Amen. Deuteronomy 17. Once again, I'm Brother Segura, and I definitely want to thank everyone for being here.
You've made it very special. You're here! Anyways, I know that guy.
But thank you once again for being here. I know Pastor Anderson is very happy to have this church.
He's been talking about it since he hired me, and even before then, just wanting a church in L.A. so bad,
and trying to find a man that will lead a church in L.A., and I think we found that man.
You know, from what I know from Brother Mejia, I'm excited to have him. I mean, he's a great guy.
He's been a blessing, you know, just taking charge, you know, just doing his best to help us out.
You know, hopefully we're done, you know, a little bit for him to relieve some of the stress,
you know, as far as getting equipment and, you know, cleaning equipment as well.
You know, but right there in Deuteronomy 17, the key verse that I want to focus on is going to be on Deuteronomy 17, 20,
that says that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,
and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom,
he and his children, you know, in the midst of Israel, and the title of my sermon is going to be this,
Learning to Love, Learning to Love. So when it comes to Deuteronomy 17, 14,
you know, what we see basically here is just Moses towards the end of his career, you know,
just going over some more commandments, more instructions for the children of Israel.
You know, Moses is about to die, and what he does is he gives them final instructions,
and so he's telling them, look, when you guys take the promised land and you start desiring the king,
Moses says, well, these are going to be the rules, and right there in Deuteronomy 17, 18 through 20,
it says that it shall be when he sitteth, the king, when the king sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom,
he says that God wants this man, you know, to write himself a copy of this law,
basically the books of Moses, the five books of Moses, the law.
And it says he wants them to make a copy of this law in the book out of that which is before the priests of Levites,
and he wanted this thing to be with him, and it said it should be with him, and he shall read it therein all the days of his life,
that he may learn to feel the Lord, his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statues,
to do them that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren,
and that he turn not aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left,
to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.
Please go to Leviticus 19, 1910, please, Leviticus 1910.
And what we see here in Deuteronomy is basically the rules for success for the king.
He says he wants them to have the Bible with him, not just to have it, and not just to make a copy of it,
but to read it, and not just to read it every so often, but to read it every single day, every single day.
And he made him hand write it, probably to get him to concentrate more on it as he's going through the Bible,
because when you're writing things out, you notice more things.
And that's probably what he wanted this king to do, is notice his word,
because he's going to need it in order to know how to do what's right.
So what this king was commanded to do was to write it, keep it with him, but there was a purpose for that.
The purpose was for him to fear the Lord, for him to fear the Lord so he would do what's right,
so he would lead the kingdom the right way, and the second purpose is right there found in verse 20,
I know you guys have seen Leviticus 19, but I'm still in Deuteronomy,
and Deuteronomy 17, 20 says that God wanted him to make a copy, have it with him,
read it every single day to fear the Lord, and this is the verse I want to focus on as well,
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, that he wouldn't get prideful,
because it's dangerous when you're prideful, you tend not to care about anybody but yourself
when you start getting prideful, and that's what he didn't want this king to do,
is to get prideful, he wanted him to be humble, and when you tend to fear the Lord,
you tend to care more about people, and you tend to be humble, realizing that God is the one that's in charge,
God is the one that should obey, God is the one that you should fear,
and that's what he wanted this king to do, make a copy of it, read it every day,
be in the fear of the Lord, and not be prideful, not have his heart be lifted above his brethren,
you know, and he wanted him to have compassion, which is why he didn't want his heart to get cold hearted,
heart hearted, prideful, he wanted him to be a god, not a god but a king,
that would be humble and care about his kingdom, care about his people,
you know, so what I wanted to basically talk about is learning how to love,
but also learning how to love the good, love the righteous,
you know, we're not commanded to love everyone, but we are commanded to love our brethren,
we are commanded to love those that are righteous, to care about the right things of this world,
you know, to hate the evil, and put it away from among us,
you know, so I just want to give you the quick definition of learn or learning
that I got from dictionary.com and it says this,
it's the active process of acquiring knowledge, getting something that you didn't have before,
knowledge or skill, let me just read a few verses that have to do with the word learn,
Deuteronomy 5 one says this,
As Moses called out to Israel, and said unto them,
Hero Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day,
that ye may learn them.
So here's Moses giving them laws, giving them statues,
he says I want you to learn them, retain them, get these things that you didn't have before.
Psalms 118 7, Psalms 118 7 says this,
I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
Psalms 118 71 says this,
It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes.
Proverbs 1 5 says this,
A wise man will hear, and will increase learning.
And the man of understanding shall attend unto wise counsels.
Proverbs 9 9 says this,
Give instructions to a wise man, and he will be wiser.
Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.
That's something that the Bible says over and over again,
learn, learn, increase your learning, don't just stay where you're at,
and don't forget what you've learned, and on top of what you've learned,
continue on the learning process, and the biggest thing you can learn tonight,
I believe, is how to love correctly.
Because I want this church to thrive, I want this church to be a powerful church,
and I'm going to get to how you can be a powerful church in a minute.
But let me just read a few more verses that have to do with learning.
One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 117, it says this,
Learn to do well. You know what it's telling you?
That it doesn't come naturally.
Because if you already knew it, why would you need to learn it?
But you know what does come naturally?
Wickedness.
Wicked imagination comes naturally.
Doing what's right doesn't come as natural as doing what's wrong.
There was just a famous illustration with people up here preaching,
I didn't have to teach my kids to lie, and that is so true.
How many of you guys have kids? Can you say amen to that?
Did you have to teach your kids to lie?
You know, my son lied to me recently, and I gave him a really hard whooping,
because I let him use his phone to learn scriptures, you know,
because there's a really nice app, there's a really nice scripture app that I like,
it's called scripture typer, and I want them to learn their scriptures,
so I had these old phones, I figured let me dust them off,
put the app on there and give it to them.
