21, excuse me, Proverbs chapter 21, here's the bonus reason, I'm not going to spend too
much time on this, what are some of the reasons why people hate going to church?
Well one is because they're distracted, the cares of this life, the deceitfulness of riches,
the lust of other things entering in can choke the word, that person can become unfruitful
and they begin to despise coming to church, it's a drudgery to them, it becomes grievous
to them, what's another reason, they become discontent with the basics, I've heard this
before, my ears are dull of hearing, give me something I want to hear, give me something
new to hear, what's another reason, they disparage the pastor, they belittle the pastor, they're
constantly critical of what he's saying so they can't receive as much as they possibly
can from the preaching of God's word, what's another reason, because they're dormant in
their service, and lastly, this is one of the reasons why people hate going to church,
and remember, they're all D's, okay, they are distracted, discontent, they disparage
the pastor, they're dormant in their service, and number five, sometimes they hate church
because they're devils, and that person is just not saved, okay, why does this person
hate our church?
It's probably because he's a devil, the guy's probably some wicked reprobate, you say, well
that's weird though, they would come to church and like come Sunday morning, Sunday night,
and Wednesday night, and have a Bible and get dressed and do all these things and hate
the Lord and hate the pastor and do all those things, yes!
I know it's crazy, but people will do that, they will join a Baptist church, wake up early
on a Sunday morning, to get ready, put on a shirt and tie, come to church, use all the
Christianese lingo, in church, maybe even participate in soul winning, or have all these
outward expressions of being a Christian and then just hate the pastor, hate the church,
why?
Because they're devils, that's why.
I'm sure you know all about that.
That's why I'm not really gonna spend a whole lot of time on this point, because I'm preaching
to the choir, and I'm not calling you devils, okay, I'm just saying like you've been a part
of that where, you know, you can cut that part out too.
Sometimes people hate going to church, it's not because they're discontent with the basics,
it's not necessarily because they're distracted, it's not because, you know, they're just belittling
the pastor because they want to hear something new, it's not because they're just dormant
in their service, I'll tell you why, because they're just flat out devils, wicked people,
infiltrators, and you know what, churches like this will get them all the time.
Why?
Because they're trying to infiltrate to mess up the work, they're trying to hinder the
work of God.
And mark it down, when there's people out there who have an agenda to hinder God's word
from being preached and thundered forth, they're devils.
Folks, we had a soul winning marathon in the city of Santa Ana a couple weeks ago, it was
great, we got a lot of people saved, a lot of new soul winners came out, marathons are
just fun, right, they're just fun, it's not fun for the one organizing it, they're stressing
out, but that's not me anymore, you know, I was like, got someone else to do that, and
we had that, you know, people were getting saved, it was great, and you know, I was with
my family, soul winning with my family, I was with my soul winning partner, and we're
getting a bunch of people saved, it was the first half, and we're done, it was over, it
was just like, alright, I'm just waiting for my soul winning partner to finish up here,
he looks like he's getting this person saved, these guys walk up, and then, you know, I
look at them and I'm just like, hey, want to give you this invite, unfortunately it
had the church, the new church address on there, and I'm like, why don't you give this
invite to our Easter service, you know, I just want to give this to you, and they just
kind of take it, they're like, what's your name, I'm like, Bruce, what's your last
name, he's like, Mahia, and I'm not catching on, like, my wife told me, like, later on,
I knew what was going on, I didn't know, I'm just like, we're soul winning, you know,
and he's like, what are you preaching, I'm like, the gospel, I'm like, this is weird,
and I thought to myself, maybe these are some, like, false prophets, and I'm in their
territory or something like that, you know, and he's like, no, but what are you preaching,
I am like, the word of God, I mean, what do you want me to say, and then he looks down
at the invite, he looks up at me and he says, what do you believe about gay people, and
at that point, obviously, I'm like, alright, it's on, and I look up at him and I said,
I know exactly what I believe about gay people, I said, you know who I am, and he's like,
you can't preach your homophobic blankety blank here, and I said, I can preach whatever
I want, wherever I want, he says, well, not here, and I said, well, too late, he says,
you need to leave, I said, I already got like, over 50 soul winners here, preaching the same
thing that I'm preaching, and then his buddies came, they're like, you can't preach your
