And Father, I just pray that you would bless this service this morning through God.
I believe that this is the most important thing that's going on right now in the world
is the house of God, church, Sunday morning,
assembled together with God's people.
There's nothing more important that we should be doing.
This is where we're supposed to be.
We're all right now exactly where God wants us to be.
And I just pray that you would use this sermon to speak to all of our hearts.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Now look down at your Bible in Isaiah chapter 56.
I'm taking the title of my sermon from verse number 10,
but we'll begin reading verse number 9 again just quickly.
All ye beasts of the field come to devour.
Yea, all ye beasts in the forest.
His watchmen, notice that word, his watchmen are blind.
They're all ignorant.
They're all dumb dogs.
They cannot bark.
The title of my sermon this morning is dumb dogs that cannot bark.
It says they're all dumb dogs that cannot bark,
sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough.
And they are shepherds.
Notice that word, shepherds.
Okay, so we've seen watchmen and shepherds.
Shepherds, they cannot understand.
They all look to their own way, everyone for his gain from his quarter.
Come ye, say they out fetch wine and we'll fill ourselves with strong drink
and tomorrow shall be as this day and much more abundant.
Now the watchman that God's talking about here in verse number 10 is a preacher.
That's what he's saying.
He's describing in Isaiah chapter 56 the condition of a nation,
the southern kingdom of Judah who Isaiah is preaching to.
The nation of Judah has become a very wicked place,
become an ungodly place much like we're living in the United States of America
that used to be a godly Christian nation.
As much as any nation can be a godly Christian nation.
Just as Judah was once on the right path with God,
we have gone the same route that Judah has gone away from God.
And God's talking about these watchmen and these shepherds,
what they are as preachers.
In Ezekiel chapter 3 for example, don't turn there,
the Bible says in verse 16,
And it came to pass at the end of seven days,
that the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman.
He says to Ezekiel, he's commissioning him to go preach to the nation of Israel.
He says, I've made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel,
therefore hear the word in my mouth, that's this book right here, the Bible,
and give them warning from me.
He said, Ezekiel, your job as a preacher is to be a watchman
and it's to give people warning from me from the word of God.
Now, look at Isaiah 56 10, it says,
His watchmen are blind, they're all ignorant,
they're all dumb dogs, they can't bark.
That's what we're talking about this morning,
dumb dogs that can't bark.
Now, I just bought a dog recently, of course,
you know I was having all these break-ins and problems,
and so people trying to break in, that is,
after my wife's purse was stolen and so forth.
And so finally, I mean, we beat up the security system,
I mean, we did everything we could, we loaded the artillery,
we loaded up a couple clips for the semi-automatic assault rifle
that's in my bedroom, yes, it's in there right now,
and we did everything we could, but finally we decided,
we have cameras, I mean, we have everything,
we finally decided that a dog would be the best deterrent,
a watchdog, that's what God's talking about here,
a watchdog, a watchman, a preacher,
is supposed to be the spiritual watchdog,
that's what I'm talking about.
Well, can you imagine getting a dog just for the whole purpose?
And I didn't want to get a dog, to be honest with you.
I did not want to, you know, I'm sure the kids love it,
and I think my wife wanted to have a dog,
but I did not want to have a dog.
I got a dog for one reason, to be a watchdog, okay?
Now, can you imagine if I got this dog,
and the dog just would not bark?
I mean, people are, strangers are climbing over the fence,
and the dog's just sitting there,
heh, heh, heh, heh, you know, rolling over on its back.
Hey, the dog, it would be worthless to me.
You say, oh, don't you love the dog?
Look, I'm sure I will grow to love the dog, all right?
But, right now, the purpose of the dog is to be a watchdog.
What's the purpose of a dog that won't bark?
What good is it?
Now, our dog, so far, I've heard it bark a few times,
and boy, it's got a really strong, solid, good bark.
I like that bark.
It barks like a much bigger dog than it even is.
Very powerful bark.
See, it's the preacher's job to warn you of danger,
just as that dog's job is to be the watchdog
and to warn us if someone's coming to violate our property.
Hey, that dog's supposed to warn us
if somebody's coming in to steal from us.
If something's coming in to attack us,
if someone's coming in to hurt us,
hey, that dog is supposed to bark and be a watchdog.
Now, in the case and point here in Isaiah 56, God says,
I set these men up to be preachers.
I called these men to preach, but He said they would not bark
like they were supposed to at the enemy.
The Bible reads in 1 Peter 5-8, for example.
In 1 Peter 5-8, the Bible reads,
Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour.
See, the enemy's out there.
Here the Bible's talking about Satan being the enemy.
If the enemy's out there, the enemy wants to come in
and destroy you, and God is saying here
it's the preacher's job, when Isaiah 56,
for those of you who just came in in your Bible,
He says it's the preacher's job to stand up
and be the watchman to cry out
and to warn of the danger that's coming.
Now, Acts 20-31, I'll just read this for you.
The Bible reads, Therefore watch and remember
that by the space of three years
I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears.
See, as a preacher, I'm going to warn you
of the dangers of sin.
I'm going to be like the watchdog here
described in Isaiah 56.
I'm going to warn you of the downward spiral
that sin will take you on.
You say, Pastor Anson, why do you preach against sin?
Why do you stand up and scream and yell
about the dangers of sin?
Hey, I'm trying to warn you.
Hey, that's why the Bible talks so much about sin.
The Bible's trying to warn you of where sin is going to take you.
Now, I could stand up here as the typical preacher,
like the dumb dogs that can't bark
that it talks about in Isaiah 56.
I could stand up here and get up on a Sunday morning
and just stand up here like this.
You know, that's what most preachers are doing.
In 2 Timothy 4, you don't have to turn there.
The Bible says, I charge thee therefore
before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead
that is appearing in his kingdom.
Preach the word.
Be instant in season, out of season.
Reprove.
That means tell people they're wrong.
Rebuke.
That means correct people.
Exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Doctrine's teaching the Bible.
