in the world and to look within its pages and read the glorious words, sing them over
again to me, wonderful words of life the song says, and Father I just pray that you would
speak to our hearts from the word of God and help us to understand the truth of the message
this morning, and in Jesus' name I pray, amen.
Now the title of my sermon this morning is Everything Has a Price.
Everything has a price.
Now the first thing that came to my mind when I was thinking about this subject and studying
the Bible that everything has a price, the first thing that I thought of was the free
gift of eternal life.
Sounds free, doesn't it?
Well it is free.
Look if you would at these verses that we just read, quickly look at Romans 5.15.
The Bible says, but not as the offense, so also is the free gift, for through the offense
of one many be dead, much more the grace of God and the gift by grace, which is by one
man Jesus Christ at the bounty of the many, and not as it was by one that sinned, so is
the gift.
Look at this, for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift, again
he calls it the free gift, is of many offenses unto justification.
Skip down to verse 18, the Bible says, therefore as by the offense of one judgment came upon
all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto
justification of life.
And look over at the page following in Romans 6.23, of course we'll see a little more about
the free gift by grace through one man, the Bible says.
It's summed up in verse 23, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
So the free gift that we're talking about is the gift of eternal life.
What's eternal life?
Well, eternal life means that you'll never die, means you'll live forever, a life that
never ends.
You breathe your last breath and that moment you'll be living on in the presence of Jesus
Christ.
Jesus said, he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die, believeth thou this.
And so you see, the gift of eternal life is a free gift, it's completely free, he emphasizes
that three times in a row, he says it's free, it's free, it's free.
Now I was out soul winning and I talked to a man and I gave him the Gospel, I went through
the plan of salvation, I showed him what the Bible says, that we're all sinners according
to the Bible, we all deserve to go to hell.
And one lie the Bible says, we'll send you to hell.
And I showed him these things and I showed him that Jesus Christ paid for our salvation
on the cross and that salvation through Jesus Christ, eternal life, deliverance from the
fires of hell, is a free gift.
And I showed him that it's only by faith, the Bible says, believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and thou shall be saved, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of
yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.
And I showed him that and you know what he said to me?
He got very cocky in his attitude, he got very arrogant and he was a member of this
Grace Community Church, yes I'll name the names, this is Faithful Word Baptist Church,
Grace Community Church on Southern Avenue, where I've never met anybody that went to
that church that was saved, I'll tell you that right now.
And I've been out soul winning in that whole area and nobody there was saved that I've
ever met.
And I talked to this man and he got very pompous in his attitude and this is what he said,
he said, you know what that sounds like to me?
He said that sounds like cheap grace, and that's a buzz word, I've heard that before
out soul winning, who's ever heard that term before?
Cheap grace, it's something that the Charismatics use, the Pentecostals use, oh that sounds
to me like cheap grace, you know how you just believe on Jesus and pray a prayer and tell
Jesus that you're trusting him alone and then you can go live wrong and God's not going
to take it away from you and you're still going to go to heaven even if you don't live
right?
And it sounds like cheap grace, tell me something, was your salvation cheap, now it's not cheap
it's free to you, but I'm going to tell you something, everything has a price, was it
cheap when Jesus Christ was spit upon and beaten 39 times, was it cheap when he carried
the cross up the hill to the point where he couldn't even physically carry it anymore,
because he was beaten so badly and they had to compel Simon of Cyrene to pick up the cross
and help him carry it up the hill, because he couldn't even carry the cross because he
was beaten so badly and abused so badly, was it cheap when they drove nails through his
hands into that wooden cross and hung him up on the cross and he was hung shamefully,
cursed as everyone that hangeth upon a tree the Bible says, was it cheap when Jesus Christ
died on the cross for your sins and was buried and three days later rose again from the dead,
was that a cheap price?
Well let me tell you something, the Bible says that he paid for our salvation and we
saw this in Romans 5 as we were reading, he paid for the free gift with his own blood,
let me tell you something, the blood of Jesus Christ is not cheap, the blood of Jesus Christ
is more precious, the word precious, the Bible uses that word, precious, notice the first
three letters, P-R-E-C, precious comes from the word price, did you know that, something
that's precious is something that has a high price tag, oh precious is the flow that washes
white as snow, no other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can wash away
my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what can make me whole again, nothing but the blood
of Jesus, hey I'm going to tell you something, grace was not cheap just because you get it
for free, hey it cost Jesus Christ, it cost God's only begotten son, can you imagine if
I took my son, and I have three sons, but let's say I took one of my sons and I sacrificed
my son for someone else and said I'll give up my son for you, do you think that's cheap
or do you think that's precious, and I'm going to tell you something, it's not cheap grace
when I say that Jesus paid it all, Jesus paid it all, all to him I owe, sin had left
a crimson stain, he washed it white as snow, hey that's not cheap, that's very expensive,
you know what, he's the one who believes in cheap grace this morning, because he thinks
that his good life and his good works and his church attendance and the fact that he
turned from his sins, he thinks that's what's going to get him to heaven, that is cheap,
God, let me into heaven God, because I didn't drink alcohol this week, because I showed
up at church for an hour this week, would you let me into heaven God, God's going to
say how cheap do you think it is to get in here, you think that it's cheap to have all
your sins forgiven, you think that it's cheap to live forever, don't you know that Donald
Trump this morning would pay all his money that he has to live forever, don't you know
that Bill Gates would give everything that he has if he could have immortality and live
forever, hey you think it's cheap to have your sins forgiven, you think it's cheap to
waltz into heaven and have your own mansion in glory, hey you think it's cheap to escape
the fires of hell, no, you are cheapening my grace God is saying when you try to pay
for it yourself because you're offering me nothing in comparison of what I'm giving you,
you see you walk to God and you pull out your $10 bill and say God I lived a pretty good
life God, I tried to help people as much as I could and I went to church and everything,
he's going to say liar, fearful, unbelieving, sinner, go to hell, because you can't buy
your way in with some stupid little $5 bill of your good works, it's just not going to
cut it, the only finances that are going to get you into heaven is the precious blood
of Jesus Christ, that's the only thing valuable enough to get you in, so cheap grace are those
who are, they're really the Judas Iscariots of this world that put a price tag of 30 pieces
of silver on the son of God and say this is what I think it's worth, no my friend, it's
the most expensive valuable gift that you've ever received, the free gift of eternal life,
free to you, but it costs Jesus everything, it costs God the father everything, and so
number one I'm going to tell you something, salvation has a price, but the glorious thing
is you don't have to pay that price, remember the sermon title this morning, everything
has a price, salvation has a price, glory to God it's already been paid, let me read
this for you, you don't have to turn there, 1 Corinthians 6.19 the Bible says what? Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have
of God and you're not your own, for you are bought with a price, therefore glorify God
in your body and in your spirit which are God's, God purchased you with the blood of
his own son the Bible says, free gift to you, but it costs Jesus everything, but number
two, turn if you would to Acts chapter 19, so we see number one, yes salvation has a
price, although it's by faith, although it's a free gift, although it's by believing on
Jesus Christ, it has a great price that was paid by someone else, hallelujah, but look
if you would at Acts chapter 19 verse 17 and my second point this morning is that you know
what it's going to cost you to live a clean and holy righteous life in 2007, that's going
to cost you something, everything has a price, nothing's free, nothing's going to be handed
to you on a silver platter, look if you would at Acts chapter 19 verse 17, the Bible says
and this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on
