Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Praise God from whom all blessings flow, Praise Him all creatures here below,
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts, Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Though it is dark in this world of sin, Though evil prospers it shall not win,
First tribulation, then with a shout, Will be caught away for His wrath has poured out,
The Lord will come with ten thousands of saints, He'll judge the earth for His righteous name's sake,
Through tribulation, though we must come, There's not can separate us from His love,
When sorrows increase, be not dismayed, All must be fulfilled before that day,
The man of sin we will surely see, The sun and moon darkened and we shall be free,
The Lord will come with ten thousands of saints, He'll judge the earth for His righteous name's sake,
Through tribulation, though we must come, There's not can separate us from His love,
We must trust in Him, though times seem dire, These trials purify us with refining fire,
When He's come to pass, redemption is nigh, He'll catch us away in the blink of an eye,
The Lord will come with ten thousands of saints, He'll judge the earth for His righteous name's sake,
Through tribulation, though we must come, There's not can separate us from His love,
1 Samuel 8 And it came to pass, when Samuel was old,
that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Yoel,
and the name of his second, Abia, they were judges in Beersheba.
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after Lucre, and took bribes and perverted judgment.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
and said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways.
Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel,
when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee,
for they have not rejected thee, but have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt,
even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
Now therefore, hearken unto their voice, howbeit, yet protest solemnly unto them,
and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you.
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen,
and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands,
and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest,
and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your olive yards, even the best of them,
and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed,
and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men,
and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep, and ye shall be his servants,
and ye shall cry out in that day because of your king, which ye shall have chosen you.
And the Lord will not hear you in that day.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.
And they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us,
that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us,
and go out before us, and fight our battles.
And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said to Samuel, Harken unto their voice, and make them a king.
And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye, every man, unto his city.
1 Samuel 8, the title of my sermon tonight is, Being Like All the Nations.
Being like all the nations. Look what it says in verse number 5 there.
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways.
Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
Look at verse 19.
Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.
And they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations,
and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
The idea that I want to preach on tonight is the idea of Christian young people,
people growing up in a Christian home, or even just Christians who've been saved for a while,
desiring to fit in with this world and be like everybody else.
You know, hey, we just want to be like everybody else.
We want to be like all the nations.
We want to be like the Gentiles.
We want to be like non-Christians.
I'm here to tell you tonight that God has called us to be different, and to be a peculiar people,
not to just be like everybody else.
Go, if you would, to Exodus chapter 19.
Exodus chapter 19.
We're independent, fundamental Baptists.
And often when you talk about being an independent, fundamental,
sometimes a lot of other adjectives get thrown in there, you know, independent, fundamental, soul winning,
King James only, separated, sometimes you'll hear Baptists.
And what that means is the idea that we believe in coming out from among them and being separate,
sayeth the Lord, and not touching the unclean thing.
You cannot expect to be a zealous, dedicated Christian and be accepted by the world at the same time,
and be buddy, buddy with the world.
The Bible says, whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
If that's your desire to just fit in with the world, be like the world,
buddy, buddy with the world, accepted of this world,
if that's what's in your heart right now, you're setting yourself up at enmity against God.
You're not on God's team at that point.
You have to decide, I'm not just going to desire to be rich, as the Bible says,
and I'm also not going to desire to be loved by this world,
because if so, you're going to be at enmity with God, especially as a preacher.
You know, what if I decided I want to be accepted of this world?
I want the world to like me.
I want the city of Tempe to like me.
Would I be preaching faithfully God's word if that was in my heart?
No, if that was in my heart at all, it would very much affect the way that I preach,
because I cannot be faithful to God's word and be loved by the world at the same time.
The Bible says, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.
But I want to speak especially to our young people.
I don't even know why you would want to desire to be like the people of this world anyway,
because the people of this world are in many cases a failure.
In general, the world system is a failure.
It's not going to bring you the joy and happiness that you crave in life,
and there's no point in being accepted by this world,
because without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better.
I'm not looking for this world's blessing, because I don't think that this world is better than me.
I don't think this world is better than the Lord.
I don't think this world is better than Christianity.
And so I'm not looking for them to approve me or accredit me or validate me,
because of the fact that I actually serve the Lord Jesus Christ, which puts me on a higher level. Sorry.
But the Bible says in Exodus 19, verse 4, you've seen what I did unto the Egyptians.
Why do you want to be like them?
The Egyptians lose in the end, and God's people win.
You've seen what I did unto the Egyptians and how I buried you on eagle's wings and brought you unto myself.
Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant,
then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people.
So being a peculiar people, you know, it's not just being different.
The Bible says you're above.
Being a peculiar people puts you above other people.
I'm not saying this to puff you up with pride, because none of it's through our own goodness.
It's all through the grace of God that we are Christians.
But I'm not going to go kowtow to this world today when God has made me part of a nation that is above this world.
Why would I go down and say, oh, would you please give me your approval?
Can I please fit in with you?
Can I please hang out with you?
I don't want to be like all the nations.
I want to be part of that peculiar nation.
I don't want to downgrade to just being like every other nation.
People who think that being like every other nation is an upgrade are worldly people that aren't being spiritually minded according to this book
and realizing that God's way of life is a better way of life.
You think I'm embarrassed about my family's way of life in front of worldly people?
No, I actually think that the way that God has taught us to live our lives is a better way to live our lives.
So I'm not like embarrassed like, oh, yeah, you know, yeah, you know, I've just been married to the same person for 20 years, you know, 11 kids.
I know it's so embarrassing.
No, you know what? People ought to be embarrassed when they're on their fifth spouse.
That's embarrassing.
Okay?
Having bastard children all over the place is embarrassing.
Why would I be embarrassed but yet Christian young people, they grow up and sometimes they're embarrassed of who they are
and they want to try to fit in with the world and try to get as worldly as they can.
Folks, what's the point? Why don't you just be who you are?
A Bible believing Christian and dress that way, walk that way, talk that way, act that way,
and not be ashamed of Christ or of His word in this evil and adulterous generation.
Trying to please this evil and adulterous generation, trying to please the Lord.
And you know the community that I want to fit in with is this community right here.
Bible believing Christianity, God's people, the local church, and others that are of like faith.
The Bible says in verse 5,
Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and deed and keep my covenant,
then you shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine.
Notice the above there.
