Now, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse number 13
where the Bible reads, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind.
That's the title of the sermon, gird up the loins of your mind.
Be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance,
but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.
As it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy.
And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every
man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.
What does that mean in verse 13, to gird up the loins of your mind?
Well, if you think about it throughout the Old Testament when it talks about people
having their loins girded, they're ready to do something.
They're ready to do some kind of work or to take a trip or to start running or something
along those lines.
If you think about the Passover meal, it was to be eaten according to Exodus 12 with
their loins girded and with their staff in their hand.
Basically they're ready to go.
They're sharp.
They're alert.
They're ready for action.
And when the Bible says to gird up the loins of your mind, the opposite of that
would be sitting down and relaxing.
Think about the Passover.
It was not to be a relaxed meal.
It was to be eaten in haste.
And so the opposite of girding up the loins of your mind would be to just allow your
mind to relax and just kind of allow your mind to just kind of sit around and take
it easy and to just let whatever thoughts come into it and just whatever opinions
that the world dishes up for you.
Whereas girding up the loins of your mind, as this passage said, would be to take control
of your mind, to be awake, to be alert, and to know what you believe and why.
Now look at verse 14.
It says, as obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in
your ignorance.
Okay?
So those who don't have their minds girded up, they are walking according to the lusts
of the ignorance of this world.
Now flip over to 2 Peter.
You're in 1 Peter.
Just go a few pages to the right in your Bible.
2 Peter chapter 3, because when we talk about the world that we live in, and when we say
the world in the Bible, we're talking about the ungodly, unsaved, unregenerate world,
like where the Bible says, love not the world, neither the things that are in the
world.
If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
We're talking about all that is not of the Father, all that is just of sinful flesh
and sinful man in this world.
Two words that come up over and over again are lust and ignorance.
We saw them both side by side in 1 Peter 1 when it talked about the former lusts
in your ignorance.
Here's another place where those two things both show up about the unbelieving world
we live in.
2 Peter 3, 3, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers
walking after their own lusts and saying, where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were
of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water.
This is what we see all around us in our day, those who scoff at and mock Christianity.
Where is the promise of his coming?
And they make fun of the Lord Jesus Christ and his word.
It says in this passage that they're motivated by their own lusts and that they are willfully
ignorant because of their lust, because they want to live a sinful life and because
they covet things that God has told them are off limits to them.
They devise this system of thinking that's a godless system that mocks and scoffs at
Christianity and they just willfully hide their eyes from the truth.
They're willfully ignorant because they're lust.
You want to know why these so-called academic, you know, super-intelligent people, I mean
who does the world think is just so super-intelligent today?
Give me some examples.
Scientists, you know, Richard Dawkins and Stephen Hawking.
And I just found out a new one, Michio Kaku, who's ever heard of this guy?
And they're like, oh man, this is one of the smartest guys, the smartest physicists.
This is what he got up and this has nothing to do with the sermon, but I'm sorry, this
is just a brief commercial break.
But the guy gets up and says, you know, when we physicists are out looking for life
out in the solar system and out in the galaxies and out in the universe, he said
when we physicists are looking for life out in the universe, we're not looking for
little green men.
We're looking for type one, type two, and type three civilizations out in space.
And he begins to describe, you know, type one is like the civilization we see on Buck
Rogers.
And he goes into all that.
And, you know, type two is what we would see in Star Trek.
You know, he explains everything about a type two civilization.
Type three would be Star Wars and the intergalactic empire.
And he goes and explains it, and he's like, you know where we rank on this scale?
A zero.
We're a type zero civilization.
We're a big zero.
And the only way we can even achieve type one status is through global government.
And he said anyone who is against global government is a terrorist.
And they're trying to hold us back.
And he said, the math tells us that there should be thousands of type one and type
two and type three civilizations all over the universe, but we've never found any.
Because he said, what happened is there are all these planets and before they got to
that Buck Rogers level, let alone the Star Trek level or the Star Wars level, he said
before they got to that level, they might have destroyed their planet through global
warming.
Or maybe they all nuked each other through nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
Are we going to be different?
He said we're the most important generation.
We're going to succeed where other people have failed.
We will be Buck Rogers.
We will be Captain Kirk.
We will be Luke Skywalker, okay?
And I mean, this is the most intelligent guy, oh, this guy so does it.
Look what's so stupid about that.
Oh, the math tells us, you know, you know what the math tells us?
That no life should exist in this universe because life cannot come from nothing.
And life on this planet didn't come from nothing.
God breathed into the nostrils of man and man became a living soul.
And it didn't just happen mathematically, the probability, look, you're a fool.
You're a fool, Michio Kaku, Kaka, or whatever your name is, because you know what, you can't
tell us where that life originated from.
You can't tell us where the plants and the animals came from.
You say, oh, yeah, evolution.
No, evolution explains how one life form supposedly turned into another, it's false.
But they claim how one kind of life turned into another.
Evolution can't explain where the original life form came from.
No one can explain that.
Oh, the math, yeah, God can, you're right.
You know, math tells us there should be thousands of Buck Rogers all throughout the universe.
And people are like, oh, man, this guy is so smart.
Let us sit and learn at his feet.
But listen to me, the Bible said of these people professing themselves to be wise, they
became fools.
And I mean, these guys, look, it's not just Michio Kaku that says this, because
honestly, all of these guys, when you listen to them talk, they're into science fiction,
all of them.
They're all into Star Trek.
They're a bunch of Trekkie geeks, is what they are.
There, I said it, if you're into Star Trek, you're a nerd, you're a geek, you're a dweeb.
And you know what, if you're a really successful nerdy, geeky dweeb, you can grow
up and be the next Stephen Hawking.
You can grow up and be the next Richard Dawkins.
These guys, we would have scoffed at these guys in school, you know, as being just
a bunch of losers.
But you know what, they grow up and now they found a way to have popularity finally,
because they were picked on in school.
They sold their soul to Satan.
And he's like, all these things will I give you if you'll fall down and worship me?
And they're like, okay, score.
You know, heh heh heh heh.
And now they can be coolers.
You know, listen to me, these guys are a bunch of godless fools.
And I'm not making fun of people that are nerdy, it's okay to be a geek and everything.
Sorry to offend you.
But anyway, go to Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians chapter 2, let me, that had nothing to do with the sermon, okay, that
was a word from our sponsor.
But let me say this though, the ignorance and the darkness in our world is not a coincidence.
