here tonight. The name of the sermon is The Abomination of the Shepherd. The Abomination of
the Shepherd. Now, it's kind of an interesting chapter because you've got the first, you know,
seven verses that there's a little bit of information we'll talk about. Then you got a
list of names for a long time, which, you know, I spared Raji having to read through those. I'll
read through those during the sermon. I'm not really going to preach through the names here
tonight, but I'll read through them just because I don't want to skip anything in the Bible.
And then there's just the last several verses where basically we'll finish up the chapter
pretty early, and then I'll have a couple more pages on additional information at the end of
the sermon. So don't think we're done with the sermon once we get to verse 34. There'll still
be more information coming up. But the name of the sermon is The Abomination of the Shepherd.
Verse number one. And Israel took his journey with all that he had and came to Beersheba and
offered sacrifices on the God of his father, Isaac. God speak unto Israel in the visions
of the night and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, here am I. He said, I am God, the God of thy
father. Fear not to go down into Egypt, for I will there make of thee a great nation.
Now, there'll be a couple of reasons why Jacob might fear to go to Egypt. Well, it's an ungodly
country, right? And he could be worried about going out of God's will, but it could also just
be dangerous to travel, you know, if you're older, right? And so he's told, because he realized we're
not just hopping in a car and just going. I mean, I would imagine during this time period, once you
reach a certain age, you're not going to basically like completely change locations just out of
safety and everything like that. You're probably just going to stay in your location. And so there
could be reason why you could be afraid. But God says, you know what? Don't fear. Go down to Egypt
and I'm going to make of you a great nation. I will go down with thee into Egypt and I will also
surely bring thee up again. And Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. And Jacob rose up from
Beersheba and the sons of Israel carried Jacob, their father, their little ones and their wives
in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle and their goods,
which they had gotten in the land of Canaan and came into Egypt, Jacob and all his seed with him,
his sons and his sons' sons with him, his daughters and his sons' daughters, and all his
seed brought he with him into Egypt. This is the moment God is telling Jacob to go down to Egypt
with everything that he has, right? No question about it. Now is when he's saying, go to Egypt,
go to Exodus chapter 12, Exodus 12, Exodus chapter 12.
And it says in Exodus 12, verse 40, Exodus 12, verse 40. Now this is of course, you know, this,
they've basically gone through all the 10 plagues. They go through the Passover,
you got this long chapter here, Exodus 12, verse 40. Now the sojourning of the children of Israel,
what does it mean to sojourn? It means to live somewhere temporarily, right? So basically,
let's say somebody's an OFW, most likely they are sojourning in that country. The idea is they're
planning to return. So I'm not going to be there permanently. So sojourning would be basically like
I'm living in this place, but I'm not permanently living here. I'm eventually going to be moving or
coming back or whatever. And says, now the sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelled
in Egypt was 430 years. So what this verse is saying is that when they went to Egypt,
the children of Israel, which of course Jacob is Israel, but then of course the nation is called
Israel, is 430 years, I should say, 430 years. And it came to pass at the end of the 430 years,
even the self-same day, it came to pass that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of
Egypt. Now oftentimes in the Bible, you see numbers like 1000, 2000, 10,000. It doesn't
necessarily mean, in my opinion, it is exactly, you know, 10,000 because obviously you do estimates,
you know, throughout life, right? So if something was, let's say 9,987 pounds, it's 10,000 pounds,
right? You do estimates for various things. If it's 259, what time is it? Three o'clock,
right? Isn't that generally what we do unless you're trying to be very specific,
but this is different because it makes it clear in the self-same day, it's saying it's literally
exactly 430 years to the exact day, okay? Starting when? Well, starting when Jacob went to Egypt,
because that's the time of the sojourning, because remember Moses comes and he's leading
the people out of Egypt. So they sojourned in Egypt for 430 years to the day that they entered
with Jacob. Go to Genesis 12, Genesis 12. Now I've never tried to do this before.
Perhaps I will one day, but, you know, sometimes people preach sermons on the age of the earth.
And when I say the age of the earth, not such as old earth, young earth, but literally like how
old the earth is, basically just adding up genealogies, getting it down to the year and
everything. You know, within like-minded churches, there's a few different pastors that have done
sermons like that, and they'll line up at least like 99% on stuff. Sometimes there's verses that
could be taken different ways or whatever. However, you know, hundreds of years ago,
there was a person who aged the earth, and it was based on this theory that the earth was going to
last for 6,000 years to the day, then the millennial reign of Christ. And they would
take that verse where it says for a day is to the Lord is 1,000 years is 1,000 years is to a day.
They say, and they use that because they say, well, references, you know, it's analogy to the
end times and then say, well, it's 6,000 years, 1,000 for each day. And then the day of rest,
they says the millennial reign be a thousand years. Now it's an interesting theory,
but the problem is it does not work. You say, why? We are already past 6,000 years. And what
they said is that the earth started in 4,004 BC. So they were actually tracing it back to a set
moment. I don't know the day off hand, but a set day. Well, first off, you don't know the day or
the hour. And so when you're trying to be that specific, it's basically the data saying we can
count to 6,000 years and here it's going to be, well, 1996, we'll pass that point. So 6,000 years
is gone, long gone, but here's the thing. So their theory wouldn't even work based on their charts,
but their charts are wrong though. And the major change they make is they do not start the 430
years for when Jacob goes into Egypt. And the reason why is because they've got to try to get
the math to work to do their theory and go back to 4,004 BC. So they can basically try
to predict it to be 6,000 years and then the return of Jesus in a thousand years.
