In 1 Chronicles chapter 28 the Bible reads in verse 1 and David assembled all the princes of Israel and princes of the tribes and the captains of the companies that ministered to the king by course and captains over the thousands and captains over the hundreds and the stewards over all the substance and possession of the king and of his sons with the officers and with the mighty men and with all the valiant men unto Jerusalem.
And then David the king stood up upon his feet and said hear me my brethren and my people.
So we see here that David has the leadership assembled but as we've read over the last few chapters this is many thousands of people.
Just the princes, the leaders, the rulers, the officers.
It's many thousands of people that are assembled together even though it's not a general assembly of everyone necessarily.
But it says that he stood up upon his feet.
Doesn't that seem a little unnecessary in verse 2 to say he stood upon his feet?
I mean how else do you stand but upon your feet?
But when things are unnecessary usually that means that they're doubly important.
When people say words, you know I listen when people talk and when they say unnecessary words in their sentence usually I focus in on that and they're doubly important.
And the reason I believe it says that he stood upon his feet is that this is indicating that he's a very old man.
So you picture him standing upon his feet as being somewhat of an effort.
He's probably in his last days so he's in bed a lot, he's sitting down a lot.
So by saying he stood upon his feet it's just God's trying to emphasize the fact that he is standing and that that's something interesting.
Because we know this is basically at the end of his life.
So what we take from that is that this is David's final charge as it were.
Kind of last words that he's giving to his officers and leadership.
And so at the very end of his life he's a very old man, he's close to death and he's giving this final commandment.
He says, hear me my brethren and my people.
As for me, I had in mine heart to build an house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and for the footstool of our God and had made ready for the building.
But God said unto me, thou shalt not build an house for my name because thou has been a man of war and has shed blood.
And we talked about that in previous chapters.
Howbeit the Lord God of Israel chose me before all the house of my father to be king over Israel forever.
For he hath chosen Judah to be the ruler and of the house of Judah the house of my father and among the sons of my father he liked me to make me king over all Israel.
I like that phrase, he liked me. Isn't that a great phrase?
Now a lot of people have this idea that God feels the same about everybody.
And it's really not a biblical concept, it's very cute and you know, hallmark cards and unconditional love and all these different teachings that don't come from the Bible.
You actually study the Bible, you find that God definitely loved the world, right?
He loved every single person.
The Bible says for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But then some people will say that there's just nothing you could ever do to change God's love for you.
Well that's false because in the book of Hosea he told them that because of their abominations and iniquities he said I hated them and he said I will love them no more.
He said I will love them no more. You know what that means? I used to love them and I don't love them anymore.
That's very clear in the book of Hosea but the Bible tells us that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So here's the thing, if you are saved today, if you're a born again child of God, nothing can separate you from the love of God.
It'll never come to a place where God loves you no more or where God hates you. He doesn't hate any of his children and he would never stop loving any of his children.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But it is possible of course for unsaved people to eventually go off that cliff.
Now look, God loves the unsaved. Like I said, God so loved the world. God loves the lost. God loves those who even nailed him to the cross and said Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
But there comes a point where people can and do cross a line where they are beyond the love of God.
And we see people going to hell for all of eternity and suffering the wrath of God.
We also see people who become reprobate in this life like the people described in the book of Hosea.
So this idea that nothing can change the way that God feels about you isn't true.
But the good news is that if you're saved, God's not going to stop loving you. He's going to love you no matter what.
But I don't want God to just love me. I want God to like me.
I want to be like David where he says, you know what? I like him.
And that's not to say that David's brothers were bad people or that they weren't saved or that they weren't loved of the Lord.
But you know what? David was the one that God liked and he chose him above all his brethren.
And if you remember all the brethren of David were paraded before Samuel and it wasn't until David that God said this is the one, anointing him.
You say, well, I think you're making a big deal out of the fact that he liked David.
This is the man after God's own heart. That's what it means when it says he liked him.
Well, God doesn't play favorites. That's interesting because there was the disciple whom Jesus loved.
The favorite. Right? So you say, well, I don't like that.
Well, here's the thing about that though. It's not that God is a respecter of persons.
It's that people who love him, people who seek him, people who have a heart for him, you know what?
That's how you get a special walk with God. That's how you get closer to God.
You know what the Bible says? Draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.
So you say, I want to be like John. I want to be the disciple whom Jesus loved.
I want to be like the one who's sitting at the table leaning on Jesus' breast.
I mean, think about it. At the table, everybody can't sit next to Jesus.
