.
And it goes on, it says in verse 15,
others said that this is Elias,
which is the Greek
name for Elijah.
Others said that it is a prophet
or as one of the prophets,
but when Herod heard thereof, he said
it is John who might beheaded. He is
risen from the dead. So, King Herod
is just convinced that
Jesus is John the Baptist
and other people have
other opinions about who Jesus might
be. It says there
in verse 15, others said
that this is Elias,
and others said that it
is a prophet. He is just
another prophet in a long line of
prophets, or
as one of
the prophets. It is not Elijah
that has come back, but it is one of the other prophets
that has come back. That is really an interesting
detail when we
get the
general thoughts of who everyone
thinks that Jesus is in the story. Herod
is saying it is John the Baptist.
Some people are saying it is Elijah.
Other people are saying, no, it is not John.
It is not Elijah. It is one of these other
prophets. That is what I want to preach about
tonight, is one of the prophets.
Jesus is taken as
one of the prophets.
There is something we can learn from this
about Jesus and about his preaching. What is
it about Jesus
that made people mistake
him for somebody else or assumed that he was another person?
I don't
think it was his physical description.
They weren't all holding up a
picture of John the Baptist going,
I think it is John the Baptist. There are some
similarities here. They didn't have these
sketches or anything like this.
Oh, it looks like one of the prophets.
It looks like Jeremiah or Isaiah
or Malachi or Habakkuk
or Haggai or Obadiah
or Jonah or Micah. It looks like
one of those prophets.
What are you saying? They all look the same?
Sounds kind of racist to me.
Anyway, obviously that is not the
similarity that they were
that is not what made them mistake Jesus
for somebody else was his physical appearance.
Rather, it was the
works that he was doing and I believe more
specifically the things
that he was preaching and the manner
in which he preached them. It was a style
of preaching that made people
think this is either a
prophet or one of the prophets
or perhaps even Elijah or
maybe as Herod mistakenly thought
John the Baptist risen
from the dead. So the
thread of similarity between all of these
preachers including Jesus
is the manner in which they preach.
Jesus is just taken
as one of the prophets because
of the way he preached. Now prove that tonight
because people today
they have a mistaken notion
about Jesus.
They want to
cast him in a certain light when it comes
to his preaching that Jesus
only preached sweetness and light
that he was just this soft
you know borderline effeminate
you know overly
kind person. Now Jesus obviously
was loving and kind and is loving
and kind and all of that but Jesus
dropped the hammer folks. Jesus
was the hardest preacher
that has ever lived and ever will live.
Jesus rips face
and if you've ever read the New Testament you know
what I'm saying is true.
Keep something there in
Mark chapter 6 but go over
to 1 Kings chapter
number 18. 1 Kings chapter number 18.
So Jesus is being
taken as one of the
prophets and I thought it'd be an interesting
experiment to just go through
the prophets and just
look at some of their preaching and
see if we see any similarities
between them and Jesus. Now why
is it that Jesus is being taken as one of the
prophets? It's not the way he looked.
I'm sure they were all very different in the way they
looked.
How could they have ever
known what he looked like? Obviously
it's the preaching that he's
doing. It's the things that
he's saying in the manner in
which he says them. Now
first of all he's taken as Elias
which is Elijah.
And we're going to go back and we're just going to look at
some of Elijah's preaching.
I believe
that's where this mistaken
notion is coming from. Where they're assuming
that Jesus is somebody else other than who he is.
They're mistaking
him for a prophet. It's because of
his preaching. So that
tells us that we can
get an idea of the type of preaching,
the manner in which he preached, if
we just look at the prophets. I mean we
have his own preaching. If that's not evidence enough
you can just read through
the gospels and hear some of
Jesus' own preaching and if you don't
cherry pick and just
go to all the famous verses that the liberals love
and actually read what Jesus taught
you'd see right off, right out
of the gate for yourself
that Jesus was a hard preacher.
He was the hardest preacher.
Let's
go to some of these other preachers. Let's
look at 1 Kings chapter 18. Let's start
here in verse 17. Of course this is a very famous
story where
Elijah is confronting the prophets
of Baal. Israel is deep
in Baal worship.
You have Ahab and Jezebel
ruling over the land.
It says in verse 17,
So again here's another
thread between
these old prophets
John the Baptist and Jesus
is that they confront
wicked leadership.
They don't just roll over
because somebody is in authority.
Now I'm not saying we're going to commit insurrection
or anything like that but when you have wicked leaders
it's okay to call out wicked leadership.
And that's exactly what Elijah
does.
Because Elijah kind of presses him and says
Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
And he answered, I have not troubleth
Israel, but thou and thy
father's house, in that he hath
forsaken the commandments of the Lord
and thou hast followed Balaam.
I mean get the picture of what Elijah
is doing here. Saying, oh no, no, no.
I'm not to blame you and your father's house
because you're a bunch of Baal worshipers.
He's basically saying, you're a bunch of
satanic worshiper.
You worship Satan, right?
Now look, that's something we could probably say
of many of our leaders today.
Quite literally.
When they're living in a
center of power
is in Washington D.C.
where you have the monuments
and other key
geographic points, different sites
there, different buildings and structures
that if you connect the dots make a literal
pentagram, a Baphomet.
It's not a wild-eyed
conspiracy theory. You can just
go on Google Maps and look at it.
When they're surrounded by idolatry
when they have
all these close ties to
Freemasonry and things like that,
which is a Luciferian religion, we could say the
same thing of our own leadership.
We could point the finger at them and say, we're not
the problem with America. You and your
bunch of blood-drinking, devil-worshipping
fathers are.
That's the truth. You can see how this
story all these thousands of years
later is still relevant today.
I love to just bring the Bible into
modern times and make an application.
There you go.
Let's continue on with the story
and see the kind of preacher that Elijah was.
We see first of all that he's bold
that he'll point the finger right back at
wicked leadership and call them out for what they are
and call them a bunch of
Baal-worshippers, a bunch of satanic
Luciferians. It says in verse 18
And he answered, I have not trouble with Israel, but thou
and thy father's house, and ye have forsaken the commandments
of the Lord. And thou hast followed Baal, and thou
therefore sent and gathered to me all Israel unto
Mount Carmel. And the prophets of Baal, four
hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves, four
hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table.
