Amen, so the title of the sermon I tonight is if the hat fits wear it if the hat fits
Wear it and we'll get into why I named it that here in a little bit
But really what I want to preach to you about tonight is preaching
And specifically what i'm preaching about is hard preaching. What is hard preaching or what is it?
That makes hard preaching and we've probably all heard that term
If we're even you know, if we're associated with this church or churches like it or this movement, you know
We all we've all understand what the term hard preaching is and that's when a preacher gets up
And preaches a message that's difficult for some people to receive
You know or they get up and they rip on sin or they rip on uh, you know, a heresy or whatever it might be
But really what makes hard preaching is the fact that it's personal
I mean that's really the hardest preaching there is when when the preacher starts to hit on your sin when the preacher starts to hit on
Uh, you know something that you're guilty of that's what we I would call hard preaching
Now you say well, no, no, you know hard preaching is ripping on the homos it is but here's the thing for the homo
It's personal
Right. So hard preaching is personal
I mean, that's why they get all uh worked up about when they hear some man of god get up
And say it like it is, you know that what they do is an abomination before god and worthy of death
And that's why they freak out. But why is that because it's personal to them, you know, and any hard preaching is personal preaching
So hard preaching is when it gets
Personal and really some of the hardest preaching is when god's uh, the preaching is directed at god's people
I mean, it's really easy to get up and just rip on a bunch of people that aren't even allowed here
Right. We're not going to let the homos through the door
You know, and it's really easy just just to rip on them and and and say what it is now
You I say it's easy, but for apparently for some preachers is not easy
You know, they even shy away from that and they let them come on and they're so afraid of them
They bring them into the church
That's another sermon
But really the hardest preaching there is is preaching that starts to get personal with us when it starts to land in the pew
You know, we all say oh we love hard preaching, but do we really you know?
I mean some of the hard preaching is when it starts to fall in our lap
And really that's when we start to see what people are really made of, you know, whether or not, you know
They're just along for the show or whether they're they're on, you know
They're in this uh for the long haul or if they're serious about wanting to make changes in their life
And getting things right and really serving god
So that is what hard preaching is. It's hard preaching is personal preaching and more specifically
It's preaching that's directed at god's people. The bible says that judgment must begin in the house of god
So you're there in isaiah chapter 58 look at verse one
It says there cry aloud spare not lift up thy voice like a trumpet
So that is a directive that is an order to the preacher
That is the manner in which he ought to preach he ought to cry aloud
He ought to spare not he ought to lift up his voice like a trumpet, you know, he ought to be loud
He ought to project he ought to be speak with authority. He ought to he ought to say
Uh what he says with conviction and and and and uh being genuine and with authority
But notice there at the end there it says and show my people
Their transgressions in the house of jacob their sins
So we see not the only the manner in which he used to preach, you know, the the actual
You know doing of it lifting up his voice, but what is it that he is supposed to preach?
What is it that jake or that isaiah was supposed to spare not about it was their sins. It was their transgressions
You know and it's it's no wonder that god had to tell
isaiah to preach in this manner in fact, he had to command him to preach in this manner because
As men the tendency is, you know, you know, i'm a person who doesn't enjoy confrontation
I just want everyone to be at peace almost to a fault
You know, and that's a dangerous characteristic to have if you're going to be a preacher you have to look out for that
because you know
Because the thing is do I don't want to get up and talk about other people's
Transgressions or other people's shortcomings or preach on their sins because it creates it gets awkward
Because it creates conflict because people get offended
But that's the way the preacher is supposed to preach. He's supposed to show people their sins
And he's not to he's not to spare about it. He says spare not don't hold back preach the whole thing
You know nail it down tell them what's wrong so that they can get it right
He says show my people their transgressions and the house of jacob their sins
So what makes our preaching hard preaching is because it's personal, you know hard face ripping preaching is when it's personal
And it's demanded of a preacher to preach this way go and turn over to jonah chapter three
It's not optional for the preacher. You can't say well, you know, I don't want to be a hard preacher, you know
I just want to be a type of person who just wants to motivate people all the time
I just want to be the guy that just encourages everybody all the time. I just want to preach on doctrine all the time
There we ought to preach all those things
We got to preach there ought to be all manner of preaching that comes across the pulpit
But one thing that has to be there
Is hard personal preaching that shows people their sins so that they can get things right
So we see here in jonah chapter three, of course jonah was one
That didn't want to go preach hard, you know
He wanted he didn't want to go preach the message
That god had told him to preach. He didn't want to go to Nineveh
He ran from god and god had to chase him severely. We know the story
but in jonah chapter three verse one
it says in the word of the lord came unto jonah the second time saying
Arise go into Nineveh that great city and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee
He's saying look don't go preach your own message
Don't go preach what you feel don't go preach what you think is appropriate to the people of Nineveh
Go preach the preaching preaching that I did thee go say what I told you to say
It goes so in verse three
So jonah rose and went into Nineveh according to the word of the lord
Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days and jonah began to enter the city a day's journey
So get the idea what the bible's saying here
It was an exceeding great city of three days and he began to enter into the city a day's journey
So when it says it was an exceeding great city of three days, that means that's how long it took you to walk across it
It was so big it would take you three days to walk across that city
I mean we just came out of a big city, you know la
I mean it took you it took you three days to drive out of that place
I mean it was it was three hours of driving to get out of there, you know
So you could imagine how big of Nineveh was it would take him three days. So and and and so
Jonah goes in there and he starts to preach and he began to enter into the city a day's journey
And he cried and said yet 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown
So he didn't go in there and preach a nice soft gentle message
Did he and he didn't do it just you know to a select group of people on the outskirts of town
He didn't wait in the suburbs and just caught a few people as they're coming in
He went into the heart of that city. He almost went halfway in, you know, he went a day's journey in and began to preach
You know, and i'm sure it wasn't just you know a message here or there. He was preaching hard
He was preaching long and what was his message?
Nineveh shall be overthrown
You know like who's this guy, you know
Hey, uh, excuse me. Where are you from? Are you local here?