them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified and many that believed came and
confessed and showed their deeds, many of them also which used curious arts brought
their books together and burned them before all men and they counted the price of them
and found a 50,000 pieces of silver, now remember how much was Jesus betrayed for, remember
30 pieces of silver, so Judas Iscariot said, this is what I think Jesus is worth and if
you read Zechariah chapter 11, God explains a little more about that and he says you know
this is the price that I was priced at of them, he said this is what they thought I
was worth, 30 pieces of silver and even mentions the amount prophetically of Jesus Christ being
sold for 30 pieces of silver but look here, these are born again saved, they just got
saved, a bunch of Christians in Ephesus and they said you know what, we're going to get
all our filthy books, we're going to get all our satanic garbage books, we're going to
get all our rock and roll type books and we're going to get all of our dirty magazines, we're
going to get all of our witchcraft books, we're going to get all of the sinful, worldly
garbage books that we have, we're going to put them in a big pile in the middle of town
and we're going to have a big bonfire, we're going to burn these books, you say are you
poor burning books, yes I'm for burning Playboy magazine, yes I'm for burning the rock and
roll literature of this world, yes I'm for burning the NIV and these false Bibles, yes
I'm for burning the garbage that Satan has put out just like they did here and it says
that they counted the price of them, they said they counted the value as they threw
it into the fire, they looked on the back and you know it says like US, US 1995 and
it's like Canada 2495 right and it said they looked at the back and they said hey put down
another $25 and they threw it in the fire, they said hey here's one 1995 threw it in
the fire and they said I counted all things but dung for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and you count them
as dung that I may win Christ, he said these things mean nothing, 1995 throw it away, throw
it in the trash because it's not worth 1995 for me to have that in my library and not
be right with God, you paid good money for that, hey throw it in the trash and mark that
down, mark that down as a sacrifice that I made for Jesus Christ, may I mark that down
as the price that I paid to be separated and holy and to live a clean life and we were
talking about this getting rid of CDs and stuff but I remember I had a big CD collection,
I had a big collection of records and cassettes and CDs and I had the whole thing and you
know when I was first kind of purging I'd sell some of them off but then I realized
I shouldn't be selling these to the used record store or whatever, I'd say I should just be
destroying these things like they did in the Bible and I remember just taking probably
$500 of CDs and throwing them in the trash can, you say Pastor Anderson that's good money,
look I'm willing to pay that, you know Jesus paid it all for me, you know I'm not going
to put some small price that you have 30 pieces of silver, hey 50,000 pieces of silver, whatever
it takes, you know I'll get rid of it all, it means nothing to me because everything
is pleasing, being pleasing to God, living a clean and right life, you say man I paid
so much money for my big high definition TV you know and now I don't want to watch
it because it's sin and it's wrong and I don't want to watch these DVDs that I've invested
so much money in and I've invested in my CDs or ladies you know you think about sometimes
you get saved you know you might have to get a whole new wardrobe and you start living
for God, you know you got to get rid of the halter tops, you got to get rid of the short
shorts, you got to get rid of the jeans and the pants and start dressing like a lady,
you got to get rid of all the worldly clothing and the wrong stuff and you say it's just
too expensive, I paid so much money for this stuff, hey burn it my friend, throw it in
the trash, don't even think about it because if you try to, you can count the price all
you want, you can get up to 50,000 pieces of silver, you're not going to come anywhere
close to the blood of Jesus Christ so just torch it and be done with it.
You know I heard a girl say one time, she said well you know I just took all my pants
and my tight clothing and my short shorts, I just put them in a bag and just put them
up in the closet, this girl said, you know I'm not going to wear them but she said you
never know just in case I'm ever not right with God in the future, just in case I backslide
or whatever, you know I don't want to have to re-buy all that stuff, that's expensive
stuff or I've known people personally that had just boxes of rock music in their closet
that they said it's long, I'm not going to listen to it but they were just keeping it
because it was valuable stuff and they said you just got to keep it just in case, boy
don't leave yourself away to go back, make not a provision for the flesh to fulfill the
lust thereof, hey get rid of it, get it out the door, you know what, why don't you go
home after the service today and just walk around your house and just get rid of everything
that defileth, why don't you just get rid of everything that's an abomination to God,
you know I've done that, I remember when I was first married I did that a few times is
when I was really starting to get serious about the things of God and really starting
to live for God, I just made a few walk throughs in my house, I just said God show me everything
that you don't like in my house, show me everything you don't like in this bookcase and I'll throw
it away right now and I remember just stacking stuff up, stuff that you normally wouldn't
think of but I just looked at it and I said this isn't honor God, this is wrong, it's
just saying, I just stacked it up and threw it away and you say well it's expensive, yes
it's expensive to be right with God, yes it's going to cost you something to live for God,
yes it's going to cost you something to be a good Christian because everything has a
price and if it was so easy for everybody to be a good Christian, if it was so easy
for everybody to live a clean and decent and moral and pure life in 2007 then everybody
will be doing it but it's not easy, that's why everybody's not doing it but are you willing
to pay the price, are you willing to pay the price to be right with God in 2007, well then
do it, don't talk about it, just do it, you say, you know what it might cost you some
money, maybe you might have to get a different job if you're missing church because you can't
make the services because of your job, you might take a little pay cut and get a different
job but I think God will bless you in the long run if you step out in faith and get
rid of a job that makes you work through Sundays during services and Wednesday nights and so
forth but number three, not only number one, does salvation have a great cost but it's
paid by Jesus, number two, it's going to cost you to get rid of some things that are hurting
you in your life and to get rid of some of the things that are keeping you from being
holy, clean and godly Christians but look at Matthew chapter 13 verse 46, Matthew 13,
we'll start reading in 45 actually, Matthew 13, 45, Matthew chapter 13 verse number 45,
the Bible reads again the kingdom of heaven is likened to a merchant man seeking goodly
pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had
and bought it. Now, not only is it going to cost you something to live a clean life
and to maybe get rid of some of the wrong things in your life but you know it's going
to cost you something if you want to just really sell out for God and just be a hundred
percent for God, I mean if you really want to just dedicate your life to God that's going
to cost you a lot. See this man right here, he understood the value, he said he found
a pearl of great price when he found this thing of the kingdom of God, when he found
this thing of the Bible, Christianity, living for God, serving God, he found it and he said
I recognize the value of this and so I'm going to sell everything I have, I'm going to sell
everything I have and do whatever it takes so that I can buy this great pearl of great
price. Now obviously this is not a literal story, it's a parable, Jesus said it's a parable,
the Bible says that in the beginning in verse number 1 of chapter 13, I'm sorry in verse
number 3, he says and he spake many things under them in parables saying and he goes
on and tells figurative stories. Obviously you can't purchase the things of God with
money, obviously you can't sell everything you have and buy a Christian life but what
he's saying is understand the value of the kingdom of God and be willing to pay whatever
the price you have to pay to sell out for God a hundred percent and live for God. You
know it might cost you some of your friends when you really get serious about church and
really start living for God and really start each sleep and breathing the Bible and soul
winning and living for God, hey it might cost you some of your friends but are you willing
to pay the price? Are you willing to sell everything you have? And I'm not talking about
literally but I'm talking about disfiguratively. You know it might cost you some money like
we talked about a little bit earlier, you know it might cost you some sleep sometimes.