For the time will come when they will not endure
sound doctrine, and watch this,
but after their own lusts
shall they heap to themselves teachers.
Not preachers.
He says, you be a preacher,
but he says the day's going to come
when they're going to heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears.
Now, think about this.
All good preaching is also teaching.
I mean, if I got up here and just screamed and yelled
and stomped my foot,
but I'm not teaching the Bible,
that's not good preaching.
I mean, all good preaching is teaching.
But is all teaching preaching?
No.
See, the difference between preaching and teaching
is when God told Isaiah, he said,
cry aloud.
Somebody yell.
Spare not.
Lift up thy voice like a trumpet
and show my people their transgressions
and the house of Jacob their sins.
You see, a preacher is going to reprove
and rebuke and exhort.
Now, the Bible says here
that they're going to heap to themselves
teachers having itching ears.
What's that mean?
Well, think about a dog.
It's the same thing we saw in Isaiah 56
about the dumb dogs that wouldn't bark.
The dog, the preacher,
there was supposed to be a watch dog,
and he's not barking.
He's not doing what he's supposed to do.
Imagine a dog.
What do they always do?
You know, they're always scratching their ear, right?
They always itch behind the ears.
The same illustration here God's using in the New Testament
of a preacher that's like a lazy dog
is what it said in Isaiah 56.
It said they're lazy.
They love to slumber.
They want to lay around and sleep all day.
They're not standing up and warning anybody.
They won't bark at anybody.
Hey, they're just sitting there,
laying around, having itching ears.
What's that mean?
They want to stand at the back door at the end of church
and have everybody come up and tell them,
oh, that was such a wonderful sermon, Pastor Anderson.
Oh, that just touched my heart.
Hey, you know what?
There are sermons like that,
but there are some sermons that are a warning sermon.
Some sermons from the Word of God,
whole chapters, whole books of the Word of God are a warning.
Hey, when you preach the warning sermon,
when you stand up and say, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof,
and bark like a dog supposed to bark,
hey, people aren't always going to meet you at the back door
with a warm handshake.
Hey, people aren't always going to be smiling at you from their seat.
People aren't always going to be telling you how wonderful it was,
but I'm going to tell you something.
That kind of preaching might save your life.
That kind of preaching might get you on the right path toward living for God.
You see, it's not always fun to be the watchdog.
Sometimes it irritates the neighbors.
Think about a watchdog that's doing what it's supposed to be doing.
It could be irritating sometimes.
It could be annoying.
It could also save you from the criminal that's trying to break into your house.
That's why I have a watch sub.
You see, I'm going to warn you about the dangers of sin.
I'm going to warn you about the danger of not attending church.
The Bible says, forsake not the assembling of yourselves together
as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another
and so much the more as you see today approaching.
I was thinking of a lady who used to come here,
very faithful to this church, and she was here all the time.
She was here at evening services and coming all the time,
not just even once a week.
I mean, she was coming just very regularly,
and some terrible things were happening in her life,
and she was down and depressed, and you know what she said?
One day she just wasn't there, and I was very surprised,
because this girl was very consistent to come to church all the time.
And one day she wasn't here. I was very surprised.
And so I went to her house and visited her,
and I asked her where she'd been, why she wasn't there on Sunday.
And she was doing terrible.
I mean, she was feeling terrible. She was very upset.
And she said, I was so upset and things had been going so bad.
She said, I just wanted to try for one week what it would be like to just skip church,
just to see what it would be like, is what she said.
She was a new believer. She'd only been saved for a few months.
She got saved and then a few days later baptized
and just been in church for a few months,
but she was very faithful to the church. She was really growing.
And she just said, I just wanted to see what it was like
just to lay out at church for a week,
and I just wanted to test it out and see if I'd feel any different
or if my life would go any different.
Hey, I just wanted to see what it would be like.
And she said, but I'm going to be there next Sunday.
I tried it out and I'm doing worse than I was without church.
I'm feeling worse than I was without church.
And so she said, so I will be there this Sunday morning.
You know she never came back that Sunday morning.
And you know she never came back again.
And you know what I'm talking about because you were here.
She never came back again. Just wanted to test it out.
See, when you get away from church, when you get away from preaching,
hey, when you're not listening for the watchdog to warn you
about what's out there that's going to hurt you,
hey, your life can go down a downward spiral.
Hey, I need church. You need church. We all need church.
None of us is so spiritual that we don't need church.
See, I remember when I was growing up.
I was always in church. My parents always made me go to church.
You hear these parents, well, you know,
I just got to let my kids decide if they want to go to church or not.
I always say to them, oh, really?
Do you let them decide whether they're going to brush their teeth or not too?
Oh, I'm sure you let them decide whether they're going to bathe or not too, don't you?
Oh, and you let them decide whether they're going to study or not, don't you?
Isn't that foolish? Isn't that ridiculous?
No, they need to do what's right,
and a little child does not have the brains to understand what's right for itself.
It needs a parent to train that child and guide him in the direction of what's right.
But I remember one time I was ill as a teenager,
and this is the longest I've ever missed church.
I was ill as a teenager. I was very ill, so I couldn't even hardly get out of bed.
And I missed church for two full weeks in a row, so it was three weeks, you know,
21 days between going to church.
I remember how it just affected me not being in church, even just for 20 days of no church.
I remember just getting kind of distanced from the things of God a little bit,
because you've got to come to church.
I need to come to church to get stirred up, to get fired up,
to be around other people that also love God that will motivate you,
to get around other people that are serving God,
to get around other people that love the Bible.
Hey, you need that oasis in the wilderness that we live in of worldliness
and ungodliness out in the world.
Hey, to step into the house of God and to sing out with all your voice.
This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior.
You know, sing these great songs.
Hey, you need to be here to hear the preaching, to learn the Bible.
You get out of church, it's a dangerous road you're heading down.
Hey, I'm going to warn you about, ladies, ladies,
I'm going to warn you about the dangers of dressing promiscuously.
I'm going to warn you about the dangers of dressing sleazily like a hoochie mama.
