Thank you very much.
Thank you.
All right, good morning. Welcome to Pure Words Baptist Church. We'll go ahead and get started for this morning. Go ahead and find your seats and pull out your hymnals.
Open up to your first song. It's song number 472. Song number 472, This is My Father's World. Song number 472.
Go ahead and start there on the first.
This is my father's world. I rest me in the thought of rocks and trees, of skies and seas. His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my father's world. The birds their carols raise. The morning light the lily white declares their maker's praise.
This is my father's world. He shines in all that's fair. In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my father's world. Oh, let me ne'er forget. That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my father's world. The battle is not done. Jesus who died shall be satisfied. And earth and heavy one.
Great singing. Brother Mo, you want to pray for us this morning?
Amen. Amen.
You want to flip back in your hymnals to song number 248? Song number 248, Now I Belong to Jesus. Song number 248.
Let's start there on the first.
Jesus belongs to me.
Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me.
My soul for Jesus has saved me. Freed me from sin that long had enslaved me. His precious blood he gave to redeem.
Now I belong to him. Now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me.
Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity.
Amen. Great singing. So at this time, we'll go ahead and go over the announcements for the morning.
So go ahead and pull out your bulletins. If you didn't grab a bulletin on your way in, just go ahead and raise your hand.
Brother Cameron will bring them around to you. On the top left, we do have our service times.
We meet Sunday morning at 10 30 a.m. Again, it's good to see everybody this morning.
Looks like we got some people out kind of just kind of recovering from that sickness.
So just kind of keep praying for them. But the evening service that we have on Sunday is at 5 30 p.m.
And that midweek Bible study is on Thursday at 7 p.m.
We have our soul winning times listed underneath there with all the respective soul winning leaders.
We also have a regional soul winning time listed there as well.
And we have our stats and our salvation is listed underneath that.
We have four hundred and twenty six salvations to this date.
We are still pushing for that thousand mark. All right. So keep working hard.
So winning. Do we have any salvations to report?
You have one. You got three. Amen to that. Anybody else? No.
OK. Good deal. Good job. So winning. We are still in our Bible memory passage.
It's not listed here. We're still in Romans chapter number eight.
So definitely keep us on the front. OK. We have a different order here.
We are still Romans chapter number eight. So keep working on that.
That chapter, if you could quote the entire chapter word perfect to non family member,
you will you still will receive a prize at the end of that.
Here on the next page, we have some ladies that are still expecting.
We have Miss Sarah Gomez. So be in prayer for her and her baby boy.
She'll be due in like December. So just be in prayer that everything goes well with that for our guest preaching schedule.
Today, August 8th, we have brother Chris Segura back with us from Faithful Word Baptist Church.
It's a blessing having him back here preaching both services for us.
So whenever you get time today, shake his hand. Thank you for coming out.
Definitely a blessing having him on Thursday, August 19th.
We have Deacon Corbin Russell coming coming out to preach for us that that midweek service.
Sunday, August 22nd, we have brother Ben Naim and then a new addition here.
Sunday, October 3rd, we have Pastor Aaron Thompson from Sure Foundation Baptist Church coming down to preach for us from Vancouver, Washington.
So again, whenever these guys come, just give them a big thank you for coming time for coming down to preach for us.
And here next listed is some upcoming events. September 25th and the 26th, we have the Pure Words Baptist Church anniversary.
And there is going to be a soul winning marathon that Saturday and also the annual false Bible burning.
All right. So we have a nice big stack of false Bibles right now.
But still, if you could trade people out for their NIVs or their ESDs, you could put a King James Bible in their hand.
Take that ESD and throw it into that kindling stack.
We have a big, nice fire for that annual false Bible burning. Definitely a great time. Fellowship there.
And Pastor Shelley will be down preaching both sermons for us that Sunday.
So definitely write that on your calendar.
And then the very next month, October 6th through the 10th, we do have the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship up at Steadfast Baptist Church.
Again, great lineup of preachers. A lot of different events going on.
They are going to be having the spelling deed for the children.
But definitely write that on your calendars. A lot of good preaching and good fellowship there.
And then just lastly, if you do have any prayer requests, email those into the church at purewordsbaptist.gmail.com.
Definitely just want to throw that out there. Just be in prayer for everyone that's out sick.
That they recover well.
And I'll just ask everybody just to pray for my wife.
She's traveling. She's on the other side of the world right now, just visiting some family.
So just keep her in your prayers. You know, everything stays safe with her.
But with that, that is the announcements for the morning.
Go ahead and pull your hymnals back out and we'll have Brother Cameron come lead us in our third song.
Alright, if you would, turn to 324, hymn number 324, Draw Me Nearer.
324, 3-2-4, Draw Me Nearer.
We'll sing there on the first.
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 bleeding side.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, by the power of grace divine.
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope and my 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 bleeding side.
O the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend.
When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side.
There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the necro 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 bleeding side.
Amen.
Good singing this morning.
With that, we're going to go ahead and pass the offering plate around.
As the offering plate's coming around, turn, if you would, to Exodus chapter 32.
Exodus chapter number 32.
We'll read that chapter as is our custom, Brother Brandon.
All right, well, we're there in Exodus chapter 32, and the Bible reads,
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount,
the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron,
and said unto them, Up and make us gods, which shall go before us.
For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
was what not what is to come of him.
And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings,
which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons and your daughters,
and bring them unto me.
And all the people break off the golden earrings, which were in their ears,
and brought them unto Aaron.
And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool.
And he made it in a molten calf, and they said,
These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it, and Aaron made a proclamation.
And he said, Tomorrow is the feast of the Lord, and they rose up early on the morrow,
and offered a burnt offering, and brought peace offering.
And the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Go get thee down,
for thy people which thou brought out of the land of Egypt have corrupted themselves.
They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I have commanded them.
They have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto.
And said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people.
Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them,
that I may consume them, and I will make of thee a great nation.
And Moses besought the Lord and his God, and said,
Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people,
which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with the mighty hand?
Therefore should the Egyptians speak and say for mischief,
Did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?
Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by them own self,
and set us unto them that will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven,
and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it forever.
And the Lord repented of the evil which he had thought to do unto this people.
And Moses turned and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hands,
and the tables were written on both their sides, and on one side and the other were they written.
And the tables were the work of God, and the writings was the writings of God graven upon the tables.
And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses,
There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery,
neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome. But the noise of them that sing do I hear.
And it came to pass, as soon as he became nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf and the dancing,
and the Moses' anger waxed hot. And he cast the tables out of his hands, and braked them beneath the mount.
And he took the calf which they had made and burned it in the fire, and ground it to powder and straw,
and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.
And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto me, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?
And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my Lord wax hot. Thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.
For they said unto me, Make us gods which shall go before us. For as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt,
we what not what is become of him. And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off.
So they gave it to me. And I cast it into the fire, there came out of the calf.
And when Moses saw that the people were naked, for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies,
then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the Lord's side? Let come unto me.
And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.
And he said unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side,
and go in and out from the gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother,
and every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.
And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses, and there fell on the people that day about three thousand men.
For Moses had said, Concentrate yourselves today to the Lord, even every man upon his son,
and upon his brother, that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.
And it came to pass on the morrow that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin,
and now I will go up unto the Lord, peradventure, I shall make an atonement for your sin.
And Moses returned unto the Lord, and said, O this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.
Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written.
And the Lord said unto Moses, Whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.
Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place which I have spoken unto thee, behold,
and mine angels shall go before thee. Nevertheless, in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them.
The Lord plagued the people because they made the calf which Aaron made.
Let's have a quick word of prayer.
Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for everyone here.
Amen. Once again, I'm glad to be here. It's a blessing to preach to you guys.
I don't do it often, but when I do, and it's always great to come down here.
I go home refreshed as well, seeing everybody here in your faithful faces, you know, motivates me as I go home.
You know, so right there in Exodus chapter number 32, if you can go down to verse number 9.
You know, go down to verse number 9.
The title of my sermon is simply this, Think of Others. Think of Others.
And as I was writing this sermon, when I stopped to think to myself, who is the one person in the Bible that thought of others?