You know you say what are you talking about, you know just really working for God and serving
God with your life and Jesus talks about going to Jesus Christ and praying at midnight
sometimes, you have to do that and it might cost you some sleep, it might cost you some
of your own plans and dreams, some of the ideas that you have about what you want to
do with your life and you find that they come into conflict with the word of God and you
find that God has a different plan for your life, hey it might cost you what you wanted
to do with your life but are you willing to just sell out for God and to pay whatever
price it takes to be used by God greatly? Only one life so soon has passed, only what's
done for Christ will last. Are you willing to sell out for God and live for God with
your life for a hundred percent? You say well I don't know if I'm ready to do that, let
me think about that, let me think about that for a minute, let me sit down and count the
costs and think about it, hey look think about it and you realize that the things of this
world that you have to give up to live for God are so worthless anyway and really what
you need to think about is not the cost of what you're giving up, think about the cost
of what you're gaining with that total great price. Think about what it's like to be a
separated soul winning Christian, think about what it's like to sit down with somebody and
win them to Christ and have them bow their head and trust Christ as Savior and then watch
them get baptized and then watch them start to live for God, hey how much do you think
that's worth? What do you think the value is of getting to heaven and have somebody
there that you want to the Lord that's there because of you? Can you put a price tag on
that? No, sell everything you have to get that, that's what God's saying. But number
four, not only salvation has a price, number two it's going to cost you to live the holy
and righteous life that God wants you to live, number three it's going to cost you if you
want to be 100% dedicated to God with your life. But number four, you know it's going
to cost something to see this church, Faithful Word Baptist Church, succeed and to see this
church grow and flourish and be what God wants it to be. And you think that churches
like this just spring up overnight? Now the liberal church they do spring up overnight,
I remember when I lived in Sacramento, California this is how they would start these liberal
churches, they would start by building a building, okay I mean they've never had a service, they've
never knocked a door, they've never talked to anybody, they start the denomination, you
know they start by building a building. I remember in Roseville, California they built
a building that would seat about 1,000 people, they didn't have a single member, okay they
just built a building that would seat like 1,000 people. It might have even been more
than that, I'm being conservative with that, I mean it was a huge building. Then what they
do, they set out a flyer to everybody, Christian rock concert, okay you know they brought in
one of these big, I don't know if it was A.B. Grunt or Sandy Faddie or one of these other,
you know Chris, Steve Green or one of these other Christian stars and they were going
to bring it, they brought them in, packed out the first Sunday, I mean jam packed, I
mean because of all the fans, you know A.B. Grunt fans and all these different people,
I mean just jam packed, people just flooded in, standing room only and they just packed
the place out, they gave them a rock concert, they sent out a mailer saying this isn't going
to be the kind of church that your parents went to, this is going to be a totally different
kind of church, you're going to come here, you're going to feel right at home, it's rock
music, have a beer with us after the service, literally they had beer after the service
at this particular church and on and on and the place was packed immediately, next thing
I knew, oh here's the name of it, Adventure, okay like it wasn't even called anything church,
like such and such community church, it was just called Adventure, I don't even think
it was called Adventure Church, I think it was just called Adventure, I'm not kidding,
you think I'm kidding, I'm dead serious and people would talk about it, I remember kids
at school, oh yeah I go to Adventure and this church, Adventure, and I think I got the right
one on that, there were so many that were springing up at that time when I was a teenager
and I remember driving by and they were building next to their building, like less than a year
and a half or two years later, a building that looked like an amphitheater, I mean it
was so big, I couldn't even believe how big it was because they had already outgrown their
facility after like two years of existence and they were just running thousands and thousands,
you know the weeds grow up overnight but then they disappear overnight too and you never
hear about them again, maybe their pastor like Ted Faggart down in Colorado Springs,
maybe he ends up being a homo and a pedophile and everything like that and then the church
might disappear overnight, churches like that they grow up overnight, they disappear overnight,
they didn't do anything, they're a waste, they don't preach the gospel, they preach
rock music, they preach worldliness, they preach permissive living, they preach everything
that's wrong and ungodly but you know what, churches like this that are based on the Bible
that really win people to Christ, that preach it straight down the line whether you like
it or not, churches like this don't spring up overnight, churches like this spring up
over a lifetime, they take a lifetime and it's going to take not just Steven Anderson
but it's going to take you and your place for a lifetime, it's going to take you being
here faithful to church, it's going to take when visitors like Brother Colby comes back
you know five years from now to visit with us again, you still be here okay and you're
going to be ten times the Christian that you are right now, I hope I'm ten times the Christian
that I am right now, I hope I'm ten times the soul winner, I hope I'm ten times the
pastor, I hope I'm ten times the Bible student, I hope I'm ten times the preacher that I am
right now when Brother Colby comes back years down the road and visits us, I'm going to
tell you something, it's going to take a price where we have to pay it for a lifetime and
when we pay it every week and when we show up to church when maybe we don't feel like
it or maybe we go out soul winning and we didn't really feel like it and we do what
it takes and we pay the price to see this church grow and thrive and be what it needs
to be, you say why, what's the point, there's so many churches, I remember when I knocked
out my first neighborhood, I knocked every door in this subdivision for soul winning,
when I first moved here I knocked every single door, I remember a guy kind of laughing to
me, a Hispanic guy kind of laughed at me and said, you know, there's a Baptist church right
across the street and he acted like I was an idiot for starting a church here, he's
like, there's a Baptist church right across the street, what are you doing, why are you
starting a church in your house, there's a Baptist church right there, why don't you
just go join that Baptist church, this is what he told me when I first moved here, I
think to myself, that is not a Baptist church, that's what I call an albino, a liberal Baptist
in name only, I just thought of that right now, it's not that funny but I just thought
of it right now, give me a break, it's an albino, it's a liberal Baptist in name only,
they don't use the King James Bible, they use the NIV, never knock doors, never go soul
winning and they preach that you have to give up your sins in order to be saved, hey that's
not the same but I'm going to tell you something, did you know that all independent fundamental
Baptist churches are not the same either, you see the Catholics they have this mentality
where well at good night you just go to the Catholic church that's closest to you, you
know, if you live in Mesa today, I mean Mesa has so many Mormon churches, they practically
assign you, well this is your Mormon church because there are probably 70 Mormon churches
in Mesa, I looked in the phone book and it just went on and on and they pretty much tell