They trace it back to Genesis chapter 12 and they say it starts here, which it does not.
Genesis 12 verse one. Now the Lord had said unto Abram, get thee out of thy country and from thy
kindred and from thy father's house unto a land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee
a great nation and I will bless thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a blessing.
And I'll bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed. So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken onto him
and Lot went with him and Abram was 75 years old when he departed out of Aaron. It's always hard
to read Abram's name and say Abram instead of Abraham. I mean, he's Abram at this point,
but they will go to Genesis 12 verse four and they will say, we'll see, this is the start of the 430
years, but the 430 years is linked to being in Egypt. The time of their sojourning, very clear
when they went to Egypt, when Jacob went. Now there's one verse they're going to take out of
context for this theory. Go to Galatians three, Galatians three. And look, this, this is false.
What, what the charts are false. What they said was false. I'm not saying it's like a major heresy,
but you know, honestly, in this chapter, there's just not a whole lot other than all these names.
So we're going to spend a little bit of time on this,
but there is one verse that is a bit tricky that they kind of take out of context.
And they use Galatians three verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made.
He sayeth not into seeds as of many, but as of one into thy seed, which is Christ.
And this, I say that the covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law,
which was 430 years after cannot disannul that it should make the promise of none effect for
the inheritance be of the law. It is no more promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise.
And so they take this and link this to Genesis chapter 12. It is a bit tricky,
but if you notice verse 17, and this, I say that the covenant that was confirmed
before of God in Christ, see the original covenant. Yes. God spoke to Abraham.
And then he spoke to Isaac and then he spoke to Jacob. And it's at that moment,
the confirmation of the covenant, he's like, fear not to go into Egypt. I will make of you
a great nation. The clock is starting when Jacob is entering Egypt. So what's being mentioned here
is the confirmation that was before given to Abraham. And when it was confirmed, that's when
you start the clock of the 430 years. Cause the verse earlier is very clear that it starts with
Jacob at 430 years. This verse seems to comfort contradict when you quickly look over it,
but it's referencing to the confirmation of the covenant, not the initial when the covenant was
given, because if it's being confirmed, that can't be the initial, the confirmation is referencing
back to something earlier. And of course, God spoke to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob many times,
actually, this is the confirmation it's referencing though in the 430 years to the self
same day is when he goes into Egypt, not when Abraham departs from his father.
Go back to Genesis chapter 46, Genesis 46.
But the reason why they're doing that is because they have a theory
and then they try to get the Bible to fit their theory. Now here's the thing,
it doesn't really matter what your theory is. You can find something in the Bible to support it.
I mean, if you believed in reincarnation, you can find something to support it
that you can take out of context or misunderstand or whatever. I mean, it really does. I mean,
if you believe in a work salvation, there are verses you can use. Now they're taken out of
context, but I mean, don't people go to James 2 all the time to try to prove their theory.
You believe in baptismal regeneration, Acts 2 38, right? Repent and be baptized. You can find verses
to fit your theory, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's actually accurate or in context
what you're saying. And so that's the danger of coming to this theory, like, Hey, I got this
theory. It's going to be 6,000 years, then a thousand years because they use that verse in
2 Peter 3. It's actually though not accurate. We're way past it. And of course you shouldn't
be date setting the rapture anyway, right? You know, down to the day. Now I say things like,
I don't think it will take place in my life, but that's not setting a day or an hour. It's just
a 70% prediction, right? You know, which goes up or down, depending on, you know,
how close it looks like we are to world war three, right? I mean, after they said they've decided to
arrest Vladimir Putin internationally, you know, my, my, I think it increases the chance of Jesus
coming back during my lifetime. But you know, who knows, there's always events going on in the
world. Anyways, verse number eight. And as I said, we're just going to quickly read through
these verses to them. I don't want to skip any verses, verses eight through 27. And these are
the names of the children of Israel, which came into Egypt, Jacob and his sons, Reuben, Jacob's
firstborn and the sons of Reuben, Hanuk and Fallu and Hezron and Carmi, the sons of Simeon, Jemuel
and Jaman and Ohad and Jachin and Zohar and Shaul, the son of Achanan and Ideshuam.
And the sons of Levi, Gershon, Kohath and Merari, and the sons of Judah,
Ur and Onan and Shaela and Pharaz and Zerah. But Ur and Onan died in the land of Canaan
and the sons of Pharaz were Hezron and Hamel. So you'll see there'll be a little bit of
information on things that are important. Obviously we know that story about Judah and
his sons that's mentioned earlier in the Bible. Verse 13. And the sons of Issachar,
Tola and Fuva and Job and Shemron, and the sons of Zebulun, Sarad and Elon and Jaelion.
These be the sons of Leah, which she barren of Jacob and Pedanarim with his daughter
Dinah. All the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three.
