind of an extreme example. When the wife is going home and crying to mom, and by the way, there was one woman who did that in the Bible that I can think of. I can only think of one. Does anybody remember who it was? It's a pretty bad story. It's a really bad story in the Bible. Does anybody remember? The woman who went home crying to Solomon? What's that? Yeah, that's true she did go home to dad, too.
<br><br>That wasn't the one I was thinking of. Zipporah, okay. I was thinking of that woman in Judges Nineteen that went home to dad. That didn't turn out so well, but anyway ... But I'm saying that as in-laws, and I know our church is really young so we don't really have a lot of people in our church that have adult children. We do have some, but most of the people in our church are too young to have adult children. But you know, it's better to learn this now than to learn it when you're already all emotional about it and you've already made dumb decisions. It's better to learn this when your child is small and when your child is maybe a teenager or a little kid, that you're not going to meddle in your children's marriage, and that you're going to let the husband be the boss in that home.
<br><br>You're not going to step in, "Well, he shouldn't be doing that, and he needs to do this, and you need to tell him this," and blah blah, just usurping that authority. What does the Bible teach in Numbers Thirty? Who's the boss after she gets married? Is Dad still the boss? Is he still disannulling sweetie-pie's vows? No. It's done. That's her husband's job now to make those decisions and he doesn't have that right any longer. Not only that extreme example of the girl going home to Mama and crying to Daddy and, "Oh, he treats me so bad." Not only that, but also there are just other situations that are less obvious, where there's a badmouthing of your spouse going on by your family. This could go both male or female. This could be a husband who gets around his family and they talk bad about his wife to him.
<br><br>Let me tell you something. If my family would ever say anything bad about my wife to me, I would immediately defend her and immediately take her side every time. I will side with my wife against you, and I will side with my wife against family. I will not side with my wife against Jesus. That's the one that has our supreme loyalty, but I would side with my wife against anybody else. I'm not going to throw my wife under the bus to make family happy, and the same way goes for her. She should not tolerate people badmouthing me unto her. "Well, your husband, blah, blah, blah." There are a lot of people who badmouth me and her. I'm not saying in our family. I'm saying just in general, and my wife and I, if we're going to be loyal to each other, we should defend each other and stand up for each other.
<br><br>If you have to choose who you're going to burn and if you have to choose which relationship is going to be harmed, you should always harm the relationship other than your spouse. If you have to say goodbye to a friend because of the fact that it's coming between you and your spouse, you need to say goodbye to that friend if so need be. If you need to stay away from your family for awhile, stay away from relatives for awhile, brothers and sisters, parents, because of a conflict that it's causing between you and your spouse, you need to preserve your marriage. I'm telling you, marriages today are an uphill battle in our country, because of the fact that our culture has destroyed the institution of marriage.
<br><br>It's hard for marriages to work anymore. That's why you see so much divorce and even amongst marriages, you see a lot of unhappiness and strife and drama, because it's just hard to have a godly marriage these days. It's important that you do everything you can to make that job of having a good marriage a little easier, not making it harder. When you allow extended family to create ... You say, "Why are you talking about this?" Because tons of people have issues with this all the time and I hear about it all the time. Those that are young married, newly married, need this advice of saying, you know what? The most important relationship is between you and your spouse. If you have to ... If you need some space from somebody, it needs to be from your parents, from your brothers and sisters, from friends.
<br><br>I would switch churches in a heartbeat before I'd switch spouses. I mean, think about it. I would switch churches. I'm not saying go to a bad church, but I would switch to another Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, I'd switch to another church that's a Bible preaching church if it would improve my relationship with my wife, and if there was a problem somehow with that church, because I'm telling you. Amongst my human relationships, I believe that my number 1 relationship is with my wife. I'm going to put her first, amongst human ... Not before the Lord, but before human relationships like church friends, or even a church in general. I'm not saying I would ever get out of church, because that would be coming between me and the Lord.
<br><br>I'd never get out of church, but I would even switch churches. I would even separate from family, separate from friends, before I ever separated from my spouse or before I ever allowed that to destroy my marriage. Just remember this, maybe it's not something you're going through right now, but just remember, as you go through this long life, married decades, spending all these years together, that when family is badmouthing your spouse, you stick up for your spouse. When family is coming between you and your spouse, you stick with your spouse, you cleave to your ... You leave them and you cleave to your spouse. That's what the Bible says, and when you have a situation where there's strife and friction, the people that need to be backed off from are extended family or friendships, not your spouse. That should be the number one most important relationship in your life.
<br><br>On the flip-side, don't be that person who tries to come between a husband and his wife. That's a wicked place to be. God hates those who sow discord among brethren. How much more would God hate it if someone were to step in and create marital strife and create a conflict where there was none between husband and wife. This sermon's about loyalty. We should be loyal to the Lord. We should be loyal to our parents. We should be loyal to our friends. We should be loyal and faithful to brothers and sisters and family and people, but where does our loyalty lie when it comes to a conflict? Well, it should always be the Lord first and then secondly, stick with your spouse, and then thirdly after that is everybody else, and sometimes all you can do is keep the Lord happy and your spouse happy.
<br><br>If you can do those two things, you've done a lot and you just call it good. If you can keep some other people happy, great. Honestly, those are the two big ones in that order. It's epidemic, the marriage problems that are caused by people not minding their own business and getting involved in other people's issues and not respecting the boundaries of marriage, and respecting that bond as being the supreme bond outside of a relationship with the Lord. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for being faithful to us. We know that you're always faithful and loyal to us. You'll never leave us nor forsake us.
<br><br>Lord, help us to show you the same courtesy and also Lord, the wife or the husband that has been given to us, Lord, help us to be loyal and faithful and true and to keep that vow and to realize, hey, that's the most important relationship, not friends, not extended family. We love our parents, we love our children, but it's our spouse that should take number one place, Lord. Help us to be loyal to our friends. Help us be loyal to everyone Lord, as much as possible, but help us never to get these priorities out of whack, start choosing friends over you, Lord, or choosing family over you, or choosing to side with our parents against our spouse, or whatever, Lord. Help that to never take place. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. </p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-41556018866235956162016-05-09T17:02:00.000-07:002016-05-09T17:02:00.181-07:00Jesus in Isaiah 53 <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hJeZCja1VM">Video</a>
<p><b>May 24, 2015</b></p>
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<p> Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous passages in the bible often known as "The suffering servant passage" and this is a prophecy of the lord Jesus Christ, and really, when you read this, it's just mind boggling how many prophecies about the lord Jesus Christ are crammed into this one short chapter and there's so many profound things that are taught in this chapter, and there are other chapters throughout the old testament that would point clearly and directly to the lord Jesus Christ, but this one is truly amazing how many things are. Now, I want to back up just a little bit to chapter 52 because that's where this subject actually starts, in chapter 52 verse 13 where the bible reads "Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high."
<br><br>He starts out in verse 13 talking about him being exalted and lifted up and glorified, but in the next few verses, we're going to read about the exact opposite happening. Him being despised, rejected, afflicted, but in the beginning, he starts out by talking about how the servant would be exalted. It says in verse 14 "As many were astonied at thee." This would be our modern word astonished, they're shocked, they're blown away. It says "Many were astonied at thee; his visage," visage means face, "Was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men," so this is talking about the fact that his face was disfigured and this is obviously referring to the beating that the lord Jesus Christ received. If you remember when Jesus was arrested and they were questioning him and when they're putting him on trial, they were smiting him in the face.
<br><br>The bible talks about them covering his face and punching Jesus in the face, and then saying "Prophecy unto us, who is it that hit you? Tell us which one of us hit you," and they're mocking him and beating him and he silently endured and took all that, but they were smiting him in the face. Also, if you remember, they pleaded or braided a crown of thorns and they put that crown of thorns upon Jesus's head, and then they took a rod and hit him in the head with it to drive those thorns into his brow, so the bible says here that his face or "His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men" meaning that he was not even recognizable anymore as a human being, just completely bloody and beaten and disfigured through beating. This isn't like the pictures that you'll see, many catholic pictures of Jesus, they'll just show a little trickle of blood or something.
<br><br>The bible talks about him being beaten so badly that he's unrecognizable more than any man. It says on verse 15 "So shall he sprinkle many nations. The kings shall shut their mouths at him, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider." Now let's talk about this thing of "He shall sprinkle many nations." Go to Hebrews chapter number 9 in the new testament. Hebrews is a great book for tying in the old testament with the new testament because that's why it's called the book of Hebrews. It's written to an audience that has a knowledge of the old testament that knows the Mosaic Law, that knows the prophets and Isaiah, so it quotes the old testament a lot and it explains and expounds it, so there's a lot in Hebrews that would tie in with Isaiah 53 of course, but look at Hebrews chapter number 9.
<br><br>The bible says "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead. Otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
<br><br>For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, saying this is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you," so in the old testament, the bible talks about the fact that animals would be sacrificed and the blood will be sprinkled, and in fact, when the old testament was first instituted with Moses, the bible says the law was given by Moses but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, they sprinkled the people with blood of the animals and they also sprinkled the book with blood, and look what the bible says in verse number 21. "Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission."
<br><br>Go to Hebrews chapter 10. He's explaining on the old testament the shedding of blood was there for the remission of sins and it was through animals, and he said if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" He's explaining how the flesh was sanctified by the blood being sprinkled. That provided just a carnal cleansing, but when it comes to the spiritual cleansing of the soul, that's through the blood of Jesus Christ, and the bible says "Without the shedding of blood, there's no remission." Now of course, the Jews today, they don't do these animal sacrifices anymore at all. That's been discontinued. Instead, they just do prayers, and is that what God said?
<br><br>"Oh, just pray this prayer instead of the blood." No, it's the blood that cleanses all things in the old testament and new testament, and in the new testament, "Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, and that blood of sprinkling today is the blood of Jesus Christ and it is sprinkled in our hearts," the bible says. Now look at chapter 10 verse 22. "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith," faith is what saves us. It says "Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water." Go to Hebrews chapter 12, so it's our hearts that are sprinkled with the blood of the lord Jesus Christ. This has to be with salvation. Salvation is through, the bible says, "Faith in his blood." That's the exact phrase that the bible uses.
<br><br>It says in Hebrews chapter 12:22 "But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant," the new covenant is another word for the new testament, "And to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel," so if you come to Jesus, "You've come to the blood of sprinkling," the bible says. It's that sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ in our hearts. Flip over to first Peter chapter 1, just a few pages to the right in your bible. There have been false prophets in our modern day that have tried to downplay the importance of the blood of Jesus Christ, and in fact, new bible versions have removed the blood and tried to downplay the significance of the blood.
<br><br>Probably the most famous false teacher who has attacked the blood of Christ is John McArthur, and he said "It's not the blood that saves, it's the death of Jesus saves," and he said "Whenever the bible use the word blood about ... It's really just a euphemism for his death." Now here's the thing. If blood just always means death, then why does this say sprinkling? You don't sprinkle death. Blood is a liquid that is sprinkled and that's what the bible was saying, and so that's why the bible version that John McArthur pushes, the ESV, that's why it removes a lot of these verses about the blood, and scriptures that talk about being washed in the blood, because how do you wash in the death? "Are you washed in the death?" It doesn't make any sense, but John McArthur just put that as ESV study bible that just removes references to washing in the blood and also just removes the word blood in many places, and I can't understand how anybody still listens to that guy.
<br><br>He's so popular and so well known but that's because the world loves a false prophet, and he has all kinds of followers but he denies the blood of Christ and people say "Oh, he explained that." He never apologized for it, he never took it back, he just explained why he denied the blood. "Here's why I deny the blood." No, it's wrong. You're wrong. It's heresy. It's lies, and not only that, recently he said "Hey, you can take the mark of the beast in the tribulation and still be saved." What is it going to take for people to realize that this guy's a false prophet? He pushes all the modern perversions of the bible, the ESV, the NIV, the HIV, the SUV, and then also, he denies the blood of Christ, but if that's not enough, he says "Hey, you can take the mark of the beast and still be saved." There's no limit to the heresy coming out of this man's mouth. No, my friend. It's the blood that saves.
<br><br>Had you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the lamb? Look at first Peter 2:24. "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness." Notice it doesn't say we have to live unto righteousness to get saved, it's saying that we should live unto righteousness. What must we do to be saved? Believe on Jesus Christ. What should we do? Live unto righteousness? What should we do? Go to church? What should we do? Read the bible. What should we do? Pray. What should we do? Obey the commandments, but what must we do to be saved? Belief on the lord Jesus Christ.
<br><br>There's a big difference between what you must do to be saved and what you should do, so it says "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins," this is talking about after salvation, we should live unto righteousness, but watch this, here's a quote from Isaiah 53. "By whose stripes, ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." Now go back if you would to Isaiah chapter 53. In first Peter there, we have a quote from Isaiah 53. There's an importance of the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus and then it talks about the fact that by his stripes were healed. What does it mean when it says "By his stripe," it's saying that we're healed by the blood because what were the stripes? The stripes were when Jesus was scourged or whipped.
<br><br>Every time that whip hit him, it left a bloody stripe, so when the bible says "By his stripes, we're healed," it's saying that it's the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all sin. That's where salvation is found, in the precious blood of the lord Jesus Christ. A lot of people will say that Jesus was beaten with a cat of 9 tails. Who's ever heard that taught in church? I heard that my whole life, but you have to take everything with a grain of salt if it's not coming from scripture because in the bible, they would beat people with stripes and they would beat them with 40 stripes save 1, that's because God had put a limit in the bible on 40 stripes. Somebody needs to tell that to these Muslims who beat people like 100 times, but the bible says that a person should only beaten with 40 stripes maximum, and if they went over that, then they would be beaten, so just to be safe, in case they lost count, they would do 39.
<br><br>That's why over and over again, the bible talks about people being beaten with 40 stripes save 1 because that's just kind of a buffer there so that they don't accidentally go overboard and break that limit. Here's the thing. If you're using a cat of 9 tails, it's not going to leave a stripe like that and you're not going to be able to count to 39 or 40. Are you, if you have a whip with 9 tails? That just appeared in some flannelgraph somewhere and now it's just gospel for the rest of our lives, but what does the bible say? "By his stripes, we're healed, we're saved by the blood," but let's keep reading here in Isaiah 52. It says in verse number 12 "So shall he sprinkle many nations, the kings shall shut their mouths at him." Now I love how it says there "He shall sprinkle many nations." What did Jesus say when he ascended up to the father in heaven?
<br><br>He said "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost and teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you, and lo I'm with you all way even unto the end of the world." Christianity. Salvation through the lord Jesus Christ is not limited to a certain nation, it's for all nations. He said he's going to sprinkle many nations, and remember, this prophecy is given unto Israel in the old testament and he's telling them he's going to sprinkle many nations. They had a hard time accepting this when the new testament came around because they had this view that "We're the special chosen ones and not just to everyone else," and even those who got saved out of the Jews often had this attitude that they were somehow better than the gentiles. You remember this?
<br><br>Even in the book of Acts, even those that are saved, they're really shocked and blown away when they see the gentiles filled with the spirit and when they see the holy spirit manifested amongst the gentiles, they just "Oh wow, you mean God gave the gift of the holy spirit under the gentiles too and not just under the Jews? God also granted unto the gentiles repentance unto life?" They're shocked by this. They're surprised by this. If they would have known their own old testament, they would have known the prophecies about his house being a house of prayer for all nations and about the fact that this righteous servant that would die on the cross for our sins, he would justify many and then he would sprinkle many nations with his blood, and that's why I believe that the new testament was written in Greek, and look, I'm saying that's why I believe it was written in Greek as in that's why I believe it was, not saying that there's any doubt that it was written in Greek.
<br><br>Anyone who says that the new testament was not written in Greek is a complete idiot. Let me say that again. Anyone who believes that the new testament was written in a language other than Greek is a complete idiot, and that's what people are teaching now. "Oh, it's written in Hebrew." Yeah, the epistle to the Thessalonians was written in Hebrew. Yeah, the epistle unto the Philippians was written in Hebrew. Yeah, the epistle unto the Colossians was written in Hebrew, right? Half of it is specifically addressed to cities in Greece. Hello. Philippi is in Macedonia. These places like Thessal and Aika ... Okay, hey the epistle unto the Romans, guess what it's written in? Greek, okay? The epistle unto ... What about the book of Luke? In fact, the book of Luke is written unto a Greek person, Theophilus. Doesn't sound very Jewish to me. It's written under Theophilus. What about the book of revelation? "Send it unto the 7 churches in Asia."
<br><br>It's crystal clear that the new testament is written in Greek, and you know why it was written in Greek? Because God wanted everybody to know that it's for all nations. It's not just for Israel. That's why God said to Abraham "And thee shall all nations of the earth be blessed." This book is not a book that's just about God blessing one nation, and if you look at some of the religions of the world, they exalt as certain group of people, don't they? If you look at Islam, what do they say? "Oh, it has to be in Arabic. If you're reading the Quran in Arabic, you're not reading the real Quran. It's got to be Arabic," and they exalt the Arabs, the sons of Ishmael and the Arabic language, and then if you look at Judaism, of course it exalts the Hebrews and exalts Israel and "It has to be in the Hebrew language and this and that."
<br><br>If you look at other religions, they're really geared toward a certain nationality. If you look at Hinduism, it's geared toward the Indian people. If you look at the Japanese religion, Shinto, it's for the Japanese, but the great thing about Christianity is that it's for all nations and that all nations are equal on the sight of God, and you say "Well how can all nations be equal in the sight of God?" Because it says he accounts all the nations of the earth less than nothing. He looks as them as less than nothing, so therefore they're all equally nothing to him, and the bible says that he's made all nations of the earth of one blood, so he doesn't look at one nation and say "Oh it's greater than other nations." Think of Mormonism that exalts white people and says "Hey, the sinful people got darker skin." That's what it says right in the book of Mormon, I've seen it myself.
<br><br>The great thing about the bible is that it's for all nations and that's why God put it in Greek because Greek was the language that the world spoke back then, like English today is the world language. Wherever we go in the world, people speak English as a second language. It's called the "Lingua Franca," meaning that it's the universal second language, and that's how Greek was when the new testament was written, and God said "Hey, he came unto his own, his own received him not," and so even in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul shook the dust off his feet and said "From henceforth, we're going to the gentiles. They will receive it," and thank God they have received it, and so that's why the new testament is written in Greek because God wanted to bless many nations.
<br><br>The gospel's for all nations and that's why it's so wonderful how the word of God has been translated into all languages of the world, it's in all corners, that's why when we get to heaven, the bible says there will be people there from every tongue, every nation, every tribe, every kindred will all be there because Jesus Christ has sprinkled many nations, and that's why this is significant in the book of Isaiah, a book that's being written to the Israelites 800 years before Jesus's time. He's saying "Look, I'm going to send somebody and he's going to sprinkle many nations," and in fact the majority of the people that are going to be saved are not going to be of the Jews, they're going to be of the gentiles, but people today are trying to come along and teach that "Well, Christianity is mainly a Jewish religion. I guess you guys can kind of come in to as a red-headed stepchild of the faith."
<br><br>No. We are joint heirs and we are citizens of the commonwealth of spiritual Israel according Ephesians chapter 2. So much teaching in this great passage of Isaiah. He said he'll sprinkle many nations and it says "The kings shall shut their mouths at him." This is expounded upon in Psalm 2, when the bible says "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the lord, and against his Christ, saying, let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the lord hath said unto me, thou art my son; this day have I begotten thee," these are old testament scriptures, Psalm 2.
<br><br>"Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings and be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Jesus is the king of kings and the lord of lord, and every king must stop their mouth at him and recognize that he is supreme." That's what the bible says here, when it says "The king shall shut their mouths at him, that every mouth maybe stopped," the bible says, "And all the world may become guilty before God." It says "For that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider."
<br><br>Look at verse number 1 of chapter 53. "Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant," he's talking about Jesus, "And as a root out of a dry ground." What did Jesus call himself in Revelation? He said "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." It says "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him," so why are all these pictures making Jesus look like a pretty boy? What does the bible say? The bible says "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." Now this is why we need to stay away from images of the lord Jesus.
<br><br>The bible never teaches us to make an image. It talks about the danger of making an image of God or of making an image of man, and many people will literally worship at an image of Jesus today, and they make it always a very beautiful Jesus, a very pretty Jesus. What does the bible say though? "He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." The bible's saying that the sight of the lord Jesus dying on the cross was not a beautiful sight. It's not something to make a painting of and look at it and admire the beauty. You've perverted the truth when you do that because the bible says exactly the opposite. It says in verse 3, "He is despised and rejected of men." Now notice the present tense. "He is despised" because in verse 15, we have the future tense, of the last chapter that is, and then in chapter 53 verse 2, we have the future tense, "He shall grow up before him as a tender plant."
<br><br>Verse 3, we have the present tense "He is despite ..." Look at verse 5. "But he was wounded." Now we have the past tense. This is 800 years before Christ. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised." Why? Because the bible says that "God speaketh of the things which be not as though they were." Why? Because God knows the end from the beginning. Why? Because Jesus is the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. Slain from the foundation of the world, and it's amazing how people say "Oh, in the old testament, they were saved by works because Jesus hadn't died from the cross yet." Who's ever heard that before? In the old testament, they're saved by work because he said that "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."
<br><br>Here's the thing about that that makes no sense. If they could be saved by works before Jesus died on the cross, why did he even die on the cross? Doesn't make any sense. "Oh, you could be saved by works back then but now you can't." That makes no sense. If our righteousness is our filthy rags now, then the righteousness is back then were filthy rags. If we've all sinned and come short to the glory of God in 2015, then they must have all sinned and come short to glory of God in the old testament. How can anybody be saved by works in the old testament or the new testament with the filthy rag? "Here's my filthy rags, God. Save me." "Oh yeah, come on in. I'm really impressed." No. Noah found grace in the eyes of the lord. Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. How can you say that people were saved by works in any era? How can salvation ever by by works? Man would post.
<br><br>The bible says "For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. Not of works, lest any man should boast." I guess for 4,000 some years, all the old testament saints could all boast, and then the tribulation, they're going to be able to boast again according to these dispensationalist, Ruckmanites or followers or Sam Gipp or any of these other false prophets. It's just amazing to me how people can think "Well, yeah they're saved by works in the old testament because Jesus hadn't died." Well, why Jesus have to die and mess that up then? What kind of a warped doctrine is that? No. You know why Jesus died on the cross? Because Jesus is the only way to heaven, and he said "Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Never less, not my will by thine be done." If there were any other way to be saved, Jesus wouldn't have even had to die on the cross.
<br><br>The bible says "If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." "Those are different-" Shut up. Take your dispensations and throw them in the garbage can where they belong. The bible teaches the Jesus and his blood is the only way to heaven. "Oh, but in the old testament, they had to do animal sacrifices to be saved." The bible says it's not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins. Did you hear that? It's not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins. It was all symbolic of the blood of Jesus, so how could you say "Well, in the old testament, the blood of bulls and goats took away sins." No, it sanctified the purifying of the flesh, but did it save the soul? You think killing an animal can save your soul ever? Back then, now, in the future, no. It's retarded because you have to believe on Jesus to be saved and in the old testament, the name of Jesus had not been revealed.
<br><br>They didn't know the details about Jesus that we know but they called upon the name of the lord for salvation. All the way back in Genesis 4, it says right at the beginning of the bible, the first generation living on this earth said "Then began men to call upon the name of the lord." That name was God Almighty, and then later, that name was revealed as Jehovah, and today that name is revealed as Jesus, and today there's no salvation in any other for there's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved but the name of Jesus, so it's so clear when you understand that Jesus is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, to where God knows the end from the beginning and God can talk about the crucifixion of Christ in Isaiah 53 as if it's already happened because he dwells outside of time, he dwells in eternity, the bible says.
<br><br>It says in verse 3 "He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised," despised means hated. "And we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted." What's that saying there? He's saying that Jesus is being wounded for, he's being bruised for our neighbor, he's dying for our sins, but it says "We did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted," meaning that people looked at Jesus and said "Well if he were a righteous man, this wouldn't be happening to him." God's punishing him. He's smitten of God and afflicted. He's being stricken by God, but the bible says "It please the lord to bruise him because his soul was an offering for sin." It's not that Jesus was being punished but that's what the people thought.
<br><br>That's why they said "Hey, if you're the Christ, then come down from the cross and we'll believe on you," because they don't understand. If he's really of God, if he's really the anointed of the lord, then why is God not protecting him? They didn't know the scripture that it was needful that Christ must suffer and be rejected of this generation and that he would die and 3 days later, rise again. That's all taught in the old testament but they didn't understand the scriptures of the old testament that showed them those things. Look what the bible says in verse number 4. "Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
<br><br>I think it's amazing that it says "With his stripes we are healed" 800 years before Christ died on the cross. That's just kind of supports what I said about 5 minutes ago when I was talking about how it's always been Christ that saved, past, present, and future. "With his stripes we are healed." What does it mean when it says "The chastisement of our peace was upon him"? Basically, before we are saved the right enmity with God, and when we get saved, we have peace with God. The bible says in Romans 5:1, you have to turn there, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, so he chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed." Verse 6. "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all."
<br><br>When Jesus died on the cross, every sin that you've ever done and every sin that I've ever done, it was as if Jesus had done it. All those sins were placed upon Jesus and he was being punished for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. It says "He was oppressed," verse 7, "And he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Another reference to him being the lamb of God. Verse 8. "He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression of my people was he stricken." What does this mean when it says he was taken from prison and from judgement? It's referring to the fact that he's arrested and he's basically imprisoned and then tried, that's the judgment there is the trial that Jesus goes through.
<br><br>He's taken from prison and from judgment, and then it says "Who shall declare his generation?" His generation has to do with his offspring, his children, his progeny, and the bible says "Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living." What it's saying there is that he do not have physical children. He do not reproduce while he was on this earth. "Oh, ancient documents reveal that Jesus was married and had kids." That's the kind of junk that's coming out today, but we got 4 gospels that are reliable, that are powerful, that are God's word, word for word, and they make no mention of Jesus Christ being married or having kids, and in fact, this scripture, 800 years previous, says that he doesn't have a physical offspring. "Who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off from the land of the living," because the bible often use that term "These are the generations of" whoever and then it gives all their descendants and their offspring.
<br><br>Generation means to create something in a sense. To generate power, for example, and generation in the bible has to do with reproducing a human being. Being regenerated is being reborn, born again. The bible says "He was cut off out of the land of the living," but the bible ties this in just a few verses later, because it says in verse 10 "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed," so first it said "Who shall declare his generation? He's cut off from the land of the living" meaning that he's killed without having reproduced. He's killed without having begotten any children, but then later it says "He shall see his seed," so how can that be? Because it's the spiritual seed. It's the spiritual sons and daughters because the bible says that "Christ hath begotten us again unto a lively hope."
<br><br>We've been born again, and the bible says we've been "Begotten again unto a lively hope." We are the sons and daughters of the lord Jesus Christ. We are his seed. We are his offspring. Even though he didn't have physical children, we are his children if we believe on the lord Jesus Christ spiritually. It says in verse number 8 at the end there, "For the transgression of my people was he stricken." Again, another reference about his dying for our sins. This is real clear in the old testament, that Jesus is going to come and die for their sins, and he's going to open it up to all nations. It says in verse 9 "And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." You say "Why bring up the rich? He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death?" All rich people are not wicked, are they? Most of them are. It's true. Not all of them are, of course there are some that are rich people that are godly people, but most of them.
<br><br>God has chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them to love them, and do not rich men oppress you and drag you before the judgment seats, right? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which you are called? In general, the bible generalizes in James chapter 2 and says "Rich men oppress you," and they get you arrested and they blaspheme the name of Jesus in most ... There are very rich, wealthy people doing a lot of evil things in the world that we live today, and the world lifts them up. We ought to lift up the poor who are rich in faith. That's who we ought to exalt and that's who we ought to look to as being great men and women. The poor of this world rich in faith is what really matters, but it says "He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." Where was Jesus buried? What grave was he buried in?
<br><br>He was buried in a burrowed tomb, right? You remember? Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy man had tomb and Jesus was buried in that wealthy man's tomb. He didn't need his own tomb because he wasn't going to be there for very long. He might as well as borrow one because he just borrowed it for a few days and then he rose again. People are out "Searching for the tomb of Jesus" and they found that, you know what, it's empty. Nuts to it. You say "Wow, we found the tomb Jesus and there's a dead body in it." Yeah, it's Joseph of Arimathea. I'm sure he reused that too. I don't know, maybe he did. I would think he would reuse it, not let it go to waste. It's so weird how people get so in to just physical ... What do they call it? Relics? Specially the Catholics, but the Orthodox do the same thing, the East Orthodox.
<br><br>Somebody sent me a picture of a bunch of East Orthodox people bowing down to dead bodies of saints, kissing them, bowing down to them, worshiping, it was creepy. Just worshiping a dead body, like a Buddhist where they ... All the little pieces of Buddha, the supahstupah and all that, but the thing is, all this is a splinter. In the middle ages, people went around selling splinters from the cross of Jesus. Literally. They would make great pilgrimages to Jerusalem and get a piece of the holy cross and they'd sell it and barter with it and shrine, put it in the church, kiss it, bow down to it, a piece of splinter. Is that really what it's about, the wood of the cross itself? "This is dirt from the tomb of Jesus. Here's a little scraping from the actual stone that was rolled in front of the door." To be carnally minded is death. Why are you so carnally minded? Why are you so focused on the physical things of this world?
<br><br>That which is seen is temporal. That which is not seen is eternal, and instead of just enshrining, "Hey, this ..." What's that robe going for these days that Jesus was wearing, the one that they cast lots for? I'm sure somebody's selling it somewhere. "Here's the garment of Jesus. Here's the splinter from the cross." No, why don't you cherish the word of God? Hide it in your heart. Love it and not worry about pieces of dirt and wood and grains of sand and so forth, "But the made his grave with the rich in his death." He was buried in a rich man's tomb. That's what he borrowed, and this prophesied 800 year ... That's what I'm saying. It's almost every phrase in this chapter was fulfilled in the life of Christ. How could anyone look at this and say "This is something else." That's what people who are blinded will say. "This prophecy has nothing to do with Jesus, this is something else."
<br><br>It says here "Yet it please the lord." First of all, it says in verse 9, "Because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth." Verse 10, "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." Now notice it says "When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin." It's not just the body. Jesus did die on the cross physically, he very clearly died and that body was buried and that body rose again. It's very important to believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus. That's why God even includes the burial because he wants to make sure that you know that he's not just talking about a soul or a spirit, he wants you to know that's a literal resurrection. That's why he says the death burial on the ... Because his spirit wasn't buried. The body was buried and body rose.
<br><br>The body died, the body was buried, and the body rose again. That's why Jesus said "Destroy this temple and in 3 days, I'll raise it up." He spake of the temple of his body. John chapter 2 verses 19 to 21. That's why he said "Come. Put your fingers in the holes in my hand. Thrust your hand into my side and be not faithless but believing." Why did God over and over again in the gospels show Jesus eating and drinking after he is risen from the dead? He says "I'm not a spirit. I have flesh and bone. Come handle me." That's why John, in first John chapter 1 said "Our hands have handled of the word of life. That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." He said "We've handled them." They literally felt the holes in his hand and they literally felt the hole in his side.
<br><br>That's a physical bodily resurrection, but also, not only did Jesus physically die and his body was physically buried and has physically rose again, Jesus said "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death," but the bible also says that he descended into the lower parts of the earth. That's not talking about his body, that's talking about his soul. It says his soul descended into lower parts of the earth and that's why the bible says in Acts chapter 2 verse 31 "This spake he of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption." Jesus's soul was in hell for 3 days and 3 nights, and I've heard people say "How dare you say that." I didn't say that, that's what the bible said in Acts 2:31.
<br><br>The bible says in Acts 2:31, "This spake he of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell," meaning that his soul was in hell but it wasn't left in hell, "Neither did his flesh see corruption." Jesus prophesied this in Matthew 12:40 when he said "As Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." Modern bible versions will change this scripture in Acts 2:31 as they change anything that they don't believe in "Because the Talmud says that hell isn't really hell, so therefore we got to change all these modern bible versions because the Jews explained us what [sheil 42:39] really means, and the old testament really means, so therefore, we got to change all these modern bibles, that's why even the new King James, I believe. Do somebody have a new King James? If so, what do you with that new King James? Get a King James.
<br><br>I think I have a new King James here, let me check it out. I've got a lot of false bibles down here but I don't think I have the new King James. Anyway, I'll check it out later. I think the new King James even changes this, but for sure the NIV, the ESV, all these scriptures, they change, they take out hell there and they'll change it with the grave or death. Now here's what's funny about that. Supposedly, their just faithfully translating the Greek new testament, but here's the thing. That word, the Greek word that's used there, it talks about hell every time it's used in the new testament. It's talking about hell every single time. Every single time it's used, it's talking about a place of fire. For example, when it says in Luke 16, "In hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments," and "Cool my tongue, I'm in this flame," and basically, it's the same word there. Same Greek word, same English word, same hell.
<br><br>Here's what they say "Well, it's the good side of hell." Hell doesn't have a good side, okay? There's Hell, Michigan. I know there's a town in Michigan called Hell, Michigan, but listen, in the bible, who here believes that the King James bible is the word of God? Who thinks that this is the final authority for what we should believe right here? Well here's what it says. "Hell," and guess what? It used the word hell 54 times. Show me which one of those 54 is a nice place. There's 54 ... Look, friend, quit listening to Jews, quit listening to the false prophets and false teachers and the scholars and the theologians and the academics and the professor, blah, blah, blah. Quit listening to these people, you got the holy spirit living inside you, you've got a bible, why don't you just look it up on your own, and why don't you look up all 54 times that the word hell is used in your King James bible, and why don't you show me which one is a good place, which one's paradise, which one's a happy place.
<br><br>I want you to show me that which of the 54 is a place you want to go, and even the part word says that his soul was not left in hell. He says he's rejoicing. He said that's the only reason he has hope is that his soul is not left in hell. Well if it's such a great place, why is he trying to get out of there? Why is he saying "Well my only hope is that I'm leaving"? Because it's a bad place. Because hell is a place of fiery punishment and it's a bad place. It's a place that you don't want to be, and so to sit there and say "Well hell doesn't always mean hell," I looked it up 54 times and it always meant hell. I encourage you to look it up on your own and study it yourself if you have any doubt about that, but it's real. You say "Well, the King James is wrong." Okay. I guess every bible was wrong back then, because you know what it says in previous English versions of the bible? "Hell."
<br><br>It's just this modernistic changing of the bible that we see and it's not legitimate, so that's why it says that "His soul was made an offering for sin." Guess what? Every offering in the bible was a burnt sacrifice, it's a burnt offering, and that was a picture of and symbolic of the fact that Jesus would die and buried and rise again, and that his soul would descend into the lower parts of the earth and that he was in hell for 3 days and 3 nights, in the heart of the earth, the core of the earth. The core means heart. Core is French for heart, that's where our English word core comes from, through French, so he was in the core of the earth for 3 days and 3 nights and it's hot down there. Jesus went down there to pay for our sins. That's what the bible ... People try to say "Oh he said it's finished when he died on the cross. That means he had already done everything for you to be saved." Really? Had he risen again?
<br><br>That's the main thing that saves us is the resurrection of Jesus, right? You know that's the gospel right, the resurrection? People are misinterpreting that statement "It is finished". "He said it is finish, that means he'd already done everything to get us saved." Really? Well he had to rise from the dead 3 days later, so apparently, he hadn't done ... You say "Well what was finished?" His work was finished because the bible says over and over again in the book of John, Jesus said "I'm going to finish the work of the lord," and right before he dies in the cross, "I finished the work which thou gavest me to do. 3 times he used the word finished in John and it's always talking about finishing his works because he lived a good life. He went about doing good. He lived a good life that none of us could live. He lived a perfect sinless life.
<br><br>He was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin, and when he had accomplished that goal of living that sinless, perfect, righteous, godly life and finishing the works that the father had given him and always doing those things would please him, then when he died on the cross, he said "It is finished," but everything, he still had to descend unto to the earth for 3 days and 3 nights, he still had to rise again from the dead, and then he head to take his blood up to heaven, John McArthur, and he had to sprinkle it on the mercy seed in heaven 7 times as our high priest, and did you know that he ever liveth to make intercession for us? You can't just say "Oh, it is finished. Everything," no. What was he specifically talking when he said it is finished? Get the context, but look what it says here in Isaiah. "His soul was an offering for sin," and every offering, show me the old testament offering, the burnt offering.
<br><br>We're in Isaiah 53 verse 10 "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin," see the soul is an offering for sin. "He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days," referring to his eternal life. Even though he died physically, he has eternal life and he gives eternal life unto all who believe on him, "He shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." What does it mean to be justified? I heard it explained this way. Just as if I'd never sinned. Justified. Justfied means that you are declared righteous in the sight of God.
<br><br>The first 4 letters there are just, and the bible used the word righteous and just interchangeably. They both mean the same thing, and so it says he's going to justify us, it means that he declares us to be righteousness. The righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed unto us and it's just as if we'd never sinned. That's why the bible says "But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man," watch this, "unto whom the lord imputeth righteousness without works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered," watch this, "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin," so what does it mean to be justified according to Romans 4? He says "It's just as if I'd never sinned," because he says that our sins are not imputed unto us. "Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin."
<br><br>Abraham believed God and it was imputed unto him for righteousness. That's justification, and then the other flip side of that coin is that our sins are not imputed unto us, so justification means that the righteousness of Jesus is put on our account. That's what imputed means. The righteousness of Jesus is put on our account and then our sins are not imputed. That's justified, and it says "By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify everybody," is that what it said? No. "That he will justify many." Many will believe on him. It says "He will justify many for he shall bare their iniquities." He's going to pay the punishment for their sin. He's going to pay the price himself. Then it says "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death." That reminds me of Philippians 2 when it says that Jesus was "Obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."
<br><br>It says "He shall divide the spoil with the strong because he had poured out his soul unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors," now that scripture was fulfilled, the bible says, when Jesus was crucified between 2 thieves. It says he was crucified between 2 thieves that the scripture might be fulfilled, he was numbered among the transgressors. He's lumped in with just common criminals, basically. Why they were crucifying thieves is beyond me since the bible teaches that thieves are supposed to pay back double or fourfold or fivefold, it doesn't say that they should be killed. Why are they executing thieves? He was numbered with the transgressors, it had to be fulfilled and "He bare the sins of many," watch this, "And made intercession for the transgressors."
<br><br>Last place we're going to turn, Hebrews chapter 7. Hebrews chapter number 7. Toward the very end of the new testament, Hebrews chapter 7. "He poured out his soul unto death, he was numbered," count the prophecies. I didn't count, but there were a lot, weren't there? Just in one chapter, so many prophecies. Think about the fact that its visage was going to be marred, that he was going to be beaten. The fact that eventually, he would be exalted and lifted up and that he would divide the spoil with the strong and be exalted, but at first, he'd be killed, that he would suffer. The fact that he would die without having children, but yet would be the father of spiritual sons and daughters, the fact that he would sprinkle many nations, that by his stripes we would be healed, that blood of Jesus would save us.
<br><br>The fact that he would be the root, the fact that he would be despised and rejected of men, the fact that he would bare our sins and die on the cross for our sins, the fact that he would be the lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world, the fact that he would remain silent. Remember when Herod tried to get him to talk and Pilate kept getting frustrated saying "Why don't you answer me? Don't you know that I have the power to destroy you or the power to free you?" He said to Pilate "Thou couldest have no power against me at all, except it were given thee from above. Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin." Pilate was blown away by the words that came out of Jesus's mouth to the point where Pilate tried hard to get him released, and the Jews privately forced him to crucify him, and he washed his hands. "I don't want anything to do with this."
<br><br>Even Pilate's wife is telling him "I had a bad dream. Don't do anything to this guy," but he did it anyway, he was pressured. How many prophecies here about the fact that he's going to be buried with the rich in his death and that his soul would be an offering for sin, and on and on, just so much in this one little chapter about Jesus in Isaiah 53. It's a wonderful chapter, but look at Hebrews 7 because the last statement in Isaiah 53 was that Jesus made intercession for the transgressors. Look what the bible says in Hebrews 7:22. "By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth forever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them."
<br><br>There's a continual process here. Jesus died once. He rose again once, but he ever liveth to make intercession for us on a continual basis, he makes intercession for us. The bible talks about us when we pray that the holy spirit makes intercession for us, that Jesus Christ is making intercession for us, the bible says in verse 26, " For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Harmless, the bible says he didn't know violence while he was on the earth, Isaiah 53. He says that he was "Made higher than heavens; who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people's: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore."
<br><br>"He ever liveth," the bible says "To make intercession for us." Reminds me of the song "Wounded for me" which is based on Isaiah 53 where it says "He was wounded". "Wounded for me, wounded for me," but then one of the verses says this. "Daily he's pleading and praying for me, all because Jesus is living for me." Daily he's pleading and praying for me. He's not being sacrificed daily. We don't need to celebrate like the Catholics do, the continual mass of just Jesus dying over and over again. The bible says "Don't crucify the son of God afresh." He died once. He doesn't need to do it daily. By the way, you don't need to be saved daily. A lot of people think they have to be saved daily. I've asked people door to door, "How many times do you think you need to be saved?" "Daily." That's the word that come out, daily. No, he needed not daily to cleanse us from our sins.
<br><br>He did it once. He died once, he rose once, you believe on him once, you're saved once for all, and then it says "He ever liveth to make intercession for us." The bible says "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." What is our advocate? An advocate's a lawyer. That's the word that we would use today. Basically, he's up there arguing our case, he's up there interceding for us, he's up there asking the father because what does it mean to intercede? If you look at intercessory prayer in the bible, it's when we ask God to be merciful to people when they do wrong, and this is a part of our prayer life or it's supposed to be part of our prayer life, pour in to first John chapter 5.
<br><br>That basically "When we see someone sin a sin that's not unto death," there is a sin unto death, I do not say that you shall pray for it, but it says "If we see someone sin a sin that is unto death, we are supposed to pray for that person." What are supposed to pray? That God will be merciful to them, that God would go easy on them. It would be like with our kids. When you're going to give one of the kids a spanking, usually the other kids are like "Here, let me grab a paddle," and you're like "Go grab me the paddle." You asked for a paddle, they bring the belt. When it's for another sibling, they'll escalate the punishment, and they're more than happy to accommodate that request to bring, but you know what, it's very rare that one of the children would go get the paddle and bring it to dad and say "Listen. Go easy on him."
<br><br>It's funny, I preached this a few years ago, and then a few days later, as the joke, one of my kids, I asked "Brink me the paddle," and they came and they said "Dad, take it easy on her." I don't think it's from the heart though. Here's the thing though, that's what we're supposed to do as Christians, right? When we see our brothers and sisters making mistakes, because we all sin and go through low points and ups and downs, we see if you make mistakes, one of the things that we should pray for that person is "God, please go easy on them. Please be merciful to them, lord." Intercession is all throughout the bible, it's a whole sermon of itself, but isn't it great to know that even if your brothers and sisters have forgot to pray that for you, your brothers and sisters in Christ, isn't it great to know that Jesus is praying that for you? That when you mess up, think about that.
<br><br>When you mess up, when you sin, when you do wrong, and we all do wrong. Did you know that when you do wrong, the devils up there, "He's the accuser of the brother." The devils up there are like the prosecutor, and he's up there saying "Look what your son has done. Look what your servant has done, you need to punish," and basically, Jesus is saying "Wait a minute, hold on," and basically saying "Look, for my sake, go easy on him." Exactly. "I love him, I die for him," and basically, he's there to ever live and make intercession for us. "Daily he's pleading and praying for me," the song said. That's a great thing to know. It's just good to know that you got somebody in your corner. You wouldn't want to go into court without somebody who knows what they're doing. You wouldn't want to go into the hospital without somebody advocating for you and know what they're doing.
<br><br>It's good to have an ally in the lord Jesus that you know "Hey, if I mess up, Jesus has my back in a sense, and he's going to be up there making intercession for me, even if no one on this earth is. Jesus himself, and that's powerful." Let's rise and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this amazing scripture in Isaiah 53, lord. It really has so much to teach anyone who can read it. Anyone who can read it and not believe in Jesus is clearly blinded, and I pray that you would open their eyes, lord, that the Muslimized and the Jewish eyes that can read Isaiah 53 be blinded to who the lord Jesus really is and to what salvation really is lord, I pray to you to open their eyes. Dear lord, I just pray that you would help us to cherish and love your word, to study it, to learn from it, and to claim these exceeding precious promises about your intercession, about your salvation and about what we have in the lord Jesus Christ.
<br><br>In Jesus's name, we pray these things, amen. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-46110224035435665012016-05-08T14:27:00.000-07:002016-05-08T14:27:02.475-07:00Stammering Lips and an Unknown Tongue <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NY_m4OlvsbE">Video</a>
<p><b>April 5, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NY_m4OlvsbE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Last week, on Sunday night, I preached about the subject of tongues, and we looked up every single time the word “tongues” is used in the New Testament, but I didn’t quite get through it, and so I wanted to finish that tonight and go through what the bible teaches about this subject. Now, go to First Corinthians chapter 14. What we established last Sunday night was that from Genesis to Revelation, literally, the word “tongues” is always referring to languages, and specifically, it’s referring to human languages, what we would think of as foreign languages. Spanish, German, French, Chinese, whatever the language, that’s what the bible is referring to.
When the bible talks about speaking with other tongues, it is simply referring to speaking in a foreign language, but there’s a whole movement that has sprung up that has to do with people speaking ecstatically or falling on the ground, talking in gibberish, and they say, “Oh, we’re speaking in tongues, and this is a great manifestation of the Holy Spirit because people are just bursting out with these utterances, and it’s a heavenly prayer language,” and people go into their closet and pray, and just all kinds of strange things come out, and they say, “Hey, we’re speaking in tongues.” I showed you from the bible last week, and I’m going to finish it tonight, that actually no, that’s not what the bible is talking about.
If we look at the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in regard to speaking in other tongues, it started in Acts chapter 2, where we saw that the apostles and the early church members there, the men and the women, were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they were miraculously given the power to speak in foreign languages that they had not studied. The purpose of that miracle was that people who were devout Jews from all over the world, every nation under heaven and were gathered in Jerusalem, would be able to hear the gospel and hear the fact that Jesus Christ had just died, and been buried, and risen again.
The Lord wanted that message to get out to the whole world, so when all those people were gathered in Jerusalem and they spoke a lot of foreign languages, got allowed, the early church members there, to be able to give those people the gospel in their own language. It was just a quick way to get the gospel out to a whole bunch of nations really fast in that early church in Acts chapter 2.
When we jump forward to First Corinthians 14, God is not moving the goalpost now and talking about something completely different. No, “tongues” still means the same thing in First Corinthians 14 that it meant back in Acts chapter 2. In Acts chapter 2, he even listed the foreign languages that were being spoken. He even listed the foreign languages that were being spoken. He listed 17 different nationalities.
In First Corinthians 14, we're dealing with the same thing, but I didn't get through the whole chapter in First Corinthians 14, so I want to pick up where we left off with this subject just to prove to you that First Corinthians 14 is not talking about a heavenly prayer language, is not talking about ecstatic utterances in church, people are falling on the ground, the Charismatic Movement, so-called.
Look at verse number 21 of chapter 14, First Corinthians 14. The bible reads, “In the law, it is written, ‘With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me,’ saith the Lord. Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not, but prophesying serveth not for them to believe …” Goodnight. “Not for them which believe not, but for them which believe.” Okay?
When it says the word “sign” here, it’s talking about a miracle. Okay? The bible is talking about how that miracle of tongues were they spoken foreign languages was for those that believe not, that they might be saved. It was the way to evangelize the lost. Okay? Then, he says on the other hand, prophesying, which is another word for preaching, serves for those that believe. Not for those that believe not because people that don’t believe, they don’t understand the preaching.