hate here, I said, then go call the police if you want, I'm not gonna stop preaching,
I've already did it, you're too late, too bad, I'm done anyways, you know, and then
they started having this body language, like, they were gonna jump me, so, you know, I just
grabbed my kids and I put them behind me, and I'm just like, alright, well, I'm leaving,
so see ya, you know, just kinda like walk away, and my soul winning partner was still
over there, and, you know, they didn't see him, so I'm trying to like distract them from
seeing him, you know, so they just kinda follow me, like, yeah, get outta here, you can't
come here, you can't preach here, and all this stuff, and I'm like, alright, well, I'm
already done, so I'm outta here, you know, so we ended up leaving, I left my soul winning
partner, he was offered, I'm just kidding, he wasn't offered, you know, they didn't know
he was there, and I texted him, I said, look, they were giving me a hard time, they recognized
me, and so I had to leave, but the second hour, we came back, but this is the time I
came with the boys, you know, we came with the guys, because it was a really receptive
area, and we came, and the guys, you know, they're just like, let's go back, let's go
preach the gospel there, we got you pastor, don't worry, you know, we'll be, cause the
first time, like, everyone forsook me, demons forsook me, having loved this present world,
like, I had no one there, cause, like, probably like five minutes before that happened, like,
all my guys were there, and we're like, yeah, it's going good, alright, I'll see you guys
in a little bit, I'm gonna wait for David over here, I'll see you guys over there, and
it's just like, literally, five minutes later, it's like, they came, and I'm just kinda like
looking for my guys, I'm like, aw, man, this sucks, but this time, me and the boys came,
and we got a bunch of people saved, now I will say we have to cut it short, cause, you
know, they came back out, and this time, they had reinforcements as well, and at that point,
it was just like, alright, we gotta cut it short, cause they started, like, surrounding
us, and this guy was tatted from, like, head to toe, you know, homo thugs or whatever,
and I said, you know, I think we're gonna have to cut this short, I said, you know,
these people are, like, they're making signals at me and stuff like that, and so we ended up
leaving, and I thought to myself, man, these people are unreasonable, and they're wicked
men who are trying to hinder the work of God, evil people, that's their agenda, so folks,
if they're willing to do that on a public area, where they're just, even though you're just
preaching the gospel, I wasn't preaching, you know, the reprobate doctrine, that wasn't my
thing at that time, it's my thing, but it's not my thing at that time, I'm just preaching the
gospel, I'm just getting people saved, we're just inviting people to Easter, and they still wanted
to stop that, how much more wicked are they when they actually come to the church house
to try to hinder the work of God, these are people that hate church because they're devils,
but you're not them, okay, the first four points were for you, were for me, were for safe people,
last point is not, look at Proverbs 21 verse 16, it says, the man that wandereth out of the way
of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead, my prayer tonight is that you would
just open up your understanding to these potential pitfalls that you can fall into,
where you can begin to despise the preaching of God's word, you can begin to despise your pastor
and his preaching, the church that you're attending, because of these things right here,
keep thine heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life, don't be distracted,
don't become discontent, don't disparage your pastor and get involved in your church,
amen, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer, Father, we thank you so much for your word,
thank you Lord for the Bible that it's so clear and concise in these areas, and thank you for
warning us of these potential pitfalls that all of us can fall into at one time or another,
I pray God that you'd help us, Lord, to have a soft heart towards the things of God,
and I know in my life personally, I know there's been times when my heart has gotten
hard, Lord, and maybe it was the cares of this life and other things that we're entering in
that was causing me to be a little distracted, Lord, I pray that, Lord, you'd help us to
continue to soften our hearts as we read the Bible, as we come to church, and sometimes we
just need to come to church even when we don't feel like coming to church, and the preaching,
the fellowship will often soften our hearts and remind us of the eternal,
and it'll help us to get right with you, and Lord, bless this evening and all there is,
thank you for Pastor Anderson, thank you for Faithful Word Baptist Church and their prayers,
Lord, I'm so thankful for their example, their friendship, I pray that you bless them,
may your hand continue to be with them as they seek to reach more people for Christ
and thunder forth the word of God, I pray these things in Jesus' name.