It's a privilege. It's a blessing to be one of God's people.
Why would you want to be like all the nations?
Look at verse 6.
And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and an holy nation.
These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Go, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter 14.
Now you say, well, Pastor Anderson, you know, you're in the Old Testament.
You're talking about Israel. That has nothing to do with us.
Well, no, because the Bible teaches that in the New Testament this applies to us,
because in 1 Peter 2, 9, it says,
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.
He's quoting from Exodus 19, and now he's applying it to Christians, saying,
Now you're the nation now.
And he says that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you
out of darkness into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
but now are the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lust,
which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles,
that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
You see, even if people speak against you as an evildoer,
all these darn Christians, and can you believe these right-wing, fundamentalist, conservative, Christian,
you know, in the long run, they're going to glorify God on your behalf.
That's what the Bible says, that they'll see your good works,
and they're going to glorify God in the day of visitation.
And in the end, in the long run, they're going to realize, hey, you know, this is what's right.
This is good.
And so the Bible says, in time past, we were not a people. Why?
Because, you know, if you look around the auditorium, you're going to see people that are red, yellow, black, and white.
So it's not like, oh yeah, we've always been a nation here. We've always been an ethnicity here.
No, in the New Testament, we form a new nation that's made of people of all ethnicities come together because we're in Christ.
That's what is the common ground, not a skin color and ethnicity or anything like that.
And so in the New Testament, we are the chosen people, so we can look back at things in Exodus and Deuteronomy,
where God's explaining to them what it means to be a peculiar people,
and we can apply that to ourselves, because in the New Testament, He says, you're that chosen generation now.
You're that royal priesthood. You're that peculiar people.
And so we want to apply it in that way. Now look at Deuteronomy chapter 14, verse 1.
Ye are the children of the Lord your God. Let me ask you this. Does that apply to us as Christians in the New Testament?
All day long. We are the children of the Lord our God.
And so because we are the children of the Lord our God, then we should not cut ourselves, right?
What does it say? You should not cut yourselves, nor make any baldness between your eyes for the dead,
for thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God.
And the Lord hath chosen thee to be a peculiar people unto himself above all the nations that are upon the earth.
Why do you want to downgrade? Don't you want to be above all the nations that are on the earth?
Don't you want to be the peculiar people, the royal priests? No, no, no. Let's pattern ourselves after the other.
No. Why would we pattern ourselves after the other nations? We ought to be different.
Peculiar means different, unique, special. And he says because of this, don't do these pagan things.
Cutting yourself, carving weird shapes in your eyebrows, or whatever.
And by the way, don't be tattooing your body. The Bible says thou shalt not print any marks upon thy body,
nor make any cuttings in thy flesh for the dead. I am the Lord.
We're supposed to be clean. We're supposed to be different. We're supposed to be righteous.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 26. Deuteronomy 26 verse 16.
Deuteronomy 26, while you're getting there, I'll start reading in verse 16.
This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these statutes and judgments.
Thou shalt therefore keep and do them with all thine heart and with all thy soul.
Thou has to vouch the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in his ways, and to keep his statutes,
and his commandments, and his judgments, and to hearken unto his voice.
And the Lord hath vouch thee this day to be his peculiar people, as he hath promised thee,
and that thou shouldst keep all his commandments, and to make thee high above all nations,
which he hath made in praise, and in name, and in honor,
and that thou mayest be in holy people unto the Lord thy God as he hath spoken.
You know, I've noticed an interesting paradox among teenagers. Here's the paradox.
On one hand, teenagers desire to make a name for themselves, or find out who they are,
or be different, stand out from the crowd. Isn't that the truth?
But then on the other hand, teenagers also just have this desire to fit in, and be liked, and appreciated,
and accepted by everyone. Isn't that a bit of a paradox?
On the one hand, they want to stand out and be their own man, their own woman,
but then at the same time, they also want to just be accepted in the crowd.
And so they constantly give in to peer pressure, follow the crowd,
just do whatever it takes to fit in, be liked, be accepted.
And the irony of this is that, you know, in order to be different,
they'll do things like dye their hair, all kinds of crazy colors,
get all kinds of strange piercings, dress in strange clothing,
and they're doing this to be different.
But the irony is that everybody's doing stuff like that,
so by doing stuff like that, you're really not being different at all,
because everybody's out to get a tattoo, everybody's putting their hair a funny color,
everybody's getting a strange piercing or whatever.
Then at that point, you know, you're not really standing out anymore,
and I'm here to tell you, you know, that's not what it means to be a peculiar people on the side of God.
Cutting markings into yourself, printing marks on your body,
getting strange haircuts, you know, carving the corners of your head,
and marring the corners of your beard, and making cuttings in your eyebrows or whatever.
You know, this is not what God wants us to do, to stand out.
Let me tell you how to stand out in 2020.
Be a godly Christian, and you're going to stand out,
because that's not what the crowd is doing.
You know, you want to be a rebel, you want to be counter-cultural,
you want to get out of the mainstream, you want to be alternative, progressive,
you know, be a Bible-believing Christian,
and that's the biggest act of rebellion that you could do in 2020 against this world that we live in.
And so he says here that being a peculiar people involves keeping his commandments.
It involves keeping his statutes.
You know, that's what it means to be the peculiar people,
because most people out there are not living their lives by the word of God.
If you live your life by the word of God, you're going to be different.
I don't want to be like all the nations.
You shouldn't want to be like all the nations.
Let's be different.
And as a teenager or whatever, maybe you have these two kind of conflicting desires.
The one to stand out and be different.
The one to be accepted and loved and part of a group.
Well, here's how you solve this, my friend.
Here's how you stand out and be different.
You be a zealous, Bible-believing, Bible-toting Christian.
And here's how you be accepted.
You're accepted right here in the local church and in every other Bible-believing church.
You're accepted in Christianity.
You know, you think we're the only church in the world,
but let alone our church.
What about all the other millions of Christians out there?
You know, the world wants to brainwash you to think that everybody's off the deep end.
Everybody's crazy.
Everybody's an atheist.
Everybody is for all the perversion that's out there.
Folks, no, there are always 7,000 men that haven't bowed the knee to Baal.
And in the U.S.'s case, it's probably more like 7 million men.
I mean, there's a lot of people out there.
There's a lot of people out there.
And in the U.S.'s case, it's probably more like 7 million men.
