All right, we're here in Psalm chapter 92,
and let us just start by reading verses 12 through 14,
and then we will get into the sermon.
So verse number 12, the Bible reads,
The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
They shall be fat and flourishing.
You know, here today and during this week,
we have people from all over the world
coming for this missions trip.
You're out here bearing fruit,
going soul winning, and getting people saved,
and I would hope the goal of all of us
is that we're still doing this in 5 years,
10 years, 20 years,
that in old age,
if health would permit,
that we're bringing forth fruit.
And in Psalm 92, the Bible tells us,
you know what, if we are like,
you know, the cedar tree in Lebanon
and like the palm tree,
we can bring forth a lot of fruit.
Now, if you're like me,
the first time I read the Bible,
I'm like, that sounds great,
that's poetic,
but I have no idea what the Bible's saying, right?
I don't necessarily know a lot about palm trees
or cedar trees naturally,
but obviously it's an example that's important
because the Bible's saying,
hey, you know what,
you can bring forth a lot of fruit
if you're like these trees, right?
Now, a cedar tree is very native to Lebanon.
That is the main area of the world
where cedar trees are.
When it comes to a palm tree,
it's referring to a date tree.
And I'll actually preach on that
this coming Sunday.
But I want to preach tonight
on like a cedar in Lebanon.
What exactly does the Bible mean
and how does this link toward us
bringing forth fruit our entire lives?
Okay.
Now, let me just start
by reading you some verses
to show you how important
the cedar tree is according to the Bible.
Go to 2 Samuel 5.
2 Samuel 5.
And as I said, the cedar tree,
it's not native to Israel.
It's native to Lebanon.
There are some that have been planted
in Israel today.
They are not native to Israel.
It's not the tree of Israel.
It is the tree of Lebanon.
In fact, when you're reading the Bible,
what will you always see?
Cedar trees in Lebanon.
The cedar tree of Lebanon.
You go to Lebanese restaurants,
what are you going to see?
You're going to see cedar trees.
On their national flag,
you're going to see the cedar tree.
You say, why?
Because the cedar tree
is very special to the people
of Lebanon.
It's very important to their culture.
2 Samuel 5, verse 10,
And David went on and grew great,
and the Lord God of hosts was with him.
And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers
to David, and cedar trees,
and carpenters, and masons,
and they built David in house.
You see, when King David wanted a house,
what kind of wood did he use?
He used a cedar tree.
He didn't use the local and native trees.
Now, that would be a lot easier, wouldn't it?
I mean, it's not easy to transport trees
from one country to another,
but when his house was built,
he wanted cedar trees to build it.
Go to 2 Samuel 7.
2 Samuel 7.
2 Samuel 7, verse 1,
And it came to pass,
when the king sat in his house,
and the Lord had given him rest,
round about from all his enemies,
that the king said unto Nathan the prophet,
See now, I dwell in an house of cedar,
but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.
And, you know, this is the chapter
where David has it in his heart
to build a house for God.
Now, when he says this,
he doesn't say, I have a house.
He says, I dwell in an house of cedar.
What he's saying is, hey, everybody around me,
you know, they don't have the same type of house I do.
I have a house of cedar saying,
I have a very nice house,
and the Lord has nothing.
He doesn't just say, hey, I dwell in an house.
He says, I dwell in an house of cedar
because he's bringing home the importance
of the cedar tree.
Now, of course, if you're from the U.S.
or you're from Australia or the Philippines,
we're not near Lebanon, right?
When he was writing this,
and this is being said,
people are going to be like,
yeah, you know, that makes sense, right?
But, of course, this part of the world,
it's an example that's kind of hard to understand
because most of us don't really know
a whole lot about cedar trees.
But you're seeing how special
the cedar tree actually is.
Go to 1 Kings 5.
1 Kings 5.
And when we fast forward in time,
because if you remember,
David was not allowed to build a house for the Lord
because of all the battles that had been fought,
but when Solomon became the king,
he did build a house for the Lord.
And notice what it says here in 1 Kings 5, verse 5.
And behold, I purpose to build an house
unto the name of the Lord my God,
as the Lord spake unto David my father, saying,
Thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room,
he shall build an house unto my name.
Now therefore command that they hew me cedar trees
out of Lebanon,
and my servants shall be with thy servants.
Unto thee I give higher for thy servants
according to all that thou shalt appoint.
For thou knowest that there is not among us
any that can skill to hew timber
like unto the Cydonians.
So when Solomon wanted to build a nice house,
because if you're going to build a house for the Lord,
you want to build a nice house.
Money was not really something that Solomon was concerned about.
He said, I want to have the best house possible.
And what did he do?
He went to Lebanon to get the cedar wood from Lebanon.
You say, why?
Because it's better.
And we're going to see that in this sermon,
but he went to Lebanon
instead of just getting the native trees that were around him.
Go to Ezra chapter 3.
I'll show you one other example,
Ezra 3.
When it comes to topics that I'm not familiar with,
I have no problem going to secular knowledge
to try to understand information.
I went to websites online.
I consulted Ben the Baptist.
I said, hey, can you give me some information
about cedar trees?
It's like, I want to preach this sermon.
I figure you know a lot more than me.
There's a Lebanese restaurant in Pampanga
that I went to a couple weeks ago,
and I just sat down with the owner,
and I was just talking to him.
I said, hey, can you tell me everything
that you know about cedar trees?
And I'd already written the sermon,
but I figured maybe it would help me
learn some more information.
Things I heard that it's required
to learn how to plant cedar trees in Lebanon,
it's illegal to cut them
because it's very much part of how they make money.
It's very much part of their culture.
It's very important to them.
But we're seeing in the Bible,
it's just important to Lebanon.
It's just considered the best wood that there is.
That's the example that we're seeing here
from Solomon and David.
One other example is Ezra 3
when they rebuild the temple.
Notice what it says in Ezra 3.
Verse 7,
They gave money also to unto the masons,
unto the carpenters,
and meat, and drink, and oil,
unto them of Zidane,
unto them of Tyre,
to bring cedar trees from Lebanon
to the Sea of Joppa,
according to the grant that they had of Cyrus,
king of Persia.
So look, David had a house of cedar.
Solomon with the Lord's house
made it as a house of cedar.
When they rebuilt it, guess what?
They used cedar wood.
You say, why?
Because it's the best wood.
It's better than the wood
that they had in Israel.
And you're going to see why
here in this sermon.
Now, turn in your Bible to Job 40.
Job 40.
And as you're turning to Job 40,
I'll just quote you from in John 3
when Jesus is speaking to Nick Demas,
he says,
If I have told you of earthly things
and ye believe not,
how shall ye believe
if I tell you of heavenly things?
Throughout the Bible,
there are examples given
to understand the spiritual
or understand the heavenly.
And sometimes you read these examples
and they click.
They make perfect sense.
Other times you read it
and it's like,
I have no experience with this at all.
I have no idea what Jesus is really saying.
Right?
But examples are a great way
to bring forth the spiritual truth.