Hey, I'm going to warn you about where that's going to take you.
By the way, when it comes to the way that you dress, ladies,
and people get offended when you preach on ladies.
Actually, most people don't even know what people do
when you preach on women's clothing, because they just don't preach on women's clothing.
They're like dumb dogs that can't bark.
And so they just don't preach on it, so who knows how people would react.
Well, let's find out this morning how people would react.
Not that I don't already know, but when you start preaching about the way that women dress.
What is your motivation, is what I want to ask you, for dressing like a hooker.
What is your motivation for dressing sleazily, young lady?
What's your motivation, a dad who dresses, and I'm not saying anybody here, of course,
but a dad who dresses their daughter sensually at 11, 12 years old.
What's wrong with you? What in the world is wrong with you?
Hey, I'm going to warn you about the fact that you're setting up your daughter
to be defiled by the hands of some lustful man out there somewhere.
Hey, put your clothes on.
Now, what is the root problem? Why do women dress that way?
I'll tell you why.
They lack self-esteem. They lack self-worth.
They lack any value of themselves.
Did you know that if you're saved, you are God's child?
Did you know that God is your father?
Hey, did you know that you are part of the royal priesthood?
Did you know that God has made us kings and priests unto God and his father?
Hey, you have to start realizing who you are,
and you realize that you are worth more than just a body that you can put on display
for a bunch of lustful men.
Hey, you have more value than that.
You don't have to display your body to the world.
Hey, you have a value of a soul and a spirit.
You don't have to display your body before men.
You have more value than that.
Hey, why don't you look in the mirror and decide that you're worth more
than every other girl who just goes out there and just struts herself
and lays it all bare just to try to get some kind of acceptance,
just to try to get some kind of a love.
Hey, the love comes from Jesus Christ.
The love comes from God the Father.
Hey, I'm going to tell you something.
You will attract the kind of man that's really going to love you
when you dress like a lady, when you cover up and dress in modest apparel.
Which kind of a man are you trying to attract?
I'm going to tell you something.
A righteous, godly man is not attracted to a woman that's dressed sleazily.
He's going to stay away from it.
He's going to say, hey, this girl is not going to be faithful to me.
This girl is not a godly woman.
This isn't who I want to spend my life with.
Now, guys who want to use and abuse you when you dress that way,
but the kind of guy who really wants to marry you and be good to you,
he's looking for what the Bible calls the beauty of holiness.
See, it's a beautiful thing when a woman is dressed right.
Did you know that?
To a spiritual man, there's nothing more beautiful than a woman
who's dressed in a nice long dress and not displaying her body for the world.
Hey, that's a beautiful thing to a man who loves God and loves the Bible.
Is that who you're looking for?
Are you looking for some guy who just wants to use you
and cast you aside when he's done with you?
Hey, I'm going to warn you, the dangers of dressing wrong.
I'm not up here trying to preach to you to make you upset or to tell you,
oh, Pastor Anderson is trying to tell me how to dress.
I don't care how you dress.
It means nothing to me.
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
go around and dress like that.
I'm just trying to warn you of what's going to happen.
I'm just trying to warn you of what your life's going to turn out like.
That's all.
It doesn't hurt me. It doesn't show skin off my back.
But I'm trying to warn you because that's what God called me to do,
a spiritual watchdog of this church and of this country.
1 Corinthians 4.14, don't turn it.
The Bible says, I write not these things to shame you,
but as my beloved sons, I warn you.
He says, I'm not trying to shame you when I preach against your sin.
I'm not trying to embarrass you.
He says, I'm trying to warn you.
Why? Because I love you.
He said, as beloved sons, I warn you.
The preacher who can't bark, the preacher won't bark about sin.
They won't warn you.
He doesn't love you.
No.
The preacher who loves you will confront you, not personally,
I'm talking about from the pulpit, with the truth of the Bible,
and he'll preach on sin because he loves you.
Because sometimes you make enemies when you preach on sin,
but in the long run, that person later on is going to say,
you know what, Pastor Anderson really loved me.
He's really trying to protect me.
Maybe 10 years from now before you realize that,
maybe 15 years from now, but you'll think,
you know what, God, those rules in the Bible that God had
that seemed so restrictive, I think God just loved me.
I think he wanted me to have a life that was an enjoyable life
and not go down the downward spiral that sin takes you on.
You see, sin will always take you further than you want to go.
Sin will always keep you longer than you want it to stay,
and sin will always cost you more than you want it to pay.
It always takes you too far.
See, you think you can just dabble in sin and play with sin?
Pretty soon, you're going to go all the way down.
That's why you've got to heed the warning before it's too late
and say, I'm going to flee fornication.
I'm going to get as far away from sin as I can.
I'm going to listen to the warning of the Bible and of the preacher.
Hey, men, I'm going to warn you about the dangers of pornography,
and I'm going to tell you something.
People don't just go from one day to the next.
All of a sudden, they just decide, you know what,
I'm going to start looking at pornography.
No, it starts in their heart with dirty thoughts.
Then it starts with television,
watching the pornography that's on television,
which is, yes, television is soft pornography.
Then it goes on to the movie theater
where they watch the filthiest movies, and it's pornography.
The stuff that's out there today, you say, it's rated PG-13.
Hey, it's pornographic.
TV shows on prime time TV that are pornographic.
I haven't had a television in so many years.
I don't even know what TV's like anymore.
I know what it was like back then,
and if you're going to tell me after the service that it's gotten better,
I think you're out of your mind.
It's pornography.
No, it's not that bad.
Okay, but what's it going to lead you into that's really bad?
What kind of filthy pornography is it going to lead you into?
Because you have to understand what a preacher told me
when I was in Germany as an 18-year-old boy.
I sat down, I was in Germany, and this German missionary sat me down,
and he said, you know what, Steve?
He said, I want you to remember one thing.
I want you to learn one thing right now.
He said, things go in to your mind, but they don't go out.
Things go in.
He said, if you look at things that are wrong,
you will not be able to get that image out of your mind for years and years.