You know some guy just shows up and says hey god's gonna destroy your city
But we know the story what happened those people got right and he goes to show you that hard preaching works
And that's why god wants personal preaching
That's why god wants hard face ripping preaching that deals with people's transgressions because that's when people get things right
And make changes in their life go and turn over jeremiah chapter one jeremiah chapter one
All of god's preachers are commanded to preach in this manner
I'm, not saying all the time. I'm not saying every single sermon has to be getting up and trying to
You know make somebody squirm in their seat or make them feel uncomfortable
But it has to be there. We have to deal with sin. We have to help people grow in christ
We have to help people get things right
And that requires people preachers to get up and preach hard sermons that are personal that deal with us where we're at
Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 1 the bible says the words of jeremiah the son of hilkiah of the priest
There were an anathoth in the land of benjamin
To whom the word of the lord came in the days of jesiah the king of ammon king of judah in the 13th year of his
reign
It came also in the days of jehoiakim the son of josiah king of judah and unto the unto the end of the 11th year
Of zedekiah the son of josiah king of judah
unto the carrying away of jerusalem
Captive in the fifth month then the word of the lord came unto me saying
Uh before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee and before thou came us forth out of the womb
I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a preacher unto the nations then said I ah lord god
I cannot speak for I am a child but the lord said unto me say not I am a child
Thou shall go to all that I send thee
And whatsoever I commend thee thou shall speak
So he's saying look I ordained you I have known about I knew you were coming before you even existed
I had this planned out. I knew this was going to take place. I picked out a man
You're that man and you're going to go where I tell you to go and you're going to preach what I tell you to preach
He wasn't giving jeremiah an option say go preach whatever you want. Jeremiah. Just go just go tell them whatever you think's appropriate
He's saying no you're going to go tell them to and what I want them to hear
You're going to speak to them the words that I want spoken
Be not afraid of their faces it says in verse 8
You know and that's a that's a real good tip for preachers be not afraid of their faces
Because when you start to preach things people make faces
You know people start to they they I don't think they realize it or not
I wonder sometimes what faces I made when I was sitting in the pews
You know people people, you know, they're sitting there with their bible going
You know like they did. Okay, not that bad
And sometimes you go man is this person getting upset and it's probably just they're concentrating or whatever, you know
But you know people the preacher can go oh that you know
I said something that offended that person looks like over there, you know, and then next thing, you know
He does. Well, i'm never going to do that again
Boy, i'm going to i'm going to I sure didn't appreciate I don't I don't want to upset them
You know, he's saying don't be afraid of their faces
Don't care if they scowl they make a you know
If they look like just like a bite bite out of a lemon because you said something they didn't like
Preach it. Anyway preach the whole thing. Don't be afraid of their faces tear it up
He says be not afraid of their faces. Why for I am with thee to deliverly say the lord
Then the lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth and the lord said to me behold. I have put my words in thy mouth
so again
The the command of the preacher is to go and to preach god's words
And that's something we have to understand whenever we're listening to preaching
You know if it starts to come down and land in our lap if it starts to hit a little bit closer to home
You have to understand something. It's not the preacher
Yeah, he's the one that's saying it
But you know at the end of the day
It's it's the bible at the end of the day if his message is from the bible then it's god that's speaking
You know, he's just the channel
He's just something that he's just the one if he's obeying as jeremiah did the command to just preach god's words
You know, you have to ask yourself. Who is it? I'm really upset with who's really offending me here
Is it the preacher or is it god's word?
And if god's words offend so be it, you know, and we as preachers should strive not to just get up and offend people for
You know for offense's sake for just i'm just going to try to offend somebody
You know, we never start out doing that
But if you preach the whole council of god, and if you preach everything that you're supposed to preach
You will offend people and what they do with that is up to them
And if you sit in a church long enough where the bible is being preached you will get offended
And what you do with that is going to say a lot about you
And you have to understand something
It's not if you're not they're not just you're not just being offended just so you can be offended
You're being offended because you're probably guilty of something and probably need to get something right
And you need to deal with it. He says I have put my words in thy mouth
See I have set thee this day over the nations and over the kingdoms now listen to let me show you
I want you to look at this in verse 10 count with me
He said this is the type of preaching that you're going to do
You're going to go to these people and this is what you're going to preach
And this is why you're going to preach what you're going to preach to root out
I mean rooting out, you know going in and tunneling in and tearing something out
To root out and to pull down. These are not positive things
These are these are actions of of destruction rooting something out
You know the rotor router you gotta you gotta you gotta root in your drain that's backing up the plumbing
You gotta get the plumber over there, you know, he's not going down into the drain with a nice little, you know
Little cotton brush to like coax the root out
And say now now, you know, we've got a job to do here and we'd really appreciate it
If you would just move out of the way and stop growing over here. No, he sends down like a blade
I don't know exactly i've never done it, but
you know, it's like on a blade and it's on a
Motor and it goes in there just whips everything up and shreds it, you know, he's rooting it out
That's what he's saying. You're gonna do
You're gonna go there with my words in your mouth and you're going to root out and you're going to pull down
You know the pulling down of strongholds that's what preaching should do
People get strongholds in their life. They get strongholds of sin. They get into habits
They get into lifestyles they get into living a certain way
And the preacher has to bring the word of god and preach the message and start to pull those things down
Not so that they can just be there barren with nothing but that so why so that they can build up again
That's what we'll see here in a minute
But he says you have to root out you have to pull down you have to destroy
And to destroy it's not enough just to root it out
It's not just a bull to pull it down. You got to light that thing on fire
You know cut the tree down and put it in a wood chipper so that you can't ever put it back up again
Get the thing out of there once and for all destroy it to throw down
You know climb up on top and start throwing it over the edge and tear that thing down that sin that that life
Whatever it is to throw it down and then so we got one to root out to pull down to destroy to throw down
That's four negatives
And they end there and then he says to build
And we all like to build right and to plant. Well, that's a nice thought
You know i'm going to go to church and the preacher's it's going to be like going out in the garden with the preacher
We're just going to take a little a little tinder tender plant
We're going to put it in the pot and we're going to put a little water on it and watch it grow. It's going to be beautiful
Yeah, we're going to do that. But first we got to get all the rocks out
And first we got to get all the roots out of the way
And there's this great big tree that we have to tear down and destroy and get out of your life
And we do that through the preaching so then we can build and then we can plant and then we can see god start to do
something
But if all this other stuff's in the way
You can't build
I mean just be like if you wanted to build another structure somewhere, you know
You see these dilapidated buildings and they say well boy
That's a really great spot for you know, this new building with we could put all these businesses in it
It could be very productive. There could be a lot of commerce going on, but there's this old burned out warehouse
We should destroy it we should tear it down we should pull that down. Whoa, don't be so negative
You know, what are you saying destroy that building don't you know how long that building's been there?