Well you know what, they also work hard.
They help me at church, because I work for the church, I'm Pastor Anderson's assistant,
I'm really just his janitor to be honest, but, you know, I'll do for now, right?
The real preaching starts next Thursday, alright?
The real Thursday night preaching starts next Thursday.
Tonight's preaching is a little bit like this building, it's going to be rough, alright?
You know, but as I continue to come back, it'll be like this building as well,
it'll get beautiful every single time, alright?
Every single time.
So my son basically is playing in the bathroom,
and I know he's in the bathroom a little long, but I know he's playing,
he's a nine year old kid, or ten, I'm sorry.
So I'm like, Chris, are you in the bathroom on that phone playing games?
No daddy, I'm not.
Alright, where's your phone?
It's in mommy's room.
Where?
In the laundry.
I'm looking around like, I don't see it, come show me where that phone is at.
Okay.
Opens the door, he goes in there.
And I'm like, where is it?
And he literally says this, it's over there daddy.
And I'm like, where over here?
And at the same time, he's trying to tuck it out of his pants and take it out and throw it in the laundry.
I'm like, what are you doing?
And I grabbed him by the shirt, pulled him, and he hit the phone in his waistline trying to dump it in the laundry.
Now I didn't teach him to do that.
I never taught him that was cool.
I always tell him, you know what, one of the things that proves you hate someone is if you lie to them.
The Bible says the lying tongue hates those that it afflicts, does it not?
You know, so that's what I want to tell my kid, look, don't ever lie to me like that.
That was really bad, so I gave him a whooping that's a little bit harder than usual,
but he apologized later on and he understood why I did it.
You know, because he deliberately tried to deceive me so wickedly, I couldn't believe it.
I was like, is this my son? You know, where did he learn this?
You know, but us, God's people, you know, we got the sin, you know, nature inside of us as well,
which is why Isaiah is telling us, look, we need to learn to do well.
You know, seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Jeremiah 10, 2 says this, thou saith the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen.
Famous verse, right?
So just like we're supposed to learn things, those are some things we're not supposed to learn.
We're not supposed to learn the ways of the heathen.
So learning is good, but it can also be bad if you start learning the way of the heathen.
I threw that in there just to let you know that it's not just learning everything that God wants us to learn.
No, God said some things be simple concerning evil, but you know what?
I want you to learn to do well, learn the good and hate the evil.
So that's why I put that in there just as a reminder tonight.
Did thou say the Lord, learn not the way of the heathen and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven,
for the heathen are dismayed at them.
Matthew 19, Matthew 9, chapter 12, I'm sorry, Matthew 9, verse 12, Jesus is speaking here.
And it says this, but when Jesus heard that, he said unto them that they that behold need not a physician,
but they that are sick, but go ye and learn what that meaneth.
That's what Christ was preaching back in the day.
He wanted people to go and learn this word, go and learn the Bible,
because obviously some people should have known it more than others,
but in this situation, he's talking to Pharisees and saying, look, go learn what this says,
because obviously you don't know what it means.
So God wants us to be a people of learning, learning.
I like this one how it starts.
Matthew 24, 32, now learn.
That's Jesus talking.
Mark 13, 28, now learn.
I like how that sounds.
Proverbs 4, 7, wisdom is a principle thing, therefore give wisdom,
and with all thy getting, get understanding.
See, it's not just about learning wisdom, but understanding it as well.
God just doesn't want us to know what the Bible says.
He wants us to understand it.
So I want this church to be a church not just that knows what the Bible says,
but understand it as well as much as possible.
I know some things are hard to understand than others,
but for the most part, God should be able to reveal to us,
if we need that knowledge, what something in the Bible clearly means.
But here's what the Bible usually says, you know,
that we shall learn to maintain good works, you know,
necessary uses that they be not fruitful.
You know, 1 Corinthians 13, 13, and then I'll get to Leviticus 19, 10 in a second.
It says, now by the faith, hope, charity, these three.
Now see, I want my kids to learn about, you know, what the Bible says,
but I also want them to be children that also care about other people,
children that love other people.
You know, I want my children to be smart.
I want my daughters to obviously care about the poor,
but I do want them not just to be all puffed up but not,
but I want them to also have the love of God.
I want them to also know what it takes, you know, to love people correctly.
You know, so right there in Proverbs 4, 7, wisdom is a principle thing,
to forgive wisdom with all they can and get understanding.
Titus 3, 14, and let us also learn to maintain good works.
You know, 1 Corinthians 13, 13, it says, now by the faith, hope, charity, these three.
But the greatest of these is charity.
And what is charity?
Charity is just love.
But also love that's fervent.
It's not just somebody that just helps others,
but also helps them and does it with the right heart.
He gives on to them because he wants to and yes,
he gives on to them as unto the Lord,
but when it comes to charity, you know, it's basically a sacrificial giving
where you're giving because you do care about that person.
You want that person to succeed.
You know, you have compassion and you're giving to them to improve their life.
But you're right there in Leviticus 19, 10,
the reason why I believe that God wanted the king back in Deuteronomy 17
to learn his word because the word tells us a lot.
There's a lot to learn from God's word.
And one of the things this king would have learned
if he would have just kept reading every single day,
it says right there in Leviticus 19, 10,
and thou shalt not glean thy vineyard,
neither shall thou gather every grape of thy vineyard,
and thou shalt leave them for the poor and stranger.
So right here in Leviticus 19, 10, what we're seeing
is how God feels about the poor and about the stranger.
And I'm sure if that king would have just wrote it by hand,
he would have noticed that
and hopefully it would have got to him in his heart
and realized, you know what?
I need to care about the poor.
I need to care about the stranger, the foreigner
that's coming to this country probably to improve his life.
So as you continue to read, it says this,
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely,
neither lie one to another.
Verse 12, And ye shall not swear by my name falsely,
neither shall thou profane in the name of thy God,
I am the Lord.
Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor,
neither rob him.
The wages to him that is hired
shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
Thou shalt not curse to death,
nor put a stumbling block before the blind,
but thou shalt fear thy God, I am the Lord.
Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment.
Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor
nor honor the person of the mighty,
but in righteousness should thou judge thy neighbor.
Thou shalt not go up and down
as a tail-bearer among thy people,
neither shall thou stand against the blood
of thy neighbor, I am the Lord.
Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart.
Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor
and not suffer sin upon him.
Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge
against the children of thy people,
but thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself.
That's how you can learn to love.
By not doing those things that you see there.
What things? Let's go over them really quickly.
Caring about the poor and stranger.
That's how you learn to love.
Don't steal from people.
Don't lie to people.
Don't defraud people.
Don't rob people.
Don't curse people, especially the deaf.
It says right here, don't mistreat blind people.
Don't judge people unfairly.
Don't go around gossiping about people.
Because when you do that, guess what?
You don't love that person.
Because if you see a person commit a sin
that is not unto death and you go and repeat it,
you know what you're doing?
You're trying to hurt that person.
Let's just face it.
That's what you're trying to do.
Because the Bible says that it's a glory unto a man
to let transgression just go.
I only quoted it correctly, but you know what I mean.
Let me continue.
Besides gossiping,
you know, it says right there clearly,
don't hate your brother in your heart.
I mean, any questions about that one?
That's just a clear one.
You're a brother in your heart.
And I can't believe when I see these things,
messing with the deaf, the blind people.
I can understand judging people unfairly,
but man, I almost wonder who would be cruel enough
to mess with a blind person,
to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person.
You got to be a really wicked individual to do that.
But because we're all born wicked as well,
I'm pretty sure at one point or another,
it could cross your mind as well,
to have a little fun with the blind.
Hey, wouldn't it be funny to pull something in front of that blind guy?
He'll never know it's us.
But as long as we stay in the Word,
we'll continue to see these commandments
and we'll say, whoa, that's not right.
Especially if you're a little kid.
Especially if you're a little kid and you're a bully.
Chances are, you have no compassion for blind people or deaf people.
And I did remember one point when I was in school,
probably when I was around 10 years old,
we had this one kid that couldn't hear.
And boy, did they mock him.
They would just sneak up on him.
They would just ridicule him behind his back.
I felt really bad for that kid.
But see, that's not love when you do those things.
And you wonder, like, does the Bible really have to say things like that?
I guess it does because it's written right there
and he wanted the king to write it down and see it for the first time
if he'd never written the Bible before.
So what have we got so far?
Gossip being, hating your brother.
It says right there, don't have grudges against thy people.
But instead, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
So how do we learn to love?
Well, as you can clearly see from these verses,
reading the Bible will help you to start to learn to love.
It will start to help put compassion in your heart.
That's why he wanted the king to do it.
So the king wanted to get what? Puffed up, high-minded.
So he wouldn't put himself above his brethren
and think he's better than them and they're nothing to him.
And start stealing from them, taking their horses
and every other thing that they ended up doing.
But see, when you stay in the Word and you continue to read it,
and people are like, oh, the Old Testament's so boring.
But these are great verses to remind you how to be good.
Because imagine if they ripped this out of the Old Testament.
How worse would we be? Let's just admit that.
Wouldn't we be a lot worse
as individuals when we forget about not messing with the poor,
not messing with the blind, not messing with the deaf?
You know, if you don't have it in there,
it'll probably cross your heart.
Like, why would it really be so bad to mess with the guy?
I mean, he's a deaf, annoying guy.
He's constantly sticking papers in my face,
asking me to write things out.
I used to do cable. We had customers like that.
But I loved them, and I'm like, sure, I'll write it down for you.
What do you want me to do?
And it took a little longer to finish that job.
And sometimes I got to the point where I almost lost the next job
because we were contractors.
Who's a contractor in here by any chance?
Doesn't it hurt when you have to lose a job?
Lose some money because you have to stay at a job longer than usual?
But sometimes I had to do that because I had customers
that were blind and deaf that couldn't talk or couldn't hear.
But you know what I say? You know what?
Let the Lord take care of that.
Because I read the fear of the Lord and love these people
than to go ahead and cut corners and leave them a worse job.
And they can still complain because they have some kind of system that they set up
where they can, you know, email the company and complain.
But I didn't want it to get to that point.
You know, but see, this is one way that you will begin to learn to love
is by staying in the Bible, continuing to read it.
If you wanted a king to read it, how much more should we read it as well?
Because we don't have the responsibilities of a king.
Maybe you're a father tonight, you're a leader.
Hey, you should read it.
But still, compared to a king, it has to deal with battles.
It has to deal with this servant and that servant.
Let's just face it.
He needed to write it out by hand more than anybody
so he can figure out what it says and do it. Amen?
Amen.
But I have three simple things for you tonight on how to learn to love.
We already went over one.
So one down, two to go. Amen?
So you guys right there.
So what I want you to do is go to Acts 1-6, please.
While you're going to Acts 1-6, once again, Deuteronomy 17, 9,
just wanting the king to read it day in and day out
that he may learn to fear the Lord,
that he may not have his heart lifted up above his brethren.
Revelation 1-3 says, Blessed is he that readeth.
God will bless you if you read his word.
Because when it says readeth, that's talking about his word.
Jude 1-20 says this, But ye beloved,
building up yourselves on your most holy faith,
praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God.
Now did you catch that?
It said keep yourselves in the love of God.
What does that tell you?
That it doesn't come automatic. Amen?
We have to try to stay in the love of God.
We can't let our compassion continue to die.
And how many times in the book of Revelation to this church,
you're doing a great job, you hate sin,
but thou hast lost thy first love.
God makes a big deal out of love.
He's like, yeah, you're a smart church.