There are 13 people at that table. You can't all sit right next to Jesus.
Who was the guy who sat right next to Jesus and literally leaned on him at supper?
Literally leaned up against him. He was the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was John.
How do you get there? Is it just some random thing? No.
You draw nigh to God and he will draw nigh to you.
So you can be a special beloved disciple. You can be one that has special closeness with God.
You can be one who God says, of course I love all my children, but man, I like him.
Because that's what it says of David. And look, we could go all over the Bible. That's a whole sermon.
But I think I've sufficiently proven my point with the apostle John, with David.
There are lots of examples of this in the Bible. So can we change the way God feels about us?
Well, we can make him even happier with us. He's going to love us no matter what because we're his children.
But we don't want to grieve him. We want to make him especially pleased with us. Amen?
We don't want to be a black sheep of the family just because we're a child of God and can never lose our salvation.
We still want to be a beloved son in whom he's well pleased, like unto Christ.
So it says here, he liked me. I think you should really pay attention to that. I think that's a great statement.
And then the Bible says in verse 5, and of all my sons, for the Lord has given me many sons,
he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
Now Solomon was not the oldest son. And in fact, in many ways, Solomon was an unlikely choice
because his mother Bathsheba is not the greatest person and she was one that originally was in adultery with David
and that's how he even ended up married to Bathsheba. But yet, her son Solomon is chosen.
And the question comes up, why did God choose Solomon? I believe that God liked Solomon.
I think that Solomon had the merits. He wasn't the oldest, but he was the one that had the merits and God chose him
and God used him to build his house, even though in the end of his life, he made huge mistakes
and brought in idolatry in order to please his wives that were foreigners.
We don't want to just write off all the good things he did up to that point and I believe he was a great man up to that point.
And God used him to pen scripture. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon came from the pen of Solomon.
So the Bible says that he chose Solomon, in verse 5, to sit upon his throne over the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
And he said unto me, Solomon thy son, he shall build my house and my courts, for I have chosen him to be my son and I will be his father.
Moreover, I will establish his kingdom forever, if he be constant to do my commandments and my judgments as at this day.
And of course Solomon represents Jesus. Psalm 89 is a great scripture on that.
Now therefore, in the sight of all Israel, the congregation of the Lord, and in the audience of our God,
watch this, keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God, that ye may possess this good land
and leave it for an inheritance for your children after you forever.
So how are the children of Israel going to possess the land and keep it for an inheritance for their children after them?
You know what they have to do? They have to keep and seek all the commandments.
Now does this say, well it's theirs, it's their land. God promised Abraham it's their land no matter what they do.
That's not what the Bible teaches. The Bible says if you want to inherit this land, you better keep and seek my commandments.
If you want your children and your children's children to inherit this land, they can just get in bed with the Rothschilds
and get the UN involved and just, you know, send a letter from Lord Balfour to Rothschild.
No, no, no, he said you got to keep and seek the commandments.
They don't have a right to that land if they're not loving the Lord.
If they don't love the Lord, God doesn't owe them anything.
And any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema, maranatha, that's what the Bible says.
And if you don't have the Son, you don't have the Father. But if you acknowledge the Son, you have the Father also. Amen?
But he says here, keep and seek. I love that statement. Keep and seek for all the commandments of the Lord your God.
Don't miss that. He's not saying just keep God's commandments. I mean we hear that all the time, right?
We've heard that all our lives in church. Keep God's commandments and that's important to know that we need to keep God's commandments.
But what about seek for all God's commandments? What does it mean to seek for something? What does that mean?
Look for it, right? Look for God's commandments. You know what you need to do?
You need to get the Bible and start looking for commandments. Looking for commandments. Look for commandments.
How are you going to keep God's commandments if you don't even know what they are?
And there are obviously the big ones that we all know. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery.
But as you study the Bible, you are going to find commandments that you did not even know were in there.
And so it's your responsibility if you want God to bless you and bless your children and your descendants after you, to seek for all of God's commandments.
Seek for all of them. Don't miss any. And there have been times in my life where I was doing something and didn't even realize that it was a sin.
And then I look in the Bible and find a new commandment and say, wait a minute, I need to change this. I need to be doing that.
And I guarantee you there are a lot of people today that are sinning through ignorance. They're sinning unwittingly.
But that's no excuse because God has commanded us to seek for those commandments, to go looking for them, find the commandments, figure out what God wants you to do, and then do it.
