All right, well it's great to be here at Steadfast Baptist, and my wife and I
actually visited this church shortly after we got married in 2015, and I think
you guys were just out of the home. You guys are running about 40 or 50 people.
It's nice to see familiar faces that were back then, but there's also a lot
more people now than that, and when we visited the church, you know, I didn't
really know Pastor Romero that well. You know, I knew the other pastors in our
movement pretty well, but I had not really talked to Pastor Romero much at
all, but you know, the one thing that really, you know, we noticed is that when
I think of Pastor Romero, I just think of someone who loves the Brethren. I think of
their family, and I just think, man, whenever I think of Pastor Romero, I was like,
that guy loves the Brethren, and I really can say he reached out to me as a friend,
and I didn't know him, you know, and he was a pastor, and I was thinking, wow, this guy, he
doesn't even know who I am, and he's just like really open and really friendly. It's
not surprising when somebody's really zealous, and they love the Brethren, how
the combination results in this. A church that's getting, what are you guys, like
2,500 salvations this year? I mean, that's amazing. This church is on fire. This church
is growing. It's great to see that. Now, we're in James chapter 3, and I want you
to look at verse number 14 in the Bible, where the Bible reads in James chapter 3,
verse 14, but if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and
lie not against the truth. The name of the sermon this morning is this, lie not
against the truth. Lie not against the truth. Earlier this year, this verse
really just kind of hit me like it never has before, and James is probably the
book of the Bible I would think that I probably know better than any book. It's
the first book I memorized, but the Bible's just so deep that you can read
it over and over and over again, and then all of a sudden something just hits you
that never clicked before, and it says here lie not against the truth. Now,
there's a lot of different types of lies. You know, somebody could just tell you a
bold-faced lie. You know, I was going soul-wanting yesterday, and I started the
conversation with a guy, and he told me, you got to leave your sins at the altar
to get saved, and he said, man, you can lose your salvation. You can't just, you
know, walk the same walk and expect you're gonna go to heaven. I mean, he made
it very, very clear he believed in work salvation. It wasn't a gray area situation,
so I go through the gospel with him, and then at the end he's like, oh, I didn't
say you have to leave your sins at the altar. I didn't say that. I was like, well,
you told me that you can lose your salvation. He's like, no, no, of course you
can't lose your salvation. He's like, I knew that, and it was just like, man, the
guy's just lying to me. You know, I hope he's just really prideful, and he ended
up believing at the end. I have no idea, but you know, lying is just, people just
tell bold-faced lies, and they think nothing of it. I was just reading this
morning about, you know, Jacob just telling a bold-faced lie to his father,
pretending to be his brother, and you just see bold-faced lies even throughout
the Bible, even people that are saved. You know, there's little white lies people
might tell, which might not seem like a big deal, but a lie's a lie. It's still a
sin. Or somebody might say, you know what, I'm gonna start going soul-wanting every
week, and then they, on Saturday they don't come, on Sunday they don't come, and
then just week by week goes by. A few weeks later, they hear the preaching, they
agree again, man, I'm gonna start coming soul-wanting every week, and they never do
it. Well, they're breaking their promise. They're lying about what they said that
they were gonna do. Well, you know, even in today's world, people exaggerate
stories. You know, you talk to people that are older, and they talk about their old
high school football days, and boy, they were the greatest player who ever lived,
and they just exaggerate those stories. So there's a lot of different types of
lies. Now, I could raise my hand today and tell you, you know, I own a red Chevy. Now,
that would be a lie. You could look in my driveway at my house and verify that
that's not true. There's actually demonstrative and physical evidence to
prove that that's a lie. You can look at the information on my car, and you could
see that it's not a red Chevy. But in James 3 14, I want you to look at this,
this is none of those things. This is a very specific type of lie. Look at James
3 14. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts,
like glory, not in line, not against the truth. This is talking about something
that's actually inside your heart. Now, here's the thing this morning. You
could tell me that you love soul winning, and I can't see your heart. I
have no clue what's inside your heart. I don't know if that's true or not. You
know, Brother Philip told me, Man, I love soul winning, man. There's nothing
I like more. I just love reaching the lost. I can't tell whether that's true
or not. The best indication I have, though, is is he here on Saturday for
so winning? Is he here for Sunday on so winning? His works are going to
indicate me indicate to me the status of his heart. That's all I can go off
of. I don't know whether what he's saying to me is true or not, but your
actions are going to manifest was actually inside your heart. You know,
plenty of people say that they love God. I don't know how many I f b churches
there are in Texas, but let's say there's a I'm sure there's a lot more
than 100. But there's 100 I f b churches. Let's say 100 people per
church. That's 10,000 people. You could walk up to those 10,000 people and ask
them if they love reaching the lost. They're all gonna tell you yes. Every
single one is gonna tell you yes, they love reaching the lost. And here's the
thing, though, they actually believe that's true. They don't realize they're
lying. They believe that they actually care about the lost in their heart. But
that's actually not true. And their works manifest that it's not true. But
they do not realize that they're lying. I mean, look at James 3 13 and this
shows you what I'm saying is true that your works indicate the status of your
heart. It says, Who is a wise man and a dude with knowledge among you? Let him
show out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. And the
first word in verse 14 is but so it's looking at two different thoughts. You
have the person's actually showing that he loves people, that he's showing
through his works and the other person who's lying because there are no works
to back up what he says. Now, here's the word conversation in verse 13. You can
look that up in the Bible. It does not just simply mean the things that you say.
It's everything about your life. But you see here that your works indicate the
status of your heart. Turn to Jeremiah 17.
Now, this might sound like a mean statement or a callous statement, but I'll
be honest with you. I don't really care that much this morning what the status
of your heart is. But here's what I do care about. I care about the status of my
heart. And see, I can only know what you actually care about based on your
actions, but here's the thing. We don't know our own hearts either. We don't know
what we actually care about, but our actions will indicate to us what we
actually care about. Let me turn to Jeremiah 17 myself as well. It says in
Jeremiah 17 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
Who can know it? See, I don't know your heart, but I don't know my own either. We
cannot know our heart. It deceives us. It lies to us. We cannot trust just in our
emotions. It says in verse 10, I the Lord search the heart. I try the rains, even to
give every man according to his ways and according to the fruit of his doings.
See, God can actually look inside the heart, and he knows what's inside there.
But I can't see anybody else's heart, and I can't really tell my own heart either.
But my actions will help give an indication what's actually inside my
heart. Turn to 1 Samuel 16. You see, we're an independent, fundamental Baptist
church. We're not a bunch of Pentecostals up here today who base
everything on their emotions, and they say, man, I really feel like I love God,
but they're not, I mean, they don't even believe on Jesus Christ. They're not safe,
but they don't go soul winning. They don't read the Bible. They don't try to
reach the lost. We're not a Pentecostal church here. We're not a bunch of Mormons
that pray about the Book of Mormon or pray whether Joseph Smith's a prophet,
and they get this feeling inside their heart. And we need to understand today
that our feelings will deceive us, and we might think that we love God, but we need
to look at our actions because that is going to indicate whether or not you
love God. I mean, I'm sure everybody in this room would say, man, they love God.