You know doctrine, but you know what?
I have something against thee.
Where's the love?
Where's the compassion?
They didn't keep themselves, according to Jude, in the love of God.
In case you're wondering, yes, Jude said it, but God is saying that.
God is commanding us to keep ourselves in his love.
Not the love of the world, where you love everything under the sun.
No, love what God loves is what the Bible is teaching.
And as you can see right there, keep yourselves in the love of God,
looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ,
unto eternal love, and of some have compassion,
making a difference, and others save with fear,
pulling them out of the fire,
having even the garments spied above the flesh.
So what you see right there in verse number 21,
it says keep yourself in the love of God.
And right after that, what is he talking about?
Saving people from the fire.
What is that called?
Soul winning.
How many of you go soul winning maybe once a week
or have some soul winning experience?
You could probably amen me all day long,
but isn't it something that keeps you warm?
Isn't it something that makes you feel like you have a purpose?
Isn't it something that helps you to have love for people?
When you go to the ghetto and you're knocking on the trailers
and you're knocking on these rundown houses
and the kids open up the doors and it's messy on the inside
and it's all trash and everything else.
I mean, we went soul winning last night.
I mean, we went down to, I believe it was like an apartment complex,
a one level apartment complex, very tiny.
I think the houses were maybe 800 square feet.
And you know what?
Brother Alex was witnessing, and I didn't want to interrupt him,
so I kind of waited until he was done,
but there were these two eight or nine year old girls
since they were playing soccer.
And I said, you know what, as soon as he's done, I'm going to go talk to them.
Because I don't think anybody's going to come,
you know, probably in the next week to get him.
So I might as well get him while the getting is good
because the mom doesn't really care.
They're outside playing.
What's the words they're going to do to me?
Hey, I want you to leave.
Then I'll leave, you know.
But the way I do it is kind of like I take my phone
and I have a vest and whenever I have to talk to little kids,
I just put it in my pocket, hit record,
so nobody can accuse me of anything later.
So if they call the cops, that's just a soul winning tip.
They call the cops, they're like, okay, here's the video.
What did I say and do that was wrong?
All I did was talk about Jesus.
And if you want to see the video, I'll show it to you later.
But that's another sermon.
No, I'm just kidding.
But what happened with these kids is we gave them the gospel.
You know, we gave them the gospel,
and it was funny because I like using my tablet
because I can blow up words a little bit bigger.
And I like when I got to Revelation 21, 8.
I was like, you know, let me show you some sins in the Bible.
But the fearful and the believing and the abominable.
And what's it say right here?
And they're like, murderers.
Everybody knows murderers deserve to go to hell, right?
Let's keep reading.
And they were reading nice and loud.
And whoremongers and idolaters and all that.
It was just funny seeing the kids reading whoremongers.
You know, but at the end of it all, they got it.
I mean, you could talk to them.
Were you there the whole time?
Did you hear it?
If not, I got it on video.
At the end of it all, I asked them,
what if you were to kill yourself
and you still go to heaven?
They said, yes, because earlier I explained
it's a gift you cannot lose.
They got it.
And kids sometimes get it better than adults.
But at that point, I prayed with them.
And praise the Lord, I believe they got saved.
Because right afterwards, I said,
so if you die right now, where are you going to go?
They're like, heaven.
I said, you got brothers and sisters?
Yes, I do.
They said, well, look, if they want to go to heaven,
what are you going to tell them they have to do?
They have to believe on Jesus.
That what they said.
They didn't say go to church.
They didn't say be baptized.
They seemed to say, we're going to tell them
to believe on Jesus.
That's what they said.
You know, don't believe me, I got the video.
But this is something that will keep you warm.
This is something that will keep you, like you said,
in the love of God.
You know, just getting yourself out there.
I know it's hard.
I know the flesh fights.
But you know what?
We got a pastor that believes in it,
and he's going to have hours for you to go out,
and he's going to lead it,
and he's going to lead from the front.
He's not just saying, all right, guys,
here's your map, here's your street,
see you later.
You got to go and meet with a missionary down the road.
He's not that type of pastor.
You know, so I look forward to seeing what he's going to do,
and praise the Lord that we're able to take him
and use him, and use him to his fullest.
Because you know what?
We want this church to thrive.
We want this church to be great.
And I'm telling you right now,
one of the biggest things that God complained about
the most in the book of Revelation
was that there was no love.
The church was kind of losing it.
And I don't want you guys to lose it.
If you find yourself going hard like, man,
I used to go out twice a week, three times a week,
four times a week, but now you know what?
I'm barely even getting out there once a week.
What's going on?
You could probably look at two things so far.
Number one, it's kind of hard to get in it
once you get out of it.
But you know what?
Maybe your Bible reading is slacking a little bit,
and the fear of the Lord is starting to go away.
And if you want your family, your relatives to get saved,
something that will help God to move and help you out
is for you to go get other families,
other people's relatives saved.
Because what goes around comes around.
Whatever good thing every man,
whatsoever good thing a man does,
the same show you receive of the Lord.
So if you're out there knocking doors for your relatives,
your friends, your family, you know what?
God's going to do the same to you.
You know?
And that's why we're starting these churches,
because we want not just this church
but other churches in the other areas
just to start a soul-willing revival.
I'm already picking up the storm
and we're just kicking it up more and more,
but that's the whole purpose of us being here
is to seek and to save those which are lost.
You know?
But if you get away from the Word,
you lose the fear of God,
you start to get prideful,
like, I don't need to really go.
Everyone needs to go.
It doesn't matter how much you make,
who you are, everybody needs to go.
And it will be a blessing to you.
It will keep you in the love of God,
because look what it says.
In the love of God, some have compassion,
pulling them out of the fire.
I mean, if there's not so many,
then I don't know what to tell you.
But right there in Acts 1-6, right?
Is that where you guys are at?