It says in verse 9, And thou, Solomon my son, know thou, the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.
For the Lord searcheth all hearts and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee.
But if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off forever. Take heed now, for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it.
So what's he saying? He's saying, look, God chose you. God wants you to build this house. God wants you to build the temple. He wants you to build the sanctuary.
But you know what? You can screw this up, though, to where he'd cast you off, and you won't be the king.
Because he said in verse 7, I'll establish this kingdom forever if he be constant to do my commandments.
So God wants Solomon to be king. He chooses Solomon. He wants him to be the one to build the temple.
But he still warns him, this isn't an anything goes because you can still mess this up. You've got to keep the commandments.
You've got to seek for all the commandments if you want to be greatly used by God.
Now again, nothing can separate us from the love of God. There's nothing we could ever do to lose our salvation.
He gives us eternal life. We shall never perish. No man shall ever pluck us out of his hand.
Nothing can separate us. He'll never leave us or forsake us, and on and on.
But we can mess up our lives on this earth, and we can lose opportunities.
And we can be like the apostle Paul said, a castaway, where we're good for nothing, we're no longer being used by God, and where we make shipwreck of our lives.
We don't want to do that. So he's giving him these warnings, and he's telling him, look, God knows your heart. He knows what's in your mind.
He knows everything. And so don't just outwardly put on a show here. You better have the right thing in your heart, because God knows.
But I love what he says here, this promise at the end of verse 9. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee.
And that promise is good for any of us. It's good for anyone on this earth.
Anyone who really loves the Lord, and really has a perfect heart toward him, and really has a willing mind toward him, God will lead you into all truth.
God wants you to know the truth. God wants you to have understanding. And God wants you to know him, and to find him.
So if you seek him, you'll find him. And of course, Jesus said, ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you, for everyone that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
So if someone is truly a sincere person, they're going to find the truth.
So if you see a person who's just not able to come to the knowledge of the truth, I mean, here they are, and they keep being confronted with the truth, and they just don't get it.
And people explain the gospel to them, they don't get it. People explain biblical doctrine to them, they don't get it. People show them the truths of God's word, they show them good doctrine, and they just don't get it, don't understand it.
It just seems like they're always goofed up on doctrine. Let me tell you something about that person. That person is an insincere person. That person does not have a perfect heart. That person does not have a willing mind. That person is not seeking the Lord.
Why? Because if they were seeking the Lord, they would be guaranteed to find Him. Guaranteed. Every single person who seeks the Lord finds Him.
Anybody who opens the Bible, and with a perfect heart, with a heart that's truly sincere and loving the Lord, asks God to show them the truth is going to find the truth.
You think the Holy Spirit is going to lead you into heresy and false doctrine when you get on your knees and just from a pure heart say, God, I just want to know the truth. Just show me what the truth is.
Whatever it is, I'll believe it, Lord. Whatever you want me to preach, I'll preach it. Whatever you want me to believe, I'll believe it. Just tell me the truth. Just show me the truth. I just want to know.
I just want to know you, Lord. I want to know what the truth is. And whatever it is, I'll accept it. You know, you think you're going to end up in heresy like that? No way.
These heretics that are out there, it's because they have an insincere heart. They have wickedness in their heart. Period.
And how many people have I run into in my life, totally unrelated to me, from totally different circles, different backgrounds, but you know what? Same Bible and same Holy Spirit.
And we just agree on so many things. And just, oh, man, yeah, you saw that too? Yeah, what about this? Yeah, that's what I believe. And just, oh, man, this is great. And it's just great fellowship and camaraderie. Why?
Because I'm sincere, you're sincere. I love the Lord, you love the Lord. Isn't it interesting how we both read the Bible and we see the salvations by faith, we see the baptisms by immersion, we believe in the Trinity, we believe in soul winning, we believe in all these things. Why?
Because we're sincere. So God led us into the truth. And so I don't believe for one second that somebody is truly sincere and they just keep accidentally rejecting the word of God and the gospel or they keep rejecting good doctrine when it's shown to them.
No, when people are shown good doctrine out of the Bible or when people are reading their Bible every day and still messed up year after year after year, just goofed up on so many things, it just means that there's insincerity in their heart. The problem is with them. It's not the Holy Spirit, it's not the Bible that's the problem, it's them that's the problem.
And so I really strongly believe this where he says, if thou seek him, he will be found of thee. I mean that's a great motto right there. I mean that's a great thing just to think about over and over again and meditate. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee. I mean that's a great promise. Seek him, look for it. Find the truth in the word of God. Find the Lord himself, look for him and he'll find you.