Everybody drives by and they recognize that building. It's like a landmark here
That's the problem though. You know, it's too familiar
And it needs to be destroyed down and then when you get that lot cleared
Then you can bring in the new then you can start to build then you can start to plant then you can start to see
some positivity
But notice there again, that's four negatives to two positives, you know, and the positive comes after the negative
The building up and the planning that comes after the rooting out that comes after the pulling down that comes after the destroying that comes
after the throwing down
and you know
It just goes to show you that god's message is often more negative than positive
And if we've read our bibles, we know that
You know, there's a lot of negativity in the bible
God does a lot of hard things. God has a lot of hard sayings
God deals with people very harshly at times
Not because he's just mean
But because people are stubborn and stiff-necked and sinful and rebellious and god has to deal with us
And that's why preachers again. They cannot be afraid of their faces
Say, oh, I know i'm supposed to destroy. I know i'm supposed to pull down
I know i'm supposed to do this, but I just don't want to offend anybody
But here's the thing if you're if you're not if you're going to be afraid of their faces and you're afraid to do all that
Then you never get to build then you never get to plant
That you never get to see that person change you never get to see that person grow
You never get to see them bring forth in their life because the preacher's too afraid
of preaching god's word
And really, you know, this is and this is probably just more of a tip for anyone who would like to preach one day
You know and and it's a quality that has to be in a preacher if he's going to be a preacher
You have to have what i've heard called a killer instinct
You know, you can't you can't just be one of these guys that just doesn't ever ever want to go after anything
You know, you know some heresy creeps into the church and you just want to well, you know
Maybe there's something to it and they just they just understand things a little differently and you know, we just we just want to get along
You know, that's not a killer instinct. You have to have that you have to be able to call it out say that's heresy
We're not having it. Here's why it's heresy and kill it and get it out of there whether it's heresy whether it's sin
Whatever it is
A preacher has to have a killer instinct
And if we don't understand what that means we understand why now go ahead and turn over to uh, uh, Ecclesiastes chapter 12
This is a great passage about what preaching should be like or what hard preaching is and what and the purpose of it?
Ecclesiastes chapter 12
Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 10. The bible says the preacher sought to find out acceptable words
You know the preacher want to know what is should I preach what's acceptable? What's good?
What needs to be preached?
And that well and that which was written was upright even words of truth
The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the master of assembly
He says the words of the wise are as good now. What's a goat?
A goat is a sharp pointy stick
That you would use to poke a stubborn animal in the back side to get it to move forward
Remember when paul was going on the damascus road when he was still saw at his conversion
And the lord came to him after he was struck with blindness and came to him that bright light and he said paul
Or saul saul why persecute is thou me he said who art thou lord i am i am jesus christ whom thou persecuted
What did he say to him it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks?
He wasn't talking about some bramble bush, you know
It's hard for you to just walk up to a bush full of prickly pears and kick it
He was talking about the fact that god had been goading him that whole time
That god had been taking that goat and pricking him
And trying to get him to move in the right direction know that I am the christ
No, these are my my witnesses
I am the messiah because remember saul had seen everything they laid
Uh, they they laid uh, the uh, the first martyr stephen's feet at his at a close at his feet
He was consenting unto his death
He was brought up under gamaliel. I mean, they all knew him in jerusalem. There's no doubt. Saul saw christ
Saw the christ in during his ministry. I mean that that's not a that's not a big leap to say that
So this whole time saul is probably pondering these things in his heart and wondering and the holy spirit's just
goading him
right
So that's what a goat is when someone's trying to move an animal
And that's what the bible says the words of the wise are
When a preacher gets up and starts to preach the word and sometimes it's a sharp stick and getting poked by it isn't any fun
Is it?
I mean if I were just pull out a sharp stick right now and just walk up and start poking you
You know, you probably grab it snap it come after me
You know, give me a bloody nose it'd be it'd be embarrassing
But that's but that's the way preaching is sometimes, you know
Sometimes the preacher has to get up and take out the sharp stick of god's word and just go you need to move in this direction
You need to start doing this you need to quit doing that
And it's not him. It's the it's the stick that you don't like
Because that's what god's word does it prods us and hard preaching
Personal preaching that gets down on our level and starts to deal with us has a purpose
And it's not to just make us feel bad. It's not to just make us
The the it's not just the preacher getting up and beating his chest
You know, it's it has a purpose
Now i'll read to you in second timothy
It says in verse 4 I charge thee before god and the lord jesus christ
And if you would turn to second kings second kings chapter 6
Second kings chapter 6 you see hard preaching personal preaching. It has a purpose
You know that goad that sharp stick it has a purpose when you're using it to poke that animal
You're seeing you're not just doing that for fun. You know, if you're into that torturing animals, you know, stay away from me
you've probably got some
you know, that's that's a major trait of being a
Some kind of psychotic serial killer or something like that. They all start out with animals. So please, you know
Even even the wicked are cruel to his beast
But the you know second timothy 4 says I charge thee before god and the lord jesus christ
Who shall judge the quick and the dead it is appearing
Preach the word be instant in season out of season
Reprove rebuke exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine why for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine
But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teacher?
Having itching itching ears and shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables
You say you know why you got to reprove and why you got to rebuke with all long-suffering and doctrine
Why you got to exhort why you got to do this timothy?
Because there's going to be a time when people are just going to start wanting to cover their ears
They're not going to want to hear it
And that's not the time to pull back and say well, let's just tell them what they want to hear
You need to tell them what they need to hear. He's saying you need to continue preaching these things in season out of season be instant
So preaching should be as goads. They should move you in a specific direction
That's the point of it when the preacher's taking answer. He's trying to get you to go
In an area that you need to go because it's scriptural
It's a prod you into like for for what example well the prod you into living a righteous life
Prod you into getting that sin out of your life prod you into living for the lord prod you into you know
Developing certain standards in your life
Uh and such things, you know, it gets a lot more specific than that prod you away from sin and worldliness
Right. Stop hanging out with those people. Stop hanging out. Quit making that your entertainment
Quit uh, quit doing that particular
activity
Uh because it has a perfect and because there is a purpose in that preaching it has to be specific, doesn't it?
I mean if I were just to get up and say, you know, we shouldn't have any any world, you know
We should avoid worldly entertainment
You know, it's sinful. It's wicked. That's pretty general
And then everyone here could say well, you know, then we could we get to make up our mind about what that means
You know, we should avoid sexual immorality
You can make that whatever you want
But if I get up and turn it over to first corinthians chapter five and say, you know, you should avoid fornication
You know and that that fornicators are cast out of the church
Now we just got specific didn't we
So that's the point that's why it has to be specific because it has a purpose to move you away
From sin and into a righteous type of living
And I think there's a good illustration of this i've always enjoyed this story
And and maybe that maybe I haven't got this one just right, but I think we could use this here
I think we could apply this if you're there in second kings chapter six look verse one
And the sons of the prophet said in elijah behold now the place where we dwell dwell with thee is too straight for us
They're not saying that they they wish they were living in a place that's more crooked
It just means that there's not enough room
Let us go
We pray thee unto jordan and take thanks every man a beam and let us make a place there that we may dwell
And he answered go ye
but one said
Be content. I pray thee and go with thy servants. He answered I will go
So he went with them
And when they came uh, and by the way, I just love that part of the story too where he's like you go ahead
And then they say will you come with us? He's like, okay, i'll go
You're like sometimes the preacher just wants to know that he's wanted right? It's like oh you guys go ahead
You know and it's kind of a test. Well, do they really do they really even want this guy around?
Do they even really want him to do what he's supposed to do?