You know, the size of our country.
There's probably 7 million men that haven't bowed the knee to Baal.
And so there's your group.
There's your team.
There's the club.
You know, why would I want to be a part of some other club?
The best club to be a part of is called Christianity.
It's called the local church.
It's called being a Baptist.
Now, if you would, flip over in your Bible to Titus chapter 2.
Titus chapter 2.
You know, the Bible says that God wants us to walk in His ways, keep His statutes, keep His commandments.
That's what's going to make us a peculiar people unto Him.
Look at Titus chapter 2, verse number 13.
He's looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
These things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority.
Let no man despise thee.
Why would we be on the defense as Christians?
Why would we be on the defense worried about people despising us and, you know, I'm just worried that people are going to look down on me?
Let me tell you something, ladies.
When you're out there, and I'm especially talking to young people tonight, when you're out there wearing skirts and dresses while they're wearing pants and short shorts, let me tell you something.
They don't despise you.
They're not looking down on you for dressing modestly and dressing like a lady.
Because you know what?
You look classier.
You are doing something that is godlier.
There's nothing to be embarrassed.
Oh, I'm so ashamed to be out wearing a skirt.
No.
You ought to be ashamed to be out there half naked.
Why would we be on the defensive like, oh, man, my parents make me dress this way?
Well, you know what?
Thank God your parents respect you even if you don't respect yourself.
Even if you don't respect yourself and you're willing to just put your body on display and get half naked.
Thank God your parents respect you enough to cover your body with clothing.
Thank God your parents respect your femininity enough to want you to dress feminine even if you don't.
Even if you're trying to be a man trapped in a woman's body or whatever you're trying to do.
Thank God for parents who are glad that they had a girl.
They're not like in communist China wishing it's a boy.
Because of some kind of one child policy, hey, when we have a girl, we're happy to have a girl.
We don't say, oh, I wish it was a boy.
Hey, we have a boy, we praise God.
We have a girl, we praise God.
There's no preference.
We don't wish that we had more boys or more girls.
Hey, whatever God gives is a blessing.
But you know what?
We do want our boys to be boys and we want our girls to be girls.
That's all we want.
I don't care if I have ten girls in a row, but they better all be girls.
They better all act like girls.
And I'll have ten boys in a row if they'll all act like boys.
So quit trying to be something that you're not.
And let me tell you something, you're not a heathen.
You're not a gentile.
You're not unsaved.
You're a Christian.
Act like one.
Own it.
Be what you are.
Try to be something that you're not.
Hey, you try to fit in with the worldly people.
It's a fool's errand because you're never going to fit in with the worldly people.
So why don't you just be who you are.
You are a Christian.
Own it.
Be it.
Do it.
Don't try to be half in and half out.
Just own it.
Just, that's how you are.
That's how you act.
These are your rules that you live by.
This is how you dress.
You know, it's nothing to be ashamed of.
It's something to be proud of.
Okay?
Let him that gloria the glory in the Lord.
You know, everybody's got their pride, don't they?
Queer pride, white power, you know, black pride, Hispanic pride, Asian pride, right?
Isn't that what kind of things that people in this world are proud of?
Proud to be an American.
But the Bible says, him the glory, let him glory in the Lord.
There's really only one thing to be proud of.
It's that I'm in Christ.
That's really the only thing that I'm going to glory in is I am a Christian.
Christian power.
You know, that's all that matters.
Because being white is meaningless.
Being black is meaningless.
Being Latino is meaningless.
Being an Asian is meaningless.
None of that has any value in the eyes of God, spiritually speaking.
And you know what?
Being an American, sorry, is meaningless.
Okay?
You didn't get to choose.
You weren't some soul floating around up in heaven like,
I get to be born in America because I really excelled up here, you know, in the pre-life.
Listen to me.
You know what?
Before that egg from my mother and seed from my father came together, I didn't exist.
My soul didn't exist.
My spirit didn't exist.
I did not exist.
There's no pre-life.
There's an afterlife.
There's no before life.
Sorry, Mormons.
That's what they think.
They think we're all a bunch of spirit babies come down from heaven or something.
No.
Folks, I came into existence in my mother's womb.
That's where I began to exist.
Okay?
So, and here's the how.
Why?
Did I win some lottery to get to be born in America?
No.
You know what?
It is.
It really is a lottery because it wasn't based on any achievements or merits that I did,
like, I'm an American because I earned it.
Who was born in America?
Put up your hand.
Okay.
You earned nothing.
We did.
We started at the top.
We started in the best country.
We started with the navy blue passport.
We're there.
Okay.
Why would you be proud of that?
You didn't achieve that.
I didn't achieve that.
Hey, the only thing I'm proud of was what Christ achieved for me on the cross.
I'm proud of his work, his effort, his kingdom.
I'll fly his flag.
He's the one that I represent.
And so I'm not ashamed of that.
Why would I be ashamed of Christ in this evil and adulterous generation?
I'm not going to.
And so I don't apologize for who I am.
You know, and I personally am probably more infamous than you are.
And yet I'm not ashamed of who I am.
I don't go around apologizing to people for who I am.
Yeah, I'm sorry.
I'm Pastor Anderson.
I know.
You've probably seen my videos.
Oh, man, did you Google me?
I'm not ashamed of who I am.
You know, that's who I am.
If you don't like it, fine, because guess what?
There are plenty of people who do like it.
And the Lord likes it.
And that's all that matters.
You know, and who's my tribe?
Who's my posse?
You know, who are my friends?
Who's my community?
Who do I fit in with?
God's people.
Not just here, but all over the world.
And so I've got plenty of friends.
And so do you.
If you're a Bible-believing Christian, you've got all kinds of friends.
You've got a bunch of friends here, everywhere.
You know, you ever go visit another church in another city or even another country and
just have instant camaraderie with people that you met five minutes ago?
That's a pretty cool club to be a part of.
I mean, think about how hard it is typically to build a rapport with people that you don't
know.
You know, you get together with people you don't know.
And, you know, it takes a while to kind of melt the ice with new friends, new people,
right?
But here's the thing.
When you travel to distant lands and run into fellow Christians, it's like you just have
instant brotherhood, instant camaraderie, and you can literally be talking to those
people sometimes after 10, 15 minutes like you've known them your whole life.
You're just – it's like you're just buddies.
