Amen.
Before I get into the sermon this morning, we do have just some special announcements that I'd like to give just real quickly.
First of all, I want to announce that there is a pastor's luncheon after the morning service this morning,
and we've got several pastors that are still with us from the conference, and I appreciate these men.
I count them all dear friends, and honestly, I'm honored that you would stay the weekend with us and stay with us through Sunday.
So we have lunch for you after the service in the fellowship hall.
If you are a pastor, we invite you.
My wife and I would love to have lunch with you and your family after the service.
Also, we have a gift from Pastor Thompson and Sure Foundation.
Sure Foundation Baptist Church brought these T-shirts that they like to give out.
These are nice quality T-shirts.
They say SFBC on the front, and then on the back it says,
It says saved by grace through faith, Ephesians 2.8, and these are nice T-shirts.
Pastor Thompson brought these as a gift.
So they are going to be set up in the main foyer after the morning service.
There aren't any sizes for children, so it's for adults only.
There's men sizes and lady sizes in the foyer, so make sure you stop by there and grab something
and please say thank you to Pastor Thompson, of course, and Ms. Sherry for bringing that.
And I've got a real quick baptism certificate to hand out, if that's all right.
And this certificate of baptism is awarded to Ms. Amy Cortez in recognition of her baptism
on the 10th day of July of the year 2022 presented by Verity Baptist Church.
And it has the verse of Romans 6, Therefore we are buried within by baptism into death,
that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father,
even so we should walk in newness of life.
And we've got some pictures here for Ms. Amy to remember the day of her baptism.
And let's go ahead and give her a round of applause.
Praise the Lord for that.
The choir in the orchestra did a great job, didn't they?
They did a good job, and I taught them everything they know, and praise the Lord for that.
All right, you're there in 2 Kings chapter number 10.
I'd like you to flip back, if you would, to chapter number 9, 2 Kings chapter number 9 this morning.
And in the passage of Scripture that we find ourselves in, we have a very interesting story
about a man named Jehu who was anointed king by God to enact judgment against the house of Ahab.
You're there in 2 Kings 9. Look down at verse number 6.
The Bible says, And he, now the he there, just for context, is referring to one of the sons of the prophets.
Elisha the prophet has tasked one of the sons of the prophets to go and anoint Jehu king of Israel.
Notice there in verse 6, And he arose and went into the house, and he poured the oil on his head,
referring to Jehu's head, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
I have anointed thee king over the people of the land, even over Israel, and thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master.
I want you to notice that Jehu was ordained by God by Elijah the prophet and Elisha the prophet,
and he was anointed to be king of Israel, and part of the reason was that Jehu might enact judgment
or bring judgment against the house of Ahab. Notice there again in verse 7,
And thou shalt smite the house of Ahab thy master.
Now, at this point in the story, Ahab is actually already dead.
But the judgment is to come upon the house of Ahab, which is a reference to the household or the family of Ahab.
Notice what it says there in verse 7, That I may avenge the blood, and this is God speaking to Jehu,
That I may avenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord at the hand of Jezebel.
Jezebel, of course, was Ahab's wicked wife who killed the prophets, tried to kill Elijah.
Verse 8, For the whole house of Ahab shall perish, and I will cut off from Ahab him that pisseth against the wall.
That's a reference to men, of course, and he says, I'm going to kill every man of the household of Ahab,
and him that is shut up and left in Israel.
So Jehu was anointed king of Israel to bring judgment, to enact judgment against the house of Ahab,
and then he begins to carry out this judgment against the family of Ahab.
Skip down to verse number 14, I want you to notice he begins by killing Joram,
who is the son of Ahab, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
Notice there in verse 14, So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat, the son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.
Skip down to verse 16, notice what the Bible says,
So Jehu rode in a chariot and went to Jezreel, for Joram lay there,
and Ahaziah the king of Judah was come down to see Joram.
So Joram, the king of Israel, has been in a battle, he's been injured, so he's in Jezreel and he's recovering,
and Ahaziah, who's actually the king of the southern kingdom of Judah,
was come to see Joram and to spend time with him.
These are friends, look at verse 21,
And Joram said, Make ready, and his chariot was made ready,
because Jehu was coming in his chariot to kill Joram,
and in verse 21 the Bible says,
And Joram said, Make ready, and his chariot was made ready,
and Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot,
and they went out against Jehu and met him in the portion of Naboth, the Jezreelite.
Now there's a lot that I can go over and I'm going to quickly just kind of give you some of this information,
but if you're familiar with the story, Jezebel and Ahab lied about Naboth
and had him murdered so that they could steal his portion.
He refused to sell his land to them, so they had him killed that they would take the land.
This is the portion of Naboth, the Jezreelite.
This is one of the reasons that the house of Ahab is having the judgment of God come upon them.
Notice there in verse 22, the Bible says,
And it came to pass, when Joram saw Jehu, that he said, Is it peace, Jehu?
And he answered, What peace, so long as the hoardings of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?
So Joram turned his hands and fled, and said to Ahaziah, There is treachery, O Ahaziah.
And Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms,
and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
So here we have the story where Jehu has been anointed king,
but the problem is there already is a king, Joram, the son of Ahab,
and God wants Jehu to bring judgment upon the house of Ahab.
So Jehu begins by going and meeting Joram, the current king,
and the Bible tells us he conspired against him.
He drew a bow with his full strength and smote Jehoram between his arms,
and the arrow went out at his heart, and he sunk down in his chariot.
So we see that Jehu begins by killing Joram, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel,
but he doesn't stop there. Look at verse 27.
But when Ahaziah, the king of Judah, remember that this is now the king of the southern kingdom of Israel,
excuse me, the southern kingdom of Judah, he is just visiting with Jehoram.
The Bible says when Ahaziah, the king of Judah, saw this, he fled by the way of the garden house,
and Jehu followed after him and said, Smite him also in the chariot.
And they did so at the going up of Ger, which is by Ibleum, and he fled to Megiddo and died there.
Now I'm not preaching about this, but let me just say this for you young people.
There is a lesson here, because Ahaziah was not of the house of Ahab.
He was just friends with Joram, who's a wicked king, and his friend caused him to be killed as well.
And there's a lesson here that your friends will determine the quality and the direction of your life.
Here we have Ahaziah, and Ahaziah was not a good guy himself,
but honestly, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong person.
And therefore, he died at the hands of Jehu as well.
The story doesn't end there. Look at verse 30, same chapter, 2 Kings 9, verse 30.
Not only does Jehu kill Joram, the northern kingdom of Israel,
not only does he kill Ahaziah, the king of the southern kingdom of Judah,
but he also kills Jezebel, the wicked wife of Ahab.
Notice verse 30, the Bible says,
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it, and she painted her face,
and tired her head, and looked out a window.
And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace who slew his master?
And she's referring to a character in the Bible named Zimri who died by suicide
after there was a failed conspiracy against the king.
And she's trying to say that what Jehu is doing is similar to Zimri.
She says, Had Zimri peace who slew his master? Verse 32,
And he, Jehu, lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? Who?
And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs, and he said, Throw her down.
Referring to Jezebel.
So they threw her down, and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses.
And he trode her underfoot, and when he was come in, he did eat and drink,
and said, Go see now this cursed woman, and bury her, for she is a king's daughter.