Or you'll find him. Both will happen, right? Alright, look down at your Bible, it says in verse number 10, take heed now for the Lord hath chosen thee to build a house for the sanctuary. Be strong and do it. Be strong and do it, right?
So we need to be the right thing in our lives but then we also need to do the action. You know it's great to be strong but if you don't do it, what good is strength if you're not using your strength, right?
You could be a great preacher, you could have all the great doctrine but if you're not doing the work, then what is the profit? So be strong and do it. God chose you to build the house, do it.
Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch and of the houses thereof and of the treasuries thereof and of the upper chambers thereof and of the inner parlors thereof and of the place of the mercy seat, watch this, and the pattern of all that he had by the Spirit.
Now remember when Moses built the tabernacle, he was told by God, see that thou make all things according to the pattern that was showed thee in the mount.
So when Moses built the tabernacle, he was going off of a pattern that he was shown when he went up to Mount Sinai.
And the Bible says in Hebrews that all of those things that were made, the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, the table, the showbread, they were all patterned after, they were basically a replica of that which is in heaven.
So in heaven there's a holy place and a mercy seat and the table and all those things and they were all made after the pattern of that heavenly tabernacle and God said, see that thou make all things according to the pattern which was showed thee in the mount.
Now when it comes to the temple, there was also a pattern for the temple that David received by the Spirit.
Now the temple was not God's idea. The temple was man's idea. And God made a big deal about this. When David asked Nathan the prophet if he should build the temple, God gave an answer to David through Nathan the prophet where he said, look, I never at any time said for you to build a temple.
I dwell in a tabernacle. I dwell in a tent. And I never at any time said that you needed to build me a tabernacle. But he said that it was good that it was in David's heart.
So David said, you know what, I think that God should have a permanent dwelling place for his house. The Ark of the Covenant should be in a house of cedars and not in a tent.
And so he sought the Lord. Obviously he wanted the Lord's approval, but God approved it and said, you know what, it was good that that was in your heart. You're not going to do it because you've shed much blood, but your son Solomon, he shall build the house unto my name.
And I love the fact that man came up with an idea. He ran it by God and God approved it and said, your son will build this house.
So what can we take from that? Well, first of all, it's good for us to come up with ideas and want to serve God in a new way. But we should always make sure that we run it by the Lord and check it with scripture, check it with the Bible, make sure that God's okay with it.
Because if God would have said no, then building the temple would have been a horrible thing to do. But God did say yes. But not only did God approve of David's idea for building the temple, he also actually got involved in the design.
Because the Bible says that by the Spirit, he gave a pattern to David. So it wasn't just that David had the idea and he and Solomon designed this temple, but God got involved and God gave them a pattern by which to make the temple.
And then it says in verse 13, also for the courses of the priests and the Levites and for all the work of the service of the house of the Lord and for all the vessels of service in the house of God.
And I'm not going to reread all this because we read it before the sermon, but he just lists all the gold and silver and everything that needed to be donated to build all the different accoutrements for the temple.
Jump down to verse 18, and for the altar of incense, refined gold by weight and gold for the pattern of the chariot of the cherubims that spread out their wings and covered the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Watch verse 19.
All this, said David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me even all the works of this pattern.
What does he mean by that? That he made him understand it by writing by his hand upon me. See, the hand of the Lord was upon David to write down scripture. To write down scripture.
So when David wrote down scripture, or the word of God, it was through the Lord having his hand upon him. And it was also described as being by the Spirit.
In the New Testament, the Bible says that the hand of the Lord was upon David to write down scripture.
So when David wrote down scripture, or the word of God, it was through the Lord having his hand upon him. And it was also described as being by the Spirit.
In the New Testament, the Bible says that the Holy Ghost spake by the mouth of David the prophet. Of course, that's how all scripture came about, that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
There's also a great verse in Psalm 45, verse 1, where David said, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.
So how did God write the Bible? If God reached for the pen to write the Bible, what was the pen? The pen was the tongue of David. Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
So David said, my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. So we need to understand that God's word is inspired, and that means that God spake all these words.
And he didn't just inspire people in the sense that you're inspired when you look at a beautiful landscape. And you say, oh, I heard a beautiful piece of music and I was inspired by it. Isn't that what people say?