Like no, no come along. Yeah be content. He's like, okay i'll go
And one said excuse me, I've read that verse four so he went with them and when they came to jordan they cut down wood
But as one was felling a beam the axe head fell into the water
And he cried and said alas master for it was borrowed
So this guy had borrowed an axe from somebody and he's cutting down a tree and the axe head goes flying off and lands in the river
You know and apparently this was a real big deal because he's just like a last master
Master
It's like wait
I mean we've kind of like we could get a chuckle out of that
We got to remember like there wasn't a harbor freight around the corner back then
You know a sharp axe head was probably took some time. I mean they had to find that that that metal refine it
Boil it down form it
And and sharpen it, you know
They weren't there
It didn't say made in china on it where they're like being made while we sleep just hundreds an hour coming out
Right. So this was kind of a big deal
And he says the last master for was borrowed the man of god said where fell it
And he showed him the place and he cut down a stick and cast it in thither and the iron did swim
Therefore he said take it up to the and he took it
To put out his hand and took it. So what we see here is this guy has a problem, right?
He's in a he's in a situation
He's got this problem in his life of having lost the axe head
You know, that's kind of like when we have a problem in our life, you know, we have a personal problem in our life
And and we go and we're like and that's what the man of god is there for alas master
No, i'm not saying we should be calling the preacher master, but he's saying look I got this problem
And how did how did he handle it? He takes a stick and he throws it at it
And I love that picture and that reminds me of preaching
Of somebody has a problem and we take the stick. We take the goads of god's word and we throw it at it
And say let me just throw some bible at you then let me see if I can take care of this problem
I just throw a bible at it taking a stick
And throwing at it, you know, he didn't go waiting out there pull up his pants like well, where was it? Is it over here?
You know trying to find that thing. He throws a stick
You know, he could have done anything
But to me, I always see that reading that story and always pictures of you know
Just pictures preaching and you have a man of god just throwing a stick at it
At at the problem, you know and try to fix it
And it just shows us that addressing personal problems isn't always done gently. Sometimes you just throw a stick at it
you know, you know, you're not you're not going to go in there and dredge the river and
trying to find it and polish the stone, you know, polish the axe head and give it back to the guy and
You know, he's just throwing sticks. It's not always done
gently
And and really what it shows us too is that hard preaching is less concerned with who's to blame
You know who lost the axe head?
He doesn't turn to the guy and just say well, you're the one that lost it. It's your problem
Why do I have to fix it? You know, you're the one with the issue. Why don't you deal with it?
You know, he came to the man of god for a reason because he wanted the problem dealt with
And and it just goes to show you the preacher didn't just turn around and blame him
Well, you know, you're the dummy who didn't, you know, check the axe head
What did you did you hit the handle on the tree? Do you know how to swing that thing? What's your problem?
Never swung an axe before
That's not what he did. He's just said where fell it
He's more concerned
With the solution than he is who to blame
He just sees the problem and says well, let's just fix it
Let's just get the problem fixed so we can move on
So he and you know, he didn't do it gently he takes a stick and he throws it at it and says there it is
And it comes up and it swims. I love that. It says it didn't float because remember it's a river
Right if it had just floated it'd been like, oh there it is. Oh there it goes
You know chase it
It swam you ever think about that the accent swam in the river and it put out and he put out his hand
And took it it doesn't say you went in after it that so that's just a cool story
It comes up and swims over to the bank this accent great, you know
So, I mean, yeah, it was dealt with harshly. Yeah, it was maybe not the ideal way to maybe have done it, but it worked
Didn't it? Yeah, maybe he threw some sticks
But you know what sticks and stones will break my bones and words will never hurt me
It got the job done. That's all he's cared about
He's more
Concerned with the solution getting that iron to swim getting it back on the axe head why so we can get back to work
And get the job done to falling some timber and building something instead of just sitting around
Crying and boo-hooing about some sunken axe head. Let's fix the problem
Let's get it back on the where it belongs and let's get to work
That's what preaching is concerned with and if it takes throwing some sticks, so be it
You know, it's about fixing lives and getting people right with God that's how what hard preaching does
And it's and it's accomplished in certain ways and one way is it's it's accomplished is calling out sin, right?
We recall the story about when David fell into his sin with Bathsheba
And Nathan came and called him out didn't it and he said we're gonna deal with this
God says I'm not just gonna let you get away that we're gonna deal with this sin. We're gonna fix it
We're gonna make it right David
And he goes to him and he says, you know
He gives him the whole story about the land
There was this man who had one lamb and another man came and took it and slew it
And david said bring forth the man, you know, let's let's kill him
And and what did nathan do thou art the man?
Just calls him right out in front of everybody thou art the man
Thus saith the lord god of israel. I anointed the king of israel and of liberty out of the hand of saw
He says thou art the man
And what was david reactions how dare you how dare you insinuate
That i'm the problem here. No, what did he say? I have sinned
That's all he said. I have sinned
That was it. He just fessed up said, you know what? You're right
And that's the reaction we ought to have
When when all a preacher is trying to do with the word of god
Is get things right so that you can live a godly life
You know, so hard preaching is personal preaching it has a purpose
And part of that purpose is fixing lives. It's getting people right with god
Another purpose that hard preaching has is maintaining order in a church
That's how you fix a lot of problems within a church maintaining order so that things don't just fall into chaos
It you do that through hard preaching
And that's really important. It's important that
Order is maintained in church. And what do I mean by that? I mean like specifically unity
That a group of people are united and have
The same purpose and the same task and the same goal
And we do accomplish that through preaching
The bible says in aficiones if you would turn over to philippians 3 go to philippians 3
But the bible says in ephesians 4 therefore the prisoner of the lord beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
Wherewith you are called with all lowliness and meekness with long suffering
You know, these are things that ought to characterize us
meekness
lowliness
Long suffering, you know what that means being patient
Being patient with somebody giving people time to grow
Not just demanding things of people that they'd be a certain way that you you have some idea
Why people should be in immediately. They need to be that
We should be long suffering with one another
You know, not everybody's in the same place
In life when they walk through these doors
You know and we shouldn't all think well everyone needs to be on the same page immediately
As long as people are pointed in the right direction
And they're heading where they ought to be instead of backwards
You know praise god
And let them grow at their own rate and let them get there. They'll get there and let the preacher worry about it
Let the preacher worry about where people are at let the pastor get up
And deal with sin let the deacon get up and deal with it
You don't feel like you have to make sure everybody's dotting every i and crossing every t in their life
So that you can give them your stamp of approval
Um
Because we're more concerned about having unity
And maintaining order so that why so we can get the job done because there's a job to do go look at that map
There's more white than red on that map still
We still got a lot of work to do in tucson
It's not getting any cooler
You know, we still got a few we got about six to eight weeks of this
So instead of sitting here sweating about each other, let's go out there and sweat
You know, let's get let's get hot under the collar and all worked up about the fact that people are dying go to hell
right
And do that with all lowliness and meekness those are qualities we ought to have
And uh forbearing one another in love, you know, that's got to be there
This is this isn't just a suggestion. This is paul writing the ephisians saying, you know
I therefore the prison of the lord beseech you this is him begging you saying would you please just forbear one another in love?