They love reading the Bible, and I hope that's true with most people, but
honestly, we have to look at our own actions and find out. And here's what
people do a lot of times with the preaching. They look at somebody else and
say, man, brother so-and-so, he really needed that sermon, didn't he? Instead of
just applying it to themselves, and honestly, you know, even if a lot of
people need it, I don't need to worry about other people. I need to worry about
where's the status of my heart because my heart can deceive me. I might think I
love God, but you know, if I'm not reading the Bible much, you know, if I'm not
zealous for soul winning, I'm not praying much, that shows there's something wrong
in my heart. And honestly, we all go through good spells and bad spells. When
we're in a good spell, we feel like we're on fire for God. When we're in a bad
spell, we feel like we're right with God, too. And we got to look at our works, and
that's going to indicate how right with God you are. In 1 Samuel 16, 7, it says
this, But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance or on the
height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord seeth not as
man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart. See, God knows what's actually inside the heart. Your works are not a
perfect indication of the status of your heart, but they're the best indication
that we have. You know, somebody might go soul winning a lot simply to be seen of
men. It doesn't mean they really care about the loss. It might not be true. And
we ourselves, sometimes we might go soul winning for those same reasons. That
doesn't mean that we really love the loss. Now, I do want to say something
before we get into this sermon because I don't want people to be confused about
this. Some people will say this. They say, wow, if somebody is really saved, the
best evidence is their works. And that's garbage. That is not what the
Bible teaches. And here's the reason why that doesn't make any sense. Since
salvation is based on what we believe, the best indication of if someone's
saved is what they say they believe. That's the outward manifestation. Now
they could be lying to us. We don't know what's really inside their heart, what
they really believe, but that's all we can go off of. You know, we knock a door
and somebody is drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, but they tell us
salvation is a free gift, that you don't have to repent of your sins. You can
never lose your salvation. I believe that person is saved. I don't care whether
they're drinking, you know, beer. That doesn't affect whether or not they're
saved. Somebody could answer the door, though, wearing a suit and tie. And
they're singing from soul stirring songs and hymns when we knock that door. And
then they tell you, well, you got to repent of your sins. And honestly,
there's a lot of IFBs that are going to say that. Look, I got to look at that and
assume that person's lost. Now, I hope they're just confused, but I've got to
assume they're lost based on what they say they believe. So I'm not sitting here
saying that we can tell whether or not somebody's saved based on their works, but
I'll tell you this, the Bible says, if you love me, keep my commandments. You want to
find out if somebody loves God, do they keep the commandments of God? You know, I
was going soul winning with a friend of mine in West Virginia one time, and you
know, I got saved at West Virginia University, you know, college campus. And
so we would knock a lot of the same areas, because we had a smaller group, not
like an army like we have here today of soul winners. And so we'd go to the most
receptive areas where we knew the freshmen were and some sophomores, and we
knocked in this area that we had knocked a few months earlier. And the college
where I was, oftentimes four people would live in one place. And so you could knock
that same door the next day, and the odds are it's not going to be the same person
who answers. So we would knock a lot of the same areas. And so I was a silent
partner at the door, and my friend knocks the door, and the person opens it, and I
realized immediately, wow, I just got this person saved a couple months ago. Now
here's the thing. I wanted to see whether or not she really got it. You know, I
want to see whether or not it really made sense to her. I want to know whether
or not I'm doing a good job soul winning. So what I did is I slid to the side so
she couldn't see me. I was kind of blocked by the door, and he's going
through the gospel with her. She said she was from a Catholic church, and so
immediately he assumed she probably wasn't saved, you know, because obviously
the Catholics do not teach salvation by grace through faith. But she's answering
everything right, and she's answering really well, too. He's like, well, you know,
what do you have to do to be saved? She's like, well, just believe on Jesus Christ.
He's like, do you have to do any worse? And she's like, no, it's a gift. And he's like,
well, can you ever lose it? Like, let's say you murdered someone. She's like, no. What
if you committed suicide? She's like, no. And he has this puzzled look on his face,
like, what in the world? He's like, I know she's lost, but she's giving all the
right answers. And then all of a sudden he just kind of walks away. He's like, all
right. He's just kind of like, what just happened? And then I told him, yeah, I just
got that person saved a couple months ago. And so, you know, we can't necessarily go
off of what they look like. We go off what they say they believe. That shows us,
you know, whether or not they're saved. And she answered her right. She got saved.
So what I want to do this morning, what I've told you as an introduction is this,
we cannot really trust our heart. So I want to look at four different areas
that are common to our movement. Three of them are very specific to this movement.
They wouldn't really apply to other IFB churches, but they're very specific to
this movement. And one would apply to pretty much any church. But areas where I
see people say they believe something or they care about something, but their
actions often indicate that it's not really true. And this is the sort of
sermon, you know, you could easily get offended because you say, no, I really do
feel that way. But what we just saw was very clearly your works will indicate
what's inside your hearts. You need to be open-minded. What does the Bible say? And
that is going to really show you whether or not you feel the way you say you do.
Now the first area I want to show you where I see a lot of people turn to 1
Samuel 19 actually. The first area I want to show you where I see a lot of
people lying against the truth. Let me be very clear what I mean. What I'm saying,
the things I'm going over today, I believe that people honestly think that
they mean them. You know, they don't realize they're lying. They think what
they're saying is true. But we got to look at the works to see whether or not
that's actually what's inside your heart. Because the works are going to show
whether or not it's true what they say. The first thing I want to look
at is this. When men say they have the desire to be a pastor, they say, I
desire the office of a bishop. In our movement, it's kind of the cool
thing to say you want to be a pastor. But you know, the works of a lot of people
that say they want to be a pastor, it would indicate that they do not want to
be a pastor. Look at 1 Samuel 19. Look at verse number 20. It says in
1 Samuel 19 verse 20,
So we see that Samuel's kind of standing appointed. He's kind of running the show
here. It says in verse 21,
Where are Samuel and David?
What we see, because the first point of this that I want to show you is this,
you know, obviously preaching is a big part of being a pastor. You're going to be
preaching 40 minutes to an hour each sermon, three times a week. That's two
hours to three hours of preaching, probably at least a week. What we see is
basically a preaching night here at 1 Samuel chapter 19. And what you see is
the power of all of these sermons. Now here's the thing. If you want to be a
pastor, I would think that you take the sermon seriously. Like on, what is it,
October 7th at the preaching night? I would think if you really want to be a
pastor, you would take that very seriously. Because, you know, that's a
good opportunity to practice writing sermons. It's good to practice in front
of people to develop your skill. And honestly, I listen to a lot of sermons
from, you know, churches in our movement, and I listen to preaching nights. And
what you can see is some people take it seriously, and some people just get up
here and wing it. And, you know, sometimes the people that get up here and wing it,
they might sound like they're dynamic because basically their sermon will be,
they'll just pound the pulpit and say, man, we believe in soul winning or we
hate the sodomites. It's like one of those two things. But they obviously
didn't spend time creating like a real sermon. And obviously we need the times
where we pound the pulpit on those things. You know, there's a lot in the
Bible. And, you know, when I get a chance to preach, I want to preach something
kind of new, something where people kind of learn. Not some new doctrine,
but it presented in a new way, so it really hits people. And honestly, you hear
people at the preaching nights that say they want to be pastors, and they do not
take it seriously. They don't spend much time at all preparing. I heard a guy that
said he wanted to be a pastor, and he kind of bragged to me about it only took him
30 minutes to prepare a sermon for the preaching night. You know, 30 minutes in
total of writing it and preparing it. And he said it like it was a good thing. Now
when I heard that, I was just thinking, man, for a 10-minute sermon, I usually
spend like two, three hours, you know, and more if I have more time. You know, like
this morning, I have a bad habit of waking up very early in the
morning. You could ask my wife. It was 4 30 in the morning. I woke up before my alarm,
and I just took my sermon this morning, just went out walking, just looked over
for like an hour and a half just practicing. I have extra time to prepare
it. I want to spend extra time, because if it can make it even a little
bit better. I believe the preaching of the Word of God has power. I believe it
can change people's lives, and I want to make sure I do a good job. And you see
people that say they want to be pastors, and they don't spend any real time
preparing their sermons at the preaching nights, or sometimes they don't even get
up to preach. They say they want to be pastors, and here's their chance, and they
don't even come with a sermon prepared. They don't even preach at all. You know,
and it's not just not spending much time. I believe if you want to be a pastor, you
should be always ready to preach. You know, at this church, it's a very zealous
church. I'm sure there's a lot of everyday soul winners here. People that
in their personal lives are looking for people to win. And the reason why you're
an everyday soul winner is you really believe in soul winning. You love soul
winning. You care about the loss. You want to see people get saved. But you
know, if you want to be a pastor, you should feel that way about what
you're preaching as well. And you ought to come prepared to preach. Every single
service at Verity Baptist, I have a full-length sermon in my car ready to go.