And I'm sure many of you have experienced that.
I've experienced that many times.
So, you know, you're longing to be a part of a community.
Look, folks, you know, seek out Christian friends and Christian brotherhood and don't
try to be accepted of this world.
And, look, I'm all for being friendly with the people of this world.
I'm all for being acquaintances with the people of this world.
And, look, that's many times how we reach the people of this world and get them saved.
You know, we reach out to them in friendship and love and so forth.
But here's the thing.
It's not us changing and pretending to be something that we're not so that they'll
accept us.
You know, look, we reach out to them as a Christian.
We make no apology for being – and, look, I have unsaved friends, but I reach out to
them as a Christian.
I don't try to pretend I'm not or show – hey, let me show you how worldly I can
be, you know, just so you can see that I'm not that different.
No, sorry, I am that different.
You know, we're Christians.
It is what it is.
And I'm not talking about being prideful or arrogant, but I'm just talking about
being who you are, being real, and not trying to pretend to be worldly, pretending to be
more sinful than you are so that the world will like you.
Okay?
The world's not – here's the thing.
The kind of people who you have to do that for them to like you, they're not going
to like you anyway once they find out what you're really like.
And the people that are going to accept you for who you are are going to accept you for
who you are and you don't have to pretend to be something that you're not.
And so we need to be a peculiar people and not be like those people in 1 Samuel 8 who
say, well, let us be like all the nations.
We just want to be like the Philistines.
We just want to be like all the public school kids and just fit in with all the kids in
public school.
And look, I went to public school, but you know what, though?
I was different.
I carried my Bible every single day and people knew that I was a Christian.
It was no secret.
This guy's a Bible-believing Christian.
This guy's carrying his Bible.
This guy doesn't drink.
This guy's not going to do drugs.
This guy is not going to cheat in school and do these things because he's a Christian.
And did some people laugh at me for that?
Yeah, but a lot of people respected that, you know?
And let the people who laugh at it, just let them laugh it up.
But there are plenty of people that will respect you for being a Christian.
And even if nobody respected me, I'd rather have God's respect than everybody in the world's
respect combined.
And not only that, when you're a Bible-believing Christian, you don't just have God's respect,
you have God's people's respect.
I'd rather have my parents' respect.
I'd rather have my pastors' respect.
I'd rather have my fellow church members' respect.
I'd rather have my brothers' and sisters' respect than the respect of some stranger
that's not going to matter.
And by the way, I got news for you young people, by the way, teenagers.
The people that you're friends with right now, there's like a 99% chance you're not
going to be friends with them 20 years from now.
You're BFF right now.
Who could testify to that?
I mean, think about those of you that are my age and older.
Those even younger than me.
Those that are 30, 40, 50, 60.
How many of you are friends with anyone from high school?
Who would raise their hand and say, I have no friends from high school.
That's me.
I don't have.
Look around, kids.
I don't have a single friend that's from high school.
My oldest friend is Pastor Roger Jimenez, and I started being friends with him when
I was 20.
I have zero friends from elementary school, junior high, high school.
So you want to just spend all your time trying to impress these people that the chances are,
look around, it's not just me.
You saw all the hands.
Chances are those people aren't even going to be in your life.
You know who's going to be in your life, though?
Your parents.
You know who's going to be in your life?
Your brother and sister.
You know who's going to be in your life?
Hopefully your pastor, if you stay in church, or some pastor.
If it's not me, it'll be some other pastor if you end up geographically in another place,
at another church, or whatever.
You know, Christ is always going to be with you.
So don't get so caught up in just, oh, man, I've got to make sure that the kids at school
like me.
I've got to make sure the kids in the neighborhood like me.
Hey, look, you know, some people are going to like you, and some people aren't, but just
be who you are and focus more on pleasing Christ than pleasing man.
Now go through to John chapter 17.
John chapter 17.
And you know what?
People might laugh at you for being clean cut as a man.
People might laugh at you for being straight laced.
People might laugh at you for abstaining from alcohol.
People might laugh at you for abstaining from drugs.
People might laugh at you for being a virgin and abstaining from that relationship until
you get married.
People might laugh at you as a lady for addressing modestly or wearing a dress.
They might laugh at you as a man, you know, for not getting caught up in every weird style
that comes down the pike.
And they might laugh at you because you don't have any tattoos or piercings or anything
like that.
But let me tell you something, though.
On the inside, they're not laughing.
On the inside, they envy you, and they hate you because they ain't you.
That's why they hate you.
Because I'm telling you, you can put a tattoo on your body any time you want, but you can't
take it off whenever you want.
Right.
You can lose your virginity any time you want, but you can't get it back any time you want.
You know what I mean?
You can go out and get drunk and get in a car accident any time you want, but you can't
undo the drunk driving accidents any time you want.
You can go get a DUI whenever you want, but you can't get the DUI off your record whenever
you want.
You can go father a kid out of that wedlock any time you want, but you can't undo it
any time you want.
Look at John chapter 17 verse 14.
I've given them my word, and the world hath hated them because they are not of the world
even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep
them from the evil.
So God does not want us to exit this world.
He doesn't want us to be taken out of the world.
He just wants us to be kept from the evil.
Okay.
So look, I don't believe in withdrawing from society.
That's why we're right here in the middle of Tempe, Arizona.
One of the biggest cities in America here is Phoenix, Arizona, and it's growing fast.
I heard somebody say that there are like 100,000 people moving here every year, and it's just
increasing and ramping up.
I mean, since I've lived here, almost a million people have been added to this county in the
last 15 years.
I mean, this is a big metropolis in the greater Phoenix area.
Don't quote me on this, but I want to say, what is it like 4.6 million people I want
to say in this county, Maricopa County or in this greater Phoenix area, something like
that, but it's an incredible amount of people.
It's a great big city.
We're right in the heart of a giant big city.
We've got giant university 10 minutes from here, downtown 10 minutes from here, downtown
Phoenix, downtown Tempe.
We're in this great metropolis.
Look, we're not exiting this world living on some plantation or reservation or some kind
of a commune or compound somewhere, right?
And look, we interact with this world.
We interact with our neighbors.
We interact with our coworkers.
We interact at school or wherever else we find ourselves.
You know, we are in this world.
I don't believe God wants us to go hide somewhere and be a monk in a monastery.
I think he wants us to interact with this world.