You listen to wrong music.
You go ahead and listen to all the worldly garbage.
That music will be in your ears and in your mind for years.
Hey, I could still quote to you the lyrics of horrible songs
that I've heard, rock music that I used to listen to as a teenager.
Hey, I could still quote all those songs.
I wish I didn't have that filth and garbage in my mind.
But I remember that stuck with me, what that preacher told me.
I've remembered that my whole life.
I always thought about it.
Things go in, but they don't go out.
And so it takes years and years to cleanse your mind of that garbage.
Hey, why don't you just keep your heart with all diligence for out of it of the issues of life.
Hey, guard your heart.
Keep your heart pure and right before God
by not filling your eyes and filling your ears with all the world's sensual sinful filth.
Hey, keep your heart with all diligence for out of it of the issues of life.
I get so tired of preachers who won't bark.
I get so tired of a dog that won't bark.
Some little yippity yappity preacher.
Some little preacher who stands up and just pants all day.
Hey, why don't you stand up and bark like God told you to bark?
Hey, why don't you stand up and warn somebody?
Hey, why don't you do your job as a preacher?
Why don't you be a watchdog like God told you to be?
But look down. Are you still in Isaiah 56?
Look down at verse number 10 and we'll go through this verse by verse quickly.
The Bible reads in verse number 10.
A little bit more characteristic.
This is Isaiah 56, 10.
A little bit more characteristics about the dumb dog that can't bark.
It says in verse 10, his watchmen are blind.
They're all ignorant.
They're all dumb dogs that cannot bark.
They cannot bark.
Sleeping, lying down, loving to someone.
The first thing I want you to see is he says that the preacher who won't bark and warn of sin,
it says he's blind and he's ignorant.
You see that?
He's ignorant.
He's an ignoramus.
People have this idea that there are two kinds of preachers.
There's the one who gets up and screams and yells and spits and stomps his foot.
And then there's the one who is the intellectual type.
And he's just more the teacher type and he's very intellectual and he'll teach you the Bible.
And you know what?
I've never been impressed by the intellect of any of these little yippity-yappity,
poodle dog, pink tea lemonade, tail between their legs sitting in the corner,
flea-ridden, scratching their ears, preachers.
I've never been impressed by their intellect.
I find that the person who barks out against sin seems to have the knowledge.
That's what God says here right now.
God says that the preacher who won't bark is ignorant.
The preacher who won't bark is uneducated.
Ha, ha, ha, Pastor Anderson, you're just young.
When you get older, you'll understand a little more.
You won't get up and bark like a dog when you preach.
Hey, I'm going to tell you something.
God says here that the dog who won't bark, the preacher who won't preach on sin,
the preacher who won't warn you, he's ignorant.
He's dumb.
He's a dumb dog that won't bark.
He's dumb.
He's ignorant.
He's blind.
He doesn't see the big picture.
See, he doesn't see when he opens the Bible, his job as a preacher is to warn.
He doesn't see that, yes, his job is to win souls.
Yes, his job is to knock doors and preach the Gospel.
Yes, his job is to build you up in the faith and to teach you the Bible.
Yes, his job is to help you raise your family.
But he's got another job of being a watchdog.
He doesn't know that.
He didn't study to show himself approved to know that that's one of his functions as a preacher.
And it says they're all dumb dogs.
They cannot bark.
This is verse number 10.
Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
Hey, the preacher who won't preach on sin is lazy.
Isn't that what it says?
The dumb dog that won't bark, he's sleeping.
He's lying down.
He loves to slumber.
He's lazy.
You see, he's not willing to put in the work to win people to Christ, to wait for God to build the church.
To preach like he's supposed to preach.
So what does he do?
He takes the easy road where anybody who comes through the door, he's going to tell them whatever they want to hear.
He's going to say anything to keep them in the door so that his church can save it around.
Hey, is that door right there?
I think I'm going to change out that door for a revolving door.
I'm serious.
I'm going to put in a revolving door so that just as fast as you come in, you can go out just as fast if you don't like this kind of preaching.
And you know what?
You can get in your little car at the church and you can drive the dumb dog Baptist church.
It's right down the street.
I'll give you directions.
If you want to go to dumb dog Baptist church, I'll give you directions to Pastor Rover, Pastor Bowser, Pastor whatever.
And you can go to his church all day long.
Hey, you can scratch his ears after the sermon.
But if you're looking for a church that's going to preach right and change the Bible and tell you the truth.
Hey, you're in the right place, 2620 West Greenway Road.
Faithful, word, Baptist church.
The church where the pastor loves you.
The church where the pastor cares about you.
Hey, stick around for a while.
You'll find out this is the church where the pastor loves you.
And that's why I'm warning you about sin.
But see, the dumb dog that won't bark, pastor, he's lazy.
So he's got to keep everybody in the door that ever walks through the door, he's got to keep them in the door.
Hey, you know, some people are going to leave.
I wish that everybody who came through that door, I was just kidding about the revolving door.
I wish that everybody who came through that door kept coming to church here.
I mean, everybody who's ever come through the door, I wish that they were back here.
People that have left, I wish they'd come back next week.
I'd be so happy if they walked through the door next week.
I'd be like, yes!
But I'm not going to say anything to keep them here.
I'll say what God says, and some people will say and some people will go.
But we'll just keep working.
Work, work, work, and God will build this church.
We don't have to tell people everything.
We don't have to just sleep and lay around all day and just rest on our laurels and keep everybody who comes through that door.
Hey, maybe this church isn't for everybody. It's for people to love God.
And if you love God, I don't care if you've been saved for five minutes or five years or 50 years.
I don't care if you've never read the Bible in your life.
I don't care if you dress right. I don't care anything like that.
Hey, if you love God and you have a desire to learn about God and to do right, you'll fit in here just fine.
And we'll love you here and this is the church for you.
Then look at the next verse, verse 11.
Yay! They're greedy dogs.
These bunch of greedy dog preachers, which can never have enough,
they're shepherds. The word shepherd means pastor.