Like, last second, if my pastor gets in a car wreck, or if he wakes up in the
morning really sick, I want to be ready, you know, in case I get a chance. And
here's the thing. There is a prepared place for a prepared person. That's the
truth. On our honeymoon, we were in Sedona, Arizona because we had a family
member that graciously gave us a timeshare for a week. And so we ended
up visiting both Faithful Word and Word of Truth. And I had two full-length
sermons ready to go just in case. Now, I didn't know whether I'd be preaching. I
wasn't expecting anything. But you know, if I got a chance to preach, I didn't
want to be writing a sermon on my honeymoon. You know, I wanted to make sure
I was ready to go. And so I ended up getting, I can't remember if it was a text
message or a Facebook message from Pastor Berzins, and he asked me if I
wanted to preach the Sunday night sermon when I was visiting the church,
and I said absolutely. And here's the thing. If I wasn't prepared with the
sermon, guess what? I wouldn't have preached. But there is a prepared place
for a prepared person. And here's the thing. You don't have to sound a trumpet
and let Pastor Romero know you're ready to preach. Because the one you're trying
to impress is not really Pastor Romero. God's the one who sees everything. He
knows who in this room is taking it seriously and who's not. Now usually it's
pretty obvious who takes the preaching seriously when they preach the preaching
nights and who doesn't. But even if you trick man, you're not gonna trick God.
God knows who cares about it. And if you want to be a pastor one day, God's
gonna look down on someone who actually really cares, who's passionate about
preaching, who wants to preach a sermon that can change people's lives. You ought
to be that person who's always ready to preach. Pastor Romero, let's say for
example something happens. He should be able to call on a few people that are
ready to go last second. If there's a car wreck or he wakes up really sick, it
shouldn't be last second someone's just like flipping around saying, well I guess
I'll just wing it. That shouldn't be the way it ought to be. I mean there ought to
be people ready to go to preach. You know my church in West Virginia about I
don't know four years ago I decided I was gonna start writing you know one
full-length sermon a week. You know I said if I really want to be a pastor I
need practice writing sermons. And I said if there's no one to preach to, I mean
this is West Virginia, you just walk out in the woods and scream. You know and so
I literally you know did that sometimes you know because there's no one within
long distance. And so it was literally like a week later my pastor came up to
me and he said you know I need a new full-time preacher at Junior Church. And
obviously we don't believe in Junior Church here you know where you break off
kids from the adults. But you know I think if you're at a lame church you
have an opportunity to serve. You know I've served on bus routes. You get a chance to
preach. Obviously I'm gonna take that. And so he asked me if I wanted to be the new
full-time preacher for Junior Church and I said absolutely. It was just amazing to
me how it's a big coincidence. I start preparing myself and God's like okay
you're prepared. Maybe God was waiting on me for a while. I don't really know. But
there's a prepared place for a prepared person. And if you say you want to be a
preacher one thing that would be evident is that you'd be spending time working
on sermons, looking for sermons, and definitely take the preaching night
seriously. Because even in small sermons everyone can be edified from them. You
can help change people's lives. This preaching is important. But it's not just
with preaching sermons. It's also with song leading. You know song leading is an
important part of a church service. It's not just the sermon but it's everything.
The announcements, the song leading, everything. And here's the reason why a
lot of people don't think that it's important. You know when I listen to a
sermon from Steadfast Baptist Church I only tune in for the sermon because you
know I listened to the sermon what was it, How to Resurrect a Dead Christian
Preached a Few Weeks Ago because that was a topic that really interested me.
And so I wanted to listen to it. Now I didn't listen to the music. I didn't listen
to the announcements. I was there for the sermon. And so sometimes I think in our
movement you tune into a lot of people's sermons and you don't hear the music so
you start thinking well the music's not important. It's all about the sermon. But
here's what you have to understand. You get somebody saved out soloing on the
street. You realize they probably don't care about the post-trip rapture. That's
probably not that important to them when they first get saved. When I first got
saved guess what wasn't important? Whether or not the rapture is pre-trip
or post-trip. I didn't even care about the King James Bible when I first got
saved. And honestly when someone first comes to this church they're gonna care
more about the fellowship and how friendly people are, how welcoming, the
songs. Now here's the thing. The goal is that they'll switch over to really
caring about doctrine. Really caring about soul winning and the King James
Bible and hard preaching. But when someone first gets saved they're probably not
gonna be like that. Now in our movement a lot of people get saved through
conspiracy theories and you know hearing after the tribulation and stuff like
that. So you might think of it differently but I'm telling you if you
get somebody saved on the street who visits church they don't care about a
lot of the things that you might think they do. They're gonna care about the
music and first impressions are powerful. And honestly song leading is difficult.
Ask the men at this church to do song leading. It isn't easy. You might say well
I'm in tune when I sing the song. It's different when you're behind the pulpit.
When I first started leading songs at Verity Baptist my voice cracked every
single time because I was incredibly nervous and I was like man I thought I
had an okay voice but I get up here and I sound like I have a frog in my throat.
And it's a lot more difficult than you realize and honestly I would rather you
know figure it out now and practice. You know take out the hymnal and practice at
home. Look online and just practice leading the music so when you get up
here you're ready but I mean if you want to be a pastor that's an area you got to
figure out. And I understand you don't feel comfortable doing it neither did I.
You know when I first started leading music I was more nervous every time I
led music than when I preached a sermon. But you know I'm glad that you know
after practicing over the last you know over a year it's really helped me learn
and get better. And if you want to be a pastor that's an important part. Another
area that's important if you say you want to be a pastor is this is investing
time into your wife and family spiritually. You need to invest in them
if you want to be a pastor because the ministry is difficult. Now let me say
this before I go on because I kind of forgot to say this but I don't want to
persuade someone not to want to be a pastor. That's the last thing I would
want to do because we need pastors out there. The Bible says if a man desires the
office of a bishop he desires the good work. Now if you feel you have that
desire that's great. You know that's not necessarily everybody's calling. I don't
think everyone has to be a pastor. But here's the thing I just want to show you
these things so if you say you want to be a pastor you look at your works and
say man I got to fix that now because I got a real I got to prepare myself now.