You know, we go to the stores, we go to the restaurants, we talk to the people, we go
to the events.
We're in this world, but we are not of this world.
We're not of this world.
He wants us to be here.
He wants us to be in the group, but he wants us to stand out and be a shining light.
A shining light for the gospel where people would look at us and see our good works and
glorify our Father which is in heaven.
And he says, look, do men light a candle and put it under a bushel?
Is that what they do?
Like, all right, everybody, the power just went out.
Here, let's go ahead and light a candle.
All right, now let's put a bushel over it.
Now, a bushel is like a basket, right?
Some kind of a container.
So, imagine like, all right, we just lit a candle.
We just lit a light.
Now, let's just cover it up with a basket.
Let's just put something over it.
That'd be stupid and meaningless because why are you wasting fuel?
Why are you burning a candle if you're not going to let the light shine?
If you're going to block the light, it's not going to do anything.
So, he says, no, when you light a candle, you put it on a candlestick, right?
What is the point of a candlestick?
The point of a candlestick is to elevate the candle higher because if you can get it higher,
then it can shine the light.
Does everybody understand?
If we put it down really low, it's not going to illuminate the room as well.
That's why lights are typically on the ceiling or they'll be on some kind of a lamp stand.
You know, like you go to Ikea and get those lamps that are like that.
They're like eight bucks or something, right?
And so, we've lit with those many times.
And those kind of lights, they're elevating the light.
They're shining the light up high so that it gives light unto all that are in the house.
And so, what God's saying is, you know, don't take the light of the gospel and debase it.
And don't get low with it.
Don't see how low you can go with it because you can go all the way down.
You can't lose your salvation.
You can go as low as you want to go.
But you know what?
I want to give light unto all that are in the house and so I'm going to put it on a candlestick.
I want to elevate it.
I want to get it up high above obstacles, you know, because if it's down low, it might be blocked.
The light can't shine as well.
Get it up high where there's no furniture, where there's no obstacles, where it can just kind of shine freely through the house.
God is saying, don't hide your good works.
Don't hide your good deeds.
Don't hide your Christianity.
Don't hide your testimony.
You know, let it shine.
You don't light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.
Let your light so shine that they may see your good works and glorify your Father with seven.
The Bible says a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.
We're to be a city on a hill, not down in a valley where nobody can find us.
We're to be up on a mountaintop, the shining city on a hill that everybody sees and glorifies God.
It's funny that that became a slogan for America and it became a political slogan.
I think it was Ronald Reagan or Republicans or something.
You know, they're borrowing that.
But let me say this though, you know, that's supposed to be about the Bible.
It's supposed to be about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
America is not the city on a hill.
I'm the city on a hill.
You're the city on a hill.
Every man, woman, boy and girl who believes on Christ is supposed to be that city on a hill.
If you don't have Christ, you're not the city on a hill because you're not even the city.
You're in darkness.
OK, we need to be in this world, but not of this world.
We're to be in this world, but we need to be kept from the evil, right?
We want to abstain from some of the things that this world indulges in.
So yeah, you're around people that are worldly, unsaved people, great.
But be sure that you don't just partake with them in all the ungodliness.
Be sure that you don't just feel like, well, I just have to laugh at the dirty jokes so as not to offend them.
No, you don't.
You can politely, kindly say, hey, I don't appreciate those kind of jokes or just get up and walk away.
But you know, you don't just sit there and courtesy laugh for a filthy joke or a blasphemous joke.
You know, you need to be different and not indulge in the alcohol, the drugs, the fornication, the dirty talk, whatever.
You need to be different.
The Bible says in verse 16, they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth.
So it's God's word that sets us apart.
Sanctify means to set apart, to make it holy.
Sanctify them through thy truth so that they can be set apart, so they can be different.
That although they're mixed in with the world, they stand out as being different in a good way.
More honest, more reliable, more trustworthy.
And by the way, we should be kinder than the people in this world.
You know, by this all men know that you're my disciples.
The love that you have one another will show them that.
Because look, people out there, especially young people, especially teenagers, they're total jerks to each other.
Think about how teenagers treat each other.
You know what? That ought not be you.
If you're a Christian teenager, you should never be making fun of, you know, the nerdy kid or whatever and picking on people.
And making people feel bad.
You know, you ought to be the kindest, most loving, most generous, honest, right?
You know, we ought to be the good example today.
A good example.
Sanctified, different.
You know, I love what Jesus, one of my favorite parts of the book of John is when Jesus said, you know, you're from beneath.
He says, I'm from above, you're from beneath.
You're of this world, I'm not of this world.
And then you fast forward several chapters and here he says, they're not of the world, even as I'm not of the world.
Verse 18, as thou has sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
And again, sanctified just means set apart, different, holy, set apart.
And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.
The reason that we're in the world is to reach people, right?
Because he said, look, I don't want them out of the world.
I just want them kept from the evil.
And I'm not just praying for them, but I'm going to be praying for the people who believe through their word.
So the reason why we're in this world, the reason why we're sanctified is so that we can reach people.
You know, that's why Jesus says a couple chapters after this in chapter 20, as the father had sent me, so send I you.
Well, why was Jesus sent into the world?
Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
Am I right?
He came into the world to save sinners.
Well, guess what?
We're sent into the world to do, to save sinners.
You know, Jesus Christ said, I came to seek and to save that which was lost.
What's our job?
Seek and destroy?
No, it's seek and save that which was lost.
The same mission Jesus had in that sense is the same mission that we have to seek and to save the lost.
And you're not going to win the lost by indulging in all their sins with them.
That's them reaching you.
You know, you can go out in this world and be reached by the world.
Now, thank God you're still saved.
They can never take that away from you, but they can reach you to their way of life.
They can evangelize you the gospel of hip hop.
They can evangelize you with the gospel of the love of money.
They can evangelize you with the gospel of fame and popularity and fornication and whatever.
And these are all things that a Christian could get sucked into.
No, you're not going to lose your salvation.
You're not going to stop believing in Jesus.
But is it possible for a Christian to get sucked into the world of gambling?
Is it possible for a Christian to get sucked in to the world of hip hop?
Is it possible for a Christian to get sucked into premarital whatever?
Yeah, all day long.
And so let him that think of these standards take heed lest he fall.
You've got to be careful that you're reaching them and that they're not reaching you.