Before I go to Acts 1-6,
and I will go to Acts 1-6, I promise,
let me just read a few verses
that I think are very important,
just to refresh your memory.
You know, 1 John 5-2 says this,
By this we know that we love the children of God
when we love God and keep His commandments.
1 John 5-3,
For this is the love of God
that we keep His commandments
and the commandments are not grievous.
Matthew 28 and 18, now here's the thing,
when I tell somebody something,
and they're about to leave,
I kind of like to just leave them
with the most important thing I want them to do.
Who's done that as a supervisor?
Who's ever said,
you know what, I want you to do this,
do this and this and this?
You know, but if you can't get anything done,
I want this done at the bare minimum.
Who's done that before?
And you know what?
Right here in Matthew 28,
our boss, our commander, God Almighty,
he's getting ready to leave.
And he could have left with these guys with,
you know, who knows what instructions.
Hey, I want you guys to continue tithing.
Hey, I want you guys to continue baptizing.
We just didn't mention that.
Hey, you know,
I want you guys to continue in your Bible.
But right there in Matthew 28 and 18,
Jesus said this,
Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, all power is given unto me
in heaven and earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations.
What is that?
That's so in it.
That's in the book of Matthew.
Guess what's next?
The book of Mark.
Let's look how that ends.
Mark 16 and 15.
And he said unto them,
go ye unto the world,
and preach the gospel.
What is that?
That's so in it.
Let's take a look at how Luke ends.
Luke 24, 44.
And he said unto them,
these are the words which I spake unto you
while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the law of Moses
and the prophets and in the psalms concerning me.
Then open heed their understanding
that they may understand the scriptures.
And he said unto them,
thus it is written,
and thus it is behooved Christ
to suffer and to rise from the dead.
Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead
the third day,
and that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in His name
among all nations beginning of Jerusalem.
What is that?
That's so in it.
Guess how the book of John ends.
We'll get to that in a second.
Acts 1, 6, 9, right?
That's where you're at?
Acts chapter 6.
Acts chapter 1, verse 6.
When they therefore were come together,
they asked Him, saying,
Lord, without this time,
restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And He said unto them,
It is not for you to know the times
or the seasons,
when the Father has put in His own power,
but ye shall receive power
after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses unto Me,
both in Jerusalem and in all Judea
and in Samaria
and unto the outermost part of the earth.
Let me ask you this.
What is that?
It's so in it.
So in it.
You know what?
Let me read this verse.
Proverbs 10, 24.
The fear of the wicked,
it shall come upon them,
but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
I don't know what,
when I read this,
it just reminded me of an issue
that our friends over at Verity Baptist,
you know, an issue that they had
with some guy they kicked out.
I don't know if you guys know the situation.
You know, but this guy, this wicked guy,
decides to make a video.
You probably know what video I'm talking about.
To mock the men of God.
I mean, he's not afraid to mock them.
I mean, I can understand, you know,
like mocking Joel Holstein
and T.D. Jakes and Claire Fodalla.
You know, I mean, come on.
How much clue do you need that guy's false?
A dollar?
Seriously.
You know, but I'm going to tell you right now,
if you can't even tell that Pastor Henderson
is a man of God, you're retarded.
You're stinking stupid.
Let's just face it.
That's why he makes a video,
and he has these highlights
where he has Pastor Jimenez,
Pastor Jimenez, Pastor Joe Major.
You got all these guys saying,
so many, so many, so many, so many, so many,
so many, so many, so many.
What's in that video?
Well, guess what?
This is like a clip of that
where Jesus is saying,
so many, so many, so many, so many.
Is it not?
I mean, these are his last words.
You know, you see it right there in Matthew 28.
That's the last words.
You see it right there in Mark 16.
That's the last words.
You see it right there in Luke 24.
That's the last words.
And what is he talking about?
So many.
And what did you say?
Keep yourselves in the love of God.
Having compassion.
Pulling Him out of the fire.
So somebody that doesn't go so many,
guess what?
You need to learn to love, buddy.
And let's start with the easy part.
Get into the Bible.
And go to Leviticus 17
and start reading on how to love
your brothers and sisters
and people as well.
Don't steal from them.
Don't lie to them.
Don't mess with them.
Don't be grudge towards them.
Don't envy them.
Go to Leviticus 17 and learn
is what it will tell them.
Now you guys, you guys stay where you're at.
So you can see that soul winning
is not a small deal to God at all.
Not at all.
Because you guys saw it right there
in the book of Acts.
He's saying you guys are going to be
witnesses.
And then look what it says right there.
But I'm going to start at 18 again
to refresh on what I just said.
But ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Ghost has come upon you.
And ye shall be witnesses unto me
both in Jerusalem and in Judea
and in Samaria
and unto the outermost part of the earth.
And look at this.
And when ye have spoken these words
what they'll be having is taken up
in a cloud.
We see them out of their sight.
So what was the last thing he said?
You're going to be soul winners.
Bye!
And this idiot is like
that's what they focus on down there at the conference.
Soul winners, soul winners, soul winners,
soul winners, soul winners, soul winners.
Hey idiot, guess how many
do we think we got that idea?
That's what we got from Christ.
You're going to be witnesses?
Bye!
Left out of their sight.
You're going to be soul winners?
Bye! Left out of their sight.
All these guys concentrated soul winners,
soul winners, soul winners, soul winners.
You know, we need to fight the government
and kill people or whatever.
But his biggest fear is that people will mock him.
Right?
And guess what?
We are mocking you.
Because the Bible says
the fear of the wicked is to come upon you.
You're a wicked dude.
That's why we're all mocking you these days.
But for the righteous,
hey, you ever wanted to get something from God?
I mean, it says right there
and it shall come upon you
that the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
But you know what?
You can't really call yourself a righteous person
without going soul winning.
You really can't do it.
You want something from God?