That’s why it’s so misguided to have this thing of, “Well, we’re going to bring a whole bunch of unsaved people to church. Let’s get all the unsaved people we can and bring them to church, and that’s how we’re going to reach them.” No, the bible says, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in.” He says, “Go ye therefore and preach the gospel to every creature.” He says, “Have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.”
Whenever the bible talks about going out, and getting people saved, and preaching the gospel, the emphasis is always on go and on your feet, and going out to them, not expecting them to come to you. Because people have gotten mixed up on this, the church has become worldly because if we’re going to gear the church toward unsaved people and say, “Yeah, let’s bring in all these unsaved people.” Even to the point where people will even have such a bizarre doctrine, they’ll say, “Let’s bring in a bunch of queers.” Why would we bring a bunch of pedophiles into our church? “Oh, we need to evangelize them.” Look, first of all, you evangelize by going out, and secondly, they’re reprobate anyway. Okay? That’s another sermon that shall be preached at another time.
What we see here is that the preaching is something that benefits people that are saved. An unsaved person walks in, they may not get a lot out of the sermon because there are churches that just preach the gospel every service. Sunday morning, Saturday night, and Wednesday night, and you know what happens to the people that are already saved? They’re not being fed, and it's our job to teach the whole bible. Not just the gospel, but the entire bible. A saved person walks in, and they learn the rest of the bible because prophesying serves those that believe. Okay?
God gave pastors and teachers to the church for the edifying of the saints, for the perfection of the saints, to build up the body of Christ. Those that are born-again baptized believers, that’s who we’re gearing our services toward. Okay. That’s what it means there when it says, “Prophesying serves not for those that believe not, but it serves for those that believe,” and he talked about tongues being a way whereby we would reach the lost with the gospel. Learning foreign languages to get the gospel to all nations.
This is what missionaries do. This is what we do when we go soul winning, and we learn how to speak Spanish, for example. You go out and knock a bunch of doors, you’re going to run into a lot of doors in this area where they don’t speak English, and what do they speak? Spanish. If you learned Spanish, now you have the ability to use that foreign tongue to reach someone with the gospel and get them saved. That’s what the bible is teaching you.
Now, whenever you’re studying a New Testament passage and it refers back to the Old Testament, if you go back and look up that quote, it will help you understand the New Testament passage. Now, look at verse 21 because some people are skeptical. You preach a sermon like I preached last Sunday night, and some people will say, “You know what? I still don’t think it’s a foreign language. I still think it’s a heavenly prayer language. I still …” But here’s even more proof. Look at verse 21. “In the law, it is written.”
Now, if we go back and look up that quote, we can get even more insight on this passage. It says, “’With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me,’ saith the Lord. Wherefore …” Now, that word “wherefore” is a conjunction there connecting verse 21 to 22, “Wherefore, tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not.” If we’re going to understand tongues being a sign to them that believe not, that verse 21 quote is going to help us see that.
Go back if you would to Isaiah 28 because Isaiah 28 is the source of that quote. Let’s go back to Isaiah 28 because we’re talking about the sign of tongues in First Corinthians 14, and we’re trying to figure out, “Hey, is it a foreign language like it is everywhere else in the bible, or do the Charismatics have it right? It’s a heavenly prayer language. It’s talking in gibberish and ecstatic speaking.” Let’s see what the bible says back in the source of this quote. Let’s go to the source, Isaiah 28 verse 9. It says, “Whom shall he teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.”
Here’s the key verse. Look at verse 11. “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. To whom he said, ‘This is the rest wherewith ye may cause may cause the weary to rest, and this is the refreshing, yet they would not hear.’” Okay. Now, I hope you still have your finger there in First Corinthians 14 because I want you to compare these two quotes. In First Corinthians 14:21, he said, “With men of other lips and other tongues will I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me.” In Isaiah 28, he said in verse 11, “For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.” At the end of verse 12, we have the other part of that quote, “Yet, they would not hear.”
Now, what does he mean there in Isaiah 28? He is referring to the fact that eventually, the nation of Israel would have foreigners come to them and preach the word of God unto them. Now, that’s a little bit ironic when you think about it since Israel was supposed to be a light to the Gentiles. Israel was supposed to be the one that would evangelize the world with God’s word and show the world the goodness of the Lord and the wisdom of his loss. But because they failed to do that, he’s actually predict, “No, people are going to come evangelize you.”
Now, that would be like if we in America, who have sent out more missionaries than any nation in the history of mankind. It’d be like if other foreign countries that were more godly than us started sending missionaries to the United States to try to reach us with the gospel of Jesus. We’d be like, “Whoa, wait. Now, you’re sending missionaries to us? We’re supposed to be sending you a missionary.” Like, “No, you need us more than we need you.” Okay?
Now, look at Isaiah 28. It says in verse 16 because if we get the context, it says in verse 16, “Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make haste.’” Who is that cornerstone? That’s Jesus. All throughout the New Restatement, it says that Jesus is the cornerstone. He said, “The stone, which the builders rejected.” The builders being the high priests, the leaders of the Jews. He said, “The stone, which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
We see here that Jesus Christ, the cornerstone, is going to be set, and at that time, God’s going to end up sending foreigners to preach the gospel at Israel. Now, it makes perfect sense to us because Israel is one of the most heathen wicked countries in the world today. It’s not a place where God’s word is looked up. In fact, I just saw an article yesterday that said that they now have the most liberal abortion laws in the world in Israel. They now have some of the most liberal abortion laws in the entire world. It’s also become a sodomite capital over in Israel, and you can see the images of it with this all, the rainbow flags up and down the streets of Tel Aviv, and of course, it’s a very Christ-rejecting place.
In the past, Palestine had a lot of Christians. A lot of the Arabs who lived in Palestine were actually Christians. Actually, will confess the name of Jesus Christ, but now, they’re being pushed out by the unbelieving, Christ-rejecting Jews that have come in since the ‘40s especially, and they’re pushing out that, which is Christian, so it’s a very heathen place. Yeah. It would make a lot of sense that they would need somebody to come and bring them the gospel of Jesus Christ because they clearly don’t have it over there. The vast majority of people over there are not saved.
Getting the context of this passage, doesn’t this shed light on First Corinthians 14? When he says, “Look, you have been a disobedient nation, and I am going to speak unto these people of Israel with people …” Look at verse 11, “With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to these people.” Then, of course, they’re not going to hear.
Now, flip over to chapter 33 of Isaiah. What does he mean by “stammering lips and another tongue”? Is he saying, “Hey, I’m going to send somebody over there that has a speech impediment that stutters when they talk?” Let’s let the bible define itself here. In Isaiah 33 verse 18, we can get a little bit more of a light shed on this. It says, “Thine heart shall meditate terror. Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? Where is he that counted the towers? Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive of a stammering tongue that thou canst not understand.” When he’s talking about enemy, foreign nations coming in and invading Israel, he says, “Those people have a tongue that is too deep or too complicated for you to understand, and it’s a stammering tongue. It’s a language that you don’t understand. That’s who would come in and invade.”
Now, flip over to Ezekiel chapter 3. Ezekiel chapter number 3. You say, “Why does he call it the ‘stammering tongue’?” Here is why because if you don’t speak a language and you listen to that language, it sounds weird to you. It doesn’t make any sense. In fact, sometimes, it sounds like people are stuttering. You’re like, “What in the …?” Sometimes, it just like chops off in weird ways that doesn’t seem natural to your English-trained ear, so it can sound like a stammering.
Some languages sound like people are clearing their throat. Hello. German, right? [Inaudible 00:14:39]. You’re like, “Whoa, what’s going on? Yeah. You need a Ricola, or what? No wonder these things were made in Switzerland because you speak in German, you do [inaudible 00:14:49].” Especially like when … You think they’re clearing their throat. Listen to Hebrew, and it’s like [inaudible 00:14:56]. “Whoa, man.” I’m just thinking. How could get up and speak in Hebrew for like an hour or two. Your throat is going to be ripped apart, but I guess if you do it your whole life, you just get used to it. You really get like a really strong throat from speaking that language, but it sounds like it could be a stammering or a stutter.
I think there’s two different ways to interpret this when we see the stammering tongue associated with foreign languages. Number one is that it could be that when you hear a foreign language spoken, it sounds like stammering to you just because it doesn’t make any sense to you, so it sounds like they’re stammering or stuttering, or number two, another interpretation would be that someone who speaks a foreign language, and then tries to speak your language is going to stammer and stutter when they do it.
Now, I know this. When I go out soul winning and speak Spanish, I've got a lot better at it, but in my early days of soul winning in Spanish, I did a lot of stammering and stuttering, right? If you go out there and you try to speak Spanish as a second language and something that you learned as an adult, you didn’t grow up with it, you're going to stammer and stutter. We hear people all the time from other countries speaking English to us and doing what? Stammering and stuttering because the opposite of that would be fluency. If you learned a foreign language, you get really good at it, fluency. You know what it means to be fluent? It means you’re flowing, right? It means you can smoothly flow as opposed to, “Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah.” Basically, not flowing, but saying a few words and having to think, start over, stammer, stutter.
Okay. Look at Ezekiel chapter 3, verse 4. It says, “And he said unto me, ‘Son of man, go, get thee unto the house of Israel, and speak with my words unto them. For thou art not sent to a people of a strange speech and of a hard language, but to the house of Israel. Not to many people of a strange speed and of a hard language, whose words thou canst not understand. Surely, had I sent thee to them, they would have hearkened unto thee, but the house of Israel will not hearken unto thee, for they will not hearken unto me, for all the house of Israel are impudent and hardhearted. Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant harder than flint have I made thy forehead. Fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.”
Flip over to First Corinthians 14, and the reason that I showed you those passages in the Old Testament is just to show you that when God is quoting this in First Corinthians 14, he is clearly talking about foreign languages, isn’t he? Did a prayer language or anything like that come up in Isaiah 28, Isaiah 33, Ezekiel? No, because we're clearly talking about foreigners from other countries coming in as missionaries, foreigners from other countries coming in as invaders, and their tongue to you is a strange tongue. It's an unknown tongue. It’s a stammering tongue. Whichever way you interpret that stammering, either way it's somebody who speaks a foreign language.
Now, let me prove it to you further as we continue through this passage in First Corinthians 14. Look at verse 23. It says in verse 23, “If therefore the whole church become together into one place and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” Now, what does it mean to be mad? We’re not talking about anger here. When the bible used the word “mad”, it’s the British style mad of … Like my wife said to me when we were first married, “Are you mad?” You see, my wife used to speak with a British accent when we first got married, and “mad” to them means insane, crazy like a madman, you’re nuts.
The bible says here that basically, if somebody came into the church and everybody is speaking in foreign languages … Because remember, that’s what we've been teaching that “tongues” is referring to foreign languages. If everybody is speaking in a bunch of different foreign languages, and somebody walks in and hears all this, it says, “They will say that you are crazy. They will say that you are nuts. They will say that you are mad.” That’s what it says there in verse 23.
Here is what I want to point out though is that it says those that are … “There come in those,” halfway through the verse, “That are unlearned or unbelievers.” Now, let me ask you something. If this were some kind of a heavenly prayer language that was not of this earth, then explain to me why being unlearned would have anything to do with it? Can you go down to Barnes and Noble to the Foreign Language section and get the prayer language? It’s right, but you got Arabic, you got Chinese, and then, “Excuse me. I would like to get Rosetta Stone, Prayer Language. Rosetta Stone Language of Heaven, Angelic Language.”
No, because if the bible is saying that people who are unlearned are the ones who are going to think you’re crazy, that proves that someone who is learned, someone who does have a mastery of foreign languages, they would walk in and not think that you are crazy. They would just think you’re speaking a bunch of foreign languages, and they would understand what languages you’re speaking. If this was only a spiritual situation, then being unlearned would be totally irrelevant, and this verse would not make any sense, but if we’re talking foreign languages, it makes perfect sense because a person who is very learned might speak several languages.
In fact, the apostle Paul said, “I thank my God that I speak with tongues more than you all.” Why? Because the apostle Paul was a missionary. Not only was he a missionary, but if you remember, he was a scholar even before he got saved. He was brought up in the scholarly traditions of the Jews, in learning of the Jews, and the Jews’ religion at the feet of Gamaliel, and Gamaliel was a very respected, well-known teacher of the Jews at that time. In fact, he is one of the authors of the Talmud, and all the rabbis we talked to pointed out that Gamaliel from the New Testament is one of the authors of the Talmud.
This guy, Gamaliel, was this educated scholar, and the apostle Paul was brought up being taught by him, so he grew up in a very educated way. If you remember, he speaks Greek very fluently unto the guard in the book of Acts, and he starts talking to him in Greek. Then, he gives a very eloquent speech in the Hebrew language, so he’s just basically speaking a whole of languages. Then, he’s travelling all throughout Asia, Greece, all these different places, and obviously, he is very adept at foreign languages through his study and through his travels. He’s a very learned man, so that’s why he spoke a lot of foreign languages.
He’s not saying, “I thank my God that I speak with tongues more than you all like I’m just constantly just busting out with it in the prayer language.” That’s not what he said. He’s not bragging about spirituality there. He’s just talking about, “it’s great to speak foreign languages,” but he said, “In the church, I’d rather speak five words with my understanding.” He said, “Or five words that by my understanding, I might teach others also.” He said, “I’d want to speak five words that are in the language of the listener than to just get up and say a bunch of stuff in a foreign language and nobody would understand what I’m saying.” People were just like, “Wow, he’s smart. Listen to all those languages he’s speaking.” No, no one is being edified by that, so this all makes sense if you look at it as a foreign language. It stops making sense when you take this Charismatic interpretation.
Let’s keep reading here. It says, “But if all prophesy,” verse 24, “And there come in one that believeth not or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, and thus so the secrets of his heart made manifest, and so falling down on his face will he worship God and report that God is in you of the truth.” What’s he saying? If somebody walks in and a guy is preaching in a language that he understands, English in our case, he can sit there, and hear the word of God, and glorify God, and learn something, and maybe be impressed with what he hears. Whereas if comes in and hears a foreign language that he doesn’t understand, he’s just like, “Man, you guys are nuts. This is stupid. I’m going somewhere else.” Pretty easy to understand, isn’t it?
Let’s keep reading. It says in verse 25, “And thus …” or verse 26. “How is it then, brethren? When ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done into edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by three, and that by course, meaning one after the other, and let one interpret.” He’s saying one person speaks at a time in church, not a bunch of people talking at once. One person speaks at a time, and it should only be two or three people speaking total, and he says that basically, it should be done in a language that everyone understands, and that if someone does speak a foreign language that is not understood by the group, then another person needs to interpret. It says, “Let one interpret.” Okay?
Then, he says in verse 28, “But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” Meaning, he can talk in his own heart to himself, to the Lord, but he doesn’t need to be publically speaking in the church if we can’t understand the language that’s coming out of his mouth. What’s the chapter about? He’s listing other problems in the church. It’s not just the fact that they were doing these foreign languages out of order, he said a lot of things are being done out of order.
He’s saying everybody shows up, everybody’s got a doctrine, everybody’s got a psalm, everybody’s got an interpretation, everybody’s got to talk. Here’s what he’s saying, it’s a free-for-all. The church at Corinth is a free-for-all. It’s like an open mic where you just show up, and anybody gets up and preaches, and the bible even [teaches 00:24:49] that women were getting up and preaching because he says to them just a few verses later. In fact, let’s look at it while we’re here. It’s not in my notes, so let me turn there in the bible.
If we go down in this exact chapter, it says in verse number 33, “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they’re commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. If they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.” What you see here in Corinth is that church was a free-for-all where anybody just gets up and talks, and multiple people are talking at the same time. People are interrupting each other, people are speaking in various languages, and people are just, “Oh, hey, I got something to say,” and every unlearned, every unstable person is getting up and just has the floor. Even women are getting up, and teaching and preaching the word of God.
He’s saying, “Look, let all things be done decently and in order. Pick two or three people that are going to do the preaching. Let them come up by course one after the other, and if one of them is not speaking the common language of the group, then somebody needs to stand up and interpret, and you need to do things to where everyone is being edified.” That means that when the church service starts all the way to when the church service ends, what’s happening needs to be edifying the whole group, not like, “Okay. Now, we’re entering a phase of the service that’s in Spanish.” Everybody else that doesn’t speak Spanish is like … while we go on some Spanish thing for 20 minutes [some 00:24:49].
No, that doesn’t make any sense. The whole point of being assembled together is that everybody is edified or, “Oh, let’s break it up and do a whole bunch of different groups, and everybody is getting a different preaching, and everybody is getting different teaching.” He says, “No, gather together. Let’s have one language. Let’s have one person talking at a time. Let’s have things organized and decently in order, and not just a bunch of confusion where somebody walks in and says, ‘Hey, this is like a three-ring circus.’ It should be that they walk in, and they know what’s going on. They can sit down, they understand the word that’s preached, and they can be convinced of all, judge of all, they can learn something, and grow, and be edified in the faith.” That’s what the chapter is actually about, and when you read it with that understanding, the chapter makes … Excuse me, perfect sense.
Look, if you would, at verse 37. It says, “If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.” It’s just another verse emphasizing the fact that First Corinthians is the word of God. Not just the opinion of the apostle Paul, but that these epistles of Paul are God’s word that are inspired divinely. Then, it says in verse 38, “But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.” He’s saying, “Look, some people are just idiots, and there’s nothing you can do to fix that.” That’s the modern Steven Anderson paraphrase.
Some people are stupid, they’re idiots, and nothing you can do can fix it. It’s like what he said … He says the same thing in Revelation, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that is filthy, let him be filthy.” Some people, they’re just filthy people, they’re wicked people. There’s nothing you can do for them. “Wherefore, brethren,” verse 39, “Covet to prophesy.” Meaning, desire to preach is what he’s saying there. “Covet to prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.”
Now, what does he mean there when he says, “Forbid not to speak with tongues?” The Charismaniacs will basically say … Oh, did I just say that? No, but they’ll basically say something like this, “You, Pastor Anderson, are forbidding to speak with tongues because you don’t encourage people to go [inaudible 00:28:41] and do all this crazy stuff of falling on the ground and [inaudible 00:28:46].” Look, when the bible says here, “Forbid not to speak with tongues,” he saying, “Look, I’m not telling you that it’s bad to use a foreign language. I’m just telling you that it needs to be done decently and in order. I’m just telling you that it needs to be done in a way that edifies the church where there’s an interpreter where someone is speaking.”
Now, why would that be there where it says, “Forbid not to speak with tongues?” Because throughout history, there have been people who forbad the speaking of a language other than their own. For example, the Catholic church for many years held their services in Latin, which is a clear violation of this passage because they’re out there speaking, and the church is not being edified because it’s an unknown tongue. Not only that, the Catholic church also for many years forbad to speak with tongues. Meaning, forbad to speak the vulgar languages in God’s house. Not that the Catholic church was ever God’s house, but what they consider God’s house. Basically, they said, “Hey, it’s only allowed to speak Latin in the church. No English allowed. No Spanish allowed. No German allowed. Latin only,” and that’s not the language that people spoke, and so people are in darkness, and then not being edified.
You say, “Well, why did that matter that they’re doing it in Latin if it’s false doctrine anyway?” Here’s the thing though. My wife was just mentioning today how she grew up as a kid in Germany, and she grew up Catholic for the first part of her life, and they didn’t go to church much for a while. I guess when she was really young, they went like three times a week, but for a long time, it was more like a Christmas and Easter type of thing where they would just rarely show up at the Catholic church, but she said that even at the Catholic church, even though the gospel is definitely not being preached and she’s not hearing the way of salvation, she would hear excerpts from the bible and things that would get her thinking. Just verses from the bible that would stick in her mind and just make her think, and at least she heard certain truths about Jesus that made her think, even though there’s a lot of error and lies mixed in.
When you walk in and it's in a foreign language, there’s no chance of getting anything or learning anything from that. The Lord does work in mysterious ways. I've heard of people who talked about getting saved because they heard a bible quote in a Hollywood movie, and they heard a bible verse quoted in a Hollywood movie, and that verse just stuck with them, and they just kept thinking about it, kept thinking about it, kept thinking, and then eventually, somebody came along, gave them the gospel, won the Lord.
Obviously, you need more than a bible verse in a move to get saved. You need more than a bible verse in a Catholic church to get saved. You actually need somebody to teach you the gospel [and the plan of salvation 00:31:43], but that seed though can be planted just by hearing the word of God, and the word of God is everywhere. Even on TV and radio, sometimes, every once in a while, a little truth will slip out there, even though it’s 99% garbage. I’m not saying to go looking for it in those wicked places. I’m just telling you that it’s there, so that people are without excuse because the word of God is out there. If people seek, they shall find.
What we see here is that the Catholic church was forbidding people. Burning people at the stake literally for trying to bring God’s word into English or other of the common man’s languages. They wanted to keep it in a foreign tongue that cannot be understood, so they’re forbidding to speak with other tongues. That’s what … And also, you can apply that scripture in modern times a few different ways. Also, there are people out there amongst independent fundamental Baptists who will say things like, “Everybody just needs to learn how to speak English,” and they … I’ve literally talked to people who think that missionaries should go to foreign countries and teach people English, so that they can read a King James Bible.
That’s not true because God desires people to hear God’s word in their own language, “In the tongue wherein they were born,” the bible says, so it’s not that everybody needs to read a King James. Everybody who speaks English needs to read a King James, but people in other countries, they need the word of God brought into their language. Many languages of the world have wonderful bible translations in their language where they can read the word of God accurately translated in their languages. Other languages, not so much, so what’s the answer? Bring it into those languages. Get the [truth 00:33:27].
Here’s the thing. There are some nations that used to have a great bible translation back in the 1500s, 1600s that has fallen off the face of the earth in the sense that it's no longer being printed. Yeah, it’s in a museum somewhere, but it's no longer in print, and the only one that's in print at the store is the new garbage version. What needs to happen there is that people need to go back and resurrect these translations from the 1500s, from the 1600s, and bring them into the modern vernacular if necessary. If not, then just start printing them, and bring them back to the true word of God, not the translations that have been very corrupted.
When it says, “Forbid not to speak with tongues,” he’s saying there's not just one certain language that needs to be spoken. What he’s basically saying is, “I don’t care what language you speak. Who cares? All I care is that the people who are there at church understand what’s being preached, so whatever language you choose to preach in, if an interpreter is necessary, so be it, but everybody who’s gathered needs to understand what's coming across that pulpit.” If the preaching is in English and people are there that speak Spanish, then there needs to be a Spanish interpreter for them, or if there … If the preaching comes in, and it’s in Spanish, then there needs to be somebody to interpret for those who don’t speak Spanish because it needs to be decently and in order for the edifying of the church.
Another modern application of this would be this idea that people have where they think that in order to get the true word of God, you have to go to Greek and Hebrew. It’s the only way to get the true word. Whereas we strongly believe that God’s word can be translated into any language, and there’s this fallacy out there that says, “You always lose something in the translation.” Who’s heard that before? “You always lose something in the translation.” Let me tell you something. I am someone who knows several foreign languages, and I do not believe that statement for one second, and a lot of the people who will say that speak one language, and they’ll sit there, “Well, you always lose something in the translation, right? Everybody knows you lose something translate …” But then you talk to a lot of people who speak multiple languages, they’ll say, “No, you can get the same points across.”
Listen, human beings are human beings, and sometimes, you look at people of other cultures and other nationalities, and just think like, “Oh, man. These people are just way out there. They think completely different than we think, and they’re just nothing like us.” The more that you travel the world, and talk to people, and study foreign languages, you know what you’ll find is that people are people. There's nothing new under the sun, and people are pretty much people no matter what nationality they are. Even languages that just seem really bizarre, once you learn them and they start making sense to you, you’ll figure out that you can express anything that you need to express in that language, and there’s a way to do it.
This thing of, “You always lose something in the translation,” is false. I don’t believe in it, and I can speak from experience of somebody who speaks multiple languages on a weekly basis. I speak German at home with my wife. I speak Spanish out in soul winning, so I speak different languages, and they’re … You don’t always say things exactly the same way, but you word it in a way that gets the same exact point across, and it’s possible to do that, but people will say, “No, no. You have to go back, [neighbor 00:36:51].” Hold on. God is the one who even divided the languages in the first place at the Tower of Babel. Before that, the whole world was of one speech and one language.
God divided the languages at the Tower of Babel, and it’s his desire that we all speak different languages, not that we all speak the same language. If he wanted us all to speak the same language, he wouldn’t have divided them in the first place, but it’s his desire that we be separated by a language barrier into various nations, and so God has allowed his word to go forth in all languages. If you always lose something in the translation, let me ask you this. Then, why at the day of Pentecost were people able to speak as they were moved by the Holy Ghost? They spoke the word of God in all languages.
Now, let me ask you this. When the Holy Ghost is doing the translating, do you lose something? If the spirit of the Lord is coming upon somebody in Acts 2, and they're speaking Arabic, are you going to tell me that what they were getting was something less than the original? Of course, not, and not only that, but Jesus and his disciples, what language are they speaking? When we read it in the New Testament, it was in Greek, whereas the Old Testament is in Hebrew, so do we lose something in the New Testament y by doing it in Greek? Absolutely not, and so this is just something that you hear repeated over and over again, but that doesn't make it true.
Let me just encourage you with the fact that the bible that you hold in your hand, the King James Bible, is exactly what God said. “Ah, but he didn’t say it in English.” So what? Who cares? Quit being hung up on that. “Ah, God doesn’t speak English.” Wait, so I guess when we get the interpreter … When we get to have him, we’re going to need an interpreter because God doesn’t speak English. I guess we're going to walk up to God and say something to the Lord, and he is just going to be like … Do you really think you're going to get to heaven and God is not going to speak English?
Listen. If you’re Spanish and you get to heaven, God is going to say, “Well done, amigo.” He’s not going to sit there and say it in English to you if you don’t speak English because guess what? God can speak all languages. To sit there and say, “Well, God doesn’t speak English,” that’s stupid because God speaks all languages. You say, “Well, why did he give us the Old Testament in Hebrew?” “Because Israel was the chosen nation in the Old Testament.” “So why did he give us the New Testament in Greek?” “Because Israel was no longer the chosen nation.” He gave it in Greek because Greek was the language that most people in the world spoke as a second language. Even though they had their own local language, Greek was the big language that most people spoke as a second language.
Let me just explain something to you. Today, English is the most important language in the world, period. I’m not just saying that because I speak English. Look it up. Even though English does not have the most native speakers, there are more speaking English today than any other language in the world because of the fact that there are more people … Listen to me now. There are more people in this world who speak English as a second language than speak it as a first language. Did you know that? Because native speakers of the English language, 400 and some million, but you know how many people speak English? Way more than a billion people speak English. Why? Because there are more people speaking English as a second language than as a first language because all over the world, virtually every country in the world, people are speaking English as a second language. It is the lingua franca of the world.
Now, isn't it wonderful that God has delivered this amazing English translation of the bible 400 years ago that can literally be understood by people in every country of the world? Now, I’m not saying all people can understand it, but I’m telling you that there are well over a billion people that can understand this book, and it is the most important language in the world. Say, “How about Chinese?” All right. Here’s the thing, more people speak English than speak Chinese if you include second language, number one, and number two, Chinese is not the most important language in regard to the gospel because China is a place where … There are not a whole lot of bible-believing churches that are sending missionaries all over the world to preach the gospel. They’re under a wicked communist government, and they are also isolated somewhat from the outside world.
For example, YouTube is blocked in China. You can put up all kinds of preaching in Chinese and stuff. It’s not necessarily going to reach into mainland China because there’s an iron curtain somewhat that keeps out some of the outside world. What I’m saying is that I don’t think anybody could dispute the fact that more English-speaking missionaries are going out and preaching the gospel than any other type of missionary in the world, and that this book, the English King James Bible has been printed, and sold, and distributed more than any book in the history of mankind in English. Okay? This is the bible that has been translated into all these hundreds of African languages directly from the King James by people who didn't even understand Greek and Hebrew.
Now, yeah, in a perfect world, translations are done by 54 people who are scholars in Greek, and Hebrew, and all the related languages, but you know what? If all you’ve got is a missionary come into your tribe translating this English KJV into your click language or whatever stammering tongue, you know what? That’s great. That's a great way to get the gospel. If the King James is translated by some zealous English-speaking missionary who's coming into some foreign country and bring in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ, great. This is the most influential book in the world, and it's written in the most influential language in the world.
To just discount the English KJV, and just sit there and say, “Oh, well. Well, why is English so special?” “Hmm, I don’t know. Maybe because it’s the biggest language in the world. Maybe because there are more people preaching the gospel in English than any other language in the world.” “Welly, why? How do we know the word isn’t preserved in this language or preserved in that language, or maybe he chose Swahili, or maybe he chose to preserve it in French, or maybe chose to preserve it in German, or maybe chose to preserve …?” No, he chose to preserve it … First of all, his ideal would be that it’d be in all languages, that we would translate it in all languages, but it all makes sense that God’s divine hand of providence made specially sure that it got into the one big, super important language in perfect form.
Think about it. If he’s going to give the word in Hebrew in the Old Testament, if he’s going to give it in Greek in the New Testament, in our modern day, what’s the bet? What’s the main language where we need the word more than any other language? It needs to be in English more than any language. That’s who’s evangelizing the world more than anybody else, and so here we have it, the King James Bible. Thank God for his provision in this important language, so that’s another application of this.
Let me just close with this thought because I said we were going to go to Revelation 7 because I said we were going to look at every time “tongues” was used between last Sunday night sermon and this Sunday night sermon. We’re left with a few mentions of the word “tongues” in Revelation. That’s all we’ve got left is just Revelation. We looked at every time it was mentioned the New Testament, and the bible’s teaching was consistent from start to finish, but look at Revelation 7:9. This has to do with “The Rapture” as it's commonly known or when the believers are basically brought up to heaven. Okay? At the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
It says in Revelation 7:9, “After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number,” and I want to point out that it says, “Of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.” Now, first of all, it’s a blessing to know that when that trumpet sounds, and the dead in Christ rise first, and then we, which are alive and remain, are caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, it's a blessing to know that all languages will be represented in that group, that people will be saved from all nations.
Flip over to chapter 10, verse 11. This is John being spoken to by the angel, the apostle John. It says this inverse 11, “And he said unto me, ‘Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.’” What is being said unto John here? That his ministry is not through. He’s stuck on Patmos, but God is telling him, “You're going to preach again, and you're going to preach before many nations. You’re going to preach before many peoples, tongues, kings. You're going to speak to a whole bunch of different people of different languages and nations.”
Look at that chapter 11. You don’t have to turn to all of this because some of these aren’t really relevant to what we’re talking about, but the bible says … If you would just flip to chapter 17, that’s the last one. In chapter 11, verse 9, it just says, “They of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies,” and so forth. It’s just using “tongues” in a list there when he wants to say the whole world. He say, “All nations, all tongues, all kindreds.” One of the things that this proves is that when the end times events take place that people will still speak foreign languages. The world will not have gone over to one language. That's never going to happen.
In Revelation 13:7, it talks about the anti-Christ, going to be given power over all kindreds, tongues, and nations. In chapter 16, verse 10, it talks of being gnawing on their tongues for pain. That’s just the physical appendage in their mouth, by the way. Then, in 17:15, it says, “He saith unto me, ‘The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.’” Let’s close on this thought, Mathew chapter 28, Matthew 28. The idea of preaching the gospel to all nations.
Now, while you’re turning to Matthew 28, let me read for you from Matthew 24:14 where the bible reads, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come.” It’s important to note that all those verses in Revelation taught us that when we say “all nations”, what’s another thing that we mean by that? All tongues. When you say “all nations,” you’re saying “all tongues.” Why? Because when God divided the nations in Genesis 11, he didn’t do it along the lines of skin color. He divided the nations along the lines of the language. He confounded their languages and divided the nations based on language, and so when the bible says, “Teach all nations,” he's actually saying, “Teach all language groups,” if we go back to that Genesis 10 and 11 definition.
He says in Mark 13:10, “The gospel must first be published among all nations.” In Luke 24:47, “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his nation or his name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem,” but he said, “Preach them among all nations.” Romans 1:15, “By whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name.” That’s what make Christianity unique. It’s a religion that’s believed on in all nations. It’s not … You think of Hinduism. What nation pretty much believes in Hinduism? Pretty much India. Yeah, there are going to be different pockets of it, but you know and I know that by and large, it’s only people in India who believe in … I guess they think the whole rest of the world doesn’t have a clue about what Shiva, the Destroyer or all the other millions of Gods that they worship.
Then, you think of languages like Buddhism. They're very ethnically-based. You're either Asian … If you’re Buddhist, you’re either Asian or you’re like a Hollywood rock and roll person who just thinks it’s trendy and cool to be Buddhist. Okay, or if you have Shintoism, you’re Japanese. Judaism is, obviously, associated with a certain people who think that they’re a certain nationality. Then, you think of other religions of the world that are basically compartmentalized, right? These religions.
Islam is associated mainly, primarily with certain nationalities that are real big on Islam. Okay? Whether that’d be, obviously, the Arabs, the Persians, Indonesia, places like that. Whereas Christianity is the one where you can’t really associate it with a certain group, could you? Could you really say, “Well, Christianity, that’s the white man’s religion, or that’s the European …?” No, because there have been times throughout history when Christianity was huge amongst very different populations of people. Even today, there are all kinds of people of all kinds, different nationalities that are Christian. It's something that's in all nations, all tongues.
If you just use logic to think about the fact that God, if he's the God of the whole earth, is not just going to manifest himself to one group of people, but that rather, he would manifest himself to all nations. That’s why bible says in Romans 16:26, “But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith.” Made known to all nations, and that’s why I love the verse in Galatians 3:8 when the bible says, “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, ‘In thee, shall all nations be blessed.’”
The gospel was preached to Abraham, and he said, “In thee, shall all nations be blessed.” Now, who is that blessing through? Jesus. I even heard some zealous Zionist try to say that, “Well, in thee, shall all nations be blessed. That’s because any nation that allies themselves with the state of Israel is going to get that blessing, and all …” “Oh, yeah, that’s the gospel, the gospel of Israel, the gospel of Zionism.” No. When the bible says, “In thee, shall all nations be blessed,” you know where that blessing come from? Jesus because Jesus came through Abraham, and he’s a blessing to all nations. Anyone who believes on Christ is blessed with faithful Abraham, so he said, “In thee, shall all nations be blessed.”
Is Christianity the white man’s religion, the European religion, Anglo-Saxon religion, Germanic religion? No. Christianity is the religion of every true believer in the true God on this planet, and it has nothing to do with nationality, or language, or religion, or race. Nobody is a second class citizen in God's kingdom because of their nationality. “Oh, you don't speak English? You don't read the King James? Well, you’re a second-class.” That’s not true. “Oh, you’re a Gentile? You’re second class.” Wrong. False. No. It’s all nations standing on an equal footing because the bible says that God's house be called “The house of prayer for all nations,” and all nations are blessed with faithful Abraham.
Look down at your bible or Matthew 28. What’s the application? What do we do? It says in verse 18, “Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, ‘All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.’”
What does God wants us to do with tongues? What is the point of a sermon on tongues? First of all, so that we would not be deceived by the Benny Hand’s and Kenneth Copeland’s of the world, and all the false Charismatic doctrine. That’s the number one purpose of this sermon, but number two is that we would actually get the real meaning of “tongues.” We don’t want to just say, “Oh, we proved tongues false,” and then we just have this void. No. We want to get the true teaching on tongues. What’s the true teaching? Use tongues to get the gospel to the entire world. That’s the true teaching.
The true teaching is learn Spanish, so you can give the gospel to people that speak Spanish in Phoenix, Arizona. That is the true interpretation, and we need to get the gospel to all nations. One of the biggest ways that we could do that is just by knocking every door in Phoenix, Arizona because if we knocked every door in Phoenix, Arizona, we will hit up every nation group virtually because we live in a city with four million people and United States is a melting pot, people from all over, but then, there will also be some who will go to foreign lands as missionaries.
There will be some who leave the United States, and go to a foreign country, and learn some foreign language, and stammer and stutter, and get people saved, and bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to that foreign country. That is the calling of some people, to go out and preach the gospel in a foreign nation, in a foreign language. Sometimes, that happens to people through a lot of different means. Through marrying somebody from that place, you end up going there. That’s like myself. I married a woman who is German, half German, half Hungarian. Then, I’m going to learn those languages. I’m going to end up going to those places, and talking to those people, and winning people to Christ, God winning in those corners of the world.
I’ve known a lot of other people who found themselves in different countries that they wouldn't have planned on going to and God using that to bring the gospel and to bring salvation. You know what? There are people in our church. Let me ask you this. Who in our church speaks a language other than English fluently? Put up your hand. Look around. There are a lot of people in this church that could actually reach people of your native language, both in Phoenix and in other parts of the world. Whatever the case may be, whether that language is Spanish as some people, but who speaks a foreign language other than Spanish fluently? Put up your hand if it’s not Spanish.
Yeah. See, there’s still several people. We got Korean. We got African language. We got Asian language. We got a lot of different things represented in this church, and so God, help us to reach all nations with the gospel. That ought to be our prayer. That ought to be our mission. That ought to be our motto, but let’s start here at Jerusalem. Okay? Then, let’s go to all nations and reach as many people as we can.
Let’s bow our heads and have word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for this clear teaching in your word, Lord. There have been many who’ve muddied the waters for many years. In fact, sometimes, even bible-believing independent Baptists will sometimes just maybe shy away from passages like First Corinthians 14 just because they’re so sick of this weird Charismatic doctrine. They know that’s not right, but Lord, help us to embrace the teachings of First Corinthians 14 now that we have a true interpretation from your word, comparing scripture with scripture, and help us to understand that English is a great language. It’s the most important language in the world, but it’s not the only language in the world, and so Lord, help those who speak foreign languages to use those languages to evangelize. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-25873794814142068542016-05-07T14:25:00.000-07:002016-05-07T14:25:20.702-07:00Defying God by Sinning Willfullly <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_GWWSEMAIE">Video</a>
<p><b>March 15, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G_GWWSEMAIE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Hebrews chapter 10, I want to cover the end part of the chapter. Let's start in verse number 16, but the Bible reads, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; and having an high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works." Now in this passage, he is using Old Testament teaching and things from the Law of Moses in order to illustrate New Testament truths. That's really what the Book of Hebrews is about. It uses a lot of symbolism and a lot of things from the Old Testament and shows how they relate to things in the New Testament.
<br><br>Now a lot of scriptures in the Book of Hebrews are misunderstood. A lot of that misunderstanding would be cleared up if we would just turn back in the Bible and look at what is being quoted. Now a little bit later in this passage is one of the scriptures that is often misunderstood or misapplied, and it's beginning at verse number 26 where it says, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
<br><br>There's a lot of confusion about this passage. Some people will try to use this passage to say, "Hey, you can lose your salvation, if you sin willfully." Other people will say, "This isn't even talking to believers; it's talking to the unsaved," or all different ways the people will apply or misapply this passage. I want to go through and show what this passage is actually teaching because it's a very important biblical truth that we need to apply to our lives, that we need to get into our mind this is an important passage, not to just figure out how to explain it from a doctrinal perspective so that we know, "Hey, you can't lose your salvation. Jesus had given them eternal life and they shall never perish-"
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Audience: Amen.
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And neither [inaudible 02:56] and collect them out of my hand, but also to understand what is God warning us about or what is God admonishing us about here? First of all, let me just make it very clear to you from this passage that this is speaking to believers, there's no question about it, because if we get the context leading into it, he talks about people being saved, the verses that we just read in verse 16. It says, "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more." Then he says, "Now where remission of these is," talking about the remission of sins, "there is no more offering for sin." Now you have to get the context. Earlier in this chapter, he talked about the fact that they used to continually bring sin offerings and trespass offerings, but that now Jesus Christ is the lamb slain once for all, one sacrifice for all of our sins, that doesn't need to keep being offered, but was just offered one time, and it's a done deal.
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Audience: Amen.
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He says, "Now that our sins are completely forgiven and completely remitted, there is no more offering for sin." We don't do animal sacrifices any longer because of this, okay? Look what it says next in verse 19: "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh." He's saying, "Look, in the Old Testament, in the tabernacle in the House of God, there was a most holy place that only the high priest could enter. He could only do it once a year, where he sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat, but when Jesus Christ died, the Bible said that the veil was rent in 2. That veil represents the body of Jesus Christ. The Bible says now we can have boldness to enter into the most holy place. There is no longer that veil of separation there. The Bible is saying, "Look, no more animal sacrifices," no more most holy place that we don't have access to. Then he says this: "Having an high priest over the house of God." Earlier in the Book of Hebrews, he explained that that high priest in the New Testament is Jesus. It's not Aaron, it's not the sons of Aaron, it's not Caiaphas or Annas; it's Jesus Christ himself. He is our high priest.
<br><br>The Bible says because we have a high priest over the house of God, verse 22: "Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)." What is he referring to there when he talks about our hearts being sprinkled? That's because in the Old Testament, he sprinkled the blood on the people when the tabernacle was consecrated. He said we weren't sprinkled physically, but our hearts were sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, they had the labor outside the tabernacle. If they were going to approach unto the House of God, they would wash up first. They would wash themselves with water. God is saying baptism is symbolic of that because before you headed into the House of God, you wash up. We're baptized into the body of Christ in the New Testament. There's a lot of parallel there. He's going through all these different things in this passage.
<br><br>He says in verse 24: "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works." He's gotten through saying, "Look, we're saved, we're washed in the blood, we have our sins forgiven, Jesus is our high priest. We have access to the holy place now. We can come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, and we've had our bodies washed. We've been baptized; that gives us entrance." He lists all that and he says, "Look, now that we're saved, now that we're washed," he says, "not let's consider one another to provoke unto love and good works." We want to motivate each other to do that, which is right, and exhort one another. Look what he says next in verse 25: "Not forsaking." Is that how you start a sentence, not forsaking?
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Audience: Nope.
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No. This is a continuation of the same thought. He says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." That's the work that we need to provoke each other to. That's one of them. He says, "Provoke each other to love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as we see the day approaching." Look at the first word of verse 26: "For". For means because. It's a conjunction. He's saying that we need to not forsake the assemblings of ourselves together because if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." Notice it says, "For if we," we who've had our sins forgiven and remaineth and have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ. If we sin willfully by doing, what? One example would be forsaking the assembly, but he says if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Now a lot of people misunderstand that.
<br><br>When it says, "There remaineth no more sacrifice for sins," people will think, "Oh, that means Jesus sacrifice is not applicable." No, it's not what he's saying. When he says there's no more sacrifice for sins, it's basically the same statement that he was making back in verse 18, at the end there, when he said there's no more offering for sin. He's saying that if we sin willfully, after that we've received the knowledge of the truth, we don't have the animal sacrifice where we offer a sin offering and everything's fine. That's what he's saying. I'm going to get to that in the Old Testament. Just remember that, but we're going to turn back to that passage, and I'm going to show you the parallel with this passage.
<br><br>He says but instead of a sacrifice for sins, there's - verse 27 - "a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God" - and watch this - "and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified" - this is somebody who's been saved - "an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people." Now we're talking about God judging his people. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." You normally wouldn't associate that verse, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God", with believers, but guess who that verse applies to? Believers, the saved.
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Audience: Amen.
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They say, "How can this be? Is this teaching we lose our ... ?" No. It's not teaching you to lose your salvation. It's not saying you're going to go to hell. A lot of people see the words "punishment", "judgment", "fiery indignation". What's fiery indignation? It's anger. Fiery anger is what that is. It's not saying you're going to the fires of hell, it says fiery indignation. When they see these words, they think, "Oh, wow! That sounds so bad. These people can't even be saved," but look at 1 Corinthians 11, because these type of words are often associated with believers. Just because you're saved doesn't mean that God does not chasten and chastise you. The Bible says, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." A lot of people will say, "He chastened you, but he doesn't punish you." First of all, chastening is punishment, number 1. Number 2, God uses the word "punishment" about his own people in many places about believers. If I told you I'd punish my children, you wouldn't think there is anything strange about that, would you? "How can you punish them if they're your child?" Of course. Punishment, chastening, and chastisement are synonymous.
<br><br>Now look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter number 11 about God's people. He says in verse number 30, he's talking about things that they're doing wrong and sin and so forth, but he says in verse 30, "For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep." When he says "sleep" there, he's saying they're dead. Look at the next verse: "For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." He talks about people being sickly and even sleeping as a judgment or a chastening from the Lord. That's the same type of language that we saw in Hebrews 10, when he said, "The Lord shall judge his people," or "Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"
<br><br>Look, even back in the Old Testament, King Saul, who was saved, who was a believer was killed in battle as a result of disobeying the Lord. Also Josiah, who was not supposed to fight against the king of Egypt, yet he fought against the king of Egypt anyway, and God allowed him to die in battle, even though God had promised him that he would be preserved and saved and protected and would be blessed. When he just went against what God told him to do, all bets were off and he's killed in battle. Now let's understand this passage better by going back to the Old Testament passages and understanding it. See, it's a mistake when you're reading Hebrews 10 and we just had this long litany of verses that are all about things that are symbolic, one after the other. Symbolic, symbolic, symbolic, symbolic. We don't understand that this part is also symbolic, because he talked about the blood and the altar and the holy place and the high priest and the washing with water and the sprinkle. Those are all symbolism from the Old Testament being applied to the New Testament. That's what this part is, too.
<br><br>Let's go back to the Old Testament, to Numbers 15. If we go back to the scripture, Numbers 15, and put it side-by-side with Hebrews 10, you will see how clear it is that God is talking about punishing his children, chastening his children when they sin willfully. I'm going to explain what that means. Look at Numbers 15. You can keep a finger in Hebrews 10, if you want to compare things a little bit, but Numbers 15. It says in verse 24, "Then it shall be, if ought be committed by ignorance without the knowledge of the congregation, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, for a sweet savour unto the Lord, with his meat offering, and his drink offering, according to the manner, and one kid of the goats for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for all the congregation of the children of Israel, and it shall be forgiven them; for it is ignorance: and they shall bring their offering, a sacrifice made by fire unto the Lord, and their sin offering before the Lord, for their ignorance." What's the Bible saying? We could read the entire chapter of Leviticus 4 and Leviticus 5 and get the same thing, where he goes on and on about all the different offerings for when we sin by ignorance.
<br><br>Look, you mess up, you do something wrong. You weren't setting out to just defy the Lord, but, no. You made a mistake, you didn't know that what you were doing was wrong, or you didn't realize that you had done wrong, and it comes to your knowledge and you realize, "I made a mistake here. I've done wrong." Then what do you do? You take the animal to the priest and you offer a burnt sacrifice as an atonement for your sin, and it'll be forgiven. This isn't talking about salvation, this isn't talking about your entrance into heaven by bringing an animal. The Bible says it's not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
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Audience: Amen.
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"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." It's salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. It's not of works, [but he mentioned both 15:36], it's not by making offering. You don't buy your way into heaven with the fat of rams and lambs and so forth. You say, "Then what was the purpose of the animal sacrifices?" Here was the purpose: to repair the relationship between you and God. You've done wrong. God's going to cloud up and rain on you. He's going to chastise you, he's going to come down on you for sinning, but when you come to him with an offering and make a peace offering - a trespass offering, a sin offering - you come to him and you're showing that you're sorry and you're making things right with God. Then when you bring that animal then God will forgive you for that. Again, we're not talking about salvation. Salvation is a one-time thing, but aren't we constantly confessing our sins to God as believers and constantly going to God and saying that we're sorry? The Bible says his mercies are new every morning. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
<br><br>It's just like if my children had done wrong, if they came to me and said they were sorry and made it right, they're going to get way less of a consequence, if any at all. Whereas, if they are stubborn about it, if they just willfully defy me, they're going to get serious punishment. It has nothing to do with whether or not they're my child. That's what this forgiveness is. It's making things right with God so that he doesn't punish us. Look at all the punishments he said in the Old Testament, on the whole nation. When the nation would do wrong, they'd go into captivity. He said, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." When they're being brought captive to the Philistines or the Babylonians or the Assyrians or the Moabites or whoever was coming after them, if they made an offering unto the Lord and said they're sorry and sought after him then he would forgive their sin and heal their land. That's what we're talking about here in this passage. Let's keep reading.
