for the poor. The Lord gave the word, great was the company of those that
published it. Kings of armies did flee apace, and she that tarried at home
divided the spoil. Though ye have lean among the pots, yet shall ye be as the
wings of a dove covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold. When the
Almighty scattered kings in it, it was white as snow in salmon. The hill of God
is as the hill of Bashan, and high hill as the hill of Bashan. Why leap ye high
hills? This is the hill which God desireth to dwell in, yet the Lord will
dwell in it forever. The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of
angels the Lord is among them, as in Sinai in the holy place. Thou hast
ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, thou hast received
gifts for men, yea for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among
them. Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of
our salvation, Selah. He that is our God is the God of salvation, and unto God the
Lord belong the issues from death. But God shall wound the head of his enemies,
and the hairy scalp of such an one as goeth on still in his trespasses. The
Lord said, I will bring again from Bashan, I will bring my people again from the
depths of the sea, that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and
the tongue of thy dogs in the same. They have seen thy goings, O God, even the
goings of my God, my King, in the sanctuary. The singers went before, the
players on instruments followed after, among them were the damsels playing with
timbrels. Bless ye God in the congregations, even the Lord, from the
fountain of Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the princes of
Judah, and their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
Thy God hath commanded thy strength, strengthen O God, that which thou hast
wrought for us. Because of thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents
unto thee. Rebuke the company of spearmen, the multitude of the bulls, with the
calves of the people, till everyone submit himself with pieces of silver.
Scatter thou the people that delight in war. Princes shall come out of Egypt,
Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. Sing unto God, ye kingdoms
of the earth, O sing praises unto the Lord, Selah, to him that writeth upon the
heavens of heavens which were of old. Lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a
mighty voice. Ascribe his strength unto God. His excellency is over Israel, and
his strength is in the clouds. O God, thou art terrible out of thy holy places. The
God of Israel is he that giveth strength and power unto his people. Blessed be God.
We'll pray. Father in heaven, thank you for the gathering of the church here
today. I pray that you please bless Brother Segura as he preaches your word
with the fullness and the power of the Holy Ghost. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.
Psalms number 68, the verse that I wanted to focus on is verse number 19, which
says, Blessed be the Lord, which who daily, daily, loaded us with benefits, even the
God of our salvation, Selah. And the title of my sermon is this, The Benefits
of Being a Good Christian. Amen. The Benefits of Being a Good Christian. The
title of my sermon is not The Benefits of Being a Christian. What I mean a
Christian, I'm talking about just someone who's saved. You know, someone who has the
name of the Lord. Like the Bible says, if my people, which are called by my name,
which will humble themselves and pray and turn from the evil ways. So it's not
necessarily someone who's living for the Lord, when I mean a Christian, but when
I'm talking about a good Christian, I'm talking someone who's following Christ.
You know, a disciple in a sense. Like Christ said, whosoever forsaken of all
that he has, he cannot be my disciple. Being born again and being a disciple
are two different things. You know, so when you see right here in this verse,
where it says, blessed be the Lord, who daily, I love that, not yearly, not every
10 years, not every 50 years, but daily, loaded us with benefits. What are
benefits? Benefits is just good things. Blessings you can say. Amen. And I just
want to remind you guys today that look, it's always worth it to live for the
Lord. Always worth it. And I'm going to talk about six benefits that we get by
being good Christians. I'm going to get into detail with five and then I'm going
to mention number six towards the end. You know, but if you have your Bible, go
ahead and go to Exodus chapter number three. Go ahead and go to Exodus chapter
number three. You know, so one of the benefits or the first benefit I want to
talk about, you know, when it comes to serving the Lord, when it comes to being
a good Christian, God's going to bless you, but I want to be specifically like
what benefits, like in what way, what way, shape, or form am I going to be blessed
by God? Because look, we can all lose faith. We can all get weak. We can all
quit. It happened to the Apostles. It happened to Peter. He quit. It happened to
Mark. He quit. Amen. It happened to other Apostles, other prophets in the Old
Testament, and they ended up quitting. Jonah ended up quitting. You know, he did
the job, but he wasn't really happy, you know, that he had to do what he
did, you know. But in the end, look, we can all have these thoughts that creep in
our hearts where it's like, man, Sunday again, Wednesday night, soul winning again.
Oh man, I don't know if I can keep this up. There's literally people that are
born again, saved, because we get them born again. We help them to get born
again. You know, we witness to them. We're getting saved on a weekly basis, but they
do not come. Why? Because they think I can't be a Baptist. Translation, I can't
serve God, you know. I'm too sinful. I do this. I do that. I do whatever. So they
stay away, and they don't show up. But the one that says, you know what, as for me
and my house, we will serve the Lord. They're the ones that show up. Isn't that
why you're here? Because you want to serve the Lord, amen. Because you probably
realize really quickly, if you're not getting benefits from God, you're
probably getting a beat down from God, amen. And it doesn't take a genius to
realize which one's the better one, you know. Because, hey, I come to church, and
one of the reasons is, I don't want to get a beat down from God. I don't want to
get spanked. I don't want to get chastised, you know. I want to be right
with the Lord. If I'm going to suffer, and look, the Bible promises that we're going
to suffer. You know, if I'm going to suffer, I want to suffer for righteousness' sake,
because then it's not in vain. I'll be rewarded in this life and the next, amen.
But one of the things that God will reward you with, if you're serving Him, if
you're right with Him, you know, if you're a good Christian, one of the benefits
He'll give you is that He'll be with you. His presence will be with you. So you
stay right there in Exodus. I just want to read a few verses, you know,
Philippians 4 says this, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice.
Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. This is the
attitude we need to have. When things get tough, it's like, don't worry, the Lord is
with us. He has not forsaken us. He's with us. Are you sure He's with us? Oh,
He's with us. They just bombed our building. Are you sure He's with us? Oh,
He's with us, amen. Unless you're a false prophet, in case you see the difference,
you're like, oh wow, I see the hand of protection is gone. You know, you got
your building blown up? Well, I guess God ain't with you, brother. No, no, no, no.
Things can get tough, but always remember, if you're right with the Lord, and how do
you know if you're right with the Lord? Just ask yourself, how's your heart? Do you have a
clean heart? Well, as far as I can tell, well, as far as I can tell, then I guess
you're right with God. You're a good Christian. Keep pushing forward, but you
know when you have something in your heart, you know when you have iniquity
in your heart. It's not hard when things go bad to say, oh, I know why this happened,
because I'm doing X, Y, and Z, or I should be doing this, or I'm failing to do this.
It's not really that difficult to figure out whether the bad that's coming to you
is because it's sin, you know, but sometimes we may be confused like Job,
like, what's going on? Am I doing something wrong, Lord? You know,
what's the deal here? You know, but if you're like, hey, I just don't know what's
going on, Lord. Hey, he revealed to me my secret faults. I already
confessed everything I possibly could confess. Then you know what? If you
confessed it, and you're still getting chastised, or something bad's happening,
God just doesn't want you to confess things. He wants you to forsake him, amen?