And the sons of Gad, Ziphion and Hagie, Shuni and Esban, Eri and Erodi and Ireli,
and the sons of Asher, Gemnah and Ishua and Isui and Bariah and Sarah their sister,
and the sons of Bariah, Haber and Malkiel. These are the sons of Zilpha whom Laban
gave to Leah his daughter, and these she barren of Jacob, even sixteen souls.
The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife, Joseph and Benjamin, and Joseph in the land of
Egypt were born Manasseh and Ephraim, which Asenoth the daughter of Potiphar our priest
have owned bare unto him. And the sons of Benjamin were Beilah and
Becker and Ashbel and Gerah and Naaman, Ehi and Rosh, Mupim and Hupim and Ard.
These are the sons of Rachel, which were born to Jacob. All the souls were fourteen.
The sons of Dan, Hushim and the sons of Naphtali, Jeziel and Guni and Jezar and Shelom.
These are the sons of Billa, which Laban gave unto Rachel his daughter, and she bare
these unto Jacob. All the souls were seven. All the souls that came with Egypt,
Jacob and Egypt, which came out of his loins, beside Jacob's sons' wives.
All the souls were threescore and six. The sons of Joseph, which were born to him in Egypt,
were two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, which came into Egypt,
were threescore and ten. So, I mean, the Bible is definitely very detailed.
And here's the thing, when you're this detailed, it means fact check me, right?
It's like you give every name, you give the exact amount.
And obviously, parts like this in our Bible are not the most exciting, right?
For example, just an hour ago, I was reading in Ezra on that long list of names in Ezra chapter 2.
I mean, there's parts that are not quite as exciting, but the Bible is very specific because
it's not just a book with entertaining stories. I mean, it's a book that is 100% accurate,
and it's not afraid of being checked on that. Verse 28,
And he sent Judah before him unto Joseph, to direct his face unto Goshen,
and they came in the land of Goshen. And Joseph made ready his chariot,
and went up to meet Israel's father to Goshen, and presented himself unto him.
And he fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while.
Obviously, it's been a long time since they've seen each other, so very excited about that.
Verse 30, And Israel said unto Joseph, Now let me die, since I have seen thy face,
because thou art yet alive. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
unto his father's house, I will go up, and show Pharaoh, and say unto him,
My brethren in my father's house, which were in the land of Canaan, are come unto me.
And the men are shepherds, for their trade hath been to feed cattle,
and they have brought their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have.
And so Joseph is going to tell basically Pharaoh and the Egyptians that my family are shepherds.
Okay, that is their job. That is their occupation.
Okay, I mean, it seems like a harmless statement, but notice what the Bible says,
And it shall come to pass, when Pharaoh shall call you, and shall say,
What is your occupation? That ye shall say, Thy servant's trade hath been about cattle,
from her youth even until now, both we and also our fathers, that ye may dwell in the land of
Goshen. For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians. Every shepherd is an abomination.
And what Joseph is saying to his father is, say that you are shepherds,
and they will not want to be near you, and then you'll get to go to the good land.
Just say you're a shepherd, right? In our modern day, say you're an independent fundamental Baptist.
All right, we'll give you this house right over here, right away from us.
But say that you're a shepherd, because every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians.
The question would be why? I mean, it seems kind of bizarre. Why would they hate shepherds?
Obviously, it's a job. It's an occupation. What would be their problem with shepherds?
Go to Exodus 32. Exodus chapter 32.
And let me just read you from an article about ancient Egypt.
And obviously, if I'm reading an article, I mean, it's probably pretty accurate,
but this is not the Bible that I'm reading. It's just an article that would seem to match
with what the Bible is saying. And give us some insight here.
And you know, keep in mind, I didn't highlight when we were reading, but in Genesis 46,
I'll just read it to you. And the men are shepherds for their trade have been to feed cattle.
It mentions other things, but it specifically says cattle. And then it also says, and they
have brought out their flocks and their herds and all that they have. But Joseph is like,
highlight the cattle. And then every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians. So basically,
you're primarily a shepherd of cattle is what's being said there from Genesis 46.
It says here in this article in ancient Egypt, the holiest of all animals in ancient Egypt were
cows and bulls. Boy, there's no new thing under the sun, right? I mean, does this sound familiar?
I mean, the holiest of all animals in ancient Egypt were cows and bulls. You know, we made this
video recently. I really wish we had some ancient footage from Egypt to see the weird things they
were doing with cows back then or whatever. But the holiest of all animals in ancient
Egypt were cows and bulls. The ancient Egyptians were not the only people to worship cattle.
For example, in ancient times, bulls were worshiped on the Greek island of Crete,
the home of the bull god, the minotaur, which, you know, I remember the minotaur from a video
game when I was a kid. And cattle are sacred to Hindus to this day. There's no new thing
under the sun. I mean, it seems weird to me. I mean, is the cow a beautiful animal? No.