If you know that the word pastor means shepherd, it's translated that way in the Bible.
Pastor is similar to the word pasture. You put sheeps out to pasture.
The pastor shepherds them.
That's what the word pastor means is the shepherd of the flock.
He says here that they're shepherds that cannot understand.
Again, a lack of knowledge, ignorance.
They all look to their own way, everyone, for his gain.
His financial gain is what it's talking about.
They're greedy. They want money.
The Bible says in the book of 1 Timothy,
teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake.
See, whenever a preacher is not preaching right, money is his motivation.
That's why the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil,
which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith.
Because preachers, and that's 1 Timothy 6-11, I believe,
preachers who erred from the faith, it's because they love money,
and so they coveted after money, and so they've erred from the faith.
That's why they're preaching wrong.
And so he says that the preacher who won't bark against sin,
he's financially motivated.
He's trying to keep old Mr. Moneybags in the back row from leaving his church
because he preached on the way his daughter dresses
because he's trying to warn him because he loves his daughter
that she would dress right.
But look at the last verse, and we'll see the bottom line.
Verse number 12. Here's the real bottom line.
Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we'll fill ourselves with strong drink.
He's saying, let's get drunk.
And tomorrow shall be as this day, and much more about it.
The bottom line is the preacher who won't bark, the dog that won't bark,
he won't preach against sin because he's living in sin himself.
You see that in verse number 12?
We get down to the bottom and we find out why he was not warning anybody.
We find out why he doesn't preach against sin.
It's because any preacher who won't preach against sin,
remember this, is living in it himself.
The preacher who won't preach against the television,
it's because he's going to go home after the service and watch all the garbage
and he's going to go home and watch American Idol, that's why.
That's why he won't preach against the television.
The preacher who won't preach against the movie that Hollywood puts out,
you'll see him there.
Buy him some popcorn while he's there.
Buy him a soda, he'll be there.
That's why he doesn't preach against it.
The preacher who won't get up and preach against rock music
and tell you what's wrong with old Robert,
because he's listening to today's Christian rock
that's put out by the Charismatics and people that are not Baptists
that don't believe the Bible and so forth.
That's why he won't preach against it because he's so close to it,
he doesn't want to step on his own toes.
Any preacher who won't preach on sin is living in it himself.
Remember that statement.
I heard a preacher say that one time and he hit the nail on the head with that.
Any preacher who won't preach on sin is living in it.
Turn to Jeremiah chapter 6.
You're in Isaiah.
Just go forward in your Bible.
It's a few pages toward the end of your Bible.
After you get to the end of the book of Jeremiah or Isaiah,
you get to the book of Jeremiah chapter 6.
Look at verse number 10, Jeremiah 6-10.
The Bible reads in Jeremiah 6-10,
To whom shall I speak and give warning that they may hear?
Notice the word warning.
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised and they cannot hearken.
Behold, the word of the Lord is unto them of reproach.
They have no delight in it.
Therefore, this is what God is saying,
I'm full of fury of the Lord.
That's anger.
I'm weary with holding in.
I will pour it out upon the children of bronze, verse 11,
and upon the assembly of young men together.
For even the husband with the wife shall be taken,
the aged with him that is full of days,
and their houses shall be turned unto others,
with their fields and wives together.
For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land,
saith the Lord.
Look at verse 13.
For from the least of them, even unto the greatest of them,
everyone is given to covetousness.
That's the love of money, is what that's like,
my covetousness, wanting other people's money,
wishing you had more money.
And from the prophet, that's the preacher,
even unto the priest, everyone dealeth falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
saying, peace, peace, when there is no peace.
Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush.
Therefore shall they fall among them that fall.
See, he's saying, the reason that the people were not ashamed
of the sins that they were doing is because the preacher
would not preach to them and warn them.
The preacher wasn't warning them,
so they went out and committed abominations.
They weren't ashamed.
Hey, nobody told them it was wrong.
Nobody warned them.
Now, it's still their fault that they went into shame,
but God help us when a preacher won't warn them
and tell them what's going to happen to them.
And then they go, I didn't know.
I didn't know it was wrong.
Well, did you go to church for 10 years?
Well, why didn't you learn that it was wrong?
Because the preacher's not up there barking,
like he's supposed to be barking.
Verse number 15 at the end there, it says,
therefore they shall fall among them that fall.
They're going to fall because they haven't been warned
about the dangers of sin.
He says they're going to fall among them that fall.
At the time that I visit them, they shall be cast down,
saith the Lord.
Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways and see
and ask for the old paths wherein is the good way
and walk therein and ye shall find rest for your souls.
I was thinking about you walk into a store sometimes
and it says, ask us about our new chicken salad.
Ask us about the new such and such, right?
You see these signs?
Ask our cashier today.
Ask your associate today about the 15 percent discount.
Hey, when you walk into church, he says,
ask for the old paths.
May I take your order, please?
What kind of preaching would you like to hear?
Hey, give me the old paths wherein is the good way,
wherein is the right way?
Your leader's not preaching right?
Hey, go out in the streets, he says,
and cry out and say, is anybody preaching the old paths?
Is anybody standing for the way it used to be?
Is there any preacher that will bark against sin
and be the watchdog that he needs to be?
He says, ask for the old paths.
And when you get the old paths, he says, walk in them
and you'll have a rest for your souls.
But unfortunately, at the end of verse 16,
but they said, we will not walk therein.
Also, I set watchmen over you, again, the watchdog,
saying, hearken to the sound of the trumpet.
But they said, we will not hearken.
Therefore, hear ye nations and no old congregation.
The word congregation means church.
It's an assembly of people.
What is among them?
Hear, O earth, the old I will bring evil upon this people,
even the fruit of their thoughts,
because they have not hearkened unto my words,
nor to my law, but have rejected it.
Turn to Psalm 19, back in your Bible toward the beginning.
Right in the middle of your Bible is the book of Psalms.
Psalm 19, the Bible reads in Psalm 19, verse number 7,
it's a beautiful part of the Bible, by the way.