Because the Bible says whosoever confesses and forsakes two things. Those
people will prosper. God will continue to use you and bless you and help you to
prosper, amen? You know, but what it says right here, oh, let me read Matthew 28 18.
The Bible says, Jesus came and spake unto them, saying all power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I command at you, and lo, I am with you always, and I love this
part, even until the end of the world, amen? He's with you always. Even when you
feel like, man, I don't know if the Lord's with me, he's with you. Are you right with
him? As far as you can tell, as far as I can tell, he's with you. The Bible makes it
clear over and over again. Second Chronicles 69 says this, for the eyes of
the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in
the behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him. So that's the first
question. Ask yourself, bad things happen. Well, how's your heart? Well, it's filled
with iniquity, you know. I've just been doing X Y & Z so much, you know, I've been
poisoning my heart. Well, get it right. Clean your hearts, you know. Draw an eye
to God, he'll draw an eye to you, amen? Another verse, Proverbs 15 3, the eyes of
the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. So he's there. He's
there with you, and of course we know the Holy Spirit indwells in us, but you know
that God's power is not upon the soul winner that's in fornication, amen? God's
power is not, you know, with the Christian that's committing adultery. It's just not.
You know, those people are going to receive chastisement really bad, and of
course, when you know you're doing wrong, just do what David did. Lord, restore to
me the joy of my salvation, and that's the thing. If you're obviously, you
know, going through tribulations or trials and temptations or whatever the
case may be, you know, those things, bad things should still happen, but you can
still have peace. You can still have joy throughout those things, but you know
what? When you're miserable, bad things are happening. You're just super
miserable. You're just not happy. You could be like David, or you might have
some sin in your life, and you need to just come to God, confess and say, I'm
sorry, and have God restore the joy back of your salvation, give it back to you,
amen? But here's an example how God is there even when you don't think he's
there. Sometimes you may wonder, is God really going to come through? Is God
really going to make things happen? You know, perfect example is the story of
Shaddai, Michech, and Abednego. I'm just going to quickly read it. You guys
stay right there in Exodus 3, you know, but this is a great story or a great
example of what I'm talking about, that God's presence is there when you're
right with him. God's presence is there when you're a good Christian. God's
presence is there when you're following him, even when you don't think he is,
because remember what happened. He says, hey, is your God able to deliver you?
That's what every conditioner said, and they said, oh yeah, our God is able to
deliver us, but if not, so they're kind of saying, but we don't know if he's going
to, you know, we're still not going to worship your golden image, amen? But
let's just, let's just open up your ears and just quickly read it, because I love
this story, and I'll pick it up in verse number 23, where it says, and these three
men, Shadrach, Michigan, and Abednego fell down bound in the midst of the
burning fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was
astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto his counselors, did
not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? The answer said unto
the king, true, O king. He answered and said, lo, I see four men loose walking in the
midst of the fire, and they have no hurt in the form of the first. It's like the
Son of God. So if your church is going through persecution, unless you can
clearly tell, hey, our church has major sin going on, take it to the bank, God is
with you, no matter how ugly it looks. I mean, look how ugly it got to the point
where they got cast into the fire. I mean, once they saw the flames, I wonder what
they were thinking. This is it, boys. Hey, we're about to go. It was a great run. Oh
well, seems like you aren't going to get delivered, and as soon as the soldiers
grab Shadrach, Michigan and Abednego, they're probably thinking, we're
doomed, we're done, it's over. I guess the Lord's not going to deliver us out of
this one. Then they get tossed into the fire, miracle happens. Sure enough, hey, it's
clear that his presence was with them in the fire, amen, and that's how God is. He
sees things even when you think he's not. You're like wondering, where are you, God?
You know, these wicked people are rising against me, these wicked pastors are
speaking against me, lying against me, railing against me, you know, where are
you? Do something, help! But you know what, just remember, he's there. He's there if
you're a good Christian, amen, and if not, he may just pull away from you and allow
you to come home a little early like King Saul, amen. You know, but you're right
there in Exodus chapter 3. I'll just read one verse just to add, add more
evidence to what I'm talking about. This is when God appears on to Moses and he
tells him, hey, I've seen the affliction, I've heard the cry. Let's read it
together. And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which
are in Egypt and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows. Hey, this is for us in 2021. He knows our sorrows. We're gonna go
through things, things are gonna happen, financial, physical, you name it, you could
be the next person that gets hit by corona, hopefully nobody ends up in the
hospital, but to my knowledge, we've had at least two people from our church end
up in a hospital. It's not fun. The bills rack up, they won't let you out, you know,
they start to threaten you. Well, you can't leave if you do, you know, whatever's
gonna happen, it's not enjoyable whatsoever. And so keep praying for each
other, keep praying that, hey, nobody gets that bad if you end up getting it by all
means. Hopefully worst case scenario, you lose your sense of smell, I guess, but I
hope nobody ends up in a hospital on a respirator, you know, fighting for their
lives because that's not, that's not good, you know, that's not fun, especially when
the bills start coming in, it's crazy, it's crazy, amen. But remember, a good
Christian can always take it to the bank, God is with me, even when people start
doubting you. Are you sure, Joe, the guy's with you? Look, I don't know what I've done
wrong, you know, but even if he slays me, hey, I'm still gonna worship him, I'm still
gonna trust him, amen. Just a few more verses, you know, Psalms 34 15 says,
the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous and his ears are open unto their cry.
He's watching, he's looking at you, you're righteous, hey, you're a delight to his
soul, he loves us when we do right. You know what, even if you're doing wrong, he
still loves you, but the difference is he's gonna chastise you, so let's know,
what if it ourselves to do right, amen. Psalms 34, Psalms 46 one says this, God is
our riches and strength, a very present help in trouble, a very present help. It
actually gives you some hope that you're doing everything you possibly can, you're
keeping the basics. I always ask people, are you keeping the basics? You know, I
get hit up with questions, brother, well, you know, things are going bad. I'm like,
hey, just make sure you're keeping the basics, what are the basics? Bible reading,
prayers, soul winning, church, Bible meditation, I'm doing those things.
