Good evening, let's take our seats this evening and turn to number 421.
If we could please find the hymnal close by.
Once you're in your seats, number 421, the first snow well.
Hymn number 421, lift it up on that first verse, the first snow well.
The angel did say number 421, sing it out on this first verse.
Sing that second verse, we're going to have the ladies sing that second verse.
Ladies, sing it out on the second.
And the angel did sing it out on this first verse.
Sing that third verse.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
For is the King of Israel,
Then entered in those wise men three
Forever and plea upon their knees,
And offered there in his presence
Their old and poor and frankincense.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel,
For is the King of Israel.
Father in heaven, thank you for the gathering of the church tonight.
I pray that you please bless Pastor Anderson and the singing worship to exalt and honor and glorify you, Father.
And help us, your children, become better and better in the faith.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
And now let's turn to number 422.
Number 422, thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown.
Number 422, let's sing it out on that first verse.
Number 422.
Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown,
When thou kingless to earth for me.
But in Bethlehem's home was there plowed a room
For thy holy name's unity.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.
Heaven's arches ring with the angels sing,
Rolling thee thy royal degree.
But of lowly birth didst thou come to earth,
And in grace humility.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.
The foxes countest and the birds their nests
In the shade of the forest tree.
But thy cows was the sod, O thou Son of God,
In the deserts of Galilee.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.
Thou gaveth the Lord with the living Word,
That should set thy people free.
But with mocking storm in the ground,
A thorn made for thee to calorine.
O come to my heart, Lord Jesus,
There is room in my heart for thee.
When the heavens shall ring and the angels sing,
Hath thy coming to victory?
Let thy voice call thee home, saying,
Yet there is room, there is room at my side for thee.
My heart shall rejoice, Lord Jesus,
When thou comest and callest for me.
Wednesday nights at seven is our Bible study.
This week will be in Judges chapter two.
Excuse me.
And the so many times listed there below,
as well as salvations and baptisms.
We've got the December birthdays and anniversaries
across the page there,
and the short little Bible memory passage
just to round out the year, Deuteronomy 7, 9 through 10.
On the back, congratulations to the tall couch family
on the birth of Braylon Peter,
born on Sunday, November 22nd,
and please pray for Amy's speedy recovery.
Christmas caroling is this Friday night,
so you want to get here at five o'clock
so we can get everybody organized,
get everything planned.
So be sure to be here by five,
and then we'll break into teams of about 20 people each,
at least like 20 people each,
and then we'll send you out caroling
from about 5.30 to 6.30,
and then head back here for cookies and hot cocoa.
So that's going to be a fun time this Friday night.
And then the cookie bake-off is on Wednesday, December 23rd,
so that's a couple hours before the Wednesday night service.
And you can enter as many batches of cookies as you want.
So we want a lot of people to make a lot of cookies
so that we can have a lot of cookies to eat, right?
And all adults will get to vote.
So basically everyone receives a blue stone,
a green stone, and a red stone,
and there will be a jar next to each type of cookie,
and then you just drop your vote into each one.
And that's about it for announcements.
Let's go ahead and count up the soul-wedding for the past few days.
Going back to December 3rd, Thursday.
Anything from Thursday.
Anything from this past Thursday.
How about Friday?
Anything from Friday.
How about Saturday?
Okay.
Anything else from Saturday?
What about...
Oh, gotcha. Okay.
What about today?
Anything from today?
Scott.
All right.
Three for the main group with brother Scott.
We got two, one, three.
Okay.
All right. Anything else from today?
One, two, three. Okay.
All right. Anything else from today?
All right. Very good. Keep up the great work on soul-wedding.
And with that, let's go ahead and sing our next song.
Come lead us.
We're going to sing Angels We Have Heard on High.
So you should find that insert in your hymnals there.
If you don't have one, you can raise your hand,
and one of the ushers will get to you with one.
Let's sing it on the first verse.
Angels We Have Heard on High.
Sweetly singing o'er the plains
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Shepherds why this jubilee
Why your joyous strains prolong
What the gladsome tidings meet
Which inspire your heavenly song
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing
Come adore amended he
Christ the Lord the newborn King
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Sing within a manger playing
Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth
Mary, Joseph, land your aid
Sing with us our Savior's birth
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Gloria
In excelsis Deo
Amen, we're gonna sing God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Right behind that sheet
Let's sing it out in the first verse
God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Let nothing you dismay
Remember Christ our Savior
Was born on Christmas Day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
From God our heavenly Father
A blessed angel came
And unto certain shepherds
Brought tidings of the same
How that in Bethlehem was born
The Son of God by name
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Fear not then said the angel
Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Savior
Above your virgin bride
To free all those who trust in Him
From Satan's power and might
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
The shepherds and those tidings
We just left such in mind
And left their flocks a-feeding
In heaven's storm and wind
And went to Bethlehem straightway
The Son of God to find
O tidings of comfort and joy
Comfort and joy
O tidings of comfort and joy
Alright, this time we'll pass our offering plates around
And as the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to Psalm 73
Book of Psalms 73
As we always do, we'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number 1
Psalm 73 starting in verse number 1
Follow along with Brother Raymond as he reads
Psalm 73 in verse 1 the Bible reads
Truly God is good to Israel
Even as such as are of a clean heart
But as for me, my feet were almost gone
My steps had well nigh slipped
For I was envious at the foolish
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked
For there are no bands in their death
But their strength is firm
They are not in trouble as other men
Neither are they plagued like other men
Therefore, pride can passeth them about as a chain
Violence covers them as a garment
Their eyes stand out with fatness
They have more than heart could wish
They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression
They speak loftily
They set their mouth against the heavens
And their tongue walketh through the earth
Therefore, his people return hither
And waters of a full cup are wrung out to them
And they say, How doth God know?
And is there no knowledge in the Most High?
Behold, these are the ungodly
Who prosper in the world
They increase in riches
Verily I have cleansed my heart in vanity
And washed my hands in innocency
For all the day long have I been played
And chastened every morning
If I say, I will speak thus
Behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children
When I thought to know this
It was too painful for me
Until I went into the sanctuary of God
Then understood I therein
Surely thou didst set them in slippery places
Thou castest them down into destruction
How are they brought into desolation
As in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors
As a dream when one awaketh
So, O Lord, when thou awakest
Thou shalt despise their image
Thus my heart was grieved
And I was pricked in my reigns
So foolish was I, and ignorant
I was as a beast before thee
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee
Thou hast holden me by my right hand
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel
And afterward receive me to glory
Whom have I in heaven but thee
And there is none upon earth
That I desire beside thee
My flesh and my heart faileth
But God is the strength of my heart
And my portion forever
For, lo, they that are far from thee
Shall perish
Thou hast destroyed all them that go
Ahoring from thee
But it is good for me to draw near to God
I have put my trust in the Lord God
That I may declare all thy works
Father Charlie, will you pray for us?