Now investing into your wife and family that's gonna be huge. Think about this
let's say for example you're preaching the sermon there's 500 sodomites
surrounding your building. You know that could happen maybe even in Texas I don't
know you know happens in California. But here's the thing it doesn't matter if
you've read the Bible a hundred times. You know if your wife is not strong
spiritually she's not gonna be able to make it through that. That's gonna be
tough when they're threatening and you better believe the things they were
saying to us. You know going to church people threatening kids in ways that I'm
not gonna repeat. I mean it's reality. And here's the thing if you're gonna be a
pastor your wife needs to be spiritually strong. Your kids need to be spiritually
strong because the attacks are gonna probably come on the wives not the
husbands. And the wives are the stronger vessel. The husbands
are the stronger vessel. The wives are the weaker vessel. And so the devil knows
who can I attack. Think about this the devil came to eat. And when if you start
a church one day the devil is probably gonna come to your wife. And if your wife
isn't spiritually strong enough to take it it's it's gonna be very hard. You know
it's gonna be worth it to invest in the time now to teach your wife to be
spiritual. Get her to read the Bible. You know have a Bible reading plan and
memorize the Bible and have a prayer life. Because if you don't do it now
you're probably not gonna make it as a pastor. It's gonna be very difficult if
your family's not spiritually strong. And one thing about the old IFB movement
they kind of go off this thing where it's okay if the pastor is godly but the
wife you know it doesn't matter if she reads the Bible. That's not really what
we believe in this movement. We believe the wives especially as they homeschool
the kids they need to know the Bible. So they can teach and train their kids. You
know both husbands and we're not a church where the ladies don't go
soul-winning. Because in some IFB churches ladies really aren't even
allowed to go soul-winning. It's not considered a good thing. But here if
you're gonna be soul-winning and teaching your kids you need to know the
Bible. You need to be spiritually strong and it's worth it to invest your time. If
you're a married guy who says you want to be a pastor invest in your wife
spiritually. It is worth it. It might be difficult. It might take time. It's very
important though if you expect to make it. But yeah this point also applies to
ladies as well because there's a lot of ladies that would say I want my husband
to be a pastor. And a lot of ladies might say that but sometimes their works don't
really indicate that. You know this last point applies to ladies as well. Ladies
if you want your husband to be a pastor the number one thing prepare yourself
spiritually. Don't make it where your husband always has to ask you to read
the Bible. Just decide I'm gonna read the Bible every day no matter what. I'm gonna
memorize the Bible every day no matter what. I'm gonna pray no matter what every
day. You know if your husband always has to ask you to do it and here's the thing
you know we have free will. Ladies can decide I'm just not gonna do it. And
here's the thing ladies you just need to decide yourself if you want if you're
willing to be a pastor's wife and support your husband and that desire
that he has you need to prepare yourself spiritually. Another way is this that you
know when you preach sermons you know it's very difficult unless you're in the
right mind. You know I can think of one time specifically where I preached a
sermon and I had a lot of stuff going on in my personal life. I was very emotional
and here's the thing though and I guarantee you Pastor Ramirez had plenty
of times up here where he preached in his personal life he probably had
emotions and things in his mind but he got up here he played the man and nobody
even noticed it. And that's what I had to do you know Pastor Mendez was out of
town I preached a Sunday morning sermon some people knew what was going on some
didn't. Nobody even knew that came there. People that didn't know before they
didn't even realize anything was different because I just got up here
just had to set my mind right and just preach the sermon because that's what
I'm called to do. That's in the book of Ezekiel that's kind of like what
Ezekiel does. You know his wife dies like well just keep going. It's pretty harsh
like man you know Ezekiel if you want to think of one guy who really had a tough
life that guy had a tough life. But here's what you need to understand
ladies you shouldn't distract your husband in a short time before he's
gonna preach. Within 24 hours he needs to keep his mind clear. The preaching is
very important and you ladies need to realize this preaching is very important
and if a guy's mind is somewhere else it's very hard to get filled with the
Spirit and preach with boldness if his mind is somewhere else. And the other
thing I want to say about this ladies who say I desire to be a pastor's wife
my husband to be a pastor is this. You shouldn't downgrade the importance of
your husband preparing for the ministry. You know if your husband spends lots of
time reading the Bible you know you could do far worse for a husband than a
guy who spends a little bit too much time reading the Bible. I mean there's a
lot of losers and derelicts out there. You know if your husband spends lots of
time reading the Bible and memorizing and having a prayer life and he's trying
to grow and learn as a pastor you know you got to be thankful that you married a guy
like that rather than some loser derelict that's gonna cheat on you. You
should be happy with that guy. You need to realize the importance of your
husband spending you know a lot of time and one thing I'm very happy and blessed
to is I can say that about my wife like I will go out sometimes on I like I have
nervous energy so I go out and walk to memorize the Bible and I'm just walking
and memorizing and sometimes I'll go out for a while just working on the sermon
or memorizing the Bible. It's important that your wife's gonna be supportive of
you spending that time. Turn to First Samuel 17.
So the first point we saw was this. The desire to be a pastor. A lot of people
say they have that desire. They desire the office of the bishop but they're
lying against the truth and here's the thing I want you to keep that desire but
I want you to fix the works. Fix the works and make it back up what you claim
is in your heart. Fix your heart today and really prepare yourself because it's
good it's not something you can go half in and say maybe I'll be a pastor maybe
I won't. Can you imagine if somebody was in law school and they're like well you
know maybe I'll go through law school or I might quit this semester maybe join
back in a year or something like that that'd be ridiculous you know for one
you couldn't afford it but you either go it all in or you don't and just decide
you say I want to be a pastor realize it's gonna be a lot of work but just go
all in if you want to do it you got to go all in you can't go half-heartedly
because you will not make it and you're just wasting your time and you're also
wasting your pastor's time when he's praying for you every week because I'm
sure he wants lots of churches started and when you say you have a desire to be
a pastor and you're kind of half in half out you know don't waste his time
take it seriously and just go for it the second thing I want to look at is this
so not just a desire to be a pastor but a love toward the brethren that's
something where a lot of people say they love the brethren but their works don't
really indicate it now this is the point that applies not just really to our
movement but you know to every church you know everybody no matter where I'm
sure they would tell you that they love the brethren they love other people that
are saved I mean the IFB's out there they say they love us but I'm pretty
sure they don't you know they say oh I love pastor Marrow man I love pastor
men as in Pastor Anderson and it's very obvious they hate them it's very
obvious they do not love them the average run-of-the-mill you know IFB
house Anderson type church out there it's obvious they don't they say they do
but it's obvious they don't now you don't have to turn back there I want you
to say in first Samuel 17 but this this is the point that really applies
directly to the verse we talked about where it says but if you have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts glory not lie not against the truth so having
envy or strife in your hearts that'd be like envy towards somebody else or
strife towards somebody else and in this church world it happens all the time
people are constantly fighting in churches yeah and they won't admit that
they're mad at so-and-so they'll say no I'm not at all but they gossip about
them 24-7 and tell everybody about what they did whether they took their parking
space or their seat or whatever it is or something small or man they made one
rude comments I get over it that happened a long time ago but in first
Samuel 17 we see a very envious man here in Eliab look at verse 28 and Eliab his
eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men and Eliab's anger was kindled
against David and he said why cameest thou down hither and with whom has I
left those few sheep in the wilderness I know thy pride and the naughtiness of
thine heart for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle and David
said what have I now done is there not a cause he's like what did I do wrong he's
like I'm just saying I'm gonna go and fight the battle but you know what is
wrong with Eliab he's envious of his younger brother who's out doing him
spiritually he's mad that David is on fire for God and he's not same thing as
King Saul were that the they say Saul hath seen his thousands and David his
ten thousands Saul should have been happy for David but he wasn't same thing
as Eliab he's envious that David is right with God and envy inside your
heart will destroy your life you see that with Saul and David he never gets
it right it destroys his life you know how does this apply to a church you know
we go out soul winning we knock doors and maybe you come back and you didn't