you, okay you live here, this is your church because they're all the same, Mormon churches
are all the same, Catholic churches are all the same, Southern Baptist churches are going
to be the same to an extent because they're part of a denomination like the one across
the street is a Southern Baptist church and they're all the same but did you know that
all independent Baptist churches are not the same, now a lot of them are the same and I'll
be honest with you, when I travel around and I've visited a lot of Baptist churches, independent
fundamental Baptist churches because I used to work a lot out of town and everything on
Wednesdays before I was pastoring I'd work out of town the whole week sometimes and I'd
go to an independent fundamental Baptist church and sometimes I felt like they were all the
same in a lot of ways, it was almost like Burger King, you know, this is what's kind
of good about these chain restaurants, I hate Burger King, I hate fast food but at least
one good thing about Burger King or Taco Bell or McDonald's or whatever, at least you know
what you're getting, right, I heard somebody say one time, better the devil you know than
the devil you don't know, so you walk into Burger King, it doesn't matter whether you're
in New York City or whether you're in California or whether you're in Texas, I mean you pretty
much know what you're getting, right, it's all pretty much the same, you go to KFC in
Sacramento California, you go to KFC in Phoenix Arizona, it's probably going to be pretty
much the same thing and that's the way a lot of independent fundamental Baptist churches
are, they're kind of like the same but you know all of them aren't the same and you know
this one's not the same, and if you've been to this church and you've been to other independent
fundamental Baptist churches, you'll know that there are a lot of things that are different
about this church, now there are two primary reasons for that and you probably right away
when visitors from out of town come to this church, they say whoa, this is a little bit
different than what I'm used to, let me give you some of the differences, well there's
two reasons why this church is different, okay, number one reason is because most independent
fundamental Baptist churches right now are going very liberal, see I can't believe you're
up there criticizing people, you're criticizing the church across the street, you're criticizing
adventure, you're criticizing Grace Community Church, yes I am, see I don't think you should
be doing that, then don't ever do it, but I will do it and don't come back if you don't
like it, okay, and you know what, you go start a church somewhere, ladies included, these
days you can get by with it, okay, go start a church somewhere and never do it, but I
will do it because the Bible says to do it and so let me tell you something, let me tell
you what's wrong with independent fundamental Baptist churches in our day that are going
liberal, number one the music is going totally liberal, they're bringing in all the liberal
southern gospel and all the rock and roll type music, they're bringing in all the Bill
Gaither sound, they're bringing in the contemporary sound, they're taking Christian rock songs,
they take out the drums because they think drums is the only thing that's wrong with
it and they tone it down and try to make it seem like a fundamental Baptist song, how
about the weak sand on the King James Bible that you'll find in 99% of independent fundamental
Baptist churches, how about the statement of faith that says that the accuracy is in
the originals, you have to go back to the Greek and Hebrew to get the original accuracy,
how about the fact that they won't stand up and say the King James Bible is the word of
God because that's not popular, how about the cloudy stand on the gospel where they
won't come right out and say that it's all by faith, no works before or after you're
saved that are necessary for salvation but that Jesus paid it all, what about the evangelistic
approach instead of the soul winning approach where they never go out and preach the gospel,
everything's just bring your unsaved friends to church and we'll preach them down the aisle,
where's the go out, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, hey
what about just the flavor, I walk into some independent fundamental Baptist churches nowadays
and the first thing I do is stick out my tongue and taste it okay, now this is what I do because
the Bible talks about having the salt, if it loses its savor, it's worthless, he says
throw it out and so I walk into a church and the first thing I do is taste it okay, before
I read the bulletin, before I listen to the sermon, before I listen to the music, before
I read the statement of faith I taste it okay and I taste it and say does this taste like
the Bible, does this taste like a fundamental Baptist church used to taste when I was a
kid or does it taste exactly like the charismatic liberal church down the street, do all the
pictures look the same, all the decorations look the same, the way everybody talks is
the same, the bulletin looks the same or is it different, is it like it was when I was
a kid, independent fundamental Baptist church where you walked in and church tasted like
church, the preaching tasted like preaching, didn't taste like a share session or a session
with your psychiatrist, I'm talking about where the music tasted like God's kind of
music like this is my story, this is my song, praising my savior all the day long, boy doesn't
that taste good, I like that and so I taste the church and see what it tastes like, well
these independent fundamental Baptist church, they taste just like a new evangelical church,
what about the psychobabble preaching, talk about that, the psychoanalyzing you, telling
you every problem is from your childhood and your mom and dad didn't treat you right and
that was what the problem is, hey you know what, their mom and dad didn't treat them
right either and their mom and dad didn't treat, I don't treat my kids right, my parents
didn't treat me right, all the way back to Adam where it was by one man sin entered into
the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men for that all of sin, take your
stupid psychobabble and throw it in the trash can and say, the Bible says I'm going to do
it, I'm going to quit making excuses for myself, I'm going to do what God told me to do and
I'll get to that a little bit later in a second actually but you know the clothing, you walk
into an independent, now listen to me, anyone's welcome in this church no matter what kind
of clothing they wear, a woman can walk into this church with pants on so tight it looks
like she was poured into them like concrete into a concrete form, a woman can walk in
here with shorts on, a man can walk in here with hair down to his waist and earrings in
his ears and I'll say man God bless you, thank you so much for being here, I love you, thank
you for being here, you come back any time, we have no rules at this church, there's not
one rule in this church, smoke a cigarette out in front of my house for all I care, hey
there's no rules in this church but I'm going to preach against it, I'm going to preach
against all the sin but I'm going to tell you something and by the way there should
be some people around that aren't dressed right because that shows that you're getting
you know people saved and bringing in new people but you know you walk into the church
and the pastor's wife's wearing a short skirt, you walk into the church and the deacon's
wife is wearing a low cut blouse, hey that's commonplace in an independent fundamental
Baptist church today my friend, to see the slit up the skirt all the way up to a man's
imagination, she might have it down to the knee but the slit's going up so high that
you can see everything anyway and so that's some of the things that I see that have changed,
that's number one why this church is a little bit different than other independent fundamental
Baptist churches is that number one independent fundamental Baptist churches have changed
because it wasn't like that when I was a kid, none of those things were like that when
I was a kid in independent fundamental Baptist churches but number two there are a lot of