And they went to bury her, but they found no more of her than the skull,
and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
Wherefore they came again and told him.
And he said, This is the word of the Lord, which is spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite,
saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.
He kills Joram, the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, and Ahaziah, the king of the southern kingdom of Israel.
Then he kills Jezebel, has her thrown out of a window.
The Bible says he trode upon her. I don't know if he did this with his feet.
The Bible tells us that he came into Jezreel, and he entered in at the gate.
I imagine that, just my imagination, that he's on a horse, and he trode on her.
Maybe he did it with his feet.
But he goes in, he has a meal, and then he says, Go bury her.
She is the daughter of a king.
And they come back, and they said the dogs have ate her.
All that's left is her skull, and her feet, and her palms.
And this was actually prophesied by Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall the dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel.
You know, some of you should start reading the Bible.
You wouldn't eat Hollywood so much.
I mean, the Bible, these are interesting stories.
This is like an action-packed movie here.
He kills Joram, he kills Ahaziah, but that's not it.
Because remember, the judgment was upon the entire house of Ahab.
Jehu then goes on to kill the 70 sons of Ahab.
Notice there in 2 Kings chapter 10.
You're there in chapter 9, flip over to chapter 10.
Look at verse 1.
And Ahab had 70 sons in Samaria, and Jehu wrote letters and sent to Samaria unto the rulers of Jezreel,
to the elders of them that brought up, that means the people that raised Ahab's children.
So Ahab has 70 sons, his oldest son is king, but the other sons are in Samaria,
and they are under the authority of some individuals who are raising them.
They are educating them, they're raising them, they're all in the city.
So Jehu sends a letter to the rulers of Jezreel, to the elders, and to them that brought up,
or to them that raised Ahab's children, saying, here's what he said, verse 10.
Now as soon as this letter cometh to you, seeing your master's sons are with you,
talking about Ahab's children, and there are with you chariots and horses, a fenced city also, and armor,
look even out the best and meatiest of your master's son.
The word meatiest there means the most fit, the most suitable, the most proper,
and set him on his father's throne and fight for your master's house.
So Ahab is dead, Jehu just got done killing Joram, the king of Israel.
So now he's telling these individuals that are raising the 70 sons of Ahab,
and he says, look, find the meatiest, the most fit, the most suitable, the most proper of your master's son,
set him on his father's throne, and we're going to go to war.
Fight, he says, for your master's house. Notice their response to this letter, verse 4.
But they were exceedingly afraid, and said, Behold, two kings stood not before him,
referring to Joram and Ahaziah, he said, How then shall we stand?
And he that was over the house.
So I want you to understand what's going on here, verse 5.
He that was over the house, that's the guy that ran the house where the sons of Ahab are being raised.
And he that was over the city, that would be like the mayor of the city,
where these 70 individuals are being raised.
Then it says the elders also, that would be like the city council.
And the bringers up of the children, those would be the teachers and the supervisors
that are there to raise these 70 individuals, sent to Jehu's saying, notice what they said.
They said, We, and the we there is referring to pretty much everyone in authority in that city,
they said, We are thy servants.
They said, We are thy, we are Jehu's servants.
And they're saying, We will do all that thou shalt bid us,
We will not make any king do thou that which is good and thine eyes.
So they pretty much said, We don't want to fight with you.
You've already killed two kings. We are on your side, Jehu.
Notice verse 6.
Then he, Jehu, wrote a letter the second time to them saying,
If you be mine, he says, If you're on my side, and if ye will hearken unto my voice,
if you're going to listen to what I have to say,
He says, Take ye the heads of the men your master's sons, and come to me to Jezreel by tomorrow this time.
Now the king's sons, being seventy persons, were with the great men of the city which brought them up.
And it came to pass when the letter came to them that they took the king's sons and slew seventy persons
and put their heads in baskets and sent him them to Jezreel.
So Jehu says, You don't want to fight with me? You're on my side? Okay, here's what I want you to do.
I want you to kill the seventy sons of Ahab, and I want you to send me their heads.
Notice verse 8.
And there came a messenger and told him, Jehu, saying, They have brought the heads of the king's sons,
and he said, Lay them in two heaps at the entering in of the gate until the morning.
I want you to get the picture here.
Here you have two piles of heads.
The heads of individuals. Seventy heads put in two piles at the entering in of the gate.
Verse 9.
And it came to pass in the morning that he went out, Jehu went out and stood and said to all the people, Ye be righteous, behold.
Notice what he says.
He says, I conspired against my master and slew him.
And then he asks this question.
He says, But who slew all these?
He's looking, he's bringing attention to the fact that there are seventy heads.
And Jehu says, You know, I conspired against Joram, the king of Israel, and I killed him.
I conspired against Ahaziah, the king of Judah, and I killed him.
I conspired against Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, and I slew her.
And he says, But here are the seventy heads of the sons of Ahab.
And he asks this question, But who slew all these?
Notice verse 10.
Know now that there shall fall unto the earth nothing of the word of the Lord, which the Lord spake concerning the house of Ahab.
For the Lord had done that which he spake by his servant Elijah.
So Jehu slew all that remained of the house of Ahab and Jezreel and all his great men and his kinsfolk and his priests until he left none remaining.
And I'm not going to continue on with the story.
We read the whole chapter there in chapter 10.
But if you remember, he goes on to kill the forty-two brethren of Ahaziah, the king of Judah.
He goes on to kill all the worshippers of Baal.
He tears down their idols and tears down their temple.
He turns it into a drought house.
He turns it into an outhouse.
And Jehu does all these things.
Now, if you're familiar with the story of Jehu, you know that the way he ends his life is not in a good way.
He ends his life in a bad way.
But here, up to this point in the story, Jehu is a good guy.
He is doing the judgment.
He is bringing the judgment and the vengeance of the Lord.
And I want to just cue in and I want you to just notice this question because I'm really preaching about this question that Jehu asked.
In the midst of all of this drama and all of this adventure and all of this action packed story, he asked this question.
Notice again in verse nine, the Bible says,
And it came to pass in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people,
Ye be righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master and slew him.
And then he asked this question. He says,
But who slew all these? Who slew all these?
And it's an interesting question because Jehu understood that in the court of public opinion,
he and a few other people, a handful of people that were with him that were bringing vengeance against the house of Ahab,
he and his few friends that were bringing vengeance upon Joram and upon Jezebel and upon Ahaziah.
It would be easy in the court of public opinion for people to discredit Jehu.
For people to say about Jehu, well, he's just a crazy man. He's just a violent man. He's just this one guy.
It's just Jehu and his friends, Jehu and a few soldiers he's got with him.
They're just on this rampage. They're just killing people.
But now there are two piles of 70 heads and Jehu asked this question.
He says, look, I conspired against my master. I killed Joram. I killed Ahaziah.
I killed Jezebel. But who slew all these?
You say, why does he ask the question? Here's why he asked the question.
Because when the 70 sons of Ahab were decapitated by the great men of the city in Samaria,
no one could say that Jehu was doing this on his own.
When the 70 sons of Ahab are killed and decapitated by the great men of Samaria,
no one could look at Jehu and say, oh, you're just a crazy guy.
You're just an insane guy. You're just off doing your own thing.
No one is with you. See, Jehu asked this question.