And of course, a few people came up, and I'm going to talk about them.
But the one guy that came up first in my brain was Moses, and this is the story that I thought of.
So if you're right there in verse number 9, where it says,
And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen these people, and behold, that is a stiff-necked people.
Now therefore, let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them,
and I will make of thee a great nation.
So chapter 32 is the famous chapter of the golden calf.
Obviously, it was simple to make a golden calf.
If you're not sure about that story, you can read that chapter later.
But he is very angry with them to the point where he says,
Moses, hey, they have committed sin. I'm going to destroy them all.
And it's interesting that he says this,
And I will make of thee a great nation. Verse 11,
And Moses besought the Lord his God, and said, Lord, why does thy wrath wax hot against thy people?
Which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?
Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say for mischief did he bring them out,
to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth?
Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.
So he's saying, God, don't do it. Don't destroy them.
Why? Because he's thinking of others.
He's thinking of his brother, of his sister, of his friends.
He's not just thinking of himself, because think about it.
Yes, they're committing a very big sin, but what if God were to say this to you?
Hey, they're very sinful. Look what they did.
They made a false god. You know what I'm going to do?
I'm sick of them. They have provoked me. I'm done with them.
I'm going to just destroy them all, and I'm going to make out of you a great nation.
Well, of course, Lord. Let's do it.
Of course, if we're not thinking of others, that could be our mentality, right?
And this sermon title came because I thought of when my son, I got my two sons back there.
I don't know if it was Chris or if it was Ace, but my wife was pregnant with one of them.
And one of the ladies at my old church back in Northern California goes up to my wife,
and she's like, hey, do you know what it is?
And she's like, no. I'm going to hang on. You know, we're going to wait to find out when it's born.
And the lady was just joking, but she's like, come on, Joan. Think of others.
That's kind of what she's saying, because everybody wants to know.
And look, there's nothing wrong if you find out before the baby is born what it is.
I mean, look what happens to people in the Bible.
God told them they're going to have a son, and his name is going to be this.
You're going to have a son, and you're going to give his name John.
He's going to be great, and he's going to bring many to the Lord, you know,
and how many turn from their sins, et cetera, et cetera.
But we just thought, you know what?
It'll probably be cool to just hold off and wait to see whether it's going to be a girl or a boy.
You know, so we just kind of wanted to wait, but most people are not like that.
And so she was just joking, but obviously she really wanted to know, and she was like, think of others.
And that stuck with me.
And my son is 14. My other son is 13.
So over 13 years, every time I think of, you know, thinking of others,
that story just pops in my head, because it made me think, am I being wrong?
Am I being bad for not wanting to find out?
Should I just find out so that, you know, we can just let people know?
That way they can kind of have a little joy in their life, knowing whether we have a boy or a girl.
I said to myself, yeah, maybe, but I don't want to hold off.
So I held off.
You know, but think about how Moses was.
Here he is, he already had dealt with them.
He already had dealt with a bunch of people that just gave him a hard time, you know,
just because that's how people are.
But Moses, even when he had this opportunity to just kind of be, you know, be able to just start from scratch,
and even when the Lord said, I'm going to make a great nation out of you, Moses,
he didn't take the easy route.
He said, you know what? No, Lord, don't do it.
Why? Because he was a person that thought of others.
And when you think about it, great leaders, great pastors are people that think of others.
You know, think of Pastor Shelley, for example.
He didn't become the pastor of steadfast because he just wanted a bigger crowd.
He wanted a bigger paycheck.
You know, he just wanted his name to start to grow and be known, et cetera, et cetera.
Or because he wanted to steal the church or whatever the case may be.
He took over because he was thinking of others.
You know, Pastor Anderson didn't even have him in mind.
People like to accuse him, yeah, they planned this way before it even happened.
His stupidity is retarded.
His evil is wicked.
It's dumb.
You know, but what happened, you know, is that he wasn't even part of the individual that he thought,
hey, maybe we can get someone to take over.
Hey, you know what? Let's ask Pastor Shelley.
It just happened to come to be.
It's like, hey, you know, Pastor Shelley's calling Pastor Anderson, look, anything I can do, let me know.
You know, I'll be happy to do anything.
He's like, unless you want to take over this church, I don't really need help with anything else.
And he just said, look, if that's what needs to happen to keep this thing going
so people's lives aren't completely destroyed so people don't take over,
if that's what you think it needs to be, hey, I'm up for it as well.
And he knew what he was getting himself into.
He knew there would be big problems.
Now he has to run two churches.
And so it's not that he didn't have better things to do.
We had a lot of time on his hands.
He just said, no, you know what?
I'm thinking of those people down there.
I'm thinking of others.
You know what?
If you need me to do that, Pastor Anderson, hey, throw my name in there, see if people are down to do it.
And sure enough, they voted him in, and they're like, yep, we want him.
We want a good pastor.
Hey, we've seen what he's done.
We're behind him.
Let's vote him in.
And that's how it all happened.
You know, same thing with Pastor Anderson.
He didn't have to fly down there to help him out.
He could have just called the leadership and said, look, that's your church now.
You're independent.
You do what you need to do.
You guys go out there and figure it out.
I'll give you advice.
But no, he flew down there because he's thinking of others.
He left this church for about three weeks, and he just said, you know what?
I've got to take care of this issue.
You know, I've got to do my best to help this church out so it doesn't get destroyed.
Because he's seen it time and time again when the leader leaves, hey, wicked people take over,
and now you know that that's probably what would have happened.
In fact, 99 percent sure that's what would have happened.
Had Pastor not thought of others and said, you know what?
I'm going to leave my family, leave my wife, leave my kids, leave my church,
and Pastor Anderson does not like to leave his church hanging for any reason whatsoever.
He likes being there Sunday morning, Sunday night.
When people ask him, can you come preach on a Sunday, he says, no.
My church is my priority.
I love my church.
I can do it on a Saturday, Friday, Thursday, you name it.
But Wednesday, Sunday morning, Sunday night, no.
My people are important to me.
I'm going to be there.
But I can't preach it at your church any other night.
You name it.
I'll be there.
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, I'll be there.
But I care about my church.
I'm going to be there every service.
So it took a lot for him to say, you know what?
I got to take off.
Guys, I don't know how long it's going to take me.
Maybe a week, two weeks, three weeks, who knows?
But I got to take care of this because there's people there that I care about who I don't want to get destroyed.
Same thing with Moses.
Hey, don't do it, Lord.
It's great that you want to make a nation out of me.
But don't do it, Lord.
Because think about that.
You know, so if we're not careful, we can be back to them and be like, yeah, get rid of this person.
I'll take over, whatever.
You know, but that's not what Moses said.
He said, no, Lord, please don't do it.
But he's not the only one.
If you have your Bibles, go to Genesis 18.
Go to Genesis 18.
If you can get there really quickly, great.
You know, but if not, don't worry about it.
I'll get there soon enough.
I'm just going to read from Jude 1 21.
It says this, keep yourselves in the love of God.
This is a commandment.
This isn't a suggestion.
Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
So if you happen to be there in Genesis 18, great.
If not, just meet me in verse 26.
And this is where Abraham, you know, Abraham is doing the exact same thing.
This is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah when the Lord tells Abraham, hey, I'm going to destroy this place.
And I'm going to start in verse 18 that says this.
And the Lord said, because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous,
I will go down now and see where they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which has come out to me.
And if not, I will know.
And the man turned their faces from a fence and went toward Sodom.
And Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
And Abraham drew near and said, would thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
Perdamentar there be fifty righteous within the city.
Would thou also destroy and not spare the place for fifty righteous that are therein?
That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked,
and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee.
So not the judge of all the earth do right.
And the Lord said, if I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake.
So what is he doing? Lord, don't do it. Don't destroy everyone.
Probably because he's thinking a lot. He's thinking of his nephews, his nieces, his family.
So he didn't just say, yeah, destroy those wicked people.
And if anybody's dumb enough to hang out with them, let them get destroyed as well.
He didn't do that. He simply said, you know what? I know Lot is backslidden.