I try to use examples in sermons.
It helps us to remember things.
Right?
So what exactly is the Bible saying
when it's saying,
If you're like a cedar tree,
you'll be a sole winner
until the day you die.
That's what it's saying in Psalm 92.
If you are like a cedar tree,
you will bring forth fruit in old age.
Point number one,
when it comes to the cedar tree,
the big thing that you think of
is the strength of a cedar tree.
The Bible highlights this quite a bit
that the cedar tree is a very strong tree.
Notice what it says here in Job 40 verse 16.
This is referring to Behemoth here in Job 40
and it says,
Lo now his strength is in his loins
and his force is in the navel of his belly.
He moveth his tail like a cedar.
The sinews of his stones are wrapped together.
The Bible describes this powerful creature
that I believe is a dinosaur.
And he says he moveth his tail like a cedar.
Now look, when you see pictures of dinosaurs,
what kind of tail do they have?
Very thick.
Very powerful.
You know, before the discovery of dinosaurs,
Bible commentators would be like,
Maybe this is an elephant.
Last I checked,
an elephant's tail is actually pretty weak
and pretty small.
Pretty thin.
When it's saying he moveth his tail like a cedar,
you can see,
Yeah, I can see a dinosaur fitting there
because cedar is a very thick
and very strong and very durable wood.
Turn your Bible to Psalm 29.
Psalm 29.
One thing that is interesting about cedar wood
is the fact that it is very strong
and it's actually very light.
So it's deceptive
because you would think that
if you're transporting wood,
that's very hard
except cedar wood is actually very light
compared to other types of wood.
So it's very strong and durable
and yet it's not actually very heavy at all,
which obviously if you're building houses,
that's a huge advantage,
that you can transport it very easily
and yet it's very strong.
It's very durable.
It doesn't just break down very easily.
Right?
Psalm 29.
And in this chapter,
the Bible's highlighting the strength of God
and how powerful God is.
And it says in verse 1,
Give unto the Lord, O ye mighty.
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name.
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
The voice of the Lord is upon the waters.
The God of glory thundereth.
The Lord is upon many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars.
Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.
The Bible's saying God's voice is so powerful
that it even breaks the cedar trees in Lebanon.
That is highlighting that the cedar tree
is very strong.
Very durable.
That's what the Bible's stating.
Go to Song of Solomon chapter 8.
I'll show you one more example.
Song of Solomon chapter 8.
And in Song of Solomon chapter 8 verse 9.
And in the context here,
they're talking about protecting someone young,
a young woman that they're not ready to get married,
a relative.
And it says here in verse 9,
If she be a wall, we will build upon her palace of silver.
And if she be a door,
we will enclose her with boards of cedar.
So basically like, no, we're not ready for her to get married.
We're going to enclose her with boards of cedar
where it's strong and cannot easily be broken into.
So we're seeing several different examples here
about how cedar wood is very strong.
It's very durable.
It's very powerful.
And yet it's actually very light.
So what's our application here?
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 2.
2 Timothy chapter 2.
2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 1.
The Bible reads,
Thou therefore, my son,
be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses,
the same commit thou to faithful men
who shall be able to teach others also.
Thou therefore endure hardness
as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
Look, in 2024,
one major thing that's missing in the Christianity of most people
is they don't have any strength.
They don't endure hardness.
They easily back down.
You've got pastors.
There are plenty of Baptist pastors in the Philippines,
but I promise you very few preach like I do.
That is not meant to lift myself up.
It's a fact.
It's the same whatever country you're from.
It's the same there also.
There are plenty of Baptist pastors here,
but they are afraid to preach the truth.
They have no strength.
They're not much of a leader.
They're not able to endure hardness.
You say, well, but if I preach the truth,
I mean, we might get protested.
We might get kicked out of Rizzo Park.
We might not be able to freely preach the Gospel.
Those churches aren't preaching it anyway,
at least not the true Gospel.
Let me tell you something.
We need to be able to endure hardness in our lives,
and it definitely starts with the pastors,
but in your life endure hardness.
You say, what do you mean?
I mean, I'm preaching to a group of people
that go to churches that literally get protested.
What I'm saying is the next time your church protests
and your parents criticize you for the church you go to,
your co-workers make fun of you.
Endure hardness.
Keep going to church.
When your relatives make fun of you,
and people are telling you you're part of a cult,
endure hardness.
Look, they crucify Jesus Christ.
All they're doing is mocking you.
And I would say it's a very light affliction
that any one of us in this world suffers.
I would say we need more strength in our Christianity,
and what the Bible's saying in the book of Psalms is,
hey, be like the cedar tree that is strong,
that is durable, meaning when you get mocked,
don't just quit church.
When things get difficult and life gets stressful,
look, don't quit church and quit reading the Bible
and just change everything you believe
because you're going through some problems.
I hate to break it to you,
but every single one of us will have persecution.
Every single one of us will have stress.
Every single one of us will have problems.
Look, I have three young kids.
I'm not sure I go a single week without stress in my life.
Life's hard.
Endure hardness.
Suck it up.
Deal with it.
You say, why?
Because if you're going to last in the Christian life
and be successful, you need to be like a cedar tree,
not some little weak tree
that you just break in half like this.
Endure hardness as a good soldier.
Verse 4,
No man that worth entangleth himself
with the affairs of this life,
that he may please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
And if a man also strived for masteries,
yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.
I mean, the Bible links this to being in war,
to being in battle.
Look, I'm glad I've never had to fight a war.
I mean, it's not something on the top of my list
of things to do.
But here's the thing.
If somebody's in war, they're in a battle.
They better have some strength.
Can you imagine?
And look, if you're in a battle,
you're in a war, and you've got a gun,
and you're afraid to shoot it,
I'm not promoting wars or saying which side I'd be on.
I'm just saying you're probably going to die.
If you don't kill them,
they're probably going to kill you.
And I get it.
The enemy is fighting against us.
Maybe we ought to fight back at them.
Maybe when evil people who have not faith
try to get churches like this shut down
and churches like your church shut down,
hey, maybe you ought to bump up your Christianity.
If you're going to fight at me,
then guess what?
I'm going to read my Bible more.
I'm going to stand up for God more
and get more people saved
instead of backing down like the Christianity
you see all over the world in 2024.
Now look, we can easily be kind of shaded
from what's going on in the world
because as churches that would line up with the new IFB,
we are on fire for God.
We are getting protested.
Your pastors are preaching hard sermons.
But look, I was in the old IFB
before the new IFB existed.
And let me tell you something.
Most old IFB churches are weak.
They're afraid to preach what the Bible says.
That's not being strong like the Bible says.
That's not enduring hardness.
They're afraid of being persecuted.
They're afraid of people quitting their church.
And so they back down out of fear.
Not like a cedar tree.
Go in your Bible to Proverbs 24.
Proverbs 24.
What we need is people to get a little bit tougher.
I'm not talking about, and I do think as guys
that we ought to be strong in the protectors of the family,
but I'm not talking about hit the gym,
increase your bench press 50 pounds this year.