things that independent fundamental Baptists have wrong because of their traditions because
of just they've just been ingrained in tradition let me tell you where they got these traditions
from palling around with a bunch of Protestants and palling around with a bunch of Catholics
you say what are you talking about well by reading books by people like Martin Luther
John Wesley and John Calvin who are not saved they're ungodly Protestant non-Baptist didn't
believe the Bible they believed in work salvation or more in our day a little bit closer to our day
people like Billy Sunday Bob Jones senior Billy Sunday is a Congregationalist Protestant Bob Jones
senior a Methodist who did not believe in eternal security believe you could lose your salvation Sam
Jones a Methodist preacher Peter Carr right and Charles deep any Pentecostal Charismatics that
are looked up to by every independent fundamental Baptist Church in America I'm going to tell you
some you start hanging around those kind of people you start reading the books from those
kind of people and it's going to rub off on you let me give you some of the things that I'm talking
about so number one reason why this church is a little different than other independent fundamental
Baptist churches because we are the way independent fundamental Baptist churches used to be about 20
years ago before they all started going liberal but number two the other difference is that we
don't have all these traditions that came from the mother whore Catholic Church through the descendants
of the Protestants that we were up noses with we don't do that we just go by the Bible like we
don't do baby dedication here we don't do baby dedication because that reminds me an awful lot
of baptizing babies when you bring your baby down and the Holy Father pastor the church comes up and
blesses your child and and praise for we don't do this it just tastes like the Catholic Church to me
and so we don't do that we don't have membership classes we don't have a six-week class where you
have to become her didn't you go through one of those is that the other church you went to a six
week membership class where in order to join the church you got to be saved and baptized but then
you have to go through a six-week class boy I think I've heard that before I think it's called
catechism classes I think it's in every Roman Catholic Church the Bible says in Acts chapter
two that they were added three thousand to the church the same day the same day they got saved
they got baptized and then the same day they got baptized they were added to the church wait a
minute what about the membership class what about the catechism classes no because we don't care
what the Catholic Church does we're gonna do it the Bible way and so a lot of most Baptist
churches most independent fundamental Baptist churches have some out of a membership class
or some out of a process you have to go through they have baby dedications what about the pictures
of Jesus and the disciples wearing dresses you won't find any like that here now I want to tell
you a funny story okay I was talking to my niece I was talking about somebody and she was telling
me that my niece went to visit church or somewhere and she she walked out of the class with her
little you know her little Sunday school paper okay yeah you get a little hand they colored a
little sheet in there and she walks out with the Sunday school plate Sunday school paper and she
hands it to her mom and says no more naked men mommy no more naked men you know she's like a
toddler she's like John's age okay and so how old is she or is she Isaac's age she's Isaac's age
she hands she's like no more naked naked men mom so she looks at the picture okay it was about
Joseph and the land of Egypt remember he's storing up the corn for five years so that
he started the corn for the fifth part of it for seven years so that when the famine comes they'll
have corn in Egypt and this what my sister said was the picture okay Joseph had no shirt on he's
wearing one of those big gold like mr. T necklaces that you see sometimes these Egyptians are wearing
a pitiful man you know he's wearing this big he's wearing this big mr. T necklace he's wearing a
skirt that went down to his knee okay this is Joseph and he's got on his head get this a golden
serpent on his head okay for a crown like it basically the snake wrapped around his head and
you've seen these if you know ancient Egyptian culture and that he's wearing a snake wrapped
around his head and then the serpents here the cobras you know head is flared out in the front
he's wearing that on said he's got no shirt on and he's got this mr. T necklace on and he's
wearing a skirt okay and I said man I said that so that's why she said it she said no that's not
why she said it okay that wasn't even the part that bother as much then he's he's telling people
what to do these Egyptians like as if Joseph was just worshiping Satan just because he's in Egypt
obviously still live for guys I know where a serpent on his head and he's telling some guys
what to do that are loading up the corn you know into these big silos and the guys loading up the
corn in the silos we're wearing loincloths literally okay so he's wearing a skirt he's got
no shirt I got a mr. T necklace he's wearing a satanic you know serpent symbol on his head and
he's telling this guy that's wearing a bikini practically and he's wearing a loincloth shovel
the corn you know into this thing and she just had no more naked men my but I remember growing
up in independent fundamental Baptist churches and that getting this Sunday school lessons Jesus
disciples are wearing a little miniskirt this stops right at their knee and it's a it's a
Roman outfit it's called a tunic they have what they used to wear what's called a tunic it's a
skirt that goes down to their knee you know why because they're wicked as hell because they're
cross-dressing yes there will come a day mark my words I'm saying this in 2007 there will come a
day when men wear skirts in the United States of America you mark my words I've seen in the last
couple years I've seen two men wearing a skirt in the United States of America I saw a big
biker one time we were in where was it Benton Harbor Michigan and I saw a big burly biker guy
and he was wearing a jean skirt down to his knees and he had a wallet chain and chains and he was he
was a big burly guy you know he had some hard rock t-shirt on and he was like this big manly
biker guy he was wearing a jean skirt was he wearing a skirt it was a jean skirt and I saw
another guy in Phoenix wearing a skirt one time just a girly skirt I mean it was there will come
a day when men wear skirts just like they did in the Roman Empire which was a filthy ungodly
Empire that God destroyed and it's gone no Jesus was not wearing a skirt Jesus wore pants show me
in the Bible Jesus wearing a skirt and I'll give you a thousand dollars show me Peter and James and
John walking around in a skirt like a girl and I'll give you a thousand dollars because you know
what you know who brought skirts to the Middle East was Islam Islam is the one where they started
wearing skirts that's that's the seventh century seventh eighth century AD and so we pick up these
influences where did it come from well it came from the Catholic Church it came from the Catholic
pictures of Jesus wearing a skirt with long hair when the Bible says that Jesus had short hair he's
wearing long hair he's a he's got blue eyes even though he's Jewish he's white with blue eyes and
blonde hair and he's got a skirt on and a dress on he looks like a girl and he's hung on the cross
he's got a little trickle of blood down his face even though the Bible says his visage was more
marred than any man his visage was so mutilated faces of mutilate you couldn't even recognize him
as a man but where did we pick up these pictures from well we picked him up from the Catholic
Church how did we get him from the Catholic Church pastor Anderson well we got him from the
Catholics who passed it down to the Protestants who we hung around with and had big Billy Sunday
Crusades with and and dr. Bob Jones senior Crusades with what else what else is like the Catholic
Church about independent fundamental Baptist churches well what about the confessional booth
you say wait a minute pastor asking you're crazy independent fundamental Baptist churches do not