I know he shouldn't be there. I know he's in there with his entire family.
I know that's a wicked city. I know that was a dumb decision to do.
But you know what, Lord? Be merciful unto him. Hey, that can happen to any of us as well.
Hey, the devil deceives us. Makes us think, hey, you know what?
We don't really need church as much as we think we do. Once a week should be fine enough.
Hey, I'm not like, maybe that person does, but I'm pretty good. I think I'm okay.
And sure enough, one service a week becomes one service a month, becomes one service every other month,
one service every six months, and instead of thinking, where's such and such? I don't know.
What a fool leaving our church. You know what? I hope he gets what's coming to him.
He should have known better. But that's not the attitude we should have.
It'd be like, Lord, you know what? They're backslidden.
Whenever they come across your page, you guys have a yearbook here? Not yet?
Well, you know what? Once in a while, bust that thing out, and I'm looking at who we have,
and I'm thinking, man, I haven't seen that guy in a while.
It's like, Lord, I don't know what's going on with that guy.
But you know what? Can you help that guy to come back?
You know, can you help that guy to just get right with you, Lord?
And I've done it many times, and next thing you know, I'm at church, and the dude walks in.
I'm like, whoa! Hey, great to see you!
And I'm thinking, man, I wonder if my parents had anything to do with it.
But my attitude was, you know what? That guy has forsaken us. He has issues.
Let's just face it. When we leave church, when we leave church, it's because we have issues.
That's just the fact. We think we don't, but we do. That's why people leave.
And they like to blame it on others. Oh, I left because of X, Y, and Z.
But at the end of the day, even if they don't know it, we know, you know, why they left,
because they now despise prophesying.
That's what the Bible warns us. Don't despise prophesying.
Be careful not to get so holier than thou that you think you're good.
That you think, you know what? I'm all right, man.
You know, I listen to preaching.
Somebody offends you, and you try to pretend like, ah, that church is not as loving as people think they are.
And you just want out, and you leave, because guess what?
You get a little backslidden. What does sin do? Line us.
What does the heart do? Deceive us. Why? Because it's desperately wicked.
It makes us think we're good when we're not. Hey, it makes us think good is bad.
You guys understand what the Bible teaches.
If you've been long enough, you'll see it. People leave.
But hey, what should be our attitude when they leave?
You know what? Unleash, unleash the devil, Lord.
Unleash sin for the destruction of the flesh that their soul may be saved.
Who knows? Now it should be like, man, Lord.
Especially if it's somebody that you love versus somebody that you hate.
It's easy if it's like maybe somebody that you really love, like, Lord, be merciful to him.
Hey, don't hurt him. Please, Lord, get him to be right.
Get him back. Gently bring him back to the fold versus maybe a member that you didn't get along with.
And you're kind of like, you know what? I hope that guy learns the hard way.
He should have never left the church.
It's like, hey, be careful.
Because now you're not doing what Moses is doing.
He's thinking of everyone overall.
But Abraham's doing the same thing.
He's like, Lord, hey, are you going to destroy everyone?
Come on, Lord, don't do it.
He could have just been like, you know what? Yeah, it's a wicked city.
You know what? My nephew's down there. He should know better.
He doesn't want to leave. You know what? Then fine, let him go down.
It wasn't like that. He said, Lord, please forgive him. Why?
Because good leaders are people that think of others.
That's probably why they're good leaders.
It's because they think of others.
You know, that and many other things.
You know, but what does the Bible even teach us?
It says, hereby perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us
and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Some people may not like that, but what does that have to do with anything?
Well, we're commanded to keep ourselves in the love of God.
And then the Bible tells exactly what that is.
He says that, hey, this is how we know that God loves us.
This is the love of God. He laid down his life for us.
We ought to lay down ourselves for the brethren.
And we see that in Abraham. You guys are in Genesis 18?
Go ahead and go to Genesis 14.
There's a few pages before that, a few chapters. Go to Genesis 14.
And think about that. This is the love of God.
He laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Not some brethren, all of them.
Keep yourselves in the love of God.
How do you do that? By knowing what that is.
And a perfect example of that, I believe, is Abraham.
Because Abraham, obviously, he was a man.
There's an example unto us how we should be.
He made mistakes. We're supposed to learn from his mistakes.
But he did a lot of good. We're also supposed to learn from his good.
And this is one of the things that Abraham did or Abraham did
that kind of makes him, you know, kind of seem
that he was a little bit more above average in regards to his love.
Especially his love towards Lot.
And so it says in verse number 14,
And they took Lot. This is when they kidnapped Lot.
The story of Lot being kidnapped.
Abraham's brother's son who dwelled in Sodom and his goods and departed.
And there came one that had escaped and told Abraham, the Hebrew,
for he dwelled in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite,
brother of Eshkol and brother of Einor,
and they were confederate with Abram.
Verse 14,
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,
he armed his trained servants, born in his own house,
three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.
And he divided himself against them, he and his servants by night,
and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah,
which is on the left hand of Damascus.
So what do we see? We see Abraham.
Abraham, he risked his life and his men's life to rescue who?
His nephew Lot.
It's unbelievable how we can't even like go up to somebody
and shake their hand, you know.
Why? Because we may have something against them.
And yes, if it needs to be, you know, for a time being,
that you may have issues with somebody in the church or whatever,
it's good to just separate, stay away from each other.
But at some point, we need to realize that,
hey, if we're not willing to lay our life down for that brother,
we're not in the love of God. We're not.
And so guess what? You know, you need to get right.
That's just the bottom line.
Sometimes, yes, you need to separate like Barnabas and Paul
when they got mad at each other so bad,
they had to kind of separate because the tension was so sharp.
You know, but at some point, hey, just like them,
they got together and admitted their faults,
and Paul even said later on, hey, bring me Mark, he's prophet unto me,
because that was the reason why they fought.
Because Paul's like, hey, Mark is no good. Forget about him.
You know, let's say it and deal with him or whatever.
You know, Barnabas is like, no, I'm taking him with me.
And he's like, well, if you're going with him or me,
you know, who are you going to side with?
And that can happen in church as well.
You want to be friends with him? Well, it's him or me, bro.
Oh, you know what? I'm going to side with him. I think he's good.
Okay, fine. You know, you do you, I do me.
You stay there and you stay on your side of the church or whatever.
But at some point, we need to reunite and think of others and realize,
you know what, this isn't healthy, me being bitter.
My kids will see it, my wife will see it, other people will see it.
That's not what God wants, you know.
It's like, you know what, I'm going to do it for the sake of the brethren.
I'm just going to fix myself and I'm going to be the bigger person
and I'm going to step forward and say, you know what, man, how you do it.
You know, everything good, whatever the case may be,
just to be just like these men that we see in scripture.
You know, but Abraham here is a clear example of somebody who was able
to lay down his life or was willing to lay down his life.
He had the love of God in my eyes because he went there and he fought
and who would have known what would have happened.
He just said, you know what, hey, he's kidnapped.
You guys, you know, can help me out.
Get your swords. I need you to help me rescue my nephew.
And they ended up doing it.
You know, so that's something big because think about that for a second.
We're about to go to war.
We're about to kill people.
We're about to kill them with swords.
That's not asking for a small favor there.
That's asking for something huge, you know.
But yet he was able to do it because of the love that he had for Lot.
You know, but even Joseph, you don't have to go there.
If you can't go to Genesis 44, you know, go to Genesis 44.
And what I want you guys to do is go ahead and meet me in verse number 32.
So Genesis 44 and 32.
And while you go there, I'm going to read from Genesis 40.
You know, this is Joseph showing us a little bit of how Joseph was.
And this is when Joseph's, you know, in prison.
And it says, and Joseph came in out to them.
He was in prison.
You know, this is when he's in Egypt.
He's in prison.
He's in charge of the prison.
And there are a couple of prisoners there.
You know, pharaohs, officers.
And it says, and Joseph came in out to them in the morning and looked upon them.
And behold, they were sad.
And he asked pharaohs to officers that were with him in the ward of his lord's house saying,
Wherefore look ye so sadly today?