No, I'm talking about spiritually being strong
and not backing down.
And what's amazing is
you could see people that could be physically intimidating
and very big and strong,
and yet they would back down immediately.
Do I remember the days when we had the protest
in Sacramento with the LGBTs surrounding us?
I mean, we're kind of reminiscing.
We always kind of reminisce at events like this
with people that were also there.
And it's like our attendance had really been going up
and it's like...
You say why?
Because a lot of people were too weak.
They quit.
They couldn't take it.
It's funny because before that event,
they were going to church
and they knew what Pastor Jimenez believed.
It's not like it's some new doctrine
Pastor Jimenez was preaching.
I remember when I heard the sermon
that started the protest,
it was like I didn't think it was just normal preaching.
It's like what I'm used to.
It's like, yeah, that's Pastor Jimenez.
And for whatever reason, it's like...
And people left the church.
They're like, well, wait a minute.
Why didn't you leave the church before the protest then?
If you don't agree with the doctrine,
because a lot of people left said,
well, we don't really agree.
Well, why didn't you leave
before you were protested then?
The reality is they could not take the persecution.
And look, our church has never been protested.
We have suffered persecution
and the fact of getting kicked out of parks.
But let me tell you something to my church.
Hey, if we get protested one day by the LGBT,
stand up for your church.
Because it's not going to be some new doctrine.
It's just going to be whatever clip
that whatever reason goes viral
and then all of a sudden, boom,
you get protested.
And look, as it's happening in place in the U.S.,
it could happen here.
It could happen in Australia.
It could happen anywhere.
Your turn to Proverbs 24.
And let me just read you where the Bible says,
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast, unmovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord.
The Bible says to be steadfast,
unmovable,
not shaken like by the wind.
Like the Bible says of John the Baptist,
he wasn't a reed shaken by the wind.
He was tough. He was strong.
And look, I promise you
when I talk to John the Baptist today
that died by getting beheaded,
he's like, you know what,
I wouldn't have changed a single thing.
I'm not going to back down from the truth.
I'm not going to hide from the truth.
And look, we need some toughness
and some strength in our Christianity in 2024.
The Bible says in Proverbs 24 verse 16,
For a just man falleth seven times
and riseth up again,
but the wicked shall fall into mischief.
Now the Bible does say
a just man falls seven times.
Look, if you are trying to serve God
and you are pressing upward,
it is not just a steady climb.
That's just not the way it works.
You're going to have ups and downs
and ups and downs.
Now of course the goal is
as you go through ups and downs,
you slowly get higher.
But look, you're going to have times you fall.
You're going to have times
that you back down a little bit.
But think of the analogy he's giving.
Imagine a boxing fight,
a boxing match,
and one of the fighters
over the course of seven rounds
gets knocked down every single round
and yet he gets back up.
Do you know what I'd say about that boxer?
Man, that is one of the toughest people
I've ever seen in my life.
I wouldn't mock him
for not being as good as the other guy.
I'd be like, man, that guy is tough.
And look, are you going to be knocked down sometimes?
Yeah, of course.
There's storms.
There's battles.
There's things that get you afraid.
There's things that cause you
to mess up and get stressed.
Hey, get back up.
You say, why?
Be like the cedar tree.
Turn your Bible to Matthew 7.
Matthew 7.
And let me give you an example
of the strength of the cedar tree.
And I'm going to read you from this article
several times in this sermon
because, as I said,
I'm not an expert at cedar trees
by any stretch of the imagination.
Because cedar trees are known
to be like the most expensive wood.
And so you'll see articles online,
why is this cedar tree so expensive?
There's a million articles like that.
Because it is more expensive
than other types of wood.
One reason is because it's moisture resistant.
It's resistant to water.
It says here from this article,
one of the reasons cedar is expensive
is that it's prized for its moisture resistance.
This means that it's harder for the wood
to absorb water into its fibers.
As a result, it's less prone to rot and decay.
A problem that many builders and designers have
is the fact that wood doesn't like water.
Since wood is often used in the building of homes,
decks, and other projects,
it's only a matter of time
before the wood comes in contact with water.
When it does, the consequences could be expensive.
Water weakens wood.
It makes it soft,
which means that if the wood
is under any kind of pressure,
then it can start to buckle.
If everything around it buckles too,
then the structure collapses.
Another problem that water exposure brings is rot.
In most cases, black mold will grow in the wood
since it likes to eat wet wood the most.
The problem with black mold is that it spreads quickly.
It can become very expensive to get rid of and fix.
In most cases, homeowners and builders
have to replace the wood entirely.
That's why many prefer to work with cedar.
Since it repels water naturally,
it's a lot more difficult for black mold to grow on it.
It also means that it's less likely to buckle
after exposure to water than other types of wood.
Since it's prized for this attribute,
it means many people are trying to get their hands on it.
Whether it's for support in their house
or to make a deck near a pool,
the demand for cedar due to its moisture resistance is high.
I would say most of us have probably seen wood
that's been very weakened as a result of water.
I mean, imagine if you have...
Because, look, houses break down over time.
It just is what it is, right?
We had a house in the U.S.
We moved into a new house recently,
and guess what?
You know what? Your house breaks down.
Everything ends up breaking down over time.
Right?
And you'll see this that as water starts to get into wood,
it starts to get weak. It destroys it.
But cedar wood, for whatever reason,
the way that God created it,
it's very resistant to water.
So even though it comes in contact with water,
it's not just going to get destroyed.
And so there's kind of two things to think about here.
Number one, it's very strong in the fact
that a heavy storm of water would not destroy it,
but it also doesn't get weakened in the long run either.
And it reminds me of Matthew 7, verse 24.
Matthew 7, verse 24, the Bible reads,
Therefore...
And this is the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount.
The greatest sermon ever preached.
The most famous sermon ever preached.
And it says here in verse 24,
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man
which built his house upon a rock.
And the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat upon that house,
and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man
which built his house upon the sand.
And the rain descended, and the floods came,
and the winds blew and beat upon that house,
and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
You've got two types of people mentioned here.
You've got one person that is founded upon a rock.
Another one is founded upon the sand.
Do you notice that with both groups of people,
the rain descends,
the floods come,
and the winds blow and beat upon the house?
Look, it doesn't matter if you're serving God or not serving God.
You're going to have storms of life.
You're going to have problems.
The difference is what are you founded upon?
Because if you're founded upon the sand,
you're just going to just tumble.
It's going to be the end of the house.
And see, here's what you have to realize
about serving God and being strong.
You never really know how strong your house is
until the storm comes.
Because if there's no storm, the house doesn't tumble.
And all of us, we think our house is strong, right?
I think my house is strong.
I think it's founded upon a rock.
I'm sure all of us do.
But everybody in the world thinks that.
But when the storm comes,
it will really reveal how strong your house actually is
if it's really founded upon a rock.
See, it's very easy to sit at a church like this.
You go soul winning.
We have these events.
You hear the preaching.
You're like, Amen, Amen, Amen.