<br><br>It says, verse 26, "It shall be forgiven all the congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among them; seeing all the people were in ignorance. And if any soul sin through ignorance, then he shall bring a she goat of the first year for a sin offering. And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the Lord, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him. Ye shall have one law for him that sinneth through ignorance, both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them. But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people." What's the Bible saying here? It's saying that if you just willfully, presumptuously defy God, it's not through ignorance, it wasn't an accident, it wasn't just a slip up, but you just go and defy the word of the Lord, the Bible says you don't just bring an offering and just fix that. He says, "No. You're exiled. You're cut off from among the people. You're basically expelled from the children of Israel. You're not allowed to dwell among them." That's what he means when he says that they'll be cut off from among his people.
<br><br>Then look at verse 31: "Because he hath despised the word of the Lord." Now that's exactly the word that was used in Hebrews 10 because in Hebrews chapter 10, it says, "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing" - watch this - "and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" Notice that word "despite". Then a few verses earlier, it says, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses." That's what this is referring back to here when it says, "Hey, they've despised the word of the Lord if they sin presumptuously." Let me just give you an illustration of this that you'll be able to understand in our modern day, in 2015, because we're not living in Old Testament Israel. Think about how the Catholics do it. They have, what? The confessional booth. Supposedly, the confessional booth is how they make things right with God, isn't it?
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Audience: Yeah.
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They go to the confessional booth and they confess it to the priest and he tells them, "Hey, if you chant this 20 times then I'll forgive you. You're absolved, my son," and all these kind of crazy stuff. That is something that we can relate to because we've known people who were Catholics who've done that. Here is the mentality of some Catholics. They would say, "You know what? I'm going to go out and just commit all these sin willfully, knowingly, premeditated, just go out and sin knowing that I'm just going to confess it later and fix it." Who knows what I'm talking about?
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Audience: Yeah.
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Does that sound familiar? Yeah, just go out and sin and be wicked and then fix it later. Go to the confessional booth and fix it later. First of all, the confessional booth is a fraud, it's not scriptural. Who can forgive sins, but God only. That priest, he might as well confess his sins right back to you, but it'd probably be so perverted you wouldn't want to hear it. It'd be so disgusting, the sins of those perverts. The thing is the confessional booth is not scriptural, but isn't that a wicked mentality, though, to sit there and say, "I'm just going to go out and sin and defy God and then I can just go to the confessional booth and fix it."
<br><br>What God is saying is that, in the Old Testament, when they would go and offer an animal sacrifice as a way to get absolution, if you will. He's saying, "You can't just go out and sin willfully and then bring me an animal sacrifice and think that it's going to be okay with me or that I'm going to accept it from you. I'm not going to accept an animal sacrifice from you when you defy me and just forgive you and it's fine, no." He said, "That's for people who mess up, it's not for people who just despise God's word and just willfully go out and presumptuously disobey it." Does everybody understand what I'm saying? That's what he's teaching here. He's saying, "This is for the one who does it through ignorance."
<br><br>Watch this. In verse 31, it says, "Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." Look, we're continuing the same story here. Don't miss the connection. "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day. And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation. And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him. And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp. And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses." I don't know about you, but whenever I've read the Bible and I came to this exact story, I always just thought, "Wow! That is harsh. The guy picked up some sticks. What in the world? What is the big deal?" Have you ever thought that when you're reading this, just thought, "That's a little bit harsh. I don't understand"?
<br><br>Here's what you have to get: the context. This guy, according to the Bible despised the word of the Lord because when Hebrews 10 says, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses." It's specifically talking about this guy, because look at the passage; it's about people sinning presumptuously versus sinning through ignorance, not being able to make an offering for their sin anymore, and having despised the word of the Lord. That's all the same stuff in Hebrews 10. What it is is it's not that the guy picked up sticks, and that was just such a horrific thing to do, but it didn't matter what he did; it's the fact that he was just defying pointblank, just brazenly. God said to do something and he's just saying, "I don't care what God says. I'm doing what I want to do, and nuts to you. You can't tell me." That's what he's doing, and that's what the Bible says about this guy - he despised the word of the Lord. That's why it says in verse 31, "He despised the word of the Lord," and then he gives the example of the guy who despised God's word. He dies without mercy under two or three witnesses. That's what the Bible is showing us in Hebrews chapter 10.
<br><br>Now flip over to Deuteronomy 17. The next book after Numbers is Deuteronomy. Look at chapter 17. See now Hebrews is coming clear when we go back and get the context and read the story and understand what it's really about; not talking about personal salvation, going to heaven or hell, but it's talking about God's people not defying God and despising his word. It says in verse 8 of Deuteronomy 17, "If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the Lord thy God shall choose; And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
<br><br>And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously." Now what does this mean, presumptuously? It's the same thing as when it says sin willfully. It's the same thing. It's when you just have totally processed the fact that God does not want you to do this, that the Bible says that you are not to live this way, and you just say, "I'm just going to do it anyway. I'm going to just sin because I just decided that what God says is not going to dictate to me, and I'm just going to do it anyway." God says there's a serious punishment when we do that. Here he talks about defying the word of the Lord and also even defying God-given authority - the priest and the judge that God had given them. They weren't to defy that authority.
<br><br>Okay, how do we apply that today? How about your parents, children? Defying your parents, despising the word of your parents because, you know what? The Bible commands you, children, to obey your parents. The Bible says, "Children, obey your parents and Lord for this is right." "Honor thy father and mother (which is the first commandment with promise), that it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth." What does that mean? That if you don't, you're going to die because he says if you do it, you're going to live long. What's the opposite of living long? Dying sooner. What's the opposite of going well for you?
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Going ill for you. When he says, "Obey your parents, honor your father and mother that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth," that's a warning there. Yeah, it's a promise of God's blessing, if you obey, but it's also a warning of what's going to happen if you don't obey. God-given authorities in our life, like parents unto children, and, by the way, husbands are the authority over their wives. I'll say it until I'm blue in the face. You say, "Oh, you're going to upset the feminine Nazis and the women's lib and everything like that." Look, I will say it until I'm blue in the face. I'll never back down on this. The Bible teaches that wives are going to obey their husbands-
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Audience: Amen.
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The Bible calls the husband the Lord of his wife.
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Audience: Amen.
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I said Lord. That's what it says. It's the Bible. It's the word of God.
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Audience: Right. Amen.
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Get out of here. Go find some liberal, pantywaist preacher that will tell you what you want to hear and tickle your ears, but I'm not going to lie to you tonight that if you despise the authority of your parents and if you despise the authority of your husband, let me tell you something, God is going to punish you.
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Audience: Amen.
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He's going to punish you.
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Audience: Amen.
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Your parents are going to spank you, but you know what? God's going to punish you also. God said, "If you despise the word of the Lord, if you sin willfully after that you've received knowledge of the truth, don't come to me and try to make things right with me." He says, "I'm going to come down hard on you." You don't defy him. He's God. He's the creator of the universe. It says, "It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." You better mind your Ps and Qs when you're dealing with the God of the universe. You say, "I'm saved, so it's all forgiven, it's all great." Yeah, but God will judge his people. Yeah, but, "For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." Yet Christians today will just say, "It's all great. I'm just going to do whatever." Go ahead and do whatever and despise the word of the Lord. God says, "I'll give you a sore punishment that was given in the Old Testament." This is what's so bizarre to me is that people today think that the God of the Old Testament was just this [raffle 29:24], angry God, and then God just lightened up in his old age. Then Jesus came along and just relaxed everything and toned everything down. Isn't that what people believe? It's bizarre because if you actually read Jesus' sermons, everything's stricter than the Old Testament, everything. Everything.
<br><br>Everything was more lenient in the ... If you read the Old Testament, it's lenient. In the Old Testament, these guys will have multiple wives and gods. He didn't like it, but they're getting by with it. In the Old Testament, they're worshiping God in the high places. He told them not to. In the New Testament, God is saying, "No." "The times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." You've heard that it was said, "Thou shall not kill," I'm saying don't even be angry with your brother without a cause. Don't even hate him in your heart. Don't even lust in your heart. It's not just don't commit adultery, it's don't even lust in your heart. He says, "Look, if he that despised Moses' Law died without mercy under two or three witnesses," but now God has just relaxed everything. Is that what it says?
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Audience: No.
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No, it says, "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy."
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Audience: Amen.
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That's the New Testament version, sorer punishment. Why? Because unto whom much is given of him shall much be required.
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Amen. That's right.
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God has a higher standard in the New Testament because we've been given more in the New Testament. In the New Testament, we have been dwelling in the Holy Spirit that they did not have in the Old Testament. We have the complete word of God that they did not have in the Old Testament. We have our local church, which is more helpful than what they had in the Old Testament. Look, we have been blessed and given more knowledge, we've been given more of the Holy Spirit's blessings, so why would God expect less of us? It doesn't make any sense because it's not true. If God's so relaxed then why is the most vengeful book in the whole Bible Revelation, the last book? If he was really going to take it easy and relax, wouldn't it be by the last book, Book 66? That's the one where he's given people blood to drink and burning them and scorching them and sending all kinds of wrath and plagues. What Bible are people reading? Oh, yeah, it's because they're not reading the Bible.
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Audience: Right.
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It's because they are listening to liars and these TV evangelists who tickle their ears and preach unto them smooth things and prophesize deceits. No. The Book of Hebrews in the New Testament, chapter 10, says that God will punish us more severely when we defy him in the New Testament than he did even under the Old Testament. He wasn't playing games in the Old Testament. He's dead sure not playing games now. We need to not sin lightly and think to ourselves ... Look, I've heard it so many times, where people just say, "I know it's wrong, but I'm going to do it anyway." Major sins, big sin, stuff like fornication, stuff like divorcing their spouse, stuff like committing adultery, stuff like drunkenness, whatever. Just, "I know that's what's the Bible says, but you know what? I'm not perfect. I'm just going to do it anyway." That angers the Lord. It displeases him. Fiery indignation from the Lord when we have that attitude.
<br><br>Go to Psalm 19. Right in the middle of your Bible is the Book of Psalms. Psalm 19. Psalm chapter 19, the Bible says in verse number 9, "The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward." It's a two-edged sword, the word of God. There's a warning and then there's a reward. If we do it right, we get the reward. If we do it wrong, there's a warning of God's punishment. There's a blessing to those who obey their parents, there's a curse on those who disobey their parents. Then he says this: "Who can understand his errors?" Now what does that question mean? "Who can understand his errors?" What the Bible is asking is does anybody really know every time they make a mistake? If I asked you, "Okay, write down every sin you've committed in the last week," you'd be like, "Oh, man. I don't even know." If I said write down every sin you've committed today, we don't even know a lot of it because we sin all the time without even knowing it.
<br><br>That's why the Bible says, "Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from secret faults." What are secret faults? Sinning through ignorance. Secret faults, stuff that I'm doing wrong and I don't even realize it's wrong. I don't even know about it. Then he follows that up by saying, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins." Notice the presumptuous sins are different than the secret faults. The secret faults is like the Bible went on and on in Leviticus 4 and 5, Numbers 15, Deuteronomy 17, where he talked about sinning through ignorance. Secret faults: you're constantly making mistakes, you're constantly sinning. He says also, "Keep thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression." What's the great transgression? The great transgression is when you sin presumptuously. Secret faults, they're bad. I'm not condoning sinning through ignorance, I'm not condoning messing up and sinning. It's still wrong. We should still seek to avoid it, but what's the big transgression? What's the big sin? What's the great ... ? It's when you willfully know what the Bible says and just say, "I don't care. I'm doing something different."
<br><br>It says in verse 14, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer." Listen to this scripture, Proverbs 29:1: "He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy." Hardeneth his neck. Basically, the rebuke comes, the correction from the word of God comes, the preaching across the pulpit comes, and you harden your neck and say, "I don't care what that preacher says. I don't care what that judge says. I don't care what that priest says." If it was the Old Testament, "I don't care what the Bible says. You know what? I'm not doing it." You know what? When that comes and you harden your neck, you will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. That's like where he said, "There remaineth no more offering for sins. I'm not interested in making peace with you. You're just going to be punished, you're just going to suffer, you're just going to reap that which you have sown." God is merciful to us, he is loving unto us, and he really gives us a lot of leeway, especially when we sin through ignorance, but there's one thing that God doesn't put up with, and that's despising his word. Despising his word is defined us hearing the commandment and saying, "I'm not doing it." That's what the Bible ... He said, "You despised my word."
<br><br>When you hear the commandment and you learn what is right and you say, "Okay. That's what the Bible says, but I'm not doing it," be prepared to be destroyed without remedy. That's what the Bible is teaching here. This is a New Testament teaching in Hebrews 10. Flip over, if you would, to Hebrews 10, and we'll finish up over in Hebrews chapter 10. Defying the Lord is what I'm talking about tonight - defying his word, defying legitimate God-given authority, defying the commandments of God. Look, the Bible says if we sin willfully ... " Look down, if you would, on verse number 26, "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth." Now what does he mean there, "after we've received the knowledge of the truth"? He's not just talking about being saved.
<br><br>When he says, "After we received the the knowledge of the truth," is when we know that something's wrong and then we do it anyway, because there are a lot of things that we've done that we didn't even know they were wrong. As you read the Bible, you'll find stuff where you're like, "Wow! I didn't even know that was a sin," because you're not always taught growing up. I guarantee you that there are a lot of ladies who grew up in a church that didn't preach the whole word of God that have been dressing in a sinful way their whole lives and just didn't even know what the Bible taught about clothing.
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Audience: Amen.
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The Bible told the church at Laodicea, "You don't even know that you're naked." He said, "Thou knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." You don't even know that you're naked. There are people today walking around naked and they don't even know it.
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Audience: That's right.
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Because what the Bible teaches as nakedness is from your loins to your thighs. If you have women out there, or men, for that matter, God forbid, men in short shorts. Help us all. They wear this little ... With the 3 stripes on the side or whatever. I hope those never come back into style. When you're out there in the short skirt and the shorts, and they don't even realize that they're naked, but God defines that as nakedness. God doesn't look at you in a string bikini and say that you're clothed. God doesn't look at you in a bathing suit and think that you're clothed. That's not what God considers clothing. God said your loins and your thighs should be covered. That's what the Bible teaches.
<br><br>If you're going to go out in your colored underwear, and you wouldn't come to church in your underwear. Would you come to church in your underwear? No. Would you go to the store in your underwear? Just walk into Walmart at ... Maybe you would do that. Anyway, you don't walk into Walmart at 2am in your underwear or what? No, you wouldn't do that. Why does digging a hole in the ground, filling it with water, and instead of white, it becomes a color and, all of a sudden, it's not underwear anymore. All of a sudden it's clothes, it's a bathing suit. God forbid that men would ever wear ... If you go to Germany, which is ... Unfortunately, Germany is a pretty heathen place. They need the word of God over there. You go to Germany and all the men are wearing Speedos.
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Audience: What are Speedos?
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You don't want to know what it is. It's like what women wear, except men are wearing it on the bottom. Does that help? Ask my wife, you go to the beach, you go to the pool in Germany, and it's all men. They're all in Speedos. It's bizarre. Thankfully, our culture still thinks that that's a little weird, right? Please tell me that I'm right. Don't they?
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Audience: Yes.
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If a dude shows up in this, what in the world? At least today, most men wear knee-length shorts when they go swimming. Thank God. Over there, it's just a Speedo. You know that? It's obscene whether it's on male or female. It is not [acceptable 40:55], but our society says it's fine. Don't you think it'd be possible for a girl to grow up in a Christian home and be taught, "Oh, just wear the one piece bathing suit," and it's still totally exposed, her thigh? Don't you think it'd be possible for a girl to grow up in a Christian home and love the Lord and love Jesus and be going out and wearing that stuff and never even been told that it's wrong, or never even taught that it's wrong?
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Audience: Yeah.
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Don't you think?
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Audience: Yeah.
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You see Christians girls all the time, and even Christian teenage girls wearing shorts and wearing bathing suits and wearing short skirts, and the thought's not even crossing their minds that it's wrong, because they're being told, "Oh, as long as its fingertip length, it's modest." Unless you're an orangutan, it's not modest. Fingertip length is not modest, unless you are like a knuckle-dragging neanderthal. The bottom line is that people sin through ignorance. I just think that's a good example of sinning through ignorance, right?
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Audience: Yeah.
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They just never read that scripture, never thought it through, and they're dressed that way. It's not that they're just ... Do you think that every girl who's dressed that way just defies the Lord and despises his word? No. It's just a lot of them just haven't been taught because it's not being preached and it's not being taught. They grow up in a home where the stance were relaxed, other things that people just grow up and do and take for granted and don't even think about it, whether it's drinking, whatever the case. They don't even know it's wrong. There's a lot of sinning that can just take place through ignorance. A lot of people have never been taught that covetousness is wrong, even though it's in the Ten Commandments, "Thou shall not covet." When you explain to them what covetousness is, they're like, "That's wrong? Really? That's a sin?" They've been doing it their whole life and they didn't even think about it. God is going to be more gracious with that when you just don't know better. New believers, when people just got saved, they don't know much about the Bible. They're brand new babes in Christ. They're going to make all kinds of mistakes, they're going to be committing all kinds of sins; not because they just don't care, but because they just haven't learned yet, they just haven't grown, they just don't know the truth.
<br><br>That's why we should be gracious and patient with people as they're learning, and not just come down on them. Let me tell you something, when you have read it in the Bible and the light bulb comes on and you say, "Oh, wow! That's wrong," or you're in church and you hear a sermon that nails you and you hear the word of God and the scriptures are turned to, and you say, "Wow! This is wrong. This is sin. I shouldn't be doing this." At that point, if you continue to do it, it becomes a major sin in your life." Now before you know any better, God still considers it sin. He's not going to bless it, but he's going to be much more gracious and merciful and lenient with you, which makes sense. As you learn more, though, and continue to do it then it just becomes defiance. Then it becomes defiance. Now, for example, think about this: obviously, anybody should know that, for example, when you have children and they play in the front yard, they make a mess of the front yard. They have trash and stuff everywhere. Now should they be leaving their trash and junk in the front yard? No. Is it wrong for them to just go out there and trash the place and be lazy? Of course. Do we want them to do that? No. Are we going to be happy that they do that? No.
<br><br>Think about how much worse ... If they go out and do that and we don't say anything, but what if they actually went out there and made a mess and we said, "Look, go outside right now and go pick up that trash and clean that up," and they just said no. Wouldn't that be a lot different than they just weren't thinking about it? Because kids don't think about stuff. Just eat a popsicle, throw the wrapper down. Kids litter. I'm not an eco warrior, environmentalist, or anything, but I don't like littering. I don't litter. Now it's not littering when stuff's biodegradable. For example, like orange. People act like, "You're littering when you throw orange peels and bananas," like, "This is going back to nature. I'm releasing it back to nature." Shells of nuts and banana peels and apple cores, those things are just being released back into the wild, where they belong. I mean when you're throwing plastic and paper and aluminum out the window, to me, that's just a lack of character, a lack of class. It's just a derelict, trashy thing to do. Who thinks of that as just a trashy, derelict thing to do, to throw trash on the ground? If I see my kids throw something, "Go back and pick it up." If we go hiking, "If you pack it in, you pack it out, and everything like that."
<br><br>Hold on a second. Isn't there a big difference between just throwing stuff on the ground because you're a child and you don't know any better and just unpacking stuff? That's what kids do, unless they're taught. That's why if you go to a derelict area where parents are not teaching their kids, there's just trash everywhere. A lot of it is just kids just not even thinking about it. When I say, "Don't throw that on the ground," and my kid just looks at me and just goes ... That would be a severe chastening that's going to take place, the scourging. Why? Because of the fact that it's defiance. Defiance is wicked. The Bible says rebellion is the sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is an inequity and idolatry. What is stubbornness? Being often reproved and hardening your neck. No contrition, no remorse, no humility, no respect for authority, no respect for God's word, and no fear of the Lord that says, "You know what? I fear the Lord and I don't want to make him upset. I want him to be pleased with me. If that's what the Bible says then that's what I'm going to do."
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Audience: Amen.
<br><br>"It's one thing if I don't know it, but as soon as I see it in the Bible, I want to conform to that because it's God's word."
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Audience: Amen.
<br><br>You know what? If God told me something, I'd do it. As soon as I find out what God's will is for my life, that's what I want to do with my life.
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Audience: Amen.
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That's a tender heart to the Lord, a heart that's submissive to God, a heart that loves God and wants to keep his commandments. The opposite of that is the stubborn, wicked, "nobody's going to tell me what to do", "we will not have this man to rule over us", just wanting to harden your neck and say ... You think of Jonah hardening his neck when God gets on him, where God says to him, "Doest thou well to be angry, Jonah?" and he says, "I do well even unto death." Think about that. What if you said to your child, "Hey, are you right to be angry with me right now?" to your child and they said, "I do well even unto death." That's just defiance at that point. That's why God took away his gourd and gave him a sunburn that Jonah's had before. We need to take this warning seriously.
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Audience: Amen.
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It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. God can really do a number on you. In fact, you'd rather fall into Satan's hand than God's hand, because if you remember ... You know what God said about Job? He said to Satan, "Behold, he is in thy hand." He allowed Job to be put in Satan's hand, but God restrains Satan so that Satan could torment Job, but he could not touch his body; only just his possessions, his family, his wealth, but he could not touch his body. Then later, God lifted that restriction and said, "You can touch his body, but you can't kill him." The thing we've got is when you're in God's hand, nobody's restraining him.
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Audience: Yeah, right.
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There's nobody talking him down, when you have trodden under foot the Son of God. You say, "Trodden under foot the Son of God." Hey, look, in the beginning, was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelled among us. When you despise his word, you're despising Jesus.
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Audience: Amen.
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When you treat the word with disrespect, you're treating Jesus with disrespect because he is the word, he's the author of the word. The Bible says, "You've done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" It's this attitude that says, "I'm unto grace, so, therefore, I will continue sinning." The Bible says, "Should we continue in sin that grace may abound?" God forbid. God forbid that you would just say, "Oh, I'm saved," and turn the grace of God into lasciviousness and say, "You know what? Because I'm unto grace and I can do whatever and still go to heaven, I'm going to go out and do whatever." Where sin abounds, grace does much more abound, but you know what? That doesn't mean God's not going to judge his people when they sin willfully after that they've received the knowledge of the truth. You know what's right. You've received the truth, you've received preaching over the years, you've read things in the Bible, and you need to be sure that you're not defying the Lord. You can sit there and say, "Oh, I would never defy the Lord. I have such great respect for him." If you defy your parents, you just defied the Lord. If you defy your husband, you just defied the Lord. That's what the Bible teaches-
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Audience: Amen.
<br><br>Because God put those authorities in place. If you defy them, you're defying God. Just like in the Old Testament, if they defied the judge, they got put over. Remember the judges? Basically, the judges were men like Othniel and Ehud. I don't want to say Barak; I'll pronounce it Barak. Men like Gideon and men like Samson and all these different judges that God gave them as spiritual rulers over them. God gave them the high priest as a spiritual ruler that was supposed to guide them. God said, "Don't despise their word, but you need to listen to what ... " Let me just close by reading it one more time, because it's pretty important.
<br><br>In Deuteronomy 17, you don't have to turn there, but it said in verse number 9, "And thou shalt come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days, and enquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt do according to the sentence, which they of that place which the Lord shall choose shall shew thee; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they inform thee: According to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. But the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel." God's saying don't rebel against God-given authority or you're rebelling against the Lord. Look, who's the priest in the New Testament? Jesus Christ. That's who you're despising when you defy his word. Not only that, but God has placed other judges in your life and other authorities in your life, and you need to treat them with respect and not just defy them because who are you defying at the end of the day? You're defying the Lord.
<br><br>I hope that you'll take this warning to heart because we don't want to be guilty of this and we don't want God to cloud up and rain on us. We need to walk humbly before God every day. That means every day, we need to get on our knees and just tell God that he is in charge. God, you're the boss. I want to please you, I want to honor and glorify you. I'm not just going to go out and do what I want and just not care and disregard what you want, but I'm going to search the scriptures and figure out what you want me to do and I'm going to do it because you are the Lord, you're the boss, you are the final judge, and not have this attitude that just says, "You know what? Nobody's perfect. I know God said it, but you know what? I'm not going to do it."
<br><br>[inaudible 53:31] word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the salvation that you've offered us, Lord, through the blood and through the sprinkling and through your grace, Lord, but help us not to think that that just gives us a license to sin, Lord, but that rather we realize, "Hey, there's nothing we could do to lose our salvation," but that doesn't mean that you're not going to cloud up and rain on us on this earth and in this life. Help no one to walk out of here stiffed neck and stubborn and saying, "This is too strict." Lord, help everyone to have a tender heart and to realize that you have the right to tell us what to do because you're God. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. </p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-11269884633016549192016-05-06T14:23:00.000-07:002016-05-06T14:23:09.479-07:00Sympathy <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZLHsKr5w40">Video</a>
<p><b>March 29, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IZLHsKr5w40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> A part of the chapter that I’d like to focus on Hebrew chapter 4 is beginning there in verse 14 where the Bible reads, “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
<br><br>What I want to preach about this morning is the subject of having sympathy for other people. That’s exactly what the Bible’s saying here in verse 15 when it says, “We have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” You see, Jesus Christ is one who can have compassion on us and sympathy with us because of the fact that he has lived through everything that we’ve gone through. He’s been tempted in all points like as we are, yet He was without sin.
<br><br>In fact, eight times, the Bible specifically directly mentions Jesus as having compassion on someone. The word ‘compassion’ means sympathy. It’s pretty much an exact synonym of the word ‘sympathy.’ Go to Romans chapter number 12. We could spend an entire sermon just talking about Jesus Christ sympathizing with people and having compassion on people and go through all these different instances in His life. I what I want to focus on this morning is how we should sympathize with other people in our lives.
<br><br>Now, first of all, look at Romans chapter 12 verse 15, just to help you understand what it means to sympathize with people. It says in Romans chapter 12 verse 15, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that weep.” What does that mean? Feel what they’re feeling. Try to put yourself in other people’s shoes and try to understand what they’re going through and what they’re coming from; is what the Bible is saying. It says in verse 16, “Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate.” What does it mean to condescend to men of low estate? Try to understand what it’s like in their position and sympathize with them.
<br><br>Flip over to chapter 15, just a few pages to the right in the Bible. Romans 15 verse 1 says, “We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let everyone of us please his neighbor for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” Now, watch this. Now, the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus.
<br><br>The Bible says that God is the God of patience and the God of consolation, and that God wants us to be like-minded one toward another. If Jesus Christ can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, if Jesus Christ has compassion on us and sympathize with us, and if he will have patience with other people and console other people when they’re going through a bad time, he says, “We should be like-minded one toward another,” and have that same spirit that was in Christ Jesus. Look at the next verse. It says, “That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore receive ye one another as Christ also received us to the glory of God.”
<br><br>He’s saying God is patient with us. We should be patient with other people. We should console other people. Just as Christ received us, we should receive one another. Of course we sing the famous song, “Just as I am without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me, and that thou bidst me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come. Just as I am …” Jesus Christ isn’t waiting to accept us until we’re perfect, until we’ve turned from all our sins, has become such a popular teaching. No, actually, we come to Jesus Christ by faith and he will receive by faith.
<br><br>Whosoever believeth should not perish but have eternal life. He says we’ll then receive one another just as he has received us. What I get from this also and flip over if you would to Titus chapter 3, is that, “We should be patient with people who are on a different level spiritually than where we are.” It’s easy for us sometimes who’ve been saved for five years or 10 years or 20 years. I, myself, personally have been saved for 27 years. It’s pretty easy to get to a point where you get frustrated with other people and you don’t understand that other people are maybe newly saved or they’ve only read the Bible a little bit, maybe they’re barely in Church, and then you just freak out because they have some doctrine wrong or because maybe they have some sin in their life that you got rid of 10 years ago.
<br><br>You have to remember that there was a time when you were a babe in Christ. There was a time when you were even unsaved and doing all kinds of bad thing and saying all kinds of stupid things, and believing all kinds of false things, and often times, I can’t even believe what’s some people’s doctrine is. I’m that, “How in the world can anybody believe in this?” I remember that when I was a teenager, I believed in that because that’s what I was taught in my Church. He’s saying, “We need to be patient with people and we, that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak.”
<br><br>Not to just think to ourselves, “Oh, aren’t they pathetic.” No. When it says ‘strong’ there by the way, that’s not talking about a bodybuilding contest. When it says ‘those that are strong,’ he’s talking about strong spiritually. He’s talking about those that are mature in the faith, those that have great spiritual strength. He’s saying, “They need to bear the infirmities of the weak.” What does it mean ‘to bear the infirmities’? To put up with the infirmities, the weaknesses that other people have, and to be patient with them and to understand. Look what it says in Titus chapter 3 verse 2. It says, “To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, showing all meekness unto all men.” Verse 3, “For we ourselves also, we’re sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived.” Do you see that? That’s something to keep in mind.
<br><br>Look, be patient with other people because we ourselves also used to be foolish. You say, “Oh, I’ve never been foolish.” I guarantee you that every person in this room has been foolish because the Bible says, “Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child but the rod of correction will drive it far from him.” We all were born into this world and lived the early part of our lives doing a lot of stupid things because we were children. All children do foolish things. I’m sure many of us were foolish in our teenage years or even into our adult life. He said to just keep in mind, just remember that we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers less than pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another.
<br><br>After that, the kindness and love of God our savior toward man appeared. Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His mercy, He saved us by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost which is shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, to be justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
<br><br>It’s not our goodness or our righteousness that has brought us to the point that we are today. It’s the fact that Jesus Christ has saved us by His mercy, by His grace and that He has patiently taught us and chasing us and disciplined us. It took us years to get where we are today or even decades to get where we are today. We need to always remember that we used to be wrong on a lot of thing. We used to do a lot of wrong things and we need to be patient with the fact that other people might just be at a lower level spirit side but they’re on their way to becoming something better.
<br><br>What I look at with people is just what direction are they going. I’m not going to sit there and look down on somebody because they’re a babe in Christ, because they’re a new believer. Now, when I see somebody just going the wrong direction getting worse and worse and worse, that’s problem. If I see somebody who’s in a bad place spiritually but they’re learning, they’re growing, yeah we need to be patient when people take time to learn and grow and so forth. Not only does the Bible teach that we should sympathize with those who are at a lower level spiritually, the Bible also teach that we should sympathize with those who are going through suffering in their life.
<br><br>Now, go to the book of Hebrews chapter number 13. What does it mean ‘to sympathize’? It means to feel what they’re feeling. “To rejoice with them that rejoice. To weep with those who weep.” To be able to put yourself in their shoes and say, “Wait a minute, here’s a person who’s saying something stupid or doing something stupid, but you know what, I’ve done stupid things. I’ve said stupid ... Try to put yourself in their position. A lot of times, people will be suffering and going through really hard things in their life and that’s why they’re being a jerk to you. You might think to yourself, “Man, this guy is really being a jerk.” Or “This person was really rude to me.”
<br><br>Sometimes, you just don’t know what kind of things that are going on in their life that are making them act that way. You have to sympathize with them. I mean think about it. What if you lost a child? What if you lost your job? What if you found out some horrible news and somebody comes and talk to you, would you maybe snap at them or be rude to them just because you’re going through something else bad in your life? You have to be able to sympathize with people and understand what they’re going through. Look at what the Bible says in Hebrews 13 verse 3. It says, “Remember then that are in bonds as bound with them.” That’s what sympathy is, “As bound with them.” Put yourself in their place. “And them which suffer adversity.”
<br><br>Even if somebody’s not in prison, just suffering any kind of adversity, just going through any kind of a bad time or hard trials, he says, “Them which suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body.” He’s saying, I mean, to the point where you literally feel what they’re feeling. That is the empathy that you would have with them. He says, “Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them, and them which suffered adversity as being yourself also in the body.” You don’t have to turn there but in Colossians 4:18, the apostle Paul when he’s signing off on the letter to the Colossians, he says, “The salutation by the hand of me Paul, remember my bonds. Grace be with you. Amen.”
<br><br>He said, “Just remember the fact that I’m in prison right now. Don’t forget about me. Sympathize with me. Remember them that are in bonds as bound with them.” Not only should we sympathize with people that are at a lower level spiritually, they’re babes in Christ or they’re just not as far along the path spiritually as we are. Not only should be sympathize with those who are suffering and going through adversity, but we should also sympathize with the poor. Turn to Proverbs chapter 19. There are a lot of things that people are going through that you might not even know about.
<br><br>They might be having marriage problems, they might be having financial problems, they could be having health problems that they don’t want to talk about. When it comes to compassion and sympathy in the Bible, one of the words that comes up a lot is grace or mercy. You go and turn to Proverbs but in the original scripture that we looked at in Hebrews chapter four, when he said that Jesus is not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, he follows that up by saying, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne the grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
<br><br>How does this play? If we sympathize with people, we’re going to give them grace, we’re going to give them mercy because we understand, “Hey, I know what you’re going through. I feel what you feel. Therefore, I’m going to extend grace unto you. I’m going to extend mercy unto you.” Meaning, I’m going to maybe overlook some things that you’ve done wrong because of the fact that you’re going through a bad time. Sympathy for the poor, look at Proverbs 19 verse 17, “He that hath pity upon the poor landeth unto the Lord and that which he hath given will he pay him again.”
<br><br>Look at chapter 28 verse 8. It says, “He that by usury,” usury is the charging of interest. This is banking. “He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance, he shall gather for him that will pity the poor.” What does it mean ‘to pity the poor’? To feel sorry for those who are poor; that’s what the Bible’s saying with pity. Go to 1 John chapter three and while you’re turning to 1 John chapter three, I’ll tree for you from Galatians 2 verse 10. “Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.” Now, here’s the thing about poor people is that some people have never had any financial problems in their life.
<br><br>There are people out there. I’m not going to ask for a raise of head. Who’s never had financial problems? I’m not going to ask for a raise. I’ll never. You know what I’ve noticed though, I’ve been around people who’ve never gone through financial problems and often they do not have any sympathy for those who do. They look at people that are poor or people that are struggling financially and they just think they’re an idiot, that’s why they’re struggling financially. There are people that think that but I’m telling you something. There are people that are poor and there are people who are struggling financially who are not an idiot and they’re not lazy but they’re actually just going through a bad time, they’re down on their luck, there are different reasons why people are poor.
<br><br>I can honestly, I’ve been poor. I’ve never been really super poor. I’ve never been to the point where I couldn’t pay my bills or anything but you know, when my wife and I first got married, we lived a very modest life and I made a very low amount of money. I only made a few bucks above minimum wage. My wife and I, we lived in a small apartment in a not great area and our bed was just a twin mattress on the floor. Okay? We had two plates, two glasses, two forks, two spoons. Finally, after several months, somebody gave us a table and two chairs. Then we wanted to invite our friends from Church over and we said, “Bring two chairs because we only have two.”
<br><br>For the first few months, we sat on the floor and ate, literally. We didn’t have a table. We didn’t have a couch. We didn’t have any furniture for a couple of months. We would never go out to eat unless my parents took us out to eat and then they were buying. That was the only way that we would go out to eat in the early days. You know, we were just happy because we were just excited to be married. We loved each other. We didn’t need all the frails. You know, I know a little bit what it’s like to have a lot at the end of the money instead of money leftover at the end of the month. I know what it’s like to struggle and not sure if you can pay bills and try to move things around and rob Peter to pay Paul. I know a little what that’s like.
<br><br>You know what, even if I haven’t been completely poor [inaudible 00:15:46], I try to have sympathy for those who are poor. Sympathy for those who are struggling financially and trying to understand where they’re coming from. I think that in some ways, it’s good to go through hard times financially yourself. I’ve gone through times where I got in to credit card debt in there and had to pay it off and everything. I wasn’t the paying the net. It’s almost good to go through that because you don’t get this arrogant prideful attitude of anybody who has any financial problems is an idiot or they’re not a handworker. It’s not true.
<br><br>The Bible tells us that we should care about the poor and remember the poor and pity the poor and reach out to the poor. I can tell you this. When I was in my early married years, I wasn’t lazy and I wasn’t stupid but I struggled to provide for my wife. Then as children came along, I struggled to provide for them because it can hard, it can be a challenge. The Bible says in 1st John 3 verse 17, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him.” What’s that say? His bowels of compassion, right? Isn’t that like sympathy? “How dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but indeed and in truth.”
<br><br>A lot of people who’ve never gone through financial problems, they can’t relate, they can’t understand what it’s like to struggle financially but other areas of life as well. For example, marriage problems, somebody who’s never had any problem in their marriage, their marriage has just been smooth sailing. Oh yeah, people like that don’t exist. No, I’m just kidding. I mean it’s probably pretty rare if they do. Honestly, people who haven’t had marriage problems, they just think like, “Oh, you’re having marriage problems, you must be an idiot.” Or like, “What are you talking about you have marriage problems? You just ‘husbands love your wives.’ That easy. You know, wives reverence your husband. Submit to your husband, love your wife. It’s that easy. You just do it. It just works.” It’s like, “No. Sorry. That’s not how it works.” “I mean if you just loved your wife, right? It would be perfect.” “No, wrong.”
<br><br>There’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a lot. It’s hard. If they weren’t hard, then you wouldn’t see all the divorce that you see. Some people, they don’t sympathize with that because they’ve never gone through it. You know, it reminds me of a story that my parents would tell about how they had my older sister, Ronny and then they had my older brother, Clint. At first, they just had a girl and a boy. They had the two kids. Both Ronny and Clint were really well-behaved little kids. They were very good and obedient and nice kids. My parents said they used to look at people whose kids were disobedient and just think, “Why don’t these people spank their kids?” These people are just totally failing at parenting. “If they would just spank their kids, their kids would be good. Look how good our kids are.” Then they say, “And then we had Steve. Then we realized you can have a bad kid without making big parenting mistakes.”
<br><br>Because I was just a really wild and mischievous and disobedient little toddler. Once I got older, I straightened up. They just said, “You know, we just couldn’t believe it because these people’s kids would be just such brats.” We’re like, “What are you doing? Just spank your kids for crying out loud.” Then they realized like, “No matter how much we spank Steve, like he’s still being a brat.” They say, they turn their back on me for one second, I go to the bathroom, put toothpaste everywhere and spin the toilet paper and everything. Anyway, they couldn’t sympathize, right? They’ve never been there. They never had those kinds of problems.
<br><br>Not only that, go back to Exodus chapter 23. The Bible also teaches that we should sympathize with those who are foreigners, people who are here from a foreign country. The Bible says we should have sympathy for them. Who does the Bible clearly teach that we should sympathize with? People who are babes in Christ, people who are at a lower level spiritually. Number two, we should sympathize with people who are suffering in prison and going through our thoughts. You know, a lot of people just look at people in prison and just think, “Oh, they all deserve to be there.” That’s not true. Jesus and the disciples were in prison a lot. A lot of the prophets were in prison. You know, a lot of people today are in prison that don’t belong there.
<br><br>We should sympathize with people. Or okay, let’s say they break the law. Let’s say they did make a mistake. You know, you could still sympathize with them. Obviously, some people have done horrible things that have put them there. I’m not saying sympathize with those people. I’m saying, most of the people in prison, 90% of the people in prison have not committed a violent crime. Why wouldn’t you sympathize with them even if they did make a mistake, even if they did something stupid? Sympathize with those that are bound and especially those who are there completely unjustly. Not only that, we should sympathize with the poor and not just look down on them or just disdain them for being poor like they must be lazy or stupid.
<br><br>Now, let me tell you something, there are people who are poor because they’re lazy and stupid. No question about that. The Bible teaches that. Read the book of Proverbs. He says over and over about how people are poor because they’re being lazy or because they’re being stupid. You know what, that’s not everybody so you shouldn’t just judge without even knowing what the situation is. Just see somebody who is poor and just automatically assume they’re failing. Now, a lot of times, they are being lazy. A lot of times, they are being foolish but we shouldn’t just assume that and we should still sympathize with the poor.
<br><br>Not only that, the Bible teaches that we should have sympathy with foreigners, okay? Look at Exodus chapter 23 verse nine. It says, “And thou shall not oppress and stranger.” Just so you know, when the Bible says ‘stranger’, it means foreigner. It’s an old word for foreigner. Like Moses said, “I’m a stranger in a strange land.” He wasn’t saying, “Hey, this place is weird.” What he was saying is, “I’m a foreigner in a foreign land.” That’s what the old word ‘strange’ means. It says also, “Thou shall not oppress a stranger,” watch this, here’s the sympathy, “For you know the heart of a stranger.” You know what it’s like to be a stranger yourself.
<br><br>Seeing you were strangers in the land of Egypt. Flip over to Leviticus 19. He says, “You used to be a foreigner in Egypt. You know what that’s like. Don’t turn around and treat foreigners bad when you get to the land of Israel.” This is something that needs to be preached today in the United States because there’s a lot of just propaganda and a lot of talk radio out there that is setting out to demonize foreigners. To demonize especially the illegal immigrants from Mexico and demonize them and they shouldn’t have any rights. Beat them, throw them in jail and send them home or whatever.
<br><br>Honestly, we need to sympathize with these people because first of all, a lot of their suffering is not their fault because in fact that they’re in a country that has a corrupt government and a lot of the people in the government over there are on the take from the drug cartels and everything and so is a very corrupt government down there. There’s also a lot corrupt things that our government is doing that has caused a lot of the problems down in Mexico.
<br><br>For example, the subsidizing of this Monsanto Roundup Ready corn up in the United States. This GMO garbage corn that we grow in the United States is subsidized by the government where the government pays them to grow corn and to sell it at a price cheaper than what it cost them to grow it. Then the Mexican farmers can’t keep up and then we export the food down to Mexico that’s cheap. By the way, it’s cheap because it’s garbage. Genetically modified junk. The Mexican farmers can’t make a living so then they had to go to the cities and try to make a living. Then they’re working in these factories where they’re getting paid some insanely low rage. Do you really blame them for crossing the imaginary line to try to make some money and do something for their family?
<br><br>Again, people don’t sympathize. They just, “Oh, a bunch of Mexicans coming up.” It’s like, “Well, why are they coming up here though? Do you really care? Does it really matter?” “Well, they’re destroying our country.” “No, we’re already doing a good job with that ourselves.” You know, us, white people in America are doing a great job destroying our own culture and destroying our own country. We can’t really blame anybody else, honestly. I mean that’s case. Some people might not agree with that but honestly, I don’t really care. The Bible says that we should treat foreigners well. I’m just going to obey the Bible.
<br><br>Bible says in Leviticus 19:34, “But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be under you as one born among you.” Now, what does that say? They should be treated just as well as if they were born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona if they came from another … It’s not just Mexico. If they came from any country, they should be treated as one that is born among you. He says, “Thou shall love him as thy self. For ye were strangers in the land of Egypt, I’m the Lord you God.” You have to turn there where Deuteronomy says the same thing in chapter 10 verse 19. “Love ye therefore the stranger, for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.”
<br><br>I’m not saying that foreigners should come here and try to change our country to make it like their country. Because if their country is still great, then it’s like, “Why did they come here?” I think that people should come here and fit in in the sense that if I went to Germany, I would go and I would speak German. I would eat sour crap for breakfast and whatever. I’m not going sit there and go there and say, “You need to accommodate me in English everywhere I go and everything I do,” and just demand that. That’s Germany, it’s not America. If went down to Mexico, I wouldn’t just demand and expect everybody to speak English and everybody to take my American dollars. No, you have to go there and realize that, “Okay, this is the way this country is. This is the way this culture is.”
<br><br>When in Rome, you do as the Romans do. I’m not saying that we should bend over backwards to the point where we just want to turn this into Mexico or something, okay? This is still the United States of America; we speak English, yadah, yadah. You know what though, we should treat foreigners well and love the stranger as our self. You know what, yeah. “Should people who live here speak English?” Yes, I believe that they should but somebody doesn’t understand that learning a foreign language is a lot harder than you think. Especially, if you come here as an adult, it’s going to be very difficult and very hard to learn the language.
<br><br>You know, you have to sympathize and understand that. That’s what I’m saying. Also, while you’re Leviticus 19, look down to verse 14. You’re Leviticus, look at verse 14. It says, “Thou shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shot fear thy God, I am the Lord.” Another person that we should sympathize with, are those who are disabled. He’s talking specifically here about people that are deaf, people that are blind. He says, “Don’t curse the deaf.” You say, “Why would anyone curse the deaf?” Well, if you’ve been around a lot of deaf people, you’ll know that a lot deaf people are disliked and difficult to get along with because deaf people are very different.
<br><br>A lot of people don’t understand them and don’t sympathize with them and they just will think to themselves, “Oh, wow. This deaf person is very strange.” Or, “Oh, this deaf person is very rude or they’re being a jerk.” Here’s the thing, have you ever been deaf? You know, being deaf would be pretty awful. Don’t curse the deaf. Don’t look down on the deaf or get irate with the deaf. Look, I’ve had deaf people be very rude to me or act very strange around me. It’s because they get frustrated. Because think about it, it would drive you crazy to be deaf. I mean it’s hard being deaf.
<br><br>Now, being blind is something that we could probably understand a little bit because we’ve all gone out in the dark and you can’t see where you’re going and we’ve experienced that. You could even put on a blindfold and experience it. Being deaf is something that none of us have ever experience and we don’t really have a clue what it would be like. Why don’t we think about that instead of seeing deaf people and think, “Oh, that person’s weird. Oh, that person is rude.” Instead, we should love those people and say, “You know what, they’re going through something that’s very hard that I’ve never gone through.” Try to understand where they’re coming and try to love them and reach out to them. Try to get them saved and whether that’s through learning sign language or through text or subtitling or whatever you can do to reach deaf people. Because, you know what, they’re people that need to be saved. Honestly, it’s not that they’re bad people. It’s just that they’re misunderstood sometimes because of the fact that they’re living a hard life.
<br><br>The Bible says that when they go to heaven, they’re going to be able to hear again. Praise the Lord for that. When it comes to the blind, I remember Jack Hiles told a story because he passed a huge church. He told a story that he would, on a weekly basis, blindfold himself for a little while and perform his normal daily tasks blindfolded just in order to sympathize with … Because they had the church at a deaf … Not deaf. Blind ministry. They had a blind ministry. He wanted to love and sympathize with the blind people in his church so he would blindfold himself and try to go by his business and it made him realize, “Wow, it’s really hard being blind.” It made him be able to pray for them and sympathize with them more.
<br><br>Now, go to 1 Peter chapter three. You noticed how many examples the Bible has about this thing of sympathy. It’s an important subject. First of all, we saw that Christ was very sympathetic, compassionate. He was touched with the feeling of the infirmities of others. Then we see all these abolitions in the Bible telling us, “Look, have sympathy for those that are in prison. Have sympathy for those who are going through any adversity. Sympathize with the poor. Sympathize with those who are foreigners in a foreign country and struggling with the language, struggling with the culture. Have sympathy with people who are deaf and blind or any other disability.” These people are suffering and you need to try to feel what they’re feeling so that you can extend grace and mercy unto them.
<br><br>Not only that, the Bible also teaches that we should be able to sympathize with our spouse. A lot of problems that people have as husband and wife in a marriage is because they don’t understand where the other person’s coming from. They’re not putting themselves in their shoes. It’s just everything is just me, me, me and it’s from their perspective instead of trying to put themselves in the other person’s shoes and understand what their wife is going through or understand what their husband is going through. Because honestly, if they understood what the other person is going through and how the other person feels, then it would be easier for them to extend mercy and grace to their spouse and not just get angry or just think, “Well, it’s impossible to please you. It’s impossible to deal with you. You’re just impossible to live with.”