get the most people saved in our group yesterday there was four people saved
between the guys and the ladies I got none of them you know I was the low guy
everybody else got somebody saved now it's very easy to be kind of envious and
other people that got somebody saved but that's stupid I mean if they got
someone saved you know praise the Lord that's great if they're getting a lot of
people safe don't be mad at your fellow brother if he gets more people saved
than you hey he's on fire for God that's great it's not a competition between me
and you we're on the same team it's ridiculous to say man I wish I had
gotten more people saved praise the Lord that somebody got saved that's what
counts or maybe at a preaching night somebody gets up here and preaches a
sermon and they preach a sermon that really edifies people and lots of people
come up and say man you know brother Jesse that was a great sermon don't be
mad at Jesse because people like discernment and honestly this stuff
happens where people think in their hearts man I had the best sermon or I
spent more time or they should have thanked me nobody said you a great job
you know that that's ridiculous we should not have envy against our fellow
brothers and you know I don't think that anyone would but you know I hope
everybody here is really happy for brother Adam Finn and the work he's doing
in Jacksonville don't be envious because he's being used greatly by God
it's not a competition praise the Lord they're doing a great work in
Jacksonville it's not a competition between us you know we need we need
great churches all over the world all over this country praise the Lord if
more great churches are started it's not a competition who gets more saves
steadfast severity who has more people at church steadfast severity we're on
the same team yeah if you guys have twice as much as us in five years you
guys are running a thousand that's great as long as we're doing well praise the
Lord if another church is doing great as well it's not a competition between us
turn to Proverbs 17 verse 9 and honestly that's easy to preach but I've even
noticed with myself that when somebody when my heart starts to get not right
and somebody's like one of my friends is you know really doing well spiritually
there's a small part of me that is almost mad at them you know what I mean
I don't know if you guys know what I'm talking about but there's a small part
of me that's kind of like envious because they're really on fire reading
the Bible memorizing the Bible it's something that can creep up on any of us
you know we got to watch for it every single one of us because there's a whole
verse devoted that in the Bible where it talks about that in James 3 14 and envy
will just absolutely destroy your life you keep thoughts of envy or something
else inside of you but also strife look at Proverbs 17 verse 9 it says in
Proverbs 17 verse 9 he that covereth a transgression seeketh love but he that
repeateth the matter of separated very friends in the Bible talks about
covering a transgression we kind of talked about this but are you the person
that when you find out something bad about someone you're repeating to other
people so you look better than them that's what people try to do when they
try to lift themselves up they'll tear other people down always instead of
covering a transgression and not mentioning it they send a text message
to another lady or another guy at the church saying hey did you know so-and-so
did this because it makes them look more spiritual yeah it's a terrible
wicked attitude to do something like that but it's something that goes on and
you got to watch for yourself that when you hear things don't repeat it just
just love your fellow brother and say you know man so so what if so and so did
something wrong you don't have to repeat it and let everybody know just cover the
matter don't repeat it turn to Ephesians chapter 4 now these are a few things
mentioned in James 3 14 we're gonna see in Ephesians 4 there's a lot of other
things inside your heart a lot of other emotions we can tear other people down
and they can destroy your life you know bitterness we're gonna see a lot of
things these things here in Ephesians 4 look at verse 31 it says let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away
from you with all malice and be kind one to another tender-hearted forgiving one
another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you so the Bible says that
you ought to forgive one another maybe somebody at church did do something
really wrong to you I know I could raise my hand and say I've done a lot of
stupid things over the years I can think of things that I accidentally said to
people at church and I thinking man that was really rude that was I hope they
forgive me and it's like you can't immediately necessarily get it right
sometimes we've all done things like that but if somebody accidentally said
something or even if it was malicious you know just get over it forgive them
because if you're bitter what it does is it destroys you it doesn't destroy the
person you're bitter at it will destroy your life and not the person that you're
bitter at but notice in verse 32 that's very interesting it says forgiving one
another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you now do we deserve to
be forgiven no we don't so here's what God's telling you even if someone does
not deserve to be forgiven forgive them it's not saying forgive them if they
deserve it now I mean how did God forgive us when we don't deserve it at
all and so it's the same thing with our fellow brother even if you're the guy
who's getting kicked around I mean think about David look at the things that
happen in his life you know people are all the time and he always turned the
other cheek with those people he forgave them that's the way we need to live our
lives even if somebody doesn't deserve forgiveness forgive them because if you
allow this to faster inside of you it will destroy your life and people are
gonna wonder a year from now how did so-and-so quit church and it all started
with something small in the heart and they didn't forgive someone and here's
the thing I'm sure all of us would say we have love toward the brethren but if
you're going around gossiping or you're upset at other people having success
that shows you really do not love the brethren like you say you do or love all
of the people at this church like you say you do it's something you need to
fix today turn to Ephesians 6
and so the first two points we saw this morning was this people lie against the
truth when they say they have the desire to be a pastor they they desire for
their husband to be a pastor people lie against the truth when they say they
have a love toward the brethren and their works indicate otherwise but the
third thing I want to talk about is the family model you know what I mean by the
family model or the family structure is the husband working and the wife staying
home and raising the kids now you might say at first that brother stuck you know
you've only been married a couple years you have your first kid on the way but
you don't have kids now I mean who are you to judge and say something about
this but actually I think I'm actually a very good person to preach on this
because I am actually a product of the family model you see I was homeschooled
starting in middle school and I know a few other people in our movement that
were raised IFB and homeschooled but I was not raised IFB I was raised United
Methodist and if it weren't for being homeschooled I do not believe I would be
here today I don't know if I would have gotten saved but being homeschooled you
know saved me from whatever would have happened because I look at the people I
was friends with in fifth grade before I got you know homeschooled all of those
people man they destroyed their lives you know friends that started to drink
and party and fornicate you know when they're in high school and even in
middle school it's like if my parents didn't pull me out I don't know what
happened to me so here's the thing about the family model there's a few things we
need to keep in mind of what our goal is one thing that's rather obvious is this
that your family will be spiritually strong I think we all know that
obviously if you want your kids homeschooled you don't want them to hear
about evolution you don't want them to hear about the sodomite agenda and this
liberal agenda and all that stuff so obviously if you homeschool them it can
help them be spiritually stronger but it's not just that the family model it's
gonna help families be close which is not gonna happen if your kids are in the
public school system they will not be as close as if you homeschool them families
will be closer the other thing is this your kids for sure will be more educated
if they are raised by their moms and top of their moms then the public pool
system they're gonna get a much better education and what I want to do when I'm
talking about this point I want to encourage some of the ladies here who
might be discouraged and feel like man I feel like the school system could do a
better job they cannot do a better job I promise you that we're gonna see that
here but this applies to both husbands and wives I believe husbands are the big
indicator of whether or not your family is gonna be close or not I think we're
the ones who are really gonna determine that and I'll tell you why because when
we work 40 50 60 hours a week the easy thing to do is sit around and be lazy
when you get off work and not spend time with your wife not spend time with your
kids but just kind of sit around and be lazy the world will go and they get done
with work and they turn on sports or news or whatever the rest of the night
and just sit there with a beer or whatever and do nothing with their
family that's what the world typically does but even as us as Christians it's
very easy when we get off work to just get there and say well I'm just gonna
check out what's going on a Facebook or YouTube and not really spend time with
my family but I want you to understand this you know when I was growing up you
know my dad like I said I was raising I'm Methodist my parents were not saved
they're saved now but they were not saved when I was growing up and you know