Why endeavoring to keep the spirit of unity in the bond of peace
Don't let it fall apart
Don't break it up. Don't just let some rift come up at some stupid trivial little thing
Tear you guys up and split you up next thing, you know, you're arguing over something that doesn't even matter
He says endeavor to keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace
There was one body one faith one spirit even as you're called in one hope of your calling
One lord one faith one baptism one god the father of all who is above all and through all and in you all
You know, we can accomplish more if we just focus on the task rather than one another
They that compare themselves among themselves are not wise the bible says
You know why it's foolish to sit there and compare yourself to somebody else because you're focusing on the wrong thing
We ought to be more focused on the task that is at hand the work that we've been given to do
And we can accomplish more when we do that
Instead of worrying about where of everybody else if we would just focus on the work that god has given us to do
And not worry so much about everybody else
But you know what that takes lowliness
That takes meekness
It takes long suffering. It takes forbearing. It takes endeavoring to keep the bond of unity in the bond of the spirit in
The unity of the spirit in the bond of peace. You have to try to do that
It's not just going to happen on its own
You know, you have to check your attitude and that's a that's a big part of what preaching does for us, doesn't it?
When we get up and preach the word of god, we turn to ephishians chapter four and we read these things
It says whoa, is that me?
Do I have meekness?
Do I have lowliness? Oh, maybe not
You know, well, that's just the bible checking your attitude
You know, it's not the end of your life
Nobody's perfect. We've all been there, you know, and we could all easily slip back into it. We can all get proud and puffed up
But let's just check it so we can get back to work
Checking attitudes look at philippians chapter three where you are verse one
therefore my brethren dearly beloved and longed for
You know the brethren are dearly beloved and longed for
You know what? And maybe it's somebody you don't you don't maybe they're not dearly and beloved to you, but they're dearly beloved to christ
Every last one of them keep that in mind
Dearly and beloved and longed for my joy and crown
So stand fast and lord dear my dearly beloved there's a lot of love and dearness and
I mean just a lot of feeling and emotion in this writing
It's like it's almost as if
Paul loves these people and cares about every single one of them and where they're at
Go figure. Do you think maybe we should adopt the same attitude?
I beseech Iotius and I beseech Syntyche. Well, now that's personal Paul. What are you doing?
You just named names
You just said hey so-and-so and so-and-so
I mean in a letter that how many people have read this?
So we're gonna get to him like are you synthetic you're oh you're that Syntyche what was going on with you and Iotius, huh?
What was up?
What was that over?
You know, oh he bumped into my car in the parking lot
She didn't return my Tupperware
You know, I begged her some brownies and she never gave back my brownie pan. She thought she could just keep it
People get people get bitter over the dumbest things they go at each other i'm telling you
He says I beseech Iotius and I beseech Syntyche i'm begging them
That they be of the same mind in the lord
Look, you don't have to agree with everybody about everything in life
But can you be of the same mind in the lord when it comes to the things of god
Can you have the same mind there?
you know
Maybe you like a certain brand of whatever more than another person
I mean people argue and they have opinions and then they think that
They're authoritative and we get into these arguments about stupid things like food
Right, I know because we've done this you all know what i'm talking about
Well, I think so that such and such place is better than such and such place. Oh, you're out of your mind
Are you crazy?
How can you say that Culver's is as good as In-N-Out?
You like crinkle cut fries
Man, they're fresh cut over there at In-N-Out. What's your problem? We could argue about that
That's fine. You know, that's all in good fun
But when it comes to the things in the house of god when it comes to things in the lord
We need to be the same mind
Oh, you think door-to-door soul winning is the way to go. Yes, I do and you should too
Because that's the bible example that we have
So that's that's the point of hard preaching
It maintains order it gets people right it's personal but it has a goal
It rebukes heresy go over and turn over to ezekiel chapter 3
It rebukes heresy it checks attitudes. He says in first timothy 1 this I charge I commit unto thee son timothy
According to the prophecies which went before on me that thou by thy name
Mightest by mightest war good warfare holding faith in a good conscience, which had some having put away of
Concerning faith of main sheparech of whom is hymenaeus and alexander
Whom I have delivered unto satan for the destruction that they may learn not to blaspheme
So he calls these people out by name. That's pretty personal preaching. That's hard preaching
And he says it's to blast and that they may learn not to blaspheme there's nothing wrong with a preacher getting up and naming names
There's nothing wrong with a preacher getting up and naming names and calling out sin and heresy. He needs to do it. It's his job
So we need to we we we see what that hard preaching is is hard what makes hard preaching hard
Is that it's personal that it deals with us?
every one of us
Because none of us is perfect and there's you know, we might have this nailed down but you know
This is popping up and we got to deal with this now
Then we get this down and now we got to fix this
You know, we're not going to fix it all at once. We're not going to fix it overnight. It's a slow
It's line up online. It's precept precept things people have to grow it takes time
But that's what hard preaching is. It's dealing with those things
And the question is how do we respond to it?
When we hear our preaching when it starts to deal with us when it starts to fall in our lap, how do we deal with it?
And by the way hard preaching is always responded to
You're not you're not going to respond to hard preaching it's how you respond
There's no neutral ground here. You're not just going to hear hard preaching that that that maybe you know
Should offend you and you're going to be like i'm not offended
You're you know what? I mean, like if you're guilty of something and the preacher gets up and rips on that
And and and you're you're just as guilty as sin on it
And you're gonna be you're not going to not be offended
It's how you're going to respond you're going to be offended but what are you going to do with it?
Just stay offended or you're gonna get it, right
So it's going to be responded to
It's either embraced
You know by people who want to do the right thing
And move forward in their christian life and get things right and live for god. They embrace it. They say you know what?
It's a hard saying
I know he's but I know he's right. I got to deal with this and i've heard that so many times
I know i've been i've had to do that
I I mean i've gotten up out of services where I it's like if that preacher wasn't preaching at me
I would like to know who it was
You know so that we he that me and that person could compare notes
You know or I could have a buddy be like, oh that you know, i'm guilty of that, too
I've been in sermons like that. I've been in services where i've gotten up ask my wife. She'll tell you don't ask her but
You know where you get up was like there's no fellowship after service tonight, honey
We're going straight home
Because the preacher dealt with me in that sermon I know he was talking about me because he quoted me, you know
I've had that happen
I've been in those services where the preachers he's preaching at me
You know not just something i'm guilty of but at me
And why would a preacher do that because if i'm guilty of it probably other people are too
You know because you know
There's no temptation that's taking what but such as is common to man
The things that i'm struggling with other people are struggling with that's why it's good to preach on these things because every you know
If it's affecting one person, it's likelihood. It's affecting somebody else
But how do we respond to it?
and i've had to get up out of a service and grab the kids and the wife and go home and just grit my teeth and
Just squeeze the steering wheel all the way home
And get home and I go he's right
He's right
and eventually
You know you you soften up and you get it, right?