Lord, thank you for today
Lord, please bless Pastor Anderson as he preaches the word to us
Lord, open our ears and soften our hearts
That we may grow and continue
In Jesus' name, Amen
Amen, Psalm 73
I want to preach tonight on the subject of envying the wicked
Now I'm not starting up the Psalm series again
Kind of seems that way since I just preached all the way up through Psalm 72
But I just really wanted to preach on this particular Psalm right now
Because I feel like this is something that
A lot of people need to hear from time to time
Especially young people
So the Bible says in Psalm 73 verse 1
Truly, God is good to Israel
Even to such as are of a clean heart
So the author here
Who is Asaph
You know, he's just telling us right away
You know, he understands that
He gets it
That God is good and that God blesses
Those that are of a clean heart
But he's going to tell us a story
About some bad thoughts that he had
Or a wrong attitude that he had
A bad phase that he went through
He says in verse 2
But as for me
My feet were almost gone
My steps had well nigh slipped
For I was envious at the foolish
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked
So he's talking about the fact that
Even though now that he's writing the Psalm
He realizes that God is good
There was a time when he had this thought
Of envying the foolish
When he saw the prosperity of the wicked
So what he's doing is
He's looking around
And looking at people that are without Christ
They're not Christians
They're not saved
They don't love the Lord
They're not following God
And he's looking at them
And saying you know what
I think I'd like to have that life
That they have over there
And of course as the saying goes
The grass is always greener
On the other side of the fence
So sometimes it's possible for this
Kind of a foolish thought
To enter into a Christian's mind
Of looking at wicked people
And thinking hey you know what
Actually maybe I'd rather be
Living like them
Or maybe I'd rather be like unto them
And especially this could be a thought
That Christian young people could have
You know it's possible
It's very likely that Asaph
Probably grew up in a God fearing home
Or whatever
So maybe he's never really even experienced
That other side of life
And so he's looking at it as an outsider
Not actually having experience with it
But just looking at what it looks like
On the outside
And thinking hey that looks pretty good
Because I'm looking at the prosperity
Of the wicked
I'm looking at the wicked doing well
Or seeming to flourish
Seeming to thrive
Now many people in this auditorium tonight
They've actually lived a wicked lifestyle
In the past
And they're not looking at it and envying it
Because they've been there
And they know
It's not what it's cracked up to be
There's no joy there
There's no real pleasure there
It's just pain and suffering and sorrow
It's not what it's cracked up to be
But here's the thing
For Christian young people
You know they haven't experienced that
They look at that
And it could be tempting unto them
You know and me personally
I grew up in a Christian home
You know I was born and raised
An independent fundamental Baptist
And so I've never had experience
Being out there
Drinking
Partying
Fornicating
Taking drugs
You know those are all things
I've never done
And I don't know what it's like
To not go to church every single week
I mean it's just
That's just what I've always done my entire life
Go to church
Read my Bible
You know we've just always been
Christians
You know the longest I've ever gone
Without attending church
Was like less than three weeks
And it was due to sickness
So this is just something that I've had my whole life
So people like me
That could grow up like me
They could fall into this trap
That Asaph was falling into
Where they look at the wicked and think
Hey maybe I'm missing out on something
Or maybe the wicked are actually prospering
He says I was envious at the foolish
When I saw the prosperity of the wicked
Envying means you want what they have
You want to be like them
For there are no bands in their death
But their strength is firm
They're not in trouble as other men
Neither are they plagued like other men
Therefore pride compasseth them about
As a chain
Violence covereth them as a garment
He said I mean these people do a lot of bad stuff
But yet their eyes stand out with fatness
They have more than heart could wish
So he's looking at the cars
The clothes
The houses
And here's the thing
That's how the world measures
Prosperity
And success
You know he says
Well I saw the prosperity of the wicked
What's that prosperity?
He saw
Financial prosperity
He saw
The vehicle
He saw the nice food
The car
And here's the thing
When you look at that
Don't be deceived by that
Because there's a lot more to life than that
Right
It's not life
More than meat
It's not the body
More than raiment
And when you look at
Financial prosperity
Realize that that will never satisfy anyone
It doesn't satisfy the people who have it
And it won't satisfy you when you get it
Because the Bible says
He that loveth silver
Should not be satisfied with silver
And it's just human nature
To want those things
But what good are they
To the owners thereof
The Bible says
Except just the beholding of them with their eyes
You know eventually
I don't care what kind of car you drive
You drive it for a couple weeks
It's just your car
It's just transportation
It's not going to feel that cool anymore
As when you first got
So you might as well get a sensible reliable vehicle
That's easy to maintain
Because at the end of the day
That's what you want
Is just to get from point A to point B
And sure
The car that's fancy
Is going to be fun for a little while
But you know what
Have you ever noticed how pretty much
Everything in life
The newness eventually wears off
And the only thing that's going to provide
Lasting satisfaction
Lasting satisfaction in life
Is serving the Lord
In His presence is fullness of joy
In His right hand
There are pleasures forevermore
But the world's prosperity
Looks great on the outside
And especially children
Because they don't really understand life yet
They think
Oh if I just have that
And X and Y and Z
I'll just be so happy
It's going to be so great
But here's the thing
Those of us who've grown up
And we've gotten X, Y, and Z
We realize
It's all vanity
The Bible is right when it says
Everything's vanity
You know
And it's our walk with God
That actually means something in life
And that's really the only thing
That has ultimate meaning in our life
Is our walk with God
But Asaph is looking at
The fact that they have more than heart could wish
I mean these people are doing great
They're healthy
They have prosperity
In verse 8 it says
They're corrupt
And speak wickedly concerning oppression
They speak loftily
They set their mouth against the heavens
He's like
Look I hear them blaspheming God
They're blaspheming Jesus Christ
Obviously I'm modernizing this
Into the Christian era
Because of the fact that that's where we live
But you know
He hears all them blaspheming
And he says in verse 10
Or sorry verse 9
They set their mouth against the heavens
And their tongue walketh through the earth
Therefore his people return hither
And waters of a full cup are rung out to them
And they say
How doth God know?
And is there knowledge in the most high?
Behold these are the ungodly
Who prosper in the world
They increase in riches
Pfft
Fairly I've cleansed my heart in vain
And washed my hands in innocency
For all the day long have I been plagued
And chastened every morning
So he's saying
Look
I'm going through all kinds of problems in my life
I'm looking at these people
They look healthy and rich
They're blowing off their mouths
They're blasphemous
They're sinful
Here I am
I wake up every morning
Sick to my stomach
Or pain
Or whatever the ailment
That he was going through
But he's saying
Look
I'm plagued all the day long
I'm chastened every morning
I wake up in the morning
Feeling like garbage
And I'm looking at these people
You know on the Budweiser ad
And they look like they're having a great time
You know I'm looking at these worldly people over here
And they seem to have
Uh life by the tail
And he says
Man I've cleansed my heart in vain
What's the point?