<br><br>No, instead try to understand where they’re coming from. Now, look at this in the Bible. 1 Peter 3 verse 7. It says, “Likewise, ye husbands dwell with them,” I’m talking about dwelling with your wives, “According to knowledge.” What does that mean ‘to dwell with your wife according to knowledge’? To know them, to understand them. He says, “Giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. Finally, be ye all of one mind,” watch this, “Having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are therefore called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”
<br><br>After you just finished talking about verses one through six about how the wife is supposed to obey her husband and that he is her boss and so forth. He says, “Also but the husbands need to dwell with their wife according to knowledge.” Meaning know their wife, understand their wife. It says that they should give honor unto her and that they should compassion one for another. That means that the wife should have compassion on the husband. Meaning, sympathize with the husband and try to understand what it’s like to have to pay the bills, to understand what that burden of providing for the family is like. Just to try to understand what kind of needs a man has or what kind of mentality that a man has. Look, women don’t think like men and men don’t think like women.
<br><br>There’s a completely different way of thinking. One of the biggest mistakes that you can make in your marriage is to assume that your spouse thinks anything like you because they don’t. Men or women just have a completely different way of looking of things, completely different way if they … You have to sympathize. Basically, your wife could be upset about something that you think is just nothing. That’s where you need to have compassion. Sympathize and try to understand where she’s coming from. Because a husband could get upset about something could get upset about something and your wife is just like, “How would that make you upset? Why in the world?” To you, it’s a big deal because you’re a man and different things bother men and different things bother women.
<br><br>As a married couple, the Bible says, “Yes, love as brother.” Yes it’s great to love each other but you also need to have compassion one of another. Sympathize with one another, know each other, be pitiful one with the other. Have pity on them and understand the struggle of being a man or understand the struggle of being a woman that’s going to be different than your struggle. Everybody in life struggles. We all have our own battles that we face and our own challenges and struggles. The struggles of being a wife are completely different than the struggles of being a husband. We have to strive to understand what a wife is going through. Women need to strive to understand what their husband is going through and extend grace and mercy because of that knowledge.
<br><br>Now, flip over to Matthew chapter 7 and I’ll close with this. While you’re turning that, I’m going to give you an illustration because I learned something about this yesterday. I learned how to sympathize with my wife because I ran an ultra-marathon yesterday. This is the first time I’ve ever ran a race before and I ran a 31-mile ultra-marathon and I had to climb 7,000 feet up. It was pretty much all uphill. I was doing great. I was feeling good. Everything was going great. I was having fun but halfway through, I started to go through some dark places, but I came out of it. I was feeling good. Everything was going great. I was feeling great. I was having a great day. I’m looking at the clock and saying, “You know what, I’m for sure going to finish on time. I’m on schedule. I’m out of the woods. Everything’s going great.” I’m cruising along.
<br><br>At this point, it was like a done deal, it’s in the bag. I got three miles from the finish line and all of a sudden, I just broke down crying. I have no idea why. I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t crying tears of joy because I wasn’t feeling a lot of joy. I was like, “Oh, cool. I’m going to finish this. Great.” I wasn’t sad. I wasn’t angry. There was zero logical reason for me to just, three miles from the finish line in this ultra-marathon where just the sun beating down, it was a really hot day which made it hard and I just broke down crying. I have no idea why. The whole last three miles, I was just fighting back the tears for no reason. It’s funny because I ran with and passed and they passed a lot of people who were going through a lot of pain throughout this day, this ordeal. I heard a lot of expletives and I saw a lot of suffering written on people’s faces because it’s hard.
<br><br>In the last two or three miles, everybody’s smiling because it’s over. Especially in the last two miles, they’re all downhill and the whole rest of the race is up. Everybody is like, “We made it.” Everybody’s just smiling and happy and thrilled and I just have no idea why. I can tell you why. It’s because of the fact that when your body under that kind of pressure and exertion, it releases the stress hormones. Basically, it was just the physical. It wasn’t anything that was going on in my mind because I was not happy, I wasn’t sad. It was just a chemical reaction of the stress hormones of just putting that kind of stress on my body that just made me burst out crying for no reason.
<br><br>You say, “What does that have to do to me?” This is why your wife just burst out crying for no reason because of hormones. I understood what it was like to be a hormonal person for just a few minutes in this race. I understood what it was like to be this hormonal, this no reason. It sounds like I’m joking but I’m honestly dead serious right now. Because women have these hormones going on that men don’t have. Especially when they’re having children and they go through this cycle, they’re giving birth and they’re post-partum. There’s all these issues with being post-partum and there’s issues with being pregnant and there’s just issues on a monthly basis and then there’s just issues when it’s seasoned to be with them after the man or women as the Bible calls it.
<br><br>It’s all these hormones. Here’s the thing, I can remember a bunch of times where my wife’s crying and I’m just like, “Why are you crying?” “I don’t know.” You’re just like, “What is the deal?” Or even just not just crying, just sadness, anger. It’s just like, “Where is this coming from?” You’re like, “I’m a man. Talk to me logically. I want to know the logic. Why are you crying?” Here’s the thing, you have to understand sometimes, that’s how women are. If you understand that, if you dwell with them according to knowledge and understand women sometimes just break down crying for no reason and you can’t freak out about it and try to figure out why it’s happening because there is no reason. There’s no logic.
<br><br>Instead, if you would sympathize, you just understand, “Oh, her hormones are doing something weird. Too much stress or whatever.” Then, you could be nice and extend grace and mercy instead of just jumping down her throat and, “I can’t believe it. I do everything right as a husband, all you can do is break down crying and whatever.” She can’t help it. It’s just life. Anyway, here’s a good closing verse; Matthew 7 verse 12. This is one of the most famous verses in the Bible. Matthew chapter 7 verse 12. “Therefore all things whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.”
<br><br>This is commonly known as the golden rule. Sometimes, people would just paraphrase this as, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” He says, “All things, whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” How are you going to do that? Well, you have to be able to sympathize with people and ask yourself this question, “What would I feel? What would I do if I were in that person’s position right now? How would I feel? Honestly, that is what we ask children all the time. Where children will slap their sibling in the face or whatever they do, and you say, “How would you like it if your sibling walked up and slapped you in the face? How would you like it if your sibling took your toy without asking?” “Oh, I wouldn’t like it.” “Well, okay. Well, that’s what you’re doing.”
<br><br>This is how we even as adults need to think about things. We need to be able to sympathize and put ourselves in other people’s shoes, understand where they’re going through and treat them how we would like to be treated in that situation. Whether that’s a foreigner, putting ourselves in the position of [inaudible 00:40:37] in a foreign country where I’m struggling to get by. What if I were having these hormonal upheavals? What if I were a deaf person? What kind of struggles would I be going through? What would I want people to do to reach out to help me? What if I were blind? What if I were in prison? What if I were experiencing the loss of a loved one or had a child that died or had a spouse that committed adultery or whatever the case may be.
<br><br>Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, if He can come unto our level and figure out what we’re going through when he is the most exalted supreme being in the universe, can we as mortal men just take a tiny little step down maybe and condescend to men of low estate and maybe just understand where people are coming from that are not as spiritually mature as we are or don’t have the money that we have or don’t have the spiritual strength that we have, we need to sympathize with other people. If you’re not, then you’re not Christ-like. This is one of the main things about the life of Jesus Christ, total compassion, putting himself in other people’s shoes. He took upon himself the form of a servant and lived amongst men. That’s why when you pray to Jesus and you tell him what you’re going through, he’s not just thinking to myself, “Oh, that’s such a stupid petty thing to weigh. Are you really that upset about that?” No, because he’s been here. He knows what it’s like to be despised, to be rejected, to be a man of sorrows, to be hungry, to be thirsty, to have problems with his siblings and problems with this parents. He’s been through everything.
<br><br>We need to have the same mind one toward another as Romans 15 said. Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and we thank you that we have that high priest that can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, Lord. Help us to take advantage of that and to come boldly to your throne of grace and to pray to you and find grace to help in time of need. Lord, help us to extend mercy and grace unto our fellow Christians and unto our fellow men and to just understand where people are coming from and sympathize with them and have compassion on them as you’ve given us in so many scriptures. Lord, help us in our marriage too to try to understand things from the other person’s perspective even though we’re very different Lord. Help us to try that as much as we can, understand where they’re coming from. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen. </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-64757477254882496262016-05-05T14:20:00.000-07:002016-05-05T14:20:00.980-07:00Deal Breakers <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdE2LhQ6K2s">Video</a>
<p><b>April 28, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DdE2LhQ6K2s" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> … but in I Kings chapter 15 verse 14 it says, "But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." What this is saying is that King Asa had a shortcoming or a failure in his leadership where he did not remove the high places. He allowed the high places to exist. He cleaned up a lot of other things about the kingdom. He did a lot of right things, but 1 area where he came short was that he didn’t get rid of the high places, but God still looked at him and said, "Nevertheless his heart was perfect with the Lord all his days." God was willing to overlook that shortcoming on his part. Now in a perfect world obviously he wouldn't done that right too, but God looked at that and said, "Hey, it's not as big of a deal."
<br><br>Now there were other sins that different kings committed at were a deal-breaker as it were. It just made them a bad king in His sight. Now first of all, I want to talk about when it comes to a church. There is no perfect church. If you're out looking for a church, there are always going to be shortcomings and imperfections in a church. You have to ask yourself what is that is a deal-breaker about a church where we should just not go to church there and what is it that is something may be wrong with the church but that we could just overlook and still think, "Hey, this is still a good church. This is still a viable church that I could attend."
<br><br>First of all, the number 1 deal-breaker when it comes to church is having the wrong gospel and that’s in Galatians chapter 1 here. Because it says in verse 6, "I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ." What the bible is saying here is that their gospel it's not a completely different gospel. It's just a twisting and a perversion of the true gospel. He says, "But though we, or angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you that that ye have received, let him be accursed."
<br><br>Obviously, we don’t want to have anything to do with accurse. We don’t want to participate in a church. If a church is preaching another gospel, that is a deal-breaker. We should have nothing to do with that church. We should not go to that church. We should not attend that church. Now there is no secret about what that other gospel is because if we read the book of Galatians, it's really clear in virtually every chapter what that false gospel. We could just look at a few examples. Look at chapter 2, just look at a few highlights. It would really take us reading the whole book of Galatians to see this really driven in very strongly.
<br><br>Look at Galatians 2:16 just for a sample, "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Flip over to chapter 3 verse 1, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, received you the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh?" Again, in every chapter he is driving in the point that salvation is by faith and not by works.
<br><br>The other gospel that had crept in was salvation by works or a combination of faith plus works. It starts with faith but it's made perfect by works. He says, "Not, that’s foolishness." If you get into chapter 4, 5, 6, you'll see the same thing over and over again. He's saying that those that want to be justified by the law instead of being justified by faith that Christ is of no effect unto them and he goes on and on. It's what the whole book is about. It is probably the best book in the bible to defeat work salvation if you just read chapters 1 through 6. The book of Galatians is the most powerful book in the bible in my opinion against work salvation, because that’s what the subject of the whole book is.
<br><br>That’s a wrong gospel and that is a deal-breaker. When you have a church that is mixing works and with the salvation then that is not something that can be overlooked and you could say, "It's a good church. They do a lot of good things. They preach …" but if they're preaching work salvation let them be accursed, not something that we can overlook that is a deal-breaker. Number 2, go to Revelation 22, another deal-breaker when it comes to what church we should attend is the wrong bible. The wrong bible is a deal-breaker. If the word of God is our final authority in all matters of faith and practice, then if you've got wrong bible you're going to have all kinds of things wrong.
<br><br>What I mean by the wrong bible is the so-called versions of the bible, these new versions that are supposedly improved and easier to und but that take out the entire verses, removed entire phrases, add phrases in, change key doctrines that is a deal-breaker. Because look at Revelation 22 verse 18, one of the sternest curses in the entire bible, "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book. If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book."
<br><br>Now with that strong of accurse placed upon anyone who would tamper with God's word, we should not want to touch these false perversions of the bible with a 10-foot pole. Once we know that they are false and that they removed that they’ve added, we should realize that this curse is upon these versions and the curse is upon those who preach these versions and we need to be very, very careful to stay away f false versions of the bible. Wrong bibles are deal-breaker. I've heard people say this, "This church has everything right. They have all the right doctrine, but it's just they're not using the King James Bible."
<br><br>I don’t believe that for 1 second. It's impossible to have everything right if you're not reading the King James, because these other versions are going to lead you into false doctrine and lead you into heresy because they change all kinds of key doctrines. Look, even if theoretically they did have everything else right I'd still would have nothing to do with it, because the wrong bible is a deal-breaker in and of itself. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 22.
<br><br>Deuteronomy chapter 22 is a passage where we get a symbolic teaching on biblical separate. This is one that’s not explicit here, but it's symbolic. It talks about in Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 9, "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled." If we were to take the literal interpretation of this, he's saying no GMOs. Don’t plant it with a bunch of Monsanto roundup ready corn. Don’t use the GMO. If we were to talk a symbolic look at this and he's saying, "Hey, don’t sow the vineyard with divers seeds," different types of seeds. Don’t plow, verse 10, with an ox and an ax together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together.
<br><br>If we look at the separation that he's teaching here, the seed is the word of God. The bible says that we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. The sower sows the word. The seed is the word of God. If we are not to sow the field with mingled seeds that means we shouldn't be in a church where we're sowing all different; we were sowing the King James seed over here and sowing the NIV over here. It's the King James from the pulpit and it's the NIV in the youth group and the Sunday school. Hey, let's not sow the field with divers seeds. Let's make sure that we've all got the same seed in our seed bag. If we're going to go forth weeping, bearing precious seed, it better be the real true word of God.
<br><br>The English said, "What about people that don’t speak English?" Shut up. We're talking about people that speak English tonight.
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Group: Amen.
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"What about people …" Look, obviously we're not telling people who don’t speak English to use an English bible. "Avoid foolish questions," the bible says. That is a foolish question. This is America. We speak English. We use the King James Bible. If we're in another country speaking another language then we'll talk about that. We'll talk about which Spanish bible do you use. We'll talk about which bible do you use in Portuguese or which bible do you use in German or French. It's just a foolish question of someone who can’t see the blaring obvious difference between a King James and an NIV, between a King James and an ESV.
<br><br>One of them is calling the Joseph, Jesus' father. One of them teaches that it's just God the Father. He's the only Father that Jesus had. One of them is teaching that Jesus is eternally preexistent from everlasting. The other says that Jesus had an origin. One of them is teaching that salvation is a narrow way and few are saved. Another one is teaching that it's hard to get saved, which implies work salvation. One of them teaches that you're already saved, the King James Bible. Another one teaches that you're being saved, the New King James, the NIV, the ESV, et cetera.
<br><br>There's a colossal difference and yet people will ask foolish questions like, "Are you saying everybody in the world needs to learn English?" No, I'm saying English speakers need to learn English. I'm saying that people who speak English should read the King James Bible. People who speak other languages should have the bible in their own language in the tongue where they're born. We should not sow the field with divers seeds just using the version of the month, whatever the flavor of the month is because they literally come out with a new version of the bible very month.
<br><br>Because of copyright law they all have to be at least 4 percent different from one another. You do the math. When you got 400 and some versions and they're all 4 percent different from one another, God is not the author of confusion but abridge confusion. The wrong bible is a deal-breaker. He also says in verse 11, "Thou shalt not wear garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together." Now what's the difference between woolen and linen? Woolen is an animal-based garment. Woolen is from sheep. Linen is a plant-based textile. Linen is plant base from flax.
<br><br>Now there's nothing wrong with wool and there's nothing wrong with linen. God is telling you, "Hey, don’t mix wool and linen." Why did He not want them to mix that? Because again it's symbolic, because wool represents the lamb Jesus. If you remember, when Adam and Eve sin they tried to cover their own sin with a plant-based garment, an apron of fig leaves. God replaced that with coats of skins, the animal-based garment and that pictured salvation through Jesus putting on that robe of righteousness being cloaked in his righteousness, the righteousness of the lamb versus that which is man-made.
<br><br>Then again when we look at Cain, Cain brings an offering of the fruits of the ground, plant-based and then Abel brings the firstlings of the flock in the fat thereof, animal-based. What is it picturing? Again, Abel's reliance on the lamb Jesus as his salvation, Abel relying on the produce of his own works. When the bible is saying don’t wear a garment of woolen and linen together he is saying the robe of righteousness that gets you saved. That wedding garment without which you will be cast into outer darkness is not a mixed garment of wool and linen, it's not a mixture of faith and works, it's not a mixture of Jesus plus what you produce. No, it's all Jesus.
<br><br>Now look, there's nothing wrong with wool and there's nothing wrong with linen. Don’t mix them. See, faith is great. Faith is what saves you. Works are great. Works are a great way to please the Lord, but don’t mix them because they are 2 different things. They both have a place. The bible teaches that linen is a good garment that wool is a garment, but he says, "Don’t mix the 2." Don’t mix faith and works. Don’t mix that which saves you and then the Christian life that you live after you're saved.
<br><br>Because a lot of people when we say, "Hey, you don’t have to do works to be saved," they'll say, "Oh, you're against doing works." We're not against works. We're saying works don’t save you. We're saying works are a part of the Christian life and pleasing God and loving God, but they're not part of salvation. You say, "Hey, you don’t have to repent of your sins to be saved. You're against repentance. You don’t preach repenting of your sin." We do preach repenting of your sins for saved people to do every day. We all need to repent of sin throughout our lives, but when you try to mix that with grace and try to mix that with salvation that’s where you have a problem.
<br><br>What's the bible teaching here? Don’t mix the true seed, the incorruptible seed with the corruptible seed of false twisted version of the bible. Don’t mix salvation by faith with salvation by works. These are the 2 first deal-breakers in a church. Number 1, deal-breaker is the wrong gospel, because we're not going to mix wool and linen together. God says … Second deal-breaker wrong bible, don’t sow divers seeds. Accurse should be he who adds to or takes from God's work. Accurse should be he that preaches another gospel. We'll go to Revelation chapter 2 for another deal-breaker; Revelation chapter 2. I believe no deal-breaker in a church is no soul winning. No soul winning is a deal-breaker.
<br><br>Now I will say this. If you go to a church that has no soul winning or if the only good church in your area the only thing that you can find that’s King James and preaching the gospel is non-soul-winning church then one thing that you could do is you could attempt to start soul winning in that church. Because if you look at Revelation 2 this church has quit the soul winning. Because it says in verse 5, "Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works, they're not doing the first works." Again, I'm not going to spend all the time to preach this and prove this. I've done it in another sermon. The first work is evangelizing. It's giving the gospel to every creature. This church had forgotten that and it gotten away from that and it failed to do that.
<br><br>He says, "Repent and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of its place, except thou repent." If you were in an area where the only church that you could go to was one that didn’t have soul winning, you can attempt to start soul winning and fix this before that candlestick is removed and try to remedy that. If you go to the church and there's no soul winning and you try to start up soul winning and attempt to get a soul-winning program going and they are not interested, you need to find a different church because of the fact that that’s just the deal-breaker. What's the point?
<br><br>If God says, "I'll remove your can-…" A lot of people don’t understand. What does it mean to remove the candlestick? Revelation 1 defined the candlesticks as the 7 churches. He said, "The 7 candlesticks which thou sawest are the 7 churches." When He says, "I'll remove thy candlestick out of its place," I believe that that means that God will cease to view that church as a legitimate church in His sight. They might continue to meet and be in a building together, but He is going to look at that and say, "This is no longer legitimate." The candlestick, remember?
<br><br>I've often used the illustration about the colonel coming down where there is the KFC that it'd deviated from Kentucky Fried Chicken's rules and so a big crane had to come and remove the colonel's head, because they were no longer worthy of having the image of Colonel Sanders because they were no longer KFC. They had lost the franchise. There are a lot of churches today that lost the franchise because they have the wrong bible, because they have the wrong gospel, because they don’t have soul winning.
<br><br>You know what, you could go to that church and bring your tithes to that church, but it's not going to the Lord because God doesn’t even see that as a biblical church. It'd be like if I said, "Hey, can you deposit this money into my bank account? I bank at Wells Fargo," and then you took it down to Chase Bank. He'd say, "I put it in your account. I took it to Chase Bank." I don’t bank at Chase bank. God is looking down saying, "Hey, I don’t bank at that church its preaching." Out of another version that’s not the bible. I don’t bank at that church that has a different gospel. That church was given a chance to start soul winning and to do the first works and repented that and they’ve continued not to be an evangelizing soul-winning church.
<br><br>I don’t bank there. The colonel has been removed. They’ve lost the franchise. They’ve lost the candlestick. They are no longer seen as a biblical church in my sight. If you were in a position where you all you had was a church that preaches the King James and is right on salvation but doesn’t have any soul winning then the best thing to do would be to try to help them fix that by starting up soul winning. I've known people who've done that where they approach the pastor and said, "Hey, I'd like to start up a soul-winning program." They were able to get that going and they were able to start that program up. That’s a blessing and they can have a great influence by doing that.
<br><br>Here are some things that are not deal-breakers. I don’t think biblically these things are the deal-breakers. These are not things that would make me rule out a church or that I would just separate from people over these things. First of all, being wrong on the pre-trib rapture o bible prophecy issues that’s not a deal-breaker for me having a different interpretation of bible prophecy. I don’t think that that is something right. We just say, "Hey, I just can’t go to this church. I will never go to that church." Because honestly that is not the most important doctrine in the bible.
<br><br>Now again, I'm not saying that I'm not excusing people for having these foolish views based on Hollywood films and based on the Scofield Reference Bible and man's tradition and man's teaching. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think God was condoning the high places. You think God condoned them worshipping in high places? No, but He said, "Hey, even though they have high places he still did that which was right in the side of the Lord." I think this falls into that same category where people can have goofed up use of bible prophecy and wrong views on the rapture. I don’t think that’s a deal-breaker. I don’t think you could point to scripture where hey that’s a deal-breaker.
<br><br>When the bible says, "Let no man deceive you," what that mean is that you shouldn't fall for it or believe in it yourself. Now another thing that I don’t think is a deal-breaker is a church that has the wrong music and, again, don’t get me wrong. People are like, "What in the world, like I'm just condoned. Christ is so permissive." I'm not saying, "Hey, these things are fine. These things are great." Look, they're not going to be allowed to creep into our church. We're not going to have a feminine, sissy, queer contemporary music up here.
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Group: Amen.
<br><br>We're not going to have the pre-trib rapture taught here. Another thing I don’t think is a deal-breaker is altar calls and invitations. I'm against them but it's not a deal-breaker. A church beats pro is real. That’s not a deal-breaker. They're wrong but it's not a deal-breaker. Being real patriotic and flag waving in America, that’s not a deal-breaker for me. The church has a Christian school, I don’t believe in that, but it's not a deal-breaker. The church has a nursery and children's church, not a deal-breaker. Now if they're trying to force me to put my kid in there then I'm not going to, but I don’t thing it's a deal-breaker.
<br><br>You say, "Why bring all this stuff up, Pastor," and I say, "Because so many people don’t go to church and they use this excuse there's no good church in my area." Here's what they're looking for, the prefect church. They're looking for the Unicorn Church, the magical rainbow Unicorn 4-Leaf Clover Church and they understand that you're not always going to be able to find a perfect church that you need to find the best church in your area and certain things are deal-breakers and certain things aren't. I don’t think that God is putting a major curse on those who have the wrong music, altar calls or whatever. There is a major curse on those who preach a false gospel. There is a major curse on those who are adding to and removing from God's word. There is the curse of losing the candlestick on those who don’t do the first works and don’t have the first love.
<br><br>You have to decide for yourself if you don’t agree with me, whatever. Study the bible and decide for yourself what's a deal-breaker and what isn't, but I will tell you this. God commands us to go to church. He says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as we see the day approaching." You say, "Why are you preaching this? We're all here, Pastor." I will say, "We're all in faith forth." The people I'm preaching to right now a lot of them will eventually live in another area. People will move away from here. People will live somewhere else and I don’t know what life is going to bring any of us. We all need to get it settled in our mind that we go to church, period.
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Group: Amen.
<br><br>We find the best church in our area and we seek for churches that don’t have these major things wrong. Then we overlook the things that are smaller issues that are not as big of a deal. Again, not condoning these things but I'm saying that they're not an excuse not to go to church and that we shouldn't just consider them a deal-breaker. That’s what I'm saying tonight, because there are a lot of people out there that are not going to church because of just little things that are wrong with the church in their area.
<br><br>Look, if you know people, if you know anybody who is looking for a church and struggling to find a church, I know people are constantly asking me to help them find a church in their area and maybe you have people ask you the same thing, I don’t know. There are great resources online to help find church and usually when people contact me and say, "There's no good church in my area," I can usually always find them a list of churches to try that have the 3 deal-breakers right almost always.
<br><br>Now the exception to this is sometimes people in foreign countries. That’s an exemption to this, because sometimes there really is no church in their area for them to go to. Anybody who is living in the United States as long as you're not living in Podunk Color, we're probably going to be able to find you a church. Here's what I do, just a quick way. I get so many emails I can’t answer them all. When I do get an email and I do happen to open it and read it and I see that somebody is looking for a church, here's what … I go to a website that’s called Military Get Saved and I don’t know why it's called but that’s what it's called.
<br><br>I just Google Military Get Saved and I go to the church directory and has 6,000 independent fundamental King James Baptist churches in America; 6000. That’s a lot. I go on there and here's what I search. I use the control F feature on the keyboard, because it just lists all these churches for a state, Arizona in the list like 80 of them. Then it has other churches in red that are not King James; disregard the red stuff. That stuff is red for a reason. Anyway, the blue, Arizona lists like 80 or something, other states list 100.
<br><br>Here's what I search for. I search for the word soul, S, O, U, L, because that will take me straight to all the soul winning churches in that state because on this particular website, most churches that have soul winning put the word soul winning. It's just really easy, takes seconds to go there and just search the word soul. If you live in a descent-sized city, there will be several churches that have soul winning listed. Let me tell you, usually churches that have soul winning and use the terms soul winning are usually right on the gospel and are usually King James. That’s why I just go straight for that criteria at that particular or you could just sit around and say, "Oh, there's no good churches so I'm just going to sit it home and eat chips off my chest and watch sermons on the internet."
<br><br>Take some initiative and find a church and you know what, here's the thing. If you're traveling and you're out of town, I would encourage you to find a church in your area if you're working out of town or just talking to somebody before the service who's going to be working out of town over the next few weeks. He was asking me about churches in the area that he's going to be working. Look, that’s another chance to go on that website or different website and find a church that meets the basic criteria and get yourself to church and fellowship with God's people. It's important.
<br><br>Number 2, when we talk about deal-breakers we talk first of all about deal-breakers in regard to a church. What about deal-breakers in regard to a spouse? Who you're going to marry? You're a single-young man. You're a single-young lady. What are the deal-breakers? What are the things that no matter how much you like this person, you need to not marry this person if they have these deal-breakers? Number 1 obviously if they're not saved. That’s a deal-breaker. The bible says in II Corinthians 6:14, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?"
<br><br>That tells me anyway that we shouldn’t have a lot in common with unsaved people anyway. If we're living a godly and separated life, we shouldn't have so much in common with unsaved people in the first place. Even if we think that we do God says, "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers," and so therefore that is a deal-breaker. If you're not going to marry an unbeliever, you should not even date an unbeliever. You should not get romantically involved in anyway shape or form with an unbeliever, because you are playing with fire.
<br><br>If there's an unbeliever that you think you would like to get to know a day then what you can do is you can give that person the gospel and thank you to get them saved. If they get saved, great. Get them in church and maybe they can grow and be a viable person to get married to, but you should not at all date that person until they are saved. That is a deal-breaker. That should be obvious. That should go without saying.
<br><br>Number 2, go to I Corinthians 16:22. I think another deal-breaker is just that if the person that you're dating or want to get married to does not love the Lord. You need to marry somebody who is not just saved but that actually loves the Lord. What does the bible say in I Corinthians chapter 16 verse 22? It says in I Corinthians 16:22, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha."
<br><br>What is the bible saying here? Let him be Anathema if he doesn’t love the Lord. He didn’t say go marry them if they don’t love the Lord. We should choose a person that loves God. That’s why the bible says, "Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised," and that’s in the context of looking for a wife. If you're looking for a wife, looking for a husband, it should be a deal-breaker when they don’t love God.
<br><br>Sometimes you're going to meet somebody and they don’t have all their ducks in a row. They are not perfect, nobody is, but do they love God? Do they have a heart for God? Do they want to grow? Do they love preaching? Do they love reading the word of God? Is there potential? Are they going in the right direction? Are they a person who just doesn’t really care that much about the things of God? Isn't really that interested in church? Isn't it really that interested in reading the bible, gets offended by hard preaching? That’s a bad sign and that’s a deal-breaker when they don’t love God.
<br><br>I remember when I was a teenager and I was trying to find a woman to get married to, often the first date was I would bring them to church with me and say, "Hey, I'll take you to church then we'll go to eat afterward." My motto was if you don’t like church I don’t like you. That was my motto. You have to … Because if they didn’t like Pastor Nichol's preaching, that was a deal-breaker for me because I love my church. I love the preaching and if they couldn't handle it and he get up, someone said, "Bring these girls," and he get up and rip face and they just be like, "What is his problem? Why does he hate Ellen Degeneres? What does he want [inaudible 00:29:48] with no food? I don’t know what he's saying. What's he talking about?"
<br><br>I'm just like, "Let's get you home." Then other girls you bring, "This is cool. This is great. I love this church." I'd say, "It's potential here." You have to like church. You have to love the Lord. You have to like God's people in order to be a candidate in my opinion. Then thirdly, here's another major deal-breaker. If the person that you're dating is divorced, deal-breaker because the bible says in Luke 16 verse 18, "Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth adultery."
<br><br>Matthew 5:32, "But I say unto you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery." This is something that is a deal-breaker. By the way, it's a deal-breaker for me to perform your wedding, too. I've had people ask me all the time, "Hey, can you perform my wedding?" First question is always this, "Have either of you ever been married before?" If they say yes they’ve been married before unless obviously if their spouse has died, if they're a widow or a widower.
<br><br>If they’ve been married and divorced, I say, "I'm not going to be able to perform this wedding. I don’t participate in remarriages because the bible says that if you marry a woman that’s divorced, you're committing adultery. I can't have anything to do with that. I still love you. God bless you, but I'm not going to perform the ceremony." Usually, I just never see that person again, but that’s fine with me because I have integrity at the end of day. That’s what matters to me is that I do what the bible told me to do and that’s all I can do. That is a deal-breaker.
<br><br>Here are some things that are not a deal-breaker when looking for a spouse. You know what? If she's not just drop-dead gorgeous, that’s not a deal-breaker. Pastor, she's not the most gorgeous woman I've ever seen in my life. That’s not a deal-breaker because of the fact that the bible says, "Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord she shall be praised." We could say the same thing if he's not tall, dark and handsome, that’s not a deal-breaker either.
<br><br>Here's the thing about that though is that women honestly don’t usually put as much emphasis on the hour to parents as men do. Just by nature, women don’t really care that much about the way and that’s great news for some of you guys. That’s the best news that you've heard all night, because here you are thinking that you're real limited in your prospect. I'm telling you the truth tonight, you have a chance. I'm preaching to a lot of you tonight, because honestly you do. Honestly, women don’t care what you like. You just have to be a man and you just have to have confidence and boldness and you have to have … Then all the women are thinking in their heart that I'm telling the truth because they know what I'm saying.
<br><br>Honestly, with men it's about what's inside. A lot of men though foolishly will just ride off a lot of eligible single girls just because it's not the supermodel that they were looking for. Honestly, a lot of it is not even just because of what they think but they're worried about what other people think or something instead of just realizing, "Hey, God wants me to find a virtuous woman, a godly woman, righteous woman."
<br><br>Now I will say this. Obviously, you have to like the way that you're wife look. You have to like the way that your husband look. You don’t want to marry somebody that you are not attracted to at all, but that should not be the main focus or the main criteria that you're looking for and that shouldn't be a deal-breaker if she doesn’t look perfect in every way, because beauty is in the eye of the beholder. I'll tell you this, I've been around people who outwardly are attractive but when you get to know them they begin to become ugly to you just because you know what they're like.
<br><br>Then conversely people who the world would not look at as attractive as you get to know them and you get to know their personality and the inner beauty then actually their outward appearance begins to grow on you. You need to keep an open mind and understand these things and not get so hung up as men especially this point is for the men, because women don’t really have as much problem in this area. As men, you need to get less hung up on your own outward appearance and realize she doesn’t care what I look like.
<br><br>Then you have to also get this attitude out of your mind that just says, "Oh, it's just all about finding the most beautiful, possible woman that I can," and understand that God says, "That’s vain. That’s deceitful." You need to look for a woman that fears the Lord. She shall be praised. Along the same lines another thing that should not be a deal-breaker is if he or she is not in perfect physical shape. That shouldn't be a deal-breaker. That's not the most important thing in our lives is being in shape because the bible says, "Bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto all thing, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come."
<br><br>A lot of you that are totally out of shape this is your life verse. You actually have this written. You have it written on the wall like bodily exercise profiteth a little right about your broken down treadmill or whatever. You have that verse inscribe upon the wall right next to the verse that says, "He that is strong in the faith eateth all things. It's all sanctified by the word of God and prayer." You think that prayer is going to fix McDonald's. You can somehow pr6ay to GMOs to realign in the way God created them or whatever. Anyway, I'm just kidding.
<br><br>The bottom line is God does say that bodily exercise profiteth little. It's the exercise and the godliness that is profitable unto all things. Someone who is not in perfect physical shape, that shouldn't be a deal-breaker either. That shouldn't be the emphasis of what you're looking for in a husband or wife. There are other things that I don’t think are a deal-breaker. Like for example, a lot of men and I guess I mainly present men on this point, is that they expect to find just the perfect girl that’s the finish product. They don’t understand that part of being a husband is being a leader and part of it is actually teaching your wife and guiding your wife and being a leader and leading her to greater spiritual heights.
<br><br>That’s part of our job as a husband is to be the spiritual role model and the spiritual leader. Just sit there and think, "If she's not spiritually dialed in perfectly then I just don’t want anything to do with her." See, you had to lead there. For example, I strongly believe that women should stay home, marry, bear children, guide the house. I believe in women being a homemaker, stay-at-home wife, stay-at-home mother that’s what I believe in. That’s what I've always preached. That’s what I've taught. That's how we live our lives and that the husband's job is the provider and the wife should be a keeper at home, et cetera.
<br><br>A lot of times guys will just completely rule out a girl just because she has a job or is going to college or something like that. You just have to understand this is the culture that we live in. Girls are going to have jobs and go to college and whatever. The question is does she love the Lord, is she saved, does she love God and is she willing to follow, is she willing to understand that it's her job to submit unto her husband and let him be the leader when push comes to shelf.
<br><br>I would recommend this young man. If you are going to marry and I just did a whole sermon on it if you're saying, "What in the world is [Pastor Aaron 00:37:55] is talking about?" You probably missed my sermon a few weeks ago where I biblically taught this in my sermon on women working in light of the bible about a month ago where we taught this. I would highly recommend that if you are dating a girl and you talk … First of all when, you're dating you should talk about what your values are and make sure that you're both going the same direction and that you both want to live the same type of lifestyle.
<br><br>Sometimes you talk to people and like, "What? I have no idea." It's like, "What did you talk about when you're dating?" I remember when I was dating my wife we were ironing these things out. We're talking abut what we believe, what we're going to do with our lives, how are we going to rai0se the children, everything I get. Ironing those things out before the wedding day, but I would say this. It'd be a smart idea if this girl is working or in college or whatever and you're telling her, "Hey, I want you to be a stay-at-home wife and I want you to be a stay-at-home mother after we get married." It would be a great idea to make sure that she quits the job before the wedding day or quit school before the wedding day if that’s the agreement.
<br><br>Then it'd just be this thing off in a distance and then you get married and she is like, "Oh, I change my mind. I want to keep on working and I want to keep doing my feminist thing and whatever," because then you can see what's really going on. It might not be a bad idea just to make sure and that would be a good test who's the boss or if she's actually going to do what you're telling her to do or whether she is just going to do the bait and switch on you and be a deceiver, which would be very wicked but it's out there. That’s just a tip for you guys.
<br><br>Another thing I want to point out on that point though is that if the guy doesn’t have a job that is a deal-breaker. The bible says, "If a man provide not for his own especially for those of his own house, he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel." By the way, let me just inset at this point that I think that women should have a higher standard for who they married than men. Because here's the thing, when you're the man you're the leader. If you're going to be a good leader, you can actually guide and fix some of these problems.
<br><br>You know what? If you're the woman, you're marrying a leader. You're not the leader. You can’t say, "I'll teach him. I'll fix him. I'll straighten him out. I'll guide him in the right way or the right path." No, no, then you're going to have things bad. Honestly, I don’t feel bad for you single guys that are having trouble finding a wife. I don’t feel bad for you at all, because the ball is in your court buddy. Your destiny is in your own hand. You can go visit other independent fundamental Baptist churches. You can meet all kinds of girls. You already could actually talk to the single girls who actually go to our church for a change, but then quite men who visit our church frequently.
<br><br>The ball is in your court. You can talk to them and meet them and greet them. Honestly, you can be a leader and you can do that whereas the girls have little bit harder because they're waiting for a guy to approach them that actually they want to follow and that they can actually look up to that’s going to be a leader. I do think that women should have a little bit higher standard even that the men and who they marry. If he doesn’t have a job, that’s a deal-breaker. He is lazy and not working and not providing that’s not going to work. That’s a bad situation. That is a deal-breaker.
<br><br>Another question that I've often been asked and I know this is a really sensitive subject so I want to just be careful how I deal with this. I've been asked this question many, many times so I feel I should just briefly address it is that some people will say, "Hey, is it wrong for me to marry someone who is not a virgin?" I've been asked that question. Here's what I believe about it from studying the bible is that I don’t believe it's wrong, but I will say this though.
<br><br>First of all if you're not a virgin then for you to demand, "I'm only going to marry virgin," is that a little bit hypocritical on you part? If you have not kept yourself pure and then you're demanding I'm only going to marry somebody virgin, but the world has that standard. A lot of Muslims have that standard where the men will go out and commit a bunch of fornication but demand that their wife be a virgin. It's a 2-way street. Both men and women we should all ourselves pure until our wedding day.
<br><br>Let me say this that if you are a virgin as a man which you ought to be then if you decide in your heart I only want to marry, there's nothing wrong with you deciding. Hey, I only want to marry girl that’s a virgin. You know what? That’s fine if that’s your standard and that makes perfect sense. If you are and you decided that you're okay with marrying someone who is not, you know what, that’s something that you have to decide for yourself, whether you can live with that, whether you can forgive and forget and will pass that and move on.
<br><br>It can be a tough thing, but I just wanted to put that out there that no I do not believe it as a sin to marry someone who is not. It is a sin to lose your own purity of course, but to marry someone who has made that mistake and repented and is now right with the Lord I do not think is sinful. It might be something that you can deal with and it might be something that just bothers you too much and you just decide hey no. If I kept myself pure then I'm going to marry someone who kept themselves pure also. That makes perfect sense.
<br><br>I think that this is a personal choice bottom line that it's up to you. It's a personal choice what you want to do in that situation, whether you can handle that or not, if you can be okay with it or not. I will say this; there should be no deception before your marriage. It would be very wrong for you to lie and say that you are when you're not. You should be upfront and tell the truth to whoever you're getting married to.
<br><br>Lastly, we talked about deal-breakers when it comes to church, deal-breakers when it comes to spouse. What about deal-breakers for a job? What's a deal-breaker for what kind of a job you should work? We talked about a church. We talked about your spouse. What about your job? Now there are so many points on this and so many questionable things. Again, this is something that I get asked all the time. People constantly asked me, "Hey, do you think it's wrong for me to do this job," or, "Hey, is it wrong for me to do this job?"
<br><br>Here's the thing. We live in a sinful world. God didn’t want to remove us from the world, but He said He wanted to keep us from the evil. We are to be in the world but not of the world. I don’t believe that we need to seclude ourselves from this world and isolate ourselves from the world completely and say, "Hey, there was some sin at my job. I need you to just run screaming the other direction." We live in a sinful world. We're going to be around sin. God has ordained that we be in this world and around sin but that we would keep ourselves pure and keep ourselves from the evil.
<br><br>We do not believe in isolating ourselves in a compound or going out and living in the middle of nowhere. No, you know why we live in the city? Because we're here to win souls to Jesus Christ, because we want to be around people, be a testimony, let our light shine before men and give the gospel and so on and so forth. What are some things that are deal-breakers? Here's the thing. I can give you my opinion on these things and I think I have the spirit of God. I can give you biblical opinions here, but at the end of the day you need to study the bible and decide for yourself what is a deal-breaker and what is not when it comes to your job.
<br><br>I'll tell you some of personal convictions when it comes to jobs that I wouldn't work. Any job that involves mixing drinks and serving alcohol, I wouldn't do that job. When you're sitting there and mix them up drinks and serving booze, I wouldn't do that job the bible says, not even look at it. Look not upon the wine when it's red, when it gives its other color in the cup, when it moves itself for ride at the last, sting it like an ant or bite like a serpent; I know I got that backwards.
<br><br>What he's saying there, we just stay away from alcohol and I don’t think that mixing drinks and serving alcohol is a great job for a Christian. That’s a deal-breaker for me. I was at a job. I worked at a restaurant that served alcohol and I worked in the kitchen and they wanted me to work upfront and it involves serving alcohol. I didn’t take the tiny raise that they want to give me and put me upfront because I said, "I don’t want to serve alcohol." I just stayed in the kitchen made a little less money, but honestly that was my conviction. It bothered me. I didn’t think it was right to handle serving beers and everything like that. I don’t want to ruin my testimony. I want people to see me doing that. I don’t want to vex my own righteous soul.
<br><br>At the end of the day, the bible says, "Whatsoever is not faith is sin." If you don’t feel right about what you're doing, you shouldn't be doing it. If it makes you feel guilty on a daily basis that’s your conscience which is the candle of the Lord and that is some times God's spirit showing you things. A job that keeps us out of church is a deal-breaker. The bible says, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God in His righteousness and all these things …" talking about food, clothing, finances,"… shall be added unto you." A job that keeps you out of church is a deal-breaker. A job that forces you to lie or to be dishonest break God's commandments that’s a deal-breaker you can’t do that.
<br><br>I'll say this personally and again this is one that’s one to interpretation, but personally working closely with Sodomites is a deal-breaker for me. I'll tell you this. When I used to run my fire alarm business I would go into businesses like Bed Bath and Beyond. Let's face it. A lot of dudes that work in Bed Bath and Beyond are not straight. Now there are a lot of nice straight guys that work above me on that do not want to be offensive to them. There are also sum queers that work at Bed Bath and Beyond let's face it. I would go into these stores a lot of time and it was some filthy Sodomite that was the manager whatever.
<br><br>I would just try to seek out the assistant manager or whatever. Honestly, sometimes I had to deal with these perverts but it was just a matter of hey I just need you to sign here or whatever and then wash my hands and sanitize some and douse some hydrogen peroxide and then light them on fire for a second, shave all the hair off my arms and pave my flash in water and be unclean until the evening. Honestly, for me I can handle. I can handle just a brief interaction of where's the fire alarm panel and just hold by those get it signed or whatever.
<br><br>For me personally, just working sign by sign with the sodomite that’s a deal-breaker for me. You're discriminating. Yes, I am. I remember one time my boss he told me about … Look, there was this company I worked for where it was like a revolving door. We went HR employees so fast. My boss just couldn't keep employees. He's just hiring new people every week, every week. One time he tells me, "Hey, I hired this guy. The only problem is he is a homosexual. He was just acting like I'm just going to have to deal with that.
<br><br>I told them. I said, "I have no problem with you hiring this homo as long as I never have to see him, never have to talk to him. He never rides in my car and I don’t have anything to do with training him then go ahead and hire him. If I have anything to do with this guy, he's riding in my car and I'm training him and working with him on a daily basis then I'm going to go start looking for a new job today. No, no, it's fine. We'll find somebody else, no problem.
<br><br>I'm not going to sit there and work with some filthy pervert and vex my righteous soul from day to day. Is that legal? I don’t care. I'm not going to work with fags. I don’t care if it's legal. Not going to happen. Ker, what you know? Make some loaf and some bakery. He has to bake a cake for these perverts. The media came to me and asked me, "Would you perform a wedding for couple of sodomites?" That’s the stupidest question in the world. Would you perform a wedding? I said, "I'll perform a wedding for them if they're going to be executed," like Leviticus 20:13 said, I don’t mind. I don’t mind if they get married before they get executed. That’s what the bible says.
<br><br>If a man lies with mankind as he lied with the woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They should surely be put to death. Their blood shall upon them. If the government can execute them, I'll save the bells with them and then I'll cast the first stone too if you want if it's legal. I'm not a vigilante. I'm not going to take it into my own hands. If it were legal, if they were the law of the land like it used to be in Massachusetts back before they became communist.
<br><br>By the way, sodomy used to be illegal everywhere in America until 60 years ago. It was illegal in all of the states. By the way, did you know that; I don’t like to say the word, how my sexuality … queerness sodomy did you know that it was illegal in America 50, 60 years ago but that it is actually today illegal in 79 countries, did you know that? Just because we at America are filled with perverts it doesn’t mean the rest of the world puts up with it.
<br><br>The most populated country in the world is India and it's illegal there, where they have 1.4 billion people. It's illegal in 78 other counties that still have a brain in their head that actually stops some semblance of morality and righteousness, "Oh, it's getting quiet in here. Oh, I'm getting little nervous." I'm not scared to you, that’s what the bible says.
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Group: Amen.
<br><br>For me that’s a deal-breaker, just work closely with sodomites and perverts. I'm not saying that you're wrong if you go to your job and hold your nose and deal with it whatever. That’s between you and the Lord and it's getting worse and worse whether everywhere. Again, those are deal-breakers for me.
<br><br>Then here are some things that I think are not deal-breakers. My boss cast me out. I never had a job where my boss cast me out. Where are you working? Are they hiring? Every single time I heard that I've been cast out by the boss, I was even doing a good job. They still catch out.
<br><br>Here's the thing. Obviously, you got to make your own decisions. I'm not trying to impose my opinions on you here.my opinion is being cast out by the boss, people blasting wordly music, you're going to be around sinners if you work in a job and that you can’t just expect to work at a job where everybody is a bible-believing Christ and everything is righteous and godly. Obviously, we're in the world. You're going to work with sinful people.
<br><br>The bible tells us to separate from Christians that are sinful. You know what? When it comes to the sinners of this world, he said, "If you were to separate from the fornicators of this world, you got to get out of the world," because that’s what the world is. The world is filled with sinners. I don’t think that we should just completely isolate ourselves from the sinners of this world, the haven of this world because we need to be a testimony unto them. I don’t think these are deal-breakers. You have to figure out where you draw the line.
<br><br>All that to say today in this sermon. I hope his sermon just make you think about what is a deal-breaker and what is not. Because you don’t want to throw out the baby with the bath water and just completely just if every … if a church isn't perfect I won’t go there. If this girl or this guy isn't perfect then I'm not going to date them or marry them. If this job is not the perfect, saved, sanctified, separated job then I can’t work there.
<br><br>Look, you're looking for unicorn at that point and they don’t exist. You need to just understand that sometimes there are things that are not deal-breakers. I hope that you will think this through and decide for yourself biblically what are deal-breakers and what are not. I think I've proven biblically when it comes to a church, wrong gospel, wrong bible and l[acknowledge of sowing our deal-breakers.
<br><br>I think I've proven biblically that a spouse that’s unsaved doesn’t love the Lord or is a divorcee that should be a deal-breaker. I think some of these other things you can’t really make the biblical case that they are deal-breakers. When it comes to a job, we have to work somewhere. Again, we all have our own different convictions and I'm not trying to impose my convictions upon you. You shouldn't try to impose your convictions on me because of the fact that when the bible doesn’t spell it out specifically then we believe in liberty of the individual.
<br><br>Now when it comes to an unsaved spouse, that’s spelled out in the bible. When it comes to churches using a bible that’s taking things out, that is spelled out in the bible. When it comes to some of these other issues that are not spelled out in the bible, we should all left up to our own individual liberties between us and God if there's no clear scripture pointing us.