And they said unto him, We have dreamed a dream and there's no interpreter of it.
And Joseph said unto them, Do not interpretations belong to God?
Tell me them I pray you.
And so I've read this story many times where he says, hey, wherefore look ye so sadly today?
And it just went over my head.
And so I heard it preached from the pulpit.
Hey, he said this because he cared about their condition.
He realized they're sad.
So even though I've read it, it just totally went over my head until somebody put it out from the pulpit.
And I see it now where he's not just trying to be a busybody, you know, trying to be up in their biz.
He's really like looking at them and says, Why are you so sad?
You guys look so sad, you know, because he cares about them.
He's like, What's going on? Talk to me.
You know, what's the deal?
And if we notice that about people, we should be like Joseph and think of others.
I don't want to really talk to this dude.
Oh, man, I'm dealing with my own stuff.
You just never know.
Like, Hey, man, what's going on? You look a little sad.
And everything good? Not really, man.
I'm having issues with this and that and whatever.
Can you just pray for me? Absolutely I will.
In fact, let's pray right now.
You know, that can make a world of a difference. Amen.
What's the title of the sermon? Think of Others.
Think of Others. Amen.
Abraham did it. He said, You know what, Lord?
Don't destroy. Sodom is wicked.
But what if there's 50 people?
I won't do it for 50's sake.
And if there were 50 people, God would not have destroyed it.
But there weren't.
But what was the main reason he was asking?
Hey, spare it for the 50. It's because of life.
Same thing.
The Bible says, Keep yourselves in the love of God,
for hereby perceive ye the love of God,
that He laid down His life for us,
and will not lay down our lives for the brethren.
And what does Abraham show?
Hey, he backed that up, too, because he was willing to die to go rescue Lot.
That's what ended up happening.
Same thing with Moses.
Moses is like, Yeah, Lord, you know what?
You know, destroy them. No, he didn't do that.
He just said, Hey, be merciful to them.
You know, it's like, Hey, don't do it. Don't do it.
Don't destroy all of them.
And you alone, I'm going to do a nation out of you.
Start from scratch.
You know, so that way you don't have to deal with these wicked people.
He's like, No, don't do it, please, for me.
And he didn't.
He saved their lives, because God was going to destroy them.
So Moses saved their lives, and they don't appreciate it.
Later on, they continue to rail on him,
you know, and give him a hard time, et cetera, et cetera.
You know, but we know that Joseph,
hey, he had compassion towards other people.
He thought of others. Abraham thought of others.
Moses thought of others.
But it's an interesting character.
You know, today you're thinking, Well, I'm not there.
I'm not there. I'm not this type of person that,
I'm not a people person.
You know, I know I should care about my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I know I should think of others.
You know, but I'm not there yet.
That's okay. There's hope for you, because if there's hope for Judah,
there's hope for everyone.
You know, because Judah, he was one of the ones
that wanted to kill his brother Joseph in the book of Genesis.
He was one of the main guys.
You know, they were envious of him,
because he was the favorite, and they wanted to destroy him.
They were going to kill him had Reuben not stepped in.
So they threw him in the pit.
But then it was Judah's famous idea,
where he's thinking, You know what?
What do we really gain from killing him
and concealing his blood?
Let's sell him.
Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites.
It was his idea to sell him.
Reuben wanted to deliver him.
Reuben's like, Okay, don't kill him.
They threw him in the hole, and he came back,
and it turns out he's gone.
He's like, What in the world?
That shows how wicked Judah was.
Hey, last time I checked to sell someone like that,
I think the penalty is murder.
Well, not murder or death.
If you're like, kidnapping people and selling them,
you know, I think that's something worthy of death.
But obviously, he didn't get put to death.
But you're right there in Genesis.
Down the road, though, I see this big change in Judah
that just kind of blows me away.
And when I read it, I was like, Whoa, this is the same dude?
You know, that made a lot of mistakes in the past.
But what did I tell you to read?
So this is where Joseph is kind of getting a little bit of payback.
You know, he's basically messing with his brothers.
You know, once he realized, Hey, you know, they're here,
kind of all these emotions started coming to him,
and he just kind of wanted to mess with them
and make them think that he's going to turn them into slaves,
accuse them of being spies and everything else.
And then at the end, he kind of, you know, tricks them.
And his plan was to keep his brother Benjamin,
so he faked it like Benjamin stole a cup from him.
And so now he's just rebuking him, saying,
Hey, don't you know that I can divine?
So he's kind of messing with them, tricking them.
But his plan was to keep his brother Joseph
without making him realize what's going on.
And he said, Oh, well, your brother, the one you found the cup with,
hey, he's going to be my slave. He's going to be my bondman.
I'm going to keep him from stealing from him.
And then what happened?
Judah jumps in and says, Hey, you know, he thought of his brother.
Hey, don't do it. Take me. Let him go.
That's crazy.
It goes from being a guy who wants to sell people,
to saying, Hey, you know what? Let me jump in and sacrifice my life
for the young kid's life.
So right there in verse 32, it says this,
For thy servant became, you know, surety for the lad unto my father,
saying, If I bring him not unto thee,
he's explaining to Joseph why, you know, he can't keep his younger brother.
If I bring him not unto thee, then I shall bear the blame to my father forever.
Now, therefore, I pray thee, let the servant abide
instead of the lad a bondman to my lord,
and let the lad go up with his brethren.
That's a big change from, Hey, sell Joseph.
Let's make some money.
So now he's like, you know what? Take me.
Let me be your bondman.
Let the young lad go.
I don't think he was messing around.
He was willing to just sacrifice himself because he was thinking of who?
His brother.
But was Judah like the coolest dude in the beginning?
Was he like somebody that you're inspired to be like?
You know? Yeah, let's sell him.
Let's sell him to the Ishmaelites.
He was a bad dude.
So maybe we all start out like Judah.
Well, we don't care about others like we should.
You know, to us, money's more important than people.
But hey, just stay with it.
Come to church.
Got to help you with that.
If he helped Judah with that, he can help you all with that. Amen?
So let's just look at what the scriptures say.
Go to Joshua if you can.
Don't go to Joshua. Go to Ruth.
While you go to Ruth, go to Ruth chapter number 1 verse 16.
I'm going to talk about another person that cared about others and that's Rahab.
Rahab.
The book of Joshua chapter number 2 talks about Rahab.
And Rahab was a prostitute.
Rahab was a hooker.
In the Bible, she's called a harlot.
You know?
She wasn't a person that was a good example to those around her.
But she was a person that thought of others.
As crazy as it sounds, a prostitute, a hooker actually cares about other people.
It's possible because we see it in scripture.
And so I'm just going to read a little bit about Rahab.
So obviously she, you know, she conceals the spies.
If you don't know the story, Israel is invading this land,
sends a couple of spies and she saves their lives.
They kind of get caught. They run to her.
She hides them.
But then it's interesting the reason why she did it.
And so it talks about in Joshua chapter 2 how that nation is afraid.
They've heard about what happened in Israel,
how God has given them victory over the enemy, etc, etc.
And so she hides the spies and, you know, they chase the spies.
She kind of gets the people chasing them to go, you know, find them somewhere else.
But she's hiding them.
And then she says this,
So now Rahab's talking to the spies.
It says,
That ye will also show kindness unto me?
That's not what Rahab says.
She doesn't say, hey, show kindness unto me and spare me.
She doesn't say that.
She could have, but it's interesting what came out of her mouth.
What came out of her mouth was, hey, it says this,
Show kindness unto my father's house.
So she wasn't the first person she mentioned.
But think about this. You're trying to save your own hide.
Nine out of ten of us would be like, look, I did you a favor.
Do me a favor and don't kill me.
But she didn't care about herself as much as she cared about her family.
How do we know?
Because that's not the first people she's talking about.
And now the abundance of the heart, that's where we're going to speak from.
What's in your mind? What's in your heart?
That's what's truly come out.
This is a life and death situation where she knows they're coming in,
they're going to invade, they're going to destroy us all.
I don't want to get destroyed.
So instead of saying, look, I showed you kindness, show me kindness,
hey, I didn't get you or I helped you escape death, help me escape death.