Or, you know, I looked out the window and saw all the fall colors and it was really inspirational. It really inspired me. No, when the Bible says that all scripture is inspired, it means that holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
It means that David's tongue was the pen of a ready writer. God actually wrote scripture through man. And so God is the author of the Bible. Man did not write the Bible. God wrote the Bible through man.
Now, you say, well, Pastor Anderson, how come when I read the Bible, I can get the personality of the author coming out in scripture? If it's all written by God, why can I tell the difference between what Paul wrote versus what John wrote versus what Luke wrote?
Here's why. Because God created the man and he actually wrote scripture through that man from that man's perspective. And this is what's so amazing about the Bible, what's so beautiful about the Bible, is that the Bible is both human and divine.
The Bible is human. What do I mean by that? I mean that when you read the books that Paul wrote, you're getting Paul's personality there. When you read the books that Luke and John wrote, you're getting their personality.
When you read Isaiah, you can tell the difference from that and Jeremiah or Ezekiel. It's all one cohesive whole, though. When you read the whole Bible, there's a certain feel that the Bible has where it's all divine. It's all God's word.
And when we say that the Bible is divine, we also mean that it's without error. There's nothing in the Bible that's erroneous or incorrect. Now, who was also human and divine? Jesus.
So the word of God and Jesus are both human and divine. Jesus Christ was a human being, but he was also God in the flesh. Jesus Christ was totally without sin, and the word of God is totally without error. Even though it's human, it's without error. Why? Because it's divine as well.
So we need to understand that about the word of God because a lot of people, they get confused by that, saying, you know, well, if God wrote the Bible, then why does it seem to have man's perspective? Because it does have man's perspective.
But God is the one who created that man, used that man such as he was, and gave us the word of God in a human format that we can understand because it's from man's perspective.
But it's also divine. We can trust it. Every verse of the Bible, we can take it to the bank as absolute truth. Well, this is what Paul wrote. No, no, it's the truth. Paul said that people needed to acknowledge that the words that he wrote unto them were the word of God.
He said you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God. So if anybody ever says, oh, man wrote the Bible, just take it to the bank. That person doesn't believe the Bible.
That's what people say when they reject the word of God. They say, oh, the Bible's written by man. No, the Bible's written by God. Well, I thought Paul wrote it. Yeah, but Paul wrote it, spake it, as he was moved by the Holy Ghost. David wrote, spake, as he was moved by the Holy Ghost.
So what's interesting here about verse 19, all this said, David, the Lord made me understand in writing by his hand upon me. What he's saying there is that as he wrote scripture, he was learning new things.
So he's not drawing from his mind and saying, okay, this is what I've learned. These are my experiences. Now let me put pen to page and write scripture. Oh, no, he learned new things.
And I guarantee you that the other biblical authors were the same way. When the apostle Paul wrote scripture or when Jude wrote the book of Jude, he probably learned for the first time, oh, that's what Enoch said, right, when he wrote that scripture in Jude.
So David learned about the pattern of the temple. He learned about, you know, it says he understood these things about the incense altar, the cherubims, the bowls, the cups, all that. He said, I learned that by writing or in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.
So if he's learning new things while he's writing, what does that prove? That proves that the word is coming from outside himself. So he's actually divinely inspired and it's actually the word of God. New things are being revealed to him as he pens scriptures.
You know, great doctrine here on how we got the Bible. It says in verse 20, and David said to Solomon, his son, be strong and of good courage and do it. Fear not, nor be dismayed, for the Lord God, even my God, will be with thee. He will not fail thee, nor forsake thee until thou has finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
Look, if God's with us, and if God's not going to forsake us, and if God's going to finish the work through us, then what in the world is there to be afraid of? But today, so many Christians are afraid of their own shadow. They're afraid of a phantom. They're afraid of something that doesn't even exist a lot of times.
There's nothing to worry about. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom then shall I fear? Of whom shall I be afraid? If God be for us, who can be against us?
You know, we've had some great soul-winning events over the years, and there have been people who missed out on them because of fear. Well, first of all, there are people who just miss out on weekly soul-winning because they're just afraid to even go to a door and preach the gospel.
Well, is it really that hard to be a silent partner? I mean, when we read in Hebrews 11 how people were torn and sawn asunder and slain with the sword and quenched the violence of fire, you think you could be a silent partner?
I mean, you think you could just go soul-winning with somebody and let them do all the talking? Hey, look, you know how hard it would be to be a part of the Chandler soul-winning marathon? Here's how hard it would be.