And by the way, quoting a token Bible verse every six months,
or making a little reference to Jesus every once in a while, or God, or a quick look.
Hey, that's not going to cut it.
You know what you need to do?
You need to open the Bible and show people the Romans road is what you need to do.
You know what we do out soul winning every week?
That's what you need to do with your unsaved friends.
Now, obviously there's a time and a place that's appropriate,
but you know what?
At jobs that I've worked at, obviously there are, you know,
a lot of times when you just need to shut up and do your work and go with the flow
because you're on the clock.
But let me tell you something.
At jobs that I've worked, I've had a lot of good opportunities to give the gospel to people.
When you're alone with them, there are opportunities in the work truck
where you're on that long drive out to the job site,
and you can present the gospel to them.
You know, it's not enough to just always be planting the seed.
You know, I'm glad you plant the seed, but you know what?
Planting the seed, planting the seed, planting the seed.
You know, every once in a while you've got to reap that harvest
and not just be a full time seed planter.
You know, I don't know of any farmer on this planet who's just, I just plant.
That's all I do.
You know, most farmers are more interested in the harvest.
They plant the seed because what they're really into is the harvest.
And you know, I'm into planting the seed too.
I'm all for planting as many seeds as we can.
But you know what I'm really into?
The harvest.
You know what I'm really into?
Actually seeing people get saved.
And you know, why not take what you're learning out there door to door,
soul winning, and take aside some of your friends and loved ones
and win them to Christ.
And I'll tell you this, you know, I always had a burning desire
to get people saved when I was a young person
and especially when I was in public school and around unsaved relatives.
But I was very bad at it.
And I continually failed at it.
You know, I would try to talk to relatives.
I would talk to friends.
And I didn't know what I was doing.
And I did a bad job.
And I did it poorly.
I didn't use the Bible.
I just didn't know what I was doing.
Then I got into a church like ours
where I was taught how to win people to the Lord door to door.
And I showed up to teenage soul winning on Wednesdays
and adult soul winning on Saturdays.
And I would show up soul winning.
And I learned how to go soul winning.
And then you know what I did?
I took what I learned at the door.
And then I took that to family.
And I took that to coworkers.
And I took that to friends.
The skills that I learned out there knocking doors,
you know, I used that.
And then I started having success.
And I was able to win some relatives to the Lord,
win some coworkers to the Lord.
And the great thing about winning a coworker to the Lord
is that often you can disciple that person
and help that person grow
because you have a continued relationship with that person.
But you know, and like I said,
you obviously have to be wise about when it's appropriate,
when the time is right.
But let me tell you something.
You know, there are opportunities out there
to win people to Christ at your job
and at school
and in other situations in the neighborhood.
You know, love people
and care about them enough to give them the gospel.
And you say, well, I don't know how,
I just don't know how to witness to people.
Well, do you go soul winning?
Because that's where you learn.
And you say, well, yeah, I go soul winning all the time,
but I just don't really know how to witness to people
in my personal life.
Here's the best tip I could ever give you
on how to win people to the Lord in your personal life.
Do it as much like you do it at the door as possible.
Because the tendency is
that when we're with someone that we know,
when we're with a friend,
sometimes we just kind of do it like this dialogue.
Next thing you know, we're talking about ancient aliens
and, you know, we're talking about the book of Enoch
and, you know, all kinds of crazy stuff.
You know, what you got to try to do
is try to have a conversation like you have at the door
where you're preaching to them and you keep it on point
and you just ask them to just give you some time
to explain it and stay on topic
and try to get them to let you go through the whole deal,
you know, the whole thing, the whole gospel,
get through the whole Romans road and explain the gospel.
Because that was the mistake I was making, too,
is, you know, I'd have a two-hour conversation with somebody
and we all walked away confused.
And then I'd be at school.
I remember being at school giving the gospel to one person.
Then somebody else walks up and starts bringing it up
and then some Mormon walks up, you know.
It just got so all over the place.
It got so convoluted that I walked away saying,
man, I don't even know if I accomplished much at all,
if anything, whereas if you can just get somebody
to just kind of chill out and just hear you out,
you know, and you can be polite about this,
but, you know, what I'll do sometimes,
I'll start explaining somebody the gospel and say,
hey, you know, if they want to get off on everything,
I'll just say, hey, you know, that's a good question.
I'd love to get back to that,
but I want to just present this one thing, you know,
let me just explain this one thought to you.
It's going to take me like five or ten minutes.
I'm going to get this across to you,
and then if you still have a question,
and then you just pray that that question never comes back.
You know what I'm saying, though?
It's the same thing I do when I'm at the door.
If I'm at the door and somebody jumps in and says,
like, I have a question, you know,
are we experiencing the end of the world right now
with coronavirus?
Is this the tribulation?
You know, I'm like, hey, hold that thought, all right,
and I'll say to them, you know, hey,
I'll be glad to answer your questions at the end,
but is it all right?
Let me just, I don't,
and sometimes I just say it like this to be humble.
I just say, like, hey,
I don't want to lose my train of thought,
and I really want to explain this one thing to you,
so let me just get this across to you.
Then we can talk whatever you want,
and, you know, once I start applying those skills
that I got out there,
and look, we've got a whole soul-winning seminar DVD series
that we did that's free back there on the shelf.
Just grab one and take it and listen to it.
Brother Jimenez did a phenomenal soul-winning training series.
It's like a three-hour deal,
and that's another great resource for you.
You know, obviously there's no substitute
for just getting out there and doing it,
and you take those skills.
You can win some people to the Lord
in your personal life, friends, loved ones,
and, you know, I love hearing from church members
and friends of mine that they got a relative saved.
You know, that's always a cool thing, right,
or getting a coworker saved.
It's great, but you know what?
It's not because, hey, I had a beer with my coworker,
and I got him saved.
You know, the people that are having success
winning their loved ones and friends
and coworkers to the Lord,
you know, are the people that are sanctified,
the people that are living a godly life,
and none of us is perfect.
We're all sinners.
Look, I'm not trying to say
that I'm just so holy and so sanctified,
but you know what?
Just by virtue of being in Christ,
I am part of that holy nation, and so are you.
I am above all nations of the earth, and so are you.
Okay, we are part of that group
because we're in Christ.
It's by grace.