It's not just, it just happens to be that there's all this ignorance in the world.
And the Bible says the world, he said before you were saved, you're ignorant.
You know, the world's filled with ignorance.
And the Bible describes our unsaved world as being in darkness today.
And I'm here to tell you, it is not an accident, it's all by design.
And let me show you that in scripture.
It says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1, and you at thee quicken, who were dead in trespasses
and sins, wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience.
So notice, the unsaved are not just going through life and just living according to
their own will.
The Bible says that before you're saved, you walked according to the course of this
world, which is what?
Look at verse 2, according to the prince of the power of the air, that's talking
about the devil, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.
So amongst the children of disobedience in this world, there's a spirit at work.
There's a guiding force of the prince of the power of darkness that is leading them
into this ignorance and darkness and stupidity and evil.
That's why this physicist just happens to be going around giving speeches about how,
hey, we need a global government, we need a one-world government if we're ever going
to be Buck Rogers.
Why is he saying that?
Because he's getting marching orders from his lord of darkness, Satan himself.
That's what the Bible says.
And look what it says, if you don't believe me, look at verse 3, among whom also we
all had our conversation in time past, in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
So those who were unsaved are all to some extent influenced by this system and by this
evil spirit of the prince of the power of the air.
Go to Ephesians chapter 4, and what I find funny, just a couple pages, what I find
funny about this is that when you think about what the devil uses the most to control
the mind and to influence the unsaved into having all this ignorance and darkness and
wickedness is basically television and radio, which if you think about it, it's all broadcast
over the air.
You know, when you go on TV, you go on the radio, it's like, hey, you're on the
air now.
And he's called the prince of the power of the air.
And then when you talk about TV and radio, it's called programming.
I mean, when you get the TV guy, it's the programming guy, and it's all over the air.
And let me tell you, it's the prince of the power of the air that's behind it.
The mass brainwashing.
Look at Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17.
It says, this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth not walk
as other Gentiles walk in the vanity of their mind.
Now look, what's he saying?
Unsaved people are ignorant, they're in darkness, and so forth.
But he says, I don't want you to have that same mentality.
So notice, being saved does not automatically just cause you to get all this stuff out
of your mind and to no longer participate in any of this stuff.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have to tell them, look, don't do it.
Don't walk as other Gentiles walk.
Don't have your understanding darkened, as it says in verse 18 there.
And he's saying, gird up the loins of your mind.
Take control of your mind.
Take the reins of your mind.
Get your mind ready to think for itself according to the scriptures and not according
to the prince of the power of the air and the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Look what it says there in verse 18, having the understanding darkened, being alienated
from the life of God through what?
The ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who being
past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness
with greediness, but ye have not so learned Christ.
Go back to 2 Corinthians chapter number 4.
And we could go to a lot of scriptures that talk about this same thing.
We saw it in Ephesians 2.
We saw it in Ephesians 4.
Now we're going to see it in 2 Corinthians chapter 4 about the fact that there's an
agenda that the devil has to keep people ignorant, to keep people in darkness, and
to blind the minds of them that believe not.
Look down at your Bible, 2 Corinthians 4, 3.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of
this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
You see that?
Right there.
They're blinded by someone.
And it's Satan, the Bible tells us, the God of this world.
In Revelation 12, 9, you don't have to turn there, but the Bible reads, And the
great dragon was cast out.
That old serpent called the devil and Satan, watch this, which deceiveth the whole world,
he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with them.
Notice it doesn't say who tried to deceive the whole world.
He's trying to deceive.
No.
It says he deceives the whole world.
He's very successful at it.
I mean, God says he's already blinded the minds of them that believe not.
They're in darkness.
They're ignorant.
And basically he leads them into lust and wickedness as a way of life.
Now it's interesting.
I have to give this illustration from this week.
You know, we're working on the film, Marching Design, which is a really important film
and important project.
But I have to tell you something.
I don't think that it's a coincidence that basically the persecution that I've undergone
as a Bible-believing pastor has intensified on all fronts over the last six months since
we really started working on this film and started announcing this film.
Because I'm telling you something.
When you start talking about that subject, you bring out all the forces of hell.
Because I mean, it's a big subject.
And I'm telling you, I've undergone more persecution in more different ways, coming
from a variety of governmental agencies to, you know, to just also just obstacles of
trying to get this movie done.
Because let me tell you something.
The devil does not want the light to be shined on his activities.
And he does not want the truth of the Bible and the truth of the Gospel to be proclaimed.
And let me tell you something.
When you decide to be a preacher that preaches the Word of God, let me tell you something.
You are going to be in for a fight and you just have to be ready.
And if you say, well, I don't want to do that, then you need to not ever think
about becoming a pastor.
It's par for the course.
I mean, if you're going to get up and start shining the light and preaching the Word
of God, the Bible says, yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer
persecution.
And you know what?
The more you do, the more the persecution is going to come.
And you have to be able to withstand in the evil day.
You have to be able to go through that or you're not, you know, it's the wrong business.
But it's funny because we're working on the film, Marching to Zion.
And we had a part where we needed a narrator.
We needed somebody with a really cool voice that would be a narrator, that would narrate
a certain portion of the film.
And so we're on the internet, we're looking for the talent that has the right voice.
Some people are just born with a cool voice.
Dominique comes to mind.
But anyway, people just have a great voice.
And obviously he's developed his skill from reading the Bible out loud a lot.
But the thing is, we find this guy who's like, you know, they're all like a Hollywood voice
guy or whatever.
So we find this guy, the guy sounds great, so we contact his agent, you know.
And we book this guy, we book the studio, you know, we rant a studio.
And we have this guy do voice over for Marching to Zion.
And the guy was a real nice guy and, you know, he read over the script.
We told him what the movie was about.
We told the agency what the movie's about.
In fact, she was asking me all kinds of questions and I spent like 10 or 12 minutes
just explaining to her in great detail everything that the film's about and all this.
And okay, great, okay, we sent the guys lines over, lines look great.
He reads the lines, he's real happy.
He's like, am I getting my name in the credits?
And we're like, yeah, sure, you know, no problem.
Of course, if you want, you know, if you'd rather go uncredited, no problem.
He's like, well, why would I want to go uncredited?
I said, well, you know, it's a really religious film and, you know, in case you're a totally
different religion or something, he's like, no, no, this is, you know, it's fine, yeah.
So anyway, we get this all recorded and then, you know, Paul spends a whole bunch
of time, you know, putting it into the movie, editing it down and, you know, fixing
it up and everything like that.