Why am I even living the Christian life?
I'm miserable they're doing great!
But then in verse 15 he says
If I say I will speak thus
Behold I should offend against the generation of thy children
Cause this is an adult
Keep in mind this is an adult who's having these thoughts
Asaph is having these thoughts as an adult
And he's envying the wicked
And thinking that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence
But then when he thinks about what it would be like to actually voice these things out loud
You know these things that are going on in his head
He says that he doesn't
You know he feels like that would offend the generation of the children
And when I thought to know this it was too painful for me
So he's saying look
I don't want to start talking this way
Cause I don't want the Christian kids to hear me think this
And then they'll you know think
Well maybe we should go out and just live a wicked life and a simple life
So isn't it funny what he's saying
He's like I don't want other people living a simple life
I'm just thinking maybe for me I could have a good time
Now stop and think about that
That doesn't really make sense does it?
But this is remember this is his foolish thinking
He's talking about having these foolish thoughts
When he's on the verge of being really backslidden
And going off into sin
So he's having this thought of like
Man maybe I should just go out and do some of the partying
And have a good time and see how the other side lives
But then he's like
Well I don't want kids to do that
I don't want the young people to do that you know
And that's kind of when he starts to think about it
And get his head screwed on straight here
Like wait a minute
I don't want other people to live that way
How can I live that way
Because I live that way
But notice what the solution is in verse 17
Because he says when I thought to know this
It was too painful for me
Verse 17
Until I went into the sanctuary of God
Then understood I therein
And here's the thing
The equivalent of that in our day would be church
Because the sanctuary of God is talking about the tabernacle
It's talking about the temple
So it's the house of God in the Old Testament
So he's basically saying then I went to church
Then understood I therein
Now this is one of the important functions
That church performs in our lives
Is that a lot of times we could drift a little bit spiritually
And then going to church is like a reset button
That kind of gets us back on track
Gets our mind right
Because we can start getting distracted
With the cares of this world
And just start getting busy with everything else
Or maybe even just getting a bad attitude
I can't even count how many times I was just depressed
And down
And then I came to church
And then I just felt great
And was happy
Renewed
Excited
Or just getting a little back sledding
And then come to church
And boom
You know
It's like a reset button spiritually
You're filled with the spirit
You're ready to go
You're ready to live for God
And that's what we see with Asaph
He's having these dumb ideas
Then he goes to church
And he understood therein
Now here's what the idea is
Let's say we look at worldly sinful people
And let's say that they actually are having a good time
Maybe they actually are having fun
And enjoying life
And they're healthy and prosperous
What we need to understand though
Is that the end thereof is going to be bad
When you're blaspheming God
When you're blowing off your mouth
When you're hurting other people
When you're doing sinful things
Eventually the bill is going to come due
Eventually you're going to have to pay the piper
Eventually you're going to have to suffer the consequences
Of what you're doing
And so he says
I understood their end
Now let me say this though
A lot of what you're seeing
With the worldly people enjoying life
And having a good time
Is an illusion
Because those that are in this room
Who've lived a sinful worldly life in the past
They could tell you
Hey outwardly I seem fine
I go home and I'm crying
I'm scared
I'm upset
And the Bible says
Even in laughter
The heart is sorrowful
And the end of that mirth is heaviness
You know what heaviness means?
Depression would be our modern word for that
Being depressed
Being sad
Being miserable
So just because you see
You know
Whatever the Instagram influencer
You know
Smiling and happy
And look at me I'm glamorous
I'm traveling the world
How do you know that that person's not living a miserable life
And look how many Hollywood types
And rock and roll types
End up committing suicide
Even though outwardly
Seems like they got it all going for them
And they're so cool
And they're so fun
And they're so glamorous
And they're traveling to Europe this week
And Asia next week
And they're on tour
And everything's great
The new album
And then they kill themselves
Why?
Because those things aren't actually satisfying
And a lot of people put on an outward show of happiness
But it doesn't really mean
That they have real joy in their heart
You know
I know that I have joy in my heart
You know whether or not you have joy in your heart
But when you look at someone from the outside
As long as they can put on a pretty good facade
But on the inside they're in a lot of pain
And they're not satisfied
And they don't like their life
And the thing is
Social media makes it especially easy
To perpetrate an illusion
And a lot of times people could envy people on Facebook
And they
Oh man
You know
I wish I had that marriage
Or I wish I lived in that place
Or I wish I had that job
Or I wish I had that lifestyle
You know what
It's so fake
On social media
You don't even begin to compare your life
To what you see on social media
Because you know what
Everybody puts their best foot forward on social media
And by the way
The couples that kind of lay it on
The thickest on Facebook
Are probably the couples with the most problems
You know
It's like
Oh look at us
We're so in love
Every single day
Everything's perfect
You know
It's like
Come on
Nothing's ever going to be that perfect
What are you trying to hide
The point is
That don't look at what you see on Facebook
And think it's reality
Nothing's real
That you see on social media
Because you know
That picture
That pretty picture
You didn't see the 57 bad pictures
Before they got to the one
That actually looked good
They tilted that camera
Every single possible angle
Until they finally
Were able to look decent
For that camera
You know
All the homely pictures went in the trash
And you know
They got that perfect picture
And then
That was before all the filters
And effects went on it
And then it was even
The apple was even further polished
So the point is
We don't want to believe
We don't want to fall into the trap of just believing everything we see
Like
Oh look how happy these people are
That's the fun life
My life as a Christian is
Look at that great life
Folks it's a lie
The Christian life is the best life that there is
By far
Now look
Obviously we're going to heaven
And unsaved people are going to hell
But even just the Christian life itself
Is filled with joy
And it's a blessed life
Okay
And doing things God's way is a blessing
You know what the Bible says
The way of transgressors is hard
You ever see people that say they live a hard life
Oh man
She looks like she's lived a hard life
It doesn't mean she really read the Bible a lot
And prayed a lot
And she was real active in church
She lived a hard life
Living for
No no
Hard life equals
Partying
And why
It takes its toll
Because it's a destructive lifestyle
And so
He went in the sanctuary of God
And understood therein
So number one
Don't be fooled by what you see
Because it's not an illusion
But let's just assume for a minute that it is real
Because I'm sure there are
Some people out there living a sinful life
That actually are happy and having a good time
Okay
I'll grant you that
They're having a good time
They're living it up
They're enjoying life
But you know what you need to understand is their end
You need to understand what the end thereof is going to be like
The Bible says
In verse number 18
Surely thou didst let them in slippery places
Thou casteth them down into destruction
How are they brought into desolation
As in a moment
And are utterly consumed with terrors
As a dream when one awaketh
So O Lord
When thou awakest
Thou shalt despise their image
He's saying man
These people are going to get destroyed
And it's going to happen fast
It's going to be just
Boom
They're just going to get nailed
And he realizes this
When he goes to the house of God
Verse 21
Thus my heart was grieved
And I was pricked in my reigns
Verse 22
So foolish was I
And ignorant
I was as a beast before thee
So he just realizes
Man what an idiot I am
How could I have envied these people for one second
When I know that they're set in these slippery places
They're going to crash and burn
They're going to be wiped out
They're going to be destroyed
Even if they are enjoying it now
It's not worth it
Because of how it's going to end up
Oh man
Look at the people
They're partying in their twenties
Okay but you have to pay for those consequences later
And so he says
Man I was such an idiot
How foolish I was
I was as a beast before you
He's just like
I'm just like a big dumb animal
Why would I think these stupid thoughts
He says
I was foolish
Ignorant
I was as a beast before thee
Verse 23
Nevertheless I'm continually with thee
Thou is holding me by my right hand
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel
And afterward receive me to glory
Whom have I in heaven but thee
And there's none upon earth that I desire beside thee
My flesh and my heart filleth
But God is the strength of my heart
And my portion forever
For lo they that are far from thee shall perish
Thou has destroyed all them that go whoring from thee
But it is good for me to draw near to God
I've put my trust in the Lord
That I may declare all thy works
Now go to Psalm 37.