have a confessional booth sure they do of course they do they have two confessional booths
confessional booth number one is called counseling where you go to the pastor after the service and
he counsels you and you tell him this is what private sin I have you need to help me get over
this sin that I have and let's go for marriage counseling me and my wife are gonna come we're
gonna tell you all these things about our marriage that we shouldn't be telling anybody
about and and you're gonna counsel us and help us and then the God man the pastor of an independent
fundamental Baptist Church the God man will sit and listen to all your filth and sins and tell
you and run your life and tell you how to do it all I'm against it people have asked me since I
started this search do you do counseling I said no a man asked me do you do marriage counseling
I said no I said I said all you want to do is tell me dirty stuff that I don't want to hear
about you're gonna tell me dirty stuff that she did you tell me dirty stuff that you did you're
gonna tell me about other dirty things I don't want to fill my mind with junk I said kick it to
yourself I said I'll counsel you right now it's gonna take me 20 seconds I mean I'm telling the
truth sir I'm not making this up a man asked me for counseling I told him this is my marriage
counseling I said read the Bible every day come to church three times a week and come out soul
winning with me once a week and you won't have any problems you'll be fine I mean you'll have
problems but you'll be able to deal with them you won't need counseling for me if you read the
Bible every day and come to this church three times a week and you know go soul winning and
start living for God your problems will your problem will go away you don't need counseling
you want to somebody to listen to you in the confessional booth while you pour out all your
sin and garbage and junk on them I want your junk take your junk and get out of here go hit the road
Jack and don't you come back no more because I don't want to hear about your sin and your filthy
life and so just confess it as a sin to God not to me I'm not your priest don't confess me your
sins go confess it to God confess and forsake it as the Bible says and then solve for church
and say I'm gonna do what the Bible says and if you do what the Bible says you'll your marriage
will be fine my friend if you obey the Bible and you're not gonna know what the Bible says
unless you read the Bible every day and you're not gonna know everything about the Bible unless
you come to church and you're the Bible preached and so come to church read the Bible do what it
says any questions then come back and see me but you won't come back and see me because you won't
have any questions I've never gone for marriage counseling you think I've never been in a fight
with my wife it was just this morning no I'm just kidding I've been I bet you don't think my wife
and I have fought before hey you don't think I've had problems in my personal life you don't think
I've had sins that I was trying to get over that I was struggling with I didn't go to some some
priest some God man some pastor who's gonna tell me how to get over my sins hey I opened the Bible
I read the Bible God told me how to get over my sins I went to church and listened to the
preaching and got over my sins we don't need counseling counseling is nothing more than a
glorified psychiatry booth a Christian psychiatrist and a Baptist confessional booth that's number one
confessional booth how about the other confessional booth the invitation every head bowed every eyes
closed I preached this morning on alcohol who would say the message spoke to your heart and
and you say pastor I'm gonna give up alcohol slip up your hand it's the confessional booth
it's a mass confessional booth tell me every head bow my clothes I'm the only one looking
you've been in a Baptist Church I'm the only one looking around everybody else has their heads
bowed and their eyes closed who will say something you said applied to me slip up your hand I'm gonna
get right with God or come down to the altar and get right with God right now in front of everybody
that's not sorry my friend but you can't show me that in the Bible I'd love for you to show
me on the Bible came from the Catholic Church through the Protestant churches to the Baptist
churches we don't have invitation here see don't you have an invitation for people to come down
the aisle and get safe no I walk up to him afterward and get him saved by Jesus it no I
walk up to him before the service and get saved by Jesus and now I'm not against I'll say this
disclaimer quickly I'm not against close our eyes and and say is anybody here that's not saved slip
up your hand okay I'm not against that at all that's not confessing a sin just saying you know
if you're not you're not sure that you're saying would you slip up your hand and then I can see
who's not saved and say okay you know I can privately talk to them after the service or
whatever but I'm talking about where you're asking people about sins where you say this
particular sin you know that I preached on and that slip up your hand if that's you tonight that
needs to get that right with God okay I see that hand you're gonna get right with God boy that's
that's perverted my friend it's only word I can think of it's perverted for a man to stand up and
everybody's eyes closed and look around and say oh I know I know I counseled I know what he's I
know what's on his marriage I know what you've been up to okay it's bit sick it's the cake the
Catholic priest who's doing it sick it's perverted it's wrong mind your own stinking business live
your own life keep your own vineyard do what God told you to do you don't need the counseling you
don't need the invitation and by the way these invitations these gut-wrenching invitations where
when he comes out crying and say hey you know what they walk out the door of no different than
they came in well you can get right with God it's gonna be by yourself at home this afternoon if you
get right with God can be when you walk around the house this afternoon and get rid of the things
that are defiling and wrong in your house hey if you get right with God it's gonna be because you
came to church Sunday morning Sunday night Wednesday night Sunday morning Sunday night
Wednesday night it's not gonna be one service it's gonna be years it's gonna be a lifetime of you
slowly getting closer to God learning more about the Bible getting more dedicated to God you don't
just come down the aisle one time and all of a sudden you're a great Christian it takes a lifetime
it takes week after week after week after week after week of again and again and again and again
and again what about this and I'm sorry if I'm offending anybody with these stained glass windows
why do Baptist Church have a stained glass window are you trying to look like a Catholic Church the
next one I'm in a hurry but the denominationalism I knew a pastor in a town and a guy was gonna
start a church in that town and he said this is what I want to do I want to start a church in this
particular town in California and his pastor told him he said well you know what he said that sounds
you know like a pretty good idea for you to start a church in that town but let me call dr. Treiber
let me call dr. Jack Treiber okay because he's a pastor in Santa Clara California that has a big
church with like 2,000 people we need to ask dr. Treiber if that's okay so they asked the
fundamental Pope dr. Jack Treiber and don't worry we have a Pope here in Arizona to his name is Paul
Chapel he's down in Southern California he's our Pope and so they asked the Pope Jack Treiber to
come down and Jack Treiber came down and they asked and they said is it all right is it all
right your holiness is it all right Holy Father if he starts a church in this particular town right
here and the Holy Father said no the holy his holiness dr. Jack Treiber said no no no no he
said no no no you can't start a church in that town because he said you don't you haven't gone
around to raise support you're trying to you know work a job and start churches is no no no no no
no no no no you've got to go around all these churches and get them to support you financially
then you then you should start church in this other town that he told him about what let me