<br><br>For example, when I was in the fire alarm business, I did fire alarms at CBS pharmacy. There's a lot of things in CBS pharmacy that I don’t agree with. Probably most of what they sell is junk. I still put in a fire alarm for them, because I didn’t think it was wrong for me to just run electrical wires and install fire alarm wire there.
<br><br>I never had a problem even doing a fire alarm in churches that were apostate churches, because again I'm not doing it as a volunteer. I'm just there making money running electrical wires. There were times when I did draw the line when I was told, "Hey, it's 9:00 at night. Check the fire alarm in this bar or in this strip club." I was like, "I don’t want to go in that place and be exposed to all that stuff that’s going on." That was just me where I had a line that I drew and then I felt like it was biblical, what I should be around and what I should not be around, where I could keep a pure mind and still love the Lord with all my heart and where I would go in a place where the temptations would be too great and the vexation would be too great and where I shouldn't be in that atmosphere.
<br><br>We need to decide what's a deal-breaker and what is not. Because honestly you're not going to find a perfect and then a lot of people they're not providing properly for their wife or kids because the fact that just every job is too sinful. It's like, "Wait a minute, you need to get your butt to work and a lot of times it doesn’t have to do with convictions. It is just being lazy so let's just find excuses why every job is not legit.
<br><br>Some people will even say, "Oh my job wanted me to be dishonest." Really it was just the job one of them to work to work hard and then they just say, "They wanted me to be dishonest." No, they want you to work. Where were you? This church they're wrong on this. No, you just didn’t want to go to church because you're lazy. Oh, this girl I didn’t talk to her. No, you didn’t have the guts to talk to her because you're scared. There's nothing wrong with her. To find some wrong with the church, find some wrong with the girl, find some wrong with the job because they're actually just being lazy so then they just talk about the unicorn that they're looking for.
<br><br>We need to decide what are the deal-breakers in our lives and what are not the deal-breakers. What is it that’s the high place where it's not good but whatever. Then the things of you're worshipping idols. That’s a deal-breaker when we think of these Old Testament kings. Then one you decide what the deal-breakers are you need to stick with your convictions and stick with those deal-breakers and say, "I will not compromise on these," and then the things that are not deal-breakers you can look pass them. I'm not saying you're condoning them. I'm not saying that they're right, but just realizing that we live in an imperfect world. It's that simple.
<br><br>Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for Your word Lord and we thank you for the fact that there are a lot of churches out there that still preach the right gospel and use the King James Bible and do soul winning Lord. There are lot of churches that are still doing these things. Lord, we thank you so much for our church, Faithful Word Baptist Church. Lord, we pray to You just guide us all to the right church, the right spouse and the right job, Lord, because these are 3 major decisions in our life that are of critical importance and Jes- … </p>
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sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-22947607265580830202016-05-04T14:19:00.000-07:002016-05-04T14:19:06.589-07:00Woe unto the Pastors <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dAMnStEHX0">Video</a>
<p><b>April 27, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2dAMnStEHX0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Jeremiah 23 is a chapter where God is very angry and He’s rebuking the pastors that are preaching that which is false and He’s railing on them and He’s using Jeremiah to rebuke these men and to tell them what they should be doing. Now in verse number one the Bible reads, “Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture sayeth the Lord. Therefore thus sayeth the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, ‘Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them. Behold I will visit upon you the evil of your doings,’ sayeth the Lord God.”
<br><br>Now keep your finger there and flip over to Matthew chapter 12, verse 30. I think it’s interesting that He uses the word visited there, He says, “You haven’t visited my people at all so I’m going to visit you with punishment,” and a lot of churches, what we refer to as soul winning, they’ll call it visitation. Who’s ever been in a church where they called that “visitation?”
<br><br>Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 12, verse 30 that ties in with this about scattering the people. It says in Matthew 12:30, “He that is not with me is against me and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.” The Bible teaches there that if we’re not gathering with Jesus, if we’re not going out and winning souls to Jesus Christ and gathering fruit unto eternal life, the Bible calls it, if we’re not bringing our sheaves in, then the Bible says we’re actually scattering.
<br><br>He says to these pastors, “Woe unto you that are scattering the people because you’ve not visited them.” He’s talking about a pastor who’s not doing any soul winning. You’re not going out there and talking to people and preaching the Gospel to every creature, going door to door, winning people to Christ and a lot of people think that if they do nothing for the Lord and if they don’t do any soul winning, they think that they’re just being neutral.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: Just by not doing anything. “I’m not going soul winning, but I’m not really harming anything,” but the Bible says if you’re not gathering with Him, you’re scattering, so you’re not a zero, you’re actually in the negative at that point.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: If you don’t do any soul winning, if you’re not preaching the Gospel to every creature, if you’re not witnessing to people and giving them the Gospel you’re actually scattering and that’s why He’s sternly rebuking these pastors for not visiting the people and for scattering the sheep and for not winning them to Christ. Because the bottom line is if our Gospel be hid, it’s hid to them that are lost.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: The Bible says, “I’ve set you a watchman,” and He says, “If you don’t warn the wicked, his blood will I require at your hand,” that’s what the Bible says. It’s our responsibility to preach the Gospel to every creature and not even just as pastors but as every Christian. We’ve all been given that Great Commission to teach all nations and to preach the Gospel to every creature and if we’re not doing it, we’re not just neutral. We’re actually scattering but especially, “Woe unto the pastor that would not visit the people. That would not go out and preach to the lost and win people to Christ, woe be unto him.”
<br><br>Paul even said of himself, he said, “Necessity is laid upon me. Woe unto me if I preach not the Gospel,” but look at Jeremiah 23 here. He’s talking about these pastors who refuse to visit the people and therefore, they’re actually scattering the people. It says in verse number three, “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them and will bring them again to their folds and they shall be fruitful and increase and I will set up shepherds over them,” and ‘shepherd’ is just another word for pastor.
<br><br>He says, “I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking sayeth the Lord.” What’s wrong with these pastors? The first thing that’s wrong with them is that they’re not doing the soul winning. They’re not visiting. They’re not going out and preaching the Gospel but secondly, the problem is that they’re afraid to preach what needs to be preached.
<br><br>He’s saying these guys are fearful. These guys are dismayed and therefore, he’s saying, “I’m going to set up different shepherds, different pastors that don’t have that fear.” Go to Jeremiah chapter one, keep your finger there in chapter 23, that’s where we’re going to be all morning, but look at chapter one, this is when Jeremiah is first commissioned to be a preacher in the first place and God speaks on him, verse four, it says, “Then the Word of the Lord came unto me saying, ‘Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.’”
<br><br>“Then said I, ‘Ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak for I am a child,’ but the Lord said unto me, ‘Say not I am child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces for I am with thee to deliver thee,’ sayeth the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth and the Lord said unto me, ‘Behold, I’ve put My Words in thy mouth. See I have set thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull down and to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.’”
<br><br>He’s giving him this mission to go out and preach and he’s telling him that a big part of his message is going to be a negative message. Now there’s going to be a positive component there but look at all the negative words that are listed in verse 10. He said, “To root out, to pull down, to destroy and to throw down.” That’s four negative words there and then He has two positive words, “To build and to plant.”
<br><br>See you can’t just go to a building site and just start building. No, the first you have to tear down the structure that was already there in place. You have to get rid of it. You can’t just build onto that. If you were going to build a brand new home and there’s a rickety old shack on that property, the first thing you have to do is demolish that property but then you also have to come in and you have to flatten out the land and you’re going to come in with a back hoe and you’re going to do all the grating and get it all ready to go.
<br><br>Then you’re going to come in and build and plant but you have to have that demolition crew that’s going to clear out all the junk and let me tell you something, people today have been taught a lot of junk in a lot of churches and somebody has to come in there with the controlled demolition and take that thing down. Somebody has to come in and clear out all that rubble, clear out all that junk, break up that ground, and get ready with a clean slate so that something good can be built there and you’re not just mixing the truth with lies.
<br><br>No, you’ve got to clean that thing out and we need some pastors to clean house and to tear down some of this false doctrine.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: A lot of people have told me throughout the years, “Hey, don’t preach negative things. Don’t preach against it. Just preach what’s right, just preach the truth, just preach good and people will figure it out,” but it’s not true. You have to come in and start smashing apart false doctrine. It’s not enough just to preach the truth. It’s not enough to say, “Here’s what the Gospel is,” you have to preach against the false gospel and expose it and point it out and that’s what the Bible teaches and all throughout these Books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, they’re preaching against false doctrine.
<br><br>When we see Jesus Christ Himself on this earth, He’s exposing the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When you look at the ministry of Apostle Paul, he’s pointing out Phygellas, Hermogenes, Philitus, Alexander. The Apostle John is pointing out Diotrophes and others and they are pointing out the false teaching and the heresy and breaking down that false doctrine so that they can build a structure of Biblical sound doctrine where that lie once stood and so that is our job and if you’re afraid to do that, if you’re afraid to get your hands dirty, if you’re afraid to deal with the explosives necessary to take down that structure, then you can’t be a preacher, you can’t be a pastor.
<br><br>You’re not going to be an effective shepherd and God flat out said, “I’m going to replace you.” That’s what He said, look at Jeremiah 23. He says, “I will set up,” verse four, “I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed.” He said, “Woe unto these pastors that are scared to preach what needs to be preached. I’m going to replace them with a pastor who is not fearful to get up and preach what needs to be preached, to tear down and to break it apart, so that he can build and plant,” that’s what the Bible says in Jeremiah 23.
<br><br>Look at verse five, He gives this prophecy, “’Behold the days come,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘That I will raise unto David a righteous branch and a king shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord Our Righteousness.’ ‘Therefore behold the days come,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘That they shall no more say the Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, but the Lord liveth which brought up and which led the seat of the House of Israel out of the North country and from all countries whither I have driven them and they shall dwell in their own land.’”
<br><br>Now the main fulfillment of this prophecy is talking about, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, because that branch, that Son of David, that king that’s going to be raised up, “That in those days Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and they’re going to be brought out of all lands whither they have been scattered,” that person is clearly Jesus Christ, the Son of David. I don’t think there’s any doubt about that. Now there was a shadow fulfillment of this also with Zerubabel, okay, because they did come back from Babylon. You have to get the context of the Book here.
<br><br>In the Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah’s preaching at a time when the children of Israel are about to be carried captives into Babylon and God’s predicting that they’re going to be brought back from Babylon and from all the other nations that they were scattered into and He’ll set up David, His servant, over them. Well, there’s that King Zerubabel, the governor of the land after they come back and he is a descendant of David but clearly the primary application here is about Jesus in the Millennium when Jesus is ruling and reigning from Jerusalem, sitting upon the throne of David His father.
<br><br>You know what’s not in this passage? 1948, because what son of David started ruling in 1948? That’s what I’d like to know.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Did they all get saved in 1948? No, that’s a fraud. That whole … that’s a whole another sermon but what we see here is Jesus because look at verse number six. It says, “In His days,” talking about the days when Jesus Christ will rule and reign on this earth in the Millennium, “In His days, Judah shall be saved and Israel shall dwell safely and this is His name whereby He shall be called,” I love this, “The Lord our Righteousness.
<br><br>What name is Jesus going to be known by? The Lord our Righteousness. Let me tell you something, Jesus is our righteousness today. When it comes to salvation, the Bible says in Romans chapter 10, it says, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the righteousness which is of God, for Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: What’s the Bible saying? He’s saying my desire for Israel is that they might be saved. Why are they not saved? He said, because they are going about to establish their own righteousness.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Listen, if people today are not saved, it’s because they’re going about to establish their own righteousness, whether they call themselves Christian or Jew or Muslim, whatever religious label they go by, if they are going about to establish their own righteousness, they’re not saved. Even if they claim, “Oh, I’m Christian.” No, if they’re going about to establish their own righteousness, they need to be saved, “Because Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”
<br><br>Paul said, “And be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God, by faith,” and so that righteousness that is imputed unto us, when we believe on Jesus Christ, that is our righteousness, that is what gets us into heaven. That’s why Jesus said, “Except your righteousness, shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Let me tell you something, my righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the Pharisees. I don’t care how separated they are because my righteousness is Jesus.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: That’s the righteousness by which we get into heaven. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags but His righteousness, being imputed unto us will save us and get us into heaven. That’s our ticket into heaven is through Christ, through His righteousness. That’s why Jesus’ name is called the Lord our Righteousness and if He’s not your righteousness, you’re not saved. The Bible says, “Salvation is not of works, lest any man should boast.”
<br><br>That means if anybody thinks it’s works, they’re not saved because they would boast about that and say, “Oh, yeah, I’m going to heaven, because I’m such a wonderful person,” and what does he keep drawing back to when he talks about the righteousness that is of the law? What’s he referring to there? Keeping the commandments. A lot of people will have this twisted view where they say, “You know, you don’t have to do good works to be saved but you do have to stop doing bad things to be saved.”
<br><br>It’s not doing works that saves you but you do have to turn from your sins and stop doing those bad things in order to be saved, but here’s the thing, God says keeping the law is your righteousness and it’s a filthy rag and keeping the law includes not stealing. Isn’t that keeping the law? Not fornicating, not killing, not committing adultery, those are all your righteousness, all those commandments that you keep and so if you tell someone, “Hey, you have to stop doing those, you have to turn from those sins or be willing to [inaudible 00:14:42] …” Here’s what you’re saying to those people, “Hey, your righteousness is going to help save you.”
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: “It’s believing in Jesus and a little bit of your righteousness, where you’re going to turn from some of these sins and stop doing these things. You’re going to follow the 10 Commandments,” or whatever. No, it’s Christ our righteousness that’s going to save us.
<br><br>It says in verse nine, back in Jeremiah 23, and we need preachers, by the way, there are a lot of preachers who are right on salvation. They know it’s by faith alone. They know it’s by grace. They know it’s not of works. They know it’s not by the righteousness of the law but it seems like they’re afraid to fight against the false salvation.
<br><br>They’re preach it right that it’s by faith but why won’t they go after this “Repent of your sins crowd?” Why won’t they go after these work salvation crowd? Why won’t they go after the lose your salvation crowd? We need some pastors and preachers that are not afraid to throw down and pluck up and break down and destroy these lies.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: That they can build and plant that which is correct. It says in verse number nine, “Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets.” It’s heart breaking. It’s heart breaking when you see preachers that won’t preach right, that’s what he’s saying. “All my bones shake. I’m like a drunken man. I’m like a man whom wineth overcome because of the Lord and because of the Words of His Holiness, for the land is full of adulterers. For because of swearing, the land mourneth. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up and their course is evil and their force is not right for both prophet and priest are profane.”
<br><br>“‘Yea, in my house have I found there wickedness,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness. They shall be driven on and fall thereon for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria. They prophesied in Baal and cause my people Israel to err. I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible thing. They commit adultery and walk in lies.’”
<br><br>Now watch this key phrase, “They strengthen also the hands of evil doers that none doth return from his wickedness. They are all of them unto me as Sodom and the inhabitants of thereof as Gomorrah.” Now this is a key phrase here that He rebukes the pastors for strengthening the hands of the evil doers that none doth return from his wickedness. See if you jump down to verse 22, look what the Bible says, “But if they had stood in my counsel and had caused my people to hear my Words, then they should have turned from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.”
<br><br>Here’s what God’s saying in verse 22, “If these pastors would have preached hard on sin, the people would have gotten the sin out of their lives.”
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Congregation: Yup.
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Pastor Anderson: Isn’t that what it’s saying? He’s saying, “Look, if they would have stood in my counsel and caused my people to hear my Words, then they should have turned from their evil way and from the evil of their doings,” but instead of that, instead of rebuking sin and preaching hard on sin, which would have caused people to turn from, instead they strengthened the hands of the evil doers, that none of them turned from his wickedness.
<br><br>There’s a little more explanation given in verse 16 and 17, “Thus sayeth the Lord of Hosts, ‘Harken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you, they make you vain. They speak of vision out of their own heart and not out of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them that despise me, ‘The Lord has said, ye shall have peace.’”
<br><br>This is like the prosperity preachers of today. This reminds me of Joyce Meyer with her book, God is Not Mad at You. What is she doing with that book? God is Not Mad at You. Maybe God is mad at you, though.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: I’m going to write a book called God Might be Mad at You. It’s true, I mean … but she says on the back of this book, she says on the jacket, “Look, God’s not mad … It doesn’t matter what you’ve done. It doesn’t matter what you believe. God is not mad at you but how many times does the Bible say, “I’m angry, my wrath is kindled, my anger is burning hot with …” but God’s not mad at you. What’s she saying? She’s looking at people that literally despise the Lord … Look at verse number 17, literally despise the Lord and she’s saying to them, “You shall have peace. God’s going to give you your best life now and God wants to bless you.”
<br><br>Even people who are doing horrible things and that are haters of the Lord and despise the Lord, they’re telling them, “Hey, you’ll have peace.” Basically just a positive message for everybody as if God is this Santa Claus where He knows if you’ve been good or bad but He’s going to pretty much give you your presents anyway, because He’s just nice like that. He’s just going to give it to you, no matter what you do. “And they say unto everyone that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’”
<br><br>Unbelievable, this … That anybody could even say these things but, yet, these are the type of things that are being preached, I mean how could somebody write a book, God is Not Mad at You, and it sells. It’s every … You see it at WalMart. You see it at Barnes and Noble. Who is buying this? People who don’t know this Book at all, people who don’t even own a King James Version and people who don’t even probably pull down the NIV off their shelf and look at it, not that it would do them any good, people who just have no clue who God is to actually believe such a bizarre message that no matter who you are, God’s not made at you.
<br><br>It’s bizarre but people believe this stuff because it sounds good and makes them feel good. We need to get back to the word of God and see who God really is and we need pastors and preachers who will get up and tell us who God really is and not be afraid to call a spade a spade and honestly … You say, “Why are you preaching this?” The bottom line is that we need to replace the preachers in America today. They need to be replaced.
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Congregation: Yup, amen.
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Pastor Anderson: “Oh, let’s straighten them out.” “Well, let’s straighten them out,” but a lot of them just need to be replaced.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: They need to be replaced by a new generation of young preachers that would rise up and not be afraid and that would rise up and know the Word of God and know who God is and that’s why I’m preaching this chapter, hoping that the hearts of man would be stirred to say, “You know what, I’m going to be this kind of preacher that I see in Jeremiah 23. I’m going to be that man.”
<br><br>The Bible says in verse 18, for who has stood in the counsel of the Lord and hath perceived and heard His Word? Who hath marked His Word and heard it? Behold the whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury,” but God’s not mad at you. Who is He mad at? Who’s He so furious … What’s this whirlwind about?
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Congregation: Yeah, right.
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Pastor Anderson: It’s just a big whirlwind that just wants to give you a big hug, you know, swoooosh … No, He’s got a whirlwind of fury. What’s it mean to be furious? I mean furious is really angry.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: He said, “It shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the Lord shall not return until you have executed, until you have performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days, ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” It reminded of the … In the Mark and Design, that Rabbi Weiner, you remember him? He basically says, “You know, a lot of people say that if you don’t obey God’s commandments, you’re going to have a bad life or go to the Netherworld or …”
<br><br>“You mean hell? Oh, no, we don’t believe in that. We don’t believe in hell,” but here’s what’s so funny, not only is he denying the fact that anyone will go to hell for any reason, this Jewish rabbi … and he’s a Reformed Jewish Rabbi, which by the way is the most common denomination for a religious Jew to be … Not only is he denying that anyone will go to hell for any reason, but he even says, “You’re not even going to have a bad life.” “A lot of people think that you’ll have a bad life if you don’t obey the Word God …”
<br><br>It’s like, “Yeah, you are going to have a bad life if you don’t obey the Word of God.” He’s basically saying, “Forget heaven and hell.” He’s saying, “You can just completely disregard God’s Word and you won’t even have a bad life.” Then why in the world would anybody even listen to this guy or any religious … I mean in that case, let’s eat, drink, and be merry because tomorrow we die.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: If that’s the philosophy but there are people out there, teaching this stuff, whether it’s that rabbi, whether it’s Joyce Meyer, whether it’s Joel Osteen or whoever else, these people need to be replaced.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: The Bible says in this Scripture, in verse 21, I think this is an often misunderstood Scripture, verse 21, because it says, “I’ve not sent these prophets yet they ran. I’ve not spoken to them yet they prophesied,” and I think a lot of people will misinterpret that verse and they’ll say this, “If God hasn’t sent you to preach, if God hasn’t called you, then don’t do it. Don’t preach, don’t pastor, unless you’ve been called,” and by being called, it’s this mysticism that they believe in.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Who know what I’m talking about? It’s like this mystical, “I was called to preach on April 21st, 2009. The whole room lit up …” and everything and it’s just this mysticism and emotion of the call to preach. “Are you sure you’ve been called, brother? If you can be happy doing anything else, don’t do it,” and all this stuff about, “Are you called?” “I’ve been called. I know I’ve been called.” “I was called to preach on December 13th, 2008,” but here’s the thing, I don’t believe in it.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Because here’s what the Bible says, “If any man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” It’s okay to just desire the office of bishop and then he says, “If any man be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children, not accused [inaudible 00:24:39] or unruly …” and he lists all those qualifications but he says if anybody meets the qualifications, if anybody desire the office of a bishop, great. He doesn’t say, “Wait for a special calling or an emotional or charismatic type experience.”
<br><br>He says that if you desire it, if you’re qualified, do it and the Bible even said in Numbers chapter 11, “Would God that all God’s people were prophets and that He would put His spirit upon them.” This is something that anybody who desires to do it and anybody who is equipped and able to do it is called. You don’t have to have this special call. It’s just something that is entered into this Baptist folklore. They’ll look at this and say, “Here it says, ‘These prophets, they ran and I didn’t send them. I didn’t speak to them.’ See you’ve got to be called …”
<br><br>No, here’s what it’s saying, “These people are preaching something that He did not tell them to preach.” That’s what the Scripture’s actually saying. He’s saying, “These people are saying that they got a word from Me that they never got from Me.”
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: Now here’s the thing, he’s saying, “I’ve not spoken to them.” Guess what, if you own a Bible and you read it every day, God has spoken to you.”
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Here’s where God spoke to you. I have never heard from God in an audible voice, from the time I’ve been saved until this day. Everything that God has ever told me has been through this Book in my hand, the King James Bible. This is where I’ve learned everything, so don’t misunderstand that verse. He’s telling you, “Preach what I’ve told you to preach.” He’s not saying, “Hey, you have to be specifically given an engraved invitation from me. An angel has to show up to you and tell you, ‘I want you to preach.’” Okay.
<br><br>He says in verse number 22 there, “But if they had stood in My counsel and had caused My people to hear My words, then they should have turned them from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.” Honestly, preaching works and preaching against sin works.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: He says, “If it would have been preached, if they sins would have been exposed, they would have turned from them,” and it’s so true today that so many pastors are afraid to preach when really, there’s nothing to be afraid of, because if they would just preach, people would receive it and people would change. I’ve noticed that whatever you preach about, wherever you sow that seed, that’s where you reap a harvest and if you preach on a certain sin, people will get that sin out of their lives, thank God, and if you don’t preach on a certain sin, that sin will abound.
<br><br>That’s why it’s so important to preach against things like fornication and preach against things like adultery and drunkenness. Why? Because we don’t want those things to be once named among us, we don’t want those things to creep in and so in order to stop those things from creeping in you have to preach hard against them, and if you don’t, it just becomes a fornication fest. It just becomes a den of iniquity in the church and, listen, even when hard preaching happens, sin creeps in, because people are human and because, obviously, they’re sinners and everybody’s a sinner and things can go wrong and so forth, but how much more when it’s not even being preached.
<br><br>I mean I can’t even imagine. I mean I’ve preached hard on sin and then I’ve noticed that sometimes maybe I’ll go a few months without covering something and then I’ll see it’ll start to creep in somewhere in the church and then I’m just thinking to myself, “Good night, what about these people who are never preaching hard? What kind of a den of iniquity is over there?” Because I mean you relax on something just a little bit and you see it creep in.
<br><br>We need to be sober. We need to be vigilant and we need hard preaching. I need hard preaching. I need to hear hard preaching. You need to hear hard preaching because it reminds us of the dangers of sin and it allows all of us to turn from our sins on a continual basis in our Christian lives as we hear hard preaching that will make sin exceeding sinful and that will demonize sin unto us so that we will take that right path and that we will live a godly life that would please our Savior Jesus Christ.
<br><br>The Bible says in verse number 24, “‘Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him,’ sayeth the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth,’ sayeth the Lord. I have heard what the prophets said that prophesied lies in My name saying, ‘I have dreamed, I’ve dreamed.’ How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies? Yea, they are the prophets of the deceit of their own heart which think to cause my people to forget My name by their dreams which they tell every man to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream, and he that hath My Word, let him speak my Word faithfully.”
<br><br>We have God’s Word, so that’s all we need. I’m not even looking to dreams and things, because I have the Word of God right here. This is enough for me to preach for the rest of my life and He says, in verse number 28, “‘The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream and he that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?’ sayeth the Lord, ‘Is not My Word like as a fire, sayeth the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?’” Both fire and a hammer are both destructive forces, aren’t they?
<br><br>Fire is used to destroy things and a hammer is used to break things apart and destroy them because He’s specifically saying, “This isn’t a hammer that hammers a nail into a piece of wood in this particular context, it’s the hammer that breaks the rock in pieces. It’s the slamming of a sledge hammer into a rock and it’s shattering into pieces.” That’s what God’s saying that His Word does. God’s Word is likened to so many things in the Bible. It’s likened unto bread. It’s likened unto our daily food. It’s likened unto water. It’s likened unto soap. It’s likened unto gold. It’s likened unto [inaudible 00:30:32] …
<br><br>I mean all the different likenesses but not only is the Bible our spiritual food, not only is the Bible our foundation, where God says, “Building your life on the Word of God is like building your house upon a rock,” but God also says that “His Word is a two edged sword that will divide,” and He also said, that His Word is like a hammer that will break rock in pieces and He also said His Word is like a fire that would burn up and consume that which is false and that which is a lie and so God said, “‘My Word is like a fire,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘And like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.’”
<br><br>Verse 30, “‘Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘That steal My Words, every one, from his neighbor.” Now what’s He talking about here when He says, “The prophets that steal My Words, every one from his neighbor?” He’s talking about a preacher who just repeats things that he heard other preachers say.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Instead of preaching that which actually came from the Lord. He’s saying, “These prophets steal My Words, every one from his neighbor.” “They’re not preaching My Word. They’re preaching what they took from the other prophet,” and how many preachers are just repeating things over and over again where one preacher says it and then another guy repeats it and then pretty soon, people are just repeating it and repeating it and repeating it and repeating it and repeating it and nobody stops and thinks, “Wait a minute, is that Biblical?”
<br><br>There are so many sayings and things that you just hear repeated over and over again that have no Biblical basis at all and they’re just stealing the Word every one from his neighbor, just repeated, repeated, repeated. Let’s think of something together, shall we?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Some of those things are just repeated over and over again that just aren’t … Here’s one: Repent of your sins to be saved.
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Congregation: Yeah. Right.
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Pastor Anderson: That’s not in the Bible, okay. It’s all through the book of Mormon, repent of your sins, all through the Koran, yeah. Shekinah, there you go. These pastors talk about, “Oh, the Shekinah glory of God.” I guarantee you, if you went up to every pastor that said, “The Shekinah glory of God,” and asked them, “What does that word Shekinah mean?” “Oh, oh,” Or they’ll just tell you, “Oh, it just means glory,” but that’s not what it means. I always thought they’re going back to the Hebrew my whole life when they say that.
<br><br>It turns out, it’s the female side of the Jewish false god. God doesn’t have a feminine side. God is masculine, okay, but, yeah, they’ll say, “Oh, yeah, bok, Shekinah glory, bok, bok, Shekinah glory, Shekinah glory.” Just keep repeating it. Here’s another one that’s just repeated all over, “To be saved, you have to turn from sin to the Savior. Turn from …” “Bok, turn from sin to the Savior. Bok.” No, you don’t turn from … That doesn’t even make sense, because after you get saved, you’re still going to commit sin.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: “There’s none righteous, no, not one.” We still are going to sin after we’re saved but does it … “Oh, turn from the sins …” That doesn’t even make sense because that’s an incongruous idea there. You’re not contra … See, let me just explain it to you this way. If I were to switch from Shell to Chevron, that makes sense. Right, I was getting my gas at Shell, now I’m getting my gas at Chevron. I turned from Shell to Chevron. Does that make sense?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Okay, or let’s say I turned from Qdoba to Chipotle, that makes sense. They’re both almost exactly the same anyway but you’re going from one restaurant to another, does everybody understand?
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: Okay, so that makes sense. It would not make sense to say, “I switched from Shell to Chipotle.” That makes no sense, does it? “I switched from Food City to Men’s Wearhouse.” What are you talking about? It doesn’t even make sense, because they’re two totally different things that have nothing to do with one another. One is a place where you’re buying clothes, one of them is a place where you’re buying food, it just doesn’t make any sense. How do you turn from sin to the Savior?
<br><br>Jesus is a new sin or something or that sin was your old way to get you to heaven and now Jesu— That doesn’t make any sense. See here’s what the Bible says, “That you turn from idols to Jesus.” Well, that makes sense. Why? Because an idol is something that you pray to, an idol is something that you’re trusting for salvation, right. An idol is something that you’re worshiping. Now instead of trusting and praying to and worshiping an idol, you’re trusting, praying to, and worshiping Jesus. Does that make sense?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Yeah, turn to God from idols. Turn to Jesus from maybe a religion that you were following that you thought was going to get you to heaven, now you’re trusting Jesus to get you to heaven or you turn from Buddha to Jesus, does that make sense?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Buddha to Jesus, makes sense. Mohammed to Jesus makes sense. Hinduism to Jesus makes sense, sin to Jesus, doesn’t make sense because no one’s trusting their sin to get them to heaven.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: I’ve never yet run into somebody out soul winning, who I said, “Why are you going to heaven,” and they said, “Because of all the sins I’ve committed. That’s going to get me to heaven.” Never one time has anybody been trusting their sin to get them into heave. Never one time has anyone prayed to their sins. No one has ever worshiped their sins, have they? It doesn’t make sense, okay. Now you could say, “I turned from sin to living a godly life.” That would makes sense.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Wouldn’t that make sense? I turned from sin to good works. That makes sense, but guess what, that’s not salvation. That’s a 12 step program. That’s turning over a new leaf. Salvation’s by grace through faith. You could say, “I turned from dead works to faith in Christ and salvation.” That makes sense. It’s just one of those things that they steal words, everyone from his neighbor, “Hey, turn from sin to the Savior,” “Amen, sounds great.” “Yeah, seven years tribulation.” “Bok, seven years tribulation, bok, bok.”
<br><br>Nowhere in the Bible does it say seven years tribulation. “Oh, the Anti-Christ is going to make a peace treaty with Israel at the beginning of seven years.” Not in the Bible. Here’s what the Bible actually says, “He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week.” Goes into their computer and comes out, “He’s going to make a peace treaty with Israel for seven years.” It doesn’t say that anywhere. Come on, help me out, people.
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Congregation: [Inaudible 00:36:56]
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Pastor Anderson: What’s that?
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Congregation: [Inaudible 00:36:58]
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Pastor Anderson: I can’t understand your … I don’t speak Australian.
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Congregation: [Inaudible 00:37:03] Most of you say bends.
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Pastor Anderson: Burdens?
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Congregation: I have a …
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Pastor Anderson: Oh, well, that … I’m not … See, here’s what Louis is reading ahead to versus 33 through 40 which are not part of my sermon all right. Did you get ahead in the chapter? The Burden? Oh, yeah, I guess Gary read the whole thing so, so he’s a really good head.
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Congregation: They say … and it’s not in the New Testament, like most … Like new Christians would say, “What should I follow in the Old Testament?” and they say, “Just do what you feel like. Hate the sin, not the sinner.”
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Pastor Anderson: Yeah, there we go. Yeah, Gandhi’s famous quote, Mahatma Gandhi said, “Love the sinner, hate the sin,” and how many times have we heard pastors repeat that?
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Congregation: Yeah, oh, yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: A hundred times and they’re quoting Gandhi and then you show them, David’s quote from Psalm 139, and they look at you like you have two heads, when you show them what the Bible said in Psalm a 139 by David and then … the Gandhi quote rolls of their tongue. “Bok, love the sinner, hate the sin. Bok, love the sinner, hate the …” and you know what, Gandhi’s not saved. Gandhi’s not a Christian, remember. He would’ve have been a Christian if it weren’t for Christians.
<br><br>You know what, I would have been a Hindu if it weren’t for Hindus, buddy. Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it. I would have been a Hindu if they didn’t worship Satan. There’s my quote for you, Gandhi. “I’d be a Christian if it weren’t for Christians.” You know what, go to hell then, Gandhi, because you know what, there’s no salvation in any other for there’s none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, Gandhi, and yet Christians will quote that quote from Gandhi, “I would be a Christian if it weren’t for Christians. Love the sinner, hate the sin.”
<br><br>They’ll quote Gandhi today, who was a Satan worshiper because that’s what Hinduism is. They worship all kind of demons. What else is repeated constant … Yeah, okay, we’ve got to get off the Marching to Zion theme.
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Congregation: Not judging …
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Pastor Anderson: Yeah, judge not … Just judge not, period. Instead of the whole, where Jesus explains, “Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judge thee, judged you shall be judged.” Just a shortened, just, “Bok, judge not, judge not. Bok, bok.” Just repeated over and over again. Look, we need to stop just repeating stuff that we’ve heard, and, look, don’t even just repeat stuff that I’ve said.
<br><br>We need to get into the Word and figure out what the truth is and get the Word directly from God, as preachers and as prophets. We need to get it directly from God, through our own reading and our own study and through the Holy Spirit speaking to us and not just steal every man or words right here.
<br><br>Now let me say this. If I hear a good sermon from somebody, I’ll re-preach it. It’s not like, “Oh, well, I don’t want to preach that because I heard him say that, “ but the difference is that you actually fact check it, study it, internalize it, understand it, and then preach it in your own words, preach it in your own way. I’ve done that. I mean I could list for you sermons that I got from other people, that I learned from other people and re-preached. You have to absorb it and make it your own and then fact check it and search the Scriptures whether these thing be so, not just getting up and just repeating and repeating and repeating things that didn’t come from the Lord, they just came from your neighbor.
<br><br>Your fellow preacher is what he means by neighbor there. He says in verse number 31, “Behold, I am against the prophets sayeth the Lord, that use their tongues and say, ‘He said.’” They say, “He sayeth,” okay. Now what does that mean? They’re basically claiming that God said stuff that He didn’t say. Now this is my pet peeve when people quote God and God didn’t really say it. I mean if you’re going to say, “Well, here’s what Jesus said,” you’d better be able to show me chapter and verse on that.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: Or if you’re going to say, “Here’s what God said,” that I want to see it in the Bible but a lot of people will just say, “You know, God told me to buy this building or God told me to go do this and that,” but it’s all just from their own heart is what it is. It’s a figment of their imagination.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Now the Holy Spirit will bring to our remembrance the things that Christ has spoken unto us but He doesn’t just say to us random things that are not in the Bible and I always tell people when they try to tell me, “Well, God told me,” and they start saying a bunch of stuff that supposedly God told them, I always tell them, “Here, let me write that down in the back of my Bible as Scripture, then, because if that’s the Word of God, I want to make sure I have it in my Bible since that’s what God said to you. Let me write that down, and in fact, we need to get this written in everybody’s Bible.”
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: “Because man should not live by bread alone but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, so if God said that, then it needs to be recorded in Scripture, and, oh, you know, what was your name again? Frank? Okay, well, this is going to be the book of Frank, and we’re going to add that in there.” That’s what I tell people because, honestly, people are too … People are just too loose about just adding to God’s Word and the Bible says, “The Words of the Lord,” He said, “Every Word of God is pure. He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him. Add thou not unto His Words lest He reprove thee and thou be found a liar.”
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: “Add thou not unto His Words,” and the IC billboards where they just have these corny, cheesy quotes, and then they say, “God” at the end. “If you must swear, use your own name. God,” or stuff like that on a billboard. Now that’s blasphemous because first of all, God’s not that corny and cheesy as all these dumb jokes that you put on the billboard and number two that’s not God’s Word and it’s blasphemous to put that quote and say that God said it when God didn’t say and I … If I had a nickel for every time somebody said, “Well, Jesus said …” and then they just start giving all their own opinion, just all, just a big long opinion comes out … “This what Jesus said …”
<br><br>Where did He say that but He didn’t say it and that makes them a liar. God is saying here that these prophets, “They say, ‘He sayeth,’” but He’s, “I didn’t say that. I never said that.” I mean how would you like it if someone went around quoting you and claiming that you said a bunch of stuff that you didn’t say? You’d be angry, wouldn’t you?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: You’d be … There are even people who file lawsuits because they’ve been supposedly quoted as saying something that never was said, and yet people sometimes are just so quick to take what comes out of their own heart, what they dreamed up, what’s in their own imagination, their own feelings and emotions and just say, “This is what God told me.” “This is what the Holy Spirit said,” and on and on and they just add things to the Word and what does the Bible say? “I’m against them.”
<br><br>Now I would hate for God to be up in heaven saying, “I’m against Steven Anderson.” I mean you could think about how that would feel. Put your name in there. God said, “I’m against … Your name.” You go, “Whoa, what did I do? I need to fix it,” and why is He against them? Because they’re saying that He said things that He didn’t say and “He says, ‘Behold, I’m against them. They have prophesized false dreams,’ sayeth the Lord, ‘And do tell them and cause my people to err by their lies and by their lightness.’”
<br><br>What does lightness mean? Lightness is when it’s the opposite of gravity. It’s the opposite of taking something seriously. Using lightness is when are flippant or casual and not taking things seriously. Somebody who would just say, “Well, here’s what God said,” or “Here’s what Jesus said,” without stopping to be serious and make sure that they accurately give us what God said from the Bible. They just lightly, casually just throw things out there as the Word of God that are not really God’s Word.
<br><br>He’s saying, “They cause people to err by their lies and by their lightness.” Some of it’s just lying. Now what’s the difference between lying and lightness? Lying is intentional. See if I had some false information and I accidentally passed it on to you, you wouldn’t call that lying would you? If I thought that something were true and I said it to you and it turned out later it wasn’t true, you wouldn’t say I was lying, you’d say I was mistaken, wouldn’t you?
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: You were mistaken. You would not call that lying because lying is intentional. Lying is when you know the truth and you say something other than the truth purposely. That is what lying is, okay. What’s lightness? Lightness is just basically, when you’re mistaken because you didn’t take the time or take it seriously to get the information right. Now, certain things you don’t take that seriously because they’re not that serious, because they’re not a big deal and you might accidentally say, “Oh, yeah, he’s in that room … Oh, sorry, I thought he was in there. He’s actually over here.”
<br><br>Who cares but you know what? Are we to use the Word of God with lightness? I mean should we get up behind the pulpit with lightness? Should we get up behind the pulpit and say, “Well, this might be true. Just preach it, just say it. Yeah, it could be,” or “I don’t know, I heard somebody say it. It sounded good. Don’t have time to fact check it, just preach it.” There have been times when I have come across some ground breaking doctrine in the Bible, not that it was ground breaking because there’s nothing new under the sun, but it was ground breaking to me.
<br><br>It’s something that was new to me, something that I had newly learned. Obviously, there are all kinds of people out there who believed it before me no matter what it is but I found something new but I didn’t want to just get up and just with lightness, just the next Sunday morning, just get up and preach it so many times, I’ve taken three months, six months, nine months to digest a doctrine that is new to me, something that I’ve learned from the Word of God, just to make sure that I don’t just with lightness get up and preach something false, especially if it’s real different than what most people were saying.
<br><br>I always want to go back and study the Bible and make sure that I’m right about this and make sure there’s nothing that contradicts it before rolling out that sermon because you don’t want to use lightness with the Word of God. There are two problems, He says, with preachers when they lie and preach things that are false and when they use lightness, basically, not taking the responsibility seriously of learning the Word of God and preaching an accurate sermon, that’s what He’s saying.
<br><br>Now those of you who want to preach someday and I know we have a lot of guys in our church that would love to preach someday and be a pastor and I think that’s great and the more that we have the better, because that’s what we need today. We need pastors and preachers that will rise up and be a new generation that will preach the Word of God faithfully and be shepherds that will feed God’s people, according to His will and according to His heart but I think one of the big things that is needed amongst this new generation of preachers is that they must not use lightness when it comes to knowing doctrine and knowing the Word of God.
<br><br>It needs to be taken very seriously that they study to show themselves approved unto God, a workman that need not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth and people are constantly asking me, “What can I do to prepare to be a pastor and what can I do to learn and grow in that area?” and one of the biggest things that you could do is just read the Bible a lot.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: People say, “What’s the secret to understanding the Bible?” Number one, be saved. I’m sure you’ve got that down. You’ve got to be saved, the Holy Spirit has to be inside … but number two, I’ll tell you the big thing, just do a lot of reading. “Really, that’s it?” Yeah, it’s not complicated. “What about all these pastors who just don’t understand the Bible and they preach so much false doctrine?” It’s because they’re not doing the reading.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: I’ll guarantee you that that’s why and I’ve even heard, I’ve heard some of these pastors get up and say, “I’ve read the Bible 89 times and I’ve read the Bible a 100 times,” and you know what, I say, “You’re a liar because I’ve heard some of your preaching and I’ve heard the junk that you preach and I’ve heard the way you always misquote the Word of God every time you speak and if you’d read it that many times, you would know what it says and you wouldn’t be making the constant mistakes that you’re making from the pulpit.”
<br><br>Now look, everybody makes mistakes. Everybody gets things wrong. I’m sure I’ve gotten things wrong. I’m sure I’ve made mistakes, no one is perfect but when somebody is just continually, continually butchering the what the Word actually says and continually preaching that which is false and then they’re going to sit there and tell you, “Oh, I’ve read the Bible X amount of times.” First of all, why are you up there bragging about how many times you’ve read the Bible anyway, because you know what, if you really knew the Bible, you wouldn’t have to keep telling us how many times you’d read it. We’d just know by listening to your preaching.
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Congregation: Yeah, right.
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Pastor Anderson: This guy read the Bible a lot, just by listening to you. When you have to get up and give that number of, “Oh, I’ve read it this many times,” it’s because you didn’t really do it and you’re a liar. Now I’m not saying these people are all liars but I’m saying that I’ve heard some that are for sure a liar because they don’t know what the Bible says and then they say that and you’re like … “No, did you have your eyes open? Did you have the light on when you were reading it? Were you reading it in English?”
<br><br>Because they’re not and so I’m telling you, young men, if you want to be a great preacher, if you want to be a great pastor, one of the best things and even if you’re just toying with the idea of possibly pasturing somebody, the best thing you could do is learn the Bible, that’s the main thing. That is the problem today. It’s not just the lies, it’s the lightness and so we need men who will read and study and look, you say, “Well, I’m busy.” Well, then, you’re not going to be able to do the job then, okay. Because you have to make time to learn it but one way to do it is to get it on audio.
<br><br>You get the Alexander Scourby reading the King James and it’s great to listen to it in the car and you’ll get so much of it that way if you’re an auditory learner. I’m an auditory learner. I learn more from listening than from reading, some people are the other way around but you can get it in your car, in the cd player. You read it. Take it with you to work. Put it in your lunch bag. Put a New Testament in your pocket. Bible memorization and Bible reading are the key to understanding Scripture.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: That’s the key and when you have people that are making a lot of mistakes, it’s just because they’re ignorant of the Word. They haven’t done the reading. They haven’t done the memorization. That’s what we need and I don’t need to see your degree from some university. I don’t need to see how many times you claim that you’ve read it or whatever.
<br><br>I want to talk to somebody who actually knows the Bible and knows doctrine and understands what I’m talking about to where I could actually talk to you about Bible stories of the Old Testament and you actually know what story I’m talking about. Or I can actually talk to you about doctrines taught in the Epistles, in the New Testament and you actually are familiar with the Scripture that I’m talking to because you’ve read it repeatedly. Maybe you’ve even done some Bible memory.
<br><br>That’s what we need today is people … I mean think about it, if you wanted to chose a restaurant to go to or someone to cook, your food, do you really care how many degrees they have on the wall or do you want to just taste the food?
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Congregation: Taste the food.
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Pastor Anderson: I mean think about it. If the food tastes good, do you really care where they went to school? Do you really care how many hours they spent in training and learning and reading and studying and which countries they visited in their quest for the ultimate culinary art? No, what you care about is does the food taste good.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Because the proof is in the pudding.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor Anderson: I’m telling you, we need a new generation of young chefs … I mean preachers. I’m hungry, okay. This is what happens when I preach, I’m hungry. No, I’m just kidding. We need a generation of wives who cook for their husbands and cook breakfast and cook lunch and cook dinner and it’s tastes good. I’m sorry, it’s the wrong sermon. Wrong sermon. We need pastors and preachers … but look, the pastor is a spiritual chef.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor Anderson: Spiritual cook, this is the cookbook. This is … Well, This is where the food comes from, right. See this is like … Here’s how preaching is and I’ll close with this thought because this is a sermon for preachers and for people who want to preach someday. You say, “I’m never going to be a preacher. I’m not a preacher, what do I get out of the sermon?” This is the kind of preaching you should be listening to, okay, and this is the kind of preaching that you should gravitate toward but I always tell people who are learning how to preach, I always tell them that preaching is like cooking, because you’re feeding the people. That’s what God said in this chapter that we just looked at.
<br><br>He said, “The pastors feed the flock of God.” There are three great elements to being a great cook. To being a great cook, you have to have three great elements. Number one, you have to have the right ingredients, because you can have a great cook but if they’re buying cheap, junky ingredients, it’s going to come out in the food, isn’t it. If it’s a bunch of GMO, hydrogenated, filled with preservatives, I don’t care how skillful they are at polishing the apple if they’re using junky, cheapo, expired ingredients, the food’s not going to taste good.
<br><br>Number one, you’ve got to start with the right ingredients. Number two, you have to have a good recipe to be a good cook. You have a good recipe. You follow a good recipe in order to get your proportions right and everything and then number three to be a great cook, you have to be able to deviate from the recipe. That’s how you achieve perfection, because if you’re just a robot that just takes the right ingredients and then you have a great recipe and then you just bok, bok, bok, and everything’s just down to the milligram, it’s not going to come out … It’s going to come out good but it’s not going to come out perfect.
<br><br>Perfection is achieved when you can then taste it and add just a little pinch of this and a little pinch of that in order to deviate from the recipe to bring it to the next level and that’s how it is with preaching a sermon. Here’s what you have to do.
<br><br>Number one, you have to have the right ingredients, the King James version. I don’t care how good of a preacher you are, if you’re preaching out of the NIV, I don’t want that GMO, partially hydrogenated, preservative laden garbage that you have to say.
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Congregation: Yeah, amen.
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Pastor Anderson: I don’t want to put that stuff into my body. I don’t want to put that stuff into my soul either, so you have the right ingredients and by the way, that means actually using the King James Bible, not just one verse at the beginning of your sermon and then blah, blah, blah.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: That there’s a lot of nutritious ingredient put into that sermon, a copious amount of verses from the King James Bible, the right ingredients. Number two, you have to have a good recipe, which would be your outline, your sermon outline, that’s like your recipe, right, and so sometimes you may borrow recipes from other people a little bit but you have to number three, be able to make that recipe your own and you have to be able to deviate from the recipe.
<br><br>Now if you as a preacher just write out a sermon and you have that recipe and it’s a great recipe but you just get up and read the recipe to us and it’s just recited to us with no deviation, it’s not going to be as good of a sermon is if you can deviate from the recipe which in preaching that would be the Spirit’s leading. Because when you preach, the Holy Spirit should lead you and guide you and sometimes when you’re preaching, the Holy Spirit will bring things to your mind in the sense that Bible verses will pop into your head, not that He’s going to just tell you things that aren’t in the Bible but that the Holy Spirit will bring all things to your remembrance.