He asked, but who slew all these? Because it gives him credit.
It gives him credibility that there were others who were also helping him in this new movement
that Jehu was bringing to the nation of Israel.
See, you are at the Red Hot Preaching Conference this morning.
And the Red Hot Preaching Conference is really the conference of what has become known as the New IFB,
the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement.
It's really like a family reunion for those of us in the New IFB.
And many of you are familiar with our history. Some of you may not be.
You know that Pastor Anderson, who I've been friends with for a long, long time.
Pastor Anderson and I became friends when I was 16 years old.
We've been friends since before I was married, before either one of us was a pastor.
We've been friends for 20 years.
And you know that Pastor Anderson, in December of 2005, started Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona.
Faithful Word Baptist Church does not teach any new doctrine,
everything that Pastor Anderson believes, everything that I believe, everything that the New IFB believes,
is believed by millions of people across the world.
But it was unique in the sense that it brought a lot of proper doctrines
that maybe a lot of other movements were right on one thing and wrong on a lot of things.
The New IFB brought a lot of good things from different places
and brought them all together to become a very biblical movement of churches.
And Faithful Word Baptist Church was started in Tempe, Arizona in 2005.
And it was the first, and it took a long time before it was known as this,
but it was the first of what became known as New IFB Churches.
Almost five years later, in September of 2010,
my wife and I, in our living room in Sacramento, California, started Verity Baptist Church.
When we started Verity Baptist Church, there was no New IFB.
There was no New IFB movement.
There was just Faithful Word in Tempe.
One crazy guy in a living room.
One crazy guy in a storefront.
One crazy guy with a handful of people making an impact.
When we started Verity Baptist Church, there was no 50 people waiting for us in Sacramento to help us.
There was no rented church. We started in a living room.
There was no movement known as the New IFB.
I just knew my friend, loved my friend, understood what the Bible says,
understood that what he was doing was biblical,
and said, hey, we're going to do the same thing here in Sacramento.
And we started Verity Baptist Church, which is the second church in the movement
which became known eventually as the New IFB.
Neither one of us started with a group already waiting for us.
Neither one of us started with a building.
Neither one of us started with a platform.
Neither one of us started with YouTube channels with thousands of subscribers.
Neither one of us started with any of these things.
We just started these churches, both of us starting in our living rooms,
both of us eventually moving into storefronts,
both of us just knocking doors, bringing people to church,
putting our sermons online, just starting out.
And it used to be that the big criticism was just that, ah, that's just one guy.
That's just two guys.
That's just a couple of crazy guys meeting in a living room,
meeting at a storefront with a handful of people.
They don't mean anything. They're just crazy.
But you know what? Today, today there are 21 churches across this country
and across the world that consider themselves New IFB.
I mean, Pastor Henderson started Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tampa, Arizona,
what, 17 years ago?
I started Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California close to 12 years ago.
But today, today there are churches all over this country and all over this world
that are New IFB churches.
There's a church in Watauga, Texas, a church in Vancouver, Washington,
a church in Atlanta, Georgia, a church in Boise, Idaho,
a church in Sunshine Coast, Australia, a church in Tucson, Arizona,
a church in Houston, Texas, a church in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada,
a church in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, a church in Sydney, Australia,
a church in Fairmont, West Virginia, a church in Anaheim, California,
a church in Fresno, California, a church in Manila, Philippines,
a church in Cape Town, South Africa, a church in Spokane, Washington,
a church in Pampanga, Philippines, a church in London, England,
a church in Bicol, Philippines.
Now I understand that 17 years ago in a living room with a handful of people,
Pastor Henderson started a church called Faithful Word Baptist Church.
Twelve years ago in a living room with a handful of people,
my wife and I started Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento, California.
I understand that.
But here's the question I have for you.
Who started all these churches?
I mean there's 21 churches now.
And it used to be that they would say,
oh, it's just one crazy guy and his friend.
Oh, it's just one crazy guy with a handful of people.
But the question that I want to ask is who slew all these?
Who are the men that started all of these churches
that are taking over the country?
Over the years, Pastor Anderson and I, you may be aware of this,
have made headlines.
He's preached sermons that went viral and gotten him protest
and got him all over the news.
I've preached sermons that went viral and got us protest and all over the news.
But you know, as of late, neither one of us has really made a lot of,
I mean we're always making headlines in little newspapers here and whatever,
but just big viral protests.
As of late, we've got at Verity Baptist Church, we've had peace for a while.
I think Faithful Word would probably say the same thing.
But you know that there's a lot of headlines being made still today?
I mean let me just read for you a couple.
I'm just going to read for you a few
because I could spend all day just reading you headline after headline.
Let me just read a few.
These are some of the headlines that have been made recently by the new IFB.
Vancouver Church linked a man arrested for anti-LGBTQ hate crime,
which is not true, but it's a headline.
Watauga Church faces protests after anti-LGBTQ sermon.
That's from the NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
The Vancouver headline was from the Oregon Public Broadcasting.
Pastor who calls for death penalty for gays calls Pride Month an abomination.
That's from the Metro Weekly.
Pastor of Hearst Church says he's following Bible teaching with anti-gay preaching.
That's from the Fort Worth Star Telegram.
How long will hate have to go unanswered after explosion at rapidly anti-gay church?
That's from the LA Times.
Tensions rise over California Church's anti-LGBTQ message.
That's from the Mercury News.
FBI offers $25,000 reward in El Monte church bombing.
That's from the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.
Watauga Church faces protests after anti-LGBTQ sermon.
That's from NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth.
Un mensaje de odio contre los omosexueles from Mundiario.
Pastor says wives must obey husbands, make pancakes if they demand.
That's from Newsweek.
Newsweek is legit, supposedly.
Pastor shames Atlanta Pride, preaches for death of gays from the Project Q Atlanta.
Metro Atlanta Church may soon be a national list of hate groups from WSB Channel 2 Atlanta.
Local pastor makes controversial statements during sermons.
That's from WDTV Channel 5 News, Bridgeport, West Virginia.
Pastor who called gay people reptilian, not guilty of hate speech, says Idaho police from the church leader.
Boys and police can't charge pastor who said LGBTQ people are worthy of death.
That's from East Idaho News.
Anti-gay pastor served for allegedly defying court ruling.
I will come out and preach the same message.
That's from News 24 South Africa.
Cape Town pastor found guilty of contempt of court for anti-gay slurs.
That's from South Africa.
And here's all I'm saying.
I understand that I've made headlines over the years.
I understand that Pastor Anderson has made headlines over the years.
But I'm just asking the question, who made all these headlines?
I understand he started a church 15 years ago.
I started a church 12 years ago before there ever was a new IP.
But who started all these churches?
I'm just asking the same question that G. Hugh asked, but who slew all these?
By the way, we haven't been on the news that much lately.
I think they've boycotted us.
But just in case you're wondering, we still hate fags.
We're still non-Zionist.
We're still not pre-trib.
We're still not dispensational.
We still believe the word of God.
We're still fundamentalists.
But I'm here to tell you something.
We're not alone.
Who slew all these?
See, we started training soul winners over a decade ago.
Pastor Anderson in Tempe, Arizona began a movement in Tempe, Arizona, a soul winning movement.