ask them what business is it of dr. Jack Treiber what goes on in an independent fundamental Baptist
Church two hours away I thought they're independent I thought that they make their own decisions I
thought that Jesus Christ is the boss and the pastor is the shepherd and he makes his it why
do you have to call some other pastor to decide who's gonna start a church where well because
it's like Burger King you don't have two Burger Kings across the street from each other come on
man this church doesn't have a Burger King this church needs one this church needs another Burger
King hey this isn't Burger King it's the local church my friends independent Baptist independent
independent independent Baptist Church and so this denominational idea where we have these bishops
and archbishops and popes fundamental archbishops fundamental popes I'm against it came out of the
Catholic Church I believe an independent fundamental Baptist Church that are totally
self-governing they make their own rules how about this one and I'm not saying that this is
wrong don't get me wrong on this one how about all the sitting sitting down and standing up and I'm
gonna tell you something that I learned in college okay sitting down standing up you know stand for
this song sit down for this song stand for the offering sit down for the next song stand to read
the Bible sit down to listen to the sermon stand for the invitation and in a typical independent
fundamental Baptist Church you stand up and sit down about four times okay if you've been to a
church now I don't think it's wrong to have people stand up and sing the songs I'm not saying that at
all but did you know that I learned when I was in Bible cause and by the way if you're who's been
to Catholic Mass before put up your hand if you've been to Catholic Mass before how many times you
stand up and sit down in Catholic Mass like 15 times I talked I asked a few people this week
because I was working on this sermon I asked my wife she said it was about 12 times 12 times up
and down I asked my smile somebody I forget who was and they said 15 times that they remembered
getting up sitting down getting up sitting down and you say why what's the big deal about it well
in Bible college I learned in a Bible college class that the reason that you have people stand
up sit down stand up sit down stand up sit down sit up sit down is to get them used to obeying
you that's what they told me I'm not making that up I promise you they said get people used to
obeying you when they walk in the door say stand they stand turn to this in that page they turn to
the page sit down they sit down stand again for the offering they stand again for the offering
he said you're getting them used to this what the teacher said in Bible college you're getting them
used to hearing you give a command and then doing it because that way when you preach the sermon
they'll do what you say because they're used to doing what you say and when you say okay now
everybody get up and come down the aisle if you want to get saved or get up and come down the
aisle if you need to get right with God and get the sin out of your life come to the confessional
booth at the altar get up and come down now he said they'll be so used to you saying get up sit
down get up sit down when you say get up and come down now they'll get up and come down the aisle
and when you say do this and don't do that they'll just be used to obeying you because they've been
trained every week every service to obey you 20 different times in the service now I'm not saying
it's wrong to stand up for the song we just don't do it here I'm just highlighting differences that
you'll find in this church and why they're a little bit different why we do things the way
we do them at this church you don't stand up and sit down at this church I'm not saying it's wrong
to stand up and sit down I'm just explaining to you why this is the only church I've ever been
into in my life where you don't stand up and sit down the whole service do you like it are you
comfortable this morning are you comfortable in your chair but anyway and then here here's a
couple other things I'm not trying to be offensive but I'm just going through the things that I that
are different about our church what about this one and this is this is a non Catholic influence
probably the first thing that most people realize about our church is that we don't have Sunday
school a lot of people are whoa I've had people say I I'm not gonna visit your church because you
don't have Sunday school they refuse to come here because I didn't have Sunday school and other
people said you know what I almost didn't come I came and I'm glad I'm came at this morning but
they said I almost didn't come when I found out you didn't have Sunday school now there's a reason
why we don't have Sunday school let me tell you my philosophy about Sunday school Sunday school is
where you break people up into groups you put you know you in case you don't know you put the
four and five year olds here you put the six seven and eight year olds here you put the nine
through twelve year olds here you put the teenagers here and you put the adults together in one class
now let me ask you something do you think that the three and four and five year old class is
similar to this sermon right here do you think that the music is the same do you think that the
preaching is the same do you think that the length is the same of the sermon do you think that
there's much in common with this service that you're sitting in right now and the three and
four and five and six year old class at all no but I'll bet you if you go to the three four five
six year old class at an independent fundamental Baptist Church and then you compare that to the
liberal church down the street I see a lot of similarities because you go there okay now I'm
not again I'm not saying like I'm not saying it's a sin don't you any church that has Sunday
schools wrong and I'm not saying I'm not saying a church where you stand up and sit down more than
three times three times is the limit if you stand up and sit down more than three times you're not
right with God that's how I'm saying at all but what I'm saying is this is why we do things the
way we do them here that's all I'm explaining I'm not condemning someone else I'm just saying
this is why I do things this way now let me ask you something when a child spends the first eight
years of his life he's gonna grow up and go to a liberal church when the child spends the first
eight years of his life okay in a service that's nothing like real church okay you know our junior
church or something so what nothing like what church is really like he sings songs that are
nothing like the songs that we sing in here well then when he's eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen
depending on what church you're in and all of a sudden he's interjected into the adult service
well his mind's already been programmed okay what church is now who's teaching him in the three and
four year old class oh they got a woman teaching him even though the Bible says I suffer not a
woman to teach no usurp authority over the man but to be in silence they have a woman teaching
the kids class isn't it a wonder that in the 1960s when you have all these Sunday school classes
with female teachers and you have all the rah rah rah okay then let's fast forward all those kids
are growing up now they have no problem listening to Joyce Meyer preach they spent the first ten
years of their life listening to Joyce Meyer preach in the Sunday school class they have no
top problem listening to Ann Graham and these these these female evangelists and going to a
pastor Becky's church and and pastor Joyce and and pastor Ruth and have no problem with that at all
because their mind was trained as a small child to the time there is ten years old to listen to
a woman preach the Bible look that's the reality it's a fact half the churches in this town are
pastored by women why because you took a generation of kids you put them with a female Sunday school
teacher you gave them a 15-minute lesson you gave them all the jumping around and waving their hands
now they go to a big church in Phoenix they wave their hands they jump around they listen to rock
music everything moves really fast instead of the announcements being in a bulletin there are TV