So we get a call the next day and this lady says, you know, the talent, because that's
what they're called, the talent, okay, you know, the talent went home last night
and he Googled you guys and he read up on you guys and he saw your preaching and
everything and they said he couldn't sleep at night and in fact his voice began
to change.
And I mean, remember, this guy, that's his life, you know, he's a voice guy.
So, you know, maybe there should be a warning label on our website, you know, this could
cause permanent damage to your voice and sleepless nights, you know, you know, consult
a physician before listening to Pastor Harris' preaching.
But anyway, you know, this guy, his voice, his chain, he's real upset and everything
and I'm like, wait a minute, we've already recorded it, we already paid for the studio,
we already did, we've spent days of our time on this.
It's too late, you know, she's like, I've been doing this for 28 years, I've never
done this but I have to tell you, you can't use it.
You cannot use that which you've recorded.
And I'm like, are you going to pay for the studio that we use?
No.
Like, what are you talking about?
You just want us to eat this?
We've spent days on this, you know, we're using it.
You guys can't use it.
And here's what she said and I wish I could just let you listen in to the phone
call because I'm going to tell you this and this is exactly what she said.
She said, you don't understand.
She works in Hollywood and she said pretty much everybody in Hollywood is either a homosexual
or a Jew.
And she said, you've offended both, you know, she's like, she's like the stuff
and she mainly focused on the homos, you know, the stuff you've said about homos.
She said like, this could destroy his career for even having had anything to do with you
because she said, in this industry that we're working in, you must be, and this
woman's claiming, by the way, to be a Christian.
She claimed to be a Bible-believing Christian and she's telling me you have to be tolerant
of homosexuals or you cannot work in this business.
And I said to her, I said, oh, so what you're telling me is that there's this
homosexual Jewish Hollywood mafia that just wants to make sure that a Christian viewpoint
can never be heard.
And let me tell you something, there is not just the element that Hollywood is never
going to put out anything truthful.
We know that's there, don't we?
Hollywood's never going to put out anything truthful.
The media, the TV, they're not going to put out the truth, but it doesn't just
stop there.
They actively will fight against anyone who does try to tell the truth.
They won't even allow a Christian.
I said, you won't even allow a Christian viewpoint to go forth.
I said, let the guy be uncredited.
So what?
We don't care if he wants to be uncredited.
No problem.
And she said, well, I don't think that the Bible says anything against homosexuality.
I said, you know what, you're a liar.
I said, you want to hang around with a bunch of fags all day in Hollywood, so that's
how you justify it is by lying to yourself that the Bible doesn't condemn it.
You know the Bible condemns it, but you just want to tolerate it for filthy lucre's
sake because you want to make money in Hollywood.
And let me tell you something, Hollywood is a wicked place.
And let me tell you something, the whole, it's not just Hollywood.
It's the radio, it's the magazines, it's Madison Avenue.
Listen to me, it's the rulers of the darkness of this world.
Go to Ephesians 6, Ephesians chapter 6.
Not only that, but just in the last few months, the company that we used that duplicated
a bunch of my preaching CDs and duplicated my films and stuff is refusing to duplicate
CDs and films for me now.
I'm telling you, they don't want this stuff to get out.
And there's going to come a day, and right now the internet is a powerful tool to proclaim
the truth uncensored, but let me tell you something, there could easily come a
day when the internet is shut down or heavily censored because all it would have
to be is that your ISP provider just says, well you know, we don't approve of your
brand of Christianity, it's too hateful.
But anything they don't agree with is just hate.
Just a blanket label, if it's Christian, it's hate.
If it's biblical, it's hate speech.
And then they'll just shut you down and YouTube will shut you down and Facebook will
shut you down and your ISP will shut you down and Blogger will shut you down and
just say, well we don't allow this kind of speech.
You don't even know, I mean thank God that we at least have free speech right now and
free speech over the internet, but there's no free speech over the television.
There's no free speech on the radio, okay, but how long will the internet even last
as a free source of ideas and information?
We don't even know.
And so I'm saying that we need to be fighting the battle on the front lines and not hiding,
you know, and scared of our own shadow.
Look you say, well Pastor Anderson, everything you've gone through the last few months,
you know, companies are refusing to work with you, you know, everybody's fighting
you every step of the way on making this movie Marching to Zion, and not only that,
you know, the people are calling all these government agencies on you, they're calling
the IRS, they're calling CPS, and just railing accusations, and yeah, okay, once we
show them all the evidence, you know, we come out of these things unscathed, but
let me tell you something, it's still a huge nuisance though, and it's a pain in
the rear end to have to go through all this, and you say, well Pastor Anderson, you
know, why don't you just tone it down a little, why don't you just back down and cool
it and take it, no, because we need to be fighting harder than we've ever fought,
because I'm telling you something, the world is in darkness and deceived, and
our country is going down the toilet at an alarming rate, and somebody needs
to be the watchman on the wall and cry aloud and spare a knot, and you know
what, there are a lot of pastors out there who agree with the stuff that
I'm preaching about this, but where are they at? Now some of them will
publicly proclaim, I'm not the only one of course, you know, there are
7,000 men that have not bowed the knee to Baal, and there are plenty of pastors who do
stand up and preach right, but you know what, they're way less than
there used to be, and for every one that's standing up and having the
guts to proclaim what he believes, there are another 50 that are hiding in
a cave like the prophets that Obadiah hid in a cave, you know, Elijah's the only
one out publicly preaching this stuff, right, and it's like oh no, there's a
hundred more prophets that believe this stuff, but they're all hiding in a
cave, you know, they're hiding in a cave with Obadiah eating bread and water, you
know, there's only one guy who would confront the king and confront
the prophets of Baal and confront the prophets of the groves, and that's the
day that we're living in today where there are few that will let their
voice be heard, you know, thank God we have six or seven, you know, pastors
participating with the Marching Design film, but you know what, it should be
60, you know, instead of six, I mean, you know, we don't need that many in the film, but the
bottom line is that, you know, you'd expect these biblical truths to be
proclaimed, but you know what, people are afraid to say anything against the
homos because it brings a flood of persecution on you, it's not that they
don't agree, oh, I just don't agree, I just think we're supposed to just love
and be buddies with everybody, no, no, no, here's what it is, I'm a coward, so let me find
doctrine to back up me being a coward, and you want to know what the proof is, all these
bunch of panderers, if you go back to their sermons in the 90s, they were
ripping face like I am about that subject, back in the 90s, everybody was
doing it, back in the 90s, even Falwell, Jerry Falwell was ripping face on the
homos, but then you read his quotes from the 2000s and it's like, oh, I
don't want to, I don't want to disrespect the homosexual community, it's
like what, it's because it's just, that's how they decide what they preach, we are
in a spiritual battle, and let me look, you talk about never being able to work
in this town again, you know of Hollywood, forget that, when I was in the
fire alarm business, I lost 75% of my customers because of my preaching, I mean
that's the kind of persecution that's going on today, where they'll just try
to make it to where you can't work, where you can't get your stuff out there, you
can't put it on, you know, I've been banned from Facebook so many times I
can't even count, they make it to where you can't get your message out,
but you know what, we're going to get our message out, and that's why we
have, you say, why do you give all that stuff away for free, in the back shelf
all those DVDs and CDs, none of it's for sale back there, it's all free, say
why do you give all that stuff away, because you know what, those are
valuable tools to get information out, when other channels are closing down, we
need to get those physical DVDs and CDs in people's hands, and get this
stuff out, I mean some of that stuff is like contraband back there, I'm not
kidding, I mean some of that stuff, you know, is like, I mean it's all legal
now, you know, but who knows, you know, you got to get that stuff out there
while you can, and learn this stuff, and teach this stuff, and look, we're in a
spiritual battle, look at Ephesians 6-11, and remember, what's the title of the sermon?