my dad every single Saturday would take me out to play sports you know whether
it's soccer or baseball basketball football he did what I enjoyed to do now
I didn't realize growing up that my dad is tired you know when he gets off work
you know I'm a little kid I'm just running around jumping making his you
know life crazy you know what I mean my sister we're opposite my sister read
books for 10 hours a day and I'm there during the winter time in West Virginia
just throwing around a football bang and stuff against the windows and stuff like
that like all day long you know I didn't realize my dad was tired and
exhausted from working all day because obviously I was a kid I wasn't out there
working I didn't really realize you know what he was doing but you know looking
back I just think you know if my dad hadn't spent time with me you know I
wouldn't be very close to him and obviously you know we need to teach our
kids to be spiritually strong but we need to spend time with them in general
you look at Ephesians 6 verse 4 it says and ye fathers provoke not your
children to wrath but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
this is a really interesting verse because I used to look at this verse and
when it says provoke not your children to wrath I just kind of thought of a dad
losing his temper and yelling at his kid would provoke them to wrath and I think
that's true but notice what it says but bring them up in the nurture and
admonition of the Lord that word nurture implies that you're actually spending
time with them that you're not just ignoring them but you're actually
spending time here's the thing if you do not spend time with your kids you
will provoke them to wrath that's a fact if you do not spend time with your kids
that want to spend time with you you will provoke them to wrath especially
when they come to a church like this and there are other fathers who will take
time out of their lives to spend time with their kids if the kids whose
parents don't care about them they will provoke their children to wrath we eat
when we get off work we need to spend time with our kids look at Ephesians
chapter 5
and obviously there's there's nothing really spiritual about going out and
kicking a soccer ball but it's just a matter of me you know that I just spent
time with my dad because I used to play soccer very regularly I used to travel
a lot for tournaments and stuff like that honestly I don't really remember
those tournaments that well that that's not my fondest memories you know my
fondest memories are just taking a soccer ball with my dad those are much
better memories and I still have a close relationship with my parents we actually
just on vacation with them in North Carolina before we came out here and I
have a close relationship because of the fact they invested time in me you know
if somebody loves you you in turn are gonna love them and when kids see that
their dads love them and their parents love them what's the result they're
gonna probably love yes it's really sad when you see kids that grow up and you
got parents that are just getting near retirement age and all of a sudden they
want to spend time with their kids because all of a sudden they have more
free time and then at that time though the kids don't want them in their life
anymore because it's like well you didn't spend time with me when I was
young now I'm working full-time I got other things that are more important
that's what happens with the world their model of the husband's working their
Cosby Show method where the dad's a doctor the wife's a lawyer but the house
always looks perfect and they spend lots of time together as a family they're
never stressed everything's perfect that's a bunch of garbage that's a
massive lie and people think that it's gonna work for them they chase after
money they live their life for money and they wonder why when their kids grow up
they don't want to have anything to do with them it's because you didn't spend
any time with them yeah that's the reason why you provoke them to wrath
they saw other dads that love their kids and since you didn't spend time they
don't really love you they don't really care about you that much look at
Ephesians chapter 5 let me turn there myself in Ephesians chapter 5 where it
says in verse 25 husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with a
washing of water by the word that he might present it to himself a glorious
church not having spot or wrinkled or any such thing but that it should be
holy and without blemish so odd men to love their wives as their own bodies he
that love with his wife love with himself for no man ever yet hated his
own flesh but nourishes and cherish it that even as the Lord the church once
again in verse 29 we're seeing the implication that you're actually
spending time with your wife you're actually cherishing her you actually
care about her and if you get off work and you spend no time with her it shows
that you really don't care about her and I'm not gonna name any names of any
famous IFB preachers that went down the road but but we can think of lots of
those guys that were traveling six days a week never home for their families you
know various evangelists and pastors never home for their families and they
wonder why their wives end up divorcing on them they wonder why that they read
the Bible so much but their wives end up leaving them their kids grow up and they
hate their parents and they say there are a bunch of hypocrites because
honestly they were they get up here and talk about they care so much about the
kids on the bus route and they don't even care about their own kids and
that's the truth and so we see that we need to spend time with our family and I
talked about how we need to train our wives we want to be pastors but not even
just you know training your wife's not all about just reading the Bible but we
need to spend time with their wives and spend time with our families turn to
Proverbs 31 so honestly I believe in terms of having a close family the big
determiner is going to be the guy one of the reasons is because your wives they
want to spend time with you us you know we can easily get caught up in just one
just reading the Bible you say what's a spiritual thing it's spiritual but you
got to know when to slam on the brakes and say I'm gonna spend time with my
family as well but in terms of of training the kids and teaching them and
educating them I would say the big indicator would be the wives now here's
the thing growing up I have an older sister who's two years older than me now
my sister is is very intelligent she skipped she skipped second grade so when
she was in fourth grade I was in first grade and then she was in fifth grade I
was in second grade now in West Virginia sixth grade is middle school now my
sister was pretty much far above all the other students in the class so my
parents knew that the education system was not working for her because she
would she was reading like college-level books when you say what happened to you
brother Stuckey I don't know I'm good at math I mean I'm good at soccer I don't
know if that counts but you know my my sister though she had skipped one grade
and so Mike my parents decided to pull her out now in today's world homeschooling
doesn't seem strange but you guys was really strange 20 years ago yeah I mean
all of the parents all the people in the community kind of persecuted my parents
after that you know just say what are you doing you know with your daughter
taking her and homeschooling her it and here's the thing there's a lot of
resources to educate your kids in today's world there's the internet and
all kinds of different homeschooling curriculum there were not many choices
20 years ago so my parents took a leap of faith my mom was already staying home
but she wasn't homeschooling but you know she decided she wanted to homeschool
my sister and you know honestly my sister was able to excel far more than
if she was being taught by the public school system because this is how pop
because I've used to teach in math in high school and this is how the high
school system works or any of the school systems basically you know you have to
make sure that you teach all the kids and the expectation is they're all
going to learn but it doesn't work that way because some kids learn faster than
others you have the kids at the top of the class that is really easy to them
you have the kids that it takes work but they can get it but then you have the
kids that don't understand anything and what I noticed when I taught was this
the kids that got it like this they were troublemakers and the kids that didn't
get it at all they were troublemakers all the other kids were not
troublemakers and I thought back to when I was growing up and I was thinking man
I always listened in school but in math class I did not you know I got in
trouble that's when I got sent to the principal's office when I'm in math
class because it was the one thing that I understood and so here's the thing the
school system if your kids are at the high level they're not gonna be taught
by the school system but if your kids are at the low level they won't be
taught this is the way school systems work though they want to have a low
failure rate so they look like they're successful so whether or not the kids
get it or not they move on to the next grade I remember failing you know about
20% of the class because to multiply six times seven they had to use a cell
phone they had no clue how to do that you know and the school system just move
them on you know I think they failed like two kids and I had like eleven on
my list or something like that I mean they want to look like they're
successful so they have a low failure rate it's like oh 97% of the kids pass
it looks really good except for the fact the kids don't know how to do basic
multiplication and they're going into 10th grade math that's ridiculous you
know but that's what the school system does and it's not going to educate them
it's honestly a big joke the Bible says in Proverbs 31 where I had you turn verse
13 she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands you know this
is not something where the husband has to force her it's something she does