Well, how's your heart as far as you can tell? I don't know, I mean, I think I'm
good. Then take it to the bank, God's just testing you, because God tries our hearts,
amen, to see what you're made of, to see what missions he can use you for. It's
going to happen, you know, so when bad, hey, just take to the bank. If it's bad, bad
things happen, sicknesses, you name it, hey, just remember, Joe, before you start
getting a little carried away, Lord, Lord, please, you know, I'm sorry, because, hey, we're
trying. Everybody here is here because you want to serve the Lord, you want to
do right, you don't want to waste your life, you don't want to live a life of
vainglory, you know, you want to do something big for God, you want to be
used by God, and by all means, you know what, we're all going to have moments of
weaknesses, but if you're doing right, when you look at the world and it seems
like they're enjoying life like nothing, you know, they're enjoying everything, it
seems like, oh, wow, man, these people are, are you sure that, you know, they're, they're,
you know, basically, uh, uh, like really as happy as they look? The answer is always no,
but they try to make it seem like the answer is yeah, you know, or try to give
it away like sometimes, you know, but when they're in the public eye, you know, the
world, the Hollywood celebrities, I mean, you name it, politicians, you name it, you
know, false prophets, you name it, sometimes I wonder, what's up with these
guys, you know, are they ever going to get chastised? Oh, it's coming, you know, it's
coming, you can take that to the bank and we'll cover that in a second, you know,
but I'll just go through Hebrews 13 5, and while I'm reading Hebrews 13 5, go
ahead and go to Acts 12, go to Acts 12, chapter number 1, you know, over chapter
number 12, meet me in verse 1, please, so the first benefit of being a good
Christian, and look, we all need this type of sermon because it's hard, you know, to
serve the Lord, the Bible says endure hardness, amen, we constantly need to be
reminded it'll be worth it, the suffering will be worth it, the pain will be worth
it, you know, all the crap you're taking from your family and friends and
neighbors in the world, it's all going to be rewarded one day, just keep coming to
church, don't worry about what anybody else is saying, just keep coming, keep
doing what's right, hey, at the bare minimum, God says you're getting benefits
daily, you know, I don't know if anybody here suffering majorly with health
problems, but I think we're all doing pretty decent, amen, nobody's gonna have
perfect health, I know I don't have perfect health, if you do, great, but we'll
see you in 20 years, amen, you know, but Hebrews 13 5 says this, let your
conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have,
for he has said, talking about the Lord, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee,
he's there, his presence is there, you're living a good life, you're a good
Christian in God's eyes, guess what, he's there, he's with you, he's happy with you,
you bring the light to his soul, hey, and for his pleasure we were created, amen,
you know, so that's God's will for your life, it's not just to go so windy, not
just abstain from fornication, but to bring pleasure to the Lord, to please the
Lord, and you know what, whatever good thing you do, God's gonna just bring you
right back to you, what you do to other people, you do things unto the Lord,
Bible says whatever good thing you do, the same should you receive, not from the
people of the Lord, but from the Lord, it'll come directly from him, he'll make
sure that you'll get rewarded for the good that you do in this life and the
next, so keep struggling, keep doing right, keep getting right with God, or die
trying, amen, so I'll just read from Isaiah 54 4, says this, fear not, for thou
shall not be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, you know, for thou shall not
be put to shame, for thou shall, for thou shall forget the shame of thy youth, and
shall not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore, for thy maker is thy
husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel,
the God of the whole earth, shall he be called, no weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper, and, and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment,
thou shall condemn, this is the heritage of the service of the Lord, and the
righteousnesses of me, saith the Lord, so the first benefit that we get by being
good Christians, is that God is with us 24 7 7 days a week, you can go to him
anytime you want, doesn't matter, anytime, anyplace, anywhere, driving to work, coming
back from work, walk into the park, taking a little walk to get your exercise for
the day, whatever the case may be, he's there anytime, and don't take that for
granted, think about it, you can go to the God of the universe anytime you want, and
he will hear you, unless you have iniquity in your heart, because the Bible
says if I have iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me, but think about it,
the most powerful person on the planet, anytime you want, you can just come to
him, come to him, anytime, anywhere, it doesn't matter, you know, why, because
that's the benefit you get, direct to him, for being good, for living a good life,
for being righteous, for continuing to struggle, continuing to fight, continuing
to endure harness, God says, you know what, I'll let you come to me anytime you
want, anytime, anytime, doesn't matter, if you're like, oh, my husband doesn't have
time for me, God has time for you, man, my wife doesn't have time for me, well God
has time for you, my parents don't have time for me, kids, God has time for you,
seriously, you know, growing up, I always wanted like a superhero dad, you know,
I always wanted a superhero dad that was muscular, you know, would never yell at
me, would be like my bodyguard, you know what I'm talking about, never got it, but
I got something better than that, I got God, seriously, you know, my dad was very
skinny, you know, he was like me, a fat skinny guy, got a big belly, skinny arms,
you know, he wasn't a Christian whatsoever, he was Catholic, you know, I
love my dad, it's weird, even though my dad treated my mom not perfect, I still
love them, it's just how children are, they love their dad, they love their
parents, you know, even though mom did more than anything for some reason, you
know, I tend to kind of like honor and love my dad more, it's just one of those
things you do, you know, so if you have a dad, praise the Lord, but here's the thing
though, you know, even if I didn't, let's just say there is children out there,
parents have just abandoned them or whatever, you know, happens a lot in the
Philippines from what I hear, even happens in the streets, you know, kids are
born out of wedlock, dad is gone, you hear about it all the time, especially with
these NFL players, you know, this NFL player didn't have a right, his dad just
left them, you know, left them hanging with his mom or whatever, and somehow
they get the motivation to become NFL players, but they become rotten people
once they get money, because the prosperity of fools shall destroy
them, you know, and that's what tends to happen, but you know what, for the kids
that we get saved, make sure you tell them, look, hey, you can come to God anytime
you want, he's your friend, you know, but he wants you to do right, you know, if
he had the right, he'll bless you, if you don't, he won't, and tell them, look, you
should do what's right when you get older, you know, God wants to use you, not
just save you, but it's only going to happen if you live a good Christian life
and these gangs and these drugs and what you see on TV, don't get into that, you
know, because God's pleasure is better than the world's pleasure, and we'll get
into that, that's another benefit, we'll get his pleasure, not the world's
pleasure, but I read Isaiah, no weapon shall be formed against thee, so the
second benefit is that we'll have his protection, and I'm just throwing in there
as a bonus, and we'll have his vengeance, amen, because guess what, you know, people
are gonna talk trash about good churches until Christ returns, but he's gonna shut
all their mouths, he's gonna rebuke them to their face, and even before he returns,
he will pour out his vengeance, you know, if he sees that is what needs to get
done, amen, and we don't have to worry about people hurting us, because in
reality, hey, everything that happens in your life is a reflection of what you do
or you fail to do, you fail to pray, well guess what, bad things happen, it's
because you fail to pray and nobody blame but yourself, you're living a
righteous life, bad things happen, well guess what, that's a good thing, but in
the end, just remember, there's no one to blame but yourself, because what happens
in your life is a reflection of what you're doing or you're failing to do,
fail to live right, bad things will happen, do what's right, hey, God will
bless you, I'm not saying it's gonna be perfect, because the Bible never says