I love Psalm 19.
The first half is fantastic, but it's not pertinent to the sermon.
But Psalm 19 is one of the greatest Psalms, I believe.
Look at verse number 7.
The law of the Lord is perfect.
Yes, the Bible is not written by a man.
It's written by God.
Every word of God is pure.
He's a shield unto them that put their trust in him.
The words of the Lord are pure words,
as silver tried in the furnace of earth, purified seven times.
But he said the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul.
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.
The Bible will make you a smart person,
making wise, even if you're a simpleton.
The statutes of the Lord are right, in verse 8, rejoicing the heart.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
I love the way the King James Bible rhymes.
It's that forever altogether, beautiful book.
And it says,
More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold,
sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb.
Do you read the Bible?
Do you read the Bible every day?
This is what you're missing if you're not reading the Bible.
This is what you're missing.
But look at verse 11.
Moreover, by them is thy servant warned.
See, yes, the Bible is such a sweet book to your taste,
such a beautiful book to read.
Yes, the Bible will enlighten your eyes.
Yes, the Bible will make wise the simple.
Yes, the Bible will convert your soul.
But also, moreover, in addition, he says it'll warn you.
It'll warn you.
It's not just to read so you can feel good.
Yes, it does make you feel good to read it.
Yes, it does enlighten your eyes.
Yes, it does make you wise.
Yes, it will teach you how to live your life,
but it's going to warn you.
It's going to warn you.
This sermon this morning is meant to warn you.
Who can understand his errors?
Verse 12.
Cleanse thou me from secret faults.
He's saying there are things that I do wrong
that I don't even know about
and I need to read the Bible and be warned,
is what he's saying.
Look at the next verse.
Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins.
Let them not have dominion over me.
Dominion means you're like a slave.
It's ruling over you.
It's dominating your life.
He says I want sin to dominate me.
I want the Bible to dominate me.
I want the Bible to be my Lord.
The word Lord dominoes means Lord
in Latin language, for example.
It's what the English word dominate means,
to lord over.
Hey, I want Jesus Christ to be my Lord,
not sin to be my Lord.
Then shall I be upright,
and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord,
my strength and my redeemer.
Now turn, if you would, to one last place.
Turn to Proverbs 26.
The Bible reads,
while you're turning there in Hosea 9-7,
turn to Proverbs 26.
The Bible reads,
the days of visitation are come.
The days of recompense are come.
Israel shall know it.
Listen to this.
The prophet is a fool.
This is in Hosea chapter 9.
He says this is what's wrong with Israel.
In the day of Hosea 9,
he said the prophet's a fool.
That's the problem.
The prophet is a fool.
The spiritual man is mad.
Pain.
Mad.
Crazy.
Nuts.
He's crazy.
For the multitude of iniquity
and the great hatred.
The watchman of Eberim was with my God,
but the prophet is a snare
of a fowler in all his ways
and hatred in the house of his God.
They have deeply corrupted themselves
as in the days of Gibeah.
Therefore, he will remember their iniquity.
He will visit their sins.
You hear that?
Look at Proverbs 26 verse 6.
The Bible says,
he that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool
cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage.
We're talking about the foolish preacher,
the dog that won't bark.
The legs of the lamb are not equal.
So is a parable in the mouth of fools,
saying they misuse the stories in the Bible.
They misuse what the Bible says.
And it's not right what they're saying.
As he that bindeth a stone and a sling,
so is he that giveth honor to a fool.
As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a parable in the mouth of fools.
The great God that formed all things
both rewardeth the fool and rewardeth transgressors.
Look at verse 11.
As a dog returneth to his vomit,
so a fool returneth to his folly.
Seest thou a man that is wise in his own conceit?
There's more hope of a fool than of him.
Here we're back to the laziness issue.
The slothful man, the lazy man, saith in verse 13,
there's a lion in the way, a lion's in the streets.
As the door, so is he going to warn anybody?
Well, it says if the door turneth upon his hinges,
so is the slothful upon his bed.
He just rolls back and forth in his bed,
laying around, lazy, now working.
It says the slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom
and grieveth him to bring it again to his body.
He's so lazy, he's too lazy to even put the food
in his own mouth is what it's saying.
The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit
than seven men that can render a reason.
But look at verse 11 as the one I wanted to focus on.
Proverbs 26, 11.
As a dog returneth to his vomit,
so a fool will returneth to his folly.
Now think about a dumb dog.
Isaiah 10 and 56 talk about the dumb dogs that can't bark.
What does a dumb dog do?
Well, some dogs are more intelligent than others, right?
Somebody told me that big dogs are more intelligent
than little dogs.
I don't know if that's true or not.
Maybe little dogs, I think little dogs are more intelligent.
I grew up having Boston Terriers.
I did not want a big dog.
I got a big dog because of a watchdog, okay?
I wish that I had a Boston Terrier.
That's the little dogs that I grew up having.
Little short-haired dog, no tail.
The tail's like an inch long, okay?
And these are the dogs that I like.
But some dogs are more intelligent than others.
Well, God says here that think about a dumb dog
that's so dumb that it vomits up its food because it's ill.
You know, it's not its fault, okay?
But it gets sick and throws up.
And then it goes on and it's playing and doing its thing,
and all of a sudden it comes back to the patio
where it threw up, and it says,
wow, look, there's some food on the patio.
I think I'm going to eat some of this food.
Well, I can see a little bit of meat in there.
I can see a little bit of food in there.
I think I'm going to eat this.
Somebody left some food out for me.
See, a dog is so dumb,
it doesn't know that it just coughed up that chunk
just a few minutes before.
It's the same thing again.
That's the same thing that made you sick last time.
Why would you eat it again?
Now, here's a little science lesson for you.
Do you understand why people vomit?
It's because your body is getting rid of something
that should not be there.
If you eat something poisonous, you'll throw up.
Many times you'll throw up.
That's your body's natural defense to get out the bad,
to get out the poison, to get rid of it.
Sometimes you're really sick.
You have the flu.
You eat a big meal.