willingly one thing we see in our movement is that you know some wives
they decide well we're gonna pull our kids out or some families that we don't
have in the school system so we're doing things right but if you're only going
half in as a stay-at-home mom or half in as a dad you're still lying gets the
truth you really don't believe in the family model because the family motto is
about a lot more than just your kids don't go to the public school system you
have to actually train them and teach them at home and the great thing is this
if you teach them and help them they will learn and they'll have a much much
better education than they're gonna get in the school system turn to Titus
chapter 2
it says in Titus chapter 2 starting at verse 4 it says that they may teach the
young women to be sober to love their husbands to love their children to be
discreet chaste keepers at home good obedient to their own husbands that the
Word of God be not blasphemed in verse 4 it says that they may teach the young
women the implication is this this is something that might not come naturally
it might be something that's hard especially if you got saved out of the
world if you're like half in like man I kind of wished I had in my career but I
kind of glad that I raised my kids you're not gonna do a very good job you
have to go all in I mean here's the thing people would go all in for a job
and do everything they could to get a promotion yeah we ought to go all in
whether it's husbands or wives teaching our kids spending time as a family
educating them we need to go all in don't just do this halfway thing where
my kids are not in the public school system so I must be right with God no
you need to actually teach your kids at home they ought to know the Bible when
you're raising them they're not learning about evolution they should be learning
about the things in the Bible they should be learning their math or reading
and everything like that they will become better educated and more
spiritual and your family's gonna be close if you go all in but if you go
halfway and you only kind of halfway believe in this family model it's not
gonna work out for you you know you're lying against the truth it's not gonna
work out like it's gonna work out for other families that go all in turn to
Daniel one
so honestly this works for kids at all level with their education you know if
kids are very advanced they're gonna do far better if they're homeschooled in
terms of learning more you can look at any math competition in West Virginia
math field it was a big competition it is always homeschoolers that win there's
almost no exception you look at the spelling bee it's homeschoolers that win
because they're able to excel themselves you know when I was homeschooled we did
not spend eight hours a day learning the material it didn't take eight hours a
day you know because on the stuff that we got we just moved on I didn't have to
wait for 30 other kids that might need a little bit more time and the thing in
the school system is if you're struggling with something you are gonna
be left behind they say no child left behind but plenty of kids get left
behind they advance in the grave but they don't learn the material and the
school system it just is not gonna work for educating your kids as well as
homeschooling them if you're at the top of the class you're gonna do much better
at home but if you're in the middle of the class is gonna help you as well and
if you're a kid that's really struggling you might say well my child it takes
them longer to learn what's really good that you're teaching them then because
they will be left behind in the public school system because they will be
advanced in the grade and not know the material even if it does take them
longer to learn at least you can teach them and the public school system will
fail at that they will not be successful at teaching your kid they're gonna come
out and what happens with those kids those kids are always the ones that join
the military they become policemen because honestly that's their best
financial option if they don't understand anything they were taught
because they just needed a little bit more time and here's the great thing as
a Christian when we read the Bible it makes us more intelligent and when you
learn about things you become more intelligent those kids can become
intelligent but they probably won't in the public school system in Daniel 1
verse 19 the Bible reads in Daniel 1 verse 19 and the king communed with them
and among them all was found none like Daniel Hananiah Mishael and Azariah
therefore stood they before the king and in all matters of wisdom and
understanding that the king inquired of them he found them ten times better than
all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm we see kids here
that are far excelled behind all the scholars and the experts that are making
the big bucks we see kids here that understand things and honestly you know
kids they're gonna become intelligent if they're reading they're learning they're
learning the Bible and they try to say this that kids are antisocial you know
that are homeschooled and they say they won't get proper socialization but you
know when you go door-to-door soul-winning and you see the beer cans
and the cigarettes you see a house that's completely messed up you see a
husband that's screaming at his wife they can tell the effects of alcohol and
cigarettes it's the whole it's the kids in the public school that are
brainwashed it's that they're the ones that have a messed up socialization the
reason why people think kids that are homeschooled have a messed up
socialization from my perspective having gone from being in public school to
homeschool my friends in fifth grade ended up going down a party road and I
did not feel comfortable anymore talking to them about fornicating and about
alcohol and smoking everything they were talking about I didn't feel
comfortable so I felt awkward around them that doesn't mean I was antisocial
it just means that I didn't want to talk about drunkenness and honestly when my
kids grow up I don't want them to feel comfortable talking about oh wow that's
great you fornicated with so-and-so no big deal I mean I don't want them to be
comfortable talking about getting drunk and plastered and destroying their lives
the homeschooling does not make you antisocial it gives you the proper
socialization and at a church like this there are tons of homeschool kids you do
not have to worry about that it's not like they're not talking with with other
kids so go all in on this family model thing and it will work for you I want to
encourage you ladies go all in your kids will be better educated they're gonna be
more spiritual and you know when your kids grow up they're probably not going
to forsake you because they actually saw that you love them turn to Hosea chapter
four and we're gonna look at our last point the the first point we saw was
this people lie against the truth when they say they have a desire to be a
pastor their works indicate often that that's not really the case people lie
against the truth when they say they have a love toward the brethren and
their actions indicate that they don't really have a love for the brethren
people lie against the truth when they say they believe in the family model but
their actions indicate that they don't really believe in the family model fully
but also this most people here would probably say I really believe in our
movement but honestly a lot of people are lying against the truth when they
say that you know our movement is different than the other IPs I don't
think there's any question about that it's different in a lot of ways for one
of those those so many numbers would never be that high unless they're
counting getting the same five-year-old saved every single week on the bus
that's the only way you're gonna be getting up to 2,500 you know you have
this big bus route it's it's the same kids that get baptized like three or
four times a year it's it's a joke it's funny how when you try to preach the
gospel to those kids and do a thorough job that you're really mad but they're
okay with them getting like rebaptized like six or seven times like every
single special service they get baptized every single one they get baptized but
you know there's a lot of things about our movement not just so it obviously I
would say most people here are probably pretty invested in solar you hear that
preached a lot but our movements about a lot more than just so it a lot more one
big thing is about knowledge knowledge is a big thing about our movement that
is absent from the other IFPs and if you really believe in our movement you're
gonna take some you're gonna really care about learning knowledge you're gonna
really care about learning the truth I remember it was in 2008 when I was I saw
Pastor Anderson answered a question on Google that I had about the Bible and he
had a link to his sermons and I remember going to his website and there were
repentance fight was something I just fought like a year ago so I was really
clear-minded on what's important it wasn't just about the King James Bible
I knew man they got to be right on repentance and they got to care about
soul-winning I understood at the right mindset so the first sermon I heard of
his was John chapter 3 and the reason why I picked John 3 was not because it
was the most interesting to me but I said John 3 is a chapter I feel like I
know pretty well John 3 is a chapter where I feel like you know I have a
really good understanding of it so I want to pick something that I feel I
know pretty well and I'm not gonna be deceived you know I'd actually heard one
sermon of his before I didn't realize called why Billy Graham is going to hell
you know cuz I always hated Billy Graham it's a great sermon but I listened to
John chapter 3 and I remember being blown away when I listened to the
sermon because I learned a lot and I've been listening to so much independent
independent fundamental Baptist preaching and it's like I would use
those sermons to help re-energize me because I wasn't learning anything from
the sermons they would scream about the same things you know the first year or
two I was saved I loved those sermons but eventually it got old it was the