that he that lives a perfect good Christian life is not gonna suffer, no,
those that live godly in Christ will suffer, but we're gonna suffer persecution
and we're gonna get rewarded in this life and the next, but the second point
is, we will have his protection and we will have his vengeance, are you guys
right there in Acts 12, well let me just read a few verses, Psalm 34
7, the angel of the Lord and kept us round about them that fear him and
deliver them, brothers of God, do you really believe in angels, you know what,
this is what Hebrews says, let brother the love continue, be not
forgetful to entertain strangers, for they by some have entertained angels
unawares, I wonder how many of us have entertained angels unawares, so the other
verse says, hey, the angel of the Lord is gonna protect you, if you fear him, what
does that mean, if you're a good Christian, if you're doing what's right,
and sometimes, you know, we we live life and we forget that angels are real, they
do protect and who knows, maybe some of us have come across angels, but they're
real, they're legit, but right there in Hebrews or in the book of Acts, perfect
example, our God will protect you and he'll give you his vengeance, take a look
right there in Acts chapter 12 verse 1, we're gonna read about Herod and it says
this, now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vexed
children of the church and he killed who? James, James, the brother of John with
the sword, so I'm not saying that you're not gonna, you know, suffer and I'm not
saying that you will never get killed by the wicked, but all I know is that, hey, if
you're doing what's right, God is with you, God is well pleased and precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints, so if this does happen to you, I
don't know why it happened to James, all I can tell you is this, I'm pretty sure he
didn't cover down, I'm pretty sure he was like Shadrach, Michigan, Abednego, where
it's like, hey King Herod, you want to kill me, go ahead, but I'm still not gonna
stop preaching Jesus Christ, he's not gonna do it and because of his death, we
read it today and it helps us to get ready for what could come, so that way if
we do end up being part of the tribulation generation, which I think is
our kids, but we might be a part of it as well, once some of y'all start getting
put to death, hey, this verse is gonna keep you from being offended, you're
gonna realize, hey, we're living the book of Acts,
but as a girl just got killed by King Herod, you know what, I know he's happy
and I will be too, but here's what happens, skip to verse number 21, let's go
to verse 21, so verse 1, what do we see, Herod kills James, but not all of them
got killed by Herod, God protected Peter, but he did take in Peter, but then of
course they escape, but we're gonna pick it up in verse 21 to see what happened
to this wonderful King Herod, and upon a set day, verse 21, and upon a set day
Herod arrayed in royal apparel, sat upon his throne and made an oration unto them
and the people gave a shout saying, it is the voice of a God and not of man,
because he sounded like Obama, you know, they're like, oh man, he speaks so well,
but he's a wicked person, it's just another Herod with a voice like God, and
immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, he killed him, because he gave not
God the glory, good tip, right, give God the glory every chance you can, and he
was eating of worms and gave up the ghost, but the Word of God grew and
multiplied and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they have
fulfilled their ministry and took with them John whose surname was Mark, so what
do we see, we see God's protection on Peter and his vengeance getting poured
out, and let's read a few verses about vengeance, you guys could just listen up,
I'll quickly read them, or you can meet me in Proverbs 6 12, I'll get to that to
that verse pretty soon, actually you know what, go to Luke 18, go to Luke 18, I
forgot to highlight and have you guys turn there, Luke 18, meet me in verse
number one, while you go to verse 18 verse 1, I'm just going to read from
Romans 12 19, that says, dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give
place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine, I will repay, not on
my repay, I will repay, I will repay, saith the Lord, therefore that enemy hunger
feed him, if he thirsts give him drink, for in so doing, thou shall heap coals of
fire on his head, and be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good, now I
feel sorry for the Christians that are truly saved and they try to take
vengeance into their own hands, and try to, you know, whatever, in order to feel
better, because you know what, that's not what God tells us to do, you know, you're
not going to feel better, God's going to take away your joy, make sure you get
locked up, if you end up taking vengeance, it's the government's job to take
vengeance, you know, so we're not, we're not people that believe and be
vigilantes going out there and, and, you know, avenging ourselves, you know, but if
you're in Luke 18, here's a great parable, here's a great parable to put our minds
at ease, knowing that God will, whoever our enemies of our church are, whoever
attacks you personally for doing what's right, because you're serving God, your
fear of the Lord, you're a righteous individual, because the wicked hate the
upright, here's what God has promised us, look at verse 18, in chapter, in the book
of Luke, verse 1, says that he spake us a parable unto them to this end, that men
ought always to pray and not to faint, says obviously God tells us not to take
vengeance upon ourselves, you know, we should just pray and take it to God, you
know, let God, you know, deal with it. Verse number 2, saying there was in a
city a judge, which fear not God, neither regarded man, and there was a widow in
that city, and she came out to him, saying, avenge me of my adversaries, and
he will not for a while, but afterwards he said within himself, though I fear not
God, nor regard man, yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her.
Lest by her continual coming she worry me, and the Lord said, hear what the
unjust judge saith, and shall not God avenge his only leg, which cried day and
night unto him, though he bear long with them, I tell you that he will avenge them
speedily. Now to us it may not seem like it's quick, when we're like, Lord, this
person's attacking me, you know what, do something about this, this wicked
individual, you know, and then a month goes by, you're like, Lord, three months
goes by, you're like, Lord, but don't worry, if it's the right thing to do, God will
avenge, not just protect you from this person, but avenge them, make sure that
they get what's coming to them, amen. In verse number 8, it says, I tell you that
he will avenge them speedily, nevertheless, when the son of man cometh,
shall he find faith on the earth. You know, so you have your Bibles, go to Acts
17, you know, Proverbs 6-12 says this, I'm not a person, a wicked man, and man, there
are plenty of those people, if you live right for the Lord, I'm not a person, a
wicked man, walking with a forward mouth, he winked with his eyes, he's speaking
with his feet, he teaches with his fingers, forwardness is in his heart, he
devises mischief continually, he soweth discord. Sounds like these YouTubers
that just attacked Pastor Anderson, attacked our church, attacked Pastor Mihia,
attacked all these other great men of God, why? Because they're forward, they're just
like sowing discord, oh no, I just want to show people the truth, no you don't, you
just want to sow discord, you want to just make good men of God look bad, you
want to cast doubt in people's hearts about the men of God that they're
following, that's all these wicked YouTubers that attack us are doing, you
know, and at the end of the day, it seems like it's always about the money, they
always have like a Patreon, support me on Patreon, you know, I just saw some young
idiot who ended up attacking Pastor Anderson on YouTube, and sure enough, he
has like maybe 300 subscribers, but he's like, hey, support me on Patreon, you know,
he wants money, and it's like, who are you? It's like, you look like you're 21,
he's like, you're attacking a great man of God, you're an idiot, you know, but why
is he on YouTube, why is he like, you know, what's wrong with Pastor Anderson, he has
like a stupid smile, if you want, if you want me to show it to you later, I'll
show it to you, but he has like a picture, he has a stupid smile, what's wrong with
Steven Anderson, why Steven Anderson is wrong? And then he goes in there, and he's
not even using the King James, big shocker, right, not even using the King James,
you know, who knows what he believes about salvation, but oh yeah, support me
on Patreon, you know, if you like this truth, if you like these type of things,
support me on Patreon, you know, it's like he sold his soul for a few bucks just
to attack a man of God that's doing a lot, you know, why he's a froward
individual, but don't worry, God will avenge, God will avenge that idiot,