She doesn't say that.
So I call my father's house escape death.
And then after that, she still doesn't mention herself.
Let me just read it out loud.
She says, show kindness unto my father's house and give me a true token
that ye will save a life myself, no.
She says, my father, my mother, and she continues,
my brethren, my sisters and all that they have and deliver our lives.
And now she adds herself in there at the very end.
Gee, I wonder if she's a person that thought of others.
She for sure thought of others.
She's like, my mother, my father, my brothers, my sisters,
and everybody that they have.
Think about how many children that is.
She's like, hey, spare them.
Deliver our lives from death.
And the man answered her, I lied for yours.
If you're out or not, this is our business.
Talk about a person that cared about others, thought about others.
That's insane.
I'm pretty sure her brothers, her sisters, you know,
they weren't really like bragging about her profession.
I'm sure just because of human nature,
she probably had a few people that didn't like her.
I'm sure they're like, why you got to be such a hooker?
You know, who knows?
Who knows what they told Ray?
Yeah.
But I'm sure, I'm sure she wasn't like, you know, her dad's favorite
as far as like, yeah, you know, she's, what is your daughter Ray up to?
Oh, yeah, you know.
Everybody knew she was a Harley.
They knew her very well.
And unless her brothers and her sisters, which they could have,
because it's a wicked nation, you know, were like, whatever,
straight liberals, well, that's her job, her body, whatever.
You know, I'm thinking somebody in her family must have thought like,
hey, she's just a wicked woman and maybe even told her so a few times
in her life.
But she didn't hold that against them.
She said, hey, spare them all.
Spare my brothers, my mother, and their children.
Everything that they have, hey, spare them, please.
And guess what?
They did.
She saved all their lives because she was a person that thought of others.
And because of that, hey, she's in the Bible now.
Amen.
But who else?
You're in Ruth, right?
Ruth, chapter number one, verse 16, says this.
And Ruth said, if you know a little bit about Ruth, great.
If not, I'll just read really quickly.
And Ruth said, and treat me to leave thee, you know, and treat me not to leave thee,
or to return from following after thee.
For whither thou goest, I'll be gone.
Whither thou lodgest, I'll be lodged.
Thy people should be my people, and thy God my God.
Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried.
The Lord doest so to me, and more also fell by death, part thee, and me.
So Ruth had nothing to really gain by sticking with Naomi.
You know, she knew I'm going to have to pay all the bills.
I'm going to have to take care of her.
You know, life is going to be rough.
I should go back to my dad's house and maybe get another shot at marriage.
And you know what?
That's probably the better option.
Even Naomi is saying, hey, that's a better option for you.
Take it.
You know, your other sister-in-law, you know, she's gone back to her family.
You need to do the same.
She's like, no, hope but death.
I'm willing to take care of you.
Forget about me, Naomi.
Hey, it's about you.
I'm going to take care of you.
And man, did she give bless in the end.
Read the entire book of Ruth.
It's very easy.
You don't know what I'm talking about.
She ends up being a superstar in the Bible.
But what was her thing?
She cared about others.
She thought about others.
She thought about her mother-in-law.
Esther, I'm just going to talk about Esther.
Her famous line is, if I perish, I perish.
What happened with Esther?
You know, she went and spoke to the king and it was against the law to just interrupt the king.
It was against the law.
If you did it, hey, it was death.
Unless he said no, forget it, and we'll pardon you on the spot.
So she thought, hey, there's a high chance if I interrupt them and go on behalf of who?
My people.
You know, we're about to get slaughtered.
She ended up saying, hey, I'm going to do it.
If I die, I die.
Why?
Because she thought of others.
She didn't think of herself.
She thought of others.
And that helped her to be a better person and actually helped her to save others.
You know, but when it comes to compassion, when it comes to thinking of others,
we shouldn't look at that as something weak.
The world may think of that as weak.
Oh, you're such a weakling, you know.
He's like, you need to be more tough.
You know, you can't just be this person that lets things go that easy.
No, man, you can teach people a lesson.
But one of the most compassionate people in the universe was Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
You don't have to go there.
I'll just read a few verses.
If you can, you can go ahead and meet me in 1 Corinthians 13.
Go to 1 Corinthians 13.
It says in Matthew 9, 36,
But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them,
because they fainted and were scattered abroad, and sheep had no shepherd.
You know, John 11, 35, famous verse, Jesus wept.
Just two words, Jesus wept.
Luke 19, 41,
And when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it.
Why? Because he was thinking of others, what was going to happen.
Some people were going to get destroyed.
They were like sheep with no shepherd, just running or just scattered abroad.
Isaiah 53, Isaiah 53 is a prophecy of Christ.
It says,
And he despised and rejected a man.
He was known as a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid him as to where our faces from him.
He was despised and we esteemed him not.
Maybe you're thinking, nobody wants to be my friend.
I'm constantly sad.
People at church don't really like me that much.
You know, even when I do things, nobody esteems me.
Nobody really cares about me doing little things around the church,
whatever the case may be.
You know, but guess what?
Christ was the same way.
It says we esteemed him not.
Hey, he was despised.
He wasn't liked like he should have been loved.
But in the end, what was his issue?
He had compassion.
He loved the world.
How do we know?
Because of John 3.16.
And I don't think I really need to quote John 3.16.
You know, to show how much Christ loves us.
But I will quote Romans 5.8.
My God commanded his love towards us and that while we were sinners, Christ died for us.
I love showing people this verse.
Because when I start the Gospel of Psalm 20,
first thing I tell people, just to see that I'm not a holier than thou,
because I want them to trust me a little bit,
I tell them, look, the first thing the Bible wants you to see is that none of us are perfect.
But what do I show them?
Romans 3.23.
I show them Romans 3.23 and I say, look, none of us are perfect.
I'm not perfect.
Are you perfect?
And they're like, no, I'm not perfect.
I just want to let them know, neither am I.
How do we know?
Because look what the Bible says, that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
And they're kind of like, yeah, that's what reminds me of that, right?
Yeah, of course, I have to.
But I quickly show them, I mean, people don't go to Romans 5.8, but I go to it right away.
Just because I want to kind of like chill them out a little bit.
And I say, but look, even though we're sinners, let me show you something about that.
It says right here in Romans 5.8, but God commanded his love towards us.
And that while we were just sinners, Christ died for us.
He died for us.
Why?
Because he loves us.
That's what it says right there.
And of course, because there is a hell, he doesn't want us to go there and because he
wants the first eternal life so we can go to him for free.
You know, but this is a verse that clearly shows you how much God loves you.
And why did he die?
Because he was thinking of everyone.
He was thinking of the world.
He was thinking of you, me, everybody else.
He obviously died 2,000 years ago, but when he died, he knew about us.
So he said, hey, if I don't die for you, for you, for you, for you, you guys are going
to suffer in hell.
My kids are going to suffer in hell.
And God says, forget that.
That's why he decided to come down from the foundation of the world because he knew Adam
was going to sin.
He knew what was going to happen to mankind.
He already had settled it.
He already said, hey, I'm going to be the lamp slain from the foundation of the world
before the world even began.
He already knew it.
Why?
Because he knew everything that was going to happen.
He was thinking of all of us before he made that decision.
He said, hey, I'm going to pay for everyone.
Everyone said, I want everybody to go to heaven.
He knows not everybody is going to accept him, but he was a man that thought of others.
From the beginning, you know, to the end of the Bible, you'll see that.
You'll see that all day long.
You know, but you're there in 1 Corinthians 13, 13, I hope.
You know, it talks about three things.
It says, now abide in faith, hope, charity.
These three.
But the greatest of these is charity.
What is charity?
It's love.
How can you be a person that thinks of others?
Your love.
Your love is what's going to help you do that.
And to God, the most important of these three is love.
Yes, God wants us to have faith.
But if you're right there in 1 Corinthians 13, just go to the very first verse.
The very first verse is simply this.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not charity,
I'm becoming a sounding brass and a tickling cymbal.
When I used to read that, I'm thinking, okay, I know it's bad not to have love,
but then it gets even stronger.