It's kind of easy to remember these two
Because 73 and 37
And they're both kind of about envying the wicked, right?
Psalm 73, Psalm 37
Look at Psalm 37 verse 1 it says
Fret not thyself because of evildoers
Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity
And look it's the same reason given in Psalm 73
For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, right?
I mean basically they're whatever is as grass
And God is the lawnmower, right?
And he's saying they're going to be cut down like grass
And wither as the green herb
Trust in the Lord and do good
So shalt thou dwell in the land
And verily thou shalt be fed
Delight thyself also in the Lord
And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart
Now look, isn't that what we all want?
The desires of our heart
If God says I will give you the desires of your heart
What is it that you really want?
Not just on the surface but deep down
What is it that you really want?
Well you know what God's saying?
I'll give it to you
I will give you what you want
God will give you what you want
You know the Bible says that God will give good things unto his children
Just like a father gives good things unto his son
You know if his son has bread he's not going to give him a stone
If he has a fish he's not going to give him a serpent
If he asks for an egg he's not going to give him a scorpion
He knows to give good things unto his children
And so God doesn't want to just kind of mess with you
And just torment you and torture you
Look, when it comes to what you really want deep down
God has promised to give you the desires of your heart if you delight in him
Now here's the thing
The people out there that are living the worldly and sinful life
That you stupidly would covet or envy
Or look at that as somehow better than the Christian life
They will not get the desires of their heart
They're not going to find it
They're going to keep searching
They're going to keep looking
They're going to keep trying
They're never going to achieve this
But yet the Christian is guaranteed to receive the desires of their heart
If they delight in the Lord
If you trust in the Lord and do good
You're going to dwell in the land
And you're going to be fed
Isn't that what we all want?
I mean look, we all want to live in peace
We all want to have safety, security
And we want to be fed
We want to eat
We want to have a secure dwelling place
And we want the desires of our heart to be met
And God says, hey, I'll take care of it
You just got to trust me
Now is God going to bring us through some pain along the way?
Of course
But life is filled with pain
And pain makes us a better person
Suffering, no pain, no gain
Okay
Think about people who go out and run marathons
They don't do it because there's no pain involved
If there was no pain involved
Then running across the finish line would be meaningless
The whole joy of making it across the finish line
Is the pain that you've endured to get there
Okay
And so a life free from pain
No one's going to experience that
Obviously we're going to go through trials and tribulations
The Christian life involves suffering
It involves sorrow
It involves mourning
It involves bad times
But in the end
You come forth as gold
In the end you receive the desires of your heart
You win
You prosper
You succeed
Look at the end of Job
The guy who went through the worst misery
But in the end
Everything was perfect
Everything was great
He received everything
And so the Bible says
Delight thyself also in the Lord
And he shall give thee the desires of thy heart
Commit thy way unto the Lord
Trust also in him
And he shall bring it to pass
He shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light
And thy judgment as the noonday
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him
Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth his
Don't look at that guy
Don't look at that wicked jerk that's prospering
And doing well
And everything's going great
Don't even think about that guy
Don't fret for him
Don't think about that guy who prospers in his way
Because the man who brings wicked devices to pass
Verse 8
Cease from anger
He's saying don't even get mad at that guy
Don't even get angry and just worked up about that guy
For sake wrath
Cease from anger
Fret not thyself and any wise to do evil
For evildoers shall be cut off
But those that wait upon the Lord
They shall inherit the earth
Look, here's what he's saying
Don't fixate on wicked people
There's two ways you could fixate on wicked people
Number one, you could fixate on wicked people
You could fixate on wicked people thinking
Huh, maybe they have something that I could have
You know, maybe they're enjoying life more than I am
Maybe it's not so bad
Maybe I could live that lifestyle a little bit
You know, I'm saved, I'm a Christian
You know, maybe I could go and live that life too
He's saying, you're an idiot
It's stupid
It's brutish
It's the thought of a beast
Like, are you serious?
That's what Asaph taught, right?
But he's saying, look, don't fixate on the wicked
to envy them and think, oh man, must be nice
But also he's saying, don't fixate on the wicked
to be angry at them and hate on them
And look, I'm known as a hate preacher
You know, I mean, that's the moniker that I've been given
But here's the funny thing about that
Here's the ironic thing about that
Is that I have so little hate in my life
Ironically
You know, for being Mr. Hate Preacher
Leader of a hate group, you know, certified and everything
But the point is, like, do you really think
that Mondays and Tuesdays
I'm just sitting around just seething
and just angry and just burning in my rage and wrath
toward the sodomites of this world
toward our wicked government
toward the weirdos and perverts
Now look, I get up behind the pulpit
and I rip face on these things
And you know what?
All the emotion that you see is real
When I do think about these people
Man, that's how I feel
And I'm enraged
And I'm just super angry
when I think about these things
But here's the thing
I don't sit around thinking about these things all day
Because the Bible says whatsoever things are true
whatsoever things are honest
whatsoever things are just
whatsoever things are pure
whatsoever things are lovely
whatsoever things are of good report
If there be any virtue and if there be any praise
think on these things
And so the majority of my life
is spent on dwelling on positive things
And here's the thing
People who actually know me
People who actually live with me
My wife and my 11 children
They know me to be a very
joyful and positive person
Rarely angry
Rarely upset
Rarely am I down or seething
Now look
Are there things that we should get mad at?