unless, unless obviously he gets right with the Lord, but look, these people will
suffer that attack us, these people will be punished, you know, God will protect
you, they're trying to harm you, they're trying to destroy you, but like, hey man,
they're gonna get hanged with their own gallows, amen, how though, by continuing
to do it right, remember what's the title of the sermon, the benefits of being a
Christian, no, the benefits of being a what, good Christian, good Christian, keep
doing good, keep doing right, and look, I know I'm starting with the least, but you
know what, typical tip I'm preaching, save your best for last, so it'll get better,
but we all know, hey, his protection and his vengeance, and I had to throw this
verse in there, because somebody texted to me a couple days ago, it says very
quickly, therefore shall his calamity come suddenly, suddenly shall he be broken
without remedy, nothing can stop, you know, God's vengeance when it comes, no remedy,
nothing, no pleading, no begging, it's over, you know, God gives people some space to
repent and get right, Bible says that God is long-suffering towards us, not willing
that any shall perish, but that all shall come to repentance, so we know that God
will suffer a long time with our, with our, with our sins, and even an unbeliever,
I'm sure he suffers a long time with them, wanting them to get right, but if they
don't, if they continue to get worse like Pharaoh, he's just gonna destroy them, it
just was gonna happen, but another benefit that we get, and this is something we
take for granted, I believe, is that we will have, if we're good with the Lord, we
will have his full power, we will have his full power, what are you talking
about, if you have your Bibles, go to, oh, you guys are there in Acts 17, I just
quickly read from Matthew, I want to make sure I don't go too long, all right,
I'm 30 minutes into the sermon, I got 30 more, amen, Matthew 28, ready, ready, you
know, all power is given out to him, then he says, hey, go and teach, all nations
baptized in him, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, what power is this, the
gospel, the power of the gospel, we literally have the power, unsaved people
don't have it, even if they're false prophets, they cannot save, we have the
power of the gospel, think about it, everybody grows up wanting to have cool
superpowers, but do you know, we actually do have power, let me just read some
verses, first Corinthians 1 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the what, power, power of God
unto salvation, let the world doubt, let your friends doubt, let your unbelieving
family doubt, but we got power when we go out, we never go in vain, if you're saved,
you're born again, you go and knock doors, like me and brother Nate did last night,
we thought we're gonna get somebody saved, and they didn't get saved at the
end, they thought they were saved, but we know what, it is what it is, we got there
and at least they changed some things that they believed wrong when we got
there, how did it happen, through the power of God, through the gospel, and we
have that power, and don't forget, don't take that for granted, you have God's
power, the same power that he said, hey, all power is given unto me, the power he
used to get people saved, the power that he used to get a lot of people to
believe on him, guess what, you have that too, if you're a good Christian, but don't
get me wrong, if you're like, well I'm backslidden, I might as well not waste my
time with soul winning, no, at least you can be like the woman in John 4, you know,
that was, that had like five husbands, hey, she's still got people saved, a little
backslidden, you know, living with somebody who's not your wife or husband,
hey, come out soul winning, you know, we'll clean you up, she's still got people
saved, she went out there and had the sloppiest soul winning presentation, come
and see a man that told me everything I've ever done, he didn't tell everything he
ever did, the woman in John 4, you guys following me, they didn't do that, but
guess what, they did come and because of her own words, they believe on Christ, but
not everybody believed, so let's just do our best to have a clean name, a good
name is tried to be chosen in great riches, so we can get more people saved,
because let's face it, if somebody goes out there, at least they're obeying, God's
gonna bless that, but let's just say they have a lot of sin in their life, compared
to somebody who has less sin, who's cleaning up their life, who's gonna be
more effective, the guy with all the sin or the soul winner that's right with the
Lord, clean heart, doing his best, we all know you'll get more people saved, God
will use you more, God is looking for that clean vessel, you know, he's using
him to use him for something big, so let's just face it, when you clean up
your life, when you're a good Christian, you're gonna have tremendous power to
get things done, God's gonna make sure you have it, listen to this verse, 2
Timothy 1-8, be not thou therefore ashamed by the testimony of the Lord, nor
of me as prisoner, but be thou partakers of the afflictions of the Gospel,
according to the power of God, amen? You guys are familiar with this one,
Romans 1-16, for I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of
God unto salvation, to everyone to believe it, to the Jew first and also to
the great, Jew 1-23, and others saved with fear, how? With the power of the Gospel,
that's how you're saving, you're literally pulling people out of the fire,
guess what, Superman doesn't have this power, you know, the latest and greatest
Marvel superhero doesn't have this power, you, I, save people, hey, benefit of being
a good Christian, we have power that will give us just tremendous, you know,
tremendous ability to get things done for the Lord, to do big things for the
Lord, but you have to be a good Christian, God is looking for that individual that
he can use to do big things, and that can be you, man, woman, or child, it doesn't
matter, say, hey, I want to be used by the Lord, hey, keep being a good Christian, you
will be, you will be, it's gonna happen, amen, but you guys are right there in
Acts 17, Acts 17, we'll start in verse number 5, it says this, if you're right
there in Acts 17, but the Jews which believed not, moved with Enby, took on
them certain lewd fellows of the baser sword, and gathered a company and said
all the city on an uproar, and assaulted a house of Jason, and sought to bring
them out to the people, and when they found them not, they drew Jason and
certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, these that have turned the
world, the world upside down, up come hither also, how did they do it? With the
power of God, they were preaching the gospel, they turned the world upside down,
not necessarily literally, but obviously they were ripping it, they were taking
care of business, they were making things happen, and same thing like says
in Romans 10 16, but they have not all obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord
who has believed the report, so then faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the
Word of God, but I say, have they not heard? Yes, barely, their sound went into
all the earth, all the earth, God used people to praise throughout the entire
earth, and that can be you, that can be me, that can be anybody, but what's the key
ingredient? You have to be good, so God can order your steps, the steps of a good
man are ordered by the Lord, and even if your backs didn't come out so many,
that's one good step to get right with the Lord and start fixing your life, you
know when the guy that had all these demons and God cast them all out, he
wanted to follow Jesus, Jesus didn't tell him okay let's go, he said you know what
go, go and tell everybody the good things the Lord has done to you, what was he
telling him to do? Go witness for me, that's the first thing he told him to do, hey you
want to do something for me, go witness, I know that nobody likes you, I know you've
been a crazy, devil-possessed individual probably for the last few years, you know
but here's the good thing, hey I want you to do something, I want you to go tell
people the good things that I've done for you, so if you just recently got
saved, if you're like man I don't know how to get my life cleaned up, come out
soul winning, that's a great start, it helped the guy that was you know demon
possessed, so it'll help us all, man, soul winning always helps, amen, all right you
guys are there in Acts, where did I tell you to go? Acts 16, Acts 17, looks like I'm
ahead of the game, but that's all right Acts 17, I already read that though, thank
you for helping me out, so the first thing is we got his presence, we have his
protection and his vengeance, that's two things of course, but let's just keep it
for the sake of you know the sermon, we'll keep it going, we have his power
and of course who doesn't want peace, we'll have his peace, go to Acts 6, go to
Acts chapter 6, I'll read from Colossians 3, it says this, and above all these