And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains,
I'm thinking, wow, that's a really great person.
That's such a cool individual.
Somebody that can preach.
Somebody that knows the Bible very well.
Somebody that has a ton of faith.
I'm just like, wow, I want to be like that person.
Look at the next part.
And though I have all faith so that I can remove mountains and have not charity.
And what is charity?
It's love.
Look at the next three words.
Those are the scariest words out of this entire verse.
He says you're nothing.
You can be the best preacher.
You can be the guy that knows the Bible the most.
You know the Bible very, very well.
And you have a lot of faith where you can do big things.
You can remove mountains.
But if you're not a loving person, guess what?
In God's eyes, you're nothing.
How would you like to be that guy in heaven?
The angels are talking to God.
Hey, Lord, what do you think of Brother Segura?
He's a nobody.
What?
A nobody?
That guy can preach really well.
Even though I can't preach well, okay.
That guy knows his Bible so much.
He's read the Bible more than anybody in this area, you know.
He has a lot of faith.
That guy has a lot of faith.
You know, that guy could probably remove mountains if he wanted to.
God's like, yeah, I know.
Then what gives?
He ain't got no love.
That guy's puffed up.
He ain't got no love.
He's nothing to me.
He's nothing.
And he doesn't think of others.
He thinks about himself.
That's why he reads the Bible all day long but doesn't go slowly, you know.
He's like, that guy, he needs to get his act straight.
He needs some love.
And guess what?
Out of all of those, faith, whatever, God says the most important one to me is love.
But guess what?
You can be new to the church.
You can be somebody like when I was new, I never even picked up the Bible until two years
after I got saved.
I didn't even know where Genesis was.
I knew what Sega Genesis was.
Some people are like, what?
Hey, Google, Sega Genesis, okay?
That's the only Genesis I knew about, you know, and those that are my age.
But what are we looking at, what are we seeing in Scripture?
That God doesn't want our love to be fake.
He wants it to be real.
He wants us to think of others.
That's why that story of Abraham is there.
That's why that story of Moses is there.
That's why that story of Ruth is there.
That's why the story of Esther is there.
That's why the story of Rahab is there.
That Rahab is there.
They're not just cool stories.
They're there to show us how to be as well.
They're examples unto us.
And God does not want your life to be fake.
How do you know?
Romans 12, 9.
Let love be without the simulation.
What is the simulation?
It's fakeness.
Don't believe me?
Google it.
Get a thesaurus.
Pop it in your phone.
Watch it come out as fake.
It says, I don't want your love to be fake.
I want it to be real.
And how?
How can your love be real?
It's interesting how it says, let love be without the simulation.
Abhor that which is evil.
Send my calling.
Leave to that which is good.
You know what that teaches me?
That a pastor that says, oh, he's such a lovey-dovey,
but he doesn't hate evil, doesn't really have real love.
Because it says, hey, let your love be real.
Let it not be fake.
And then you got pastors that accept a lot of sin.
It's like, that guy's love is fake.
You know, you could tell.
Like the Steven Furtick.
Who knows who that guy is?
How could you not?
After you listen to Pastor Anderson,
they always throw instruments in there.
Steven Furtick, you know?
With his tight jeans, his expensive clothes,
his million-dollar house, right?
But he preaches all charismatic until he gets all choky and teary.
Church.
Telling you church.
Always showing off his muscles.
Church.
You know, he's on steroids or something.
Always trying to get the tightest shirt, you know.
Always like, oh, God.
Like he's pounding his muscles.
Bank dude.
Worldly dude.
You know, it's not even saying false gospel, you name it.
Million-dollar homes.
I think his house is over 10 million in North Carolina.
I think it's worth 50 million.
Google it.
I could be wrong, but he has millions of dollars.
Expensive clothes, right?
That's a lot of money on steroids.
Okay, that's what falls on commission.
I'm sure he works out a lot.
He probably knows his Bible, but he thinks he does.
But he's very charismatic.
He starts crying.
I love you, church.
I love you.
No, you don't.
The Bible says, hey, if you love evil, you're not a lovey-dovey guy, you know.
So we can find out that, hey, people are fake based on whether or not they hate sin, you
know.
It says, hey, cleave to that which is good.
This guy has TDJ's, all these guys, people that deny the Trinity, people that have false
salvation.
That guy loves evil.
Just a fact.
And so what do we see?
Hey, God says don't be like that.
You know, there are verses in the Bible that says this, be of good courage and let us play
the man for our people, you know, and for the cities of our God and the Lord, do that
which seems good.
That verse is saying, look, if you have to, play the man, you know.
Like, hey, if you're a leader, if you're a man and you get to the point where you're
kind of afraid, don't show it.
It says, hey, just play the part.
Play the part of a man.
For who?
For the people.
That's what's happening here.
He's saying, hey, King, yeah, you know what, show some courage, play the part of a man
for the people.
Think of others, you know.
Don't show, if you're scared, don't show it because then people are going to run.
People are going to run.
They're going to flee, you know.
But one thing that we shouldn't fake until we make is love.
Courage, maybe you've got to let that go.
If you're afraid, your faith is failing, don't show it.
If you're ever a leader, don't show it.
Don't show it.
It will mess up your followers.
You know, husbands, hey, things ain't going well.
Finance is a little messed up.
Whatever the case may be, things ain't looking well, don't show it.
Just tell your wife, I got this.
When you go in the other room, oh, we're out.
You know, and they come right out.
Don't worry, I got this, girl.
Here's a tip, all right.
I've never done that.
But don't fake your love.
Make sure it's real.
Whether it's faith, we know that without faith, it's impossible to please God.
In fact, the Bible says in Hebrews 10, 38,
Now that the judge shall live by faith and men draw back,
my soul shall have no pleasure in him.
We know that faith is important.
You know, we know that knowledge is important.
But in 1 Corinthians 13, 3, if you're there,
if you're still in 1 Corinthians, or look at 1 Corinthians 13, 3,
this is a scary verse.
In my personal opinion, it's a scary verse if you look at it.
That's what I want to share with you guys.
You know, because what are we talking about?
Thinking of others.
How am I going to be a person that thinks of others?
Your love, your love has to grow.
Well, how do I begin?
First thing you need to realize is that love is very important.
It's very important.
How can I start being a loving person?
We'll get into that a little bit more.
But I want to establish that, hey, God wants us to be a person that thinks of others.
How do you get there?
By being a loving person.
You know, just like your faith, your love just has to grow.
You know, you've got to get that thing growing.
But look at this verse, 1 Corinthians 13, 3,
And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
you're a very given person.
Obviously, the other verse says, hey, if you're a person that's full of faith,
you understand all mysteries, you know your Bible very well,
you have all knowledge, and even all faiths, you can remove mountains,
and you're a very given person, even if you're a very given person,
even if you bestow all your goods to feed the poor,
and look at this part.
1 Corinthians 13, 3.
If you can, look at it.
I don't care if you use your phone, your tablet,
have somebody whisper to you, but take a look at this part.
And though I give my body to be burned,
you sacrifice yourself, and you have not charity,
you have not love.
You wasted your time.
It profit you.
Nothing.
And the Bible says, hey, if you go out there and give the gospel,
and you give the gospel with the wrong motives,
the disposition of the gospel is given up to you.
In other words, what it's saying is, if you go out there just to show off,
if you go out there for the wrong reasons,
God's not impressed by that.
He's not going to profit you anything just to go out there,
just to show that you go soul winning more than the pastor,
more than this guy and that guy.
And can you think of someone that did that?
Bo.
Bo, I'm not saved, the bozo.
I go soul winning all the time.
I'm faithful to every little thing.
And that guy does not have love, period.
Why?
Because he's pure evil.
He rails on Pastor Shelley, rails on the NIFB,
left the church, and this is why it's important to realize that,
hey, love is, like, to God, the most important thing out of all these things.
You know, this guy is, like, giving his body to be burned.
I heard that he was going every service, every service,
on the mornings, on the nights, every soul winning time.
Am I wrong?
It was, like, the big blabber about how much soul winning he was doing.
He didn't show up.