So I have sent unto the children of Israel,
and gathered the prophets together unto Carmel.
And Elijah came unto all the people, and said,
How long halt ye between two opinions?
If the Lord be God, follow him, but if Baal,
then follow him.
And the people answered him not a word.
Okay, we get it, you know, this is
Elijah preaching to the people.
And he's kind of putting them on the spot.
You know, that's what bold preaching does.
It makes you, you know, make a decision.
It draws you to a place of decision
and say, hey, you're either going to do this or you're going to do that.
You're going to get right
or you're not going to get right. That's the kind of preaching
that God's people,
God's men are called to do.
To call people to a
place of decision.
And often, that has to be done very
directly and very boldly
without, you know,
you know, without trying to spare
people's feelings. Sometimes you just have to
say it like it is.
And he's saying here, you know, you need to either stop
worshiping Baal and start worshiping
the Lord, or you know, you just keep right on
worshiping Baal and quit,
you know, paying God lip service.
How long halt ye between
two opinions? How long are you going to ride this
hedge? You know, how long are you going to
stay on the fence? Get in or get out?
That's what he's saying.
He goes on,
you know, the people answer him not a word.
Then said Elijah to the people, I
even I only remain a prophet of the
Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450
men. Let them therefore give us
two bullocks and let them choose one bullock for themselves
and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood and put no
fire under it. And I will dress the
other bullock and lay it down and put no fire
under it. Now, kids, that doesn't mean dress it
like like dress like put clothes on it.
It means like like you dress a turkey, right?
You get it ready to eat. OK, just making sure we're
all on the same page here. He wasn't
dressing a cow and then
putting it on the altar. All right.
Just trying to keep you with me here.
It says in verse 24 and call you
in the name of the Lord of your gods
and I will call upon the name of the Lord and the God that
answerth by fire, let him be God. And all the
people answer and said, it is well spoken.
And Elijah said of the prophets of Baal,
choose you one bullock for yourselves and dress
it for ye are many and call the name of your gods
and put no fire under. And they took
the bullock which was given them, they dressed it and
called on the name of Baal from morning
even until noon, saying, oh Baal, hear
us. But there was no voice nor any that
answered. And they leaped upon the altar
which was made. And it came to pass at
noon that Elijah mocked them and said,
it said, cry aloud
for he is a god. Either he is talking
or he is he is pursuing
or he is in a journey or peradventure he
sleepeth and must be awake.
And he's saying it like that because it says he's
mocking them. Right. He's not saying, well, you
know, maybe he's just he's sleeping
or his adventure. He's he's mocking
these people. Right. This is why
I never have a problem when a man of God gets
up and mocks
false religion and calls it out for what it is
because it's false and it
leads people down a wicked path.
Okay. And Elijah
is doing that. He's taking the opportunity to
kind of just let loose. Okay.
And he's mocking them
and it says, and they cried aloud and
cut themselves after their manner
with knives and lancets to the blood
gushed out them out upon
them. And it came to pass when
the day was passed that they prophesied
until the time of the offering of the
evening sacrifice. And there was neither voice nor
any to answer nor any that regarded because there is
no bail. Bail is not a god at all.
And Elijah said, and all the people come
here unto me and all the people came here unto him
and he repaired the altar of the Lord that
was broken down. Elijah took the twelve stones
according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob
unto whom the word of the Lord came saying
Israel shall be thy name.
And with the stones he built an altar in the name
of the Lord and made a trench around about
the altar as great as would contain two
measures of seed. So he's
taking it a step further than these guys. They didn't build
a trench. He takes it and puts it upon
the altar that is repaired and then digs a trench
enough to carry, you know, hold two measures of seed, however
much that is. Apparently it's
significant enough to make note of it. Okay.
So we should be impressed by that.
And he put the wood in order and
cut the bullocks in pieces and laid them on the wood
and said fill four barrels
with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice
and on the wood. So now you see the
purpose of the trench.
Then he's going to just douse this thing in water
right and then it's going to run and gather in the
trench. And said do it
the second time. And they did it the
second time. So now he's got this trench filling
up with water. The entire thing's
soaked. So now you can kind of, if you're there
and you're about to see what's going to happen you can't really
dismiss it. Right.
Because if there had been no water
maybe they could say, oh, it was slight of hand.
You know, somebody else was in on it.
You know, somebody, you know, there was some
pyrotechnics involved. You know, somebody who
whoever put the
bullock up there, they were in on it with Elijah.
You know, this was like, this was a
trick that they did. He's saying, no, we're
going to pour water on this thing and then we're going to have
water all around it so you know I'm not like lighting
a fuse or something that's
going to run over there. Like there's no way
that there's any slight of hand or trickery
taking place. That's why he's pouring, I
believe, all this water on it.
And he said, do it the second time. They did it the
second time. We're in verse 34 and he said, do it the third
time. They did it the third time. And the water
ran about the altar and filled the trench
also with water. So now there's just
all of this water there. And it
came to pass at the time of the offering of the England sacrifice
that Elijah the prophet came here and said,
Lord God of Abraham,
Isaac, and of Israel, let it
be known this day that thou art God
in Israel and that I am thy servant and
that I have done all these things at thy word.
Hear me, O God, hear me
that this people may know that thou art
God and that thou hast turned their
back again. Now notice, the
prophets of Baal had been cutting themselves
with lancets. They're bleeding themselves out.
All day they're doing this.
Elijah gets up and just
makes a few statements. Two verses
is all it takes.
Because he's got the truth on his side.
He just says these two words.
What happens? Or these two verses
verse 38, then fire of the
Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice
in the wood and the stones and the dust
and licked up the water that was in the trench.
And when all the people saw it, they
fell on their faces and said, The Lord, He is God.
The Lord, He is God. Elijah said to them,
Well, I'm glad everyone came around.
Now let's try to convince the prophets of Baal of this too.
Right? Now this is where it gets
gnarly. This is a cool story.