No. I mean, there's animals. As you go to the zoo, some animals just amazed you. You just stop
and you're like, that's amazing what God made. Not the cow. The cow is not really a good looking
animal. But the reason why it's worshiped is because of what it produces, like milk,
cheese, and things that are very valuable. Now, for those that eat meat, then obviously the meat
itself, there's a lot of great meat that comes from a cow. But the milk would be very valuable
in many cultures, in any culture, right? Cheese coming from milk and, you know, butter and all
of these things. And as a result, since the cow gives so much, they worship the creature rather
than the creator who made the creature that gives you the milk. And look, I don't, I do not
understand what goes through the mind of people that grow up in this sort of weird animal
worshiping societies. I don't get it. You know, I've said before, I wish I could get into the
mind of a hardcore Hindu for like five minutes to see what's going on there, because it's just
bizarre to me. I mean, bowing down before a cow and worshiping it. But in Egypt, they did the
same thing. They worshiped the cow because of what it gave them. Exodus 32 verse one.
And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mouth, the people gathered
themselves together unto Aaron and said unto him, Up, 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 want not what has
become of him. And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your
wives, of your sons and of your daughters, and bring them unto me. And all the people
break out 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 after he had made it a molten calf. And they
said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
Now, when I was studying this sermon and researching, you know, I didn't know beforehand,
I mean, a couple months ago, I was unaware that the number one worshiped animal was the cow in
ancient Egypt. Now, obviously, making a golden calf is a huge slap on the face of God already.
But the fact that they made a golden calf, which was the worshiped animal in Egypt, the primary
one, I mean, how much bigger is that smack across the face? You're basically saying, our God is
wrong. And the gods of the Egyptians are correct. I mean, these be thy gods. I mean, that was their
number one worship animal. What are you doing, Aaron? I mean, literally, when you read the story
of Aaron, because Aaron does some good things in the Bible, but I'm just thinking, are you insane?
Like, what are you doing? Right? You make the biggest. I mean, if you live in a society where
the big thing they worship is a monkey God, then you leave. And then let's just make a golden
monkey. It's like, what are you doing? Right? I mean, it's not just stupid, but you're literally
just saying, worship this false God, which you just came out of Egypt, right?
And here's the thing about Aaron. Aaron does some good things in the Bible,
but he also proves right here, he would never be a good leader. Later on in the Bible, Aaron and
Miriam criticized Moses, and they think, well, we could be the leader. No, you had your chance,
Aaron. I mean, Moses is gone for 40 days, and they're worshiping a golden calf.
Right? Now, a couple of years ago, when I visited the US, I think I was gone for like,
you know, half that time. I'm glad there wasn't a golden calf in the church.
Right? I mean, it's like 40 days. And look, I get it. Those that are leaving Egypt,
they're not all saved. We obviously understand that. But still, like, how could you accept
and not just any old idol, I mean, the number one worship animal in Egypt. It's just a slap
across the face of God. And of course, Aaron makes excuses. Look, you're the leader. You can't
make excuses. You're responsible. I mean, if you're the leader, you're responsible for what
takes place. And of course, I get it. It's not fun to be in the position of Aaron and say no,
or preach against something. That's not fun. But if you're gonna be the leader, that's your job.
And my thing is, if I was Aaron, I would say, okay, I can never be the leader. You would think
he would humble himself after this and realize this, but he doesn't because later on,
him and Miriam criticized Moses, and they think they can do a better job. It's like,
they were worshiping a golden calf when Moses was gone for six weeks. Right?
Go in your Bible to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah 23.
And let me just read you this article on cows and relating to Egypt.
Egyptians raised small numbers of cattle for milk and wool. So I wouldn't even think of wool
in our modern day as much, but obviously back then it was, some was considered very important.
So they would raise cattle for milk and wool. The shepherds on the other hand,
raised large herds of cattle for meat. Okay. This is a secular article that actually goes along and
says why Egyptians hated shepherds. So Egyptians wanted cows for milk and wool, not for meat.
Shepherds wanted cattle for meat because the shepherds raised cattle for meat. They were
abhorred by the Egyptians. Isn't this true in India today?
In our modern day in India, because this has not always been like this in Hinduism,
but in India today, it's like they want cows for milk and cheese and some disgusting things. Right?
Other people, they like to eat burgers. Right? They like to eat steak. They like to eat these
various different meats and look, there's nothing wrong with milk. Milk is obviously,
you know, very valuable thing as well and cheese and things like that.
There's also nothing wrong with meat, but you know, you're not going to have
a Hindu sit down while we're eating a burger. Right? It's just not going to happen. I mean,
if you do that in India, they might kill you. You do that in ancient Egypt, you might get killed.
Right? It would be considered an abomination to them. And what you're seeing is to the false
religions, we're an abomination, right? Because this is a normal diet eating meats. Okay.
And so we are an abomination to the heathen, but I realized this, the heathen ought to be
an abomination to us as well. And what's funny is in some religions, they look at us like we're
an abomination. I mean, even other Baptists hate us sometimes. They hate what we stand for.
They hate what we believe right now. I'm not saying we should hate other Baptists. I mean,
other people that are saved, there are brothers and sisters in Christ,
but when it comes to false religions, I have nothing good to say about a Hindu or Muslim.
I'll try to get them saved as we go soul winning. If I was a coworker with them, then you know what?
I would try to get them saved, be nice to them at work, but I'm not going to be too close to
someone who's got a false god, right? Let me also read you from this article on India.