Well, that doesn't mean in your personal life, though,
you're doing what I say.
I don't really understand the perspective
of wanting to be in a good church
and never doing what the preacher says.
But people do it.
I mean, at your churches back in the U.S. and Australia,
haven't you seen that?
People come to church.
They're excited.
They're zealous.
But they never actually are spending time with God
in their free time.
They're not actually obeying what it says.
I mean, they're hearing the pastor say,
Hey, rock music's of the devil.
They're like, Amen.
Then they go home.
It's like, all right, Metallica.
They're not doing what the preacher says.
It's like, yeah, you know,
Disney and these movies are worldly.
And then they go home
and then watch those exact same movies.
It's like, well, why are you even at the church?
You're not even doing what the pastor says.
I mean, if you believe in the preaching so much
and you think it's the Word of God,
you would think that you had found your house upon the rock.
And here's the thing.
It always just kind of boggles or blows my mind
when people want to hear good preaching,
but they don't actually do it
because honestly, you'd be better off just quitting church
because you're accountable for what you hear.
You're going to be held more accountable by God.
So either get all the way in
or just get out.
Just get all the way in for serving God.
Found your house upon the rock.
And here's the thing.
If you don't found it upon the rock,
one day you might find out,
well, maybe my house wasn't as strong
as I thought it was.
See, we all think that we're very strong
like cedar tree, right?
But wait a minute.
How do you really know that until a storm comes?
Right?
You're coming to church.
Things good in life, right?
You know, your job's going well.
You don't have any major problems.
No persecution.
Of course then you still like the church.
What about when the persecution comes?
What about when the storms of life hit you?
We'll see how strong that house really is.
And I'm not just saying that for you.
I'm saying that for myself as well.
All of us need to take heed lest we fall, right?
Turn in your Bible to 1 Peter 5.
See, point number one
is that the cedar tree is very strong.
But see, another thing about the cedar tree
is it's not just a strong tree.
It's a very sustainable strength.
It is sustainable.
You say, what do you mean?
I mean a strength that never really dies out.
I'll give you an example.
Let's say you go to the gym
and you're lifting weights
and you bench 200 pounds.
Well, after a couple reps,
you're like, okay,
I can no longer bench 200.
You're benching 180, right?
After a few more reps,
you're benching a little bit less, right?
Because your arms are tired.
It doesn't have the same strength
it did a few minutes ago.
Well, here's what I'm saying.
The cedar tree,
it's not just strong,
but it doesn't really grow weak
like other trees do.
Now I'm sure after thousands of years
it's going to grow weaker,
but I'm saying it's not like other trees.
You say, why?
Well, one reason is
because it's very insect repellent.
Insects and termites, or anai as we say here,
they're not going to eat cedar wood.
That's just the way that it was designed.
It says here from this article,
a problem that many types of wood face are insects.
That isn't the case with cedar.
One of the reasons it's expensive
is that it's basically an insect repellent.
Cedar has a unique ability to ward off bugs.
At the very least,
it isn't appetizing for bugs.
That's important for builders and homeowners
who want to use cedar to make a deck
or anything else that provides support.
Bugs can wreak havoc on wood.
Certain bugs like termites, wood ants,
and even wood wasps
will eat and burrow into the wood.
This causes the wood to become brittle and weak.
If too much weight is on the wood,
then it can buckle and fall apart.
That's one reason it's important to keep termites
and other wood-loving pests out of the house.
If the infestation continues,
then it could damage your entire house.
It becomes a problem for decks and porches too.
If the bugs infest the wood,
then standing on the deck or porch
could cause it to collapse
and cause some serious injuries.
That's why cedar wood is often preferred
among builders and homeowners.
Since it isn't appetizing for bugs,
they tend to avoid it.
So one thing that's very unique about cedar wood
is that the strength is sustainable.
It's not getting weakened by bugs.
Look, before we moved several months ago,
our old house,
we were renting it,
and it was very much infested by some sort of bug
that was weakening the wood.
And of course, we're not going to fix it
because we're just renting there,
but you would just see it get weaker and weaker and weaker.
It's like a nightmare for a homeowner.
You think everything's okay,
then all of a sudden you've got a termite infestation.
And once that takes place,
your whole house could be destroyed.
You could spend tens of thousands of dollars to fix it.
And Solomon's like, well, wait a minute.
If I build the house of the Lord,
I want it to last.
And I'm going to pick a wood
that is not going to tumble in a storm,
it's not going to grow weak due to the water,
and it's not going to be eaten by the bugs.
Why? Because cedar wood is actually very strong,
and it has a very sustainable strength
that it does not weaken.
1 Peter 5, verse 8,
Be sober, be vigilant,
because your adversary the devil
as a roaring lion
walketh about seeking whom he may devour,
whom resist steadfast in the faith,
knowing that the same afflictions
are accomplished in your brethren
that are in the world.
Now look, I believe that if you're here today,
you do have some strength in your Christianity.
I mean, you've flown around the world to come to our church.
You're spending your time and your money
to come to the most densely populated area of the world
that got voted the number one traffic
in the world recently, Manila.
You came here all around the world,
spent a lot of money.
Why would you do that?
Because you have some strength in your Christianity.
You're excited about the things of God.
You want to serve God.
You want to do something great.
But my concern for people
is that they're very excited one day
and it's not really sustainable.
One day they're on fire for God.
Two years later they're done with church.
I mean, look, if you've been
in our types of churches for a while,
have you not seen that?
People are excited.
They're on fire for God.
They seem like they love God
just as much as anybody else.
They last six months and then they're gone.
I mean, if everybody stated our churches that came,
I mean, our churches would make
Joel Osteen look like a small church.
But what takes place is,
and look, I've seen it as a pastor.
It's amazing to me.
Six sermons and honestly,
often first-time visitors,
they really like the preaching.
I can see they're agreeing with it.
And they're like, man, that's right.
I agree with what the pastor's saying.
But then what happens is they go home.
It's like, well, wait a minute.
I've got to apply that.
I agreed when he said rock music's of the devil,
but I still like rock music.
And then they never come back.
But you'll have other people
that they do start coming to church.
They do get excited.
They do receive the Word with joy.
They gladly receive the Word.
But yet it fades very quickly
because it's not actually sustainable.
And see, you could be able to resist the devil today
and not in six months.
You could stand through a storm today
and yet two years from now you become very weak
and just fade out of church.
Turn your Bible to James 4.
James 4.
And in James 4, it's a bit of a parallel passage here,
but in James 4, verse 7,
James 4, verse 7, the Bible reads,
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
The Bible says if you resist the devil,
he's going to flee.
But I want you to see that this is very much linked
with the next statement here in verse 8.
Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.
Cleanse your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.
See, the Bible says not only should we be resisting the devil,
we need to be drawing nigh to God.
What I want you to understand is
God created a natural sustainability system
for the Christian.
That your faith does not grow weak.
You say, what's it called?
It's not called going to every missions trip.
And look, I want you to come back in June
to Cebu.
I want you to come back next February.