commercial on the screen they did in the lights and have commercials come on for announcement
time and then they don't sing the hymns of the faith they sing all these fast-paced you know
rock and roll type songs and I'm not saying the song song in the Baptist junior church or rock
and roll but there's this when you sing a song somewhere in outer space God has prepared a place
for those who trust him and obey false doctrine it's not for those who trust and obey to those
who believe okay we don't know when the countdowns getting lower every ten and nine eight and seven
six and five and four call upon the Savior while you may there's a lot more common with that song
and the rock and roll song down the street then with foundation look it's reality I'm not making
this up I'm looking at it I'm looking around at it my kids you know my kids think of when they
think of church they think of blessed assurance to God be the glory my hope is built on nothing
less but Jesus blood and righteousness they think of a man standing up and preaching yelling
slamming his fist on the on the pulpit stopping his feet yelling preaching the Bible they're
used to a sermon that lasts for an hour they're gonna grow up and they're gonna go to a church
like this the kid who grew up in the little sissified Sunday school class is gonna go up
and go to a church like that so I'm not saying it's a sin to have Sunday school but I'm saying
I'm never gonna have Sunday school because I want my kids and I want your kids and these kids are
understanding everything I'm saying right now I'll guarantee you that these two kids right here
and these four kids right here are understanding everything that I'm saying right now even if they
don't understand a word of it they're understanding that this is what church is like some crazy man
screaming and yelling okay songs out of the hymnal look that's what they're gonna grow up and they're
gonna think well I am go to church they're gonna walk in and hear Joyce Meyer and say this isn't
church they're gonna hear a rock bouncer whoa this isn't church I'm in the wrong place hey I
want my kids to be trained like that I want your kids to be trained like that that's why they're
gonna be right here in the service with us till doomsday we don't not have a Sunday school and a
nursery because we're small we will never have a Sunday school or a nursery because we will have
babies and kids in the service listening to preaching from the time that they're born to
the time that they die okay and I just want you to know that I want you to understand why we do
that because we want them to hear the preaching we want them to be involved in the service we
want them to get you say well wait a minute it's so irritating me when kids act up in the service
hey suffer the little children to come unto me from such as the kingdom of God suffer the little
children the Bible says what is the word suffer me suffer I mean yeah it might be a little
irritating sometimes might be a little annoying sometimes having kids in the service they might
act up they might play around hey suffer the little children for such as the kingdom of God
hey love those kids hey realize that those kids are the most important people in the service
sometimes I'll literally write a sermon I'm not I'm telling the honesty all right so I'm gonna say
you know what I'm not sure if anybody in the church really needs this or is really gonna
problem this but I know that my kids need to hear this and I know I mean I'll literally preach a
whole sermon like that and just think well I want my kids to use even if nobody else needs to hear
it this is for them these are the most important people in the service right here sitting in the
front row your kids most important people in the service hey you know what bring your kids to church
if you come to church bring your kids because they're the most important people that you could
be bringing to church they could be hitting the sermon and I got to close I'm gonna hurry I had
several other points in the sermon about and I'll just blow through them but I had a lot of other
points and I'm going quick as I'm later than usual but you know what it's gonna it's gonna have a
price to be paid to build a church is what I'm trying to say with all that that's completely
different from every other fundamental Baptist Church in America hey it's gonna it's gonna take
a little extra work to build a church like that I'm willing to put in the time I'm willing to put
in the work are you are you willing to put in the work to have a church that doesn't look like the
Catholic Church a church where the Bibles preached straight down the line where you know what we
believe about music you know what we believe about the Bible you know what we believe about
salvation you know what we believe about everything because we preach the Bible we don't care about
tradition we don't care what anybody says it's gonna be a different kind of church can take a
price to pay to have that kind of a church but number five men it you know what it's got there's
a price to pay to pay your bills and to provide for your family you've got to learn how to work
and I had a whole lot of scriptures about that where God's telling you don't be lazy work slave
toil sweat work with your own hands the Bible says and you'll be able to have your needs provided
to be able to provide other people's needs hey work hard pay your bills work day and night like
the Apostle Paul said and neither did we demand bread for not but wrought that means worked with
labor and travel night and day that we might not be chargeable to any of you for even when we were
with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should he eat learn how to work
but number six and I'm skipping a bunch of things but number six is everything has a price everything
has a price if you want to be a good Christian if you want to win people to Christ Virginia just won
her first soul to Christ I'll guarantee she had a pray paid a price to do that you know she spent
months in church she spent hours and hours reading the Bible she spent time studying the Bible
learning how to do it she spent time praying and asking God to help her hey there's a lot of
travail there's a lot of labor that goes into winning somebody to Christ it you have to pay a
price there's a lot of labor that it took me to start this church and it's gonna take all of us
a lot more labor to really see it succeed and grow hey pay the price with me it's worth it
it's worth it to pay the price to live for God it's worth it to sell out for God it's worth it
to see this church succeed hey it's worth it to be what God needs you to be just pay the price
you say it's expensive pay it you gotta pay it if we don't pay it who's gonna pay it pay the price
I'm gonna pay the price of my kids turn out right I'm gonna pay the price this church succeed I'm
gonna pay the price that it costs to have a good marriage I'm gonna pay that price not easy to have
a good marriage I'm gonna pay the price I'm gonna do what it takes be what you need to be pay the
price to be what you need to be let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father I thank
you so much for the price that you paid the ultimate price the most precious price tag that
anybody could put on anything the blood of Jesus Christ the the eternal life that you purchased
for us by sacrificing your eternal life to pay for our eternal life dear God and suffering eternal
damnation for us so that we would not have to suffer eternal damnation but glory to God three
days later up from the grave you arose having paid for our salvation and paid for our redemption
father thank you for paying the most ultimate price that anyone could ever pay and God I just
pray that you'd help me and those that are under the sound of my voice this morning to be willing
to pay the price that you have for them to pay help them to pay the price that it's gonna cost
them to really get zealous and serious about winning souls and getting people saved help
them to pay the price it's gonna cost them in order to to really be a Christian that's honoring
and pleasing to you and God help all of us collectively as a church to pay the price
whatever it take whatever sacrifice we need to make whatever pain we need to endure in order
to see this church grow and become what it needs to.