And it says in India, cow vigilante violence is the use of physical force in the name of cow
protection. They have a lot of laws for cow violence in India because it's pertinent.
Since 2014 mob attacks targeting mostly illegal cow smugglers, but in some cases even licensed
cow traders have become prominent. There's a debate on whether there's actually been any
change in the number of such incidences as government data points out to reduce communal
tensions post 2014. Now, I mean, the number, last I checked the number one seller of cow meat
is India and it's rich Hindus that do it. I would never eat, you know, cow meats, but I'll sell it
for somebody else to eat so I can make money. I think that's what you call hypocrisy, my friends.
But it says cattle slaughter is banned in most states of India. Recently emerged cow
vigilante groups claiming to be protecting cattle have been violent, leading to a number of deaths.
Cow protection groups see themselves as preventing cattle theft and smuggling,
protecting the cow or upholding the law in an Indian state, which bans cow slaughter.
According to a Rupert's report, a total of 63 cow vigilante attacks had occurred in India
between 2010 and mid-2017. Basically, you know, Hindus that are attacking Muslims primarily
for eating cow meat is what's taking place. And it says most after Prime Minister Narendra Modi
came to power in 2014. And these attacks between 2010 and 2017, 28 Indians, 24 of the Muslims,
were killed and 124 injured, states the Rupert's report. I remember I was watching news in India
one time and they were talking about this violence with, you know, regarding cows and
they had a Muslim give their talking points and a Hindu give their talking points. And when they
were listening to like Hindus were giving their points and they're asking people in the street
is, you know, is it okay that people are being killed for eating cow meat? It's like some of
them said no, but others said, well, you know what? They shouldn't be eating cows. They got
what they deserve. And literally one person said on the news, they said, you know what?
Because there was like all these Hindus that were raping these really young, raping and killing
these young Muslim girls. We will stop raping their girls when they stop eating our cow meat.
But they said, now I'm not saying every Hindu is like that. I'm saying what a wicked and evil
religion Hinduism is. And you know what? It would tell me what a wicked and evil religion
Egypt certainly was. I mean, the, the holy book in Egypt is called the book of the dead.
That's the name of their holy book, the book of the dead, right? I mean, all that hate me love
death, right? I mean, it's just like the book of the dead, you know, Hey, what's your holy book
called the book of the dead? I mean, you've heard of the book of life, right? That's a good book,
the book of life, but the book of the dead, right? I'm sure it was a very wicked religion.
And I'm sure this sort of stuff went on as well because it said that every shepherd is an
abomination. Why? Well, obviously, you know, eating the cow meat is part of that, but it really kind
of goes down to your religious beliefs because it takes a warped religion to say, wow, you know what?
It's wrong to eat meat. No, I mean, actually it's just something that God gave us as part of our
normal diets. There's nothing wrong with it at all. Why is it that they hate shepherds?
And point one is a hatred of preachers. A shepherd is used synonymously with a pastor
in the Bible. Notice what it says in Jeremiah 23 verse one, woe be unto the pastors that destroy
and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. See, you're seeing that a pastor
and then scattering the sheep and a pastor is used interchangeably for a shepherd. Now,
the reason why a pastor is used interchangeably for a shepherd is because pastor, bishop,
and elder are all referencing the same thing, but different roles within that. So for example,
an elder would be referencing experience or age, right? Now, I don't know what the Mormons don't
understand about that, but an elder would be that you're older, not 18 years old, right? You just
got your driver's license. You're not an elder, okay? A bishop is more about rules and oversight.
A shepherd or pastor, which is used synonymously with the shepherd, is more about caring for the
sheep, taking care of them, loving the people. And a pastor is used interchangeably with the
shepherd here. Then it says in verse two, therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
against the pastors that feed my people, you have scattered my flock and driven them away
and have not visited them. Behold, I'll visit upon you the evil of your doing, saith the Lord,
and I'll gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries, whither I've driven them,
and will bring them again to their folds and they should be fruitful and increased. And I will set
up shepherds over them. So you're saying shepherd is very clearly used interchangeably with pastor.
And look, although pastor is the primary term that people use today, it's actually not used
that much in the New Testament when you're looking at that role. But I think the reason why we think
of a pastor, not that it's used the most, but it's kind of what you care about the most. Because
think about what you want your church leader to be. Obviously, experience is good. Obviously,
providing oversight like a bishop is good. But isn't the one thing that's most important that
they actually care about you? If you were saying the one thing I won, besides correct doctrine,
right? The one thing you would want is, you know what? That they actually care, right? Which is
why we use that term pastor the most because what that's saying is, hey, you know what? He cares for
the flock. He cares for the sheep. He cares for the group of people at the church, right?
Go to 1 Peter 5. And obviously, I'm using shepherd symbolically for pastor, which the Bible also
does. But there's a reason why the Bible highlights that statement. It's an abomination.
It's also teaching us that, you know what? We would be an abomination to them because of our
beliefs. Even if you're not the one who's preaching, if you stand up for the beliefs
of a church, then you're going to be hated. I mean, aren't we hated by the world in 2023,
right? I mean, if everything that we taught and believed was just put out in the news,
people would be horrified about what I say about the LGBT, wouldn't they?