Absolutely
And you know what?
Over and over again in the Bible we see
righteous anger
righteous indignation
I'm for it
I mean, does anyone doubt my anger
and wrath and hate credentials?
I've got them
But you know what?
I'm not going to sit there and go through life angry
Because that's not what God wants me to do
Because the Bible says anger resteth in the bosom of fools
Now look, Jesus Christ got angry
He got angry in the synagogue
about the Pharisees
trying to attack him for healing someone on the Sabbath day
All the guys do is just stretch out his hand and it's healed
and they think that's work or something
And it says Jesus looked on them with anger
I mean, Jesus got angry when they're selling things in the house of God
and he made the whip and chased them out
You know, God is angry with the wicked every day
But here's the thing about that
You know, the Bible says
Make no friendship with an angry man
Don't learn his ways
Don't become an angry person
Because have you ever known people that are just angry people?
It's like Monday they're angry, Tuesday they're angry, Wednesday they're angry
They're just constantly angry
You know, that's a bad attribute
If that's you, you need to change
You need to get that attribute out of your life
Now is there a time for anger?
Is there a situation?
Of course
But you know what though?
I'd rather spend the majority of my time
meditating on righteous things, godly things, pure things, lovely things
Look, do we have to deal with sin?
Yeah, we have to deal with sin
Do we have to deal with the wickedness of our world?
We don't want to just stick our heads in the sand
and just kind of hear no evil, see no evil
and just pretend that everything's good and everything's fine
Look, we need to confront these issues
We need to confront the issue of the sodomites
We need to confront the wickedness of our day
the adultery and the drunkenness
But here's the thing though
We don't want to fixate on that
We need to spend more time fixating on the right things
the things of god
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
We just don't need to fixate on the wicked period
We should spend more of our lives
meditating on the word of god
enjoying our families
thinking about good things
being positive
and then spend some time dealing with the negative
as it comes up, as we need to
We go to church and we deal with these things
But you don't want to become obsessed with that
Some people just get obsessed with the negativity
and they're just so negative
and it's just every day
It's all they can talk about
And you know what?
There are people on Facebook like that
It's just how many negative things they post every day
It's just like everything's doom and gloom
Doom, gloom, doom, gloom
You know what?
Eventually, you're not going to be able to handle that anymore
Or the people around you aren't going to be able to handle that anymore
That kind of negativity
It's just, it can be too much
You know, and look
Do you see Jesus Christ get angry a couple times
and really just go off?
Yeah, but do you see Jesus just in a continual rage?
Is the book of Matthew just this rage fest?
And the book of Mark is just rage in chapter one
Rage in chapter two
Rage in...
That's not really how Christ was, is it?
There was a time for anger
There was a time for some face-ripping preaching
But then there were a lot of other times
of just being a peaceful person
and getting along
and thinking about the nice things and the good things
So don't fixate
He's saying, look, don't fixate on the wicked to envy them
Which is what a lot of people do
They follow all the celebrities and they idolize them and want to be like them
But then he's also saying
Don't fixate on them
Just be mad at them and hate them
You know, you need to just
Trust in the Lord
Rest in him
And cease from anger, forsake wrath
Fret not thyself and any wise to do evil
And why is it that we don't need to fixate on the wicked to idolize them
And we don't need to fixate on the wicked
To just be mad and angry at them all the time
And hateful toward them all the time
Because he says in verse nine
For evildoers shall be cut off
But those that wait upon the Lord
They shall inherit the earth
Verse 10
For yet a little while
And the wicked shall not be
And this is exactly what Asaph taught in chapter 73
And I love this next part
Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place
And it shall not be
You know, whatever happened to that guy
Whatever happened, you know, you say what
You're trying to figure out what happened to them
You know what, they got wiped out
They got destroyed
They crashed and burned
Is what he's saying
You're not gonna be able to find them
But the meek
Verse 11
Shall inherit the earth
And shall delight themselves
In the abundance of peace
The wicked plotteth against the just
And gnasheth upon him with his teeth
The Lord shall laugh at him
For he seeth that his day is coming
The wicked have drawn out the sword
And have bent their bow
To cast down the poor and needy
And to slay such as be of upright conversation
There's, it's like, well what are we gonna do?
I mean, they're after us
They've got the bow bent
They've got the sword drawn
They're out to get us
They're out to destroy us
Persecution of Christians
Is coming
What are we gonna do?
And you know, I love what it says in verse 15
Their sword shall enter into their own heart
You know who they're gonna destroy
It's not me
It's not you
You know who they're gonna destroy?
Themselves
And folks, this is a relevant message right now
Because of the fact that right now
There are a lot of wicked people
Pulling a lot of wicked shenanigans
And everybody right now is wondering
Where is this going?
You know, we look at everything that's happened in 2020
We're rolling into 2021
And we've got all of these things
That concern us
And that we're worried about
And look, are there wicked people behind the scenes
Plotting a new world order?
Absolutely
But guess what they're gonna do?
Guess what that sword that they've got in their hand
Is gonna do?
They're gonna plunge it into themselves
And you know what?
At the end of the day
I'm gonna be okay
And you're gonna be okay
Because we love the Lord
And all things work together for good
For them to love God
We're gonna be blessed
We're gonna be fine
So that's why we don't need to fixate
On the rulers of the darkness of this world
Because they're ultimately gonna destroy themselves
And we're gonna be great
We're gonna be fine
So I'm not, you know
You know, some people might think I'm pessimistic
About 2021
You know, going into 2019
I said it's gonna be the best year ever
And it was the worst year ever
Going into 2020
I was like okay
That was a bad year
This is gonna be the good one
It was worse
So now I'm going to 2021
Just like
It's gonna be bad
You know
I'm trying a new approach
You know
I'm trying to use a little reverse psychology here
So I'm going into 2021
With an attitude
Just to kind of expect
But here's the thing
Some people are like
Well that's pessimistic
But here's the thing
When I say 2021's gonna be bad
I don't
To me that's not a bad thing
Because I don't care
Because I'm like
2021's gonna be bad
Let's do it
Because I'm just ready for anything
Because you know what
I know that all things work together for good
To them that love God
So I'm not worried about it being bad
I just kind of know it's gonna be bad
And I'm just like
It's gonna be bad
You know
I'm okay with it
I'm at peace with it
Okay
Why?