Gird up the loins of your mind, right? Gird up the loins of your mind, look at
Ephesians 6-11, it says, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able
to stand against the wiles of the devil, which is what we read about in
all those other scriptures, how he's trying to keep everybody in darkness, and
keep everybody ignorant, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but
against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of
this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, now look, the next time
somebody calls you a conspiracy theorist, just point to this, the rulers of the
darkness of this world, it exists, there is a conspiracy of evil at the
top of the power echelon in the world that we live in, look at verse
14 though, stand therefore having your loins gird, now remember, it's called gird
up the loins of your mind, having your loins gird about with truth, so how do
we gird up the loins of our mind, we need to have an injection of the truth
into our mind, to help us gird up the loins of our mind, and having on the
breastplate of righteousness, and so if we're going to gird up the loins of
our mind, we need to stop listening to all the liars, we need to shut off
the TV, shut off the radio, you know, shut off the world sources of news and
information, and, and just all this junk, okay, and we need to get ourselves
in this book for a while, and renew our mind, and let me tell you something,
I, you know, I'm not saying it's wrong to ever look at the news, or to, or
to listen to any of this stuff, but you know what, when you're sitting
there and dwelling on that stuff day after day, you're being brainwashed,
and you're being programmed, period, so why listen to the conservative
though, the devil is smart enough to control both sides my friend, you
think the devil is just like, let's put all our resources on controlling
the liberals, and the democrats, you know, look the democrats and, and
the liberals in this country are so godless and, and stupid, they
don't even need the devil's help, they're fine, okay, look, it's, it's
controlled on both sides, okay, so what you're hearing on Sean Hannity
and Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck is not the gospel, okay, you know, Glenn
Beck is a Mormon, that's a satanic religion, okay, and you say, oh, well
I, I just listened to Mark Levin and Michael Savage, the real guys,
yeah, both Jewish, both Jews, you know, and by the way, the same
people that are running TV, Hollywood, it's all run by Jews, oh, if
you say that you're anti-Semitic, they're gonna say I'm anti-Semitic
anyway, so I might as well say it, it's all run by Jews, and,
and the Bible calls them the synagogue of Satan, and the Bible
says, who is a liar, but he that denyeth that Jesus is the
Messiah, he's anti-Christ, that denyeth the Father and the Son, so
look, these people that don't believe that Jesus is the
Messiah, they don't believe Jesus is the Christ, the Bible
says they're anti-Christ, and the Bible says they're liars, so
you think that's the only thing they lie about, they lie
about Jesus not being the Messiah, they lie and tell you
that Isaiah 7-14, when it says a virgin shall conceive, that
it's really just a young woman shall conceive, they lie and
try to change all the prophecies of the Old Testament to
have nothing to do with Jesus, let me tell you something,
they're lying to you every night on the evening news, they're
lying to you every day on television, and in the
newspapers and in the magazines, look, you say, well I
just really want to follow the news, well look, if you
really want to follow the news, before you, you still,
you still need to take a big long break from it, and
get in this book, don't even, don't even tell me, well I
just want to read the newspaper every day and stay
up on the news until you've read this book cover to
cover about five or ten times, you know, then, then
read the newspaper a little bit if you must, but let me
tell you something, most people spend more time, you
know this is true, listening to TV, listening to talk
radio, and reading the newspaper than they spend
reading this book or listening to an audio CD of
this book, because there's a lot of audio of this
book out there, you know, you can, you can get it
for free off the internet, you can get Alexander
Skirby, but you know and I know that most people
are just letting the devil and the prince of the
power of the air control their mind, control their
mind, control their mind, and then they're lucky if
they spend five minutes girding up the loins of
their mind, and you know when you get up in the
morning you brush your teeth, you get dressed, you
tie your shoes, you put on deodorant, you know
you get out the door, that this is a spiritual
hygiene that needs to take place in the morning,
just as much as I'm girding up my loins here,
putting on a belt every day, you need to put on
the belt of truth every day and gird up the loins
of your mind, loins, look, don't be caught with
your pants down, but rather gird up the loins
of your mind, gird about with truth, and you know
what Jesus said of the Bible, sanctify them
through thy truth, thy word is truth.
You say oh I'm part of the truth movement,
oh I'm glad to hear that you read the King
James Bible every day, that's the real truth
movement, this is what it means to be a truther,
means you believe in Jesus, means you're a Christian,
and so these are perilous times we're living in,
the devil and his plan for a one world government
are in full swing, TV, radio, newspapers are controlled,
and the brainwashing is working, which is why
when you start speaking against homosexuality
to Christians, they get uncomfortable.
They literally, if I had a nickel for every time
who told me, when I hear you get up and preach
hard against homos or use a word like queer
or faggot, they say I get physically ill.
They're like I'm saved, I'm a Christian,
and I literally cringe, I literally, it hurts,
like I feel, like hurts me, and I cringe,
and it makes me sick to my stomach,
and my heart starts pounding, and I get a lump
in my throat, because you have been trained
like Pavlov's dogs by the media and the world
to accept that stuff.