Guess what?
Got to be righteous.
You don't want to go soul winning?
Guess what?
You're not righteous.
Because how do you love people?
By keeping God's commandments.
And what were the last commandments
that he left with them
just so they can have it fresh in their hearts?
Go be witnesses!
Go!
Preach the gospel!
What does the Bible say?
This is how we know we love people.
When we love God and keep his commandments.
Probably the hardest one to forget,
being an apostle.
Let's go be witnesses.
Because that's the last thing you told them.
So how can you keep yourself in the love?
How can you learn the love?
We already saw it.
We didn't God's word.
You get the fear of God.
When you fear God,
you don't want to harm people.
Right?
And guess what?
You read the word of God,
when you got fear,
you know, that humbles you
and you won't be lifted above your brethren.
The second way,
going soul winning.
You're like, is it really going to work?
When you see those kids out there in the ghetto
and they're praying,
asking Jesus to give them eternal life.
And when you ask them,
so where are you going to go?
And they say heaven.
And when you ask them why?
And they say believe,
because we believe on Jesus.
That is music to your ears.
And that's what we're going to do in this neighborhood.
Man, you guys have tremendous amount of people
around this building.
It is great.
I mean, I even told,
what's the name?
Where you at?
Did you leave?
Where's my Canadian buddy?
Right here.
There you are.
I was like, bro, maybe afterwards
let's just cross the street
if you're motivated enough.
Let's go knock on some doors after this.
I'm not announcing an official
opening time.
I'm just saying.
I just told them that
because there was just so much here.
So the second way is to go slow anymore.
Did I tell you to go to John 21 15?
If not, go to John 21 15, please.
John 21 15.
I'll read from James 1 26.
It says,
If any man among you seem to be religious
and bridling out this tongue,
but deceive his own heart,
this man's religion is vain.
Pure religion,
another fight before God and the Father is this.
To visit the fatherless and the widows
and their affliction
is to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
What does that sound like?
Somebody would probably say,
follow up!
But here's the thing, though.
To me, it seems like that's soul winning.
And yeah, it could be follow up as well.
I mean, if all these churches,
let's just say not even Baptist churches,
but if every church started going soul winning,
man, we'd be running into each other's converts.
All day long, would we not?
We'd be visiting the fatherless
and the widows left and right
that are actually God's sheep.
But here's what the Bible says in John 21 15.
Are you there?
He said this,
So when they had died,
Jesus saith unto Simon Peter,
Simon son of Jonas,
love is thou me more than these.
He saith unto him,
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him,
Feed my lambs.
He saith unto him again the second time,
Simon son of Jonas,
love is thou me.
He saith unto him,
Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.
He saith unto him,
Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time,
Simon son of Jonas,
love is thou me.
Peter was great because he had said unto him the third time,
Love is thou me?
And he said unto him,
Lord, thou knowest all things.
Thou knowest that I love thee.
Jesus saith unto him,
Feed my sheep.
Go to James 2 14 please.
And like I was saying earlier,
I mean, he's telling him,
Feed my sheep, feed my sheep,
feed my sheep, feed my sheep.
You know?
You're telling me that every single person
that we get saved
is able to come to church?
No way.
You got kids that are too far.
I mean, we go to Navajo places
that are three hours, six hours away
getting people saved.
You know?
But in the end,
I mean, you go down there
and there's little kids all over the place
almost wondering if their dad's even around.
But you can clearly see right here
that God is saying,
Hey, feed my sheep, feed my sheep, feed my sheep.
You know?
And you know what?
When you go sowing him,
I'm telling you,
you're going to fulfill this commandment yourself
because you're going to run into even people
that are saved, yes or no.
And when you do run into that person
that says,
Yeah, no, I'm going.
Yeah, it's by faith.
Yeah, I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
No, you can't lose it.
It's like music to your ears.
Then you try to feed that sheep.
Well, man, have you been baptized?
Sure have.
Look, are you going sowing in there or not?
You know, knocking doors?
No, no, I've never done that.
And we have people from our church
who have invited people that same moment
to go knock on doors
that they've taken that offer
and they started knocking doors with them.
But they didn't even know what sowing in was
until somebody came and fed that sheep.
So guess what?
Sowing in helps you
to kind of knock out two things at once.
Saving people out of the fire
and helping to deal with Jesus
was basically telling Peter
that made Peter feel bad
because he kept saying,
Hey, if you love me, feed my sheep.
I can't imagine Jesus
ain't going to say anything to us.
Look, do you love me?
Hey, go feed my sheep.
Go find them.
Go to the Navajo nations.
I'm sure there's somebody down there to save.
Go feed them a little bit.
I heard Jim try to get him baptized.
If he's baptized, try to give him,
try to help him to obey all things
once they're recommended he.
Yes or no?
So that's a little extra.
But, you guys are in James 2.14?
I mean, it's right there.
You claim to be religious.
You claim to be a righteous person.
What is the problem?
My brother in law and man say he has faith.
Then have not works and faith save him.
If a brother or sister, you know,
be naked or destitute of daily food
and one of you say unto them,
Depart in peace.
Be ye warm and filled.
Notwithstanding ye give them not those things
which are needful to the body.
What does it profit?
The third way,
and this one's gonna be a little bit tricky
for me to explain,
but the third way you can help yourself
to learn to love is by giving.
Is by giving.
Let me just say something.
Look at this verse.
It says, What does it profit my brother in law
and man say he has faith.
Then have not works.
Can faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked
or destitute of daily food
and one say unto them,
Depart in peace and be ye warm and filled.
What does it profit?
What kind of person would do something like this?
That's able to help somebody out
and chooses not to help them?
That's a cold-blooded person.
I'm not a cold-blooded person,
but that's just a cold person,
a cold-hearted person
that would see somebody that needs something
and you have extra and you say,
You know what?
Hey, have a great day, man.