But then look at what Elijah does next
in verse 40. Elijah said to
them, Take the prophets of Baal.
Let none of them escape. And they took
them and Elijah brought them down
to the book of Kishon and slew them there.
He takes them down to the river and says,
All right, guys, if we're going to get
right with God today, we're going to kill
all the prophets of Baal. And it says that he's
the one that did it. I wonder if he
was just like, next, next.
And they're just bringing the prophets of Baal. He's just
like running them through as they come. I mean,
it's quite the scene. But when
you got a man of God calling down fire, you kind of
go along with whatever he's saying.
You're like, maybe we're next.
I don't know. But that's
the kind of prophet. And you don't see in the story
anywhere where God says, Well, you know, you went
too far, Elijah. You
took it a little too far killing, you know,
all those Satan worshippers.
You took it a little too far, you know,
killing all the priests of Baal.
You went too far there.
No, that's who Elijah was.
That was the kind of bull preaching that he did.
He'd stick his finger right in the face of that
wicked leader and call him a
son of the devil. He'd go and he'd call
down fire from heaven and he slew
all the false prophets of that land.
And yet here we are
in the New Testament, so people are going,
you know, Jesus might be Elijah.
Maybe he reminds us of one of those
guys. Or maybe
he's one of the prophets. And you say,
oh, that's just one instance.
That's just one instance, one story that you could
turn to. I don't think that there's any
correlation there. I think you're kind of reaching
to try and say that the reason why
they mistook
Jesus for Elijah is
because of his preaching, because of his
boldness. Well, they also
said he's like one of the prophets. Perhaps
he's one of the prophets, not Elijah,
not John the Baptist, but another one of the
prophets. There are many. So
what I did this afternoon
is I just went into
each of the prophets
and just went to the center of the book
and read it.
And just to see what it said. So let's do that
tonight. Let's look at it. With the exception
of one book.
My theory proved true
that Jesus is being mistaken.
Go to Isaiah chapter 33
for one of these
prophets because of his bold
preaching. And I just said, you know what?
I bet you could just open up the book of Isaiah
to practically anywhere. Open up the book
of Jeremiah to practically
anywhere. Daniel, Ezekiel,
Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah. You could probably just open up to any
one of these prophets and just hear
some of the most hardest
face-ripping preaching that there is.
And lo and behold, I was right.
Is anybody shocked by that? Probably not.
We're going to Isaiah
chapter number 33.
And we're going to look at
verse 12. Isaiah chapter 33
verse 12. Now, I will admit sometimes
I had to move around a little bit in the chapter
a few verses before or after halfway
to kind of get the context
here and figure out what's going on.
Let's just
back up. I mean,
we can back up to verse one. I mean,
this is amazing. But just to make my
point quickly here, let's go to
verse 10.
Now will I rise, saith the Lord.
Now will I be exalted. Now I will lift up
myself. Ye shall conceive
chaff. Ye shall bring forth stubble.
Your breath as fire shall devour
you.
Beloved.
This is hard preaching.
I mean, you know, you say, oh,
this morning's sermon was kind of harsh.
It doesn't hold a candle to this.
Your breath as
fire shall devour you.
And that's the kind of preaching they're doing.
And they're like, you know, Jesus reminds
me of them.
I think this is the way he looks.
And the people shall be as burnings of lime
as thorns cut up shall they be
burned in the fire.
Hear ye that are far off what I have
done. And ye that are near, acknowledge
my might. The sinners in Zion
are afraid. Fearfulness hath surprised
the hypocrites. Who among shall dwell
with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with the
everlasting burnings?
This is hard preaching, folks.
You know, so so far, you know,
one for one. Right. Let's
continue on here. Let's go to Jeremiah
chapter number 26. So you're
just proceeding right in your Bible.
Right. Jeremiah
chapter number
26.
We'll start looking here around verse
12.
Well, this is where let's back it up to
verse 11. Then the
prince spake the priests and the prophets
and the princes into all the people saying,
this man is worthy to die for he hath
prophesied against this city
as you have heard with your ears.
Because remember, Jeremiah is
preaching doom and destruction. He's saying, you guys
are done for. And they're saying he's a traitor
and he's worthy to die.
We need to get rid of him. Right.
His preaching is practically
got him killed. And if it wasn't for the
intervention of some other people,
Jeremiah would have died. I mean, obviously
God could have stepped in any time he wanted.
But my point is, is that's the kind of
preaching that Jeremiah did.
And this is the kind of preaching that you see done
repeatedly all the way from
Moses to Jesus and to the
apostles and onward.
And then it's like you get today. It's like, where
have these preachers gone?
You know, how? Why is it that hard preaching
is so rare and so hard to find?
I mean, if this is the kind of
preaching that's taking place when men are filled
with the spirit of God, why don't we see
more of it today?
I mean, he's here. He's preaching. He's
delivering God's message, and they're ready to kill him.
Verse 12. Then spake
Jeremiah unto all the princes and to all the people
saying, the Lord sent me to prophesy
against this house and against the city, all the
words you have heard. Therefore, now
amend your ways and your doings and obey the voice of
the Lord, your God and the Lord. Repent him of the
evil he hath pronounced against you.
As for me, I am in your hand.
Do with me as seemeth good and mean unto
you. But know ye for certain
if you put me to death, you shall
surely bring innocent blood upon
yourselves and upon the city and upon the
inhabitants thereof. For of a truth, the Lord
hath sent me unto you to speak all
these words in your ears. He's not
saying I'm not just some hate
preacher. I'm not just some wild-eyed fanatic.
I was sent by God to preach
these words unto you, and you can do whatever
you want to me, but you're going to bring
blood upon your own hands. You're going to bring judgment
upon your own head if you treat
mishandled me, because I'm of a truth that's
been sent by God.
In a sense, a lot of God's men can say the
same thing today. They can say,
the Bible tells us to reprove,
to rebuke, to exhort with all long
suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they shall not
endure sound doctrine, but shall heap
themselves, teachers having itching ears.
The Bible says we need to preach the word to be
instant, in season, out of season.