things put on charity which is the bond of perfectness and let the peace of God
roll in your hearts to the which also you are called in one body and be ye
thankful, be ye thankful, you know so peace is a big thing, peace is something
that people are struggling to have in their lives, the unsaved is struggling
with peace, especially in a time where people don't know what's going on, you
know Republicans, they don't know what's going to happen, they're freaking out, you
know all these Trump supporters, they don't know what's going to happen, Trump
is gone, they're happy he didn't get impeached, at least that's what my wife told me, you
know but in the end, hey we rely on God, we put confidence as God, not in man, you
know but you know when I read Acts 6, this is what reminds me of a great
example of having peace, let's just look at it, go to verse number 7, this is the
story of Stephen, it says in the Word of God increased and a number of disciples
multiplied in Jerusalem greatly and a great company of the priests were
obedient to the faith and Stephen, here's a great benefit of being a good
Christian, Stephen was full of faith and what? Power, power, that's what I want for
you, that's what I want for everybody in this room, men, women, and children, I want you
to be full, full of faith, full of power, and what did he do? He did great wonders,
miracles among the people, then there arose certain of the synagogue which is
called the synagogue of the Libertines, Arinians, Alexandrians, and of them of
Cilicia and Asia, disputing with Stephen and they were not able to resist the
wisdom and the spirit of which is fake, then they, suburban men, which said we
have heard and speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God and assert
the people and the elders and scribes and came upon him and caught him and
brought him to the council and set up false witnesses which said this man
ceased not to speak blasphemous words against God this holy place in the law
for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this
place and shall change this customs which Moses delivered us, I mean it's not
looking good for Stephen, it's looking bad, false people are rising up, you know
they're basically arrested him, it looks, it looks bad for the guy, you know, it
doesn't look good, put yourself in the situation, all these people are angry at
you, all these people are lying against you, they all basically brought you
before a bunch of individuals and you know you pretty much don't have a chance
whatsoever, but look at verse 15, and all that sat in the council looked
steadfastly on him and saw his face as he had been the face of an angel, so
these people are angry, they all hate him, they want to destroy him, and he's just
they're like, you guys are done, can I start now, can I talk, you know, is it my
turn now, and if you read chapter 7, boy did he talk, boy did he talk, but man he's
not, he's not scared at all, he's standing strong, he's standing firm, they're
looking at him and he doesn't have a fearful face, just a face like an angel, I
don't know what an angel looks like, but I'm telling you it was a positive look,
where he's just there, just nice and happy I'm assuming, but why is he standing
there with no fear, because he's full of peace, he's full of peace, and you already
know that he had the fullness of the Holy Ghost, and he had power, that's what
God's gonna do to you, if you continue to live right, if you continue to say to
yourself, you know what, if life gets hard, I'm still gonna keep going, I'm not gonna
quit, I'm not gonna get like these people that we get saved, oh I don't want to go
to Baptist Church, you guys are too strict, I don't know, but I don't think
we're too strict at all, I don't really think that at all, you know, we just
follow the Bible, there's enough commandments in the Bible, we don't want
to add extra commandments to the Bible as a church, so we just do our best to
follow the Bible, teach the Bible, and let people live the Bible, and you'll be fine,
and I don't, I don't think there's anything in the Bible that I believe is
messed up, too strict, I don't read the Bible, and I'm like, man, I don't know, this
one just seems off, all the commandments are awesome, all God's law is awesome,
great peace out there, they love the law, and nothing shall offend them, meaning
that whatever you read, nothing's gonna offend you if you love God's law,
everything you read, you name it, it's gonna be like, great, it's gonna be
phenomenal, it's gonna be awesome, if you have a Bible, you know, go to Acts 16, go
back to Acts 16, I'll just read a few verses from Philippians 4, 6, when it
comes to having his peace, it says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made
known unto God, and the peace of God which passes all understanding shall
keep your hearts and minds through Christ, that's what happened to Stephen,
he had the peace of God, and he'll give it to you as well, God will give you his
peace, Psalms 119, 162 says this, I rejoice at thy word as one to find if
grace spoil, I hate in of her line, but thy law do I love, I don't know if I'm a
good Christian, brother girl, well do you love God's law, do you have whore line,
you know, do you hate wickedness, he says seven times a day do I praise thee
because of thy righteous judgment, great peace have they wish love thy law and
nothing shall offend them, Psalms 4 8, I will both, I will both lay me down in
peace and sleep, for thou Lord only makest me dwell in safety, that's not
saying that bad things are not gonna happen to you, but it's saying look, I can
sleep like a baby tonight knowing that you have my back, Lord, and that only
happens when you're a good Christian, if you're a Christian in sin, guess what,
there's no peace to the wicked, you're not gonna have it, God will take it away,
there's no joy to the wicked, talk to David when you get to heaven, saw how to
feel after he committed adultery, I'll tell you right now the Bible tells us he
had no joy, he became wicked, prideful, and he murdered a man, he murdered a man,
that's not a good Christian, you know, but in his eyes he thought he was doing
alright, and we get like that sometimes, you know, we're in sin, but then we're
doing so great, and then you read God's Word, and you're like, oh man, he's like, I
need to get this right, you know, it's like, oh man, I need to wash my mouth, oh
man, I need to wash my thoughts, oh man, you know what, I'm not doing as good as I
thought I was, because that's what we need, we need preachers to remind us, hey,
this is sin, oh man, you know, I forgot about that, God's Word to remind you as
well, and that's how you keep your heart clean by taking heat according to God's
Word, so the more you hear it, the more you listen to preaching, you know, you'll
be right with the Lord, and he'll give you that peace, he'll give you that
protection, and also, he'll give you his pleasure, and who doesn't like joy?
Pleasure, joy, same thing, gladness, same thing, go to, oh, you guys are in Acts 16,
you know, I'll just read from Psalms 4 says, thou has put gladness in my heart,
who put it there? Who put it there? God, you're like, I'm a miserable person, I
don't know what to tell you, pray for joy, pray that God will restore the joy of
your salvation, I'm like, you're saved, you're coming to church, I see you're
going soul winning, I guess you just got to either pray, and God will, he'll answer
eventually, he's there, you know, but it says, thou has put gladness in my heart,
more than in the time that the corn and the wine increase. Let's look at Acts 16
21, verse 21 says this, and teach custom which are not lawful for us to receive,
not to observe, being Romans, and a multitude rolls up together against them.
This is about Paul and Silas, you know, when they're preaching about Christ, they get
arrested, we're picking up the story, and it says, the master just ran off their
clothes and commanded to beat them, so Paul and Silas are getting beat, they're
getting a beat down here in Acts 16, and when they had laid many stripes upon
them, they cast them into prison, now they're locked up, and prison is no joke,
prison is not fun, being locked up in a room for 24 hours, I mean you have to
have a strong mind to survive that and come out normal, but these guys did, how
they do it? God gave them, God gave them joy, we know that because look what it
says in verse 24, who having received such a charge thrust them into the
inner prison and made their feast fast in the stocks, and on midnight Paul and
Silas prayed and sang praises unto God, and the prisoners heard them. They were
singing praises, they were happy, they were rejoicing, and it just got a beat
down earlier. I mean that is some serious power right there, that is a serious
benefit that I want if I ever get locked up, because being in a room, I thought
about it many times, I'm like man it's gonna be horrible, right? You know what
I'm talking about, because people think, oh if I get locked up I'm fine as long as I
have a Bible, did you have a Bible? They took your Bible, what did you have?