Because I know that
Oh man these wicked people
What are they gonna do
You know what they're gonna do
Their sword is gonna enter their own heart
Just remember that
Their sword will enter their own heart
You know
All the people that you're worried about
You're worried about the bankers
And George Soros
And you're worried about Joe Biden
And Kamala Harris
And you're worried about Bill Gates
And everybody else
You know what
Their sword's gonna do
Their sword's gonna enter their own heart
They're gonna wipe themselves out
They're gonna destroy themselves
They can't destroy me
It's impossible
I'm invincible
You know
Only God
Is the one who controls my destiny
No one else
You know
And here's the thing
What can they do
They can kill the body
They can't kill the soul
And they can't even kill my body
Unless God allows it
Unless God up in heaven says
Alright
It's time for Steven Anderson to go
Then I'm not going anywhere
Then I can't die until God decides that I'm ready to die
So why would I worry about it?
If that's what God decides
Well you know
Am I gonna argue with God?
And so don't worry about these people
They're gonna destroy themselves
What a great verse
Their sword shall enter into their own heart
I mean
That alone is worth the price of admission tonight
At Faith Forward Baptist Church
And their bows shall be broken
A little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked
How about that?
You know
You young people
You teenagers
Oh look at that car
Look at those clothes
Hey
The little that your mom and dad have that actually love the Lord
Your parents are richer than they are
Because the little that the righteous man has
The little that your pastor has
And your mom and dad have
And other godly people in your lives have
Grandparents or aunts and uncles that are living for God
Friends
You know
The Christians of our church
The little that they have
That is better than the riches of many wicked
Okay
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken
But the Lord upholdeth the righteous
The Lord knoweth the days of the upright
And their inheritance shall be forever
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time
In the days of famine they shall be satisfied
Oh man what about the economic downturn
I'm going to be satisfied
You know I guarantee you one thing that's going to happen
I will not starve to death
And my family will not starve to death
No matter what happens
It will not happen
It's impossible
David said I've never seen the righteous forsaken
I've never seen his seed begging bread
The Bible said my God shall supply all your need
According to his riches and glory by Christ Jesus
I don't know how I'm going to die
There are a multitude of ways I could die
Starving is not one of them
For me or my children
Because God has promised to give us our daily bread
And to feed us and take care of us
Now sometimes we might have to be a little lean
Sometimes it might be a vegetarian meal
Or rice and beans or whatever
Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
But you know what
God is going to sustain us
And the Bible says right here
That in the days of famine
It's not that we're just going to have enough food
To just barely get by
Hey in the days of famine
We're going to be satisfied
We're going to eat until we're stuffed
We're going to be okay
We're going to have enough
I'm not worried about it
You know
I'm not stockpiling anything
Because I know that in the days of famine
I'm going to be satisfied
You know you might not have toilet paper
But you're going to be satisfied with food
You're going to have enough food
And toilet paper isn't a necessity
It's a luxury, amen
That's right
He says in verse 20
But the wicked shall perish
And the enemies of the Lord
Shall be as the fat of lambs
They shall consume into smoke
They consume away
Just sit like
Think of fat like sizzling on the grill
It's just gone
That's what's going to happen to the wicked
The wicked borroweth and payeth not again
But the righteous showeth mercy and giveth
Verse 22
For such as be blessed of him
Shall inherit the earth
And they that be cursed of him
Shall be cut off
The steps of a good man
Are ordered by the Lord
Now notice what the Bible does not say there
Does the Bible say
The steps of every single man
Are ordered by the Lord
Is that what it says?
That's what the Calvinist thinks, right?
Calvinists just kind of think
Everything that's happening is God's will
And God's in control
Here's the thing
The steps of a good man
Are ordered by the Lord
You know what?
The steps of a bad man
Are not necessarily ordered by the Lord
So here's what you do in life
You focus on being the good man
You focus on being the good woman
And then God will direct your path
In all thy ways acknowledge him
He shall direct thy paths
If you want your steps to be ordered by the Lord
And you don't want to just be kind of
Going this way, that way
I don't know what to do
I don't know what to decide
I don't know which way to go
Hey, if you be a good man
The steps of a good man
Are ordered by the Lord
And then you know what you do?
You live a couple years of life
And then you look backward
And you say, wow
Everything just fell into place
It's like God was leading me
Everything just worked out
Even the bad things
Ended up being good
This bad thing
I thought it was bad
It actually helped me
It was better
It was a bonus
Why?
Because you're being a good man
You know
So you focus on serving the Lord
And then you have that assurance
Of knowing my steps are ordered
Look
What is that worth
Just to know
I'm on track
I'm going somewhere
God's got a plan for my life
And I'm on it
That's what it means
To be a good man
And God delights in our way
The Bible says
But no, he does not delight
In everyone's way
And no, everyone's steps
Are not ordered by the Lord
The steps of a good man
Are ordered by the Lord
Though he fall
He shall not be utterly cast down
For the Lord upholdeth him
With his hand
I've been young
And now I'm old
Yet have I been
Yet have I not seen
The righteous forsaken
Nor his seed begging bread
He's ever merciful
And lendeth
And his seed is blessed
Depart from evil
And do good
And dwell forevermore
For the Lord loveth judgment
And forsaketh not his saints
They're preserved forever
But the seed of the wicked
Shall be cut off
The righteous shall inherit the land
And dwell therein forever
The mouth of the righteous
Speaketh wisdom
And his tongue talketh of judgment
The law of his God
Is in his heart
None of his steps shall slide
The wicked watcheth the righteous
And seeketh to slay him
The Lord will not leave him in his hand
Nor condemn him when he's judged
Don't worry about the enemies
And the wicked people plotting against us
Wait on the Lord
And keep his way
And he shall exalt thee
To inherit the land
When the wicked are cut off
Thou shalt see it
I've seen the wicked in great power
And spreading himself
Like a green bay tree
Yet he passed away
And lo, he was not
Yeah, I sought him
But he could not be found
Mark the perfect man
And behold the upright
For the end of that man is peace
Notice the end is peace
But the transgressors
Shall be destroyed together
The end of the wicked
Shall be cut off
But the salvation of the righteous of the Lord
He is their strength
In the time of trouble
And the Lord shall help them
And deliver them
He shall deliver them from the wicked
And save them because they trust in him
Now look folks, this is powerful stuff
In Psalm 73 and Psalm 37
I mean, you should walk away from these two Psalms
And look, remember these two Psalms
They're easy to remember
Because again, they're just
You just invert the two numbers, right?
You got 37, 73
This is your dynamic duo of chapters
To tell you, hey, you want to go see what it's like
Living like a worldly, sinful, wicked person
Guess what?
That's a stupid thing to think about
And why don't you just trust the Lord
I guarantee you
That if you follow Christ
Your life will turn out the way that you want it to turn out
It might not turn out the way that you expect
It might not turn out
Maybe the way you would have chosen
But in the end
You will like the way it turns out
You'll be glad
You'll say, you know what?