In Sacramento, California, we started training soul winners and teaching on soul winning.
We started motivating and mobilizing soul winners.
I'm thankful to the Lord today that today, Verity Baptist Church averages 100 soul winners a week.
And I'm sure Faithful Word averages more than that.
We started these soul winning movements.
And by the way, those 19 churches that I read off for you, all of those churches have soul winning in their churches.
But you know that today, there are groups of people all over this country who consider themselves new IFB,
but don't have an IFB church, new IFB church near them that have organized groups of soul winning?
I mean, all over this country and all over this world, there are people who are gathering together
and organizing themselves and structuring themselves and there's no new IFB church near them.
And they are going out door to door systematically winning people to Christ.
I mean, in Tacoma, Washington, in the Seattle area, there's a group of people that are organized for soul winning
and there's no new IFB church.
Greenville, South Carolina, no new IFB church, a group of soul winners.
Columbia, South Carolina, no new IFB church.
By the way, I'm saying no new IFB church and I mean as of yet.
Give us some time.
Columbia, South Carolina, Birmingham, Alabama, Montgomery, Alabama, Mobile, Alabama, Norfolk, Virginia,
Las Vegas, Nevada, Cavite, Philippines, Geneva, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Romania, Ireland, Hong Kong, Singapore.
All of these places have groups of people that are gathering systematically, structured, training with resources,
going out on a regular basis, winning people to Christ.
Now, I understand that Pastor Anderson started a church where he started training soul winners.
I understand that I started a church where we started training soul winners.
But the question I have, who trained all these?
Where did all these soul winners come from?
I understand that over the years, we've preached controversial sermons.
Pastor Anderson's known for Barack Obama melting like a snail.
Pastor Anderson's known for the clip AIDS Free Christmas.
I preached a sermon called The Christian Response to the Orlando Shooting.
It went mega viral.
I understand that he's preached sermons that were controversial and got some attention and traction.
I understand that I preached sermons that were controversial and got some attention and traction.
But, you know, recently there's been a lot of preaching that's been getting some attention.
I mean, I'm talking about sermons like The Reprobate Infiltration and Infestation,
Why Billy Graham is Roasting in Hell, Sonomite Salvation Debunked, Loudmouth Women,
Why We Won't Shut Up, Fags and Speedos Go Home,
The Reptilian Doctrine, Who Let the Dogs Out.
I mean, these are sermons that have gotten some response from the media, have sparked protests.
And here's the question I'm asking.
I understand that I preach sermons that have gotten some controversy
and Pastor Anderson has preached some sermons that have gotten some controversy.
But just the question I'm asking is, who preached all these?
Who preached all these sermons?
Who trained all these toll winners?
Who made all these headlines?
Who started all these churches?
I'm just asking the question, but who slew all these?
Because they used to say, they used to say, it's just a guy with his friend
with a handful of people in a storefront building.
But I want to stand up like Ahab this morning and ask the question, but who slew all these?
See, Jihi was saying, I'm not alone.
It's not just me and my friend.
There's a whole movement of people that have stepped in and are helping bring the judgment of God.
I'm just saying, I understand that Pastor Anderson and myself could look at, you know,
we conspired against our masters in the old IFP.
But who slew all these?
Let me give you three thoughts this morning in regards to some lessons and applications from the question,
but who slew all these?
Everything up to this point was just introduction, sorry.
The spirit of Pastor Thompson is upon me this morning.
And with Pastor Shelley here, it can't be good.
You're there in 2 Kings, look at 2 Kings chapter 10, look at verse 9.
Look at the question again.
And it came to pass in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people,
ye be righteous, behold, I conspired against my master and slew him, but who slew all these?
The answer to the question, who slew all these?
See, the answer, the reason that Jihi asked the question, who slew all these?
Because the answer to the question teaches you some things.
The answer to the question tells you some things.
You say, what are they?
Let me give you three thoughts this morning.
Maybe you can write these down on the back of the course of the week.
There's a place for you to write down some things.
Number one, the answer to the question, who slew all these?
What does the answer mean?
Number one, it gives us credibility.
It gives us credibility.
It tells people that we're not alone.
You know what the Red Hawk Breaching Conference does?
The Red Hawk Breaching Conference gets a lot of media.
It gets its own articles and its own.
A couple of years ago, we had a Secret Service L.A. Times reporter,
you know, pretending to be one of us, reporting on us.
You know, I was like, you could tell they were trying to act like they liked the sermon.
They're like, oh, yeah.
You know, and you say, what does this conference do?
You know what it does?
It tells people, hey, we're not alone.
And that, in and of itself, gives us credibility.
See, some people, you say, what does America need?
You know what America needs?
America needs to know that there's not just one crazy pastor
or two crazy pastors or three crazy pastors out there
who've got some thoughts and ideas about the homos
and about abortion and about the transvestites.
No, you know what America needs to know?
That there are people all over this country who agree with us.
There are people all over this country who say, no, I think it's disgusting.
No, it makes me want to throw up.
No, I agree with the Word of God.
See, the answer to who slew all these, it gives us credibility.
See, Jehu, when you study the story of Jehu, what you find out
is that he is very interesting in getting people on his side.
In fact, he was interesting in getting people to help him
and he was also interested in at least getting people discouraged in helping the enemy.
Look at 1 Kings 9, look at verse 16.
Remember when Jehu went to kill Joram, the king of Israel?
The Bible says, so Jehu rode in a chariot
and went to Jezreel for Joram lay there.
And Ahaziah, king of Judah, was come down to see Joram
and there stood a watchman on the tower in Jezreel
and he spied the company of Jehu as he came and said,
see, as Jehu was coming to kill Joram, the Bible says that there was a watchman on the tower.
And he spied the company of Jehu as he came, he saw Jehu coming
and said, he reported, I see a company.
And Joram said, take in horsemen and send to meet them and let him say, is it peace?
He said, send a messenger out. He said, I see somebody coming.
He said, send a messenger out there.
Send a messenger out there and have them ask the question, is it peace?
Are you coming peaceably?
Notice verse 18.
So there went one on horseback, that's rider number one,
to meet him, to meet Jehu and said, thus saith the king, is it peace?
Notice Jehu's answer, I love it.
And Jehu said, what is thou to do with peace?
Turn thee behind me.
And the watchman told, so the watchman is watching this, right?
He says, hey, somebody's coming.
Joram says, send a rider out to ask, are you coming, is it peace?
Rider goes out, meets Jehu, says, thus saith the king, is it peace?
And Jehu says, what is thou to do with peace?
Turn thee behind me.
And the watchman who's watching this,
the watchman told saying, here's the watchman's report.
Here's what he's telling Joram.
The messenger came to them, but he cometh not again.
He's like, he went out and he met Jehu.
He said something to him, I don't know what he said, I couldn't hear him.
But the guy just left.
He cometh not again.
Look at verse 19.
Then he went out a second on horseback.
Here's rider number two.
Which came to them and said, thus saith the king, is it peace?
And Jehu answered, what has thou to do with peace?
Turn thee behind me.
And the watchman told, saying, he came even unto them and cometh not again.
And the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshai,
for he driveth furiously.
I'm sure that's a compliment for Jehu.
I don't drive that great, so this verse could probably apply to me too.
But here, you know, these riders are sent to ask this question.