You vomit. Why?
Because you shouldn't be eating a lot when you're sick,
because when you're sick,
your body's trying to fight the disease.
It doesn't want to digest food.
So it'll cause you to expel the food to get it out.
Now, when the dog throws up,
it threw up for a reason.
God decided to throw up to get something bad out,
to get something out that should not be there.
But the dog is so dumb that it comes back
and thinks that this is a brand-new meal for it,
this pile of vomit.
And I'm not trying to be graphic.
I'm just saying what the Bible says, okay?
And so it comes back to this vomit
and just starts eating up the vomit again.
It's like, hello?
Do you remember what happened last time you ate that?
And that's what it says here in verse 11
as a dog returneth to his vomit,
so a fool returneth to his folly.
Hey, it's not like this dumb dog is not going to learn.
You ever go to a church?
And I've been in churches like this.
When I was a teenager,
we struggled to find a good church.
Later in life, we found really good churches to be in
when I was growing up.
But I remember there were several years
in Sacramento, California,
when I was a young teenager,
when we wanted to find a real barking, that church.
We wanted to find a real church
where you could learn the Bible
and there's real preaching and everything.
And I remember we struggled to find one.
And we would go to churches that said
that they were independent Baptists, fundamental.
But we'd go there and it was just, you know,
Pastor Chihuahua in the pulpit.
And so we'd get there and it was just a real disappointment
and we struggled to try to find a church.
And I just remember sitting in these churches
and I felt like it was just the same thing every week.
I felt like I was listening to a broken record.
It was just the same thing, the same thing, the same thing.
This is what it was.
Oh, next Sunday.
Oh, it's Wednesday night.
You ready for another sermon?
It's like, hey, we've heard that five million times.
Why are you so ignorant?
Why don't you preach on?
I can give you a list, sir, of 200 sins to preach on.
You can preach on, one, every church service
that'll do you for the next year and three months.
Because you got 52 weeks in the year.
You got three times a week.
Here's a list of 200 sins to preach against.
Oh, but you don't like that kind of preaching, do you?
You don't like to bark.
It's like these preachers have those little colors on them
that shock them when they bark.
You know what I'm talking about?
You ever seen those?
They put the little color on them and they go.
Every time they bark, they get up in the pulpit
and they start barking and their wife probably gets home
and beats them up when they get home.
Their wife's slapping them around.
Their big burly wife is slapping around saying,
I can't believe you said that.
You're embarrassing me.
Hey, get up and bark anyway.
Rip off that stupid collar.
I feel like some of these preachers, some guy in the back,
some guy in the back's got a little remote control device.
He's the one who puts the big money in the offering plate
for Mr. Covetous.
He pushes the button every time the pastor barks.
Ah!
Don't muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn,
the Bible says.
Hey, don't muzzle the preacher.
Don't put a shock collar on the preacher.
Hey, listen to the warning.
Listen to the barking that you need.
And so that's the fool that returns to his vomit.
I'm sorry, the dog that returns to his vomit.
The fool to his folly.
God's trying to send a message in verse number 26.
He's trying to send a message to his people.
He's trying to send a message from the Word of God.
But what happened is he sent it by the hand of a fool.
That's what it said in Hosea 9.
He said the prophet's a fool.
I tried to send a preacher, but he was a fool.
And so he just keeps vomiting and regurgitating
the same sermon on love thy neighbor as thyself
over and over.
It's the same thing over and over.
Look, if you're going to get any nutrition,
you're going to have to get a new meal every day.
You can't just keep regurgitating and eating the same meal.
You need a new meal tomorrow.
You know, the food that I'm going to eat tomorrow,
it hasn't been prepared yet today.
You know, I hope it's going to be made,
I hope it's going to be we don't make it until you order it.
You know, I hope it's going to be something fresh
that I eat tomorrow.
I hope a month from now I'm not getting leftovers
out of the fridge and reheating them.
You see, I'm going to need to consistently be eating
different foods every day in order to be healthy.
Not the same thing over and over again.
So today is warning.
Next week might be soul winning.
Next week might be teaching the Bible.
Next week might be love thy neighbor.
You know, next week might be something else.
You've got to have a balanced diet of everything
than this church.
I don't want my dog barking 24 hours a day.
There's a time for it to pant.
There's a time for the dog to scratch its own ear.
There's a time for the dog to roll over and play dead.
And there's a time for the dog to play fetch.
But then there's a time when there's danger
for the dog to bark.
The dog needs to bark.
The dog needs to play.
The dog needs to sleep.
Hey, the dog, yes there's a time to sleep,
but the dog who sleeps all day,
the dog who plays all day,
hey, the dog who just eats all day,
the dog needs to learn how to bark.
The dog needs to get the complete picture
is what we're seeing here.
But not only that, and I'll close with this.
Colossians chapter 1, you don't have to turn there.
The Bible says,
To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery
among the Gentiles, listen to this,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory,
whom we preach, warning every man.
So he's saying we preach Christ warning every man
and teaching every man in all wisdom
that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.
He's saying, I warn everybody with the gospel.
I preach Jesus Christ to everybody
because I want to present them one day
when I get to heaven and say,
Jesus Christ, let me introduce you to so-and-so
that I wonder the Lord.
See, yes, the pastor should be a watchdog,
but it's your job to be the watchdog as well.
You're to be the watchdog when it comes to soul winning.
I mean, when you have that unsaved loved one,
will you warn them?
I mean, will you show them from the Bible
that all they have to do to be saved
is just believe on Jesus Christ?
All they have to do is just believe
the record that God gave him as son?
Will you warn them that there's a real heaven,
but that there's a real hell?
Will you warn them?
Will you warn them that Jesus loves them
and died on the cross for their sins
and all they have to do is believe
and they'll be saved?
Will you be the watchdog?
Or are you going to be like a dumb dog
that can't bark?
You know, you have the opportunity
to preach the gospel and you won't do it.
You won't warn.
You won't preach the gospel.
You won't give the gospel to your friend,
to your sister, to your brother,
to your unsaved loved ones, to your friends.