same sermon over and over and if you've come from another IFP Church I guarantee
you have pretty much the same experience that you heard your pastor preach and it
was boring and honestly the most spiritual thing you could have been
doing probably is this here with your Bible yeah during the service memorizing
or reading the Bible you know I've done that before during service because
you're learning nothing knowledge is important but it wasn't just that I
learned a lot from the sermons cuz I'm sure you guys learn a lot from pastor
Maris preaching he knows about really well but it was also the emphasis on my
personal learning not just I'm learning from the pastor but that I need to read
the Bible over and over and over again that was something that was new to me
because I think with other IFP churches it's like they're afraid to allow the
Holy Spirit to teach a believer what the Bible says I mean they are literally
afraid it's like man if I leave them with just the Bible as a new believer
who knows what they'll believe I mean it's ridiculous but that's literally
what they believe that's literally what they think in Hosea 4 6 the Bible reads
my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge because that was rejected
knowledge I will also reject thee that thou shalt be no priest to me seeing
thou hast forgotten the law of thy God I will also forget thy children it
emphasized my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge we could look at so
many verses that talk about the importance of gaining knowledge but
here's what I want you to understand if you're someone who relies in your past
or to spoon feed you you are no different than someone who goes to
Hyles Anderson that doesn't read the Bible the only difference is you have a
better source and that's why you have better doctrine if you're not learning
on your own you're no different than someone who
graduates from Hyles Anderson that goes to one of those churches the only
difference at all is that you have a great source where 99 plus percent of
stuff is right on the money you'll be edified you'll become a zealous soul
winner because he knows the Bible if you don't learn for yourself you are no
different than the people that we look at and say they're watered down you're
just lucky enough to be listening to a pastor that actually knows the Bible
pretty well you know the best source we have of learning is not pastor Romero
it's not pastor minutes it's not pastor Anderson it's the Holy Spirit and if you
read this book you're gonna learn a lot more than if you just listen to sermons
and honestly I love listening to sermons like I said it just listen to how to
resurrect a dead Christian recently that your pastor preached but I don't have
time to listen all the sermons and I would rather sacrifice sermons then I'm
going to sacrifice some of the things I talked about I'm not gonna sacrifice my
time with my family I'm not gonna sacrifice you know I'm talking about my
wife not you know my my parents are extended family or anything I'm not
gonna sacrifice that I'm not gonna sacrifice my personal Bible reading if I
have time to listen to a sermon that's great but that's like a cherry on the
top you know I need to make sure I do my memorization every day I do my Bible
reading the Holy Spirit is the best source of information turn to Psalms 101
we're gonna look at one last place
and here's the thing about listening to sermons you know I remember with the old
IFB movement when I first started listening to sermons I learned a lot
because I didn't know that much about the Bible but eventually it was like the
same thing honestly even if you listen to pastors in our movement though when
you first start listening you learn a lot more for each sermon than you do as
time goes by because what happens is pastors need to train the new people
that are at church you need to keep hearing the basics because if you don't
preach about the Trinity there's gonna be all kinds of heresy going on yeah I
mean you got to keep hitting the basics because people need that and sometimes
you might say man I read the Bible so much I want something new you got to
realize that we need to teach the new people and so it's not always gonna be
something brand new to you and you're gonna start realizing man I actually
learned a lot more reading the Bible for myself than I do just listening to
sermons and look I learned a lot from sermons but I learned more from reading
the Bible myself and that ought to be the way and all pastors in our movement
would preach that that you need to read the Bible for yourself and learn for
yourself don't rely on somebody to spoon feed you up here he imagined being like
a grown-up and somebody spoon feeding you and literally that's what people do
with the Word of God they just don't read the Bible for themselves and they
just rely on sermons that's a massive mistake you're as newborn babes desire
the sincere milk of the word that you may grow their body and honestly you
know no matter how great of a Christian you are how long you've been saved
you're still gonna grow through the Word of God you need that but it's not
just about a lack of knowledge you know with with other IFPs but you know our
movement is not just about crossing the T's and dotting the I's Psalms 101 verse
3 it says I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes I hate the work of them
that turn aside it shall not cleave to me this is a great verse and oftentimes
we apply it to the television that's a great application because the television
the cable it's pretty wicked it's and and honestly you know I'm not naive I'm
sure there's people in here that have a TV you own a TV you know you assume
people everybody gets things right but it's not the case you know you know the
TV is wicked and it's not just that you're learning all this false stuff but
it causes you to be lazy and it caused you not spend time with your family you
want to be close to your family you got to get rid of it the hell of it you know
you're wasting your time having that wicked thing before you where you're
being brainwashed by the world but here's what I want you to understand in
our movement is kind of a common thing to say you shouldn't have a TV and you
shouldn't watch you're listening to worldly music those are kind of the two
two of the big things and those are two great things because before we're saved
pretty much all of us or before we got right with God all of us were watching
TV probably all of us listen to various different types of music before we got
right with God so those are two great things we need to understand it's not
just about I cross the T I crossed off my list that I don't own a TV I'm good
to go on that I crossed off the list that you know I don't listen to worldly
music there are a lot of other ways in today's world where you can get
worldliness to creep in see the Bible College system they want to have your
hair at a certain length they want your skirts to be at a certain length and
then people will measure it down to the inch and say well I met the
qualifications I'm right with God but it's not about just meeting those
qualifications because see if you fix the inside it will fix the outside and
in our world today there's not just the TV there's also the computer and the
computer is getting worse every year and honestly we all have to individually
make choices what we're gonna allow ourselves to see what we're gonna allow
ourselves to enter into our minds and honestly we're gonna have to make some
cuts that maybe we didn't make in the past you know and honestly this could be
different for different people but it's not just simply because I don't own a
TV I'm good to go there's more to it than that now here's
these are two big points about believing in our movement it's not just
about crossing the T's and dotting the I's and our movement is about knowledge
and if you're someone who says man I believe in soul winning I love this
movement but you don't actively read the Bible for yourself you might say you
really love our movement but you're not fully invested in this movement because
our movement is is not just about soul winning it's about gaining knowledge and
that's something we all need to be doing you say what is the point you know of
this sermon brother Stuckey you know the Bible says lie not against the truth we
need to understand our actions they're gonna speak a lot louder than our
feelings and our emotions you know like I said we're not a bunch of Pentecostals
here that base things on our emotions you might have said going into the
sermon man I really want to be a pastor but you know if those things that I
mentioned you're not doing you need to fix that because your actions don't
indicate all I can go off of is your actions if your actions don't indicate
that you want to be a pastor you got to really look at and say do I really want
to be a pastor and I don't want you to not want to be a pastor I want you to
change you know your actions to fit what you say you say you have a love tour the
brethren yet you're the biggest gossip at church there's a problem with that if
people know you to be a gossip or know you to start all these stupid fights
there's a big problem with that you say you believe in the family model but
you're not fully invested yet you're like halfway in you say I'm gonna kind
of go all in as a dad kind of spend time with my family but not really or you
know your wife and you say well I'll kind of go all in as a stay-at-home mom
and do the best I can you know but you kind of don't you know if you're not
going all in you don't really fully believe in the family model you know
like the Bible teaches and it these points are not going after knowledge if
you're not learning knowledge you don't fully believe in our movement like you
think you do let's close our clothes let's end in a word prayer your
Heavenly Father thank you for allowing us to be in your house this morning I
ask you to help us all apply this sermon to our lives God including myself God
help us to look at our actions and realize you know that that any one of us
can fall into these things where maybe at one time we were right with God but
maybe you aren't anymore help us to fix our actions today fit what we say we
really believe in and care about God we pray this all in Jesus name amen