They'd be like, what an evil person Matthew Stuckey is. No love at all. And yet it's just
like, no, actually that's showing a lot of love because you're trying to protect the kids.
But of course they don't understand that, right? Or they would call us, you know, hate preachers
for going soloing. How dare you force your religion down people's throats. Actually that's
showing love because we don't want to see people go to hell, but won't be accused of hate by the
world. Right? First Peter five verse one, the elders, which are among you, I exhort,
who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also partaker of
the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God, which is among you taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly not for filthy loser, but I've already mine.
In verse one, it says elder, which is a reference, not just to the age, but being what we'd say a
pastor, but the role in terms of having spirits. Verse two feeding the flock of God,
which is a reference to being a shepherd or a pastor taking the oversight thereof. That's
a reference to being a bishop. And I preached a whole sermon or two sermons about all these terms
and how they interconnect. They're used interchangeably because it's the same person
that is a pastor, Bishop elder. It's just referencing different aspects of what would be
entailed. Then it says, verse three, neither is being Lords over God's heritage, but being
examples of the flock and being Lords over God's heritage would be the idea that you're not running
people's lives outside of the church. Now, of course, he just said in verse two, take the
oversight thereof. So inside the church, yeah, you take the oversight, but in terms of people's
personal lives, here's the reality. You can listen to whatever music you want when you go home,
whatever music you want, you can watch whatever you want. I mean, if I stand up here and say,
you know what? This movie is evil. You can go home and watch that movie if you want. You say, why?
Because I'm not going to Lord or rule over your personal life. Now that's different though,
inside the church, because as I said in verse two, taking the oversight thereof. So you're overseeing
what is going on inside the church. And sometimes when you provide strong oversight, people could
accuse you of being a dictator controlling, but here's the thing. What would be a dictator is
if I'm running your personal life inside of a church, it's like a business, a business has
a boss and a boss makes a decisions just as how it is. Same thing inside of a church, because if
you have 15 different people with opinions, it's going to be very muggle. Oh, right. You know,
it's not a democracy where you take a vote on everything, right? You know, it is one person
running the show, taking the oversight, but not in your personal life because in your personal
life, that's your decision. Now you're an example to the flock, which means this. If I say it's
wrong to listen to rock music, I should give an example of not listening to rock music, obviously.
Anyway, honestly, the example will help newer people that are trying to get out of that music.
They see the example of other people. And obviously all of us can serve as good examples.
When new people come to our church, we would expect them to have a lot of areas of their life.
They probably need to be fixed realistically, right? I mean, if somebody gets saved,
you know, on, on, uh, our midweek and then they come to church on Saturday,
they might come to church with, you know, I don't know, a Beatles or Led Zeppelin or Guns and Roses
or, I don't know, what's hip hop, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg. Those are really old guys too. Aren't they?
Right. But, you know, they could, and here's the thing, it's just like, well, they just got saved.
I mean, I used to have an Aerosmith shirt. I used to have a Bob Marley shirt, you know,
back in my day. Right. So it's just like, obviously when people first get saved,
they don't know all these things. Right. You know, I remember somebody visited in,
well, somebody in Sacramento, they just started coming and then they're telling people like,
Hey, you know, you should read this Billy Graham book. It's like, well, that's not what we would
recommend at our church. But I mean, if they just started coming to church, they're not aware at all.
Right. Of what the church believes. Another example, and this one is, is more funny,
kind of funny, but somebody, you know, gave pastor Jimenez, you know, like this. He's like,
you know, you should watch this thing on this missionary work in Africa. And, you know,
he gave it to pastor Jimenez and, you know, generally people are gonna ask you to look at
something you might watch for a couple minutes or whatever. And it had a bunch of women that
were running around without their shirts on in it. Cause it's like, okay, that's, that's too much.
That's too much. And it's just like, and the person, I don't know. I think that's kind of,
you know, whatever, but it's like, you know, those are the things you kind of expect. It's like,
no, that's, that's probably not what your pastor is going to watch. Right. Anyways. But
all I'm saying is this inside the church, I would make the rules outside of church. You know,
you do whatever you want in your personal life. You listen to whatever you want,
watch whatever you want. It's obviously up to you. Verse four. And when the chief
shepherd shall appear. So being a shepherd, an example to the flock used interchangeably with
pastor. And you can see what the Bible would say. Every shepherd is abomination of the Egyptians
literally. Yes, that is true. Also for us to understand spiritually,
every true preacher will be an abomination to the unsaved world.
Every true preacher. I mean, if somebody is a hardcore Muslim, they will hate me.
Right. All I have to say is, well, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life,
and they will hate my guts. I mean, if you tell that to someone who's a hardcore Muslim or Hindu
or Buddhist, they will hate you. Right. Cause if they're not going to change their religion,
they're going to hate you for what you believe. And see, you know, when it comes to politicians,
politicians become popular because they just don't tell people what they believe.
That's why they don't say stuff because you tell people, Hey, this is what I believe. People hate
you. Right. But your job as a pastor or preacher is to preach the truth. And what does that mean?
It means it's not just me. All of us will be an abomination to the unsaved world that rejects the
Bible. I mean, just reading Leviticus 2013 in some countries is illegal. In Canada,
we would always hear about it because it's right beside the U S and preachers have been arrested.