Nothing, just a wall, and you were there for what, four or five hours? Let's just
say two hours, imagine 24 hours of just staring at the wall, oh man, I think I
could handle if I had a Bible, but this is why it's important to hide God's Word
in your heart, because when the tribulation generation gets hit, kids you
may not have a Bible when they when they lock you up. In fact, I almost feel like
they won't give it to you, you know, they're just gonna take your stuff and
lock you up, and if you're a Christian and you're getting persecuted, you know
you know that the Antichrist, the devil's gonna raise war against us, and who knows
what's gonna happen, but the more Bible you have, the easier it's gonna be, amen?
Good motivation to memorize scripture, correct? Hey, I don't know if you've ever
been in a room, but when I was quarantined for like 14 days, I was
trying to stay in my son's room the entire time doing work, and I was just
like, man, I need some fresh air, I'm like, man, this isn't even prison, and I'm just
there working on a computer, my mind is occupied with different things, but the
thought would eventually creep in, it's like, man, this is a tiny room, people in
prison, I know why they go crazy, I know why they're going nuts, especially if
they're not saved and they don't have Bible, or even if you are saved with no
Bible, would you be able to sing praises at midnight? You know, you will, if you're
right with the Lord, he'll give you his joy, no matter what you're going through,
you'll have his pleasure. Galatians 5 22, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. Psalm 16 11, thou wilt show me the path of
life, in thy presence is fullness of joy, having God on your side, he'll give you
the joy to make it. Now I'm not saying that the Christian life is full of joy
every day, 24-7, seven days a week, no, because we know in Ecclesiastics, I'll
just read it, it says to everything, there's a season, a time to repurpose
unto the heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, a time to
pluck up that which is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break
down, and a time to build up, and a time to weep. So there is times where we need
to weep, you know, when bad things happen, we are supposed to, obviously if people
are going through hard times, you know, rejoice with them to do rejoice, and weep
with them to do weep, but never forget that, it's never worth it to continue in
sin, because there is pleasure in sin, Hebrews 11 says it, that Moses refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing to suffer affliction when
people got to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, because you know what, the
pleasures of sin for a season, it's not worth it. God's pleasure is definitely
worth it, all day, 24-7, seven days a week. So the benefits that I'm talking about,
hey, if you're struggling to stay in church, if you're struggling to keep up
with the fight, hey, just motivate yourself somehow, some way, think of these
things, look, if you stop coming to church, you're going to lose peace, if you stop
coming to church, you're going to lose his protection, if you stop coming to
church, you're going to lose his pleasure, you know, if you stop coming to church,
you're going to get a beat down from God, because you're commanded, if you start
going back to the world, you're not going to have, you know, his pleasure, you're
going to have the pleasures of sin, and it will hit you, you won't be tempted to
go back to the world, but that's why you need to get here, you need to listen to
God's Word, build your faith, and live by faith, amen, because that's what God's
impressed by more than anything, you know, the Apostles, they believe because they
have seen, but Jesus said, hey, blessed are they who have not seen, yet they believe,
that's us, I wasn't there when Jesus died, I wasn't there when he arose, but I
believe it, I was there when he saved my soul, you know, so goes the song, but still,
just remember these things, so in conclusion, you know, all these things are
great, all these businesses are great, but remember, what's the catch, you cannot
get these things if you're in sin, you cannot have his joy if you're in sin, you
want to have his peace if you're in sin, you know, the title of the message is
simply that, you know, the benefits, you know, of a good, of being a good Christian,
to keep you motivated, keep doing right, and I could have just covered three
things, let me read from Ecclesiastes 2 26, it says, for God give it to a man that
is good, not in your sight, not in the world's sight, and a lot of times people
are like, hey, this guy's a good person, you know, and he's a drunkard, you know,
doesn't treat his family well, you know, but God doesn't care about what people
say, it's what he says, and if he says you're good, you're good, if he says you're
not good, you're not good, you need to get right, but for God give it to a man that
is good in his sight, it could have just been three points, you know, this morning,
it says wisdom, who doesn't want wisdom, come on, we all want wisdom, we all want
to be smart people, and the world, even if, even if they're not saved, they tend
to just, you know, give people that are smart a break because they need you, you
know, that's just how the world is, even if you're the ugliest, fattest dude on
the planet, if you're smart, people are like, yo, man, can you be my friend, you
know, it's true, you know, it's true, it's like, man, I got a question for you, oh,
that's an awesome answer, why, because they're helping you out, you know, they're
fixing you, they're taking care of you, they're giving you stuff that makes you
a better person, and that helps you to be grateful towards that individual, but
sometimes you even take a bullet for them, you know, when I used to be part of
the, who's ever heard of the RUI, reformers, it's like a Christian
addiction program, the main guy that started it, you know, had a meeting with
the guy, his name is Steve Currington, and he said, look, you know, don't get weirded
out when a lot of these guys, they have addictions, they start coming to the
program, and you start helping them out, you start helping them grow, you know, you
start teaching them how to live right, you start teaching them some wisdom from
the Bible, don't be surprised if they're just teary-eyed, and they hug you, and
some of them would even tell you, hey, you know what, thanks for helping me, get off
heroin, get off this, get off that, get off whatever, you know, it's like, I will
take a bullet for you for what you've done, in other words, think about how much
Pastor Anderson has helped you guys out, and when people attack him, doesn't it
make you angry, when people attack him, it's like, man, Lord, let me be the one to
execute vengeance upon this wicked person, isn't that how we think, because
it's true, it's like, man, I'm not trying to, he's my boss, yeah, and he's watching,
but you know what, this isn't to earn cool points, I mean, what am I trying to
earn, you know, a spot, you know, to work for him, I already work for him, but I'm
just, but I'm just saying that some of us probably have that, you know, that love,
where it's like, you know what, you know, if it weren't for him, my life would be
destroyed right now, I wouldn't have a life right now, you know, I'm so grateful
that he made a decision to be a good man, and be used by God heavily, where God
gave him, like it says right here, wisdom, knowledge, and joy, he gave him that, and
he was able to use the wisdom and the knowledge, and everything else, to be the
person that he is, to help us, to feed us, you know, to keep us, you know, from being
blinded by the devil, and helping us to realize, hey, we need to change, we're not
doing as good as we thought we were, we're not, you know, the Christians that
we thought we were, when we started to listen to heart preaching, you know, but
that's what he gives, that's what God gives to those that are good in the
sight, so I could have just had three points, look, first point, wisdom, second
point, knowledge, and the other point is joy, and who doesn't want those things,
who doesn't want to be a smart, happy individual, we all do, well, here's the
secret, you gotta be good, you gotta be the good Christian, not just a Christian,
a good Christian, and if you don't want to, well, the Bible says also this, and
that's in that same verse, but to the sinner, he giveth travail, so you got two
options, you can be the good Christian, well, you'll get wisdom, you'll get joy,
you'll get knowledge, or you got your other option, you can go ahead and send
it up, and God's gonna give you travail, misery, punishment, hey, it's your choice
tonight, Isaiah 48 22, there is no peace, saith the Lord unto the wicked, Romans 6
1, 6 1, shall we say, what should we say then, shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound, God forbid, 1st Timothy 6 6, but godliness with contentment is great