<br><br>[Inaudible 00:57:12] preaching, Bible verses will pop into your mind that weren’t even in the recipe, that weren’t even in the outline, that you didn’t even think of and then, “Oh, yeah, that’s perfect,” and then you can preach that extra verse, that extra point. Because sometimes, people will come to church and God knows that they need to hear a certain thing and that they need to hear … I mean how many times have you brought a visitor to church and the sermon was exactly what they needed to hear? Or you came to church and you’re like, “Wow, we were just talking about this” or this is just what I needed to hear.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: Basically, the Spirit can lead you like that when you’re preaching but here’s the thing, if you don’t have any Bible verses in your heart, then how’s God going to bring that to your remembrance what you don’t have in your mind and in your heart, so being a great cook is like being a godly preacher is that you have to have the right ingredients, you know the right recipe, the sermon outline, and then you have to be able to deviate from that outline and the only way you’re going to be able to deviate from the outline is if you’re preaching from your heart.
<br><br>Because if you’re just a machine that’s preaching from a piece of paper, you’re not going to be able to preach from the heart and you’re not going to be able to deviate from the outline, which the deviation is when the Holy Spirit’s bringing the Word to your mind. How’s He going to bring it to your mind, because you’ve read it so many times and because you’ve memorized it so many times that it just comes to you while you’re preaching from your memory bank.
<br><br>The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit. It’s what the Spirit uses in our hearts and in our lives but here’s the thing, we’ve got to give them the tools, folks. How can the Holy Spirit use that which isn’t there?
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor Anderson: You’ve got to have the Word in your heart, in order for God to be able to have that full arsenal of Scripture to pull out and use in any given sermon as the Spirit leads.
<br><br>I pray that this sermon would inspire a generation of preachers that would understand that the preachers out there, many of them are scattering the flock. They’re not doing the soul winning. They’re scared to preach what’s right. They’re just borrowing phrases and buzz phrases from their neighbor. They’re just preaching the same things over and over again. They’re leaving out a big part of the message and they’re adding to God’s Word and they’re not doing …
<br><br>Look, we need a generation that would rise up and feed the people as God would have them fed. Let’s bow our heads and have a Word of prayer.
<br><br>Father, we thank you for this chapter, Jeremiah 23, Lord, that was penned down thousands of years ago but yet it is applicable today. We look at it today and we say, “Wow, this is really accurate to what we see, Lord.” Please help us to not fall into this category where You would say that You’re against us and help us, Lord, to study, to show ourselves approved unto You, and in Jesus name … </p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-80597883251920436522016-05-03T14:12:00.000-07:002016-05-03T14:12:02.805-07:00Women Working in Light of the Bible <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnwqktjWrVM">Video</a>
<p><b>March 22, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GnwqktjWrVM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> Hi, this is chapter 2, the part that I'd like to focus on is beginning of verse number three, when the bible reads, "The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discrete, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." Now, let me just point out to you a little bit later in the chapter, about the Lord Jesus Christ, in verse 14, the bible reads, "Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all inequity, and ..." So he didn't just come just to save us from our sins and to redeem from all inequity, but he said, "... And to purify onto himself a peculiar people, zealots of good works."
<br><br>Now what does it mean to be a peculiar people? Well, if you go back to the Old Testament, we don't have to turn there for sake of time, but when God first said this, in the Old Testament, he said it about the nation of Israel. He said, "If you follow my word, if you keep my statutes," He said, "Then you will be a holy nation. You will be a chosen people." And he said, "You will be a peculiar treasure unto me." You will be different is what that means. You will be different is what that means. When he says, "You're a peculiar people." He's saying you're going to be different from all the other nations around you. That's what he said to them in the Old Testament. In the New Testament, we as Christians are called out to be a peculiar people unto the Lord.
<br><br>My question today is, what is the difference today between the way a lot of Christians live their lives and the philosophies that they hold, and the way that the world lives, and the way that the world teaches. The difference ought to be an adherence to God's word amongst his people. That's what makes us peculiar.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: By the way, being pure is what makes us peculiar. He's here to purify unto himself, a peculiar people zealous of good works. Then he tells the young preacher, Titus, these things speak. He said, "Don't just live it. Speak it. Say it. Preach it." He said, "These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority." What does it mean to rebuke? It means to sternly tell someone 'you're wrong.' That's what it means to deliver a rebuke. Of course, the famous passage in first Timothy, chapter 4 says, "Preach the word, be instant, in season out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering doctrine." Well, what needs to be reproved? What needs to be rebuked? What is it that needs to be spoken by the pastor.
<br><br>Well, it says right here in verse 15, these things speak. These things rebuke, with all authority. Meaning don't get up and say, "Hey, this is my opinion."
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Congregation: Yeah, right.
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Pastor: "Hey, here's how I think it is." No. He says, "Speak it with authority."
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: That's what they noticed about Jesus when he preached, he did not teach them as the scribes. The Bible says he taught them as one having authority. Let me tell you something, this is the authority.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Whether you acknowledge it or not, the word of God is the final authority. What are the things that need to be spoken and need to be rebuked with all authority? Well, earlier in the chapter, he gave us what those things are. He gave it for different groups of people. He said, "Hey, here's some advice for the aged men. Here's some advice for the aged women. Here's some advice for the young women." And then he said, "Here's some advice for the young men." In verse 6, "Young men likewise, exhort to be sober minded in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works." Meaning, not just preach it, but set the example. "In all things showing thyself a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity."
<br><br>Now the part of the chapter that I want to focus on, as an obedient student of God's word, who is commanded to preach and exhort and teach these things with all authority, I want to focus on versus 3 through 5, where the Bible reads, "The aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. Not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discrete, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, and that the word of God be not blasphemed." Now notice that in these three versus that are directed toward the aged women and the young women, two out of three here have to do with the home life. They have to do with the marriage and they have to do with motherhood, if you look at those last two verses there. It says that the women should love their husbands, love their children, to be discrete, chaste, keepers at home. Now what does it mean to be a keeper at home? Well, we have the term housekeeping. What does it mean? To keep the house, to take care of things around the house. That's the job.
<br><br>Now flip over to fist Timothy, chapter 5. Just a few pages to the left in your Bible. First Timothy, chapter number 5. First Timothy, chapter number 5, as we figure out how we're going to live our lives differently than what the world is telling us is the way to live our lives.
<br><br>Let's look at first Timothy, chapter 5, verse 13. This talks about a bad example about women who are not doing right. It says in verse 13, "With all they learn to be idle, wondering about from house to house, and not only idle, but tattlers also and busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not." Verse 14. "I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully, for some are already turned aside after Satan." It's amazing how people often believe that they're smarter than God. They look at stuff that God tells them to do, and they think to themselves, "Well, I don't need that advice. I'm actually okay on my own, just kind of living my life the way that I believe it should be lived. I'm never going to turn aside after Satan. I'm never going to go out and do wicked things or become a bad person." But what does the Bible say? He said, "I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, and guide the house." That's God's will. That's what the Bible teaches here. And he says, "Some are already turned aside after Satan." There are women who go into sin because of the fact that they do not heed this great advice in first Timothy, chapter number 5.
<br><br>Now flip over, if you would, to Proverbs, chapter 15. Proverbs, chapter 15. Right in the middle of your Bible is the Book of Psalms, and then right after that is Proverbs. The main thing that I want to preach about this morning is the subject of women working outside the home, and the husband not providing and being the breadwinner of the home, but rather both husband and wife working. This has become the norm in our society today. It's not biblical. It's not God's will. It's not something that is the standard that the word of God says.
<br><br>You say, "I can't ... I'm just going to turn this off right now." Well, go ahead and put your iPod in your ears then, or whatever. Feel free to get up and walk out and leave whenever you want, but as long as I'm the pastor here, the word of God will thunder forth from this pulpit, with all authority, and I don't care if it's in season or out of season, this is the truth of God's word today. This might offend people, my goal is never to offend everyone, I'm for peace, but when I speak, therefore war. I'm here to tell you that the word of God is just as true today as it was 2000 years ago when it was penned down. I believe this and stand for this, and I'm not going to water down the message because it offends someone. I don't want to offend anybody, but if it offends, well, if the shoe fits, then wear it.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: Let me just say this, today, the norm in our society, amongst those who are not the peculiar people of God, is that both husband and wife will both work, they'll both have a career, they both earn, it's 50/50, and yada, yada, ya. That's what our world teaches. What the Bible teaches is that it's man's responsibility to provide for his him, and to provide for they of his own house, and that the woman's job is to be a keeper at home, to be good, to be obedient to her husband, and to raise the children and guide the house and keep the house. I'll submit to you that that is a full-time job.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Keeping the house.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Taking care of things in the family, and taking care of the children is a full-time job, and that is the job that God has ordained as his perfect will, his perfect plan, for women's lives.
<br><br>Now, what is the motivation to have both parties work? Both the man and his wife to work. Well, there could be several motivations, but one motivation could possibly be that they want to have a higher standard of living than what they can afford on one income. They want to have things that one income will not afford. Maybe bigger fancier dwelling places, maybe vehicles and nice clothes and trips and all the different things that can be acquired with two incomes, in their mind, they want to do that. Let me tell you this, it's more important to have a good marriage than to have nice things.
<br><br>I'll tell you this. I'd be much happier to be poor and have a good marriage, and have a loving relationship with my spouse, than to have all kinds of nice things and have strife and friction in the home. I'm going to explain that as we get further into the sermon, but look what the Bible says in Proverbs 15, verse 15. It says this, "All of the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart, hath a continual feast." You know what the Bible's saying there is that if you have a good attitude about life, it doesn't matter whether you have a little or a lot, whether you're rich or poor, if you have a good attitude, you can enjoy life if you have a merry heart, it's a continual feast, even if you don't have the literal food laid out on the table.
<br><br>He says in verse 16, "Better is little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure and trouble there with. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred there with." What's he saying? You'd rather have a loving Christ pleasing relationship between the husband and wife and eat a vegetarian meal, if that's what it takes. I know this sounds radical, I'm not vegan by any stretch of the imagination. I plan on eating a few pounds of meat today. But I'm saying if I had the choice between sending my wife to work, ignoring God's advice, sending my wife to work, creating marriage problems that are associated with sending my wife to work, just so that I can have a bunch of beef in the freezer, it's not worth it.
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Congregation: That's right.
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Pastor: It's be better to have a dinner of herbs where there's love and where there's no trouble and strife and contention and fighting, and where we have the fear of the Lord, and where we're obeying God's plan, and pleasing him. We'd rather eat rice and beans and a vegetarian meal, than to have a stalled ox and hatred and trouble and strife and all the things that go what it.
<br><br>Look at chapter 17 verse 1. The Bible reads, in Proverbs 17:1, "Better is a dry morsel and quietness there with, than a house full of sacrifices with strife." The sacrifices there is referring to meat. Animal, because they'd make animal sacrifices, they'd eat the meat, and that's what it's referring to. You don't have to turn there.
<br><br>Turn to Mathew 6, if you would. You turn to Mathew 6, I'll read to you from Ecclesiastes 4:6, where the Bible reads, "Better is an handful with quietness, than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit." The reason I'm showing you all these verses is just to let you know that you're priorities need to be about something other than money and material possessions. Now, you go ahead and make the decision whether or not you agree with my sermon this morning. I'm not going to get up here and tell you what to do. I don't have authority to dictate your personal life, and if you want to walk out of here and say, "You know what, Pastor Anderson's completely out to lunch on this. I think that it's better if both husband and wife work." Well, number one, you didn't get that from the Bible. And number two, go ahead and do that, and you're the one who's going to have to deal with strife, and you're the one who's going to have to deal with all the trouble and all the hatred and all the hassle that comes with that. I'm going to go home and be quiet and happy, and fear the Lord.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: It's up to you whether you take the wisdom that I'm laying down to you from the word of God, right now, or whether you go the way of the world. Is there any dispute that the world is going to teach you, "Hey, both have a career. Both work. 50/50. Everybody pulls their share." That's what the world is going to tell you, and look at the world, it's a failure.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: God's people need to be a peculiar people, be different, called out from the world to follow his word and his mentality and the way of life that he lays out.
<br><br>I'm trying to lay down, first of all, that money should not be the deciding factor, because it's better to be poor and to be observing God's word, and to have a loving, Godly relationship with your spouse, where there's peace. Look at Mathew 6:25.
<br><br>The Bible said, "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air, for they sow not, neither do they reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature?"
<br><br>"And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you that even Solomon in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothed the grass in the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven. Shall he not much more clothe you, oh ye of little faith. Therefore, take not thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink, or where withal shall we be clothed. For after all these things do the Gentiles seek, for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take, therefore, no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."
<br><br>What's God saying here? Look, it's not about, life's just not about just eating and drinking and nice clothes. No. It's about seeking first the kingdom of God, his righteousness, okay, what he considers righteous, not what the world considers right, what he considers right, and doing it that way, and then just trusting the Lord to provide your needs and to take it from there, and not to look way out in the future, "Oh, what about this? What about this? And what if this happens? And what if ..." No. Just today. Give us this day our daily bread. Just live your life and be happy and content with what God gives you, and not lusting after more wealth and gain and possessions.
<br><br>Look at first Timothy, chapter 6. We'll find something very similar in first Timothy, chapter 6. Beginning in verse 6, I'll start reading while you're turning there. "But Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out." Look at verse 8 in first Timothy 6. "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content."What are at two things that God guarantees us in this life as his children? He guarantees to provide us with food and clothing. Now, is he guaranteeing us a lavish dwelling place? In heaven, right? In my father's house are many mansions, I go to prepare a place for you. But on this earth, he guarantees food and raiment. He said, "That's enough." He's not guaranteeing a lavish dwelling. He's not guaranteeing any particular mode of transportation. He's not guaranteeing anything outside of food and clothing. He said, "You know what, that should be enough. If you get more than that, it's a blessing, enjoy it." That's what we should be content with.
<br><br>He says, "Having food and raiment, let us be there with content, but they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith." Sounds like those people who turned aside after Satan, right? They've erred from the faith "... and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, o man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, Godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."
<br><br>We could do a whole sermon on just each of those words. Righteousness, doing what's right. Doing things the right way is what God's saying there. That's more important than how much money you have. Did you do it right? That's what matters to God. He said righteousness, Godliness, right? Following the laws and commandments of God. Living a life that pleasing to God. Faith. Trust in God. Isn't that what Mathew 6 was all about, when it said, "Hey, don't worry so much about where the money's going to come from, have faith in God." Trust in the Lord. He said Love. Isn't that what Proverbs talked about when it said, "Look, you'd rather have love in your house and a loving relationship with your spouse." You'd rather live in the corner of a housetop, than with a brawling woman, or with a contentious woman, in a large house. You'd rather live in the corner of the house top, you'd rather have a dinner of herbs, you'd rather live in an attic and eat vegetarian, than to have a big nice house and a bunch of beef, and a bunch of na na na. That's what the Bible says. I'm just ... It's what it says.
<br><br>All right, now I'm going to get on the men for awhile, because you're like, "Oh man, he's getting on the women and really get ..." No. Let's get on the ... Oh, but there's a few more things on the list cause we love. How about patience. Do you know what patience is? Patience is when you get married, and you don't expect to just have all the nice things that your parents had when they're in their 40s, and you expect to have that when you're 20.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Patients said, "I can wait to achieve a higher standard of living." Let me tell you something, when your parents were in their 40s, they didn't start out, necessarily that way, when they were 18, 19, 20. But then kids today think that they just become an adult, get married, and then it's just boom, three car garage, the boat, the SUV. They'll do whatever it takes to get there, and it isn't right. They need to be content and have patience.
<br><br>Meekness. What's meekness? Being humble. What is another reason why like to spend a lot of money? To make themselves on a higher level to their peers. Right? To look more successful unto man. Meekness says, "You know what, I'm okay being poor and living a humble life."
<br><br>What about the men? Well, flip back to chapter 5, because this really hinges on the man, because if we're going to get up and talk about, "Hey, the woman needs to be a keeper at home, she need to guide the house, she needs to marry and bear children and guide the house." Well, who's going to make that possible? A man who goes to work and pays the bills and makes that possible. What does the Bible teach. First Timothy, chapter 5 verse 8. "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." The Bible demands that men step up to the plate and provide for their fa-. You say, "Oh this sermon's anti women." No. This sermon is empowering women. This is a sermon that's positive women. Getting women in their proper role, being cared for, nurtured, loved, and cherished by their husband as the Bible teaches.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: That's what the Bible says. It's men today who have allowed the current situation in 2015, to even exist.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: It's their slackness and laziness, and also their desire for material gain, instead of living a Godly righteous life. Now, the Bible says in Lamentations, 327, you don't have to turn there, but just in regard to starting out humble and maybe achieving a higher standard of living a little later in life, the Bible, says, "It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth." What does that mean? It's good to work hard, to buckle down, and strife and struggle and bear the yoke in your youth. That's what the Bible says. Not only that, but all throughout the Old Testament, we have the concept of 6 days shalt thou labor. Not only that, but Jesus, when he talked about a work day, he often spoke of a 12 hour work day. You don't have to turn to these. If you want, you can flip over to Mathew 20. Why don't you go ahead and turn to Mathew 20.
<br><br>Jesus said in John 9, verse 4, "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day. The night cometh when no man can work." In chapter 11, verse 9, he said, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."
<br><br>Now look down, if you would, at Mathew, chapter 20, verse 2. It says, "And when he had agreed with the laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard." This is a man who is hiring workers to go out into the field and reap the harvest, and he sends them out into the vineyard. Now look at chapter 20, verse 6. It says, "And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle?" And "They say unto him, Because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, Call the laborers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first." So they work from morning until evening. They work for 12 hours in this particular parable.
<br><br>If we study the Bible, what we see as being the norm, I'm not saying you have to do this. I'm not getting up here and commanding this from the Bible, no. But if you just look at what the Bible considers the norm, and what God refers to as a normal work week, it's 6 days, not 5. That's what God points to. Not only that, when you look at what God considers a normal work day, it's a 12 hour work day. This idea of just 40 hours being this ceiling of, "I can't work more than 40 hours or I'll die." That is not true, because honestly, the Bible actually indicates, if you say the Old Testament way of life, they're pretty much working a 72 hour work week, but they had one day off every week, totally off, the Sabbath. Right? But then not only that, they had feasts. They had a few weeks off in the year, three weeks of a whole week off. Vacation time, as it were. It's not that God is just saying, "Just work work work non-stop." No, you get a day off every week, three weeks off throughout the year, and that's it. Then also they had other periods, like in the Year of Jubilee, and the Sabbath year where they would take it easier and relax and so forth.
<br><br>Life goes through cycles where you're working really hard, and then you have some times to take it easy and relax and refresh yourself. The Bible teaches that that's a good thing to do, take a week off, or take some time, and even take a year where you'd lighten things up a little bit. Great, but you know what, God doesn't just sit there and guarantee you that you're going to have all of your needs perfectly met just by going to the most minimal easiest job you can find that doesn't require you to push yourself and work hard, and go in there, punching in, and punching out, for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and doing the absolute minimum. And you're going, "Well, why can't I provide my needs?" No. Sometimes you got to work hard.
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Congregation: Yeah. right.
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Pastor: Sometimes you got to burn the midnight oil, and you got to put in the 72 hour work weeks, and sometimes even go beyond that. What I can't understand for the life of me is, if people can live on two incomes, then what if the husband would just work two jobs.
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Congregation: Yeah. Right.
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Pastor: You could have the identical standard of living. This idea that says, "Well, it just doesn't work. You just can't make it today." Look, we're living in the land of opportunity here. We're living in the United States of America.
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Congregation: That's right.
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Pastor: It's not like we're living in some depressed part of Mexico or somewhere in the developing world where it's just, you go to some factory and make a dollar a day of some crazy thing like that. No, we live in America, the opportunities are there, the jobs are there. I'm not saying you're going to drive a fancy vehicle. I'm not saying you're going to live in the lap of luxury, but you know what, it is possible today, listen to me, it's possible today for a man to go to work and pay for him and his wife to feed them, and to put a roof over their head.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: They might have to ride a bike somewhere, or they might have to walk somewhere. God forbid, it might actually add some years to your life, if you'd actually walk somewhere. Now look, I'm not saying it's [inaudible 00:25:55], I mean, having a car is great, if you've earned it. Once you get to that point. Once you work and earn those things, but those things aren't just your God given right. Look, I don't remember Jesus tossing the keys to Peter and saying, "Hey, go warm up the car Peter." I don't even remember Jesus getting on a horse, one time in his whole life do we see him climb aboard a beast, and he gets on top of that colt, the foal of an ass, that had never been ridden before. He gets on that and he rides in and they say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
<br><br>Where else do you see Jesus and his disciples (Bonanza theme). You don't see them riding around the wild west of Israel. No. Guess what they're doing? Walking.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Guess what they did, they walked and ran everywhere that they went, because that's what they had. They didn't even have two coats, sometimes, when they went out [inaudible 00:26:54], and out on these missionary trips to these villages. They just went with a staff in their hand, and they went with sandals on their feet, and that's what they did. Look, people in the Bible, most people in the Bible did not ride horses, if you read the Bible. See people walking and running from place to place.
<br><br>This idea that just says, "Hey, I've got to have two vehicles." And people today demand two vehicles. I'll tell you what, it's a luxury if you have two vehicles. If you have two vehicles, you should be thankful for your husband for providing that, ladies, because that is a blessing, and that is something extra. It isn't just a [inaudible 00:27:36]. You should be thankful if you have one vehicle, that that's being provided, because back in the day, people had to go get groceries and carry them home in some kind of a wagon, or carry them, or somehow, they had to haul that stuff. It's just so much nicer to be able to just hop in the car, turn on the air conditioner, go get what you need, bring it home. It's a blessing.
<br><br>What am I saying? I'm not saying to not use technology. I'm not saying not to live in a nice place. I'm not saying not to get a nice vehicle, but I'm say appreciate it when you get it, and don't just consider it, like, "This is my right." "This is what I got coming to me." No it isn't. You know what you've got coming to you, food and clothing.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: I didn't even say name brand clothing. Just clothes, in general, is what the Bible tells you you've got coming to you.
<br><br>Now go to First Kings, chapter 19. First Kings, chapter 19. Let me say this, sending your wife to work, it doesn't even always make financial sense anyway.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Because when you sit there and realize, "Okay, now we're going to need two vehicles. I go to work, she goes to work. Not only are we going to need two vehicles, she's going to need her whole work wardrobe." Then guess what, food's not being prepared at home, so what are we doing? Eating out. Very expensive. Or, readymade meals. Stuff that's not made from scratch. That's going to cost more money. Now you're going into this tax bracket, married filing jointly, two incomes. Then, you're having children, of course, you know, reproducing. Well, guess what, now the children are going into daycare, to be molested and who knows what, by who knows who.
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Congregation: Yep.
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Pastor: But you're putting your kids in daycare, well guess what, that costs money. At the end of the day, you have to ask yourself, "Is this even profitable?" Plus, there have been multiple studies shown that men who work and provide for their wife, actually earn more money, than men whose wife works. Part of the reason why is that if your wife works, sometimes it messes with your job, because it's like, "Oh, I've already used up all my sick days." I've worked with people like this, where they've had to take off to be with their sick kid because their wife had already used up the sick days, and then it was like, oh, now they have to stay home. It was affecting, they couldn't really give it a 100% at their job. It affects their earning potential, in that sense.
<br><br>You have to ask yourself, is it even profitable, because here's the thing. If you have a stay at home wife, then she is able to go out and get the best deals on the groceries, and shop around, and as Proverbs 31 says, "Bring her food from afar." Go and find the deals and the discounts and what's on sale. She can go out and find the clothing that ... The suits that I wear are all used. I don't wear any new suits. These are all from the thrift store. My wife knows how to go to the thrift store without me, try on one of my suit coats, and she knows that if it fits her a certain way, like, "This is his size." Pretty cool, right? I hate buying clothes. She'll just go and check the suit and put it on, kind of feel it in her shoulders, and know, like, "Okay, I know how it's supposed to fit." And get it for ... She has time to do that.
<br><br>You know what you do when you don't have time? When you're running around like a chicken with your head cut off because you're both working. You know what you end up doing? Is just, "Oh, I'll just buy whatever." You just buy what's easy.
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Congregation: Yep.
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Pastor: Just whatever's close. Just, "Oh, I'll just go to Whole Foods and just put whatever on the card." Yeah, that's pretty expensive.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Or Basha or wherever you go, but when you can just sit there and get the sales and you can hit up Trader Joe's and then you get the sale at Whole Foods and go over here to Sprouts, and whatever, and piece meal it and save some money, that's going to help the finances. A lot of companies, they'll hire somebody full time, called a purchasing agent. This person's full time job, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, is just to buy stuff. The reason they hire a purchasing agent is because they know that they can save a ton of money if they have somebody just buying stuff and getting the right deals, instead of just being in a hurry all the time and just buying whatever's the closest, because you're not even thinking about it because you don't have time, because you're so busy. And so on and so forth.
<br><br>A lot of people will say this, they'll say, "Well, what if things don't work out? You know the wife, she needs that career to fall back on, in case things don't work out, if you know what I mean." This is a wicked concept, because the Bible teaches that marriage is supposed to be till death do us part.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: The Bible says that what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. A man shall cleave unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. And the Bible teaches over and over again that marriage is for life, and that it is not something that just lasts a little while and then you just get divorced. They say, "Well, but you never know, you need that plan B." I say burn your bridges behind you. I say failure is not an option.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Look what the Bible says in First Kings. I love this story in chapter 19, verse 15. "And the Lord said unto him," this is God speaking to Elijah, "Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus, and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, and Jehu the son of Nimshi, shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room." So he's saying he's going to be the new prophet instead of you. He's going to be the new preacher. "And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay, and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay. Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him, and cast his mantle upon him."
<br><br>So here's a man, Elisha, who is doing his work. He's out plowing with oxen, and as he's out plowing with the oxen, Elijah throws his mantel on him. The symbolic passing on of the mantel. That doesn't mean that he's taking over that day, but Elisha is going to start to follow Elijah, and he's going to be his protégé, and Elijah's going to be training him and mentoring him, and he's going to serve Elijah. And the Bible says that Elisha poured water on the hands of Elijah. Meaning that even when Elijah went to eat his food, and he need to wash his hands, Elisha would get the water and pour it for him so that he could wash his hands. [inaudible 00:34:30] turn on the facet, somebody had to pour it. He's a servant. He's ministering unto him.
<br><br>It says in verse 20, this is what Elisha did when the mantel falls upon him. "And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my mother and my father, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again, for what have I done to thee? And he returned back from him," watch what he does. "And took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him."
<br><br>So what does he do? He's plowing with the oxen. Elijah anoints him profit in his room. He casts the mantel upon him, basically saying, "You know what, you're going to be the next Elijah." You're going to be the next guy. And when he does that, he says, "Okay, I just want to say good bye to my father and mother." "Okay." He goes back, and he takes all the tools of his trade, all the tools of his job, the instruments of the oxen, the tools, and he takes those and he burns them, and he uses those to make the fire. He takes all of his tools and instruments, and he lights them on fire, and he uses that fire to cook the meat of the oxen that he's plowing with. So here he has this oxen that he's plowing with. That's his job. It's his work vehicle, as it were. And he basically says, "Not going to need this stuff anymore." Burns all the tools, cooks all the meat, kills his animals, cooks it all up, gives it all unto his people as a good bye and something to leave them with, and he takes off and follows Elijah.
<br><br>Now he can't really get two days in to his training with Elijah, and say, "You know, I changed my mind. I'm going home." I don't like the lifestyle that you're living. I don't want to live like this. This is too hard. This is too much work. This is not what it's cracked up ... You're not as cool of a guy, now that I'm pouring water on your hands, as you were when I was admiring you from afar. Elijah was a well known guy. Elijah was known unto all Isreal.
<br><br>This is after Elijah's already faced off with the profits of Baal. Everybody knows who Elijah, he's the greatest preacher on earth at that time. When Elijah throws his mantel on you, you're going to follow him. It's sort of like when Jesus is saying to the disciples, "Follow me." And they're forsaking all and following him. When Elijah comes, says, "Follow me." You're going to follow him. But notice, he burned his bridges behind him. He didn't leave a way back, saying, "You know what, I'm going to try following Elijah and see how it goes. Now mom and dad, it's okay if I come back in a little bit, right? I'll still have ... you're not going to get somebody else to plow, right? Can you kind of hold onto my job for me? Just so that I have kind of a plan B?" No. There was no plan B. Burn everything, cook everything, eat everything, say good bye to everybody, and you're going to do God's will for your life. He's basically deciding to follow a man, Elijah. That's going to be his leader. That's the one that's going to teach him. Of course, Elijah does teach him, and he ends up becoming a great man of God, and doing twice as great of works as Elijah did. Twice as great. But first he was humble and followed.
<br><br>Well, now let's think about the illustration here with women who are getting married. What are they basically signing on to do? To follow a man, because the Bible says the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, that they're to be subject under their husband. When you get married, you're choosing to follow that man as your Elijah, in a sense, spiritually speaking. You ought to burn your bridges behind you. Even more so than this story. This story is just about a guy who's learning how to be a preacher. Okay. Technically, if he would have turned back, he wouldn't be committing a big sin.
<br><br>Obviously God wanted him to follow, and it wouldn't have been right for him to not follow God's will for his life, but look, at least he wouldn't be committing adultery. Hello, is anybody out there. At least he wouldn't be committing adultery. At least he wouldn't be breaking a vow to God, but when you get married and you say I'm going to follow you as my husband, you're going to be my leader, and you break that vow and go be with another man, you shall be called an adulteress, the Bible says in Romans, chapter 7, verse 3. "If, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress." That's what the Bible says. In Romans, is that a book that you like? Romans 7. Not to mention all the other places that teach the same thing. And breaking a vow before God, God calls you a fool, and he says he'll punish you when you break your vows.
<br><br>This is an even lessor example, but we see a man who burns his bridges behind him. When we know that something is right, when we know that God wants us to do something, and we know what God feels, then we need to just burn our bridges and say, "You know what, I'm going to do what's right." Not, "Well, you need the plan B though, just in case it doesn't work out." Did Peter have a plan B when he stepped out and walked on the water with Jesus? Jesus said, "Step out by faith." He bad him to come out on the water, and when Peter stepped on the water, and walked on the water to Jesus, what was the plan B? Did he put on ... "Well, let me put on my life preserver." You know what, if he would have put on a life preserver, he wouldn't of walked on water.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: I promise you, if you study that story, if he would have put on a life jacket, he would have put like a rubber ducky, a swim ring on and then stepped out of the boat, you know what he would have done? [inaudible 00:40:26], you know that's true. Even when he looked around and doubted and saw the waves, what happened? He sank. What's grabbing the life preserver? It's doubt. If Jesus is telling you to walk on the water, you can do it.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You know what, we're not asking you to walk on water. We're asking you to be a wife, just follow your husband like the Bible teaches. Is that really so radical of an idea? Yes it is in 2015, because of our weird, twisted, perverse, society that we live in today in America. It's been corrupted by Hollywood and Madison Avenue and the media, into believing all this garbage, and it's not true. Burn the bridge behind you.
<br><br>Now, go to Leviticus, chapter 22. Leviticus, chapter 22. Leviticus, chapter 22, because you say, "Well, okay Pastor Anderson, obviously a woman with a bunch of kids, you know, probably needs to stay home and watch the kids and take care of the house. That's a full time job." But a lot of people ask, "Well, what about before they have kids though?" What about wives before they have kids? Or what about even before they get married, when they're just single? What about that? Well, you know, let's see what the Bible says. The Bible talks about this in Leviticus 22:13, and it says, "But if the priest's daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father's house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father's meat, but there shall be no stranger eat thereof." So, the Bible has this concept of women living at home with their parents and being supported by their parents. Even in this particular instance, we have a woman who goes out and gets married, and her husband dies before she has any kids or anything, or her husband divorces her, and it says where she returns back to her father's house and eats his meat.
<br><br>The reason I bring that up is that I'm just telling you that my daughters ... and you go do whatever you want. You can choose to ignore everything that I'm saying. You can go home and read the Bible for yourself, and if you decide that the Bible teaches something different than what I'm teaching this morning, then by all means, follow the Bible. I'm not God. But let me tell you something, I've studied the scripture, and what I'm saying is biblical. If you search the scriptures, you'll see the same thing, that this modern way that we do things is not biblical, where we have both people going to work. By the way, it's even new to American culture. Even throughout American history, for hundreds of hundreds of years, men provided and the women stayed home. Even throughout human history, all over the world.
<br><br>Where did I have you turn? Somebody help me out.
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Congregation: Leviticus, 20:13.
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Pastor: Still Leviticus, huh? Well go to Matthew 19. Somebody help me out. What was I starting to say? I was starting to say something. It was important.
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Pastor: Oh yeah, yeah, the dau-, yeah, yeah. Says the guy with the daughter. He's like, "Daughters." Yeah. Let me just say this. Here's what I believe, and here's how I'm doing it in my house. My daughters are not going to get job while they live in my house, period. If you think that my 16 year old daughter ... and no, I don't have a 16 year old daughter, but when I do, if you think that when my daughter turns 16, she's going to be over at Taco Bell, or over at wherever, In and Out Burger, wherever, working, you're wrong. I will provide for my daughters as long as they live in my house.
<br><br>You say why? Well, because I don't believe that this is God's plan for women to go out and get the college degree, and get the job, and get the career, and get out there and work. Why would I send my daughter to work, if she's not going to work as a kid out in the world, up until 16 she's not working out in the world, right? And then as soon as she gets married, she's not going to be working. She's going to be a homemaker and taking care of the home. Then why would I send her out to work for a few years? So that she can just make some little amount of money, just to help kick in a little. No, it's not worth it, to put my daughter out there to all these worldly influences.
<br><br>Now you say, "What about your sons?" Look, my sons, as soon as they're old enough to work, they're going to be out there working and making money. Why? Because that's what they're going to be doing for the rest of their lives.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Say, "Well, but what's the dif-, you have a double standard?" Yes. "What do you mean you have a double standard?" "No, no, I don't have a double standard. I think men and women are exactly the same." That's what our world teaches today.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: "Oh, what are you saying, there's a difference between men and women?" Yes. There's a huge difference.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: It's a massive difference. From Genesis to Revelations, there's a huge difference. Don't give me this, "Oh, double standard." Yes, it's a double standard. I don't deal the same with my sons and my daughters. Why don't we have them all use the same bathroom too, while we're at it, out in public. Oh yeah, California's already doing that. Yeah, why don't they all dress the same? Why don't they all use the same bathroom? Why don't they wear their hair the same? Why don't they do all the same thing? Look, we have this weird unisex, perverted society. Sorry, I'm peculiar. I'm just peculiar like that. I actually believe that there's a difference between men and women. Imagine that.
<br><br>Let me say this, there is a difference, and one of the big differences is that I'm going to expect my sons, as young men, to go out and fend for themselves out there, and stand up for what's right. I'm not going to expect my daughter to just be put in an environment with a whole bunch of men and a whole of wicked people that want to take advantage of them, and just kind of throw them to the wolves, as it were. No. It's my job to protect and to be that guardian. I'm going to walk her down the aisle someday, and pass her off to the next guardian, so that she goes from her father's house, to the husband. That's the passing off of the mantel that needs to take place when it comes to a daughter. That's what I believe.
<br><br>Why does she need to work? You say, "Well, but what about before she has kids?" What about before she's married? I just don't believe in it. Look, again, there are people that are in different situations and there are people, there are women who work for whatever reason, and I'm not just attacking women who work or just getting on them or saying that you're not right with God and whatever, because there's some situations where you're not being provided for. I'm not faulting. I'm not saying, "Hey, it's your fault that you're not doing this." What am I saying? I'm preaching what's right. I'm preaching how things should be.
<br><br>Look, there's a million ways to do it wrong. I'm not blaming you or blaming anybody. You figure out your own situation. I'm not here to condemn anybody's situation. I don't have people in mind right now of certain situations. I'm preaching the Bible. What does the Bible teach that we should do? It teaches that we as dads, and look, if anything I'm getting on the men. It teaches that we as dads, need to pay for our daughters. Now we might not be able to provide them with a pink convertible when they turn 16, but it's our job to provide for our daughters. Then it's the job of the husband to provide for the wife. What is so hard to understand about this?
<br><br>You say, "Well, you know, the plan B is important." You know what the plan B leads to? Divorce.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Why? Well, because if you don't have a plan B, then you'd think less about divorce. You're stuck. "Oh, that's so terrible." Why'd you marry the guy if you don't want to be stuck with him? Maybe we should change the marriage vows. I want to be stuck with you for the rest of my life, so help me God, amen. That's the new vow. I don't care. We're going to have to change the vows, because people don't get it. People don't understand the vows. It's like, "I don't care what you do, I don't care what you say, I don't care how bad it gets, I am stuck with you for the rest of my life, and if I don't like it, it's my own fault. Amen, so help me God. I do." That's the new marriage ceremony. Maybe then people will get what we're saying when we say, "for better for worse. For rich or for poorer." It should be for poorest. What do we have to do to these vows before you understand what you're saying? "For richer, for poorer, for better, for worst, in sickness, and in health, in poverty as in wealth, and forsaking all others, keep me only unto you, so long as we both shall live." That's what you're saying when you get married.
<br><br>This divorce thing, as far as being a no fault divorce law, where you just get divorced for no reason. Did you know that it only goes back in the United States to 1969? Did you know that? You know where it comes from before that? The Soviet Union. That's where it came from. Listen to this. In the modern world, in modern western culture, this no fault divorce law, where you just say, "Oh, we're just not compatible." Or, "I just don't know if I love her anymore. I don't know if I love him anymore. I just don't know. We got married too young." You know what this goes back to? The Bolshevik communist revolution in 1918, when the communist Bolsheviks took over in Russia, they instituted this. First time in the modern world, no fault, easy divorce. 1918. They're the only ones that had it.
<br><br>Then, in 1968, they revised their no fault divorce law even more. The very next year, after the Soviet Union did it, the People's Republic of California did the same thing in 1969. Exactly one year after the Soviet Union, then California had the no fault divorce law, and then slowly other states have adopted it, through the years. Till now, pretty much everywhere in America, pretty much all the states, you can get an easy divorce, no questions asked, no fault.
<br><br>It used to be if you wanted to divorce your spouse, you had to go to court. Did you know this? It was legally binding when you married someone. You had to go to court and prove, like, they committed adultery, or they did ... Here's the thing. I'm not even condoning that. I'm not even condoning divorcing your spouse for any reason, but I'm saying that even legally, in America, until 1969 ... Many of you were alive in 1969. Not that many, but some of you were alive in 1969. This is your lifetime, and that was one state, California. The easy divorce state, straight out of the Soviet Union.
<br><br>Here's just a little hint. The same people ... Are you in Matthew 19? Here's a little hint, the same people that were behind the Bolshevik revolution in 1918, are the same people who ask Jesus, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for every cause?"
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: What does it mean to divorce your wife for every cause? No fault divorce law. Divorce your wife for any reason. That's the same people that were behind the Bolshevik revolution. I'll just leave that there for you to chew on.
<br><br>Look at verse 3 of Matthew 19. "The Pharisees ..." Oh, there's your hint right there. "The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?" I mean, isn't it lawful to just divorce your wife for any reason? That's what they're asking, for every cause. "And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read ..." And that's usually the problem. You haven't read the Bible enough. "That he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain ..." Twain means two. "... shall be one flesh? Wherefore they're no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery. And whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery."
<br><br>"His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given." He said, "You know, I don't care whether you can handle that or not. I guess some people just can't handle this kind of preaching." Is what Jesus said. "Well, if that's the way it is, maybe we shouldn't get married." Well, if you can't handle this preaching, that's your problem. That's that new Steven Anderson version. That's basically what he's saying, when he says, "Well, all men cannot receive this saying." Some people can't handle it. They can't receive it.
<br><br>Now look, the wife going to work gives her the plan B, and it makes her independent. Now, what does the word independent mean. Our church is an independent Baptist church, right? People ask, "What kind of Baptist church is it? Is it Southern Baptist? Is it North America ...?" No, no, no, we're independent Baptists. What does that mean? It means that we don't depend on an outside organization. See, if you're not independent, what does it mean? You're dependent. Now, if money from somewhere else were propping us up, then we're not really independent. Independent is when you control your own destiny. The only one that we depend on is Jesus.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: We're not dependent on a denomination or some kind of a fund or some kind of a outside money coming in. For example, we sent guys to start churches, if we were paying Brother [Romero's 00:54:33] way right now, or if we were paying Pastor [Berson's 00:54:37] way right now, could it really be said that they're independent Baptists, if we're paying their way? Now if we sent them a gift, that's fine, but if they're depending on us to pay their way on a weekly, monthly basis, they wouldn't really be independent would they? But what happens when you start paying somebody's way, well then they're dependent. In fact, I think I remember doing my taxes, and there were these things called dependents. One of them was my wife. She was a dependent. My children were dependents. I had nine dependents. People that are depending on me to pay the bill.
<br><br>Now what if a woman got her tax return and just scratched that out and just write independent. "Well, you know, I'm going to claim myself. Claim myself on my taxes cause I'm independent." Look, paying your own way does make you independent, because you're no longer depending upon someone else. The question is, is it good for women to be independent, or should they be in dependence upon their husband for their needs? Is that what God has ordained?
<br><br>Now, it's funny, as I was preparing this sermon, this illustration from history popped into my mind. For those of you who know a little bit about American history. When our country was founded, there was a major debate in the early days of our nation's founding. In fact, this took place in the year 1790. There was a debate about the assumption of debt. The states had racked up a bunch of debt during the revolutionary war, because war will do that to you, put you into debt. So the 13 colonies, the 13 states had racked up a bunch of debt. Alexander Hamilton, who was the arch banker guy, he wanted to give the federal government lots of power and wanted to let the bankers take over and everything. He had this idea and this financial plan where the federal government would assume responsibility for all of the states debts. That's why it's called assumption. They would basically say, "Hey, instead of the state being in debt, we're going to pick up the tab for you. We, as the federal government, will pay your bill for you Virginia." Well, Virginia was the only one who'd already paid off their debt. Bad example. Pennsylvanian, Massachusetts, Rhode I-, we will pay your debt for you. We will assume responsibility for your debt.
<br><br>Those who were of more of a liberty mindset, those who wanted more of a states’ rights, and a more libertarian form of government with a smaller less powerful federal government, less taxation, they knew that when you let the federal government pay the bill, there's strings attached and you're giving up your power. The liberty faction, they fought against this thing of the federal government assuming the debt.
<br><br>They worked out this great compromise of 1790, where they said, "Okay ..." James Madison and Alexander Hamilton worked it out where they said, "Okay, we'll let the federal government assume the debts of the states, but you guys have to put the capitol all the way down at the Potomac river." Where it is now Washington DC, "You have to put it down by the south." The place where they ran things before was like up in Philadelphia, more northern. So they said, "We'll feel more comfortable ..." because the states’ rights, liberty minded people were more of the southern states, so they said, "Put the capitol down on the Potomac river, where Washington DC is, down by Virginia, and we'll let you ..." it was like a backroom deal between Madison and Hamilton to do that.
<br><br>That illitra- listen to this, this is from the encyclopedia. It says, "Politically, Hamilton sought to tie the creditors to the new central government by linking their financial fortunes to the success of his economic nationalism. This in turn would gradually cause decline in state authority, and a relative increase in federal influence." He knows that if the federal government's paying the bill, their authority's going to go up, and the authority of the states is going to go down. That's what happened, and today, the states have very little authority. The federal government, it has all the power in America today.
<br><br>This sermon's not about politics. Doesn't really matter. What matters is that in your home, you're the federal government, sir. All right? And you're wife is these feisty states that have all this debt. This is pretty realistic, because a lot of women today, when they get married, are in debt. It's kind of realistic in a sense. That's the new dowry. It used to be when you married a girl, you had to pay a dowry to her father. Now when you marry a girl, you have to pay off the student loans. You have to pay off the car payment. You have to pay off all the credit cards. But anyway, okay, that's another sermon.
<br><br>You're the federal government in this equation. Right? You want to come in and you want to assume the debt, okay, because that give you power in your home. The one who pays the bills is the one who makes the rules.
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Congregation: Amen. There you go.
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Pastor: If you allow your wife to be independent and make her own money, then you're not going to have the proper balance of power in your home. Say, "Well, why do you want to give men all the power?" Uh, because that's what the Bible teaches.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: Next point. Done. Now look, let me just give you some advice, because I have people talk to me about this all the time, because they hear me preach about this, and I show them the scriptures, I show them Titus 2, where it says that the women should be keepers at home, obedient to their husbands. I show them First Timothy 5, marry, bear children, guide the house, and the husband's the head of the wife, and the husband provides, and the wives obey and submit and whatever. I show them all this, but I've had so many people, friends of mine, who said this. They said, "Well, Pastor Anderson." And you say, "Why are you talking about this Pastor Anderson?" Because I love you and I want you to hear the truth. I'm not talking to people who've already made mistakes. I'm talking to people that have not yet made mistakes and I want to help them. Okay?
<br><br>I've had the same conversation over and over again, where people ask me, "Well, what do you think about the wife working until the first child comes? Just to help out financially in those early days. Why not just have her work until the first child comes?" I always tell them the same thing. Don't do it. Do not do it. It's not worth it. Here's what I say to them. I want you to listen very carefully. Listen to this, because this is the crux right here. If you need ... think about this. If you need two incomes to support two people, how are you going to support three people on one income?
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Congregation: Yep.
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Pastor: Somebody explain that to me. The math doesn't work. If you can't support two people on one income, how are you going to support three people on one income? You're like, "Oh, well she's just going to work until the baby's born." Then we're going to support three people on one income. I know right now we're supporting two people on two incomes, but then we're just going to go to three people on one. No. You need to start learning how to support two people on one income. Living within your means. Figuring out what you can afford. Two people on one income, then you add that third party, who's going to be a very expensive third party eventually, all right, and eat you out of house and home. This is just logic. This is just math. It just makes sense. But I've had so many people [inaudible 01:02:26] this conversation where I explain this to them and say, "Look, it doesn't work. It's a bad idea." "Oh, my wife's going to be bored." Well, you know what, she needs to start cooking three awesome meals a day, and then she won't be so bored, because it takes a long time to really cook quality food, and make three hot meals a day.
<br><br>Or, there are other ways to use her time, places to volunteer, to serve the Lord, to go [inaudible 01:02:48], to read the Bible, to clean the house, to find a hobby, good night, do something. There's plenty of opportunities to do something other than putting on the hair net and the name tag and going under CCTV to go work for somebody.
<br><br>I've had that conversation with just a multitude of guys, and this is what happened. They don't listen. They don't listen, and then here's what happens. The baby's born, and the wife's still working. Almost every time. How can they make that transition? It's just ... if you can't do two people on one income, how are you going to do three on one. It just doesn't make any sense.
<br><br>Now you say, "Well why does the fact ..." But not only that, I say, you're starting your marriage off on the wrong foot. 50/50, independent. You need to start out by asserting your authority, by saying, "You know what baby, I'm paying the bills. I'm providing. I'm assuming the state debt here."
<br><br>Think about this scripture, "Unto whom much is given, of him shall much be required." See, here's the thing, when you're paying for everything, it puts you in a position of authority. Now you can require obedience and you can require submission because you're paying the bills. Whereas, often times, when the wife is also working and paying her way and it's a 50/50, yada yada. That authority structure's just not going to be there. It's just something deep down. Even a Godly woman, I think even a Godly woman who loves the Lord can fall into this when she's out working and making money, and putting that paycheck, little bit of pride enters in. "I'm doing my part too you know. And blah blah blah."
<br><br>Then, here's the thing, let's face it folks, if both people are going and working 40 hours a week, wouldn't they both have to split the housework, wouldn't you think?