You know, and thank God I found a guy in town
that's just willing to print whatever,
you know what I mean, because I called her out,
and said so are you part of the Hollywood homo mafia
that's gonna try to censor everything I say,
or will you just print whatever DVDs
that I send you as long as my money's green?
And you think the only money that's tainted
is the money that taint there,
and he said send it over, dude, whatever you want,
he said whatever, I'm like all right,
here's my new film, AIDS, the Judgment of God.
He's like how many you want, when do you need to buy,
end of the week, yeah, but let me tell you something,
most of them are part of this cabal,
the cabala cabal, you know, that doesn't want
this information to get out, doesn't want the truth
to get out there, look, we're fighting this stuff,
we're on the front lines, I'm telling you something,
you need to gird up the loins of your mind
and wake up to these things, we all need to be awake,
and any of us can start slouching, start relaxing,
and I'm not talking physically, I'm talking mentally,
let down the mental guard, let down the loins
of your mind and just start letting everybody
program you and tell you, look, do you notice
that everybody talks about the same things
on the same day in the world we live in?
Go to the grocery store, you go to work,
go to the wholesale house, and it's like,
the same things are coming out, everybody's on
the same program, it's like that's what's been dished up
for you mentally today, worldwide, nationwide,
but you know what, we need to just get on
a totally different program, this is how you get off
the devil's wavelength, just, even if you say,
well, I don't wanna swear it off for life or whatever,
look, why don't you just do this, take a break from it,
just take a break, and by the way,
when you take a break from it, when you come back,
nothing will change, I remember like, I used to listen
to a lot of talk radio, you know, you listen to
the conservative talk radio, and I remember one time
I was like, man, I'm taking a break from this stuff,
because every day I felt like some major,
it's like something major's always happening in Congress,
or major world events in the Middle East,
and you're like, I gotta be up on this,
I gotta stay up on this, and I remember I was like,
you know, I'm just gonna take a break from it,
I went like three months without listening to it at all,
just kinda living in my own bubble
of just me and the Holy Spirit, and by the way,
Jesus and John the Baptist and the Apostle Paul
did that a few times, remember when the Apostle Paul
just went into Arabia for three and a half years,
didn't wanna be tainted by a lot of man's teaching,
and so he just went into Arabia and just spent
a lot of time at the word of God with the Holy Spirit,
John the Baptist did it in the wilderness,
look, if Jesus went in the wilderness for 40 days
and 40 nights, if John the Baptist went
in the wilderness until the time of his showing
to Israel, if Elijah took a 40 minute,
or I'm sorry, a 40 minute, good night,
a 40 mile, not even a 40 mile, a 40 day,
I can't think straight, I need to gird up my mind here,
if Elijah could spend 40 days just walking
through the desert and just going,
he literally, I mean, he's in Israel,
he walked to Mount Sinai, he retraced the steps
of the children of Israel who left Egypt,
went to Mount Sinai and then went to Palestine,
he went back to Sinai to get with God
and he just took that trip and was alone with God,
and why can't you, nobody's asking you
to do an ultra marathon from Israel to Mount Sinai,
nobody's asking you to go out in the desert
and fast for 40 days and 40 nights,
nobody's asking you to live off locusts and wild honey
until the time of your showing unto Phoenix,
but let me tell you something,
can you just live in a wilderness
without TV and radio for a month?
I mean, forget 40 days from food,
how about just 40 days from the world,
as far as just their airwaves and electronic programming,
and you know what, it's funny,
I did that for like three months,
I just wouldn't listen to any of the news
or the talk radio or anything,
and right about time I shut it off,
they're like, oh, we're hitting the budget ceiling,
we gotta raise the debt ceiling
and there's this strife between the Republicans
and the Democrats and we don't wanna raise
that debt ceiling because we're already trillions in debt
and blah, blah, blah, and then it's like,
then it's like the last minute they raise it
and just, let's go into more debt,
we all agree again, yeah, let's all go into more debt,
trillions of dollars to the bankers,
and then it was like another budget crisis,
and then they're like, the Middle East
is just like a boiling pot that's just about to boil over,
and then it was like, I came back three months later
and those two exact things were the exact things
that were going on, exactly, another budget crisis,
the debt ceiling again,
the Republicans don't wanna raise it,
but they're like, let me think about it,
okay, sure, we'll raise it,
and they give in and whatever,
and they raise it and they go into more debt,
and it's a sell out,
but we're gonna keep voting them in
because they're gonna save us,
and if it wasn't one Bush that'll save us,
it's the next Bush, and if he won't save us,
then Jeb Bush is gonna save us,
and I know we've already had this other Clinton,
but we're gonna get a new Clinton in there,
you know, and I know Mitt Romney has lost,
you know, every single time he runs,
and he's an idiot and he's a Mormon,
but you know what, we're gonna go ahead
and we're gonna put him up again,
and it's, dude, you could literally,
you could shut it off from 08 to 2012
and it's still Mitt Romney,
you could shut it off from 2012 to 2016,
it's still Mitt Romney,
these people are nuts!
You're nuts if you think that Mitt Romney
and Jeb Bush and these guys
are our salvation politically.
So look, if your choice is between
Mitt and Jeb and all these people,
and the debt, why are you even involved?
Why do you even care?
It's controlled on both sides.
You're wasting your time.
You'd spend a lot, well, but my vote counts.
You know what counts?
When you're out soul winning.
You're actually getting something done!
When you go soul winning, and you know what,
when you're gonna, I'm gonna read up on the news,
I'm gonna read up on, you know, the newspaper,
I'm gonna figure out what's going on in the Middle East,
I wanna get to the bottom of,
no, no, no, read up on this,
and I guarantee you, you'll be way more effective,
more people will be saved, and our nation will be saved.
It'll help, look, it'll help politically
if we go soul winning.
Amen.
Why?
Because God's people always go into bondage
when they sin, and when they're not saved,
and when they serve other gods.
Look, if we could get the people of our country
serving the Lord and believing in Jesus,
God would bless us with freedom.
Amen.
But we wanna be worldly, not do any soul winning,
listen to TV and radio, and we think that voting
for some Bush or Romney or McCain is gonna fix it.
I mean, good night, if you're thinking like,
wait a minute, what is he saying?
You mean he's not for our guy?
You're part of the problem, and this sermon's for you.
And you know what, if you're offended by this sermon,
I'm talking to you.