It's not because I deserve it or earned it,
but it's by grace through faith, and so are you,
and the way that we're going to reach people
is by being real as Christians,
and God said we're going to reach more people
by good works and letting our light shine,
not by, you know, debasing ourself and saying,
all right, let me just get down here
and have a beer with you
and let me just get down here and just tell dirty jokes.
Let's just see how low we can go.
No, because the light needs to be higher
to reach more people.
The higher the light goes,
the higher our standard of Christian living,
as long as we don't become,
the mistake that some people make,
they go so high they go through the roof,
and they're not even in the house anymore.
You know, some people are so heavenly minded
that they're no earthly good
where now they're so holy
that they can't even live in Phoenix anymore
because Phoenix is too evil.
We have to go, you know, live out in the wilderness
and just flog ourselves all day or something.
You know, I'm just going to go.
All I do is just read my Bible for five hours,
pray for five hours, flog myself.
I mean, it's like, no, folks.
We want to be in the world.
We want to live normal lives,
but we want to be peculiar and different
so that we can shine the light
and reach the people around us
so that they can see the difference.
We want to demonstrate a difference.
We want to reach people
by showing them the love of Christ.
Go, if you would, to Matthew chapter 6.
The last place we'll turn is Matthew chapter 6.
I want my lifestyle to be different
than the lifestyle of this world.
In many cases, our clothing is going to be different.
And look, I believe in dressing with the styles of the day
as long as they're not weird and sinful.
I'm not saying we should dress like some other bygone era.
I'm all for wearing today's clothes
as long as they don't involve sagging my pants
and showing my underwear.
As long as they don't involve me
wearing skin-tight clothing.
As long as they don't involve me
wearing effeminate, sissy clothing,
I'm fine with wearing today's fashions.
Amen?
And you know, you ladies,
hey, wear today's fashions.
I'm not telling you to dress
like Little House on the Prairie.
Hey, why don't you wear the most
up-to-the-minute 2021 fashion?
But why don't you just make sure
that it covers your nakedness
and why don't you make sure that it's feminine?
And you know what?
Look, I could take you to the most worldly department store
and I could find you clothing
that's acceptable for a Christian lady there.
Easily.
I could take you...
Well, okay, maybe not the most worldly.
But anyway, I could take you to any basic department store
and find righteous clothing all day long.
I could find you some righteous threads, okay?
If you're a man, woman, I don't care.
You can find the right clothes out there.
But then there's the other section, okay?
And I'm not telling you to dress weird.
I'm just saying why don't we dress
with some class and dignity and modesty?
Why don't men dress like men and women dress like women
and just cover up our crack?
That's all I'm saying.
Is that so hard?
And that's what God expects us to do.
And by the way, when it comes to being in the world
but not out of the world,
one of the most worldly things out there
is our consumeristic culture
that's just all about name brands, fancy clothes,
fancy cars, how much money you have,
how expensive things are.
Folks, that should not be us.
We should not buy into that philosophy.
How much of money is the root of all evil?
That's what the Bible says.
Look what the Bible says in Matthew chapter 6 verse 7.
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
Be not ye therefore like unto them.
And the only reason I'm reading that is just to show you,
don't be like the heathen.
Don't be like the worldly people.
Now jump down to what I really want to show you in verse 31.
Wherefore take no thought saying,
what shall we eat or what shall we drink
or wherewithal shall we be clothed?
Watch this.
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father knoweth
that you have need of all these things
but seek ye first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow
for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
Worldly people are out seeking what?
Food and drink and clothes, right?
They would love nothing more than to eat fancy meals,
spend a fortune on crazy meals that are just way overpriced
and clothing that's way overpriced, way too expensive.
What do they want?
They want to lay up treasure for the future as well
and they want to have some massive retirement fund.
They want to have the gigantic 401K.
They want to have the stock portfolio.
They want to have all the money laid up,
fancy clothes in the closet
and they want to go out to dinner at fancy places all the time.
This is success unto them, right?
I mean driving a fancy car, living in a fancy house.
Hey, that's not what it means to be a peculiar people
because if that's what your life is about,
you're just like the heathen.
That's what the Gentiles seek after
but we are the spiritual Israel of God
and we are the peculiar people.
We are the chosen people
and so we ought not buy into this materialistic consumeristic.
And you know, children are especially susceptible to this.
I was once a kid too and you know what?
My mom bought me Levi's?
No, Wranglers or not even Wrangler
because that was probably too name brand.
It's probably like Rustler, you know?
They try to have something that sounds kind of like it
and my shoes were ProWings.
Not Reebok, not Nike, not necessarily Converse or Adidas.
It was ProWings which was the store brand of Payless Shoe Source, okay?
And when I wasn't wearing ProWings, I was wearing XJ900s
and that sounds a lot cooler than it is to you young people today.
It wasn't cool.
I wasn't wearing Air Jordans, okay?
I was wearing off-brand clothing and I remember just when we were kids,
it's like you really wanted to have the Levi's and the Nike's, the Reeboks.
You wanted the Reebok where you could pump it up on the tongue.
Supposedly you're going to be able to jump higher no matter how white you are.
You're going to be able to jump high and play basketball.
Yeah, right.
You think that little pumping your shoe full of air is going to make you jump higher?
Nonsense.
But you know we're kids.
We buy into that.
This was before the light-up shoes.
This was the little psst, psst, psst, and then you'd let it out like psst.
Who knows what I'm talking about?
Kids, they want to have the name brands, the fancy clothes, but you know what?
I try hard to teach my children that that's all vanity and that it's meaningless
and that labels mean nothing, name brands mean nothing.
But you know what?
We have a bunch of overgrown children today.
We have 30-year-old children, 40-year-old children, 50-year-old children,
and when they're not watching superhero movies, they are, you know,
they've got, now it's the Gucci and Louis Vuitton.
And what are the name brands?
Somebody help me out.
I need help.
Dooney and Burke.
Hugo Boss.
What?
Coach.
Coach?
I thought that's the opposite of first class.
What in the world?
Diesel.
Chanel.
What?
Guess.
Oh, man, that was the 80s.
Is that still around?
Oh, man, I remember in the 80s it was all about the Guess jeans and the Guess skirt
and the Guess jacket, the jean jacket, except you'd put tears in the back of it
so you'd be like Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street with the tears in the back.
Look, folks, it's vain.
When I became a man, I put away childish things.
Hey, you know what?
I want to have durable clothing.