That's the kind of preaching we're
supposed to do. We, like Jeremiah, have
been sent to preach the word of God,
whether people like it or don't.
However people handle it
or don't handle it is on them.
That's kind of the point
I'm making tonight. That's the main point I'm trying to
drive here. We have to preach
the way that we do, because that's the type of
preaching that has always been done.
That's what God wants.
Go to Lamentations, chapter number
3. You know, just go read pretty much
any chapter in Jeremiah.
I mean, Jeremiah is just
full of hard preaching.
Go to Lamentations,
chapter number 3.
Lamentations, chapter number 3.
We'll look at verse 44.
He says there in Lamentations,
chapter number 3, verse 44.
Let's look at verse 41.
Lift us up, let us
lift up your heart with our hands unto
the God in heaven.
We have transgressed and have rebelled
and thou hast pardoned. Thou hast
covered with anger and persecuted
us. Thou hast slain. Thou hast not
pitied.
So he's lamenting, right?
It's the book of Lamentations. He's lamenting
what God has done unto them.
Thou hast covered thyself with the cloud
that our prayer should not
pass through. Thou hast made us
as the offscoring and refuse
in the midst of the people. All
our enemies have opened their mouth against
us. I mean, he's just
saying we're laid waste.
We're destroyed. Go over to
Ezekiel, chapter number 24.
Let's look at another one of the prophets.
Because after all, that's what they said, some of the people
said about Jesus. Well, he is as one of the prophets.
What exactly did they
mean by that?
Well, he's wearing the same attire.
You know, he's got the same haircut.
You know, he wears his beard the same way.
No, it's the preaching that he did.
The manner in which he preached.
Ezekiel, chapter
24. Let's look at
verse 9. Therefore, thus
saith the Lord God, woe to the
bloody city. There's an exclamation point there,
folks. It means it's an
exclamation. It means it's being
heard emphatically.
Woe to the bloody city!
I will even make the
pile for great fire.
Heap on wood, kindle fire,
consume the flesh, and spice
it well, and let the bones be
burned.
This is such great literature.
It's powerful, man.
I've never preached
anything that hard.
Never had reason to, right?
These guys were calling down
the wrath of God. They were warning about it.
Then set it empty upon the
coals thereof, of the brass of it might
be hot and may be burned, that the filthiness
of it may be molten out in it,
that the scum of it may be consumed.
She hath weary herself with lies,
and her great scum went forth out
of her. Her scum shall be in the fire,
and thy filthiness is lewdness,
because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged.
Thou shalt not be purged from my
filthiness anymore, till I have caused my
fury to rest upon thee.
God's saying, I'm going to punish you. I'm going to try
you before you. I'm going to burn you and get all your
iniquity out of you.
This is hard preaching.
It's so funny to me today when a
pastor and a preacher just gets the least
bit worked up about lies,
gets the least bit worked up
about somebody just being
completely off on something, calling
out sin, calling out falsehood,
calling out lies, and
standing up for the truth, and they just get the least
bit worked up. They just get a little bit
passionate about it, and it's just like, oh, he's mean.
You know, that's
usually the response
of a failing position.
You know, personal insult
is the last bastion of those that are losing.
Right?
You know, people would just turn to, uh, uh, you're mean!
It's because you have no argument.
Maybe we're
mean, but are we right?
That's what matters.
And if we're a little passionate about it, you know,
forgive us!
You know, we love the truth!
The truth ought to
make people zealous.
Thy word is truth.
Be a little zealous about the truth.
Love the truth.
You know, I'm not going to go to Daniel because
when you fall in the middle, it's kind of just, uh,
it doesn't really make my point,
but we could definitely think
about some of the preaching that Daniel did, and some
of the stories in Daniel. Go to Hosea, chapter number
seven. Hosea
chapter number seven. We're getting
closer to the New Testament, so perhaps these
guys will tone down as Jesus
draws closer to the scene, right?
The closer we get to the New Testament,
where, you know, God mellowed out,
maybe the guys that are, you know, by the time we get to
Malachi, it'll just be all chill, right?
Well, let's see, right?
No, you know, Daniel, if we don't forget,
he went in and
interpreted the writing on the wall for Belshazzar
and said, you know,
thou art found in the balance, thou art
weighed in the balances, and found wanting,
right? And your nation, and your
kingdom is going to be divided, and that night, he
was murdered in his bed. So it's another
preacher who's just, you know, calling out
a wicked leader, because remember, he'd taken
all the vessels out of the house, that they had got out of the house
of God, and drank, and threw a
party, and worshiped the gods of stone and of
wood, and the vessels that were
used in the worship of the Lord God.
And then the hand shows up
and makes the writing on the wall,
and yet you have another man of
God in Daniel, just boldly telling
a wicked leader right to his face,
you're done, you're wicked, it's
over, right? This is
the kind of preaching that God's men did.
Daniel
chapter number, no, Hosea,
sorry, Hosea chapter number seven.
Let's look at
verse 13. Maybe as we get into
these minor prophets, they'll
tone it down a little bit here for us.
Let's just go, you know, we just got it. Let's just go back
to verse one.
He's saying they're a bunch of drunken adulterers.
That's basically what he's saying here.
The strangers have devoured his strength
and he knoweth it not, yea, grey
hairs are here and there upon him,
yet he knoweth it not, and the pride of
Israel testifieth through his face,
and they do not turn to the Lord
their God, nor seek him
for all this.
Ephraim
is also like a silly dove
without heart. They call to
Egypt, they go to Assyria. I mean
verse 13, woe unto them.
There you go, there's that exclamation point again.
Woe unto them, for they have fled from me,
destruction unto them, because they have
transgressed me, though I have redeemed
them, yet they have spoken lies against me.
I mean, this is, it doesn't
seem like the minor prophets are
chilling out at all, right?
We're getting closer and closer to the time of Christ,
closer and closer to the New Testament, and these
guys aren't backing off.
Let's go to Joel.
Joel chapter two.
Joel chapter two. Look at
verse, we'll begin around verse 16 here.
Let's see where we can
land.