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Congregation: Yep.
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Pastor: It would make sense, right? It wouldn't really make sense to say, "Well, I'm going to work 40 hours as a man, you're going to work 40 hours as a woman, and you're going to do all the housework." Does that sound like it's fair? I don't want to do half the housework. Who agrees? Any man here agree? I hate doing the housework. I'd rather go do almost any job. I'd rather do almost any job then to do my wife's job. Now I'm not saying it's bad for her. She's a woman, she was born to do it. She's designed to do it, but look, I would rather do almost anything. I hate taking over my wife's job. Sometimes, when I'll take over for my wife for whatever reason, it ... I love my kids. I love spending time with my kids, but I don't want to take over that job, at all, ever.
<br><br>I don't want to cook half the meals. I can barely boil water. I don't want to clean the house. I don't want to do ... it's just, I don't like it. You know what I like. You know when I worked at Roundtable Pizza, I liked it. When I was a teenager. When I worked for an alarm company, I liked it. When I did electrical work, I liked it. I like being a pastor. I liked running a fire alarm business. There's a lot of things I like. Being a homemaker is not something that I like. Thank God I was created as a man. Here's the thing. I was created as a man mentally and physically, so it just goes against the grain.
<br><br>Here's ... A lot of women will say this, "Well, I just don't want to live that lifestyle. I don't want to be a stay-at-home wife. I don't want to be a stay-at-home mom. I want to go out and achieve things and be my own successful career ..." Here's the thing about that though. Let's flip that over. Women today say, "Well, I just don't want to live that lifestyle. I just want to go out and live the career life." Okay, what if a man said the opposite? What if a man said to you, "I don't want to go to work. I just don't like that lifestyle. I don't want to have a job. I don't like the lifestyle of going and punching in and punching out and working. I just ... physical work is just isn't my thing. Nor computer work, nor mental work, nor management, it's just not my thing. I just don't want to work. I'm just a stay-at-home kind of guy." Now look, anybody would look at that guy and say, "Get your lazy butt to work. Are you insane? You lazy worthless ..."
<br><br>Okay, so why is it men are told, "Go work." But why don't we tell women, "Stay home."
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Congregation: Yeah. Amen.
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Pastor: Clean the house, cook. "I don't like cooking." Learn to like it, because you know what, there's stuff that I've had ... Who's had to do stuff at work, as a man, that you didn't like?
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: Look around ladies. "Ew, we have to change poopie diapers." Well, you know what, I've cleaned toilets of strangers.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: At least your changing a diaper on your own kid. When I worked in construction, sorry to be graphic folks, but I used the port-a-john every day, and it doesn't smell like roses in that port-a-john. Who's had to use a port-a-john at your job? Put up your hands men. God bless you, I see that hand, all over the building. Look, we've all had to use filthy port-a-johns, and they were filthy, and there were flies, and they stank, and they were unsanitary, not to mention all the racial stuff that was written on the port-a-potty, all the filthy stuff that was written on the port-a-potty, union versus non-union, white versus black, white versus Hispanic, homosexual, just perverted, just whatever that was sharpied on that port-a-potty, but we went and used it every day, and we hated it. But we did it to pay the bills.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: And I'd rather change a diaper on my own son or my own daughter, than to go use a filthy port-a-john.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: Look, everybody does things in life that you don't like. It's just, you do it because it's the right thing to do. As men, we go to work. As women, you cook and clean and take care of the kids. I like my job. I hope that my wife likes her job, but sometimes I don't like my job, and sometimes she doesn't like hers, but we get it done.
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Congregation: Right. Amen.
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Pastor: It's righteousness. That's what we're supposed to do. So this idea of just, "Well, you can be whatever you want, boys and girls, when you grow up, you could be an astronaut and a marine biologist or the president of the United States." No you can't. First of all you have to worship Satan to become the president of the United States, number one, but number two, I don't tell my sons, "You can be whatever you want. You want to be a fashion designer." No, you can't. You won't. I'm not going to list all the jobs that they can't be.
<br><br>Anyway, and my daughters, you know what they're being taught to be? Wives and mothers. "Oh, you want them to be ignorant." No, college is what makes you stupid.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: All God's people said.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Amen. Yeah, this is what makes you smart.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: God's word makes wise the simple. You know what else makes you smart? Reading books.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: Going to the library. Learning something. Not listening to some burned out, long-haired hippy tell you about the big bang in some university somewhere. That'll make you stupid.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and I thank you that when I got married 15 years ago, Lord, I didn't have to just go into it wondering what to do and confused, Lord. I definitely had a lot less wisdom than I have now. I definitely was mistaken on a lot of things Lord, but thank you, at least, for giving me the word, to be a guide in those early days and to try to learn and grow over the years. And I thank you for the marriage that I have and the children that I have Lord. And Father, I just pray that people would take heed under this wisdom. I know that I'm not a perfect husband or perfect father or perfect pastor, but Lord, I also know that what the word says is true, that we need to be different and we need to follow your plan if we want to have a peaceful home, Lord. Help us not to buy into this feminism, Lord, that's like a cancer and a disease in our country and in our churches, and in our homes, Lord. In Jesus name, we pray, amen.
<br><br>All right, let's sing a song. All right, we broke the record. How many do we have?
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Female: 158.
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Pastor: 158. Wow. Our old record was 144 people on a Sunday morning. Now we have 158, and that means we all get ice cream after the service. Stick around for ice cream.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-84271053356263336812016-05-02T13:59:00.002-07:002016-05-02T13:59:37.886-07:00Get to Work! <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEceih8OwqU">Video</a>
<p><b>May 17, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aEceih8OwqU" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> The verse I’d like to focus on there in chapter 22 is verse 12 where the Bible reads, “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” I want to preach about this morning the importance of working for God. The Bible says here that we will all be rewarded according as our work shall be. Flip a few pages back to Revelation chapter 14. While you’re turning there, I’ll read for you from Matthew 16:27, “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” Over and over again the Bible is telling us that our reward when Jesus comes will be based upon the work that we’ve done.
<br><br>The Bible says that God will render to every man according to his deeds in Romans chapter 2. Look at chapter 14, verse 13, it says, “And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, ‘Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth’: ‘Yea,’ saith the Spirit, ‘that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.’” When the Bible talks about people dying in the Lord, he says, “They rest from their labors and their works do follow them.” Over and over again work is being emphasized.
<br><br>Go to Revelation chapter 2 and we’ll see the scriptures where God is talking to the seven churches which are in Asia and giving them particular admonitions in each verse. Revelation chapter 2, verse 2 where he’s talking to the first church, the church at Ephesus, he says in verse 2, “I know thy works and thy labor,” which is just another way of saying work, “…and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars.”
<br><br>Jumping down to verse 5, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Verse 9, “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Verse 13, “I know thy works, and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is: and thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth.”
<br><br>Verse 19, “I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works,” he mentions it again, “… and the last to be more than the first.” Look at verse 23, or actually, look at verse 26 “And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations.” Look at chapter 3, verse 1. Are you seeing a pattern here?
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Audience: Right.
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“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; ‘These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars. I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.’” What’s he judging the churches on? What’s he judging us on when we get to heaven?
<br><br>Now look, I don’t to tell you, I don’t need to spend the whole sermon telling you that salvation’s not of works because 97% of the people who are here this morning are already saved and you already know that salvation’s by faith and it’s not of works so lest any man should boast. That’s not what this sermon’s about. This isn’t about salvation. Salvation has nothing to do with works. Salvation’s by faith alone.
<br><br>No works involved whatsoever with salvation, but after we’re saved, God wants us to commit our works unto the Lord. The Bible says in the famous verse, “For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” In the next verse it says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” We’re not saved by works, but we are saved unto works. God saves us and then says, “All right. Now get to work.”
<br><br>It’s just like my children don’t have to work to become a part of my family, they don’t have to work in order to stay a part of the family, but they still have to work in order to be well pleasing in the sight of their parents. God commands us to do works. This isn’t about salvation, this is about sanctification. This is about a lifetime of serving God. The Bible says that we’ve been bought with a price. Our salvation is free, it’s paid for by Jesus, but that we should glorify God in our body and in our spirit which are God’s.
<br><br>Look down at your bible here and it continues. It says in verse 8, “I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.” Verse 15, “I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.” How does God know whether you’re cold or hot? He looks at your works. He says, “I know your works that you’re neither cold or hot.” How does he judge a Christian on how well they’re doing? How does he reward them? How does he look at a church and determine whether that church is a good church or a bad church, a profitable church or a worthless church?
<br><br>He says over and over again, “It’s because I’ve looked at your works. I know your works. I’m going to reward you according to your works. When you die, your works are what are going to follow you.” We need to understand that works is something that God emphasizes in our Christian life, that we need to work for the Lord. He expects us to work and do something for him.
<br><br>Look at Matthew chapter 21, if you would, Matthew chapter 21 and then after Matthew 21 we’re going to go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 3. Matthew chapter 21, and this is something that is being deemphasized in today’s Christianity, I’ve noticed. Now, I’m all for the emphasis on the gospel being by faith alone, but after we’re saved, it’s time to get to work for the Lord. I mean, how many verses do we need to look at? I’ve noticed so many people deemphasizing this because they want to get so focused on the relationship. You know, when they say, “Hey. It’s not a religion, it’s a relationship.” Of course, the word relationship’s never found in the Bible, don’t let that bother you.
<br><br>It’s just the relationship, the relationship, the relationship. You know what? In order to have a right relationship with God, you’d have to keep his commandments. He commands us to go to work, over and over again. I’m not just talking about going to your secular job, that’s another sermon. I’m talking about working for God. I’m talking about working for Jesus. I’m talking about doing the works that he is before ordained, that we should walk in them. Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 21, verse 28, “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons,” and let me ask you this, aren’t we all sons of God if we believe on Jesus?
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Audience: Yes.
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Bible says, “Many as received him, and to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” It says, “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’” That’s what God’s saying to all of us. He says, “Go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, ‘I will not:’ But afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir:’ and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, ‘The first.’ Jesus saith unto them, ‘Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.’”
<br><br>Here we see in this story that God is commissioning us all to go do a certain work and that there are a lot of people who pay lip service to loving the Lord or wanting to work in the vineyard, but they’re not actually doing it. They say, “I go, sir,” and then they don’t actually end up going. Then other people who’d do less talking and less lip service actually go out and do the work and he’d say, “Well, who did God’s will?” It’s the people who actually did the work. Obviously there are other interpretations to this parable.
<br><br>Flip over to 1 Corinthians 3, this is deemphasized today. Today is just about a relationship. People just want to just go to church and they want to feel close to God and they want to sing some songs and have a worship experience and then they want to wake up every morning and have a worship experience in their devotional time. Hey, let me tell you something, it’s great to worship the Lord, but you need to get to work for God and you need to do something out in the vineyard to do the labor and the work that he’s ordained. That’s what you’re going to be judged on by the work that you accomplished in the life that you have.
<br><br>I mean, think about this, what if I went to a job and I went there and I followed all the rules of the job. I tucked in my shirt, my shoes were polished and I got there on time, I clocked in and out, I had my name tag in perfect order, but I just didn’t do any work. I was very respectful, every time the boss told me, “Yes, sir, boss,” my cubicle looked perfect, but I just never got any work done. Do you think I’m going to be acceptable in the sight of my boss?
<br><br>Look, God is looking at our works. How many verses did we just look at? Like, 20 to start the sermon? You know, I bet you that there are even people out there who maybe even are a little slovenly in their uniform, I’m not condoning that, but they might be a little slovenly in their uniform, they may not be as clean and tidy and whatever, but they’re getting all the work done, they’re probably going to get the raise than the guy who gets nothing done. He’s going to get fired the first day.
<br><br>God demands us to work and this is something that seems to be forgotten by so many Christians. They’re so focused on themselves and we live in this society in America that’s very self centered and self absorbed, so it’s just all about, “Well, what can church do for my life that makes me feel good?” I want to wake up in the morning and I want to read a little devotion book that’s going to make me feel good, but there’s no thought of going and working in the vineyard.
<br><br>There’s no thought of going out and rolling up your sleeves and sweating and working in accomplishing something and building something and doing something, but yet God says when you get to heaven, he’s going to reward you, not for your knowledge, where does the Bible say, “My reward is with me, to give every man according as his knowledge shall be”? Where does he say you’d get a reward for knowing a lot of stuff?
<br><br>Now look, I’m all for knowledge. The Bible tells us to grow in grace in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, but why should we grow in knowledge? For the work of the ministry, Why do we want to have knowledge? So we can use it, not just to be a hearer of the word, but to be a doer of the work the Bible says. It says, “If any man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass. For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
<br><br>He didn’t just say, “Hey, reading a lot of Bible, you’ll be blessed in deed,” no, you read a lot of Bible and then you go do the work, you use the sword. You don’t just sit there polishing the sword, sharpening the sword, practicing pulling it out of its sheath, putting it back in over and over again. No, you actually need to go out and start swinging the thing. You put it into use. We need to get back to works today.
<br><br>These big new evangelical fund centers, these big giant party rock and roll mega churches, they’re not interested in putting their people to work for the Lord. It’s a show that they come and are entertained a few times a week. God forbid that faithful word that the church would ever degenerate to a place where you just show up, you listen, you go home and you do no work for God. Get to work.
<br><br>That’s what I’ve been saying this morning. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 11, in case you’re not convinced. It says, “For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
<br><br>It’s another scripture that clearly shows you that you can be saved without any works. Because he says if you have only build upon the foundation of Jesus, because he said the foundation’s Jesus, but he says if you build on that foundation with wood, hay and stubble, he says your works are going to be burned and he says you will suffer for loss, you’re going to have a loss of reward. That’s the context. He’s talking about getting a reward versus the loss of reward, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. It is possible to be saved and to have zero works, and there are plenty of other scriptures to teach that. But hold on a second, God wants us to do the works.
<br><br>Now, are works that we perform in our life are classified as wood, hay and stubble, gold, silver and precious stones. Now, the wood, hay and stubble is not talking about sin because of the fact that there’s nothing sinful or wicked about wood is there? I mean, is wood inherently a sinful object? Hay, you know, I’m preaching you this hay this morning. Because wood, hay and stubble are just objects that have no permanent value, they have temporal value don’t they?
<br><br>I mean, hay has value, you can feed it to animals. Wood has value, you can build things, build a pulpit. You can do all kinds of things with wood, but they have no eternal value. They’re not going to last. The Bible says that in a trial by fire, they would all be burned up. What wood, hay and stubble represent is all the works that we do in our life that have no eternal value. Not bad things, but they just don’t have any eternal value.
<br><br>Now, we all have works. All of us do something. I mean, I hope so, that you do something, do some work. Here’s the thing, when you go to your job and work and make money and then just spend it on yourself, that’s not wrong, that’s part of life, God wants you to do that. That’s part of what God has ordained for us as men, go to work, do a physical job, pay the bills, but here’s the thing though, it doesn’t really have eternal lasting value in the sense that it’s not going to get you rewards in heaven. The thing that gets you rewards in heaven are the works that you do that are of eternal value, that’s the gold and silver and precious stones.
<br><br>Now if you would, flip over to Titus, actually, 2 Timothy, we’ll go to Titus in a minute. Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2 and while you’re turning there, I’ll read for you from 1 Peter 1:17, “And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” God is judging you today. God is up in heaven and he’s judging you right now. You know what he’s judging you based on? Your work. That’s what it says. I mean, this is the Bible. He says, “He without respect of persons,” meaning he doesn’t care if you’re the pastor or if you’re in the pew, whether you’re a man, a woman, a boy, a girl, whether you’re free or bond, red, yellow, black, white, none of that matters. God’s not a respector of persons. He is looking down from heaven and judging you according to your work, that is what the Bible says.
<br><br>It says in 2 Timothy, chapter 2, verse 20, “But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.” Look at 2 Timothy, chapter 4, just across the page, “Prepared unto every good work,” that’s the purpose of reading your Bible, that’s the purpose of church, that’s the purpose of listening to preaching. That’s the purpose of prayer and serving the Lord. It’s to prepare you for the work that you’re supposed to be doing.
<br><br>It says in 2 Timothy, chapter number 4, verse 5, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” What’s an evangelist? One who brings the gospel. Go to Matthew, chapter 9. Matthew, chapter number 9, first book in the New Testament. Matthew, chapter number 9. While you’re turning there, I’ll read for you from Titus 3:1, “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work.” Hebrews 6:10, “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
<br><br>I mean, how many scriptures does he say this in the New Testament? It’s the theme of the New Testament. It’s almost every chapter, he’s going on and on about the work that we’re expected to be doing. You say, “Well, I’m a lady.” Yeah, but it says in 1 Timothy 2:9, “In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But which becometh women professing godliness with good works.” It says that women should be adorned, not with a bunch of fancy clothing and jewelry, but with good works. It says in 1 Timothy 5 that the widows that are godly widows, in verse 10 he said that they will be “Well reported of for good works; if she have brought up children, if she have lodged strangers, if she have washed the saints' feet, if she have relieved the afflicted, if she have diligently followed every good work.” That’s what the Bible says right there, even to judge the widows.
<br><br>Look at Matthew, chapter number 9, it says in verse 36, “But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, ‘The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.’” It’s not that there isn’t any work to do. This is like that parable in the Bible where the men are sitting around at the eleventh hour and Jesus was saying, “What are you doing? Why are you sitting? Why aren’t you doing any work?” and they’re saying, “No man hath hired us.” “The work is there, the fields are already white unto harvest,” the Bible says, but he says the laborers are few.
<br><br>Let me tell you something, out of those who are saved, the vast majority are not doing any work for God virtually whatsoever. Virtually none. God is not pleased. It is not acceptable in sight of God for him to look down and find you not working. The Bible says that the kingdom of heaven is like a man who goes off into a far country and he says unto his servants, “Occupy until I come.” Now occupy means like an occupation, it needs work. It doesn’t mean like occupy a chair in the church, occupy space. No, occupy there means work, like having an occupation is the work that you do that with which you are occupied.
<br><br>Where did I have you turn? Matthew 9 there? Look, it’s white unto harvest, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” You say, “Well, what’s the work that we need to do?” Well, there are lots of works that need to be done, but a big work is the work of an evangelist.
<br><br>You know, the fields are white unto harvest, lift up your eyes, pray that God would send laborers into his harvest. Look, every single person go to Colossians, chapter 1. Every single person has a work to do for the Lord and multiple works to do for the Lord, to earn reward in heaven, to be pleasing in the sight of God and so that when God looks down and judges you, he’ll be pleased with you. Like the way he looked down at Jesus and said, “This is my beloved son in whom I’m well pleased.” Why was he pleased? Because Jesus went about doing good, because Jesus said, “I’ll finish the work which thou gavest me to do.” It’s one thing to be saved, it’s another thing to please God.
<br><br>In order to be found pleasing in the sight of God, you must do the work. You know what? Some people will listen and serve and say, “That’s not true. It’s just all by faith.” Look, we’re not talking about salvation. This is being deemphasized today and as a result, the harvest is just rotting on the vine because no one’s going out to work in the vineyard, no one’s going out to harvest it, it decays and rots and sours, and the work isn’t done.
<br><br>Christians today are slothful in the work of the Lord. They’re not interested in serving God. They don’t want to do any work for God. The only work they want to do is for themselves. Go to work and earn money for themselves. They’ll cook meals for themselves. They’ll clean the house for themselves. They don’t want to do any work for the Lord. They don’t want to get their sleeves rolled up and get out there and actually accomplish something for God. Imagine that.
<br><br>I mean, the fields are white unto harvest. He says, “Do the work of an evangelist.” Winning souls to Christ is one of the biggest jobs that we have, that’s why we’re here on this earth, that’s why this church exists. That is the first works. You say, “Well, you know, I just don’t have enough knowledge.” Look, you’re just making excuses because you’re lazy.
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Audience: Yeah. Right. Amen.
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Everybody’s got excuses for why they don’t want to go to work and why they’re slothful. Of course, the slothful man is wiser in his own conceit than seven men that can render a reason. They have all kinds of excuses. “I just want to learn the Bible a little more before I go out sowing.” Hey, listen. It doesn’t take a lot of work to go out and be silent partner. You know how you learn anything by doing it. That’s how you learn things.
<br><br>You could sit there and go to a classroom and learn how to be a plumber in a classroom with a pencil and paper, or learn how to be an electrician in a classroom with a pencil and paper. That’s not the right way to learn to be an electrician or plumber. You know how you learn to be an electrician or a plumber? You go out on a job with somebody who knows what they’re doing.
<br><br>You start out by being the gopher and all you do, you just go to the truck. “Hey, bring me this fitting. Bring me that fitting. Go get me some wire. Go get me the cable.” You’re the gopher, you’re the helper, you’re the apprentice. You come along, you watch and learn. “Here, now you try.” You do an easy task and you get better at it and you learn and then eventually you get your own truck. You go out and you’re doing the service calls on your own. That’s how you learn. You learn by doing. You learn by showing up to the soul winning time and going with somebody who knows what they’re doing and you just go as a silent partner.
<br><br>Brother Dave Berzins is a great example, pastoring up in Prescott, Arizona. Dave Berzins, when he first started coming to the church, was a babe in Christ as it were, he hadn’t even baptized. He got baptized, he started reading his Bible, grow into the Lord and right away he got into going soul winning, right away. He and I would go soul winning together. He and I went soul winning together for about three months before he did any talking. For the first three months he just came along as a silent partner. I did the talking, he was just praying in his heart and learning and just being there as a helper.
<br><br>In the course of those three months, we had a bunch of people saved and then the New Year rolled around and he said, “For the New Year, I’m going to do the talking.” I still remember it like yesterday when he talked at the first door and he was talking to a teenage boy and he was nervous and he literally dropped his Bible, just because he was nervous, but the boy got saved. He did a great job. He started out, humble beginnings, started out with just months of being a silent partner. Then he became an amazing soul winner, got a whole bunch of people saved and now he’s pasturing a church.
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You got to start somewhere though don’t you?
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Audience: Yeah.
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You start out just as a silent partner. You just come along. How hard is that? It’s not hard at all, but people just make excuses for why they don’t want to. “Oh, I just need … ” Yeah, you really need to be a theology expert to go be a silent partner on soul winning. That doesn’t even make any sense at all. Here’s the thing, even if you’re doing the talking, you don’t need to be an expert on theology. “Well, I have to master every false religion first in case somebody hits me with something that I can … ”
<br><br>Sometimes, people who know the most about false religions are the worst soul winners because they just go out and get in debates and arguments and waste a bunch of time with people who have no interest in listening to gospel. Sometimes, the people who know less do a better job because they just go out and they keep it simple, and they keep it on the gospel and they keep it on Jesus Christ and they’re not tempted to get into all these weird debates and all this stuff.
<br><br>If somebody asks you a question that you don’t know, just say, “Well, listen, you know, let’s come back to that, but let me finish my thought here. Let me finish what I’m showing you.” If they’re like, “No. Answer me about Aliens.” Then just tell them, “Hey, have a good day. See you later. Go to the next door.” Don’t worry about that person because there’s plenty of fish in the sea my friend. There are 4 million people in this city and if you go out, you’re going to find somebody who wants to hear the gospel, who wants to get saved, who wants to listen to the Bible, preach, the fields are white and there are others who make all kinds of excuses about, “Soul winning doesn’t work. I’m too busy. It’s too far away. I just don’t know enough Bible.” No, you know ... Are you saved? Then you know enough to go soul winning.
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Just tell somebody how to get saved. If you don’t know how to get saved, you’re not even saved. Because how could you be saved without knowing how you got saved. Anybody who’s saved, knows how to get somebody else saved. “Well, I don’t know all the verses.” Do you know John 3:16?
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Audience: Yup.
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Here’s the thing, be a silent partner and learn how to do a better job. Obviously, some people are better at this than others, but you know how you get better? By doing it more. You know why I know how to preach? Because I’ve preached like two thousand sermons. You should’ve heard me when I started preaching. You think my preaching’s bad now, my preaching was awful when I started. I’m many times … My wife’s nodding her head vigorously. Because here’s the thing, I honestly doubted many times whether I could ever pastor a church. Many times, I wondered, you know what, “Do I just not have the aptitude? Am I just not cut out for this?” I thought about that many times. Other people brought that to my attention also. “You may not have the aptitude for this.”
<br><br>You get better at it just by doing it. It’s the same thing with soul wi- It’s the same thing with anything else, you learn by doing, or you can just sit around and keep talking about today or tomorrow we shall do this or that, no , knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. No one’s saying today or tomorrow or a year from now, “No, son. Go work today in my vineyard. Not next year, not next month, go work today in my vineyard.” God wants us to work for him.
<br><br>There are all kinds of works that need to be done for the Lord. The primary work is soul winning. That’s the work that anybody can get involved in, anybody can jump right into, but there are other works that need to be done. Obviously, there are works to be done such as pasturing the church, such as preaching sermons, such as leading the singing, such as playing the piano or an organ, such as cleaning the buildings, such as all manner of clerical and all manner of just day to day work that is needed for the Lord. There’s all kinds of work to be done and God wants us to work. The main work is soul winning, but there’s a lot of work to be done as well.
<br><br>Look at Colossians, chapter 1, verse 9, it says, “For this cause we also, since the day we heard it,” it said, “We also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge,” of course God wants us to have a lot of knowledge. He says I want you to be filled with the knowledge of his will and all wisdom and spiritual understanding. That’s great. Wisdom, knowledge, spiritual understanding, these are all things that are great but why? Why does God want us to have knowledge, wisdom and spiritual understanding?
<br><br>Verse 10, “That ye might walk worthy of the Lord, unto all pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God.” See, he doesn’t want us just to increase in the knowledge and gain the understanding. What are you a Buddhist or something? Are you going to sit Indian style and just, “I’m just meditating and just understanding so much. I’m just solving the mysteries of the universe as I sit here and stare at the wall and say ‘Ohm’.” Go to work. God wants you to work today. Christianity is the work religion.
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Audience: Amen.
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Buddhism is the religion where to seize from all activity is the goal of human life. That’s a stupid goal Buddha. You’re burning in hell. We need to go to work. Christianity is the work religion. Did you hear me? I said religion. Religion. “Yeah. It’s a relationship.” It’s a religion. The Bible says, “If you’re a religion and I’m defiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fathers, the fatherless and the widows and their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
<br><br>Hey, that’s a religion that I’m a part of this morning. I want to keep myself unspotted from the world and I want to go out and visit the fatherless and the widows. I want to go out and preach the gospel to the poor. I want to set the captives free spiritually and go preach the gospel to every creature. It’s a religion that’s about work today. This whole talk of it’s not a religion, it’s a relationship, it’s a bunch of people who don’t want to work. They want to sit around and feeling spiritual, and they want to listen to their Christian contemporary music that makes them feel spiritual instead of going out and doing work.
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Audience: Amen. That’s right.
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“Oh, I just feel so close to the Lord right now.” Did you do any work? Then you’re not close to the Lord, period. How are you even close to God if you’re not doing any work? He says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. My yoke is easy, my burden is light.” A yoke is something that connects two animals or two people and makes them work together, that’s what it is. Jesus is saying get in the yoke with me and let’s go to work. Let’s work together. He wants us to be his fellow laborer. He wants us to be his fellow servant.
<br><br>Have you noticed that you develop the best relationships with the people that you work with? Have you noticed that? You know, if you want to build good relationships with people at church, go soul winning together because you’re working together, you’re getting something done together. Some of our best relationships in life are work relationships where we work together with someone and share that experience of working. Jesus wants us to work with him. You can’t say, “Oh, I have this really close relationship with Jesus,” just walking out in the forest quoting Bible verses. That’s great but you know what you’d be a lot better off quoting Bible verses to some poor person and winning them to Christ than just going out in the woods and quoting Bible verses for yourself.
<br><br>Look, if there’s a time to go and be alone with the Lord so that you could become spiritually refreshed, then go do more work. I mean, look at Jesus. He went up in the mountain and prayed alone. He sometimes had to get away from the multitudes and pray alone so that he can be refreshed and recharged, and go back and do more work. You know what? Jesus did so much work while he was on this earth that people said that he was literally insane. That’s what they said. They said, “He is beside himself,” which is an old way of saying, “He’s nuts.” They said he’s skipping meals, he’s working day and night, he’s not resting enough, they said, “He is beside himself.” They didn’t see him just sitting Indian style saying, “Ohm,” you know, just relaxed. No, he was working all the time to the point when they’re saying, “Nuts. He’s working so much.”
<br><br>They’re telling him, “Look, you need to relax.” He said, “I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day, then night cometh when no man can work.” He was a worker. He went about doing good. He said, “I’d finish the work which thou gavest me to do.” The disciples come to him in John, chapter 4, and they try to offer him food, says in verse 31, “In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, ‘Master, eat.’ But he said unto them, ‘I have meat to eat that ye know not of.’ Therefore said the disciples one to another, ‘Hath any man brought him ought to eat?’ Jesus saith unto them, ‘My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.’” He said, “I just want to get the work done.” “Here, eat this.” “My meat is the work.” That’s who you’re following, if you’re following Christ.
<br><br>What would Jesus do? The bracelet, right? Work. That what should be on the other side of that bracelet. It should say, WWJD, you flip it over, it says, “work.” That’s what he did. He said, “The son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” He said, “I must work the works of my father.” He said, “As long as I’m in the world, I am the light of the world.” Are you in Colossians 1? He said, “Be fruitful unto every good work,” in verse 10. “nd increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light.”
<br><br>Go to 1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 9:8 is what I’ll read while you’re turning there. “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.” Some people, this verse does not apply to you because you don’t have any labor. How could God tell you that your labor is not in vain in the Lord when you don’t have any labor in the Lord?
<br><br>You have people who quote this verse as if it somehow applies to them when they don’t do any work. Your labor’s not in vain, what labor? What are you doing? Just living your life. Yeah, that’s just really hard work for the Lord, just living my life and going to church. Going to church is not work. I’m working right now because I’m preaching the sermon. You are not working right now, all right? You are sitting in a chair.
<br><br>Look, I’ve sat in a chair many times. Sitting in a chair three times a week is important to learn, and to grow in knowledge and spiritual understanding, so that you can work, since you can work, not just to come and just sit and listen. “Man, I’m really working hard for the Lord, going to church three times a week, reading my bible every day.” How is that work? It’s like if you went to work and you’re just reading manuals in the shop. You’re at the plumbing shop, the electrical shop, fire alarms, whatever you do and you’re just reading manuals.
<br><br>“What are you doing? Get to work.” “I’m working, reading these manuals.” “Okay. Are you going to use what you … ” “Look, reading the manual would be work if you went out on a job, lay it into a snag, pull out the manual, read it, fix it,” but, “No, no, no. I’m just reading the manuals” What do you mean work? “I come here every day, don’t I? I’m here. I’m dressed. I’m in uniform. I clocked in. I’m reading the manual. What do you want from me?” “To produce something, to get something done, to work.”
<br><br>Look at Mark, chapter 13, while you’re turning there, I’ll read for you James 3:13. I mean, look, there’s so many scriptures I can’t read them all. Yet, some people miss this important truth don’t they? “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? Let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” Somebody who is wise and has knowledge, okay, show me it by your works. Show me your faith without your works, I’ll show you my faith by my works.
<br><br>How do you show your faith? Works. How do you show your knowledge? Works. How do you show your wisdom? Works. How d you show your spiritual understanding? Works. How do you show your love for the Lord? Your works. Your works. How does God judge you? By your work. How does he judge this church? By the work that we do. How are you going to get a reward? The work is going to be what your reward is based on. This is all straight from the Bible and it’s just hammered over and over again, that we’re to be workers.
<br><br>Mark 13, verse 34, it says, “For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.” What does he say there in verse 34? He said he’s given authority to his servants and God has given us authority today. He’s given us power and authority through the word of God and as emissaries of Christ, as ambassadors for Jesus Christ we’ve been given power.
<br><br>He says, “Whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatsoever you lose on earth, shall be lose in heaven.” He gives us the power to tread on scorpions and asps and to go out and to preach the gospel to every creature with all authority and with all boldness. He says, look, he gave them authority and they gave every man his work. Don’t let him catch you sleeping when you’re supposed to be working. You’re just asleep at the wheel and not getting anything done.
<br><br>He said in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.” Titus 2:14, “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people,” You know, I’ve heard a lot of sermons on being purified and being a peculiar people, but then there’s that last phrase, “ … purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” That’s the peculiar people God’s looking for. He’s not just want to just look down from heaven and just see a bunch of peculiar people and just, “Man, these people are so different from the world. It’s great.”
<br><br>Living in their commune, living out in the middle of nowhere in their secluded commune together, isn’t that wonderful how spiritual they are? That’s not what he wants. He wants people that are zealous of good works. You know what? This thing of, “Hey, let’s go move out in the middle of nowhere, somewhere, strategic relocation or whatever” You know what? I’m not interested. I want to be right here in the middle of a city, full of people who are dying and going to hell. I want to be where the harvest is. I’m not interested in going out and moving into the boonies.
<br><br>So many people will say, “I just want to go out and live in the country and farm and have animals and have a ranch.” You know what? That’s great too. In our flesh, we all think that’d be pretty cool to go out and live in the middle of nowhere, but I’d rather be a spiritual farmer. I’d rather work in God’s vineyard. I’d rather sow seeds in the hearts of people that are dying and going to hell with the word of God, than just sit there and sow seeds of organic plants. Is that really what life’s about, growing organic produces?
<br><br>Look, somebody’s got to grow organic produce but you know what? I’m not going to do it. I’m going to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ because I’m filled with the spirit and that’s what God’s told me to do. Not everybody can do what I can do. An unsaved person can grow organic produce. I mean, do you have to be saved to grow non-GMO crops? But you have to be saved to preach the gospel and get somebody saved. What are you doing that an unsaved person couldn’t do? An unsaved person could do most of the things that you do, but you know what an unsaved person can’t do? Preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to someone and win them the Lord.
<br><br>You know what? Living the Christian life’s all about making sacrifices and working for the lord. You know what? “I just really want to go live out in Timbuktu.” You know what though? If that’s not where the lost are, you need to stay where the lost are. Why do you think that I live in the middle of this city? Why do you think I bought my house which is way too expensive for what house I live in? You know why I bought it in this area? Because this is where all the people are. Because right across 48th street, you have just all this throngs of people that are just white unto harvest, ready to be saved, right there.
<br><br>You know what? I don’t want to live in the middle of nowhere where there’s no people to win to the Lord. Not interested because I want to win thousands of people to the Lord. That’s why I’m here, that’s why our church is here, otherwise our church could go and get way out of the city somewhere and build some ivory palace somewhere on really cheap land. I want to be on expensive land in the middle of the city where the lost are. It’s about work my friend and it’s not about just work that we do that’s just wood, hay and stubble, it’s about working for the Lord. It’s about gold, silver and precious stones.
<br><br>You say, “What is the work? What is the work that we’re supposed to be doing?” Well, here are the works that we’re supposed to be doing. Number 1, soul winning, evangelism, getting the gospel to the lost, that is the most important thing. Heaven and hell are real and people’s souls are in the balances. How could anything be more important than pulling them out of the fire? As the bible says. I mean, if people are in a burning building, what’s the priority? Get them out of the burning building. That’s got to be the number one priority. Those are the first works.
<br><br>You know what? There are other works that need to be done because also, God’s people need to be taught the word of God. The word of God needs to be taught unto Christians. It needs to be preached unto Christians. Those are good works too. If we can take somebody and teach them the bible, somebody who’s already saved, if we can take somebody who’s already saved and teach them the Bible, if we can get them baptized, and then teach them to observe all things that Christ commanded, you know what? That is a great work for the Lord. Because, here’s the thing, if we win somebody to the Lord, we’ve won one person to the Lord, right? But if we can take somebody who’s already saved, teach them, train them, edify them and teach them to be a soul winner, we could be potentially winning a hundred people to the Lord.
<br><br>Think about that. If you can get somebody who’s already saved and teach them the word of God, and train them to go soul winning, you might have just won a hundred people to the Lord by teaching that person who’s going to do likewise for the rest of their life. The work of the Lord is not just soul winning, that’s a big part of it of course, but then it’s also teaching God’s people. It’s also edifying God’s people. It’s also doing the work of the church because the church is here to edify God’s people.
<br><br>You know part of the reason why a bunch of people are staying around on spiritual street corners at the spiritual eleventh hour saying, “No man hath hired us”? It’s because their church is not giving them any work to do because you got to have a church to send you out. I know that from the time that I was 6 to the time that I was 16, I wanted to win people to Christ. I wanted to work for God. I remember just one day like, “What’s the work?” I want to work for God. I want to do works. I’m reading into the Bible, work, work, work, work, work. God, I want to work and there was no work to do.
<br><br>You try to find opportunities in these churches to work and you couldn’t even find any work to do. There was no work. Why? Because the church isn’t doing any work. It reminds me of my sister who worked at a state job, for the state of California, and she had no work to do. Everybody’s just watching the printer print or whatever and there’s just no work. She was going around, “Hey, can I help you with anything?” She literally went to people’s offices and said, “Is there anything I can help you with?” Here’s what they said, “No. We’re just as bored as you are.” Just government workers getting paid t surf Facebook all day. They literally said to her, “No. We’re just as bored as you are.” You know what? That’s the picture of a lot of churches today. No works are being performed. Nothing’s being accomplished. You go to them and say, “Hey, can I work?” “Nope. We’re just bored as you are.”
<br><br>When people come to me and ask me for work, I have work for them to do. I’ve had out of town visitors come and be like, “Hey, is there any work I can do?” I’m like, “Yeah. Can you ship out these 400 packages?” “Let’s work.” It’s like, “Yeah. Clean the building.” You know what? Don’t be one of these people that only wants the most glamorous work. “Well, I want to work but I don’t want to do that. I want to do something glamorous and I want to preach the sermon.” But you know what? Before you preach the sermon, you clean the toilet, and you vacuum the carpet, and you fold the invites, and you ship out packages, and you do things that are meat but little as much when God’s in it.
<br><br>You know what? Before you stand up and preach to the masses, you go out as a silent partner of soul winning. You shut up and listen to somebody else and learn how to do it. You know what? You say, “Well, what’s the point of me going out soul winning as a silent partner, I’m not even doing anything.” Yes, you are. Because guess what, if we have four people show up for soul winning and they all know how to do it, they all know how to talk, then you know what we’re going to do, we’re going to divide them into two groups of two. Then we’re going to have two groups of two going soul winning.
<br><br>Let’s say we have four silent partners show up. Now you know what we’re going to do? Now we’re going to send out four groups of two and we’re going to knock double the doors and twice as many people saved. That’s what a silent partner does right there. It allows us to double the manpower. Because here’s the thing, we don’t have a shortage of talkers in this church. Now there are some churches that are new churches, that are just getting started, where when you first started you have people coming. Sometimes, you only have a couple of talkers and everybody’s a silent partner. We don’t have that problem here.
<br><br>Who here goes out soul winning and does the talking? Put up your hand right now. Look around. Does it look like we have a shortage of people to teach you how to go soul winning? You’re not going to show up at the soul winning time and, “Not enough talkers.” No. There are going to be people there to talk and we can double the soul winning just by getting more silent partners. You know what? If you go out soul winning as a silent partner for a while, nobody’s going to have to force you to start doing the talking because eventually you’re going to get sick of just sitting back and letting somebody else do all the talking. You’re going to realize and you’re going to say, “Hey, let me get the next door.” You’re going to get to the point where it’s kind of a fighting to get to the door and do the talking. Because you know what? It’s a lot more fun to be the talker.
<br><br>Anybody who’s the talker knows that it’s more fun to be the one doing the talking, but guess where you start, as a silent partner. Guess where you start, mopping the floor, sweeping the rug, that’s where you start. You start humble and you’re willing to do whatever God wants you to do. There’s all kinds of work that can be done. The fields are white unto harvest. There are 4 million people that need to be reached. There are all kinds of young new believers that need to be disciple and talked the word of God and taken out soul winning and shown the ropes. There’s musical instruments to be played so that we could have a church service that honors and glorifies God, and praise him with the instruments of ten strings, all the different things he says that he wants us to do.
<br><br>Look, these are all important tasks to perform. There’s somebody running the sound system right now so that this can be live streamed throughout the world, so that thousands and thousands of people can hear my preaching right now. Somebody is working. Somebody is running the dials. Somebody’s running up the switch board back there and making it happen. Because things just don’t happen by accident. You know what? Everything that you see in life always took way more work than what you think.
<br><br>You go to a restaurant, you don’t really realize what goes into it until you work at a restaurant. You see all the behind the scenes. You don’t realize that after the restaurant closes, they’re there for hours cleaning. You don’t realize that Round Table Pizza, where I worked for example, opened at 11, guess when people started getting there in the morning? 6 or 7. They open at 11:00. You get there at 6 or 7 and you start rolling out the dough and getting everything ready, people are counting the drawers. Look, there’s always way more work that goes into things than you think. You go into a department store and see clothes everywhere, but then you look in the back room and there’s a whole another operation going on in the back of work that you’ve never even seen or thought about. Everything is like that.
<br><br>You need to understand that God’s work is not going to do itself. We just don’t sit back and let God’s work do itself, like we’re Calvinists or something, “Well, if it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen, right?” “If God really wants these people to hear the gospel though, they’ll hear it.” “No. He already told us he wants us to hear it.” He says he’s committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. It’ll be like if I took my wallet and I said, “Brother Dominic, I’m committing my wallet to you for safekeeping.” Doesn’t that mean I’m trusting him? “Hey, hang on to my wallet.” I get it back, all the credit cards are gone, cash is gone. There’s trust there if I say I’m committing unto you my wallet. Our wallet’s are pretty important because if we’re to lose our wallet, we got to call every single bank and credit card, get them all cancelled, get a new card in the mail, you got to go get a new driver’s license.
<br><br>You know what? What God has committed unto us is way more valuable than that wallet and there’s way more at stake. If I lose my wallet, that’s negative, but you know what? If people’s souls are lost, isn’t that worse? God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation, the ministry of soul winning is what he’s talking about there and what he’s saying there is that he’s trusting us. He’s saying that I’m relying on you to get this done. Here you go, I’m trusting you with this job and he leaves into a far country and he says, “I want to come back and I want to find the job done. I don’t want to come back and find you sleeping. I don’t want to come back and find you eating and drinking with the drunken and beating your fellow servants.”
<br><br>He said, “I want to come back and find you working and I want to see results. I want results. I want to see that you say, ‘Lord, I was given one talent.’ Here are 10 talents. Here are two talents.” He wants to come back and he wants to see the fruit that’s been harvested and brought in. We could say, “Lord, this is the fruit. This is the produce. These are the results. This is the work that’s been … ” Give me my wallet back. These are the works that have been finished. This is what we did.
<br><br>You need to do some soul searching this morning no matter who you are and ask yourself, what am I doing for the Lord. What am I accomplishing for the Kingdom of God? You say, “Well, it’s your job because you’re the pastor.” You know what? That’s true. It is my job because I’m the pastor, but you know what? I was working for the Lord long before I was ever the pastor, ‘til I became the pastor, because I was in the pew for many, many years, working, doing the non-glamorous jobs, doing the soul winning and I still continue to work now, but it’s everybody’s job to work for … He didn’t say to give every pastor according to his work shall be. He said to give every man according as his work shall be. The Bible says even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure and whether it be right.
<br><br>In the harvest field now ripened, there’s a work for all to do. Hark the voice of God is calling to harvest calling you. Little is much when God is in it, labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown, and you can win it, if you go in Jesus’ name. [Inaudible 00:55:21] in this church, not to work. There could be a lot of churches where you could sit there and say, “Look, there’s just no work to do.” They’re not working. They don’t have any extra work to go around. This church will put you to work.
<br><br>You know what? If showing up on Sunday to the 1:30pm soul winning time for three hours is too much, no problem because there’s a Monday night soul winning for one hour and there’s a Wednesday night soul winning for one hour. There’s soul winning out in Gilbert that’s shorter that starts at 2:30. There’s soul winning all the times that you want, Saturday morning soul winning at 10am. All different times, all different parts of the town, but some people just are going to make excuses no matter what.
<br><br>Look, there’s all kinds of work to do. You know we were looking for the other day volunteers to clean the building. We had a bunch of volunteers come out and clean the building. I saw the ladies here yesterday and cleaned the building. Praise the Lord for people that want to do some work. They want to get something done. Some people have talents and abilities with computers. You know what? The computer is a great tool to get the word of God out to a lot of people.
<br><br>The amount of people that are tuned in to the sermons and the preaches of this church, and then people are soul winning, and people are learning, and people are growing and things are going to be that. People who have talent with computers, people who have talent with music, people who have talent with whatever the case may be. Use your talents for the Lord and be a servant, and show up, and play the piano, and show up and be a song. Look, we need more song leaders at our church because sometimes the song leader’s not here, we need a backup song leader. We need other people to step up the plate to play the piano and play the organ when people are gone.
<br><br>There are all kinds of jobs to do, soul winning, teaching and preaching the word or God. We need people to go out and start churches because we need churches to be started all over the world and all over America. You know what? I wish I had more people to train and more people that are qualified, more people that want to do the work, that desire the office of a bishop because they desire a good work. There’s a lot to do and we need people to step up to the plate and get it done, and we can make a huge, huge, huge difference in Phoenix, Arizona and around the world.
<br><br>One person can do a lot and a hundred people can do a lot more than one person can do, but they have to be willing to work. You know what? A lot of people are going to be real disappointed someday when they get to heaven and they’re all excited ready to cast their crowns at Jesus’ feet and they’re going to be like, “Oh man, I’ve been waiting my whole life to cast my crown at Jesus’ feet.” There’s like a cheap beanie on their head and they’re like, “Oh man, I don’t know if I want it.” They’re going to have one of those Jew hats on their head. “Oh man, I got a doily on my head. I got a coaster on my head.”
<br><br>What? Because people are going to get to heaven and they’re going to think like, “Man, I went to church my whole life. I read the Bible every day. I’ve read it for the big rewards. I’ve kept a clean life.” Jesus is going to be like, “Okay. Let’s see your work.” “What did you say? Work? You mean we’re supposed to work? You mean I was supposed to be actually working for the church and working for the kingdom of God and working for Jesus? What are you talking about? I thought I was just supposed to follow the rules in the Bible and just sitting in a chair three times a week.”
<br><br>It’s going to be disappointing. You’re disappointing Jesus right now if you’re not a worker. All kinds of work that needs to be done, all kinds of stuff to do. Come to me with your talents and abilities and I will put you to work. Come to Jesus, he’ll put you to work. Come to the soul winning times, we’ll put you to work.
<br><br>Let’s bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word Lord and we thank you for salvation. Thank you that salvation’s free, Lord, that we don’t have to work for it. I think everybody in this room already understands that, but Lord, help us that are saved to actually now go out and work for you, not to earn salvation which can never be earned, but because we love you. We want to show our love for you and we want to earn rewards and earn wages unto life eternal. Lord, just please help Faithful Word to always be a working church and I pray that every person who hears this sermon would be inspired to say, “You know I want to do some work for God.”
<br><br>Whatever that work is, whether it’s a translator, somebody who can translate things into a foreign language, that’s work that needs to be done. Whether it’s somebody who can go out and speak Spanish and win people the Lord in Spanish, we need more soul winners that can speak Spanish, Lord. People who can work with computers, people who can do the cleaning, people who can cook meals for people that need help, people that are having a baby or people that are sick, Lord, just help us all to do the work and roll up our sleeves and to never lose sight of the primary work which is winning souls with the gospel, and to Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.</p>
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<p> </p>sanderson1769http://www.blogger.com/profile/10919354659109373434noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26603446.post-88248995720237652362016-05-01T16:59:00.000-07:002016-05-01T16:59:00.185-07:00Parachurch Ministries <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCGJcXWnepg">Video</a>
<p><b>May 24, 2015</b></p>
<p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yCGJcXWnepg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p>
<p> First Corinthians Chapter 12 is a great chapter about the local church and the different gifts that people that they exercise within the local church, the different members of the body of Christ and the functions that they have within the local church. What I want to preach about tonight is the local church, and how there are many things today that want to try and replace the local church.