Oh, you're suffering?
Well, sorry to hear that.
See you later.
Or am I wrong?
Because if I have extra and I can give it,
I'm gonna give it.
Why?
Because that's just having the love.
Taking care of one another.
You know, but that's the kind of person
that basically just doesn't care about other people.
He doesn't have love.
He needs to learn to love.
You know?
But I will say this though,
and this will probably, you know,
just make you wonder,
Who am I talking about?
But here's the thing.
This verse in James,
James 2.14,
isn't telling us to just help everybody.
It's not saying that
because you know you're gonna have them here.
I'm just warning you right now.
They're at Verity.
You're gonna have them here.
And we have them at...
Let me just continue.
But you know what?
I'm getting tired basically of, you know,
these broke begging backsliders
that come to church.
And they come to you with a sob story.
Hey man, I'm a little short on cash, you know.
Basically I try to do this for the Lord
and you know, kind of run a little bit out of money
and this and whatever.
And you kind of just give them the benefit of the doubt, you know.
You give them money and you help them out
and whatever, you know.
And they kind of almost seem like
they're just wolves in sheep's clothing.
I'm not saying they're not safe,
but they just come in and they put this act, you know,
where they make you think that they're doing
everything in their power, you know,
to just make things happen, you know.
And it's kind of funny because, you know,
you basically just help them out,
but then later you find out that they're going around
to this person and that person and it's like okay,
once, twice, I understand.
But when is it gonna end?
When?
And then sure enough, I mean, later on you find out
that these guys, they have a set schedule, you know.
Not only do they have a set schedule, you know,
they have a 40 hour a week schedule.
A 40 hour a week schedule.
You know, it's like you're borrowing 20 bucks here,
100 bucks here, and it's like,
and you get off at what time?
And you work how many hours a day?
And then at that point I'm just sitting back like,
you know what, I don't know, but I guess you're special
because last time I read the Bible, Exodus 29 says this,
six days should thou labor.
And Christ said, aren't there 12 hours in a day?
And I don't know, but it says six days should thou labor
and do all thy work.
It doesn't say five days, it says six days.
And Exodus 21 says this,
for in six days the Lord made heaven and the earth
and the sea and all that in the midst
and rested the seventh day,
wherefore the Lord blessed the seventh day
and hallowed it.
Look, if God works six days, who the heck are you
to just stick around with five days?
I mean, you should be ashamed of taking money
from people that are working 12 hour days, 16 hour days,
because you refuse to work that part-time job.
And it's not like they need to work two jobs.
They don't.
It's like, you're already working 40,
get a part-time job doing two more days.
And what makes me laugh is they stick around the church bed
until like 11 or 9, I'm thinking you're borrowing money,
why aren't you out there working until 11 or 9?
What in the world?
So when you see these people right here in James,
I don't think it's talking about them.
Because the reason they're broke
is because they're wicked, it's that simple.
They refuse, and I wish that these people
would stop being wicked and start working a little harder
and quit going around asking for money
because you clearly got the time to put in the hours.
Why don't you work the 12 hour days?
You're borrowing money from people that do,
but they refuse to do so.
So it just makes me laugh because you know what?
People that are just broke is a joke,
you know, I'm talking to them,
but that's because they're not putting in a full effort.
And they're always telling people,
man, if you're as broke as I am,
and then I'll just kind of like think,
okay, well they're probably working a lot of hours, you know.
If you're like, man, you must be working really hard.
Then it turns out that their job is very easy.
Not just that, their job doesn't take all day.
And sure enough, that's why you're not being able to pay your bills.
You know, because you're not doing what God told you to do.
And they want to be preachers and they can barely pay their bills.
You know, but some people may be thinking,
you know what?
How do you know they're not just going through hard times?
How do you know that they're wicking or whatever?
Because you know what?
The Bible says six days.
If you're not packing it, work six days.
And I haven't seen it.
And it's not like it was like for a month or two months.
It's like a year or so.
But it's just still with the same job,
nothing changes and it just continues borrowing money.
I don't know what's going on with that.
But those are not the people in James 2.
People in James 2 are the ones that are working hard.
They're doing everything they can.
You see them.
They're lacking the little.
You have some.
You come in and you give them out of compassion.
Those are the difference.
People that are able to show that,
hey, I'm working two jobs.
I'm just tight right now.
You're like coming in and just want to be a blessing to them.
But the ones that come to you and you give them the benefit of the doubt
and you turn around and it's like, hey man,
you might want to obey that commandment that says six days without labor.
And you'll be surprised how everybody that works six days somehow
is able to pay for all their stuff.
And the ones that can't is only once or twice that they come around
and then you see them helping other people.
And you know what's even funnier?
This is the funnier part.
That I've been at my church for about eight years
and I've had probably about four men come up to me and borrow money from me.
But you know what?
Every single year we have single ladies
and you know how many single ladies have ever gone up and asked for money?
None.
And you've got men that are able, they're stronger than them.
How is it that these single ladies come to church
and they don't borrow money from no one and in fact they're giving out money?
Because then it comes around and people figure out, hey, you borrow from such and such.
A woman? What in the world?
This dude has the guts to go up to a woman and ask for money?
What's up with that?
You would want to say, hey, these guys are trying hard,
but I've never seen a woman that comes in a single working a job
ever go and ask anybody for money.
It always tends to be the single men.
Or the ones that are married, but you can see that they're not trying hard.
They want it easy, they don't want to try too hard,
but you know what?
James 2 makes it clear we should help people,
but I want to just kind of separate the difference between the ones that are not trying
and the ones that are trying.
Let's concentrate on the ones that are trying and the other ones that need to get right with God
and work a little harder. Amen?
If you can go to Acts 20 please, Acts 20 35.
Why did I go through that two minute rant?
Because you know what?
They think that James 2 applies to them.