My life turned out perfect
It turned out exactly the way I want it to turn out
You would not trade
I guarantee you
Get to the end of the Christian life
You wouldn't trade it for some skank
Some whore
Some whoremonger
Some derelict
You wouldn't trade with them
You really think that
That wicked people when they get old
Are just like, man, I'm so glad
I partied so hard when I was young
You think they're just in the nursing home
Just wishing that they would have partied a little more
Is that what you think?
Because they're not
But you know what?
People, when they get older, they're glad
That they did right
You know, look, where I'm at in life
I'm glad for all the good things that I did
All the righteous things I did
And I regret all the bad things I did
I don't just, man, I wish I would have partied more
Man, why didn't I get into drinking?
Why didn't I fornicate, you know?
Why didn't I take some drugs?
No one thinks that way
It's stupid
It makes no sense
You're glad that you stayed clean and pure and did right
And you know what?
If you're sitting there as a teenager, a young person
And you're just thinking
Well, you know, that's what Pastor Anderson says
What does he know?
Let me tell you something
You're a teenager
You don't know anything about life
Okay?
I'm not trying to insult you or anything
But it's just true
I don't care how smart you are
I was a smart teenager
Okay?
I didn't know anything about life
Okay?
But thankfully, I was smart enough
To just trust the people who told me
Don't fornicate
Don't drink
You know, I didn't understand everything about life
But at least I just trusted in the Lord
I just trusted what God was saying
And I just said, you know, I gotta follow God's rules
And obviously I wasn't perfect
But at least I was able to stay on the right path
Because I just trusted the Lord
Because I didn't know very much about life
But you know, I sure thought I knew a lot about life
When I was 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
But you know what?
I knew, looking back, I knew very little
I'm, you know, here I am at age 39
Looking back at 20 years ago
Just thinking, man, you knew nothing
20 years ago
Compared to what you know now
And I'm sure every older person in the room feels the same way
Like, yeah, when I was a teenager, man, I didn't get it
I didn't understand
But every teenager thinks they get it
So here's the successful teenager
You know what they're gonna do?
They're gonna trust the wisdom of the Word of God ultimately
Trust the wisdom of their pastor
That's telling them there's nothing out there worth experiencing
In that bar or that strip club or that casino
There is nothing in those places that's worth it
Well, how do you know, Pastor Anderson?
Did you try it?
No, I don't have to try it, okay?
Because I trusted the people who taught me that
But there are plenty of other people in this room who have been in those places and experienced them
And they can tell you from experience
There's nothing there that's worth doing
There's nothing there that's worth experiencing
There's nothing there except pain and suffering and misery
And it's foolish and it's wicked
And there's no joy to be found there
Okay, but look, I'm telling you, you've got to trust
Pastor Anderson telling you that
You've got to trust the Word of God telling you that
You've got to trust your mom and dad telling you that
Because I'm sure that if you're here with your parents
I'm sure your mom and dad tell you these things, right?
And if not, mom and dad, what are you doing?
Because you know what?
I shouldn't be the only person preaching to your kids
You need to preach this to your kids
You need to tell your kids
Hey kids, there's nothing out there
In that cesspool of sin and iniquity
Called the casino or the bar or the strip club
Or whatever, nightclub, whatever places that people go to indulge in sin
You know, you need to trust your parents
When they tell you that
You need to trust your pastor, trust the Word of God
Because you know what?
Frankly, you as a teenager are not going to have the wisdom
To fully grasp all these issues of life
And understand why God's way is best
Okay
But that's why what
Isn't it interesting that chapter 37 is all about
How the wicked are doomed
And the righteous are going to be super blessed
What's the word that keeps coming up over and over?
It's just like trust
Trust me
Trust the Lord
Trust God
Why?
Because of the fact that they're, you know
They say experience is the best teacher
But you know with a lot of these things
Someone else's experience is the best teacher
Because you know
You don't want to have to go learn everything yourself the hard way
Eventually you Christian young people will know
Someday you will know that everything I'm saying is true right now
Someday you will know that
Period
Twenty years from now you will know
But you'll either know it one of two ways
You'll either know it because
A, you listened to me
You listened to your parents
You listened to the Word of God
And you actually lived a clean and godly life
And went the Lord's way
And you're blessed and prosperous
And you see all these other people crashing and burning
You see all these other people suffering
You understand more about how life works
You understand more about the Word of God
And then you're like
You know what?
Pastor Anderson was right
I'm glad I did things God's way
And followed Psalm 73 and 37
Okay
Or B
You're going to be 20 years from now
And you disregarded the sermon
And you disregarded the warnings
And you went out and screwed up your life
And you went out and you had fun for a while
Down at these wicked places
And then you hit rock bottom
And you felt the emptiness
And the vanity
And the worthlessness of it all
And you'll get there
And you've already done
Permanent damage to your life
Permanent damage to your body
Permanent damage to relationships
Permanent damage to your walk with God
And then you're going to say
You know what?
Pastor Anderson was right
I should have listened to him
But you know what?
You will eventually know
That what I'm saying tonight is right
So don't be an idiot that has to go
Experience it for yourself
I mean do you think I just have to
Experience everything myself
Like you know
Well I just have to touch that electric fence
Just to see
I just want to step on a landmine myself
Just to see
You know I think I'm just going to
Put my hand on that hot stove plate
And just see what happens
You know I'm just going to swallow that tide pod
And just see what happens
You know what I mean?
I just
I'm just going to eat that spoonful of cinnamon
Myself and see if I die
Do I just have to just test everything myself
Experience everything myself
You know
No
I'm going to learn from other people's mistakes
So you know what
No
I don't have to try drugs
Or try alcohol
Or try all these illicit things
Because I already know
That it's not worth it
How do you know that?
Well you know what
Because the Bible said so
And you know what
I'm
I'm trusting
The people
Who raised me
And taught me
The pastors that I had
The parents that I had
The word of God
And
And so I don't have to learn everything the hard way
You know it's an idiot
Who has to go out and learn everything the hard way
Instead of just listening to other people
Right?