It was illegal by law to read Leviticus 2013 in the country of Canada. I don't know what the
law is now, but I remember reading about a Baptist pastor getting arrested for just reading Leviticus
2013. Right. I'm sure Genesis 19 in some parts, you know what you'll be in trouble
or maybe in, you know, Muslim countries reading the Bible will get you in trouble.
Right. I mean, this is, this is the reality probably in India. It's illegal to read Exodus 32.
Right. This is the reality in today's world. And you know what, if you stand
up for the things of God, you will not be loved by the world. And so when you see these mega
preachers like Joel Osteen loved by the whale, something's wrong. I mean, the Bible says,
woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so they did to the false prophets.
False prophets are loved by the world, but not if you're actually preaching the truth.
Go to Titus 2. Titus 2. Titus 2. Titus chapter 2.
And the Egyptians literally hated every shepherd probably because they were eating cow meat.
But in a symbolic sense, I think the Bible is trying to teach us, you know what
false religions will hate true preachers, but they don't hate false preachers.
Right. I've said this story before when I was in Guyana, several Hindus spoke very well of Joel
Osteen. Couple spoke well of TD Jakes. It's funny because I don't think they would speak well of me.
I don't think they liked my sermons that I preached on Hinduism very much.
I'm pretty sure though, Joel Osteen never says anything. I mean, he's just an encouraging
preacher. Everybody can love him because he's not negative. What was Jesus always encouraging
in the Bible? I mean, he's always ripping false religions. And obviously, you know what,
there's compassion outside the pulpit when you're just dealing with people on a regular basis.
But in terms of sermons preached, if you say nothing negative, then why are you saying anything?
Right. And I've said this before and, you know, I heard this from Pastor Anderson and this is true.
It's like the problem with false preachers is not really what they're saying.
It's what they're not saying. I mean, if you listen to a Joel Osteen sermon,
there's a good chance he wouldn't say anything wrong. If he says something like,
Hey, we ought to love one another. That's true. You got to love one another. You ought to have
compassion and kindness towards others. Be patient with people. That's true.
The problem is what is he not saying? Right? Number one, a hatred of preachers.
Number two, peculiar people. See, the shepherds were peculiar to the Egyptians.
Anyway, as God's people, as we are ambassadors for Christ, we're his representatives. We have
a message to get, but we're also just his representatives on earth. Right?
Guide us to verse 11. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lust, we should live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world. Now I've always liked the connection in verses
11 and 12 because verse 11 is clear that Jesus died for everybody. But then in verse 12, it says,
teaching us. And Paul says, he's referring to us that are saved. And what the Bible is saying is
that the grace of God that bringeth salvation, when you get saved, it does actually teach you
things that you might not get being an unsafe person. It teaches us we should live godly in
this present world. Right? Here's the thing. Some people ask, you know, why don't you come out and
drink with us? And you're like, yeah, you know, I don't drink alcohol. Yeah, just come hang out
with us. You know, you don't have to drink. It's like, they just don't get it. You're like, ah,
you know, I don't like that atmosphere. They have company parties, right? If you've been part of a
big office party before, anyway, I I've gone to office parties before because I kind of felt
obligated. And then shortly afterwards, it's like, I got to get out of here because people
are getting trashed, right? It's just like, I don't want to be around that atmosphere.
I don't want to teach my kids that it's okay. Right. You know, I wouldn't want my kids. You
know, I remember someone from, you know, the U S they were saying they had, you know, gotten saved
before a while before, but they were starting to really try to live godly. And they had a lot of
family members that would just say, you know, want, want to drink around their kids. And they
said, Hey, we can't come over to your house. If you're getting drunk, you know, it's just not the
atmosphere. We want to teach your kids. We don't want to think it's okay. And of course, people
will look at, look at you like, Oh, you're some self-righteous person. Look at you, you holier
than now. That's what they'll accuse you of. Even if you don't make it a point, cause I don't think
you should make it a point to criticize other people. But at the same time, you got to have
standards where you say, Hey, eventually it can be too far. It's just, you know, I, you know,
I'm sorry, but I can't be around that atmosphere. And people can often get mad at you for taking
that stance, right? We should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world,
looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our savior,
Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purifying
to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. We ought to be peculiar. We ought to be
a little bit different than the average person the Bible is saying, right? Look, the things you
talk about should be different than the things that the world talks about. The things you watch
ought to be different than the things that the world watches. The things you listen to
ought to be different because we're peculiar. Not that you're being strange on purpose. That's not
what I'm saying. I'm not saying I go to the grocery store like this, right? You know,
I go to the grocery store just wearing normal clothes that you would wear at a grocery store.