He bet he did.
He never showed up.
There you go.
Just saying that he did, but he doesn't.
Great hypocrite.
Love is nothing but the simulation.
Faith.
You know, but we need to realize that it's important,
and then we can start becoming a person that thinks of others
because that's what God wants us to do.
He wants us to do that.
You know?
So, how do we do that?
Number one, realize that love is important to God.
And it says in John 14, 15, if you love me, here it is.
This is the part that people are probably not going to want to listen to.
Keep my commandments and start with God's commandments.
It starts with his commandments, and here's one of them.
And let us consider one another to provoke one another unto love
and to good works.
Let me just stop right there.
What is that verse saying?
God wants us to provoke one another unto love.
I'm here to help you and provoke you unto love.
That's what the sermon is about.
It's about love.
That's what it's called, think of others,
because that's how loving persons think.
They think of others and try to put others first.
And it says right here, let us consider one another.
That's what I'm doing.
When I thought of this sermon, I'm considering you guys.
I remember every face as I'm writing this thing down, their faces.
I don't know your names, but I see these guys every time I come.
So, I always think of these guys.
I think of Mo, Liberty, you know, you guys over here.
I may not remember all your names, but I'm thinking that's what pastors told us.
Hey, before you write a sermon, start thinking of others.
Start thinking about their church.
Start thinking about what they need.
Not what you like, but what they like.
What has helped you and can possibly help them.
So, I'm thinking of you.
I'm thinking of you.
And I'm thinking, all right, what can I give them?
I think this is something that will help them out.
It helps me out to remind myself to think of others, you know.
But here's what it says in Scripture.
Let us consider one another, provoke one another unto love,
end good works.
And what's the next verse?
The verse that people just don't like to hear.
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is.
What is that?
Church.
Here's the thing.
People think that they had Twitter back in the day when they wrote this.
You know, text messages back in the day when they wrote this.
I don't know what people think.
But the reason why God says don't forsake the assembling is because how in the world
if you guys don't get together are we going to help each other provoke one another unto
love?
There's no text messages back in the day.
They're busy farming.
They're busy living their lives.
So, I don't know how often they got together.
We get together three times a week.
Maybe they got together three times a week, one time.
But what was the purpose?
To help each other become loving people.
So back then, guess what?
They're like, hey, this is important.
We need to get together to edify each other, provoke each other unto love and good works.
It's funny how he's talking about, hey, help others to become more loving.
Help others to do good works.
And they're like, okay, where do I start, church?
That's the next thing he mentions.
He doesn't say for this reason, thou shall not kill, thou shall not steal, thou shall
not commit adultery.
It's like, hey, your job is to help other people to become more loving, to do good works.
Great, how did it begin?
Not forsaking the assembly.
It's like church is the first thing it brings up.
Interesting.
It's showing us that, hey, we cannot become the type of people, the type of people that
love, how God wants us to love if we're not in church.
It's virtually impossible.
If not, it probably is impossible.
You skip one church, two church, three church, and people can say, well, I've got to work
or whatever.
I get it.
I fully understand.
But pray a little harder that maybe you can get a better job or you can get paid more
and be able to come to all three services.
But I wonder if God sees your heart and says, even if I gave this guy that, he still wouldn't
go, so I'm keeping where he's at.
That's what I often wonder because at our church, it seems like a lot of people, they
do have those opportunities, but they do make a decent amount of money, can pay for all
the bills, you know, but then other people cannot.
I'm not saying that, hey, they're bad or whatever.
I'm just saying that, hey, God says that no good thing would be withhold from you,
so who knows?
You know, who knows what's going on in that situation, but eventually God says he will
give you what you want.
Well, I don't know.
Sometimes I wonder, are they really serious about coming?
They're like, oh, okay, maybe I got to work, whatever.
Well, maybe you need to just try a little harder, pray a little.
I don't know.
I don't know what to say.
All I'm saying is simply this.
We need church and we're going to become the type of people that God wants us to be.
And what does God want us to be?
Loving people.
That's the bottom line.
We're going to continue to grow.
We're going to start being Judah, but eventually he wants to be the old Judah, you know?
Not the very old one, but the last Judah.
The one that's like, hey, sacrifice me.
I don't think he thought that was going to happen that night, you know, because it just
came out of nowhere.
Imagine now he has to become a bondman.
Now he has to be in jail.
It's like, just take me, let him go.
It's crazy from like, hey, let's sell Joseph and make some money, you know, and let's go
have a party or whatever to the point where he's like, no, let me sacrifice my life for
his, just like Christ.
You know, but that's one of the things, despite not prophesying, it's a commandment.
And of course, when people forsake church, it's because they don't like preaching anymore.
Like something happened.
You know, the sin crept in and God got to win in their hearts and they're like, I'm
sick of preaching.
I'm sick of hearing Pastor Shelley, Pastor Anderson or whoever.
You know, what's the danger?
The danger is that God's not going to bless you.
People think that.
You know, as long as I love God, I think I'm good.
Three times a week, I had a lady tell me that.
You know, I was knocking doors.
They're like, well, come to church.
She left church because she got bitter and backslidden and something happened.
And I'm like, whatever.
I didn't really care about the excuse.
I'm just like, hey, we'll get back to church.
Come to ours.
Try ours out.
Well, I figured now I'm just going to concentrate on just loving God.
And it's funny because I told her, oh, well, here's what God says.
If you let me keep my commandments, guess what one of his commandments says?
Not to forsake the assembly.
She shut the door.
Like, I'm done.
Because she didn't care about the truth, you know.
So what does God want us to do?
Obviously, how can you become a loving person?
Keeping God's commandments.
How can you do that?
Not forsaking the assembly.
How can you do that?
Prayer.
God says, hey, that man ought to pray and not faint.
Study to show himself approved.
So what should we be doing?
Hey, studying God's word.
That's a commandment.
What should we be doing?
Preaching God's word.
Preaching the gospel of every creature.
What else should we be doing?
People don't like to hear it, but this is a fact.
We want to use scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithes of men in the next and
coming.
They have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.
These thoughts ye have done, and not to leave the other undone.
So God is praising tithing.
But guess what?
That's not the only thing in life.
And so, of course, if you're not tithing, I can't tell you anything other than, hey,
don't expect any blessings.
That's clearly what the Bible teaches.
And I don't know, can somebody point at somebody who stands up boldly and says, I never tithed.
And it's actually somebody who's saved.
And it's actually somebody, because a lot of people don't tithe, and I believe they're
saved.
But is there ever anybody who can flat out say, well, I don't tithe.
Period.
And can prove it.
And be like, hey, here's my bank account.
I'm doing well.
Is there anybody that you guys know that does that?
You know, because if that's the case, because there's people that don't believe in it, it's
like, well, I've never heard of somebody who can boldly stand up and say, look, I'm doing
great financially.
Look, I'm being blessed.
I got more than I need.
And I don't tithe.
I'm not a tither.
Period.
I don't think that person exists.
There's people that don't tithe, and they're saved, and they say, well, I don't believe
in tithing, etc.
Okay.
I get it.
You got your reasons.
I got my reasons.
You know, and I'll just quickly go through these.
I'm 50 minutes in.
I got 10 minutes to wrap it up.
Now, those things are stuff that we know.
We know.
Hide.
We know.
Read.
We know.
Obey.
We got that.
You know.
But let's just get more specific to the other stuff, like loving our wives.
Those are things that God commanded us to do as well.
Quickly just go over the scriptures.
Husband, love your wives.
Wives submit to your husbands.
Not just that.
It says that children need to obey their parents.
And not just that.
It says in Leviticus 9, 18, not to avenge yourselves, so don't hold any grudge against
the children of thy people.
And that's a big one, because I do see grudges in churches.
I do see them.
And it's like, hey, you need to look at that verse until it scares you.
You know, because you can't say that you're right with the Lord when you have a grudge
against this person.
But that person, you know, said this and said that or whatever.
As recent as, you know, I don't even want to say how long ago, but it does happen.
But people are like, hey, I have issues with this person.
I can't even sleep.
Can you help me pray about it?