That's not the sustainability system God created though.
You say, what is the system?
The system is called wake up tomorrow morning
and put aside all distractions,
get your King James Bible,
spend some time in prayer,
and read the Bible.
That's your sustainability.
And look, anyone in this room, including myself,
if you were to quit reading the Bible today,
you are going to grow very weak
and fade out very quickly.
I mean, Job said I've esteemed the words of God
more than my necessary food.
Look, I'm sure everybody in this room ate today.
I mean, maybe somebody's on a fast.
I wouldn't suggest it on a soul winning event,
but maybe you're on a fast.
But I would assume everybody ate today,
but that doesn't mean that everybody read their Bible today.
And see, God's Word is more important
than your physical food the Bible says.
What can take place is you're excited,
you're zealous, you're fired up,
but you're not sustaining that
because you're not reading the Word of God.
And look, it can be frustrating as a pastor
because you preach this and everybody will agree with it.
I mean, the Bible says read therein all the days of thy life,
but I know for a fact a lot of people don't read the Bible.
And I'm just telling you,
you're going to quit church one day.
You're going to fade out.
You're not going to make it.
Now of course you're going to go to heaven
because believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you're saved,
but you're not going to go to the end of your life
and say I have fought a good fight.
You're going to get to the end of your life
and you're like I remember those three months.
I was going soul winning and doing all these things.
But you're not going to fight a good fight
if you're not spending time in God's Word.
Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 40.
Isaiah 40.
Now, the cedar tree was created specifically by God,
designed in a way where it does not weaken
in the same way other trees do, okay?
But I want you to realize that every single one of us
lives in a sinful world
where we hear the devil's music.
We hear, I mean, look, if you work in an office,
I used to work in an office,
and you hear all kinds of just sin and garbage
that people are talking about.
I remember just hearing coworkers talk about
how they're committing adultery on their spouse
and I'm just like, it affects my soul.
I mean, I'm just at the office trying to do my job
and you hear people talking about that.
We live in a world where you go out soul winning
because man, we've got to take care of our eyes.
That's the world we live in.
Every single one of us
is getting slowly brainwashed by the devil.
Every single one of us
is going to allow worldliness to creep in.
You say, why?
Because it's hitting us all the time.
You have to fight back against it.
Now look, it's great to go to a church
where you're hearing the Word of God,
but as many verses as I use or any pastor uses,
it's not enough for a week.
You need to be getting God's Word every single day.
And if you're not getting God's Word every day,
you're going to become very weak very quickly.
Let me also read to you,
it's not just the fact that it's insect repellent
and moisture resistant.
It's also decay resistant.
This is what I will say on websites.
Why is it so expensive?
Moisture resistant, insect resistant,
or repellent, decay resistant as well.
It says another reason that cedar is expensive
is that it's decay resistant.
It takes considerably more time and effort
for cedar to start decaying.
There are several types of wood
that don't share this feature.
Wood can decay for many reasons.
One of the most common is water exposure.
Since cedar is resistant to both water and decay,
it tends to last for a long time.
Another major source of decay
is soil or contact with the ground.
When wood touches the ground,
it's subject to several different catalysts for decay.
The first is water that is soaked into the ground.
Anytime it rains, it soaks into the soil
and comes in contact with the wood for a long time.
Since it takes a while for the soil to dry out,
the wood is constantly in contact with water.
Most types of wood start to decay as a result,
but cedar does not.
Another source of decay is the soil itself.
So the cedar tree is unique in the fact
that it's resistant to moisture resistant,
it's decay resistant, it's an insect repellent,
so naturally other wood breaks down very easily,
but cedar wood's not the same way.
Every single one of us though as a Christian,
you're not just automatically a cedar tree
no matter what you do.
No, you are naturally going to be like
all the other trees that break down.
But you can sustain that strength
by reading God's Word,
by praying to God,
by memorizing the Bible,
by spending time in the Word of God.
Spending time with God.
And look, we spend so much time in the world,
it's about time we spend some time with God.
But many Christians,
the only time they get with God during the week
is Sunday morning.
How are you going to last in this world?
And look, you might still take up a chair in an auditorium.
You might still physically be there.
But it doesn't mean that you're on fire for God anymore.
And the only way you're going to stay on fire for God
is if you sustain that strength.
Why? Because everyone grows weak.
You say, wow, pastor, everybody else, but not me.
Okay, Peter.
But let's see what the Bible says in Isaiah 40
to see if you're right.
Isaiah 40, verse 28.
Has thou not known,
has thou not heard that the everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching of His understanding.
He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might,
He increaseth strength.
The Bible is saying here in verses 28 and 29,
God never gets tired.
The everlasting God.
He never grows weak.
He's always omnipotent.
No matter what takes place in this world,
He's still all powerful.
But then it says this in verse 30,
Even the youth shall faint and be weary,
and the young men shall utterly fall.
Now what does the Bible mean,
even the youth shall faint and be weary?
Now, I mean, this is something that I can say
I understand a lot better now as a parent
than I did before I was a parent.
Because what you're going to see with kids is
they're going to run and run and then,
you know, their mom and their dad are just like,
oh, how do you have so much energy?
I'm tired.
Can't you relax?
And then like a minute later, it's like,
I don't hear anything from the kids.
And you look at them and they're like,
they've like fallen asleep on the middle of the floor.
You say, why?
Because even the youths shall faint and be weary,
meaning grow tired.
Then it says in verse 31,
But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles,
they shall run and not be weary,
and they shall walk and not faint.
I believe that the eagle is one of the most
amazing animals that God has created.
I mean, it just seems so effortless
as it glides through the air.
Just for so long, it's like
it's not even putting any effort
and it just glides through the air.
Now look, if you want to be successful as a Christian,
it's like if you're reading the Word of God,
it's going to make it a lot easier.
But if you're not, it's kind of like
you're flapping and flapping
and just trying to stay up in the air.
What the Bible's trying to put into your mind is this.
Hey, you can make it very hard to last
in the Christian life by not really reading the Bible,
by not obeying God's commandments,
by just trying to go off excitement,
but I'm here to tell you
that excitement is going to fade.
It's not going to last forever.
But you can renew that strength
by reading the Word of God,
by spending time with God.
Go to 1 Kings 19.
1 Kings 19.
Because what takes place is
people get excited to serve God
and for a while they're serving God,
they're doing well,
all of a sudden they kind of lose their zeal
and they kind of go through the motions.
And one thing I thought about a long time ago,
when you think of like four key areas
of the Christian life,
you think of Bible reading,
that's a key area.
You think of prayer,
that's a key area.
You think of church attendance,
that's a key area.
You think of soul winning,
that's a key area.
I believe that the two areas
that fade first if someone drops out
are Bible reading and prayer.
You say why?
Because people still want to look
like they're on fire for God.
And you can see people in church
that they're going soul winning,
they're coming to church,
but they're actually secretly
just slowly fading and dropping out
because they're never reading the Bible.
They're never spending time with God.