<br><br>There are a lot of these parachurch organizations or parachurch ministries that people want to become involved with, and they de-emphasize the local church which is God's institution. It's really the only institution that God set up. You don't see God founding colleges or television ministries. You see him founding the local church.
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Congregation: Right.
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Pastor: I believe that God's work should be done through the local church, God's institution. I'm going to show scripturally why I think this is so important. First of all, before we can really have a sermon that talks about the local church and its importance versus these other parachurch ministries that are there as cheap substitutes for the local church, we need to understand what the word church even means. This is a word that many people fail to understand.
<br><br>I think church is a good word, but it's just a word that people misunderstand. The previous bible translations before the King James Version, the older English translations that predate the King James Version, they would always translate of it as, or some of them anyway, would translate it as congregation. In our King James Bible that's the way it's translated all the time in the Old Testament. Throughout the Old Testament we see this word over and over again, congregation.
<br><br>We don't find the word church until we get to Matthew, but all throughout the Old Testament we see congregation, congregation, congregation. What's interesting is, that when an Old Testament verse that says congregation is quoted in the New Testament then the New Testament uses the word church. Showing us that church and congregation are the same thing, which is why a lot of these older English translations would use the word congregation instead of church because that's what it means.
<br><br>It's the same thing. It's the same word. For example, in Psalm 22:22 it says, "In the midst of the congregation I will sing praise unto thee." Then that's quoted in Hebrews 2:12 as, "In the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." Showing that those 2 words have the identical meaning. Now go back, if you would, to Exodus Chapter number 33, Exodus Chapter number 33.
<br><br>While you're turning to Exodus Chapter number 33, I want to read to you from First Corinthians Chapter number 10. In First Corinthians Chapter 10, the bible says in verse 1, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."
<br><br>Now these things were written, he said, "They were for our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted." On and on, neither do this, neither do that, but the point is, he says, these things were written for our examples. He explains the symbolism. He says, "Look, when the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea that picture baptism." They had the water on all sides, they had the cloud above and then they had the water on both sides. That's a picture of baptism. It wasn't baptism that was a picture of baptism.
<br><br>When the blood was put on the doorpost in Egypt with the Passover lamb that was a picture of salvation, the blood sprinkled on our hearts and the lamb being the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ. He says, "Look all of these things happen for examples." When you're reading these stories in the book of Exodus and elsewhere in the Old Testament, you need to understand that these were written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the worlds are come.
<br><br>He says, "When you read it you have to understand that that Passover lamb is Jesus. The sprinkling of the blood is talking about the blood sprinkled in our hearts. That crossing of the Red Sea pictures baptism. That congregation in the wilderness pictures the church, and Moses was the pastor of that church." So on, it's all the different things. The manna that they ate, it's all symbolic, everything. Now I'm not saying it didn't really happened. Of course it really happened, but it's also symbolic. It's also things that are written for our admonition.
<br><br>Now look what the bible says in Exodus 33 verse 2, "And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way. And when the people heard these evil tidings, they mourned: and no man did put on him his ornaments."
<br><br>Chapter 33 verse 5, "For the Lord had said unto Moses, Say unto the children of Israel, Ye are a stiffnecked people: I will come up into the midst of thee in a moment, and consume thee: therefore now put off thy ornaments from thee, that I may know what to do unto thee."
<br><br>Basically God is saying, "I'm so angry at you. I don't know what to do with you. Take off your stupid ornaments and let me figure out what I'm going to do with you, because you're such a stiffnecked rebellious people." God's very angry because the children of Israel have been sinning and so forth.
<br><br>It says in verse 6, "The children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments by the mount Horeb. And Moses took the tabernacle." This is the key verse in verse 7, "And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp." Outside, so everybody's camped. Keep in mind not everybody is saved. It's just a bunch of people who came out Egypt. First of all it's the whole nation of Israel.
<br><br>Many of which are not saved of course, there's Korah, there's Dathan, Abiram, all the rebels, all those people. Then also there's a mixed multitude that comes up with them, just a bunch of people who just jumped on this bandwagon. There's that millions here, of course they're not all saved.
<br><br>There's the camp where the whole multitude is camped in the wilderness, but Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp. He takes God's house and he moves it outside the camp, a far off from the camp. Now look, this is not in the bible by accident. It's not just incidental. God's trying to teach us something here. He takes it without the camp, "Far off from the camp, and he called it the tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp."
<br><br>Go, if you wold, to Hebrews 13, Hebrews Chapter 13. What's he saying here? The tabernacle of the congregation which in the Old Testament was God's house is basically pitched without the camp, afar off from the camp, and he wants to make a delineation and a separation between those who want to seek the Lord and don't. He say, "We don't want to have the whole world in the church, everybody in church."
<br><br>He says, "No, we're going to put the congregation outside the camp, and anybody who wants to seek the Lord is going to have to make the effort to go to that congregation." It's not going to come to you. It's not going to be where you live. No, it's just going to be outside the camp so that you have to leave your house and go to that congregation and seek after the Lord in that way.
<br><br>Now look what the bible says in Hebrews 13 which ties in with this, verse 6 it says, "So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation. Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever."
<br><br>"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. We have an altar, whereof they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp. Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate."
<br><br>Now watch verse 13, "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come. By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."
<br><br>Now the part that I really want to emphasize here is in verse number 13 when it says, "Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach." That's exactly the wording used in Exodus 33:7 when he said that the tabernacle of the congregation was pitched without the camp, and that anybody who sought after the Lord would go to that congregation. God's telling us in the New Testament, "Let's go forth unto Christ outside the camp bearing his reproach.
<br><br>This is an admonition about going to church, about going to the congregation. In the Old Testament, they went to the congregation, and here that's what he's talking about, which is why it starts out in verse 7 and ends up in verse 17 in this section talking about, "Hey, remember them that have the rule over you. Obey them that have the rule over you."
<br><br>What's he talking about? He's talking about the local church here. He's not talking about, "Hey remember some king or emperor, whatever." No, because he says, "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God." This is talking about the church. That's why those bookends are there in verse 7 and 17 because right here he's saying, "Look, let's go without the camp. Let's go to the tabernacle of the congregation."
<br><br>He just said a few chapters ago, in chapter 10, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together." What does that mean? To congregate, to assemble, that's what congregate means. He says, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." He says that we need to no forsake the assembling of ourselves together.
<br><br>Where? Without the camp. Where? In the congregation. Where? In the local church. He says, "Don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another." What does exhorting one another mean? It means to tell other people, "Hey, you need to be in church. Exhorting one another, but in the end times this will become lest important."
<br><br>Is that what it says? No, it says, "But exhorting one another: and so much the more, as we see the day approaching." That means in 2015 we need more church than in 2014. It's even more important not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together now than it was yesterday, because it says it's more important as we see the day approaching. Yet we see the exact opposite today.
<br><br>We see the church being de-emphasized, and we see more people than ever forsaking the assembling of themselves together. Exactly what the bible's predicting would happen, which is why he adds that phrase, "So much the more, as ye see the day approaching." God knows the end from the beginning. He knew that in the end times people were going to start forsaking the assembly, forsaking the congregation.
<br><br>Now the reason I make a big deal about that, and if you would go to Fist Corinthians 12, the reason I make a big deal about that is that the church is a congregation. The church is an assembly. The church is a group that you go to. Now a lot of people would say, "The church isn't a building." Of course church isn't a building. I agree with that, the church is not a building. Here's what people miss though, when they go around and say, "Hey we're the church." Yeah that's right, we're the church because we congregate. As soon as we stop congregating we're not the church anymore.
<br><br>You could be have been a saved Israelite, and you could've even be "baptized." You went through the cloud and the sea, but if you don't go out to that congregation you're not a part of that congregation. You're with all the wicked people that are hanging out in the camp murmuring against God and against Moses and don't care and don't want to listen to the truth and don't want to go to that tabernacle of the congregation.
<br><br>Just because you're saved it doesn't make you the church, but see, this is what people are teaching now. People teach this doctrine that's called the Universal Church Doctrine. It's amazing because the world universal means Catholic. You want to know what Catholic means? Look up Catholic in a dictionary. Catholic means universal, and it's this teaching that there's one true church, the Catholic Universal church. We all need to look to this one church and its universal pastor, the pope. That's what the Catholic church sees it.
<br><br>The Protestant Reformation comes along and says, "Well, there's not a visible Catholic church or Universal church, but there's an invisible (making sounds), there's an invisible Catholic church, an invisible Universal church. In fact, if you talk to Protestants who actually know their doctrine, protestants who actually follow the teachings of Martin Luther, John Calvin, these heroes of theirs, then they'll even say, "I'm Catholic."
<br><br>Will literally say, "I am Protestant Catholic." That's what they'll tell you, and they'll say, "We are members of the true Catholic church." This is what they'll say, "Well we didn't leave the Catholic church, Rome left us. The Roman Catholic church left the true church. We're the true church." They'll teach there's only one true church, this Universal church mentality. Then you have today the Evangelicals who will often believe in this Universal Church Doctrine, and they'll say, "Well, it's just a Universal church that's just made up of all the saved."
<br><br>That's the evolution, you have the Roman Catholic church with their visible Universal church. Then you have the Protestant with their invisible Universal church. Then you have the Evangelicals that just say, "Hey, if you're saved, you're automatically the church." This is not what the bible teaches because that doesn't even make sense in light of the definition of the word church.
<br><br>Once you realize that the word church means congregation, once you realize that it means an assembly, you just have to ask yourself the question, "Am I congregated with all believers? Have I ever congregated with all believers?" The answer is no. There is no Universal church. There is no church made up of all believers. It's a fraud. It doesn't exist. There are local churches. That's why the bible uses the word church, singular, 80 times, but it uses the word churches plural, 37 times.
<br><br>Here's the thing, 80 mentions, most of them are clearly talking about a certain geography and saying, "The church at Ephesus. The church at Smyrna. The church at Pergamos." How can you say, "Well we're all part of the church when you got a church at Smyrna, and you got a church over at Pergamos, and you got a church over in Ephesus, and you got a church over in Laodicea, and you got the churches of Galicia, plural. It's a multitude of church as plural.
<br><br>When these Catholics will tell you, whether they be the Roman Catholics or the Protestant Catholics, they'd tell you, "Hey there's only one church." Then explain to me 37 plural mentions of churches. How do you explain that? How do you send it to the 8 churches in Asia if there's only 1? Evangelicals will often answer this with, "Well it's both. It's both. There's a local church, and then there's also a Universal church." There simply isn't a Universal congregation of believers. It just doesn't exist. It doesn't make any sense.
<br><br>It's just a turn, the definition of the word church on its head to come up with that doctrine. It's a very dangerous doctrine because of the fact that God has ordained separate churches for a reason. There's a big important reason why they are separate. You know what this reminds me of when we think about the importance of being independent? Look, this is why our church is Independent Baptist. Why are we an Independent Baptist church?
<br><br>Why are we not part of one of these denominations like the Southern Baptist Convention, or the North American Baptist, or the ABA, or the GARB? Why are we independent? Because we believe that it's biblical to be independent. The bible says that as Christ is the head of the church, it says, "the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church." Now a lot of people will just take out of context that phrase, Christ is the head of the church, and say, "See, there's only one church."
<br><br>Christ is the head of the church, but here's the thing, he said, "The husband is the head of the wife." Is there only one wife per guy? Is there only one wife? Is there only one husband? No. When he says, "The husband is the head of the wife." What's he saying? That the husband is the head of the wife, that means every husband is the head of his wife. When it says, "Christ is the head of the church." It's saying Christ is the head of any true church, any spiritual church.
<br><br>It's talking about the institution of being a husband and the institution of being a wife, and it's talking about the institution of the local church saying, "Look, the church has Christ as its head." That means that Christ is the head of the church at Ephesus. Christ is the head of the church at Smyrna. Christ is the head of the church at Pergamos. Everybody understand?
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Congregation:Yeah.
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Pastor: If I were to say, "Hey, the president is the head of the corporation." If I were to make a statement like that, am I talking about one certain corporation or am I just explaining something about businesses? What if I said, "The partners are equal in a partnership." If I'm just speaking in generalities. Do you understand what I'm saying? What if I said, "Hey the father is in charge of the children." Am I saying there's only father and one set of children? No, I'm saying that fathers in general are in charge of their children.
<br><br>That's all the bible is saying when it says that Christ is the head of the church. That means that Christ is the head of Faithful Word Baptist Church. That means that Christ is the head of any other bible believing church. Then that church has Christ, that's it. Here's the thing, if Christ is the head, then how can we take orders from anyone other than Christ. We don't need a middle man folks. That's what these denominations are, a middle man.
<br><br>Some headquarters somewhere in Texas or in some distant country or distant state, we don't need them telling us, "Hey we just decided that Sodomites are allowed." That's the kind of stuff these convention are constantly voting on. I just read this week how the Southern Baptist Convention said, "Hey were going to allow tongue speaking now or something." Our missionaries in Africa, because they said, "Look it's just not cool to go to Africa and not speak in tongues. Everybody in Africa is speaking in tongues. If we want to be popular over there we got to speak in tongues."
<br><br>They just started saying, "Hey we're going to allow our missionaries to speak in tongues in Africa." Allowed to be demon possessed in Africa. What they call speaking in tongues isn't what the bible calls speaking in tongues. It's people that are (making sounds), people that are demon possessed, or they're just acting a fool or whatever. The bottom line is that when you have some other convention that's giving you orders, you can do this, you can't do that. Then they're taking a portion of the funds and redistributing it, et cetera, et cetera, then the church no longer has Christ as its head, but rather it's answering to someone else instead of just answering to Christ.
<br><br>Here's the thing, the pastor is not the head of the church, Jesus is the head of the church. The pastor is basically an executive that basically just executes the will of the main shepherd, Jesus. He's the head. He's the boss. The pastor is just here physically on this earth as an undershepherd to the chief shepherd, just making sure that Christ's will is carried out, that Christ's word is taught.
<br><br>Just to be an onsite, on the ground ... It'd be like if you went to a company and there's the manager onsite making sure everything happens the way it's supposed to, but he's not the owner of the company. The owner of the company might be in a distant state. That like the Lord is the owner. He is the real boss. He is the head, and then he's got his pastors that are there to basically run things on the ground according to his will, not according to their own wishes and will.
<br><br>Not just a manager who just runs it how he wants. No, he's taking orders from the boss-man, the owner of the company. That's what a pastor is supposed to do, take orders from the real boss which is Jesus. That's the head of the church. Here's the thing, if the pastor is taking orders from a denomination, that's interfering with his ability to let the spirit lead him.
<br><br>That's why we believe in an independent church and we believe in a pastor run church, not a church that's run by an organization, or a board, or a fellowship, or other churches. We don't want one church telling another church what they must do. We want the churches to me independent, autonomous, self-governing, and answering only to Jesus, and only having the bible as a guideline. I'm going to explain why that's so important.
<br><br>Once we understand that there is no Universal church. All the scriptures talk about geographically local churches, the word church itself means a congregation, an assembly of people, then when you look at all these scriptures that talk about the importance of the church. Then you have to ask yourself, "How can we really be in the will of God if we're not a part of a local church, when God commands us to be a part of a local church?" A lot of the New Testament is written out to churches. Over and over again he talks about the importance of the church.
<br><br>We need to go out to that tabernacle of the congregation. This saying, "We all make up the church." That's not really true. That's deceptive. It is true that the church is the people not the building. It's the people that congregate. The people that don't congregate aren't part of the church. A person who never attends Faithful Word Baptist Church is not a member of Faithful Word Baptist Church. They are not congregated.
<br><br>Even somebody who just listens online, "I listen to every sermon." Praise the Lord. I'm glad you listen to every sermon, but you're not a member of this church, you need to be a member of a local church in your area. Listening to preaching online can be a great supplement, but it should never be a substitute for physically attending a local church and being a member of that local body.
<br><br>What these parachurch ministries are is they are ministries that are outside of the authority of any local church. They are just operating freestyle as a competitor to the local church, but they're not modeled after God's plan for the local church. They're basically just doing it their own way. Instead of following God's plan for establishing churches in every city, and for the church to be instrument of evangelism, for the church to be the instrument of teaching and training up God's people and training up the next generation of leaders, this parachurch ministry comes in and just operates outside of that paradigm and just operates on its own principles that don't follow the patterns laid forth in scripture of what a bishop or pastor should be, what a deacon should be, what a church should look like, what the function is, what the protocols are.
<br><br>They just operate outside of that and just do their own thing. They just say, "Oh, we're such and such the ministry. We're so and so the ministry." They might be just selling a bunch of Christian materials and books. Here's the thing, there's nothing wrong with selling a Christian book friends. When you're setting up a ministry, that is basically substituting for the local church, and is under the authority of no local church. That is not scriptural.
<br><br>If you want to set up a ministry where you're selling your Christian book, you still need to get your backside into a local church and be part of a local church. A person who's a part of a local church can publish whatever book they want and be right with God or whatever CD, or whatever video they want to do, but they're a part of the church. They're not just operating freestyle outside of the local church. Instead of going to church, it's just, "Oh, I just have this ministry. I just run this ministry. I'm just a part of this ministry."
<br><br>No, that does not take the place of church. You need to get in church and be under a man of God preaching and teaching. "Oh that sounds so controlling." Shut up and read the bible. You need to get in a local church. You say, "What do you mean outside of the authority of the local church?" Look at Matthew 16. This is the first time the word church is used in the bible. Listen, anybody who has gone to this church for a long time will tell you that this church is not a controlling church. Pastor Anderson is not a controlling person.
<br><br>I'll say this, I've gone to church my whole life and I am more of a hands-off pastor than any church I've ever attended in my entire life. I'm very hands-off. I'm not a micromanager. I don't like to tell people what to do and get involved in the details of this that and the other. I like to just basically let people do their things and interfere as little as possible. Just try to provide guidance and preaching and teaching.
<br><br>Here is the thing though, there is a time when I've had to step in in certain situations and just say, "No, we're not going to do that here." As the bishop, as the overseer, as the watchdog, as it were, because otherwise false doctrine can creep in, wrong bible versions can creep in, sinful practices can creep in. Part of the pastor's job is to say no!
<br><br>When these things try to creep in and when bad things are happening and when the church is going the wrong direction, most of that, 99% of that is just taken care of from the pulpit through preaching. When I see an issue, I just try to preach about it. Then people can learn and grow. But there are times when you just have to confront people and say, "Hey look, we can't do this. We need to change this." So on so forth.
<br><br>When we talk about the church having authority, we're not talking about authority over anybody's personal lives. That would be like a cult. If you go to a church and the pastor is dominating your family and telling you what you can and can't do in your personal life and trying to basically order you around. That's obviously cult-like and strange.
<br><br>When we talk about the pastor having authority in the church, what we're talking about is authority in the church as far as running the church, not running your family, your life, your business, or anything like that. Just basically somebody is in charge or the church. This church is not a free-for-all. You say, "What would a free-for-all look like?" Where just anybody who wants to can just come up behind the pulpit and start teaching and preaching.
<br><br>Is that the way we run things here? Just an open mic, open mic at Faithful Word Baptist Church. No there's not an open mic at Faithful Word Baptist Church. Anybody can come up here and sing and play whatever kind of music they want. Anybody can come up here and preach. Anybody can talk. No, that is not the way that we do things, because there is a boss here and it's Jesus, and then there is a guy that Jesus has given authority to rule the house of God in the sense that he's there to make sure that things are done according to his wishes and will.
<br><br>If somebody wants to get up and read, and you would say, "I can't see this ever happening." You know what? You haven't been around for very long. I've been in churches where all kinds of bad things are constantly creeping and the pastor doesn't always put a stop to it. Where somebody can just get up and just get behind the pulpit and just say, "Let me read you something that touched my heart." Then just started reading the NIV, not going to happen in this church.
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Pastor: You'll say, "What gives you the right?" You know what? There is an authority structure in the local church. Here's the thing, you say, "Church is supposed to be a democracy." Really? What chapter and verse is that? Democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. You know what? In a democracy that would mean that a whole bunch of people could come in here and just say, "We like the NIV better." Then it's the NIV.
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A bunch of people could come in and say, "We want to have Christian contemporary boy bands in here. Get rid of these hymns. We want to have jiving and jamming for Jesus and swinging and swaying for the Savior. We want to bring in the effeminate Christian boy band music. Who's going to stop us?" I am. I'm going to stop you. That's what my job is. The bible a principle of leadership.
<br><br>Again, that not what the sermon is about so I don't want to spend a lot of time one that. I just want to quickly touch on that because it's in the passage there in Hebrews 13 about the congregation, and so that we can understand what's going on here. Where did I have you turn?
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Congregation: Matthew 16.
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Pastor: Okay, look at this. This is the first time church is mentioned. Don't tell me this is a coincidence. We're going to look at the first 2 times the word church is ever used in the bible. Matthew 16:17, "And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
<br><br>Watch verse 19, "And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Now go to Matthew Chapter 18, Matthew Chapter number 18. The bible says in verse 15, it's the second mention of the church, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church."
<br><br>Now again, this is where the foolishness of the Universal church comes in. Okay, tell it to every believer? "All right I'm going to go travel to Ethiopia and tell all the believers there that I have a problem with somebody here in Phoenix Arizona. Tell it unto the church right? Every believer, every saved person right?
<br><br>No, it's ridiculous isn't it? I've heard people actually refer to this is in that context as bizarre as it sounds, and say, "We need to tell it unto the church." Then they did a radio broadcast or a television broadcast, literally. We got to tell it to the whole church, every saved. It's like what in the world?
<br><br>I'm not kidding folks. It says, "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." What is this saying here? That God has given authority to the church, and God allows the church to make decisions. God respects those decision and says, "Hey if you bind on earth I'll bind it in heaven." Isn't that what it says?
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Congregation: Yes.
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Pastor: Right. God gives the church the right to judge in certain situation. Again, this isn't about controlling anyone or dictating personal lives in a cult-like way. It's about situation like in First Corinthians 5, where here's a guy living in open fornication and he said, "You need to judge this guy, and you need to cast him out of the church." The bible says, "Put away from among yourselves that wicked person."
<br><br>He said, "I being absent have judged already as though I were present. What should be done concerning him that hath so done this deed, In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus."
<br><br>He gives the the authority to cast out those who are living in major sin, and the sins are listed there. He says, "Hey if they are in drunkenness, they could be cast out." By who? By the church. Who can cast them out if they're in fornication? By the church. He says, "You know what? Whatsoever thou shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." This isn't talking about people's salvation.
<br><br>Obviously their salvation is based on their personal faith in Jesus. You don't have to be a member of the church to be saved. You know what? The church does have a certain authority to judge people that are living in major sin. If somebody's a drunk, the church uses its authority and exercise that authority and throw them out. If they're a fornicator, the church exercises and uses its authority to throw them out.
<br><br>When we talk about a parachurch ministry not being under the authority of the local church what we're saying is that this process couldn't even be followed when sin is in that organization. There is no church to tell it unto, because they're operating outside of the local church paradigm. There is no pastor. There is no overseer. It's a free-for-all. There's no keys to the kingdom of binding on earth and binding in heaven. It's just outside of that. It's just a freestyling it, doing their own thing.
<br><br>Why is this important? Go to First Corinthian 12. I think you might already be there, or you were there and I took you away from there. First Corinthians Chapter 12 is a great chapter about the body of Christ, the church. It's an often misunderstood passage. Let's look at it word by word and let's see what's being taught. Verse 4, "Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord."
<br><br>Verse 6, "And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all." What's he saying? The church does all kinds of work. There are diversities of administrations and operations of the church. Things that the church does, there's soul winning, there's the music, the church might print scriptures, or the church might make a sermon CD, or whatever the church does, whatever the ministry the church does.
<br><br>The church could have a ministry feeding the homeless. The church could have a ministry that's visiting prisoners or sending gifts to prisoners, and sending them letters and preaching and whatever. The church could have a ministry for foreign missions. The church could have all kinds of ministries. God is saying that it's the same God, the same Lord, the same spirit with all these diversities of administrations or operations. Whatever the church does work of the Lord-wise.
<br><br>It says in verse 7, "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues." Meaning various types of languages, foreign languages.
<br><br>He says, "To another the interpretation of tongues: But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ." "For as the body is one," He says in verse 12, "And hath many members." Now is that saying that there's only one body in this earth, more like 8 billion bodies in this earth. When he says the body is one, he's saying each body is one that is composed of many members.
<br><br>My body is one body, but it's made up of the hands, the feet, the head, the eyes, the nose, the mouth. Watch what he says here on verse 13, "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." A lot of people will just stop there and say, "See right there, it's the Universal church." No, he says, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles."
<br><br>What's he saying? We don't have a separate church for Jews and a separate church for Gentiles. No, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we're Jew or a Gentile." Meaning that there's one church for Jews and Gentiles. There's one church for red and yellow, black and white. We don't segregate it to the Chinese church, the black church, the white church, the Jew church, the Gentile church. He's not saying that's there only one church in the planet.
<br><br>He says here, "By one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?"
<br><br>Here's the key, verse 17, "If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body."
<br><br>Now listen, this is very important, I want you to think about this, God builds the church. He said, "Upon this rock I'll build my church." The bible says that God will severally put into that church whom he will and he will put in there a diversity of people that have a diversity of gift, diversity of skills. They're all different. They have different roles, different functions, and they're all necessary. Even the parts that we think are not that necessary, they are necessary.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: You might just think, "Oh it's all about the pastor." No it's not all about me, it's about all the people. If the whole church were a pastor that wouldn't ... You need different types of people. Look if this church were just a hundred Steve Andersons that would not be the church that God wants to exist. God wants there to be all different types, the hand, the nose, the foot, the mouth, the eye.
<br><br>Now what does this have to do with these parachurch ministries? Here's the thing, these paracurch ministries they always specialize in one thing. Therefore they are imbalanced. What are these parachurch ministries? Just a big giant nose, a big mouth, it's a big mouth ministry. Here's the thing, a lot of these ministries are just nothing but a mouth.
<br><br>What are they? It's just a radio show, or just a TV show. It's just talk but there's no real boots on the ground action, there's no knocking of a physical door, there's no going to the physical ghetto and actual talking to human beings. It's just all, just blah, blah, there's no feet of the gospel of peace going to the ghetto and preaching the gospel to every creature.
<br><br>Somebody said, "Oh, if you want to give the gospel, everybody just put it on TV, put it on the radio, put it on the internet." No, because here's the thing, you'll never reach the poor that way and you never reach the derelict that way. You know how you reach the poor and the derelict? You go to their house and open the bible and tell them how to be saved. You know what? The poor and the derelict when they go on TV, and when they go on the internet, and when they go on the radio, guess what? They're not seeking after God.
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Congregation: Yeah.
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Pastor: See the derelicts of this world, the ghetto people of this world, the poor of this world that are just living in slims and ghettos where we go soul winning, you know what? They're not just going and say, "How can I be saved? What does the bible say about heaven and hell?" No, you know what they're doing? They're looking at, hey what's ... I'm not up with the times. Rihanna or who's the famous? Come on worldly one, who is the famous pop start right now?
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Female: Beyonce.
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Pastor: Beyonce, okay, we have one worldly one right here, okay. No, I'm just kidding. They're looking for Beyonce's latest song. They're looking for the latest Hollywood movie. Am I right or wrong? Are they seeking out the New Testament of Jesus Christ? Look, you are never, listen to me, you're never going to reach the poor, you're never going to reach the illiterate. Look there are people in this world that can't read and write. How are you going to reach them? Walk up to them and preach the gospel.
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You're never going to reach the derelict, the child, the teenager. There are plenty people who are not going to the internet and surfing looking for these stuff. To sit there and say, "Oh, if we just put it on the internet we'll reach everybody." No. There are people that you'd reach through the internet, true. You know what? There are many people that you will never reach through the internet and you will only reach with boots on the ground, physically going to their door and giving them the gospel, and that's is a fact.
<br><br>That's why God said to do it. Go into the highways and hedges daily in the temple and in every house they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. To sit there and say, "Hey, all we need is a broadcast." No, wrong, we need to physically go talk to people. Human beings, imagine that, in 2015 interacting physically in the flesh. These parachurch ministries, they're specialized.
<br><br>"Oh, we just specialize in being the nose. We just specialize in being the foot. We just specialize in being the hand." Is that what God designed? Did God design a body where he puts every diversity in it and says, "This is what I've designed as my institution that I'm building, the local church. I'm going to put members into it severally as I will."
<br><br>Let's talk about the parachurch ministries of our day and what's wrong with them, and why we don't support them, and why we need to get back to supporting local churches. I'm not saying just it's all about supporting Faithful Word Baptist Church. No, local churches in every city, they are completely independent from Faithful Word Baptist Church.
<br><br>People have said to me, I want to start a church and I want to call it Faithful Word Baptist Church, and I want to promote your ministry. I'm like no, call it something else and do your own thing, be independent. There's nothing wrong with, "Hey I'm going to promote this guy or promote that gut." You know what? When you have this network of churches that are all looking to one person as the leader, that's dangerous.
<br><br>You need to have Independent Baptist churches who are thinking for themselves not just a franchise of the home base. You know what I mean? What we have with these parachurch ministries, they'll usually have just one specially, for example, the family. Where it's all about dealing with family issues. The big one is what? Hocus pocus on the family. Right?
<br><br>Dr. James Dobson, Christian psychiatrist. Christian psychiatrist? What are you going to be like Christian bartender? Christian prostitute? Christian psychiatry, I thought psychiatry is of the devil. Hello Sigmund Freud. Unbelieving Christ-rejecting perverted Jew, false teacher, false prophet, Sigmund Freud. I don't want anything to do with him, the father of modern psychology.
<br><br>When I was a kid the churches preaches against the psychology, and the psychobabble, and the psychiatry, but he is this Christian psychologist and he's got this parachurch ministry Focus on the family. Then sometimes even when they go to church they won't tell you what church it is. It's all about their parachurch ministry, and that supersedes and is greater than the church. No, nothing is greater than the church because the church is the institution for which Christ died.
<br><br>The bible says, "feed the church of God," he said, "which Christ purchased with his own blood." That's what we ought to be doing. He didn't write this, "Hey, I'm sending the book of Revelation to the 7 ministries out in Colorado Springs, Colorado." Where a lot of these organizations are all based, in Colorado Springs. It's like a hub of evil there in Colorado Springs by the way.
<br><br>It's one of the most satanic, and I'm not against people who live in Colorado, obviously, it's not their fault, but there's a lot of satanic things that go on in Colorado. There's a lot of satanic things that go on in Colorado. There are a lot of Satan churches, even if you fly into the Denver Airport. Who has seen the satanic things at the Denver Airport? It's weird.
<br><br>I went there before I'd ever heard about it. I went to the Denver Airport. I was on a layover, and I'm just like, "What in the world." There's all these demonic artwork everywhere, showing mass murder and all these satanic, Illuminati, freemasonry, and people with gas mask and everybody's dying. You're just like, "This is an airport, what are you doing with these." Then I look it up online, and it's like, "Oh yeah, it's all demonic and everything."
<br><br>The Mile-High City worshiping Satan in the high places, and thank God for bible believing Christians that live in Colorado that are serving the Lord there. I'm just saying, there is a lot of evil there as well, and a lot of false prophet, a lot of false teachers. They come out of Colorado Springs with all their parachurch ministries, promise creepers, hocus pocus on the family. All these other different parachurch message that are just all about marriage, or all about childbearing, or all about this or that or the other.
<br><br>Another big one is Bill Gothard. This is one the ... What's it called? Help me out [Juja 00:48:50]. The ATI, the Advanced Training Institute, what in the world is that? The Advanced Training Institute. That doesn't sound like something that Christ built. That doesn't sound like a local church. Then it also called, what's the other thing? The Bible Life Principles-
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Female: IBLP.
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Pastor: IBLP, the Institute of Biblical Life Principles, and it's just all about the book of Proverbs and having character, and it's all about modesty. They have these certain issues, are you listening? Listen to the sermon. This is important. They have this certain issues that that's all they care about, and that all they talk about, and overemphasize and are imbalanced.
<br><br>How are they having an eye, and a nose, and a mouth, and a foot, and a hand when they're just like, "We just only specialize in Proverbs." There's 65 other books you need to specialize in or whatever. Then, "All we do is bible prophecy." You're imbalanced. You're all one body part. "All we do is the family. All we do is strength in marriage." These ministries, and here's the problem with these ministries is that there's no nose.
<br><br>What does that the nose represent? Why do we have a nose? Have you thought about that? Of our 5 senses probably the one that we would say is the least important would be our sense of smell, wouldn't we? If I were to take away one of your sense tonight, would you give up your sight? No way, you don't want to give that.
<br><br>Would you give up your hearing? Oh man that'd be terrible. Would you give up your sense of touch? That's going to be awful. You'd go to eat your food and you'd chew up and swallow your own tongue if you don't have any feeling. If you're just numb everywhere. You wouldn't even be able to function. Would you give up your sense of taste? Good night. You enjoy food every day.
<br><br>Your sense of smell, it's like, "I could live without it." You know what your sense of smell does for you? It wards you of stuff that's rotten. Think about how many times you'd go to eat something and you're (sniffing), "Somethings wrong." Think about, those of you who have kids, the dirty diaper. Sometimes you forget to check the diaper. The diaper will remind you because you smell it.
<br><br>What is the sense of smell? It tells you when something stinks, when there's dung, when there's junk, when there's rot, when there's decay, when there filth, when there's mold, when there's something that putrefying your nose warns you. Couldn't that be what Christ is telling us here in First Corinthians when he says, "Hey, somebody in the church is the nose to smell when there's something rotten in Denmark and let you know, 'Hey, wait a minute, something isn't right here. Something doesn't smell right.'
<br><br>You know why? That's why these parachurch ministries are constantly having scandals. Where perverts are just running rampant in them for decades and they're not getting busted. Why? No nose, too specialized, no qualified pastor. It's also often characterized by people getting way too much money and way too much power than what they can handle.
<br><br>Here's the thing, if we follow a local church model, nobody gets too much power. Think about that. If we follow a local church model, "Okay, Pastor Anderson has authority over a local church. It's not really that big. There's not really that much money." Then we got another church over here, people that we've trained and sent out, Pastor Romero over in Fort Worth, Texas. He has certain authority and certain things that he says over over there.
<br><br>Pastor Burzon up in Prescott Valley, Pastor Jimenez in Sacramento, California. These guys are independent. I don't have any authority over them. They don't have any authority over me or each other. We're just all Independent Baptist. That's it. We're just friends, and that friendship can change. You know what? That friendship doesn't make or break anything because we're all independent functioning, self-governing, autonomous churches.
<br><br>Here's the thing about that, the thing about that is that if you had a bunch of churches that are all under the authority of one guy aren't you giving that guy way too much power? Aren't you putting him over way too much money? Then it can go to their head. You say, "A good pastor would never do that." Here's the thing, a lot of good man had been corrupted by way too much power.
<br><br>Now think about how God laid it out in the Old Testament with the Children of Israel. Did he just have one guy that had all the power? No, because he had the judges. They were all the different judges in all the different tribes. They didn't have a king that had all the power. They said, "Give us a king. We want to be like all the other nations." God said, "No, no. I'm your king. You don't need a king."
<br><br>They had all these different judges so there was not a centralization of power. Does everybody understand that? There were ruler of 10s, ruler of 100. Ruler of 1,000, but there was not a centralized ruler of millions, because of the fact that when you give people too much power bad things happen.
<br><br>Look at King David, may after God's own heart, give him too much power, what happens? He commits sin, he does all kinds of thing. Most of the kings of Judah and Israel had a multitude of wives. Why? Too much power goes to the head. Then they feel like they can take liberty and everything like that.
<br><br>With this Bill Gothard and the ATI and the IBLP, and by the way my dad warned me about this guy when I was a small child. My dad used to scream and yell about a lot of things, but he screamed and yelled about Bill Gothard and ATI and the IBLP because he talked about it that it was a cult, that it was a cult of Bill Gothard, and that people would start coming to church with these red notebooks. This is what it was, thy carry and their ATI notebook or IBLP notebook or whatever.
<br><br>It was like that was their authority there, they get the bible and they got their red book. They carry this thing everywhere and it was a lot of strange falls doctrines, and my dad was fighting it back when I was kid. Here's the thing, this guy turned out to be a complete pervert. He ran this $80 million empire of this organization, this parachurch ministries, there's no church.
<br><br>Here's the thing, all throughout the history of this organization they were covering up for a whole bunch of scandals, multitudes of people that worked for the organization were constantly involved in scandal. They were not being cast biblically because there's no church even there to do it. It's just this parachurch ministry, free-for-all, freestyle, and you have all kinds of scandal and molestation and adultery and fornication running rampant in that institution all along, but it doesn't come out for decades.
<br><br>Decades later it all comes out because there's no watch dog, because it's not being run on a biblical model. Therefore this stuff is allowed to just run rampant. Listen, we will never cover up that kind of filth in this church. If we find out that any kind of sin or filth as far as, if anybody is being molested or if anybody is committing adultery, we will expose it.
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Congregation: Amen. That's right.
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Pastor: We will expose that. We will not allow that in this church, because this isn't your little parachurch ministry where we sweep that under the rag. No, this is a local church where we exercise the authority given us by Christ to clean house. We will do it. We've done in the past and we'll do it in the future.
<br><br>Thank God there's been no molestation or adultery but we cleaned house on fornication repeatedly, that is something that has taken place in the church. When we find out the people who's living in fornication we give them a chance to either get married, get out of fornication, or get out of the church. They have 7 days to do it, and that's what we've done many times.
<br><br>What I'm saying is these parachurch ministries, and this Bill Gothard was a total pervert, surrounding himself with all these young girls that would be his secretaries and assistants. He's being totally inappropriate with multitudes of them, because he's a pervert and he was exposed as such when he's 80 years old. He gets away with it for decade upon decade upon decade.
<br><br>Here's the thing, he was the head of a very imbalanced ministry that's just all about one thing, not about a whole bunch of other important stuff. Now listen, God is telling us here that the local church is his institution. It's his body. He designed it. Why do we think we can design something better than what he designed.
<br><br>Listen, anybody who is part of a parachurch ministry or the head of a parachurch ministry but not a part of a bonafide local New Testament is not part of a local New Testament church and is therefore living in sin and is not right with God. They need to get under the authority of a local church. They need to get and become a part of a body, and join the body.
<br><br>Now, in our church we want to make sure that we do not become focused on one thing where we just become just the eye, or just the foot, or just the mouth. We need to make sure that we maintain the diversity of administrations, the diversity of operations, and that every member of the body is doing their part and playing a role.
<br><br>How can we become imbalanced? All of these parachurch ministries are all imbalanced. Listen, if they weren't imbalanced they would be a parachurch ministry. Think about that. If they had all the elements, if they had a pastor, if they had soul winning, if they had bible teaching and preaching, if they had the singing of hymns, if they had the congregation of believers then they would become a church at that point. They would be a parachurch ministry.
<br><br>By definition, a parachurch ministry is just a chopped of piece of the body that's just riving in the gutter. Think about it. This is what spiritually a parachurch ministry is, if we would just hack of an arm and just that arm is just there. That's a parachurch ministry.
<br><br>Here's what a functioning body looks like. Here's a human body, Steven Anderson. This is a functioning body, hands, nose, mouth, eyes. Now here's the thing, there could be a functioning body that's missing a part and it could still function. Let's say I just had only one foot. This is me. I'm Pastor Steven Anderson, and I only have one foot. Could I still function? Am I still human? Of course. I could still function here. I can do something. I can make something happen.
<br><br>Maybe I'm just missing a hand. Okay, but I can still function. I could still accomplish something. I'm missing an eye, but look I can get something done for the Lord like this. Here's the thing, am I going to be as effective if this is who I am, am I going to be as effective, am I going to be able to do as much for the Lord like this, as if I were complete?
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Congregation: No.
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Pastor: No. Here's the thing. When you don't show up, this is what you're doing to our church. We don't get involved, when you don't show up; this is what you're creating. We want to be a fully functioning body. Here's the thing, even this, even our church that's got issues is still better than just an arm laying in the street, just a foot.
<br><br>Imagine Jezebel after she torn of dogs. It's just the palms of her hands that are left. Isn't that what it said that, that they just found hands? That's the parachurch ministry today, it's just hands. It's just feet. It's just an eye. Imagine an eye and say, "Man look at what the Lord's going to do with this eye. God's going to use this eye for great things."
<br><br>No. If we were to take that eye and install it into somebody's head, then we can do something great for God. It's true folks. Without the body, that eye is not going to do anything. You can have the most beautiful mouth ever, but if it's not installed in a body, it's not going to do anything.
<br><br>You can have a perfect foot with the perfect arch, if it's not installed it's not going to do ... Look, all these people out there, "Oh, but they have a YouTube channel." Hold on a second, are they installed in a body? Folks what I'm telling you is true tonight. We need to be a part of the body. We need to be functioning.
<br><br>Here's the thing, one of the biggest things that I strive for in my ministry as pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church, I'm telling you, this is the thing that I think about more than anything else when it comes to preparing sermons, and I think about what am I going to preach on? People often ask, "How do you decide what to preach?"
<br><br>I'll tell you the biggest thing that determines what I preach is I always ask myself what have I not covered in a while. What have I talked too much about? What have I not talked about enough? I really strive for balance, and not to just get all up on one thing. You find so many people that are just so specialized on one thing.
<br><br>All they talk about is why the King James is right and these other versions are wrong. All they want to talk about is bible prophecy. All they want to do is soul winning. You think, "What's wrong with that if it's all about soul winning?" Churches that are all about soul winning they start getting worldly, because they don't have the hard preaching against sin. It's all about reaching people.
<br><br>No, it needs to be also about holiness. Then you have other people that are all about holiness, and all they want to talk about is dressing modestly and keeping yourself pure and having character, and blah, blah, blah. Let's get our red notebooks and talk about it. Here's the thing about that, where's the soul winning? Where is the hard preaching? Where is the music ministry? It all has to be there folks.
<br><br>Other people they get all about the music. There are plenty of Christian rock bands who have been found snorting cocaine out in the trailer after the show. Where do you even want to start with that? Enjoying a 6-pack of beer. Snorting a few lines of coke. Having all the groupies, and all the sins, and the filth, plenty of times.
<br><br>You know what? Their band members know about it. The manager knows about it. You know what? There's no nose there, and there's no boot there. No boot in the rear end to these type of people. We need to be a part of a local church, under the authority of a local church, that's a real bonafide church.
<br><br>"You're making it about the building." It's not about the building. It could be outside, but it better have a scriptural pastor. It better be reaching people. There better be a soul winning program. You know what? If we're missing a hand, the goal should be eventually to at least get a prosthetic going. You know what I mean?
<br><br>Look when you first start a church, obviously when you start a church from scratch you're not going to have all of the elements, but that's why God said, "I'll build the church." He'll put the members in severally as he will. Obviously with the human body we can't just install eyes, but you know what? In Christ's body he does as it goes. He builds it.
<br><br>It's like an embryo in the womb. It starts out, and then the heart starts beating, and then the eyes develop, and all the different parts of the body develop in time. That's how it is with the church also. It grows and members are added. We need to strive for balance.
<br><br>We are not a church that is only all about soul winning. We are a not a church that's only about exposing false prophets. We are not a church that's only all about bible prophecy. We are not a church that's only all about King James only. We're not a church that's only all about singing praises to God and having the hymns, but we're all of those things.
<br><br>We're not a church that's just about memorizing the bible, but that is part of what we're about. We need to have the whole package. A local church has it all, or should have it all. These parachurch ministries are just a chunk of flesh. That is not a functioning body.
<br><br>They're not legitimate, and they are not God's plan for reaching the world and they're constantly scandal ridden as a result. When they go down they take down everybody with them, because they're this massive organizations that have their little tentacles all over the place. Then when they go done, it all goes down.
<br><br>You know what? You say, "You could have scandal in the church." Here's the thing, if we have all local churches that are totally independent and autonomous. Let's say Faithful Word goes down, the rest of them don't. Let's say one of them goes down, we don't. We're all separate. We're all independent.
<br><br>That's why it's important not to put all the eggs in one basket and give one person all the power because then they'll start taking liberties with the ladies and everything else. They just think that they're just running an $80 million empire. That's one of the reasons why I'm glad that our church doesn't own any property. It's great.
<br><br>You say, "How long are we going to be in a storefront?" Till Jesus comes. Until Jesus comes. "When are we going to get a real church building. Get our own property and everything?" Never, never. You know what? It's not because we're not going to grow, our church is growing by leaps and bounds. I believe that our church will eventually run more than a thousand people, but here's the thing, we're still going to be in a storefront because we're just going to get a bigger storefront.
<br><br>You know what? Storefronts come in all sizes my friend. Have you ever seen a Bed Bath & Beyond go out of business, or Linens 'n Things? That's a big building right? Grocery store? I'll rent a grocery store space for our church. Why not? You know why? When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose.
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Congregation: Amen.
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Pastor: They can't come in and take it all away from us, because we don't own anything. The IRS tried to come after me for money, and I just told the IRS I don't have any money. I don't own anything. I have 8 kids. Here's how much money I make, and they looked at how much money I made. Then they looked at how many kids I have, and they said, "You have no extra money." I'm like, "Yeah, tell me something I don't know." They're like, "How are you going to pay us?" I'm not. Drop dead.
<br><br>Basically, I don't have any money. People are constantly saying, "I'm going to sue you Pastor Anderson." Sue me for what? I don't own anything. I own nothing. "We're going to sue the church." The church owns nothing. What do we ... Okay, we own a van. That's what our church owns, a van. I'm ready to kiss it goodbye any moment. I'm not kidding.
<br><br>Look, loosen your grip on the things of this world folks. You know what? Here's the thing, what if we just own millions of dollars of property and then we started getting corrupt ideas. It's like, "This property is worth millions, and oh man, we better ... " Who cares about property, it's about souls. I don't want to go into debt. Why would you want to bring the church into debt to go into some building?
<br><br>Then it's all about the building fund, and the building program, and all about the property, and blah, blah, blah. Then we're constantly worried. "Oh they're coming in, they're seizing the church property what do we do?" It's like, "Hey you want to seize the church property, IRS man? It's all yours buddy." Then we'll go start a church across the street and call it something different.
<br><br>All right IRS man, thank you. I don't know what that had to do with the sermon, but you know what, when you got nothing you got nothing to lose. You know what? We don't want to put too much power. We're talking about too much power in one person. It's better to diversify and have all different independent churches where one guy isn't running some $80 million of a parachurch ministry. Then he gets into scandal and then all of his employees are coming out and whatever.
<br><br>Why don't we just get back to the model of the local church? Why don't we only ever have a guy in charge who's biblically qualified, would be a good place to start. The qualifications are there for a reason in First Timothy 3 and Titus 1, let's get a guy in charge that's biblically qualified. That would get rid of a lot of these problems. Then let's also exercise church discipline as it's stated in First Corinthians 5 and elsewhere.
<br><br>Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for the institution that you've given us Lord. We thank you for the local church. It's a marvelous institution Lord, and everybody is downplaying it. Everybody's got a better idea. Everybody wants to be just a body part floating around Lord. Help us to realize the importance of being a part of this body, or somebody that is a bible believing church with Christ as the head.
<br><br>Lord help us to stay balanced, and to have all of the body parts. Never to think of certain church members with disdain, and to think, "Oh that person is not important, all they do is clean the building, or all they're doing is ... They're going soul winning but are they really leading."
<br><br>Lord help us just to understand that every person's important, the piano leader, whether it's the song leader, whether it's the preacher, whether it's the person that reads the scripture, whether it's the person who cleans the building, whether it's the soul winners, whoever and whatever they do Lord, help us understand that everybody is important.
<br><br>Lord help us not to desire a church of clones, but rather to desire a church of all kinds of people, different nations, different styles of people, rich, poor, middle class. Help us to be a place for all people so that we cam be balanced and a healthy body. In Jesus' Name we pray, amen. </p>
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