And you know what, if you're offended by this sermon,
come up to me after the service,
I'll write your name on this sermon and hand it to you.
I will take my outline, and I will sign it for you,
and I will write, to your name,
you need this, I preach this just for you,
Pastor Anderson.
Because you know what, and it's the truth.
You're the one who needs this sermon.
Everything I'm saying up here is as true
as the day is long.
The Bible says that the devil controls
the power of the air.
The Bible says that this world is in ignorance
and darkness by design.
The Bible says that unsaved people
are not performing the will of God.
They there in the flesh cannot please God,
and that rather, they are part of the problem,
and that they are working according to the Spirit.
He said all of you before you were saved
worked according to the power of the children
of disobedience and the power of the air.
Everybody, but not Glenn Beck, not Sean Hannity.
You know, they're different, right.
Where are we at in this sermon?
Nobody knows, Ephesians six.
Okay, go to Jeremiah 48, 10.
Here's the problem in the pulpits of America today.
Here's the problem, Jeremiah 48, 10.
Now, what did the Bible say in Ephesians 6, 12?
It said, we wrestle not against flesh and blood.
So is this a physical battle where we go out
and sharpen our weapons and go out and fight?
No, he said we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.
So it's not a physical girding up of the loins
that we need more than anything today
of, you know, getting ready for combat
and, you know, getting our weapons all clean and ready.
You know, is that the main thing
that we need to be doing today to prepare for the...
No, he said, gird up the loins of your mind.
Gird up your loins with truth.
And he didn't say go out and get a physical sword
and sharpen it.
And look, I'm not against owning physical weapons.
We should, you know, protect ourselves and so forth.
You know, we ask God to provide our food,
our daily bread, but we still go to work every day.
You know, we ask God to protect us,
but we still own a weapon as the Bible tells us
we should in both Old and New Testament.
But let me tell you something.
Our battle is not with flesh and blood.
And you know what, those weapons are not going
to protect you from the biggest dangers.
And by the way, those weapons are not gonna fight
the battle that needs to be fought.
Because the Bible says, and you're in Jeremiah 48,
but I'll just read this for you.
For though we walk in the flesh,
I mean, we're living and walking in a flesh and blood body.
He said, we do not war after the flesh.
For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal.
They're not fleshly weapons.
But mighty through God to the pulling down
of strongholds, casting down imaginations.
And every high thing that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity,
listen to this, every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Did you hear that?
Bringing into captivity every thought
to the obedience of Christ.
What's the battle today?
What's the spiritual warfare?
If he says, hey, we're not wrestling
against flesh and blood.
We're wrestling against principalities and powers.
The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh,
but they're spiritual weapons.
Okay, how do I fight?
What do I do?
Where's the front line?
He said, we're casting down imaginations.
And every high thing that exalted itself
against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity
every thought to the obedience of Christ.
It's a mental battle.
And first of all, we must take control of our own mind.
We must gird up the loins of our own mind.
Then we want to go out and shine the light
and open the minds of others.
Now part of that is the gospel,
the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
Part of that is when people from our church
and virtually every day of the week,
somebody from our church is out knocking doors
with the Bible preaching the gospel.
You know, and we strongly encourage and preach
and try to get people to get out at least once
every week, at least once every week,
and get out there and knock some doors
and give the gods.
That's a big part of who we are as a church.
That's a big part of the battle
is just getting people saved.
Because if we can get people saved,
you know, now they can do right.
They can serve God.
They can be led of the Spirit.
You know, hopefully they will be,
but at least they can be.
And going out and preaching the gospel
is a huge part of it.
But is that the whole Great Commission?
Did it stop there?
Just preach the gospel and let it lie.
No, he said also baptize them
in the name of the Father and the Son of the Holy Ghost.
And he said, teach them to observe all things
whatsoever I've commanded you.
So when it comes to the Great Commission,
when we're out soul winning,
we're fulfilling part of it, right?
We're teaching all nations.
We're preaching the gospel to every creature.
Okay, when we baptize somebody
after the service this morning,
we're fulfilling another part of it.
And listen, I am right now fulfilling the third part
because I'm teaching you to observe
all things that the Bible commands.
So even though this sermon's not about salvation,
it's a fulfillment of the Great Commission
because I'm showing you a commandment in the Bible.
Jesus said, teach them to observe
all things I've commanded you.
What's the command that I'm teaching you this morning?
To gird up the loins of your mind.
It's not optional.
It's a commandment.
There's a commandment in the New Testament
that says, gird up the loins of your mind.
How do you disobey that commandment?
Letting your mind relax and take in
everything the devil has for you.
That's what I'm preaching against today.
And I'm telling you, gird up the loins of your mind,
gird up about the loins with truth,
and instead of that morning paper
and the morning show and the morning news
and the morning this, it needs to be
the morning Bible reading to gird it up.
And you know what?
Throughout the day, the belt can get a little loose,
start sagging, gird it up again.
Gird it up at lunchtime.
Seven times a day will I praise God
for his righteous judgments.
You know?
Be like Daniel where he prayed morning, noon, and night.
You know, read the Bible and meditate
on God's word day and night.
It's a constant tightening of the belt.
It's a constant girding up of the loins with truth.
Why?
Because the devil is always gonna be coming at us,
trying to loosen us up and find that chink in the armor
where you can get into your mind.
And that's what the devil state university
here in Tempe wants to do.
They wanna get in your mind.
That's why there are certain jobs
that they close off to you
unless you have a degree from one of these institutions.
Not because somebody couldn't get those skills on their own
or learn them as an apprentice
or learn them through study.
No, they wanna get into your mind.
And you're like, well, I can't do X the job
unless I go down there.
Then you go down there, and it's like, okay,
yeah, here's the core math and science
that you're trying to learn.
But also, you need to get a liberal education also.
I mean, when I went to school, I went for math.
You know, I love math.
Who likes math?
But I'm not one of those nerdy guys
I was preaching about earlier in the service.
But you know, I like math.
I really enjoy math.
And so I was going to junior college and going for math,
and my plan was to go to Devil State University
and get a degree in electrical engineering
because I was an electrician by trade.
My dad was an electrician.
My grandpa was an electrician.
Before that, it hadn't been invented or whatever.
But you know, so I wanted to do electrical engineering.
And it's like, just to go for the math
and to go for the electrical engineering,
they make you take all this diversity stuff
and all this junk and teach you all this Antichrist stuff.
I mean, I was just trying to find
the most non-offensive classes to take.