You show up and eat some free food at Panera from 9 to 10. That sounds hard. Then you get paired up with a talker and literally just walk with that person and just listen and just pray in your heart and just keep that person company between doors.
Super hard. I mean, thou hast asked a hard thing. Being a soul-winner is a piece of cake, especially because being a silent partner is a piece of cake.
And look, let me tell you something. If you go out soul-winning as a silent partner, no one's going to pressure you to talk. I won't pressure you to talk, and no one should ever pressure you to talk. Don't pressure people to talk.
Don't bug people like, how long are you going to be a silent partner? You need to start doing the talking. Listen to me. You be a silent partner until Jesus comes, for all I care.
If every person in our church went out soul-winning and a lot of them just stayed silent partners until Jesus comes, I'd be just as happy as a clam, just that they're out there participating in soul-winning and that they're out there being a blessing and helping out.
And you know, I've heard some people that had a different attitude about this, but let me just tell you, as the pastor of this church, if you're a silent partner, you know what? I think you're doing a great job going out there and soul-winning.
Now look, I think that 99% of silent partners eventually are going to get to a point where they get sick of being a silent partner. In fact, probably 100% are eventually going to get sick of being a silent partner, and they're going to say, all right, move over. I got the next door.
But you know, there's no pressure. If that takes you three months, six months, three years, six years, who cares? You know, just get out there and go soul-winning.
Because you know what? If everybody has a silent partner, we just doubled our soul-winning force right there. So get out there and go soul-winning.
And you know, I remember when we had our first soul-winning marathon in another state, it was the Dearborn, Michigan soul-winning marathon. And there was a lot of fear-mongering about Dearborn.
Dearborn's not a scary place. Detroit is a scary place. No, I'm just kidding. But anyway, between the two, Detroit's a little scarier. But either way, neither one of them is scary. It's fine.
You know, I mean, in the middle of the night, it's probably scary. But we went to Dearborn, and people had believed all this kind of Fox News hype about how Dearborn's under Sharia law.
And they'll stone you just as soon as they look at you. And you're going to get beheaded and all this stuff.
And so we still had a great turnout. We had 62 people come out soul-winning. We had, let's see, I think we had about 46 people saved and seven baptisms, something like that, if my memory serves. This was like three and a half years ago.
So great success. No beheadings. Nobody was stoned. And we were offered a lot of cookies and tea and crumpets, but that was about it.
So then, you know, after we did that, we go to the airport to go home, and I'm at the airport, and a guy walks up to me and says, are you Pastor Anderson? I said, yeah.
And he, oh, man, I love your sermons. I listen to your preaching. He said, man, I was this close to going to the Dearborn soul-winning event, but he said, I just, I got scared. I got nervous about it.
And I'm just thinking, man, if I just happened to run into somebody at the airport who was planning on coming or wanted to come, and they chickened out because of the, all the hype and the fear-mongering and people that were exaggerating and so forth about the danger,
I was thinking to myself, how many other people would have shown up if they hadn't gotten scared? And boy, they missed out on a great day. And they missed out on a historic day. It was our first big soul-winning marathon. Then we went on to do scores of other amazing soul-winning marathons.
And, you know, this Chandler event, there are going to be some people who stay home because they're afraid. And, you know, there's really nothing to fear.
Now, first of all, there's a good chance that nobody's going to get arrested or even have any problems. That's probably the most likely scenario. You know, the police will show up to some apartment complexes and play cops and robbers with us a little bit and whatever.
But, you know, chances are nothing bad is going to happen.
But what if somebody gets arrested? Well, look, we had four people from our church get arrested. Was it really that big of a deal, guys?
Was it that bad? Daniel, are you okay? Do you need any counseling or anything? You having PTSD or anything, buddy? You all right? Look, you saw the video. Daniel was preaching the Trinity to the guy.
He didn't seem that... Daniel didn't seem that upset. You know, he was just preaching to the cop. And the cop's like, I went to Bible school. And he's like, I got my degree in religious studies.
And he's telling Daniel that there's a verse in the Bible that says that the Holy Spirit is far greater than Jesus.
And that Jesus said he was going to send the comforter that would be far greater than him. Someone else is coming after me that's far greater.
And Daniel's like, excuse me, let me correct you. He's very polite. He's like, sir, may I correct you that that was actually John the Baptist who said that Jesus was greater than him.
Oh, no, no, no, no. It was Jesus said about the Holy Spirit. I know because I have a Bible degree and I went to Bible school and blah, blah, blah.