Verse 15, blow the trumpet
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a
solemn assembly, gather the people, sanctify
the congregation, assemble the elders,
gather the children, those that suck the breast,
let the bride groom forth out of his chamber and the bride
out of her closet. Let the priest and the
minister of the Lord weep between the porch
and the altar, and let them say, spare thy people,
O Lord, and give not
thine heritage to reproach, and that the heathen
should rule over them. Wherefore should they
say among the people, where is their God?
Then the Lord will be jealous for his land
and pity his people.
I mean, again, I'm just kind of dropping
in in the middle of these books, and you can
see where God's calling them to repentance
because things are not going well.
Go to Amos chapter number five.
Amos chapter number five.
We're going to look at verse eight. Start right around there in Amos
chapter number five.
Verse six.
Seek ye the Lord, and ye shall live,
lest he break out
like fire in the house of Joseph.
Get right with God
unless he burns you.
Right? That's what he's saying.
Seek the Lord,
and ye shall live, lest he break out like fire
in the house of Joseph, and devour it,
and there shall be none to quench
in Bethel.
Ye who turn judgment into
wormwood,
and leave off righteousness in the earth,
seek him that maketh the seven stars in Orion,
and turneth the shadow of death into the morning,
and maketh the day dark with night,
and calleth for waters
of the sea, and poureth them out
upon the face of the earth.
The Lord is his name.
Verse 10.
They hate him that rebuketh in the gate,
and they abhor him that speaketh
uprightly.
And it's true, the same is true today.
People hate righteous preaching.
They hate people that speak uprightly.
You know, they
hate the light, neither come to light,
lest their deeds should be reproved.
You say, why do people hate biblical
preaching?
Why do people hate the word of God?
Because it shines the light on sin.
You know,
if we read the word of God,
it's like looking, you know,
we're like a man beholding his face
in a glass,
the Bible says.
And sometimes it confronts us with our sin.
It confronts us, you know, with things
that we need to get right.
And sometimes, you know, the preaching of the word of God
does the same thing.
When we start just preaching the word of God, you know,
it's going to step on our toes.
And we all love hard preaching
until it's our toes that's getting stepped on.
You know, we love it when the
preacher gets up and rips on
the homos and everybody else.
You know, that's none of us.
Right?
There you go.
I'm going to get you guys trained.
I'm going to get some amens out of you. I'm just going to hit that
amen button. Amen.
Didn't have to on that one.
Praise the Lord.
You know, we love it when
we're ripping on, you know, these easy
targets that are out there.
But man, when the preacher starts to take the word of God
and direct it towards us,
you know, our relationships, our marriages,
sins we might have in our lives, then it's like,
I don't know. You're mean.
Well, you know, maybe you don't
like the way it's being said, but is it true?
I mean, I don't see, you know, I don't
I don't see any of these prophets being so far being
delicate with their words.
You know, they're not, you know, they didn't
Elijah didn't put the prophets of
Baal down humanely.
They died bloody, violent deaths.
It's like sometimes
that's the way it's got to be. We just got to get
take out the sword of the Spirit
and do some slaying, slay some
sin, take the hammer of God's
word, you know, and beat the
devil out of some people and
beat the sin out.
Let's go
to where are we at, Amos?
I mean, folks, we could just go on and on.
Do I have to belabor the point
or do you just want to hear some hard
preaching, right? Well, if you want to hear hard
preaching, you know, let's just keep going here.
Let's go to Obadiah, chapter number one, right?
Obadiah. Well, move along
quickly here. Tell you what, you
go to Micah 3.
Micah 3. I'll read from Obadiah.
Obadiah, chapter number one.
You know, I'm just going to skip Obadiah.
There's some good stuff in there. You're in Amos.
No, Micah. Micah 3.
I'm not going to
belabor the point more than I need to, but
it's some good preaching here.
Let's back it up. We got to back it up.
Verse one.
And I said, Here I pray you,
O heads of Jacob, you princes of the house of
Israel. So who is he speaking to?
Oh, you know, all the heathen hordes
out there who got it coming.
Nope.
The hardest preaching that's done, and now God
does call down a lot of judgment and preach
against all of the nations.
But you know who he preaches at the most
and the hardest often?
His own people, right?
He preaches the hardest and he sends
his men to go preach at his people
and he doesn't take it any easier
on them as he would the heathen.
Right? Here I pray you, O heads
of Jacob,
and you princes of the house of Israel,
is it not for you to know
judgment? Shouldn't you know better?
Who hate the good and love the evil?
Who pluck off their skin from off them
and their flesh from off their bones?
Who also eat the flesh of my
people and flay their skin from off them
and they break their bones and chop them
in pieces as for the pot and as for the flesh
within the cauldron? Then shall they
cry unto the Lord and he will not hear them.
He will even hide his face from them at that
time as they have behaved themselves
ill in their doing. Thus saith the
Lord concerning the prophets that
make my people to err, that
bite with their teeth and cry
for what is it they cry? Peace.
And he that
putteth not his hand into their mouths
they even prepare a war against
him. Therefore a night shall
be unto you and you shall not have a
vision. It shall be dark unto you. You shall not
divine and the sun shall go down over
your prophets and the day shall be dark over them.
Then shall all their seers be ashamed
and their viners confounded and they
shall all cover their lips for there is no answer
of God. But I am truly a fool of
power to the Spirit of God and of
judgment and of might
to declare unto Jacob his transgressions
and to Israel his sin.
So Micah is saying, you know, I am full
of the Spirit. I am full
of the Spirit of God, the Spirit
of the Lord, and I am full of judgment.
I judge not.
Yeah, judge
not that you should not and you will not be judged.
But judge righteous judgment.
Obviously he's not saying don't be a hypocrite.
He's saying don't be a hypocrite in judgment.
He's not saying never judge.
Judge according to the appearance
is what Jesus said. Judge righteous judgment.
And here we see Micah is literally
full of the Spirit of the Lord to go
and pronounce judgment.
And he's doing a pretty good job of it.
And of might.
He's given boldness to declare unto
Jacob his transgression
and to Israel his sin.
This is hard preaching. This is what biblical
preaching is.