It's not always easy. But at some point you just have to say
But he's right and you know what if it's if it's if it's this he's right
And deal with it and get it, right
So it's either embraced and dealt with or it's rejected those are your two options when it comes to hard preaching
When it comes down the pike and it lands in your lap, you have two options
two options
You can either deal with it and get it right or you can reject it
And it's always rejected by people who are hard-hearted and stiff necked
If you start repreaching your profuse saying well, I know that's what the bible says, but I just I just don't like it
And i'm not going to change
Well, you're hard-hearted and you're stiff necked. That's what the bible says
I mean think about how many people I mean all these men that we've been reading about
you know
isaiah, jeremiah, ezekiel
Nehemiah they're preaching hard, you know, jonah, they're pretty well jonah was received but a lot of them preached very hard messages
And a lot of people and the people they're preaching to didn't take it so well, did they?
They took jeremiah and threw him in a pit and said starve
And somebody had to come save him and save his life
I mean they they did terrible things. I mean jesus came and preached some hard messages, didn't he?
He dealt with some sin, didn't he he got personal
When he started calling the pharisees and the sadducees hypocrites to their face
He started calling them, uh, you know
vipers
Calling them all kinds of names. Oh, you shouldn't call names
Well, you should go tell jesus that because he called people names
And they were they were actually and they were those things. He wasn't just saying it to be mean
They really were hypocrites
They really were vipers
They really were all of those things that he called them
And did they receive that? Well, no, they hung him on the cross
They lied about him and arrested him and tortured him
And then they killed him
And of course, we understand that he allowed that to happen
But that's what showed what was in their heart, didn't it? They were more than willing to do that
Instead of getting it right and saying you know what? He's right
You know, we we do leave off the weightier things of the law
You know, we are leaving some things undone boy. We we really are hypocrites
We are shutting up the way of heaven to the other people
We what's wrong with us? Let's get it right. Is that what they did? No
They ran they wanted to gnash on him with their teeth. They wanted to cast them headlong down a mountain
Throw them off a cliff stone him they wanted couldn't wait to get their hands on them
Because people either embrace heart preaching or they reject it
And when we reject it, we become stiff-necked and hard-hearted people
And a lot of times they they direct all that anger at the one bringing the message
So
So, but here's the thing here, well, how do we handle hard-hearted people how do you handle the stiff neck?
You say well that person's just a little stubborn
They're just kind of set in their ways and we just should just rock the boat
We should just let them kind of do their thing
You don't handle people with kid gloves
I always I had to look that one up. You ever heard that who's heard that phrase kid gloves, right?
nobody
Come on, it's this is interactive. Oh, we got one over here. We gotta take her. Okay
Yeah, kid gloves. I always thought it was like is that like junior size boxing gloves like I didn't get it, you know
Or kid or clothes that you would wear when boxing a child. I didn't understand what they meant by that
Like you well, we're gonna box the kids. So we're gonna put those big kid gloves on that are like, you know pillows, you know
But what it is is is is gloves that are made out of goat kids
Of baby goats very soft and delicate that you would handle things with
Like if you had like an a very, you know expensive
Piece of art or pottery or whatever something that you just wanted to handle extra delicately you put on these little kid gloves
You know the white soft supple leather gloves and you would that's how you would handle things with it
That's not how we're going to handle people that are stiff neck and hard-hearted
Oh, let me just coddle you and let you just remain in your sin
No, that's not what a preacher's called to do to handle people with kid gloves
His job is to take the gloves off roll up the sleeves
And do business and take the word of god and start throwing some sticks
And say let's deal with the problem. Let's get it right. We got a job to do
Let's fix this. Let's go
Not to sit around and just like oh, it's okay. We know you're just that way
No, we got to fix things so we can
move forward
The hard-hearted are not handled good gloves you there in ezekiel chapter three look at verse one
Moreover he said unto me son of man eat that thou finest eat this roll and go speak unto the house of israel
So I opened my mouth and he caused me to eat that roll and he said unto me
Son of man caused thy belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this roll that I give thee then did I eat it?
And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness and he said unto me son of man
Go get thee into the house of israel and speak my words unto them for thou are not sent unto a people of a strange
Speech of an hard language, but to the house of israel now to not to many people of a strange speech and of a hard language
Whose words thou canst understand surely I had sent thee unto them
They would have hearkened unto thee but the house of israel will not hearken unto me for they will not hearken unto me
They said they're not going to receive you ezekiel because they won't receive me
You know why people reject the preacher because they reject this
For all the house of israel are impudent and hard-hearted
And what's his response it's there in verse eight
How does he deal with these impudent and hard-hearted people the house of israel his own people? How does he deal with them?
So i'm going to send you there with with cake and chocolates and balloons and flowers
And nice little flowery notes that so you can win them over
Right. No, he says in verse eight behold. I have made thy face strong against their faces
And thy forehead strong against their foreheads and as an adamant harder than flint. I have made thy forehead
You say you know what? They're hard-hearted and they're stiff neck and i'm going to make you i'm going to make your face hard
I mean get the picture there. I have made thy face strong against their faces
I mean he's going to preach the message. He's going to scowl
You know, he's going to have that look on his face
You remember when dad had that look in his face and he did something wrong. He'd come in. He just had that
That furrow and you just don't look you just get that look and you know, you're in trouble
Right, he's mad. That's the that's what he's describing. I have made thy face strong against their faces
Thy forehead strong against their for as an adamant harder than flint. I have made thy forehead and I love that
You know, he said that's what a preacher has to have sometimes when he's dealing with people like this. He has to have
uh an adamant
His forehead has to be as an adamant harder than flint. Have I made thy forehead?
Just an unflinching
Face that's ready to just do business. You know what? I love the fact that he uses flint
Because what do we use flint for?
If you take flint and steel
You get sparks
And people want to throw something at the preacher
Or they want to they want to fire back and throw something at the flint of his forehead, you know
He's not going to flinch. You're just going to get sparks boom
And he's going to start a fire
Right and he's going to deal with it. He's going to pull down and destroy
And he says that's what i've made you ezekiel
I'm, making you hard not hard-headed, but i'm making giving you a strong face
And a strong forehead as as adamant and harder than flint
To go and deal with these people these people aren't being handled with kid gloves
you're not saying go there and just talk him down and just
Reason with them and be rational and just try to understand their side of the story
And sympathize
you know and then and then tell them about your own mistakes that you've made and then
You know give a good example of something that they did right and then
And then tell them what they did wrong and how they can fix it
You know people have all these ways of how to deal with people that are making mistakes, right?