I want to have sensible clothing, durable clothing.
And look, like I said, I'm not telling you to dress poorly.
But you know what?
If you have a problem with used clothing, you have a big problem.
Why are you so snobbish and highfalutin that you can't wear a used garment?
All my clothing is used virtually, you know, unless I get a gift typically.
You know why?
Why?
I'm not too good to wear used clothing because you know what?
Jesus Christ walked on this earth as a humble man and he dressed in humble garb.
And I can do the same thing.
And so don't buy into the snobbery of having to have all the name brands and the fancy jewelry.
You know, the Bible says what you say.
Well, Pastor Anderson, you're just giving your opinion.
Why don't you preach the Bible?
Okay, how about this?
Modest apparel.
Isn't that what the Bible says?
Go look up modest in the dictionary.
In fact, let's look it up in the dictionary right now together, shall we?
Because the Bible says that the women should adorn themselves in modest apparel.
So let me pull up my dictionary app here.
Modest.
Don't show me an ad.
What?
Listen.
Modest.
Number one.
Having or showing a moderate or humble estimate of one's own merits.
Being modest.
You know, like, I would tell you how good I am at basketball, but modesty forbids.
And I'm not good at basketball anyway.
Number two.
Everybody listening?
Free from ostentation or showy extravagance.
So what is modest apparel?
Free from showy extravagance.
Hey, look at me.
Look how expensive this is.
Check out the Rolex.
Check out the Louis Vuitton.
Check out the coach and the Hugo Boss and whatever else.
Tommy Hilfiger or whatever.
Number three is not really applicable.
Number four.
Limited or moderate in amount.
So I think number two is what we're talking here.
Free from showy extravagance.
For example, a modest house.
Modest comes from the same root word as moderate.
Right?
So you're not wearing super expensive clothes.
And that's why the Bible says that they should be dressed in modest apparel, not with gold
or pearls or costly array.
Right?
Gold, silver, pearls, costly array, precious clothes.
What's he saying there?
He's just saying you don't need to have all this really expensive stuff.
He said be adorned with good works.
Be adorned with a meek and quiet spirit.
But I am against fancy clothes for myself or my family.
Because I believe God wants us to wear modest apparel.
So you know what?
If I got a million dollars tomorrow, I wouldn't change the way I dress.
I would not change the way that I dress.
Why would I?
You know, I'd find something to do with that money other than wasting it on showing people,
hey, look at me.
You know, I'm wearing an Armani suit.
And you know what?
There are a lot of preachers that wear Armani suits.
And none of them, unless they got it as a gift, probably even cares about the things
of God at all.
You know, you got preachers that are multimillionaires.
You got Ravi Zacharias owning a bunch of massage parlors on the side where he abuses the workers.
You know?
And it's like, hello?
All of these televangelists are bad.
All of these millionaire preachers are bad.
You know, unless a preacher became a millionaire before he was a preacher, he's bad.
How do you become a millionaire while you're a preacher unless you're bad?
How do you become a millionaire while you're a politician unless you're bad?
How do you make $144,000 a year in Congress, or however much they make $200,000 a year,
whatever, how do you become a multimillionaire in Congress?
Because you're bad.
How do you become a millionaire as a pastor?
Because you're bad.
Now, you can become a millionaire in business and be good.
And you're just really good at business, and you worked hard, and you built a business.
But as a clergy or a politician, you're supposed to be a servant.
And everybody's talking about how, oh, you know, Congress needs to make less money.
They make too much.
Hey, I don't think they make too much.
It's expensive to live in Washington, D.C.
I think they make an appropriate amount.
I looked at all the wages for the president, the Congress, the Senate.
I think all the wages are appropriate.
Can they please just only make that, though, please?
Like, why can't they just be happy with that?
They don't need to make less money.
They need to be content with their wages and just say, hey, this $200,000, that's it for me.
I'm just going to live on that.
But no, they've got to be wined and dined by all the lobbyists and the special interests
and take all the bribes and kickbacks and cutbacks and all these different things.
And then they have to do all the insider trading and all the investments with their insider knowledge
and their thieves and crooks and liars almost to a man.
It's not that they should make less.
It's they should be happy.
And look, I'm four pastors getting paid a decent wage, but you know what they need to do?
They need to take that wage and be happy with that and not say, no, I've got to be a millionaire.
No, I've got to have a big, giant, fancy house.
I've got to drive a fancy car.
I need to wear Louis Vuitton and Armani and stuff like that.
Folks, it's wicked.
The love of money is the root of all evil.
We ought not be worldly like that.
And I'm out of time tonight, but again, the title of the sermon is Being Like All the Nations.
I don't want to be like all the nations.
I want to be like the peculiar nation.
And everybody wants to be part of a group, right?
They're looking for an identity, be part of the team.
Hey, this is my team, Team Jesus, Team Baptist, right?
Team Christianity, Team Bible.
That's my team.
And you say, yeah, but I also want to be different and stand out from the crowd.
Hey, you stand out by living for God.
Why don't you be, you know, you want to make a name for yourself.
Why don't you be known as the soul winner on your campus?
You know, why don't you be known as the faithful husband at your job, the teetotaler on your job, you know, the most honest.
And then when people really want to, they really need help with something, they'll go to you because they'll say, you know, I can trust him.
He's honest.
He's kind.
He loves me.
He's not going to stab me in the back.
In the long run, people are going to respect you for living for God, trying to impress the cool kids in your high school is a fool's errand because you will not even be friends with those people 20 years from now.
Ninety-nine percent chance.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for just elevating us, Lord, because the Christian life truly elevates us.
It truly lifts us to a higher level above all the nations, Lord.
Thank you for elevating us, Lord, and help us not to just debase ourselves when you've given us the opportunity to live on a higher level.
Help us not to debase ourselves just so we can fit in and be like everyone else, Lord.
Help us to be happy with the higher station that you've given us.
And in Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
You're not righteous. You're not righteous.
And if it were our goodness that would get us into heaven, none of us would be going.
Because the Bible even says in Revelation 21, 8, it says,
But the fearful and unbelieving, the abominable and murderers and sorcerers and foremongers and idolaters, and listen to this,
And all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth and fireeth themselves until the second death.
I've lied before. Everybody's lied before.
So we've all sinned and we've done stuff worse than lying, let's face it.
We all deserve help.