These riders are sent, is it peace?
And his answer is, what has thou to do with peace?
He says, what has thou to do with peace?
Turn thee behind me.
And they left.
The report was, they cometh not again.
They didn't come.
See, these guys, I don't know that they necessarily joined Jehu,
but at least they didn't try to stop Jehu.
Maybe they got behind Jehu and started riding with him.
But he said, get thee behind me.
And the message said, they're not coming back.
They've left.
He said, what is the benefit of the new IFP's growth?
Why do you guys want to start so many churches and so many soul-winning marathons
and get so many subscribers and have so many millions of views?
Why do you think that, you know, all publicity is good publicity?
When all these reprobates are writing articles about you
and they're lying about you and they're taking you out of context
and you get up and say, I like it even out of context, I like it.
I like the Word of God.
Even when you don't say it right and don't say everything that we said right,
hey, if the Word of God is being preached, I like it.
You say, why do you guys have that attitude?
Here's why.
Because, you know, there are some people, you say, what's your goal for the old IFP?
You know, honestly, it hasn't really worked that well
for the old IFP pastors to join us, if you've noticed.
But you know what my goal is?
My goal is that the old IFP would at least look at the new IFP and say,
wow, there are some preachers with guts.
They're saying some things that I wish I had the guts to say.
I mean, I believe all those things, but I would never say that.
My church was split.
But they say it.
They say it.
They preach it from the housetops.
You know, my goal with the old IFP is not necessarily that they'll join us.
I don't know that they'll ever join us.
I don't know that they'll ever stand up and preach a sermon called,
Fags and Speedos Go Home.
But you know, my hope is that they would at least stop trying to get a bunch of fags in their church.
My goal is that there'd be so many new IFP people in their church
that they could at least, you know, not just be like,
whoa, whoa, we gotta love them all.
Like Pastor Mejia was telling us.
Hey, I'm just saying that as we grow, as we're strengthened,
as more churches and more influence and more impact,
some people who need to be discouraged in helping the enemy might be discouraged,
at least go home.
What has that to do with peace? Turn thee behind me.
And then the queers are like, they're not coming back.
Paul's Chapel's not coming back.
They're just gone.
It reminds me of this quote. You don't have to turn there.
1 Chronicles 19, 2.
This was Jehu, but this was actually a different Jehu,
another Jehu in the Bible.
2 Chronicles 19, 2.
And Jehu, the son of Hanani, a different Jehu, the seer,
went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat,
Shouldst thou help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord?
Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.
You know what the new IFB is doing?
The new IFB is confronting a bunch of weak liberal pastors
and making them make a decision.
See, they want to ignore these issues,
the abortion issue, the transvestite issues, the queer issue.
They want to ignore it. They want to pretend like it doesn't exist.
They want to just go about their merry way
and hope that nobody asks them a question
and they don't have to answer the question.
They can just make sure that they don't preach through Romans 1.
They can just make sure that they don't preach through Genesis 19.
They can just make sure they don't preach through Judges 19.
They can make sure that they just skip the entire book of Leviticus.
And what we're doing by bringing the spotlight and saying,
No, actually, that's what the Word of God says.
When these not-so-friendly atheists
want to talk about, like, well, you know,
you say that sodomized people to death,
but you know, the Bible says that if you commit adultery,
you should be put to death.
And Pastor Burson stands up and says,
Yeah, we like that too.
Yeah, we believe that too.
It makes them make a choice.
It confronts them with a choice.
And you know, some pastors, if they're not going to fight with us,
at least shut your mouth.
At least step out of the way and let the men handle it.
There's some men that are not playing games.
There's some men of God that actually believe what the Bible says.
We're not ashamed of what the Bible says.
We like the Bible.
We like all of it.
We like John 3.16, and we like Leviticus 18, Leviticus 19, Leviticus 20.
We like it all.
Love thy neighbor as thyself,
and all the righteous judgments of executing witches.
Hey, we believe that that should happen.
I'm not saying we should do it.
Obviously, the Bible teaches the government should do it.
But look, a righteous government would do these things,
would enact these laws, and we believe it.
I'm not ashamed of it.
You believe it.
Yeah, I believe it.
What about the part in the Bible?
You don't even have to finish.
I know the book of Proverbs says, you know,
that you shouldn't answer a matter before you hear it.
I understand that.
But if the question is, do you believe the part of the Bible that says,
you don't have to finish, the answer is yes.
Yes, I like it.
Yes, it's good.
Yes.
If the question is, do you hate facts, the answer is yes.
It's yes.
It's the word of God.
And when men of God stand up and preach the word of God,
and they've got church members that say, amen.
Yeah, and amen.
You know what it does?
It gives us credibility.
See, some people need to be discouraged from helping the enemy.
But you know, let me say this.
Some people need to be recruited to fight the enemy.
There are people all over this country who agree with us,
who believe just like we do.
But you know what they need?
They just need to hear somebody say it and say like, wow,
you're allowed to say that?
And it's like, yeah, we live in the United States of America
where you have supposedly freedom of speech.
And even though they're trying to take it away from us,
we're still going to say it.
Look at 2 Kings 9.
Look at verse 31.
See, Jehu was constantly trying to recruit people onto his side.
You say, should we recruit people?
Hey, these queers are trying to recruit a bunch of people.
Maybe it's high time we start recruiting some people
for the work of the Lord, for the sight of God.
2 Kings 9, verse 31.
And as Jehu entered into the gate,
this is when Jehu went in to kill Jezebel.
She said, had Zimrai peace, who slew his master.
And he, Jehu, lifted up his face to the window
and said, notice Jehu's mindset is always this.
He's always trying to get people to help him.
The writers come and he said, what has thou to do with peace?
Turn thee behind me.
Here he gets to Jezebel.
Jezebel comes out.
She painted her face and tied her hair.
And he looks up the window and he asks this question.
Who is on my side?
Who?
And they looked out to him, two or three eunuchs.
You say, those are people that have been abused by Jezebel.
People that have been hurt by Jezebel.
I won't go into the details of what it means to be a eunuch,
but he's asked the question, who is on my side, who?
And they looked out to him, two or three eunuchs,
and he, Jehu, said, throw her down.
So notice, they threw her down.
Some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall and on the horses
and he throwed her underfoot.
See, you know what we need to be doing
as fundamentalist Baptist preachers
that are not ashamed of the word of God?
We need to be sending out a clear message,
letting people know, here's what we believe,
here's why we believe it,
here's what the word of God says,
and then we need to ask this question,
who's on our side?
Who's on my side, who?
I promise you there are people all over this country
and all over this world saying, I'm on your side.
I hate them too.
Because let me let you in on a little secret.
Every normal man hates queers.
Every normal woman hates, they all know it's disgusting,
they all know it's vile.
I don't want to get into the details,
but when you really, see, what the media has done
is they've given you this fakeness of what that means.
These idiot children in this country
are being raised up with this false mentality,
but when you grow up and you actually realize
what it is that these filthy people do,
you hate them.
So I've never even heard of that.
So I've never even been exposed to that.
Okay, just go to Steadfast Baptist Church.
Just go to any of these churches that are being protested.