And maybe in some situations that applies but he's saying you need to go there and deal with this and he says there
Fear them not neither be dismayed at their looks though. They'd be a rebellious house
I mean
You know one of the hardest things about preaching is is this type of preaching where you have to preach these type of messages
That's what I found out real quick about preaching is that people come to church. They don't have it all together
Just like you know, I don't have it all together
You know and we have to start and preachers have to start dealing with with people where they're at and start doing with with real sins
And real problems and start preaching hard messages
And
And you're gonna get some looks and he says though they be a rebellious house and i'm not saying that people hear a rebellious house
But I mean, that's what ezekiel was dealing with wasn't it? He's saying I know they're rebellious
I mean imagine going and preaching and you know
You're like it'd be like a preacher going down to one of these fag pride parades and tell them they're all gonna burn and go to hell
Do you think they're all gonna go? Oh, oh, sorry, excuse us. Well, let's just go back in the closet
No, they're a rebellious house
They will run upon him that preacher and they would if they could if the cops weren't there tear him to shreds
I mean, why do you think when that protest went back on in 2016 a very baptist church whose side of the barrier?
Do you think the sacramental police department was on?
It wasn't on the sodomite side
They weren't protecting the sodomites saying whoa stay back from these independent fundamental baptists
They're ready to just run upon you they were on
Our side protecting the preachers and the people going into that church from that crowd
And there's a reason
And that again is another sermon
but that's the kind of
Preaching that has to take place and that's the kind of preacher that hard the preachers have to be
You know and here's the thing if you ever find yourself in a position where you're clashing heads
Where you're coming and saying boy the and you're finding out that the preacher has a hard forehead
And you're making sparks with him and you're throwing, you know yourself at flint
And they're and it's making a little bit of a you know a spark
Guess who the problem is nine times out of ten. It's not the preacher. It's you
It's probably you're the problem
If you're saying well, I don't like what he had to say and you don't think that happens
I know preachers that have said women come up and they say
Oh, you know that part in ephesians where it says that women are to submit to their wives. Yeah, I cross that out. See
They took a black marker and go see that preacher. See what I did
I went and crossed that right out of my bible
That's wicked as hell
You're a rebellious woman
Can you imagine someone doing that?
Or or the the preacher who looks down i've heard about this and the the sweet little old lady
Or the preacher starts talking about women's roles and things like that
She just looks right at him reaches up and turns down her hearing aid
Oh, oh, oh, that's what you're preaching. Okay. Let me just go ahead
I am not listening to this who's the problem in that situation
It's not the preacher. It's the person with the black marker in their hand. Oh, I don't like this
Oh, I don't like this
If you're clashing heads with the preacher
You're probably the problem
And here's the warning if that's you you're going to be the one that suffers the consequences not the preacher
Not the one who's bringing the message
It really it has no impact on my life
You know if people embrace it or not, you know, if they get all offended and run off or whatever, that's their problem
I it's not i'm going to continue to serve god if everybody in this church gets offended and leaves
And this thing has to shut down i've got a church to go to i've got a great pastor i'm gonna be okay
You know, so we need to make sure that's not and i'm not saying that's going on
This is just preventative maintenance. This is just saying hey
Keep this in mind as we go forward
The bible says in proverbs 29 i'll never forget this verse because when I first got saved
And I was being rebellious and stiff neck somebody wrote this verse down and put it somewhere that I would see it
They didn't have to say anything else
Proverbs 21 or 29 verse 1 he that being often reproved hardened at his neck
Shall be destroyed shall suddenly be destroyed in that without remedy
I mean you can sit there and bucket god's word and bucket the preaching of god's word and not like the hard preaching
And so I don't like it. I don't like it. I'm not going to change i'm not going to fix it
I'm not going to get it right. Well then prepare to be suddenly destroyed
To the point where there is no remedy
Without remedy and people think well, yeah, I know i'm gonna i'm gonna flirt around with sin
I'm gonna mess around i'm not gonna get things right and I know i'll probably suffer some consequences
But eventually, you know when I get tired of that i'll fix it. No the bible says there will be no remedy
Once it's done, it's done
You know, there's certain mistakes you can make in your life. There's no fixing it
You have to deal with that problem for the rest of your life
Isaiah and i'm running out of time here, but go ahead and turn over isaiah chapter 30
And actually go back to hebrews 12 we got to move along for time hebrews chapter 12
You know, we either we either
Embrace hard preaching and and deal with the problems that it's addressing
Or we suffer the consequences. Those are the two options
And rebellious people who get stiff-necked and hard-hearted
You know, they they only harm themselves and as a matter of fact
They're actually a benefit to other people in this way. They serve as a cautionary tale
That's what they serve as they say. Oh, do you see how that person messed everything up how they were constantly reproved
And didn't get it right and suddenly destroyed without remedy
You see that you see that son. You see that guy over there. Do you see what they did?
Don't be like that. Look what's happening to them
And the child goes, oh, you're right dad
Oh, you're you're right so and so hey, let me show you what happens when somebody rejects the word of god long enough
You know, that's why i'm so I was so thankful for the protesters that came to faithful word
With their vile disgusting vulgar signs that said things that I can't repeat because they were that bad about god
Because I could take my and they're and they're just blaring it out of their mouth
And I could take my young daughter and say do you see that sodomite over there do you see that wicked filthy sign
The bible's right, isn't it daughter?
That's a wicked person who's going to be destroyed suddenly without remedy and they hate god's god and his word
and I and I remember going to those protesters said
I just appreciate you coming down here and spewing your filth so that our children could see that we were right about you the whole time
That's what I told them
And that's what rebellious and i'm not saying every person that's rebellious ends up being a bat
But i'm saying even in our own lives even within this church, it's possible
That we will see rebellious people come up who refuse and resist got the preaching of god's word
And what does end up happening is they will end up serving as a sign to others
as a cautionary tale
And we don't want that's that that's not what you want on the epitaph of your of your tombstone
You know
Other learned people learn from his mistakes
You know
He served as a great sign of what not to do
Is that what you want said of you?
No
Nobody wants that but that's what happens to people
Now it's either rejected by hard by stiff neck people they reject hard preaching or it's embraced by sincere people
People who really love god people who really love the bible
When they're reproved by the bible, they love it
They say let the righteous smite me
It shall be a blessing let him reprove me it shall be as an excellent oil upon my head
They love it
I love hard preaching
i'm thankful that I got
Preached at those times all those times that I had to preach that I was got up and preached on my sin
And I knew he was preaching on my sin because we had a conversation just a few days before about my sin
And he didn't hesitate to get up and say well if you're dealing with it probably i'm not saying except. Hey, you know corbin
You know what? I mean, and he and I were the only one that probably knew
But i'm sure it applied to many other people in the auditorium and i'm but i'm just saying i'm glad for that
Yeah, I might have gotten up in the picture
But at the end of the day I was glad for it
I said thank god for somebody who'll get up and just tell me like it is
And take the word of god and just say thus saith the lord now you deal with it
Praise god for that. It's embraced by sincere people. They love it. They take the hard preaching say thank you
They knew what they end up doing they end up reaping the benefits
Hard preaching works friend hard preaching benefit people. I mean it changes lives
People get out of sin
People get right with god they go on and they live a joyful
Wonderful content christian lives. They're fruitful. They're on their you know, they're on their way to heaven
They're saved no matter what but they're going to get there and enjoy benefits. They're going to have the rewards
Why because somebody preached hard at them?