And you don't guess it
because they're still there
and then all of a sudden
they start missing the church services
or a storm happens and they quit.
But it actually started
because they weren't spending
personal time with God.
Notice what it says here
in 1 Kings 19 verse 1.
And if you're familiar with this story,
I mean 1 Kings 18,
the chapter before,
is one of the most exciting chapters
in the Word of God.
It's Elijah versus the false prophets of Baal.
I mean, for me,
it might be the most exciting story
in the Old Testament.
And it says here in verse 1,
And Ahab told Jezebel
all that Elijah had done,
and with all how he had slain
all the prophets with the sword.
Then Jezebel sent a messenger
unto Elijah, saying,
So let the gods do to me
and more also,
if I make not thy life
as the life of one of them
by tomorrow about this time.
So you have Jezebel threatening
the life of Elijah.
Now you would think
that Elijah would be like,
Look, I had 850 false prophets.
You think I'm worried about you?
But that's not what you see.
Verse 3,
And when he saw that,
he arose and went for his life,
and came to Beersheba,
which belongeth to Judah,
and left his servant there.
What you see is that
during this persecution,
Elijah just fades out.
This makes sense to me
because honestly,
life is ups and downs, isn't it?
You're doing great.
You're on fire.
You're at a high.
Man, you're motivated.
And then you can literally
see yourself the next day
just completely apathetic
towards the things of God,
completely just kind of worldly,
not into it for whatever reason.
I mean, this is the reality
because you can only fight
so many battles in life,
and it's tiring.
It's draining.
Look, if you're fighting
a bunch of battles,
you need to renew that strength.
And if you're serving God,
you're going to be persecuted.
Yea, and all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
So if you want to do something for God,
you also better renew your strength.
Do you say why?
Because if you're not
renewing your strength,
you're not going to be able
to fight the battles.
It's that simple.
Verse 4,
But he himself went a day's journey
into the wilderness,
and came and sat down
under a juniper tree.
And he requested for himself
that he might die,
and said,
It is enough now, O Lord.
Take away my life,
for I am not better than my fathers.
Now notice what it says here
in verse 5.
And as he lay and slept
under a juniper tree,
behold, then an angel touched him
and said unto him,
Arise and eat.
So an angel comes while he's sleeping
and he just wants to die.
He's done with serving God.
I can't take it anymore.
And then all of a sudden
the angel's like,
Arise and eat.
One thing I like about this,
and you see this throughout the Bible,
is that when you have someone
that's just,
they're not a bad person.
Obviously Elijah's a great person,
but they're a little bit backslidden.
You know, you don't see Jesus
ripping them apart
to get them motivated.
What you see is you actually
try to build them up.
And that's what you're seeing
with the angel here.
He touches them.
He says, Arise and eat.
Now he could say,
Hey, you backslidden wicked person.
What is wrong with you?
But honestly, you know what?
When you're trying to serve God,
but you have down days,
you know what you actually need
is someone to actually help you out.
And that's what you're seeing here.
And then it says here in verse 6,
And he looked, and behold,
there was a cake, bacon on the coals,
and a cruse of water at his head.
And he did eat and drink
and laid him down again.
So he goes back to sleep.
And the angel of the Lord
came again the second time
and touched him and said,
Arise and eat.
Then he makes a statement,
Because the journey is too great for thee.
Now the actual physical story
that's taking place
is a man that's physically tired
and he physically needs food
and he's going on a long physical journey.
All things are given for our edifying
and that we can learn
for doctrine, for reproof.
What is this story
actually trying to teach us?
What it's trying to teach us
is that you need to
arise and eat every single day.
And here's the thing.
If you want to go
on a long journey for God,
you want to do something big for God,
you better make sure,
because the angel's like,
Whoa, that's not enough.
Maybe that's enough for others,
but you're Elijah.
I got a lot I want you to do.
He says, Arise and eat the second time.
Why?
Because the journey is too great for thee.
Look, you know,
if there's a young man in this room
that has a desire to be a pastor,
look, the journey is too great
to just spend five minutes a day
reading the Bible.
You better spend a lot more time than that.
And honestly,
however long of a journey
you want to go on,
it's going to be completely directly
correlated to how much time
you spend with God.
Whether it's a man in this room
or a woman in this room.
So if you want to do something big for God,
you better arise and eat quite a bit.
Now look, if you just want to do
a little bit for God,
you kind of go soul winning
from time to time.
You know, you're kind of into it,
but not really.
You know, you get a couple people
saved a year or something.
Well, then you probably don't need
to read the Bible that much
to do that.
But if you want to actually
do something big for God,
you better make sure you're
arising and eating every single day.
This is your sustainability
and you can be like that cedar tree
that 10 years from now,
20 years from now,
30 years from now,
40 years from now,
you're still devoted to church,
you're still soul winning,
and you're a great example
to the young people
that can look at you,
that has been doing it
for decade after decade after decade,
and they're excited,
and you can tell them,
hey, they ask you,
what's the secret?
Wake up and read the Bible every day.
That's the secret.
Because the journey is too great
for thee if you want to stay
a soul winner your whole life.
Turn to your Bible
to Song of Solomon 5.
Point number one about the cedar tree.
What is the Bible trying to tell us?
Well, the cedar tree
is known for its strength.
You see that several times in the Bible.
It's a very strong tree,
very durable.
But it's not just that
it's a strong tree.
It doesn't just have strength.
It has sustainability.
So it's not the example
of a Christian that gets
on fire for God and excited,
and then six months down the road,
it's like they completely
quit on the things of God.
No, the cedar tree
is the example of someone
who gets on fire for God
and they stay on fire for God.
And look, most people that get
on fire for God
do not stay on fire for God.
I wish that were not true,
but it is true.
I mean, I don't know percentages,
but I mean, when you look
at people that get on fire
for God, most fade out.
So look, if we were
to go off percentages,
a lot of people in this room
could end up fading out
on the things of God
within a few years.
And look, that is possible
for me as well.
Everybody take heed lest ye fall.
I'm not just preaching at you,
but oh man, I would never struggle.
Wait a minute, Elijah struggled.
If Elijah, who is arguably
the greatest character
in the Old Testament,
ends up just it's too much for him,
it could happen
to every single one of us.
Point number one is the strength
of the cedar tree.
Point number two, the sustainability.
But point number three,
what about the splendor
of the cedar tree?
The cedar tree is known
to be a very beautiful tree.
It says here from this article,
one of the reasons
it's so expensive,
perhaps one of the biggest reasons
everyone loves to use cedar
is its beauty.
Cedar comes in several shades.
However, one of the best
variants of cedar
is western red cedar.
This type of cedar
comes in even more shades
that aren't typical
of most types of wood.
You can get some red hues
that are striking
and make for great fences,
walls, decks, and other projects
without even needing paint.
That said, cedar as a whole
comes in different shades
of color on its own.
Whether someone wants
a rustic-looking piece of wood
or some modern-looking pieces of wood,
they can find what they need
with cedar.
Unfortunately, its beauty
also makes it expensive
for a few different reasons.