And I know they're watching this, and I hope they get this,
and I hope they figure out that it ain't about you.
Get right with God, go get a part time job.
Quit embarrassing yourself you clown.
Clowns actually.
Acts 20 35.
For the rest of us that love to give, keep giving.
Acts 20 35 please.
Acts 20 35 says this.
I have showed you all things, how they are so laboring you ought to support the weak,
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how He said it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Let me just read Proverbs 22 9, it's similar to that.
He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed,
for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
And that's the thing.
The poor, not the lazy, not the greedy, the poor.
And if you're one of the person that's poor,
ask him, hey, do you work more than five days a week?
And find out what they say.
And if they say no, then you know what?
They need to just go get a part time job and not ask for money.
The ones that are working very, very hard,
I say let's jump in and help them out all day long.
But see here's the thing.
It says right there in Proverbs 22 9,
He that has a bountiful eye shall be blessed,
for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
You know what I've given to people, and it's funny how the Bible does say that
whatsoever good thing you do, the same you shall receive of the Lord.
You know, I've helped people out as best I could,
and it was funny because the individuals that I gave secretly to,
the next day they're coming back giving me the money.
You know, I gave this couple some money one time, secretly,
and I don't know what happened,
but I guess they felt that we needed it more than they did,
and the next morning they're knocking on the door
giving us the exact same money that we gave them.
You know, so I was just amazed by that.
But sometimes when you give, hey, it does go to the right people,
and I don't know, somehow they feel like you need it more than them.
I'm not sure.
Acts 4 32 says this,
And a multitude of them they believed were of one heart and of one soul.
Neither said any of them that aught of the things which he possessed was his own,
but they all had things common, and with great power gave the apostles witness
of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.
Neither was there any among them that lacked,
for as many as were possessions of lands or houses,
sold them and brought the price of the things that were sold,
and laid them down at the apostles' feet,
and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
I mean these were giving people in the book of Acts.
They were given the right way.
They were given to the right people to give out to the rest of us.
1 Corinthians 13 1-3 says this,
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
they have not charity.
I am become a sounding brass or a tingling cymbal.
And though I have the gift of prophecy and understanding
all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains,
they have not charity, I am nothing.
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity,
it profit of me nothing.
Crystal clear that you know what?
Love is something that we should have as Christians.
We should love the right people.
You know, we should not love the wicked.
We should help the poor.
Not only that, getting into God's Word
is going to keep you in the love of God.
It's going to help you to learn the love.
Soul winning.
If you haven't done it,
soul winning, you'll experience it later and say,
Yes, brother, you're right.
If you don't agree with me yet,
soul winning is something that's going to help you have compassion.
It's going to grow your heart for the poor.
It's going to grow your heart for those that aren't saved,
especially when you witness to children
where you figured out that you know what is not their fault,
they're in the position that they're in,
but you know what?
You give them the Gospel and then later on,
I mean, you just walk away knowing that one day
you're going to see them again in Heaven.
And they will even tell you that sometimes.
So if you die right now, where are you going?
I'm going to Heaven.
Why is that? Because I believe in Jesus.
So if I never see again, when I'm going to see you,
they'll all say Heaven most of the time.
And it's a great feeling.
You know, but what I wanted to do is this.
So what's the whole point of this sermon?
It's simply this.
I want this church to be a very great church,
an awesome church.
And it will be. I believe it will.
By faith I believe that.
You know, and the thing is this,
if I have to just leave you with just one thing to remember,
one thing that I believe will make this church great,
it's not knowledge.
You know, it's not having faith that can move mountains.
1 Corinthians 13, 13 says this,
And now abided faith, hope, charity, these three,
but the greatest of these, I'm sure you can finish it if you read the Bible,
the greatest of these is what?
Charity.
You know, Brother Garrett ended up preaching last night,
learning to judge.
I figured, you know what?
I should preach on faith.
Maybe I should preach on giving or something.
And then I saw this verse and I'm just like,
you know what?
I might just preach on the greatest of all of those,
which is charity.
And what is charity? Love.
And what did you say?
Keep yourself in the love of God,
not the love of the world.
The love of God.
Having compassion for those that need to be saved
by pulling them out of the fire.
And see, I want my kids to be smart,
like I said earlier.
I want my boys to be good preachers.
I want my daughters to give to the poor.
You know?
But above all that, you know, I want them to be loving.
I want them to be loving.
I want this church to be loving.
And guess what?
It's not just me.
It's God as well.
I'll finish with this verse.
1 Peter 4, 8.
And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves.
Charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
Let's pray.
Dear God, thank you for all that you've done for me in my life.
And Father, I did my best just to try to give them one good truth,
and the truth is they should be loving people, Lord.
You love that.
You know, you said that it's the greatest among all these things.
Even if we get our bodies to be burnt, Lord,
and we don't have love, we don't have charity,
you know, it's profit is nothing.
We're nothing, Lord.
And Father, you made a big deal out of love
in the book of Revelation.
And Lord, I'm just doing my best to preach the truth in love.
In love, dear Lord, because I want this church
to be a very awesome church, and I believe it will be.
And I just want to remind them that they will grow
in knowledge, they will grow in faith.
Lord, they will get great preaching,
especially next Thursday when Pastor Anderson shows up,
a man who knows the Bible very well,
that's filled with your power, you know,
so much, dear Lord, that has helped change my life.
I'm very indebted to him.
Lord, he's coming next Thursday,
and he's going to teach this crowd,
you know, tremendous things.
I know he preaches every single time with power,
and it's just amazing to hear him preach.
It's a great blessing, and he's definitely a prophet,
you know, that you brought us in our time
to basically be a prophet to the nations.
But, you know, out of all the things, dear Lord,
I just hope everybody remembers not to forget love,
not to let their love die,
to keep themselves in the love of God
for your honor, for your glory. Amen.
Psalm number 82.