And of course, later, the guy, because Daniel wouldn't let it go. Daniel's like, yeah, I want to see that verse. Where's that verse at, buddy?
And then, of course, the guy finally had to admit like, oh, it's not in the Bible. Unfortunately, we don't have that part on camera.
But, you know, Daniel, he seems safe and sound to me. You know, I, and I, you know, I read Fox's Book of Martyrs and I don't remember the chapter on people who got detained and they got a citation and were let go a couple hours later.
That chapter didn't make it into the Fox's Book of Martyrs. The people who, the people who got put in handcuffs for 15 minutes. Yeah, there wasn't a chapter like that.
I mean, there were people that were executed, but that didn't make it into Fox's Book of Martyrs. But yet today, Christians are saying, well, you know, what if a cop, you know, tells me to sit on my bottom and speak sternly to me or whatever?
Who cares? Big deal. And let me just go on there. I don't mind getting arrested this Saturday. If I get arrested this Saturday, I'm going to sing Christmas songs in the back of that squad car all the way to the station.
Now that I know that there's a camera and that they give you the footage, man, I'm going to be, I'm going to be singing every Christmas song I know in the back of that squad car.
That's what, that's what Paul and Silas did in Act 16. What'd they do? They sang hymns all the way till midnight. They're singing songs, singing songs, singing songs. That's going to be me if I get arrested.
I'm just going to be just joy to the world. The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare him room. And heaven and nature sing. And heaven and nature sing.
Who cares? Just, just get over it. Big deal. It's probably not even going to happen. If it does, I'm ready with all the lyrics of a lot of songs. I got them memorized. I'm ready to roll. That way they don't get bored with hearing the same songs.
I'm going to use the whole repertoire, you know, if I get arrested. So fear not. Okay. God's with you. He, when he gave the great commission, he said, lo, I'm with you always, even at the end of the world.
Has the world ended yet? No, he's still with us. So don't live in fear. Don't be a scaredy cat and a coward. You know what you're going to do?
You're going to miss out on opportunities in life because of fear. You're going to stay home and do nothing because you're scared. You know what you're going to be? You're going to be like that guy in the parable where he went and buried the talent.
Oh Lord, I was afraid. So I went and hid it in the earth. Here you go. That wicked and slothful servant. That's what God said to him. Get out there and do something with your life.
You know, I mean, how many people in their life have missed out on opportunities? They miss out on job opportunities because they're scared. They miss out on getting married because they can't even talk to the opposite gender.
They won't even approach the girl and ask her out or something. How many people have missed out on great soul winning events because they were just too scared to show up and be a silent partner?
I mean, how many people have missed out on being a preacher because they were afraid to get up behind the pulpit and mess up and whatever?
Look, just get over it folks. We've got to overcome fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Boy, just get over your fears and you say, well, how do I get over fear? Boy, just think about how God's with me.
You know, I've been in some situations where it was a scary place. Let's say I'm at night in a weird area or something. I'm walking by myself. You know what verse I quote in a situation like that?
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me.
Boy, what else do you need folks? If that isn't enough for you this Saturday, I don't know what is.
Chandler is not the valley of the shadow of death. It's the valley of the sun. Amen? Yes?
Amen. That's what I'm talking about. So, get these scriptures, get a memory. Look, if you're fearful, you know what was told unto Gideon?
Hey, if you're fearful to do it, Gideon, take fear of thy servant. And he took fear of his servant, but at least he went. He went with a partner. He had the soul-wanting partner, but he went.
If you're fearful, take a partner. You know, we'll pair you up with a bad dude and you'll be fine. Hey, we'll pair you up. If you're scared, we'll pair you up with Aaron Thompson.
The guy's like 6 foot 8 or something. I'd like to see Donna Reno go toe-to-toe with Aaron Thompson. Donna Reno is about a foot shorter than I am, which is why she has the Napoleonic syndrome that she has.
But, I mean, Donna Reno versus Aaron Thompson, she's gonna have a lump in her throat. She's gonna be like, gulp. She was already, look, you watch her in the video, she's already all scared and nervous and panicky.
I got the expert opinion of a seasoned veteran police officer and he said, you know, I've seen officers like that, they're just scared. And that's what it is. She's scared and panicking and just lashing out in fear.
Who's afraid of Donna Reno in here? You know what, you know what, if you're afraid of Donna Reno, you know what you remind me of? You're like Peter when the damsel comes and says, weren't you with him in the garden of Gethsemane?