And this is what Jesus did.
Let's just move ahead. I'm running out of time.
Let's go to Matthew 23.
Say, I'm convinced.
And look, if you're not convinced, go read
the minor prophets. Go read the rest of them.
If you haven't already
or are going to. And I'm sure you are
convinced.
You know, and I took the time to read all that
because remember in Mark 6
the thing that they said was
oh, Jesus is as one of the prophets.
Why did they say that?
Because the manner in which he preached
and what he said.
That's why they mistook him for
one of the prophets.
Say, well did Jesus ever preach that hard?
Matthew 23 is probably
one of the most face ripping
sermons you'd ever hear.
I mean this is gold.
Verse 23, verse 1.
Then speak Jesus
to the multitude and to the disciples
saying, the scribes and Pharisees
sit in Moses' seat.
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe
that observe and do.
But do ye not after their works
for they say and do not.
The problem is their hypocrisy.
For they bind heavy burdens and grievous
to be born and lay them on men's shoulders
but they themselves will not move them
with one of their fingers.
But all their works they do
to be seen of men.
They make broad their phylacteries and enlarge
the borders of their garments and love
the uppermost rooms at the feast
and the chief seats in the synagogues.
And greetings of the marketplace and to be
called of men Rabbi, Rabbi.
But be ye not called Rabbi
for one is your master even Christ
and all ye are brethren.
And call no man father upon the earth
for one is your father which is in heaven.
Neither be ye called masters
for one is your master even Christ.
But he that is greatest among you
shall be your servant and whosoever shall
exalt himself shall be abased and he that
shall humble himself shall be exalted.
You know, period.
And that wasn't too bad.
I mean, you know, you kind of read
battalion lines, you kind of get what
Jesus is saying. If you were a Pharisee,
you'd probably be offended already.
You know, and Jesus, you know, that's
not too on the nose for the Pharisees.
I mean, he's kind of in a roundabout way,
kind of pointing out their hypocrisy, right?
But it's not like he just came out and
said it. Oh, wait, he did.
Except that he did, right?
Except that he just calls them right out.
And I'm warning you right
here. I'm just going to go and tell you
right now, there's an apostrophe or an
exclamation point again. But what
to you scribes and Pharisees
hypocrites for you shut up the kingdom of God
heaven against men for you need to go
in yourselves. Neither suffer you
them that are entering in.
Woe to you scribes and Pharisees
hypocrites for you devour wives
widows houses and for a pretense
make long prayer. Therefore, you shall receive
the greater damnation. Woe
to you scribes and Pharisees hypocrites
for you compass sea and land to make
one proselyte and when he is made, you
make him twofold more the child of hell
than yourselves. Woe unto you
you blind guides which say whosoever
shall swear by the temple, it is nothing
but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the
temple he is a debtor. He fools
and blind for whether is greater
the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold
and whosoever shall swear by the altar
it is nothing but whosoereth by
the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
He fools and blind for whether is greater
the gift or the altar that sanctified
the gift. Whoso
therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth
by it, and by all things thereon. And whosoever shall swear by the temple,
swereth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. And he that swere by heaven,
swereth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. Woe unto you
scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise
in coming, and have emitted the mightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy,
and faith. These ought ye have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind
guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you scribes,
Pharisees! Hypocrites! For ye may clean the outside of the cup, and of the platter,
but within are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee! Cline first
that which is within the cup and the platter, and that the outside of them
may be clean also. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites! For
you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward,
but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye
also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of
hypocrisy and iniquity. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees! Hypocrites!
Because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of
the righteous, and say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we
would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of
them which killed the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your fathers, ye
serpents, ye generation of vipers. How can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Wherefore behold I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes, and
some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them ye shall scourge in
your synagogues, and persecute them from this city to this from city to
city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood that shed upon the
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of
Barakas, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Barely I say
unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem,
Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are
sent unto thee. How often I would gather thy children together, even as a hen
gathereth their chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold your
house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, You shall not see me
henceforth, till you shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord. I mean that's a face-ripping sermon. I mean imagine being
there and hearing Jesus say that out of his own mouth. I mean I can't do it
justice. Imagine being a Pharisee. Imagine being a scribe and just having Christ
calling you hypocrite, viper. You can't escape the damnation of hell. You know
you're full of dead man's bones. I mean that's intense. You can start to see
why people say, well he's one like one of the prophets because he ripped
face and he didn't spare and he was full of boldness and might and the
spirit of Lord to rebuke God's people. That's what he did. And the only
people that can't stand it and hate it are people that are either one wicked
or are guilty and they hate hard preaching. And go back to Mark chapter
number six which is exactly why they killed John the Baptist. You know,
John the Baptist got killed for similar preaching. And look, John the
Baptist, we're going to read the story, didn't say anything near as
offensive, quote unquote, as what Jesus said. It's not even a quote
unquote offensive. It was straight-up offensive. And he didn't care. Let's
review the story again. Mark chapter six. When Herod heard thereof, verse 16,
he said, it is John whom I beheaded. He is risen from the dead. For Herod,
verse 17, had sent forth and laid hold upon John and bound him in prison for
Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. So he's committing adultery with
his brother Philip's wife. For he married her. So whether it was a
divorce, a divorce took place and he married his brother's wife.
This is kind of weird, okay? I mean, that would be an
awkward family gathering. Thanksgiving is going to be kind of weird, you know.
You're probably not getting together at that point. You say, well, I mean, he
married his brother's wife. He committed adultery. It's like, okay, I mean, people,
they might not do that. You know, maybe you're not marrying, you know, your
brother's wife. But people get divorced, remarried all the time. You know, they,
it's not that big of a deal. Well, John, he had said unto Herod, it is not
lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. No exclamation point. That's all
he said. He said, you know, this isn't lawful. It's just another man of God
sticking his finger in the face of a wicked ruler and pointing out his sin.
You know, and saying, hey, and by the way, I think it's appropriate because people
follow leadership. You know, our leadership sets the tone for the country.
You know, why do you think our country is as bad as it is? I mean, often
leaders are a reflection of the country, but, you know, one hand washes the other.