They're like, absolutely.
You know, like, I'm losing sleep over this.
And I'm thinking, man, this is faithful word.
You know?
It's like, really?
I was like, man, I don't know what to tell you.
And it's not like they're not trying.
So I'm like, hey, just stay with it.
Got to give you the ability to overcome it.
You know, so it is what it is.
They're like, yeah, I just have issues with this individual.
Well, it's usually you, to be honest.
It's envy.
That's what it comes down to.
How do we know?
Because going back to Judah, what was Judah's problem?
Why did Judah sell his brother?
Because of envy.
That's what the Bible says.
Why did they want to kill him?
Because of envy.
Why do you have a grudge against your brother?
You really stop and think about it because of envy.
Something they're doing, you know, is causing you to be envious or whatever.
You know?
But just realize that, hey, don't ask what your brother can do for you.
Ask what you can do for your brother.
Not like that JFK little spin.
You know, trying to make you spiritual.
You know, but just quickly going over some stuff.
Hey, obviously, it says in 1 Peter, likewise be wise, be subject unto your husbands, if
any, obey not the word.
You know, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
While they be heard to chase conversation, coupled with fear, who is adorning it, let
it not be at the outward, adorning the playing of hair, and the wearing of the gold, and
putting it on at the apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart.
And that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which
then decided God a great price.
For after this manner in old time, the holy woman also who trusted in God adored themselves,
being in subjection unto their own husbands.
Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughter ye are, as long as ye
do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
Now, this is a hard one for somebody who has an issue with their husbands or vice versa,
but we're still commanded to love them and to treat them with respect.
And, yeah, my wife once started calling me Lord.
Yes, my Lord.
I'm like, stop that.
Maybe back in King James' day, that was pretty cool.
You know, honey, can you call Phil the boar?
Yes, my Lord.
I'll be like, yeah, you know.
Now, it's like, quit that.
Don't do that in public.
Yes, my Lord, stop.
You know, she was messing with me.
But you're like, my Lord, my Lord, stop with that Lord stuff.
The Bible says to do it.
She was just kidding, of course.
I'm like, no.
Maybe we were put back in the past with King James.
Yeah, better say Lord every time.
But anyways, let's just wrap this up.
I guess if you're a husband that's like, oh, man, I'm having issues loving my wife.
Hey, all I can say is Song of Solomon.
Read that, read that, and keep reading it.
Because with verses like these, Song of Solomon, which is Solomon's, let him kiss me with
the kisses of his mouth, for that love is better than wine.
He rid it not until it sinks in.
You know, that's all I can tell you.
Having problems, you know, with your wife, loving your wife.
Read Song of Solomon, so you're blue in the face.
It'll help you out.
It's there for a reason.
But also, as fathers, what are we supposed to do?
Well, Deuteronomy, now these are the commandments, statutes, and the judgment of the Lord.
Your God commanded you that ye might do them in the land whether ye go to possess.
That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes, his commandments.
We know that, but I don't want to get that.
Which I command thee, thou, and thy sons, and thy sons' sons, all the days of thy lives.
We're supposed to train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he shall not depart.
You know, so that's what we also need to be doing.
You know, those are the commandments.
So remember, how do we love God?
Keeping his commandments.
These are just reminders of some commandments.
You already know church, reading, praying, all that good stuff.
Don't forget, training your child.
You know, I recently heard a sermon by Pastor Jimenez.
He's like, yeah, we know they have dads, but when do you train your children?
And I'm thinking, man, you're right.
I need to take up time and figure out how to train them.
Why?
Here's why.
If this doesn't scare you, it should.
Because many deceivers are entered into the world.
Right?
Who confess not that Jesus Christ has come into flesh.
This is deceiving an anti-Christ.
Look to yourself that we're losing out those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Whosoever chose president by the name of the doctrine of Christ hath not God.
He that by the name of the doctrine of Christ, he has both the Father and the Son.
If there come any unto you and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house,
neither bid him God speed, for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
So we know it's talking about false prophets, false presidents, and we have seen that.
But the part that I wanted to just focus on, many deceivers.
Get to your children before these deceivers get to your children.
Because if you think, it'll never happen to my child.
Are you better than Samuel?
Because last time I checked, his sons were not saved.
They were sons of Billio.
Samuel was a very powerful prophet.
Let me just quickly remind you.
And it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.
Now the name of his first was Job, the name of his second, Abia.
There were judges in Perisheba, and his sons walked not in his ways,
but turned aside after Lucre and took bribes and perverted judgment.
And that's not what we want our children to be.
You know, children, if you're listening, great.
I want you to listen even more.
It says now the sons of Eli were sons of Billio.
They knew not the Lord.
Eli was another prophet.
He was a priest.
So what do we have Samuel?
Great prophet of God.
Children went astray.
Eli, worse.
His children didn't get saved.
They went straight to hell.
I got my children over there.
Hey, they're hearing God's word.
I need to make sure they are not just hearing God's word,
but that they understand it and that they can apply it.
But with your children, why is it important for you to know God's word?
Here's why.
Where's all the children?
Are you listening to me?
I got four minutes.
Pastor Shelley said you got 60 minutes to preach.
I got four minutes left.
Children, children, children, children, children, look at me.
Here's what the Bible says.
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
You want to make daddy happy?
I'm not your daddy, but I'm just pointing myself, you know.
You want to make your daddies happy?
Hey, kids, think of others.
Hey, do the right thing.
Live for the Lord.
Do everything you can to obey the Lord.
Believe it or not, that makes me very happy.
It will make your father very happy.
When we're older, when you're no longer under our house,
to hear that you guys are walking in truth will make us very, very happy.
And if you're like, man, the Christian life is just so whatever, do it for us.
Keep living it for us.
Do it for mom.
Do it for dad.
Isn't that what's going to bring us the greatest joy?
When they're out of our house, you guys are married, you have your own wife,
and you're still going to church, you're still going soloing in,
you're still sticking with King James,
you're still living for the Lord, that brings us joy.
So do it for us.
Think of others.
Think of your parents.
It's like, man, I really want to go whatever, but I know it's wrong,
and I'm not going to do it for my mom, for my dad, for my friends,
for my pastor, for whatever, for the Lord, if anybody, you know.
But I can say that, amen, I don't think there's any greater joy
than to know that my children walk in truth.
I think this is a great verse to just remind you guys to think of others
when we want to send it up, when we want to break God's commandments.
And God will bless you.
How do we know?
It says blessed is the man that endured temptation.
For when he is tried, and you're going to receive the crown of life,
which the Lord has promised to them, that what?
Love him.
And you can't say you love God when you don't think of others
and you don't love others.
Amen?
Let's pray.
There, God, I thank you for everything that you've done, Lord.
We ask you to just bless everyone here, Father.
Lord, I did my best just to teach people that we should be thinking of others.
And Father, hey, you know, we can always do more.
And Father, we ask you to just help us to not just grow our faith
but grow our love, you know, through your words, through whatever it takes,
Father, through preaching, you know.
And I thank you so much to remind me, Father, that even if I do good,
if that person doesn't do good back to me, hey, you made a very clear scripture
that whatever good thing I do, the same am I going to receive from you.
So as long as I focus on that, Lord, I'm going to do everything,
help everybody here to do everything from the heart,
not unto men per se, but unto you.
And we ask you to do all this for your honor, for your glory.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Amen.
All right, for our last hymn this morning, if you would,
go ahead and grab your white handouts.
Should be one maybe under your seat or under the chair in front of you,
or you can just, like, tackle a neighbor for it.
I don't know, get one.
But it's going to be Psalm 150, so even if not, just grab your Bible.
We're going to sing Psalm 150 in your white handout.
Psalm 150, praise ye the Lord.
Let's sing.
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary.
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Praise him for his mighty acts.
Praise him according to his excellent greatness.
Praise him with the sound of the trumpet.
Praise him with the sultry and tarp.
Praise him with the timbrel and dance.
Praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
Praise him upon the loud cymbals.
Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord.
Praise God the Father.
Praise God the Son.
Praise God the Holy Ghost.
Praise God in three persons.