You know, in 2016, I preached a sermon about Orlando,
and I preached a sermon, and praise the Lord,
a lot of our church family was obviously for me
and on my side or whatever,
but you know, when the protesters showed up,
and they began to literally say filthy and disgusting things
to children,
and began to show pornographic pictures
in the protest to children,
and they were stating out loud and through social media,
we want to corrupt and defile their children,
all of a sudden, people start really like,
oh, they are disgusting.
Oh, wow.
The Bible is true.
These people need to be put to death.
There's no saving them.
See, the answer to the question who saw these,
it gives us credibility.
It lets people know, hey, these guys are not alone.
See, here's what happened.
We came on the scene
and started causing controversy,
and people were like, and then here's what they thought.
They're like, just ignore them.
Just ignore them.
They're, you know, ignore them.
Let's pretend like they don't.
It's just a guy and his friend,
a handful of people
in a storefront building.
Just ignore them.
It'll be fine.
It'll go away, but when they ignored us,
you know what began to happen is we began to gather followers,
and churches began to start,
and YouTube channels began to grow,
and headlines began to be put out,
and then they thought, then they were like,
well, we can't ignore them.
Now we got to fight them.
I remember Sam Gipp began to try to fight us
after the tribulation,
and he was calling Pastor Anderson an 11-year-old,
and he was calling me a 7-year-old,
because at that time,
that's how long our churches had been around.
Pastor Anderson had been pastoring for 11 years.
I had been pastoring for seven years,
so he was just mocking us, you know?
But first they were like, ignore them.
Then they said, let's fight them,
and they learned a real quick lesson.
You don't fight the new IFB, let me tell you something.
You come to fight the new IFB, you better be ready for a fight.
There's a lot of bent-up aggression
just looking for somewhere to go.
And now it's like, it's out of control.
Now it's like, let's ignore ourselves.
Hopefully they won't see us.
I'm just here to tell you the answer to the question,
but who slew all these?
It gives us credibility, and look, our job,
our job is to find people who love the Word of God.
2 Kings 10, look at verse 15.
Notice what Jehu was doing.
2 Kings 10, verse 15.
2 Kings 10, 15.
And when Jehu was departed thence,
he lighted on Jehonadab, the son of Rekab.
By the way, I don't have time to go into it,
but Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, is a great man.
Really, this is the only story we have about him,
but we learn about him later on about his descendants.
His descendants were told to drink wine.
They said, we're not going to drink wine
because our father, Jehonadab, the son of Rekab,
told us not to.
That's the power of influence,
the power of a father who loves the Lord.
And here we have, and when Jehu was departed thence,
he lighted on Jehonadab, the son of Rekab,
coming to meet him, and he saluted him and said to him,
this was like when I met Pastor Anderson
when I was 16 years old,
is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart?
I don't remember.
I don't think that's exactly what he said,
but something like that.
And Jehonadab answered, it is.
If it be given me, if it be, give me thine hand.
And he gave him his hand,
and he took him up to him into the chariot,
and he said, come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.
So they made him ride in his chariot.
When he came to Samaria,
he slew all that remained unto Ahab in Samaria
till he had destroyed him,
according to the saying of the Lord,
which is fake to Elijah.
See, it's funny to me because now, now they don't say,
oh, it's just some crazy guy with his friend.
But now, instead of a lot of like,
because, you know, the 2016 thing was like everywhere.
I mean, it was international news.
And I mean, my wife had a,
her brother was a contractor in the Bahamas for the Navy,
and he's like, I just saw your husband on the news.
So, but now I feel like they've changed their tactics
to where they try to focus on just local,
because there's so many of us now.
So it's just like the boys' news, the Texas, whatever,
wherever they're at.
They keep moving towns.
News, you know, the Vancouver news.
It's all these local things.
And they're trying to say the same thing.
Oh, it's just one crazy guy.
It's just this little church.
They're not a threat.
And my thing is,
if we're just some little church with no influence
and we have no threat,
why do you keep trying to destroy us?
Why do you keep attacking us?
Why do you keep giving us so much publicity?
I mean, it seems, why are you trying to destroy us?
I think it looks like you're afraid.
See, this, what our job, what's your job?
Your job in Vancouver, Washington, in Boise, Idaho,
in Atlanta, Georgia, in Sacramento, California,
in Tempe, Arizona, in Cape Town, South Africa,
your job is to go out and find people
and ask them and give them this command.
Come with me and see my zeal for the Lord.
Is thine heart right as my heart is with thy heart?
And recruit people to the side of God,
to the work of God, to the battle of the Lord.
The answer to the question, who slew all these,
gives us credibility, number one.
Number two, go to First Chronicles, chapter 11,
if you would, you're there,
and Second Kings, just flip over to First Chronicles,
First Chronicles, chapter number 11.
Not only does the answer to the question,
who slew all these, give us credibility,
but let me say this, this morning,
the answer to the question, who slew all these,
it also identifies our co-laborers.
See, in the Christian life, here's what I believe,
in the Christian life, you either need to give your life
to be a pastor, or you need to give your life
to help a pastor reach his community for Christ.
You say, what does every pastor in the new IFB need?
You know what they need is help.
They need co-laborers.
Obviously, we are laborers together with God,
we understand that, but if you read the New Testament,
you read the Apostle Paul's writing,
he's often referring to his fellow workers,
fellow laborers, fellow prisoners,
his fellows and his friends and the people
that are helping him.
See, the answer to the question, who slew all these,
does not only give us credibility,
the answer to the question, who slew all these,
identifies our co-laborers.
In First Chronicles 11, we have King David,
who's being used of God,
and the Lord is blessing him with fellow workers.
First Chronicles 11, look at verse nine.
So David walks greater and greater,
for the Lord of hosts was with him.
So David walks greater and greater.
And this is a reference to the fact
that more and more people were joining David,
were joining David's army, were joining David's movement,
were getting involved in the things that David was doing.
Obviously, we all know about the first group
that helped David, the mighty men.
Look at First Chronicles 11 and verse 10.
These also are the chief of the mighty men whom David had,
who strengthened themselves with him in his kingdom
and with all Israel to make him king
according to the word of the Lord concerning Israel.
He began with one group, David began with one group,
which were the mighty men that helped him in his battles
and they helped him to make him king
according to the word of the Lord.
But that's not the only group.
You're there in First Chronicles 11,
flip over to First Chronicles 12.
Look at verse 1, just one chapter over,
First Chronicles 12, verse 1.
Notice in First Chronicles 12, 1,
Now these, different group,
are they that came to David, to Ziklag,
while he kept himself close because of Saul the son of Kish.
And they, this new group, were among the mighty men,
the group he already had.
Notice his words, helpers of the war.
So David began with this one group, mighty men.
You say, how did he find the mighty men?
He made the mighty men.
The Bible tells us when David left into the wilderness,
all that were distressed, all that were in debt,
all that were discouraged, followed after him.
A ragtag group of losers.
And he turned them into the mighty men.
He trained them and disciplined them and helped them.
And by the way, that's our job.
And you pastors and you men that want to start churches someday,
hey, praise God if we can help you.
Praise God if we can give you a group to begin with.
Praise God for all of that.
But realize that your job is to take those people
and turn them into soldiers.
People often, and I appreciate it,
people often compliment Verity Baptist Church
and the fact that this place is ran like a well-oiled machine
and like an army and praise God for it.
But I'm here to tell you, it didn't start like this.