Aren't not thou also a Galilean? Remember that little damsel? And Peter's like, I know not the man. You know, little Donna Reno comes up to you. She's like, are you with Faithful Word Baptist Church? And you're like, I know not the man. You know, I know not what thou say. And you begin to curse and swear.
You know. God's with you. He's not going to fail you. Verse 20. He's not going to forsake you until you've finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
Hey, we've got some work to do. We've got some service to do to the community to get out there and seek and save the lost, to preach the gospel to every creature, to shine the glorious light of the gospel. Hey, he's not going to forsake you until the job is done. Let's get out there and do the work.
Hey, I want God to be with me. And I know that when I'm sowing, God's with me. Now, if I go to the bar, is he going to be there to protect me and keep me from the bar fight? No way. You go in the bar, all bets are off. You go in the casino, all bets are off. You go to wicked places, guess what? You might get destroyed.
But you know, when you're doing the right thing, of course God's going to protect you, right? God may not protect you in a wicked place. You know, when people disobeyed God in the Bible and went somewhere they weren't supposed to go, you know, they ended up suffering like I think of King Josiah.
You know, King Josiah, God's blessing him, protecting him, keeping him safe. But then he went out and got involved in a war that he wasn't supposed to get involved in. He went up against Pharaoh Niko of Egypt and God told him, don't do it.
But he went and fought anyway and guess what? He got killed in battle. Even though God had told him that he would be safe and protected and you're going to be fine. But guess what? That promise goes out the window when you defy God and go out and sin, then you might get hurt.
You know, there's no guarantee that Christians aren't going to get killed out drunk driving after they go to the bar and get drunk, right? But you know what? When you go out soul winning, I promise you he's given his angel's charge concerning you. I promise you that the angel of the Lord is going to camp around him that feareth him and God's going to take care of you and protect you.
And look, if something bad happens to you, count it all joy. And you know what? You can know for sure is that God wanted it to happen. Because God could easily prevent these things.
If anybody gets arrested on Saturday, it's because God wants them to get arrested. You say, why would God want anybody to get arrested? Oh, I don't know, because the bonds of Paul provoked many others to preach the gospel without fear and to be bold.
You know, maybe God just wants us to get a great YouTube video out of it. And you say, why would God want you to get a great YouTube video? I'll tell you why. Because hundreds of thousands of people tune in on YouTube, millions of people tune in on YouTube.
Our YouTube channel is like 60 million views or something. And they get saved. And they learn about the gospel. They learn about soul winning.
So, you know, if God gives us a viral video this Saturday, amen. If everything goes smooth and peaceful, amen.
See, we're always winning. We're more than conquerors. We can't lose this Saturday. We cannot lose. When you set out to serve the Lord, and you got the Bible in your hand, and the Holy Spirit inside you, and you're preaching the gospel, I don't care what happens. You win.
I don't even have to know the outcome this Saturday. All I know is that we win and Chandler loses. I'm talking about the police department. The residents of Chandler win the ones who get saved.
Now, the idiot atheists that call the police on us this Saturday, they're going to get a special curse from God. There's going to be a special punishment for the workers of iniquity.
So these wicked God-hating devils are like, how dare you give me the gospel? Boy, God's going to curse them. It's going to be worse than Sodom for those people. It's going to be worse than Tyre and Sidon.
Let me tell you something. I don't have to be a prophet up here. I'm not saying that I got a vision. Y'all on the verge of something. Something's about to happen. Some of you get that.
But anyway, look, I'm not clairvoyant, but I can tell you, I can guarantee you one thing. This Saturday, we win. Chandler police loses. The people who get saved win. The people who listen to the gospel win. The people who call the cops on us and reject the gospel lose.
I already know the ending. But boy, it's going to be fun to get there. But that's how it's going to end, folks. How do you know what's going to happen? I don't know what's going to happen, but no matter what happens, I'm going to declare it a win for Jesus and a lose for the devil.
I'm going to declare it a win for Faithful Word Baptist Church and a lose for the Chandler PD. And that's kind of just two ways of saying the same thing. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word. And we thank you so much for these promises, Lord. This is a great chapter, Lord. Thank you for this beautiful chapter. Just so many great things. How you liked David. You chose David. You liked Solomon. You chose Solomon.
And just all the promises about how your word is inspired and how you spake these words. And David gave us these things under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. And Lord, thank you so much that we don't have to be afraid or dismayed.
Lord, help us to be bold as a lion. And thank you for giving us the victory always through Christ Jesus our Lord and making us more than conquerors. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.