Because somebody got said you need to get this right and fix it
They reap the benefits the bible says in hebrews chapter 12 look at verse 11
Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous
Isn't that the truth?
You know, one's like I love getting whipped
No child goes. Can I have a spanking?
I just love spankings. It's great
No chasing for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous
Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth a peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby
You know people love our kids out in public. Oh, you have such well-behaved children
You know, they don't they don't they don't throw a fit. My wife's always getting compliments
They love that part. They love the fruit
They don't like the planning that goes on they don't see everything goes on at home they don't hear the
Stop it. You get another one. Hold it in
They don't hear dad stick it out stick it out farther all the way out hold still little legs just shaking
They don't but they love the fruit don't they
They're not they're thirsty they can't hear this
They love the well-behaved children. They love the the peaceable fruit of righteousness
That is that it yields and them that are exercised thereby
But they don't like that grievous part, but it's necessary
You can't have one without the other
You have to have both
You have to have hard preaching for people to get things right or they just don't they say. Oh, I guess i'm fine
I guess i'm not doing anything wrong preacher never talks about it
Never brings it up when he gets to that passage. He just goes
Well, uh turn your well keep turning
You know, he just don't never mind that and you know what that guy's no different than that lady
Might as well not be there
It's just as wicked
Nevertheless afterward the yield at the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down the feeble knees it makes people strong
I mean you get this idea lift up the the hands which hang down and the feeble knees just these
People are going through life just kind of
What does hard preaching do, you know makes them sit up a little straighter they start to get things, right?
They start to deal with things they can walk a little taller. They can walk a little straighter
They can have some confidence
And make straight paths for your feet they don't have to worry about where they're headed
Like oh if I you know, if I keep doing this, where is it going to take me?
If I don't if I don't get this right, where am I going to end up? Their path is straight. They know where they're going
They're doing the right thing they're making the right decisions they're living godly christ jesus
They know that path is straight
And where it's going to take them
So this is the title and this is the admonition tonight if the hat fits wear it
Put it on and say this is me
This is where i'm at. This is what I have to deal with if the hat fits wear it
I told that title somebody they're like it's if the shoe fits wear it
Well, here's the thing
It's if the shoes fit so i'm not using that illustration because that reminds me of cinderella
You know and i've heard both expressions so I went with the hat fits
If the hat fits wear it friend
if the preacher gets up and says
Thus sayeth the lord you say boy that that just fits just right
That don't try to take it off and pretend it doesn't fit you
Oh, that's not my hat. That must be somebody else's
No, that's your hat put it on
I mean remember what when nathan called out. David. He owned up and said I have sinned
He wore that hat
adulterer
murderer
Got called out. What do you do? Yep. That's my hat
I own it. That's me
Are we willing to do the same?
To wear that hat the preacher calls it out
You know not long suffering not meek not patient
You know, whatever it is
Whatever you I mean and just because here's the thing what's great about just preaching the whole counsel of god
I don't have to wonder about what your sin is
I don't have to sit home and go. I wonder what so-and-so is into
I wonder how I could get them with the word of god. I don't have to do that. I don't do that
All I have to do is just preach all of it and just wait
And eventually it'll land
But the question is when it does are you willing to put that hat on and say that's me and deal with it
You see it and again i've gone too long so i'm just going to close it up but
You know the bible says in james 1 21
that uh
Now just turn there james 1 21 we'll close here
Wherefore beginning of verse 21 wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness
And receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls
But be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves
For if any be a hearer of the word and not a doer he is likened to a man beholding his face in a glass
So he says look if you're someone who hears the word, but you don't do you don't you don't take any action
You're like a guy who goes to the mirror
And like like you stop by
You know and you got yourself a chili dog on the way home or whatever
And then you get home and you go and you look in the mirror and there's just chili and cheese like just all over right?
You got it on your shirt and you just look in the glass and you look in the mirror and there's just chili and cheese
And you don't do anything about it. Say I got chili and cheese all over my face
I've got mayo all over I look like a slob right now and you walk out and say and just go back out into public like
That that's what it's like if we hear the word of god
And we don't do anything with it
And if we hear thus saith the lord and we go that's me. That's my hat
I should I have to put that on and you're wearing you're standing in the mirror and you have the hat on
And you're like that i'm just going to keep wearing that i'm not going to fix it. I'm not going to do anything about it
That's what it's like
If for if any be a hero of the word verse 23 and not a doer
He is like unto a man beholding his natural face in the glass for he beholdeth himself and go with his way
And continue and straightway forget what manner of man he was
He forgets that he's got crusty chili cheese all over his chin
And just goes out in public and somebody else has to point out say hey you got you got a little schmutzen on the punum
Right there. Oh, I forgot about that
You know and the mom's got to go
Whose mom did that?
Nobody's mom did that. Come on you mom. Who's mom who's the mom who's done that?
I'm, a dad who's done it like come here. You got something on your face. I swear to myself as a child. I'll never do that
I don't know how many times i've done it. You got a little jelly right there
But that's what we're like we when we behold the word of god when we we look at and say oh that's me
You know i'm this is my that's my sin. Oh, that's nice and just go about our business
And forget
You know and the preacher's job that's what his job is say look
See
That's you
That's what you look like
Deal with it
If the hat fits wear it put it on fix the problem
That's hard preaching friend
That's what hard preaching does it puts
It puts the hat in your hand and says this is what you have to wear right now
Until you get it right you have to wear this hat
And you can sit there and you can try to all the other hats
But they won't look right because they don't fit
You have to wear the hat that fits and get the problem fixed
The bible says i'll close in romans 12. I'll just just listen for I say through the grace given unto me to every man
That is among you every man
Not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think
But to think of himself soberly, you'll be serious about it
And people need to develop an ability to step back out of a situation and observe themselves
And say and really examine what it is how they're being or what they're behaving or what they're into
To think soberly about themselves be serious about it
According as god has dealt to every man the measure of faith people need to just step back and say what hat fits me
What what what hat am I wearing?
What hat am I wearing
Is it a good hat?
Does it say soul winner on it?
bible reader prayer warrior
Or does it say something else that we probably wouldn't want anybody else to read?
And say oh, uh, uh, that's not my hat. Well, you're the one wearing it and it fits pretty good
So let the preaching of god's word cause you to think seriously
Let it cause you to think soberly let it cause you to think honestly, let it put the hat on wear the hat
And then fix it
You know embrace hard preaching don't be stiff necked. Don't be hard-hearted be grateful for it
Because hard preaching is what changes people's lives
you know
And I I won't go on let's just close in a word of prayer