Now, God has blessed us and God has given us
a lot of competent individuals and smart people.
And look, as a leader, just surround yourself
with really smart people and you'll look smart.
The part of it is that we have to turn them.
We have to make them.
We have to motivate them.
We have to train them.
We have to disciple them.
That's what David did.
These mighty men.
But when he got that group of mighty men going,
then other people came.
This group from these that came to him in Ziklag,
they came and they were helpers of the war.
But that's not it.
Look at verse 8.
Here's another group that joins David.
And of the Gadites, they're separating themselves unto David,
into the hole to the wilderness of men of might,
and men of war fit for the battle,
that could handle shield and buckler,
whose faces were like faces of lions
and were as swift as the rose upon the mountains.
Look at verse 14.
These were the sons of God,
captains of the host.
One of the least was over in a hundred,
and the greatest over a thousand.
So you had the mighty men.
Then you had another group that joined themselves with David,
and these were the ones that came in Ziklag.
Then you had another group, the sons of God.
Verse 15.
They are they that went over Jordan.
Look at verse 16.
Here's another group.
And there came to the children of Benjamin and Judah,
to the household unto David,
and David went out to meet them and answered and said unto them,
Here's another group that wants to join David.
David's not too sure about them.
He goes out to meet them and he says,
If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me,
mine heart shall be knit unto you.
But if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies,
seeing there is no wrong in my hand,
the God of our fathers looked on and rebuke it.
And sometimes I feel like David was a pastor
because that's exactly what sometimes we pastors feel like.
We look at people like, Are you come to help me?
And look, if you are, mine heart shall be knit unto you.
But if ye be come to betray me to mine enemies,
seeing there is no wrong in mine hands,
the God of our fathers looked thereon and rebuke it.
Ryan Gallagher.
Seth broke out.
Verse 18.
Then the Spirit came upon Amaziah,
who was chief of the captains,
and he said,
Thine are we, David, and on thy side, thou son of Jesse.
Peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers,
for thy God helpeth thee.
Then David received them and made them captains of the bands.
We have this group that came to him,
the children of Benjamin and Judah.
Notice verse 19.
Here's another group.
And there fell some of Manasseh to David.
Notice verse 20.
And he went to Ziklag.
There fell to him of Manasseh,
Adna, and Josabata, and Jadiel,
and Michiel, and Josabat, and Elihu,
and Zilti, captains of thousands that were of Manasseh.
Look at verse 21.
And they, notice this word,
helped David against the band of the rovers,
for they were all mighty men of valor
and were captains of the host.
But notice, I just want you to notice
that when David was waxing greater and greater,
the Bible tells us that there came men to help him.
One group came, and then another group,
and then another group, and then another group.
Verse 22.
For at that time, David, by, notice these words,
for at that time, day by day,
there came to David to help him.
I mean, David's got an army,
and every day people are coming to help him
until it was a great host, like the host of God.
And these are the numbers of the bands
that were ready armed to the war
and came to David, to Hebron,
to turn the kingdom of Saul to him,
according to the word of the Lord.
I love it there when it says,
for at that time, day by day,
there came to David to help him.
It reminds me of Acts 2 47,
praising God and having faith with all people,
and the Lord added to the church daily,
such as should be saved.
See, our goal is that day by day,
week by week, God just continues
to bring us people to help us.
Sometimes people, they show up to the church,
they're like, I'm here, God brought me here.
Day by day, they're here to help us.
See, the answer to the question, who slew all these,
not only does it give us credibility,
the answer to the question, who slew all these,
does not only identify our co-labors,
and let me tell you something,
your job, church member, is to go,
you say, I came to the Red Hot preaching armors,
I came to hear all my favorite pastors,
praise God for that.
But let me tell you something,
when you leave here and you go back home,
you go back home with a goal
that I'm gonna help the man of God in my city.
If it's a new IFP pastor,
or if it's an old IFP pastor that loves the Lord
and is doing good and preaching the word of God,
you decide, I'm gonna go home and help the man of God.
I'm gonna fight with him.
I'm not gonna be ashamed of him.
When the protesters show up,
I'm not gonna be ashamed of him.
I'm not gonna be ashamed of the word of God.
I'm gonna help him.
I'm here to help.
I'm here to help you build.
Look, you either give yourself to the ministry,
young man, and decide, I'm gonna quit chasing money
and become a pastor and go help save this country.
And you say, well, I can't, I'm a lady,
I can't pastor, I'm a guy, I couldn't do it.
Okay, well then you give yourself to help a man of God.
Save this country.
The answer to the question, who slew all these,
gives us credibility.
The answer to the question, who slew all these,
identifies our co-labors.
Let me give you a third one this morning.
Go to 1 Kings 19, if you would, go backwards.
You're there in 1 Chronicles, you go past 2 Kings
into 1 Kings, 1 Kings 19.
Here's number three.
The answer to the question, who slew all these,
not only does it give us credibility,
not only does it identify our helpers and co-labors,
but the answer to the question, who slew all these,
builds up our confidence.
Remember Elijah, the great man of God?
Elijah got to a point in his life where he was discouraged
because of those unwilling to stand with him.
In 1 Kings 19 and verse 9, the Bible says,
And he, referring to Elijah, came hither unto a cave,
and lodged there.
And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him,
and said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?
And by the way, Elijah's really discouraged at this point,
and just know something, he's discouraged
because of Ahab and Jezebel,
because they're trying to kill him.
And the Lord asked him this question,
What doest thou here, Elijah?
And he, Elijah, said,
I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts,
for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenants.
Notice his mindset is on the fact that people are not following the Lord.
The children of Israel have forsaken thy covenants,
thrown down thine altars, slain thine prophets with the sword.
Notice what Elijah says.
Notice the state of mind he's in.
He says, And I, even I, only am left,
and they seek my life to take it away.
I'll be honest with you.
There are times in the ministry,
and I believe that pastors here could identify with this,
there are times when you feel like you're just the only one.
Sometimes you feel like it's just you and your wife against the world
and nothing against our church members,
and we love our church members,
but honestly, sometimes even with the church behind you,
you just feel like, Am I the only one?
Why is this happening?
Elijah said, I, even I, only am left,
and they seek my life to take it away.
Verse 11, and he said, Go forth.
God says, Go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord,
and behold the Lord passed by.
I just find this as such a beautiful story.
Here you have Elijah down, and he's down and depressed,
and he's discouraged, and God says,
Hey, go stand on the mountain before the Lord,
and behold the Lord passed by.
The Lord passed by. Don't miss that.
The Lord passed by.
And a great and strong wind rent the mountains
and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord,
but the Lord was not in the wind.
And after the wind, an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake, a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire.
Here you have Elijah. He's discouraged,
and he feels alone, and he feels like he can't go on.
He feels like the pressure is too much.
He feels like this is just not going to work.
I, and even I, only am left,
and they seek my life to take it away.
And let me just encourage some of my pastor friends,
because I would imagine that if you're not there,
you've been there, and you're going to be there again someday.
And we need to remember that sometimes, you know,
the Red Hot Preaching Conference and the protests
and all these things, they're exciting.
Sometimes we hear the great and strong wind,
and the Lord's not, that's not when he speaks to us.