Why do you think we have a bunch of adulterers, you know? Because we've had
a lot of adulterers in the White House. JFK? Anybody? Right? I'm right about that,
right? Yeah, big time. Hanging with a bunch of, a bunch of the, you know, whores and
whoremongers of Hollywood. Let's bring, you know, you say that was a
while ago. Okay, Bill Clinton. You and I say more. Okay? You know, these are the
people that, it's like, so, you know, praise God for a Baptist preacher or a
man of God who'll stick his finger in his face and say he's an adulterer. Wicked.
People are supposed to, you know, that's a, that's an office that should
be revered. People should look to that as a, for a role model. Should set an
example. But it's like, we're at this country now where Bill Clinton did
the things that he did, and everyone's just like, well, you know, it's a, it's a
joke. You know, Monica Lewinsky's on reality TV. You know, she's selling the
dress on eBay or something and making millions probably. It's disgusting. That's
where we're at. You know, and it's nothing new. John the Baptist pointed
it out. He just said, hey, it's not lawful for you to have her, according to the
Word of God. This is adultery. Therefore, Herodias had a quarrel with him, right?
She got all miffed about it and would have killed him, but she could not. I
mean, that's all he preached. He just said, hey, it's not lawful for you to
have her. I'm gonna kill that preacher. Oh, I'm gonna get that guy. I'm gonna
have his head cut off and delivered to me in a charger. Whoa. Chill out, lady.
Right? But this is what preaching does. It pisses people off. So let's not do
it. You know, that's why, you know, you want to know why there's so few
preachers out there today preaching like this? Because it pisses people off.
They're more concerned about being popular. They're more concerned about
filling up the seats than they are preaching God's Word. Look, I'm not
saying every single sermon that we preach has to be some face-ripping
sermon that's just gonna make people mad and uncomfortable, but if it's,
you know, if it's just always love, always compassion, always
grace, all the time, it's like, where is the hard preaching? How can we read
book after book after book, passage after passage after passage of men of God
just ripping face, and then it's just like, you get today, you listen around
today, and it's just crickets. It's just wind blowing. I'm not saying they
have to do it all the time, but it's like, once? Can you preach one
hard sermon against the Sodomites? Once in your entire career as a preacher?
Can you preach against adultery one time? Can you preach against
fornication and drunkenness and call it out with some zeal and some boldness
just one time in your preaching career as a pastor? Just once? When other
men of God throughout the ages have literally been put in prison, run out of
their homeland, called traitors, beheaded for preaching, you know, what
were really benign topics. They won't do it. You know, preaching against
drunkenness and fornication and adultery, to me, that's not that
hard. You know, it's hard preaching, but it's like, you'll get
used to it. You do it enough. I was great when I said, hey,
when I'm gonna preach tonight, and I turned, you know, well, let's continue on a mark,
and I read this. I was like, hey, great. Get to preach about John the Baptist,
calling out some wicked rulers and pissing some people off, you know, and
Herodias is getting just all bothered by it. Preaching on divorce got John
killed. She could not kill him, verse 9, Herodias. Verse 24, Herod feared John,
knowing that he was a just man and holy and observed him. But when he
heard him, he did many things and heard him. The day was come that Herod on his
birthday made a supper to his Lord's high captains and chief, a state
of Galilee, and when the daughter of the said Herodias came in and danced and
pleased Herod with them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel,
ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. And he swerent her,
whatsoever thou ask of me, I will give it thee unto the half of my
kingdom. And she went forth and said unto her mother, what shall I ask? And she
said, the head of John the Baptist. She could have had anything. Sometimes
you ladies need to just let things go. I mean, women, they never forget
that. She's just been grinding that axe forever. You know, maybe even literally,
this is the axe I'm gonna get him with. She's finally waits for her
opportunity. Get me the head of that preacher. Why did he say something wrong?
No, he said what was right. It's true. He just didn't like it. You know, guilty
people hate hard preaching. Wicked people hate hard preaching. God's
people love it. And she came in straightway with haste unto the king
and asked saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of
John the Baptist. What a weird thing for a damsel to ask for. And the king
was exceeding sorry. Yet for his oath's sake, and for their sakes which sat
with him, he would not reject her. Well, I've got a reputation to
maintain after all. And immediately the king sent an executioner and
commanded his head be brought, and he went and beheaded him in the prison.
I mean, think about who John, Jesus said that John the Baptist, that there was
not a greater man born among women than John the Baptist. I mean, he was
the one, you know, his cousin born of Elizabeth, miraculously, who
literally was the one that prepared the way. Baptized Christ. I mean, what an
exalted position. He was in the deserts and to the day of his showing, he
pointed the way to Jesus. And this is how he goes out in some dirty cell
somewhere, just alone, getting his head cut off by some stranger because some woman
doesn't like his preaching, has got an ax to grind. Man, it's like, why preach?
Why do it? Why would God put that story in there? It's not exactly
encouraging for preachers. This is where it leads. You know, that's the cost of
preaching. If you're gonna do it right, you know, and look, I'm not saying it's
gonna cost you your head today, but you know what? Some people might sever
themselves from you. You know, it wouldn't surprise me if I got up and preached
some sermon one day and people walked out and just never came back.
Wouldn't be the first time. Won't be the last. What am I supposed to do?
Quit preaching it? Stop saying it's not lawful? Stop calling out sin?
Stop preaching the Word of God? You know, that would make me a coward.
Well, I'm afraid of the consequences. Coward. You know, and if that's the
thought that goes through some of these preachers' heads, well, I'd
preach that. I know it's right. You know, you're like
Herod. You observe the Word of God. You observe John. He observed John the
Baptist. He knew he was a righteous man. I know that's what the Bible says, but
you know, I've just, I've got a reputation to maintain. I don't want to upset anybody.
You're a coward. I don't know what else to call it, and that's the
problem today. You know, that's kind of why we're at where we're at, because
no one's calling it out, and people are just going out there in the world
today and just basically being brainwashed to accept all kinds of
filth and iniquity and sin in their lives and just being told that it's
normal. It's normal to commit, to be drunkards, to be adulterers, to be
in fornicators. It's just what everybody does. They do it because no one's
calling it out because they're a bunch of cowards. Go to Luke chapter 6.