Thankfully, I got out of a lot of my cultural and diversity
by taking foreign languages.
Because they said if you take German four
and Spanish four, that'll satisfy your cultural,
you know, and you don't have to take,
you know, lesbian poetry of the 20th century or whatever.
You know, so I'm like, okay, I got out of that stuff.
But then I took like a history class.
It was just the history of Western civilization,
it was called.
All evolution-based, you know.
All kinds of evolution.
And then just a blaspheming of Christianity
and how the Bible's full of,
I mean, that's what they're teaching.
Then I took a class called cultural geography.
Cultural geography, because I wanted to take
a geography class, because I figured, you know,
you know, I like maps and stuff.
But the only one that could fit the time I needed
was cultural geography.
So, but I read up on it, it's like,
oh, you're just learning about, you know,
different cultures of the world.
I'm like, that sounds cool.
I've always liked stuff like that.
Learn about what it's like in Asia and Europe.
And you know, I've always loved travel
and language and stuff.
And you know, they're teaching us about Japan,
and we're watching a video.
All of a sudden on the video,
it's just a bunch of naked 20-year-old women.
This is a Japanese bathhouse.
Just a bunch of nude, young Japanese women in a bath.
It's like, is that really necessary
for me to learn about Japan?
Show me that imagery that's gonna, you know,
that could cause you to lust and whatever.
And then another time I'm in there,
and the teacher in the cultural geography class,
she's like, I went to India
and I saw people levitate on street corners,
and it was real.
Now of course, if you've seen all the videos
where it's debunked, you know it's not real.
But she's teaching class, she's like,
look, I know it's real.
And the kids are just like, wow.
They're just eating it up about this, you know,
this Eastern mysticism.
It's all real, and they can levitate and all this stuff.
I've seen it, I've been there.
This is the college professor telling us that.
And then she showed us a video
about how the whole world's overpopulated
and we need to use birth control,
and was praising the communist China one child policy.
Praising it unto us.
I mean, this is just, this is to get a math degree.
And I only went for a year and a half
to get a math degree.
Another time, in the German class,
they played a video that just showed pedophilia.
I got up and walked out of the classroom.
Showed pedophilia on screen in German class.
In German, German four.
Yeah, that's gonna help me know how to speak German.
I'm telling you, the devil wants to get into your mind.
And these are the,
that's why he controls the higher education.
That's why he controls the TV, controls the radio,
controls the magazines.
You say, well, how am I gonna make a living?
There are plenty of people who make six figures
without going to college, by the way.
Go out and work, you learn a trade, you learn skills.
And you say, well, what about those certain jobs
where it's like you have to get that degree?
Like I could never be an engineer
because you have to have a degree to get your PE.
So what I ended up doing is I just went into fire alarms
and I got a separate fire alarm engineering credential
that didn't require college.
And I made six figures in the fire alarm business.
So I mean, it's possible to do it another way.
And you say, but what if your kids,
what if your kids grow up
and they wanna do one of these jobs
where they have to go to all this
devil state university and learn?
I just tell my kids, don't do that job,
pick a different job.
Oh, but we need Christians to be those up.
Yeah, we need Christians with a pure mind
to gird up the lines of their mind.
We need Christians who have been brainwashed
is what we need more than that.
And there are plenty of backslidden Christians
that'll go there and do those jobs and everything.
So it's not like there's a problem.
Hey, we don't have a shortage of backslidden Christians.
We don't need you to be like,
well, I gotta be one of these backslidden Christians though
or we're not gonna have enough Christian whatever.
No, we need you to be one of the less than 1%
that are girded up in the lines of your mind, okay.
But look down at your Bible and Jeremiah,
here's what's wrong with the pulpit of America.
We talked about how it's a spiritual battle.
We talked about how the weapons are spiritual,
not physical.
Look what it says in Jeremiah 48 verse 10.
Cursed be he that doeth the work
of the Lord deceitfully.
And then look at the next statement
where he restates it in another way.
And cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
Now look, this scripture, Jeremiah 48, 10,
the context is about a physical fight, okay.
This is a physical battle where the children of Israel
are going to war against the enemies of the Lord
and basically they're supposed to fight the battle
and he's saying, you know,
cursed be he that doeth the work
of the Lord deceitfully.
And cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from blood.
This is a person who doesn't wanna fight,
doesn't wanna get involved,
doesn't wanna engage the enemy and do damage.
That's what he's saying.
Keep, I mean, what else does it mean?
Keep back your sword from blood.
Okay, so how would this apply in the spiritual battle?
This is the pastor who says,
I wanna do the work of the Lord.
Positive only.
I'll be at the battle.
I'll show up at the battle.
I'll do the work of the Lord
but I'm keeping my sword back from blood.
And listen, we need some Bibles today,
some spirit, sword of the spirit
that's got the blood of the enemy on it today
is what we need.
You know, we got a bunch of clean swords today,
bunch of pastors today
where their Bible is as clean as a whistle, okay?
We need some swords of the spirit
to go out and actually engage the enemy
and when the Bible says,
cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully
I wouldn't want that to be said of my ministry.
Your ministry, you did the work of the Lord
but you did it deceitfully.
And you know why it's deceitful?
Because they're getting up
and acting like they're preaching
everything the Bible says,
leaving out huge sections because they're not popular
and because they don't wanna get blood on their sword.
That's what's really gonna,
oh, I don't wanna offend,
don't wanna get any blood on the sword.
Oh, I don't wanna preach that
cause it's gonna turn people away.
Oh, they don't wanna get any blood on their sword.
They wanna have a crystal clear, clean,
sanitized for your protection type sermon.
Sanitary, clean and pristine of a sermon.
Instead of getting out there
and actually engaging the enemy,
Paul didn't have a sword that was kept back from blood.
He said, I fought the good fight.
He didn't say, I was peaceful with all men.
He said, I fought the good fight.
I'm for peace but when I speak there for war
and let me tell you something,
we are to fight the Lord's battles.
I'm not saying physically.
My sword in my office has no blood on it
and it never has had any blood on it.
But this sword, if you could see it spiritually,
would be dripping in blood, it would.
And I think I remember Jesus shedding his blood for us.
And we're supposed to be in a battle here.
But you know what happens when you go out
and start getting your sword engaged in battle?
You're gonna take some wounds yourself.
And that's what these guys are scared of, they're cowards.
Now go if you would to Acts chapter 20.
Acts, I gotta hurry up, I'm almost out of time here.