The first is that
its different shades
make it more versatile.
Designers can do
a lot more with it,
which means they want
to get their hands on it.
Architects, builders,
and homeowners also value
its beauty and versatility.
They want to get
their hands on it, too.
The demand for wood
as high as it is,
it becomes very expensive.
Another reason is the fact
that those selling the wood
know how beautiful it is.
They're aware that only cedar
gives a particular
type of appearance.
There aren't any other
types of wood
that can match it.
As such, they know
that people who want
wood like cedar
are going to buy cedar.
They put a high price
on it as a result.
They know that people
are going to be willing
to pay a high price
on cedar because they know
that they can't get
its particular beauty
anywhere else.
Now look,
if you were to step
outside this building
during the daytime,
this specific street,
there's a lot of cars,
a lot of traffic.
If you go soloing
in these areas,
there's a lot of pollution.
There's a lot of dogs
that run around.
And then you've got
a very, very,
very beautiful church
right over there.
And for those that have
seen this during the daytime,
you know what
I'm talking about.
Now, this is not
the same church,
but a similar example
would be like
this.
Very, very nice.
I mean, you could have
an area that's really
run down and poor,
and then you see
the Mormon Church.
Let me tell you something.
The house that Solomon built
would have put that
building to shame.
It would have been
far more beautiful.
And the thing about cedar tree,
and look, I looked at
different types of wood
online because I know
very little about wood
until I prepared this sermon.
And I was like,
yeah, you know,
the cedar tree
is actually very beautiful.
I was looking at it.
And I was kind of curious as well.
This wasn't on the list,
but I was like,
I wonder how the cedar tree
smells compared to other trees.
So I randomly went on websites
that talked about trees,
best smelling types of wood
on almost every single one.
Guess what was number one?
Cedar tree.
Number one as the best
smelling wood that there is.
I mean, there's something
amazing about what God created.
And, you know,
certain things that God
has created are made
for a specific reason.
And the Bible is saying,
hey, I want you to be
like a cedar tree.
So don't just be someone
who's strong in your Christianity.
That's sustainable.
But what exactly does this mean?
Well, turn to
Song of Solomon 5.
We're going to connect this.
Song of Solomon 5, verse 15.
In this chapter, the woman,
or in this verse,
the woman is praising her husband,
and she says,
His legs are as pillars of marble
set upon sockets of fine gold.
Now notice this.
His countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars.
And what she's referring to
by countenance is his face
and his attitude.
She's saying he's like the cedar tree.
And here's what I would say.
Don't just be a church member,
but have some splendor about you.
You say, what do you mean by that?
Be someone who's in a good mood,
someone who's friendly,
someone who's volunteering,
someone that's an asset to the church.
That's what he's trying to say here.
Your countenance is as Lebanon,
excellent as the cedars.
Go in your Bible to 1 Kings 10.
1 Kings 10.
Anyway, this is something that all of us
should be reminded of
because obviously when you're looking
at a church like this
or the churches that you come from,
you know, we're independent,
fundamental Baptist churches,
and when you really look at the churches
that are on the front line of battle,
you know what they're going to say?
We're new IFB.
Right?
They're the churches that are getting persecuted.
They're the ones that are boldly preaching
the Word of God.
Now look, I've been to old IFB churches
that I grew up in in West Virginia
that were solid and good churches
and I have nothing negative to say about them,
but in my opinion,
the ones on the front line of battle
would say, hey, we're new IFB.
Well, one thing that we can often forget
as people that are fundamental Bible believers
is that you know what?
We preach against all these false religions.
We go out so many...
Well, we need to be kind and good people
to the people that are around us.
Have a good attitude.
Have some grace.
Have some character.
Right?
Obviously there's false prophets
and wickedness and sin,
and look, I preach against all of those things,
but around each other,
we ought to have a good attitude
and be friendly
and be in a good mood
and be a valuable member of the church
and not be someone who's just like
you're preaching against all the false religions
and then everything in church
you're in a bad mood about as well.
It's like, no, we need to be balanced as Christians.
We need to be balanced.
I mean, think about being in a fight.
Because the Bible says that we're in a fight.
Look, I'm not endorsing mixed martial arts
to watch the UFC or whatever,
but I'm going to give you an example.
If you had someone,
because you think of MMA as
wrestling, jiu-jitsu, striking.
Right?
That's kind of the three basic categories you'd say.
If someone is an amazing striker,
if they're a horrible wrestler,
you know what's going to happen?
A wrestler's going to pick them up and slam them
and that's the end of the story.
If someone is really good at wrestling,
but they have terrible jiu-jitsu,
I mean, in the early days of UFC,
every wrestler just got choked out
because they knew no jiu-jitsu.
If somebody is very good at jiu-jitsu,
but they're not a very good wrestler or striker,
well, the fight's staying on their feet
and they're getting knocked out.
And in your Christian life,
you need to be well-rounded.
You need to be balanced.
You need to have all areas figured out.
You say, why?
Because the devil's going to hit you where you're weak.
Devil's not an idiot.
Look, if you're fighting someone
and they don't know how to wrestle,
what are you going to do?
You're going to take them down to the ground.
Because that's how you're going to win the fight.
What I'm saying is,
Satan is going to hit you where you're weak.
You better make sure you're well-rounded in all areas.
Otherwise, the devil's coming for where you're weakest.
And if you're strong in one area,
really weak in another,
you know what?
You're probably just going to fade out.
You're probably going to be devoured by the devil.
1 Kings 10.
And this is the story of the queen of Sheba
visiting Solomon.
Of course, we have the temple
that's made of the cedar wood.
And notice what it says in 1 Kings 10, verse 4.
And when the queen of Sheba
had seen all Solomon's wisdom
in the house that he had built,
remember, this is a house made of cedar, right?
And the meat of his table
and the sitting of his servants
and the attendance of his ministers
and their apparel and his cupbearers
and his ascent by which he went up
unto the house of the Lord.
There was no more spirit in her.
And she said to the king,
It was a true report
that I heard in mine own land
of thy acts and of thy wisdom.
Howbeit, I believed not the words
until I came and mine eyes had seen it,
and behold, the half was not told me.
Thy wisdom and prosperity
exceedeth the fame which I heard.
But I want you to notice
what it says in verse 8
for the context of saying
having some splendor in your Christianity.
Happy are thy men,
happy are these thy servants,
which stand continually before thee,
and that hear thy wisdom.
You know, the sort of people
that we ought to be
is just nice and normal people
where if some visitor comes in
and you say,
Hey, are you pre-trib or post-trib?
They're like, What?
And they have no idea
what you're talking about.
Do you believe in Zionism?
Wait, what?
What's Zionism?
Someone who knows nothing about the new IP,
they know nothing about being a Baptist.
They know nothing,
and you can just be a nice person to them
and make them feel welcome
and just talk to them.
And yeah, they're not at your level of Christianity,
but you know what?
People can actually change.
People can come into the church
knowing nothing and be on fire for God.
Look, we've seen that at our church.