The earthquakes and the fires,
the Bible says there in verse 12,
and after the earthquake of fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire,
and after the fire, a still, small voice.
Let me tell you something.
After the excitement of the Red Hot Preaching Conference,
when you go home, and you're all alone,
and you feel alone, pastor, non-pastor, it doesn't matter.
You say, what do I need?
The Red Hot Preaching Conference is so exciting, what do I need?
I need to go home in a quiet place, open up the Word of God,
and allow the still, small voice of God's Word to encourage you.
See, I didn't start this church for the crowds.
When we started this church, there were no crowds.
I didn't start this church for the Red Hot Preaching Conference.
When we started the church, there was no Red Hot Preaching Conference.
I didn't start this church for the subscribers.
When we started the church, there were no subscribers.
It's a still, small voice of God's Word that will encourage us along the way.
It is God that will get us through it.
It is a still, small voice of God's Word that will encourage us along the way.
Elijah was discouraged by those unwilling to stand with him.
And look, let me tell you something, it's discouraging sometimes.
But Elijah was encouraged by the still, small voice of God.
The still, small voice of God said to Elijah,
and you know what the still, small voice of God says to us today?
It says, you are not alone.
It asks this question, but who saw all these?
1 Kings 19, verse 13,
And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle,
and went out, and stood in the entering of the cave.
And behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou hear?
Elijah, second time this question is asked.
And he, Elijah, said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts,
because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant,
thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the Word.
And I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.
And God, I won't take the time to go through it.
God begins to give him instructions.
God instructs Elijah in verses 15 through 17.
He instructs Elijah to anoint Hazael, the king of Syria.
He instructs Elijah to anoint Jehu, the king of Israel,
to bring judgment upon Ahab.
He instructs Elijah to anoint Elisha, a prophet in his room,
and a prophet that's going to take his place.
But in verse 18, God says to Elijah,
Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel,
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal,
and every mouth which has not kissed him.
Let me tell you something, the answer to the question,
Who slew all these?
Not only does it give us credibility, and it identifies our labor,
but it gives us confidence.
Let me tell you something.
You're not alone.
We are not alone.
God says, I have left me seven thousand in Israel.
And I'm here to tell you something,
there are seven thousand and way more,
who have not bowed their knee to the transvestite LGBTQ movement.
There are seven thousand who believe the word of God,
who love God, who need,
there are seven thousand who need an Elijah to not quit.
They need an Elijah to find an Elisha,
and train them and get them involved in the work of God.
They need an Elijah that will train an Elisha.
They need an Elijah that will anoint some kings.
They need an Elijah that will do what God has called them to do,
what he has heard from God in the still small voice.
So I'm just asking this question this morning.
But who slew all these?
Go back to 1 Kings chapter 10, look at verse 9.
And it came to pass in the morning,
Jehu has killed Joram,
Jehu has killed Ahaziah,
Jehu has killed Jezebel,
he's going to kill the forty-two brethren of Ahaziah,
he's going to kill all the worshippers of Baal
and destroy all their temples and all their idols.
But he gets some people to help him along the way.
He asks the writers,
What hast thou to do with peace? Get thee behind me.
He asks the eunuchs, Who's on my side? Who?
He tells Jehonanab, the son of Rekab,
Is thine heart right with my heart?
Come and see the zeal of the Lord.
He gets the great men of the city.
Oh, if you're on my side,
if you will hearken unto my voice,
kill the seventy sons of Ahab and send me their heads.
He puts them in two piles.
Because the word is getting out and people are saying,
Have you heard what Jehu has done? Have you heard what Jehu has done?
And they're starting to say, Ah, he's just a crazy guy.
It's just him and his friend.
They're just, don't pay anything.
He's just crazy. He's just insane.
In Jehu, the Bible tells us in verse 9,
And it came to pass in the morning that he went out and stood and said to all the people,
Ye be righteous. Behold, I conspired against my master and slew him.
But who slew all these?
I'm just asking the question this morning.
Who started all these churches?
I know Pastor Anderson started a church in Tempe, Arizona.
I know I started a church in Sacramento, California.
But who started all these churches?
I know I preached the controversial sermons.
I know he's preached controversial sermons.
But who's preached all these sermons?
I know that I've made headlines and I know that he's made headlines
that sparked protests and got us deplatformed
and got us, you know, got our banks to shut us down
and all sorts of things, insurances to drop us, all sorts of things.
But who made all these headlines?
I know we trained soul winners, but who trained all these soul winners?
I'm just asking the question, but who slew all these?
I hope that there'll be pastors who leave this conference energized
and ready to go back home and reach their community for Christ.
That they would reach people and disciple them
and bring them into the movement.
You want to call it the new IFB movement?
Call it the new IFB movement?
You don't like that term?
Call it Biblical Christianity.
I hope that there'll be some pastors that'll be energized
to go out and reach people and bring them into fellowship with the Lord.
I hope there'll be some church members that'll leave this conference energized
to go help their pastor, not hinder their pastor,
not become a burden to their pastor,
to go help their pastor reach their community for Christ
as a movement of Biblical Christianity, Biblical fundamentalism.
I can tell you, whatever we've done here in Sacramento for God
was not a one-man show, was not me and my wife.
Obviously, we've worked hard and we've got this thing going,
but I can tell you, Verity Baptist Church is a church filled of people
who have decided, I'm going to come alongside and help this church
reach this community for Christ.
I pray that for you, for your town, for your city,
so that we can stand up maybe 12 years from now
and read a list of 40, 50, 60 churches.
Maybe 12 years from now and read about missionaries all over the world.
We read about so many movements all over the world
that the message of Christianity would become,
the headlines would be so many that people, normal people out there
would have to make a decision
and that we might ask this question, but who slow all these?
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you.
We thank you for these dear people and what they represent
and who they represent.
And Lord, I thank you that it's not just one crazy guy and his friend,
but there have been people through the years who have said,
hey, I believe that.
Hey, I'll join you. I'll help you.
Lord, I pray you'd help us to gather people that love you,
motivate and mobilize them for the work of God.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray. Amen.
We're going to have Brother Matt come up and lead us in a final song.
Let me just give you some real quick announcements so you don't forget.
First of all, we have a pastor's luncheon.
All of you pastors that are here, God bless you.
We appreciate you being here.
We have lunch for you in the fellowship hall.
So once the service is done, you can go ahead and fellowship a little bit.
But if you can make your way to the fellowship hall, we'd appreciate that.
Don't forget we've got the t-shirts from Sure Foundation Baptist Church in the foyer.
So go by and grab one of those t-shirts.
And then don't forget that we have church tonight, 6 p.m.,
the last service of the conference.
And I'm looking forward to Pastor Thompson preaching for us.
You're not going to want to miss it.
You want to be here at 6 p.m. for his sermon.
And then after the service, we're going to have Baskin-Robbins ice cream in the fellowship hall.
To the Verity Baptist Church family, don't forget Wednesday,
Pastor Oscar Bogart is going to be preaching for us from South Africa.
You're not going to want to miss it.
And I just want to say thank you to all of you that have been here with us this week.
Verity Baptist Church, I love you. We love you.
My wife and I love you, and we appreciate you.
And we thank you for all the work that you've done for the cause of Christ.
Why, Brother Matt, come up and lead us in a final song.