Are you going to warn them?
Are you going to warn every man?
I was in the airport yesterday
and I was in the Minneapolis airport
and I had a connection there
and I got off the plane at about 4 o'clock
and my flight was going to be actually taking off
at 5 o'clock.
So I just had a short little layover in this airport.
So I get out of the gate, get off the plane
and I wanted to get something to eat.
And then I was going to pretty much have to rush over
and do what I was doing.
So I stopped at California Pizza Kitchen.
I love California Pizza Kitchen.
Who's ever eaten there?
Put up your hand.
Love California Pizza Kitchen.
Really good.
This message has been brought to you
by California Pizza Kitchen.
It's been a word from our sponsor.
And so I went to California Pizza Kitchen.
I got a Hawaiian pizza.
Man, it was good.
And so I sat down with my pizza.
I sat down and started eating my pizza.
And what happened?
A guy walks up.
And this has never happened to me before.
Never seen this before.
I'm sitting in the chair.
Guy walks up and he's wearing a tie.
And he walks up and he sits down next to a black lady
that worked at Pizza Kitchen.
She was on her break.
And she was just really newly from Africa.
She had a very thick accent.
She was from Togo in Africa.
And so she's sitting there just relaxing on her break.
This man walks up to her.
He sits down next to her.
And he hands her a piece of paper.
And he starts talking to her.
And I couldn't really hear what he was talking about,
but I started to pay a little closer attention.
And I look and he pulls a Bible out of his pocket.
He pulls a New Testament out of his pocket.
And he starts to give this girl the gospel from the Bible.
You know, he's showing her from the Bible.
And I was like, wow, this guy is soul winning.
Amazing.
And this is great.
I've never seen anybody just in the airport
just soul winning.
It's unbelievable.
There's so few people that are soul winners.
It's something that we do at this church,
but it's just kind of rare, unfortunately.
And so I see this guy is soul winning.
And so I watch him and he won this girl.
I mean, the girl got saved.
You know, he talked to her for a while.
And then he preached it to her.
And she believed and she prayed and got saved.
And I walked up to him and I said,
I said, let me guess.
I said, you're an independent Baptist, aren't you?
He said, yes, I am.
Now, he said, Pastor Anderson,
how did you know he was an independent Baptist?
I mean, he could have been a Methodist.
He could have been a Presbyterian.
He could have been a Southern Baptist.
He could have been a North American Baptist.
A G-A-R-B.
He could have been any number of denominations.
I knew he was an independent Baptist
because he was barking like an independent Baptist.
And I knew, hey, if it quacks like a duck,
if it barks like a dog, it's probably a dog.
Hey, the person who's loving somebody
that he doesn't even know,
hey, the person who loves someone
who's from a totally different nation,
a person who loves them enough to sit down with them
and open their Bible and give them the Gospel
and win them to Christ.
Hey, chances are pretty good it's an independent Baptist,
let's face it.
And so he said, yes, I'm an independent Baptist.
He was a pastor from Boston, Massachusetts, it turned out.
And he had a layover here just like I did.
And he was just passing through,
and he was delayed until he had a few hours.
And so he was just, nobody's watching him.
Not that he knows of.
Nobody's making him do it.
Nobody's watching him to see what he's doing.
He's just on his own by himself.
He said, I'm going to take my time to win people to Christ.
And he's preaching the Gospel.
So then we're sitting there and talking.
The lady that he was talking to
brings somebody over again and just goes,
talk to her, sits her down.
And he starts talking to her.
She didn't get saved,
but he went through the whole thing with her.
Then she gets up and goes back to work.
The lady comes back again 10 minutes later
and brings somebody else and sits her down.
And just tell her too.
And the pastor's like, man, you're like the woman at the well,
you know, bringing all your friends here.
And then he's like, he said, well, you, he said,
Brother Anderson, why don't you talk to this one?
You know, and then I got to give the Gospel to her and talk to her.
And so here we are.
I mean, we're just giving the Gospel to people in the airport.
Just sitting around.
Hey, why? Why?
This man, and I was so thrilled.
I thanked him.
I said, you know what?
You were great.
I said, you're an inspiration to me.
I said, I'm so thrilled to see a pastor that goes forward and so rare.
And I said, God bless you.
Keep it up.
You're doing great.
And then this and that.
I was thrilled and he was encouraged that somebody came
and told him, you know, that he was doing a good thing.
He knew he was doing a good thing.
He said he'd been sowing for 40 years.
He was an older man.
But why?
He was watching.
That's why.
He's a watchdog.
Okay.
He's watching for somebody not saved.
He's watching for somebody to give the Gospel to
so he could jump on that opportunity and warn her.
And he warned her and he gave her the glorious Gospel of Christ.
He gave her the good news that Jesus paid it all.
And she got saved because he was watching.
Hey, you could be the watchdog yourself.
You were man, woman, boy, girl.
Hey, watch for those that need the Gospel.
Watch for those that you could win to Christ.
All the time.
Yes, when we go outdoor to do a soul winning.
Yes, when we do that.
But also just in your daily life.
You know, you're at the airport.
You got some time.
Hey, take that opportunity.
Don't waste your life.
Hey, use your life to warn somebody,
to give somebody the Gospel and be watching all the time.
Well, let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we love you and thank you so much for dying on the cross for us.
Thank you so much for saving us and giving us a home in Heaven,
for giving all our sins.
The Bible says our sins will never be mentioned to us again
as far as the East is from the West,
as far as our God has separated us from our sins.
Hallelujah, my sins are gone.
But Father, thank you also for a book that does warn us,
that warns us about sin,
that tells us the dangers of sin,
that warns us not to go down the path of those around us
that are living in sin,
but to rise above it and to live like a child of God,
to live like we're a child of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords,
to live like we're kings and priests unto God and our Father.
Please Father, help us to heed the warnings of the Bible.
Help us understand that it's not to shame us,
it's not to irritate us,
it's not to take away our fun,
but these warnings are to warn us.