It says, when his disciples heard of it, they came and took up his corpse and
laid in the tomb. Jesus said in Matthew 5, Blessed are you, man, which your
men shall revile you and persecute you, and say, All men are evil against you
falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exciting, glad for great is your
glory in heaven. For so persecuted the prophets which were before you.
The prophets were persecuted for the things that they preached. John the Baptist
was persecuted for the things that he preached, and who else was persecuted for the things
that he said? Jesus. They killed Christ because of the things that he said.
Because of the claims that he made. I mean, you can kind of understand where
they're coming from, why they would do that after you read Matthew 23, why the
Pharisees and the scribes and the Sadducees might not have been a big
fan of Jesus. Because you're typically not a fan of the person that's sticking
a finger in your face and saying, You're wicked. You're wrong. Get right.
That's typically, you know, a lot of people have the reaction Herodias did.
I'm going to get him. And you know what? They crucified Christ. Now, obviously, we
understand he let it happen. But look at Luke 6, verse 22. We'll end on this
thought. This is where we started. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you.
And it's like, why are preachers today so worried about being hated by
people? Why? Jesus said it's a blessing.
When they shall separate you from their company. Why are they so worried about,
Oh, you know, if I preach hard against that, if I call that sin out or I say
something, it's a little too on the nose. People are going to leave the
church. It's separate from my company. Why are they worried about Jesus?
It's a blessing. When they shall reproach you and cast out your name as
evil. Oh, that preacher over there. Oh, you can listen to that guy over there.
Oh, he's one of those types. They cast out your name as evil for the
son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy. I'm not going to
demonstrate that for reasons I've stated previously. I think this is only
half-inch plywood under here. And I don't know what the spacing is on the
studs. I might go right through the floor. But if that happened, you know, I'd
probably rejoice and leap as best I could anyway. Your reward is great
heaven for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. You preach
like that. You preach like one of the prophets. You're going to, you know,
chances are you're going to have some things happen to you that are similar
to some degree as to which happened to them. But woe unto you that are rich
for you received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full for you shall
hunger. Look at verse 26. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you
for so did their fathers to the false prophets. You know, it'd be a lot
easier as far as, you know, man's perspective would go for me to just start
preaching, you know, tone it down a little bit. Don't preach against sin.
Don't call things out. Don't deal with things. Don't preach that kind of, you
know, just tone it down, you know. And people would probably be less
upset and people might be more prone to come back and never leave. And maybe
we'd have to get a bigger building one day and yada, yada, yada. But you
know, that would that would make me a coward, right? You know, maybe I could be
more like Franklin Graham, right? Wasn't Franklin Graham. He was just in town, you
know. Billy, Billy Balaam's son was just in town. He passed through, graced
Tucson with his presence. And you know, and I thought about it. I was like, I should
probably preach against that guy. Not that I was worried about anybody in
this church going to see the Franklin Graham convention, wherever he was. I
don't know. And I thought, do I really, I really don't want to waste my time
going through Franklin Graham's preachings and writings trying to prove
that he's a false prophet. Because I already have all the proof I need that
he's a false prophet. How do I know? One, I'm sure the apple doesn't fall
far from the tree. But two, all men speak well of him. His face is
plastered on billboards before he got here. And no one said a word. No one went
up there with a spray paint can and put corns and a, you know, mustache on
them and a little devil tail coming up from behind and a pitchfork. No one said
false prophet. No, they all speak well of him. They all speak well of Billy Graham, the
same guy who said, you know, the Muslims are just following the life
that they have. They all speak well of Joel Osteen, who doesn't want to call
out the homos of sin. They all speak well of all these other makeup
pastors, you know, who are afraid to, you know, call abortion murder. You know,
they speak well of those guys. You know, the guys that get up and preach the word
of God, they're not going to be popular. They never have been and they
never will be the popular crowd. But, you know, there'll be the
crowd that's blessed of God. And Jesus is just, you know, was one of
those prophets. Obviously he was the prophet, right? He's Christ the Son of
God. But you know what? They looked at Jesus and said he's like one of the
prophets. And it was his preaching that made him, caused him to be taken for
just another prophet, just another one of these guys. It was his boldness. So
don't get this mistaken notion today that's out there that Jesus was
just this, you know, this gentle little lamb that never heard a fly. Jesus was
like one of the prophets. He was a man of God. He was the Son of God. And he
ripped face. You know, and excuse the pastor when he has to get up and do a
little face ripping himself and maybe get that finger out and point it out a
little bit too and call some things out. It's literally the job of the
pastor. It's literally the job of the preacher. That's
prophesying. That's the preaching the Word of God. It's the example we see
in Scripture repeatedly. Let's go ahead and close the word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank you for
the Word of God. Thank you for this wonderful book, this great book. And thank
you for all these great messages that are in it, Lord, that are
passionate, that are bold, that are zealous for you, that take a
stand, Lord, and that aren't afraid to say what needs to be said, Lord. Help us
as God's people to embrace that kind of preaching. And Lord, be thankful that
we have men of God in our lives that will say it like it is because it's a
rarity today. It's not something that's popular. And Lord, we thank you for the
boldness of Christ that he displayed when he was on this earth and
set that same example for us, that same example that was set by all the
prophets of God. We thank you for these things in his name, Christ's name,
amen. All right, we'll go ahead and close in a word of prayer. One more song first.
What a day that will be. What a day that will be. When by Jesus I shall see.
When by the Lord the Lord is grace. The Lord will save me by His grace.
When He takes me by His hand. When He takes me by His hand.
What a day, what a day that will be.
When by no star will tear. No more word is to bear. No more sickness or pain.
No more glory, no prayer. In forever I will be. In the Lord will I be.
What a day, what a day that will be. What a day that will be. When by Jesus I shall see.
When by the Lord the Lord is grace. The Lord will save me by His grace.
When He takes me by His hand. When He takes me by His hand.
What a day, what a day that will be.