gain, for we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry
nothing out, and having food and raiment, let us be there with content, you're like
I am a miserable person, I'm just not happy, brothers and girl, you have food,
yeah, clothing, yeah, that's it, you're good, start with that, if you don't have
clothing, get some clothing, if you don't have food, talk to brother raiment, he'll
hook you up, right, you got all that donation stuff, and if nothing in there
is that healthy, come talk to me, we'll go to Chipotle or something, I'll hook you
up, but that's a great verse, learn to be content, learn to be happy, it says hey
if you have clothing and food, you should be happy, and you know what this verse
reminded me of my son, where's he at, Steve, raise your hand, that little guy
over there, you know what I'm saying, hey I learned from him this week or last week, here's
what happened, we have to go do some drone footage, who knows about that that
YouTube channel that we started Landmarks, who knows about it, just a few
people, if you don't know about it, hey it's a great a great channel that pastor
started, he's teaching basic lessons, so we go to different places, you know, to
shoot episodes, and we do drone footage, and so we first do the interviews, we get
as much drone footage as we can, but we can't do two interviews in one day and
get a ton of drone footage, so I told pastor, hey I got to go back to finish up
this episode with pastor Mejia, I got to go get some drone footage, he's like okay
no problem, and sure enough it's a three and a half hour drive, so I was tired, I
was up all night working on the episode, getting it all whatever, my wife's like
hey I'll drive you, I'm like are you sure it's three and a half hours there, three
and a half hours back, and I'm basically gonna be working the whole time, this
isn't gonna be a pleasure trip, and she's like no problem, I'm like kids, the older
kids like I don't know, you know, because we're taking the church van, and my
little guy, I'll go daddy, I'll go, you know, it's like you know what you're
getting yourself into, it's like long trip daddy, a long trip, I'm like that's
what you're getting yourself into Stephen, as long as you know, so we drove
three and a half hours, stopped for some bathroom breaks, so it turned into a
four hour drive, or a four hour little episode, I get there, and you can talk to
my family, I was non-stop trying to drone things, waiting for, we went to the dunes,
so I was waiting for motorcycle riders to show up, I'm like where are all the
motorcycle riders, what are they showing up at night, so I didn't leave, I'm like
I'm getting some motorcycle riders, so I was there just kind of trying to drone,
waiting, kind of like fishing, hour goes by, two hours go by, three hours goes by,
guess where my family's at, inside the church van, inside the church van, you
know, so I'm there for three, four hours, you're like oh you're punishing them, well
I gave them some tablets to play with, yeah, they weren't suffering too hard, you
know, but obviously they were in the van, first of all they're in the van for
three and a half hours to four hours, then they're in the van waiting on me
for another three to four hours, then once I'm done droning the place, getting
enough footage to make sure I add it to the episode, then we have to drive home,
but before we drive home, you know, they want it, round table pizza, which is an
hour the opposite direction, so now we're driving an hour the opposite
direction, which I misunderstood, I told Redman I'll be back by 10, 10 p.m., I'm
like yeah, you know, three and a half hours we're gonna stop to get some
round table, we're not even gonna stop to eat it inside, because we didn't want to
be selfish, because they were waiting on us to take the church van to wherever, so
we called today and said look, we're just gonna pick the thing up and just eat it
on a drive back, I didn't realize there was an hour the opposite direction, so
I told them hey, we'll be back at 10, no big deal, and we left at what time did
we leave, 9 in the morning, so we started driving 9 in the morning, we didn't get
back till 1230 at night, they were in the van 95% of the time, that little guy was
in the van 95%, and when we got home tired, miss when the kids are fighting
for the front seat, and I gave it to him, I'm like go to the front seat, you know,
because it hurts your back being in that van for so long, you know, the older kids
I'm like oh my back, it's like my turn to sit in the front, get a little bit of
relief from their back pain, my son he's not getting no relief, he's just in the
back, sitting down, we finished the trip, and sure enough, he gets out of that and
he hops out, I was like huh, that was the best long trip ever daddy, that is having
the humility of a child, now when Christ says unless you be, you know, you be
converted like this little child, you will no way enter the kingdom of heaven,
you know, because he just believed it was the coolest trip on the planet, but my
wife and me, my wife only had like an hour and a half of sleep, you know, because I
don't know, I just kept waking her up, working back and forth, so she drove and
I don't know how she did it, I told her, hey let me take over, she decided just
muscle her way through and drive all the way back, but that boy was not even
joking around, he literally thought it was the best trip ever, four hours there,
four hours in the car, four hours back, a little breaks here and there, going to the
bathroom, no time to really spread your leg, or didn't even have time to enjoy
the dunes, I wasn't like oh we walked around the dunes, I had a little bit, no
they were in the van the whole time, the whole time he sit in the van, who knows
what, what did you do in the van, literally, but he came back and he was a
happy camper, happy camper, he was content, why, because he had clothing and
I fed him, that's why, so having food and raiment, let us there be content, and he
had a good attitude, and it made me want to bless him even more, you know, so what
am I getting at, I'm getting at this, hey God is happy, when you're doing what's
right, when you have a good attitude, you're living a good life, it's gonna be
hard, if it's not hard, you're lying to yourself, you must be doing something
wrong, come tell me your secret, if life ain't hard, because Christ said it was
gonna be hard, but the benefits are definitely worth it, for being a good
Christian, amen, let's pray, dear God, we thank you so much for all that you've
done, thanks for giving us a great church, thanks for giving us a great leader,
thank you for giving us, you know, just so much Lord, just so much, we literally
have no reason to complain, if you're truly saved, and you know you're going to
heaven, and and the Lord is your God, Jesus is your God, we literally have
nothing to complain about, and Lord, when times get tough, because Mark quit, you
know, Peter quit Lord, other other people in the Bible, great men of God, ended up
quitting, it can happen to us as well, but the only way we're going to keep
ourselves from quitting, is just to remember your goodness, is the goodness
of God that leads us to repent, so help us to remember your goodness, you said
that you give us daily, daily benefits, every single day you give us benefits,
Lord, help us to not become ungrateful, help us to be content, help us to love
you, Lord, by keeping your commandments, and help us to never quit, and we ask you
in Jesus name, amen. Amen, take your hymnals please, and turn to him number
324, hymn number 324, draw me nearer, number 324, I am thine O Lord, number 324,
let's sing it out on that first verse, all together, number three, two, four, I am
thine, O Lord, I have heard thy voice, and it told thy love to me, but I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
to thy precious feet inside, consecrate me now to thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine,
let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and I will be lost in thine, draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died,
draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to thy precious feet inside, all the purity light of a single hour, that before thy throne I spent.
When I kneel in prayer with thee, my God, I come new, next friend, with prayer, draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died,
draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to thy precious feet inside, there are depths of love that I cannot know, till I cross the narrow sea.
There are heights of joy that I may not reach, till I rest in peace with thee.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to thy precious feet inside.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died, draw me nearer, nearer, nearer, to the cross where thou hast died
.