We've had people that we've reached
through the door-to-door ministry
and brought to church,
but I don't think any of you could guess
who those people are
because they're just as on fire for God
as anyone in this room.
But see, this is only going to happen
if when we bring visitors,
we make them feel welcome
and don't act like we're better than them.
Look, if a new woman visits our church,
yeah, she's not going to be dressed right.
I can pretty much guarantee it.
You say, Why?
Because we're brainwashed by the world.
It's not something somebody understands
who just got saved.
And look, it's not just having strength
in your Christianity
and having that being sustainable.
You need some splendor
in your Christianity as well.
Go in your Bible back to Psalm 92.
We'll close up.
Psalm 92.
And your Bible says as you return to Psalm 92,
Behold how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity.
In fact, when you think about
the church of Corinth,
why does Paul highlight
right near the beginning in chapter 3
that they're baby Christians?
What's the thing he brings up?
Because they have strife.
Because they have arguments.
Because they have debates.
Right?
I mean, this is something that I believe
in the early days of this church.
There's a lot of people that are still here.
There's about 20 people that were here
from the very first Sunday.
You know, we had an issue at our church
where there's this attitude.
It's like, Alright, we're the new IFB,
and if somebody new comes,
we get to test them out for a while
if they're really welcoming in church.
And they kind of turned our church
into like two churches.
And it was a stupid attitude.
I mean, literally,
we had people that got kicked out of our church
and they told people
they were not allowed to go
sowing at our church
because they weren't good enough
at preaching the gospel.
And it's not just one report.
Multiple reports I know of that
of someone who said,
You're not good enough.
You've got to learn more.
Well, idiot,
how do you get better without practice?
No offense if you're a new soul winner,
but everyone's horrible at soul winning
when they start.
Everybody.
It just is what it is.
I mean, when people are new at soul winning,
they probably think
they're getting a lot of people saved.
And you know what?
A lot of them
probably aren't actually getting saved
because they're still learning.
They need to be more thorough.
They need to figure out how to do things better.
Myself included.
When I started,
I thought I was getting a lot of people saved.
And a few months later,
I realized, You know what?
The four spiritual laws
is not a good approach
to get people saved.
God loves you.
He wants you in heaven.
Say this prayer.
And I thought people were getting saved.
Genuinely in my heart,
I thought that I was getting
a lot of people saved.
And it was like a five minute
or less gospel presentation
because I didn't know anything at the time.
Right?
But anyways,
Psalm 92, let's close up.
And what did we say about the cedar tree?
We said the cedar tree
is a very strong tree.
But it's not just that it's strong
and excited and zealous
and fired up Christian,
but it's very sustainable,
meaning being the type of Christian
that's not just strong now,
but 10 years from now,
not only are you still strong,
but you're stronger
because you're growing.
You're reading the Bible
and you're stronger than you've ever been
and not just strong and sustainable,
but having some splendor about you,
being someone that's in a good mood
and being helpful to church members.
I mean, the Bible says
in the book of Galatians,
when it comes to getting rewards
and reaping what you've sown,
it says to do good,
especially unto them
who are of the household of faith.
I mean, we're fired up
to get people saved
and praise God for it.
But then in Galatians 6
in the context there,
He says especially
to those that are already saved.
Meaning don't be a person
that's really fired up
to go soul winning,
but you're obnoxious
to people in real life
that are saved.
Be someone that's just...
And look,
we probably all know church members
that when you see them
on a Sunday morning,
it's like you could be
in a down mood
and then all of a sudden
you see them
and they shake your hand
and say hello
and you're like,
man, I'm in a good mood now.
I remember someone
I used to go to church with
in West Virginia
and, you know,
we used to call him
the human spark plug
because you come to church
and you're kind of in a down mood
not feeling well.
He's like,
man, how you doing, brother?
And it's like,
man, I'm doing good now.
Right?
I mean,
to put you in a good mood,
they were always happy
and look,
we ought to have some splendor
in our Christianity
where we're someone
that people want to be around.
That we're helpful
to the church.
We're volunteering.
I mean, this is what
the Queen of Sheba saw
in 1 Kings 10.
It wasn't just Solomon.
You know,
what I would say about this
is when it comes to pastors
of churches like this,
of course they're front and center.
They preach the sermons.
But you know,
what I've always preached
and I believe is
I believe that in our church
there's people that could get
more rewards in heaven than me.
That are just as on fire
or more on fire for God
than I am.
This is not a one man show.
One person does not get...
I mean, look,
I don't know how many salvations
we're going to get
during this missions trip,
but it's a team effort.
Our salvation in the bulletin,
it's a team effort
of a group,
a body of people
that love God.
And one very important aspect
to a church body
throughout the Bible
is just unity.
Because if you don't have unity,
people don't even want to go to church.
You want to go to church
where you can have friends
and a church family.
And that's the way
that we ought to make it in church.
We ought to have
some splendor in our Christianity.
Here's what it says
in Psalm 92 verse 12.
The righteous shall flourish
like the palm tree.
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
And notice the link here
with the cedar in Lebanon,
verse 13.
Those that be planted
in the house of the Lord
shall flourish in the courts of our God.
They shall still bring forth
fruit in old age.
They shall be fat and flourishing.
Look, I hope your goal
is that you're not just going to
get a lot of people
saved this week.
Because let's be honest with this,
as many as you get saved this week,
if you were to just be consistent
week after week,
you're going to get more people saved
by being consistent
week after week.
I hope that we all have the goal
and say,
hey, I'm doing something for God now,
but I want to do something for God
in five years.
And ten years.
And twenty years.
And look, when the hair starts to gray,
and I'm starting to see it a little bit,
you start seeing the white hairs,
the gray hairs,
you start to get older,
you start to get weaker,
but you're still in church.
You're still serving God.
You're still getting people saved.
That in old age,
you can say,
hey, you know what?
I got two people saved.
Fifty years old.
Sixty years old.
Seventy years old.
Eighty years old.
Look, if health permits,
I want to be a soul winner
until the day I die.
And I'm sure that when I'm older,
I'm not going to be able to go soul winning
for as long,
or put in as much time,
or hours,
or as many days during the week.
But look,
I want to be a soul winner
until the day I die.
And look,
God says it's possible.
He said that you can bring forth
fruit in old age.
And I'm just being honest.
I think logically one of the best ways
to help keep your body fresh
is the fact that you're still
getting people saved,
because God's like,
I got to make sure that you're still able
to have good health
because you're still getting people saved.
It's like a free health insurance.
Go soul winning.
And God's going to be like,
you know what,
I need that person around
because they're still getting people saved.
And look,
it is possible in old age
to still bring forth fruit
and be like the cedar tree in Lebanon.
Let's go to a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,
thank you for allowing us to be here today
and ask you to help us
to apply this sermon to our lives.
Help all of us to be strong
and have sustainability
and have some splendor about our lives
as Christians, God.
Help us to just be zealous
to serve you
and to obey you
and do what's right, God.
We pray all these things
in Jesus' name, Amen.