Just listening to advice
Just listen
Listening to people who are older
People who have made the mistakes
Telling you
Don't do it
People who have done it right
Telling you
Do it right
Don't do that
But you're just like
No no
I think I'm just gonna just reinvent the wheel
And just figure it all out myself
Well you know what
The problem with that is
That when you're a Christian
You're held to a higher standard by God
And unto whom much is given of him
Shall much be required
And so some of the people in this room
Who who lived a pretty wicked or sinful life in the past
And now they're living for God
You know part of the reason why they kind of
You know
They ended up okay
Cause you might look at them now and say
Hey they're okay
Yeah but here's the thing
That's cause a lot of them were doing that out of ignorance
Right
They weren't necessarily raised in a church
Where it's all being just
Put out there
Shown to them
Taught to them
And you know
It's very likely
That you won't be here 20 years from now
Saying Pastor Anderson was right
Like I predicted
Let's add option C
Cause we've got option A
Option B right
How about option C
You're up in heaven saying Pastor Anderson was right
Because you died
Right
You think that that's possible
Because you know I've seen
Christian young people killed
And you know what
God
Will chastise and chasten his children
And if they get too bad
He'll just
He'll just do like he did to King Saul
He'll just take you out
And look
I'm telling you
You might think
Well I'm gonna go out and sow my wild oats or whatever
Yeah okay
You might just get a disease
That just never goes away
You might just get infected with something
That you have permanently
Or
God might just snap his fingers
And put you in a car wreck
Where you're just disfigured permanently
You know
And you know you're so prideful and proud
About your pretty face
You know God could mutilate your face
In a moment
It's called a car accident
And you know how many car accidents happen every day
In America
It's a lot
Okay
He could just
He could just mutilate
Your pretty face
Just like that
If you're gonna be all proud
And puffed up
And that's all you care about
Stupid carnal things
You know
And look
I'm just telling you the truth
I mean
He that being often reproved
Hardened at his neck
Shall suddenly be destroyed
And that without remedy
You know
You can ruin your life
In ways where there's no fixing it
I don't want that for your life
I want you to
You know what
I want you to live a happy
I want you to be as happy as I am
I want you to have a happy life
I want you to have joy in your life
You know
And I'm talking to the young people
You know
I want you young people
To enjoy life
Yeah
I want you to serve God
I want you to do great things for God
But you know what
I love you
And I don't want to see you suffer either
I don't want to see you
Just in misery
And pain
And ruining your life
I don't want that
I don't want that for you
It's not that your parents
And your pastor
It's not that we're just
You know
Out to spoil your fun
And we're just these fuddy duddies
And we're just sort of like ASAP
Where you know
We just don't want the kids
Doing bad stuff
You know
It's like
But we're thinking about it
No my friend
We want
You
To live
A righteous life
Yes for the kingdom of Christ
But also for your own benefit
Because we love you
And we don't want to see you
We don't want to peel you off the pavement either
We don't want to go in the hospital
And you know
Change out your feeding tube
Okay
We don't want to have to see you
You know
Divorce for the fifth time
And
Paying a bunch of alimony
And paying a bunch of child support
And we don't want to see you married
To an unbeliever
And by the way
Let me just throw this out there too
You know
Just because I'm kind of just
Talking to the young people
Let me explain some of you young people
If you marry an unsaved person
Here's the problem with marrying unsaved people
Every single unsaved person has the potential
To become a reprobate
I mean
How would you like to be
You know
And look
Obviously lots of unsaved people
Will go through their whole life
Without ever becoming a reprobate
It's obviously a minority of people that are reprobates
But just keep in mind
Any unsaved person has the potential
To eventually become a reprobate
And think about it
Don't you think that unsaved people as life goes on
Might kind of get worse and worse
Without Christ
They could get worse
You know
I mean that's probably one of the scariest things
About marrying an unsaved person
Is that they could
Have the potential
And even if it's
Even if it's just a one in
You know
A one in fifty chance or something
That's a scary thought
Maybe it's a one in twenty chance
Or one in fifty chance
But I
You know
How would you like to be married
To a reprobate
That's
That's horrible right
But you know
You're dating unsaved people
You're playing with fire
Oh God's going to protect me
Hey
God's going to protect you
When you're
When you're doing his will
When you get outside the will of God
It's a jungle out there
You know
Don't play with that
You don't want to be married to a reprobate
You know
And you know what
Forget reprobate
You just don't even want to be married
To an unsaved person anyway
You know what
You want
Man you want to have a godly wife
You know
And so don't just be enamored
By all the bimbos out there
And just thinking about
Only physical appearance
Don't be an idiot
That's like if you just bought a vehicle
Based only on the appearance
And you don't even think about the fact
That this car only has two seats
You know
Or the
Look at the back seat
Look how tiny the back seat is
Where are you going to go
This is not a family vehicle
Or the fact that every time you need to do
Maintenance on it
It costs a fortune
Because you're driving some weird sports car
Instead of a sensible car
Right
And look
You girls
You know
You want to be married to a man
Who's going to provide for you
Right
I mean
Do you want a guy that's going to pay the bills
Or what
Or do you want him
Just taking all the money
And spending it on himself
Do you think there are husbands out there
Who spend all the money on themselves
Okay
Do you think there are wives out there
Who blow all their husband's money
And they get a hold of their credit card
And they max it out on stupid vain things
For themselves
You know what
That's called selfishness
A husband who spends all the money on himself
A wife who blows all the money on herself
You know what
I don't want to be married to a selfish person
I don't want to be a selfish person
You know what
Marry a Christian
That loves the Lord
And you know what it means
When somebody loves the Lord
They're not going to be selfish
Someone who loves the Lord is going to love you
You want to have a husband that loves you
You want to have a wife that loves you
Someone who loves the Lord
Trust the Lord
Do not stupidly
Envy the wicked
Marry an unsaved person
Live a worldly life
It's garbage
Marry a Christian
Live a godly Christian life
You will be much happier
Let alone the fact
That you're earning rewards in heaven
You're blessed
But even just on this earth
You're going to be a lot happier
Do not be fooled by the devil's lies
My friend
Trust what the word of God is saying
Let's pray
Let's have a word of prayer
Father we thank you so much
For this great psalm
By Asaph Lord
And sharing some of his feelings
When he
You know
Admitted to having some stupid thoughts
Lord
And truth be told
We've all had stupid thoughts like that
We've probably all thought the same thing at some point
That's why it's in the Bible
Because we can relate to it
But Lord
Help us
Like Asaph
To go to church
And hear sermons like this
And get our thinking right
And push that reset button
And not be fooled into thinking that this world
Has anything genuine to offer
And in Jesus' name we pray Amen
Let's grab our hymnals
And let's turn them to number 423
Number 423
Joy to the world
Number 423
Let's sing it out on that first verse
Number 423
Joy to the world
The Lord is come
Let earth receive her King
Let every heart prepare him room
Let heaven and nature sing
Let heaven and heaven and nature sing
Joy to the world
The Savior reigns
Let men their songs employ
What fields and floods
Cross hills and plains
Repeat the sounding joy
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy
No more let sins and sorrows grow
No more to pass the crown
He comes to man
His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found
Far as, far as, the curse is found
He rules the world with truth and grace
And makes additions prove
The glories of his righteousness
And wonders of his love
And wonders, and wonders of his love
Remember to sing it tonight for Christmas
Thanks for watching!