I'm not trying to stand out like some Buddhist monk with their orange garb where everybody
notices them. We're not saying intentionally try to be strange. We're just saying if you have
standards of living for God, there are a lot of things that you're going to be against that
other people just don't understand. And here's the thing, they're not going to understand because
they're not saved. So I'm not saying we've got to try to convince them to be like us. I mean,
try to get people saved if they're not saved. That's really all that we should be trying to
get them to do because they're not going to get the other stuff, right? Go to your Bible
to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 9. But ye are chosen generation of royal priesthood in
a holy nation of peculiar people. Now, of course, we believe that the Jews were rejected as a people
being God's nation and God's people. Here's the thing, the Jews were meant the nation of Israel
to be peculiar, to be different. Once they're setting up golden caps, you're no different
than anybody. They're supposed to be peculiar, a holy nation. Now it says this in verse 11,
dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims. See, I mean, when we sing that song,
this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere
beyond the blue. This is not our home. It's not our home. We shouldn't be trying to build up
treasures here on earth. You ought to be trying to build up treasures up in heaven. You say why?
Because that's our home. And of course, if we live with the mindset of that's my permanent home,
we're going to be different than other people. All right, someone says, hey, why don't you come party
with me? No, I got to go soul winning. Go soul winning? Why would you do that? Because you're
laying up treasures for heaven. There are also things in this world that are not necessarily
wrong. Go to 2 Corinthians 6. There are things that are not necessarily wrong,
but at the same time, they can take your focus off of what's really important.
I grew up when I was a kid and every sports, every championship, every playoff game and every sport,
I watched it all. I always loved sports. Now, is there anything inherently sinful about watching
a basketball game? I don't think there is. Is there anything inherently sinful about watching
a sporting event? I mean, unless it's a sporting event where people are dressed in a really bad
way or whatever, there's nothing really inherently sinful or bad about just watching a sporting event.
But here's the thing, it doesn't get you any rewards in heaven, right? And, you know,
many people, because I would say that the average Christian, the average saved person is probably
living godlier than the average unsafe person. I would agree with that. But at the same time,
even if they're doing things that are not really sinful, are they actually useful though?
Because the average saved person is not reading their Bibles. The average saved person is not
going sowing, not spending time in prayer, memorizing the Bible. And it's like, they
might be doing things that are not that bad compared to what the world is doing,
but are they that good? That'd be different. That'd be peculiar, right?
You know, if you work at an office and every conversation, you know, all the same information
as the person that's, you know, there's something wrong there, right? Because the thing we shouldn't
be watching and listening to the exact same things that everybody else is actually doing.
You got to be a peculiar people. And lastly, hatred of preachers, peculiar people,
separation from the ungodly. Second Corinthians 6, verse 14,
be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship hath righteousness with
righteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial?
What part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk
in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Wherefore, come out from among them
and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing and I will receive you.
And I will be a father unto you and ye should be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
The Bible says we ought to be peculiar. We ought to be separate. We ought to separate
from ungodliness, right? Now, look, our church is not a large church, but you know what? I'm glad
that there are other families at our church that we can fellowship with, have fun with.
Sometimes after church, after so many people go and they hang out, eat, and I think that's great
because we need to have close friends with those that love God by being a church family, right?
Because the thing is, if you separate from ungodliness and separate from other people
that are promoting ungodliness, kind of leaves a void in your life. And this is something that's
hard for people when they first kind of cross over to a church like ours if they don't get connected
with the fellowship. Because the thing is, once you start serving God, a lot of your friends just,
they don't like the new you, right? I mean, the people that I was friends with before I was saved,
I haven't talked to any of them in a really long time. Now, I'm not saying that you can't talk to
people that you're friends with before you're saved. I'm just saying, though,
you start serving God and people don't understand. They don't agree. They don't understand why.
I mean, there's probably people at your old Baptist churches that don't understand the new you,
right? Why? Because of the fact when you're on fire for God, you become a peculiar person.
You got to separate from certain things that you don't approve of, right? It just makes you
different. It just is what it is. And here's the thing. We're going to be an abomination
to the Egyptians, symbolically speaking. But I'll tell you what, we ought to consider sin
to be an abomination. We ought to look at the ungodliness in this world and say, hey, you know
what? Enough is enough. I'm going to take a stand and say, you know what? I don't want to be like
the average person today. I'm sorry, but the average person here in the Philippines is watching
Vice Pong eat all the time. I'm sorry. That's not going to be me.
It's like, it's, it's not, I mean, it's annoying enough when you're just,
you know, driving, you see the billboards or the commercials. It's like, I'm sorry,
but a guy dressing as a girl is never going to be normal. I don't want to be around that.
I don't want to hear the crude jokes that person makes. If you can call that person a person
referring to Vice Pong, I don't know if you can call him a person or not. He's something. He,
she, something, right? It's like, you got to be different than the world, right? And it, and
sometimes it seems extreme because you know what? You want to, I mean, all of us, we just want to
fit in with everyone. Wouldn't you like to just be liked by everybody? Look, I wish that everybody
liked me. I wish I didn't have to say anything negative. I'm not trying to cause any enemies in
this world and look as much as life in you live peaceably with all men. The Bible says,
we should strive to be at peace with people. Look, if you have unsafe family members,
try to get along with them the best you can. We also have to realize if you stand up for God,
it could certainly cause some divisions in your life. And here's the thing. If you got to make a
choice, it shouldn't be hard to see which side should you choose. Should I choose? Who is on
the Lord's side? We're going to take God's side or we're going to take the world's side, right?
Every shepherd is an abomination of the Egyptians because of what they believe, what they stood for
and the way they live their lives. Let's close the Word of prayer. Your heavenly Father.