But I hope the point of the sermon is getting across to you.
I'm gonna skip some scriptures here
that are in the sermon.
But I hope the point is getting across to you.
We need to gird up the loins of our mind, why?
Because I showed you scripture after scripture
that the devil has an agenda and a program
where he has blinded the minds of them that believe not.
He is keeping them in ignorance.
And God said, beware, lest you're caught up
in the error of the wicked.
You need to make sure to gird up the loins of your mind.
Being saved doesn't automatically
make you immune from the devil's deception.
There are plenty of saved people
who get deceived on things by the devil, and by TV,
and by radio, and everything else.
Doesn't mean they're not saved,
it just means they haven't girded up
the loins of their mind.
And so how do we do it?
The truth, gird it with the truth.
How do we do it?
How about this, go to a church that'll preach the truth.
Because if you're going to a church
that's doing the work of the Lord deceitfully,
where they won't ever hit a controversial issue,
and they won't ever say anything that offends,
you know what, that's just reinforcing
the garbage program you're getting all week long.
You need a church that when you show up
will grab you and shake you out of the program
that you've been getting all week long.
But honestly, church isn't enough.
Don't put on your belt one day a week.
Put on your belt every morning, noon, and night,
and tighten it up.
Tighten up your mind, strengthen it.
Did you know that your mind is like a muscle?
It's true, anybody will tell you this.
The more you read, and the more you study,
and the more that you memorize the Bible,
and the more that you think your brain gets stronger,
and the more you just, ugh, in front of the TV,
you get stupid.
Listen, nothing could be more true about TV
than this statement, TV makes you stupid.
I mean, your mom told you that when you were a kid.
You thought it was just a figure of speech.
TV makes you stupid, it's the idiot box.
It's the boob tube, it's for morons.
It makes you dumber.
Oh, but I watch educational stuff.
No, it still makes you dumb.
What's the difference between that and reading?
I don't know, but reading makes you smart,
and TV makes you dumb.
I don't have to explain why.
I don't know all the reasons necessarily why
when I push the gas pedal down in the car,
we go faster, but it still happens.
It's still real.
I don't have to know all the inner workings
of a piston four-cycle engine
to know that when I push the button,
the light bulb comes on,
and when I push my foot on the gas,
we go forward faster,
and when I push the brake, we slow down.
Look, TV makes you stupid.
And not only that, but the devil,
do you really think that the angel of the Lord
is sitting down at the switchboard
out at NBC and CBS?
Who do you think's running that thing?
Christ rejectors.
Christ haters are running it.
Seriously, I'm telling you.
And if you're just gonna let that all come into you
while you neglect this book,
it gets dusty and neglected,
your loins are not girt up.
You might physically look so sharp
and come into church,
and you look awesome,
and everything's perfect,
and you're all girded up and ready to go,
but you know what?
If we saw you spiritually,
spiritually, you're in a bathrobe,
and you're in a La-Z-Boy in a bathrobe,
and you're eating chips off your chest.
If we could see you spiritually,
that's what you look like.
You're eating the junk food of the world,
totally devoid of nutrition.
You got your big, super big gulp
of diet whatever aspartame GMO garbage, spiritually.
And then, no real nutrition.
The fruit and vegetables are rotting
on your kitchen counter,
but the chips are just constantly in supply.
The sodas are constantly in supply.
The meat is expired.
The milk is expired.
The fruits and vegetables are expired.
The whole grains,
you're sitting there and eating a bunch of junk food,
and you're sedentary and slothful,
and you need to gird up
and get ready to go and do something,
and you need to get mentally prepared for it
and teach others also.
Where did I have you turn?
Acts 20 is the last scripture we'll turn to,
and then we'll shut her down.
Acts chapter number 20, it says this.
Verse 18, and when they were come to him,
he said unto them,
Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia,
after what manner I've been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility,
and with many tears and temptations,
which befell me by the lying in wait of the Jews.
You know, and I know what that's like.
You know, you start making a film like,
you know, Marching to Zion,
there's the lying in wait of the Jews to get you.
This is not real.
Otherwise, yeah.
Everybody's like, it's out, it's done, cool!
End of March, people, all right?
But you know, the lying in wait of the Jews.
But look what he says.
How I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.
Do you see that in verse 20?
So here's what he said.
In verse 19, there were people lying in wait
to arrest him, to beat him, to kill him,
to lie about him, to malign him.
He said, you know that the Jews were lying in wait
to do that to me, but he said, I kept back nothing.
Did it affect his preaching that they lied in wait?
No, he said, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you.
You say, well, yeah, but is everything really profitable?
Well, I think the Bible said all scriptures profitable.
All scriptures give my inspiration of God's profitable.
You know what he's saying?
I didn't keep back any Bible from you.
If it was in the Bible, I preached it.
That's what Paul said.
And have taught you, but have showed you
and have taught you publicly and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also the Greeks,
repentance towards God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now behold, I go bound in the spirit
unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things
that shall befall me there,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me,
but none of these things move me.
Neither count I my life dear unto myself
that I might finish my course with joy
and the ministry which I have received
with the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel
of the grace of God.
Look, and that phrase, I finished my course
was associated with fight the good fight
in 2 Timothy 4.
So the bottom line is we as pastors
need to have our loins girt with truth
and keep back nothing.
You as a Christian need to go to a church
that keeps back nothing.
You as a believer need to gird up your mind
and those loins every single day by reading scripture.
And you need to take 40 days in the wilderness
from all the world's brainwashing
and get alone with the Holy Spirit
and get alone with the word of God
and see how it transforms you as a person.
You will be transformed in 40 days and 40 nights
of shutting off worldly stuff and just Bible.
Just get in the Bible.
It's not gonna kill you to take a break
from some of the other stuff.
Yeah, but what if things really erupt
in the Middle East and I missed it?
It's always erupting over there.
It'll be erupting the same way
40 days from now as it is now.
No, I think this is really it this time.
How many times?
And you know what, if it is,
somebody will tell you about it.
That's what I always tell people.
They're like, you don't follow the news?
I'm just like, well, if it's anything really big,
like somebody comes and tells me,
hey, did you hear about whatever?
Gird up the loins.
If you quit just being so relaxed mentally,
you need to hit the gym mentally.
You need to hit the gym and start building up your mind
and I'm like, I'm gonna take control of my mind.
I'm gonna get stronger.
My mind's gonna get strong.
I'm gonna learn the Bible
and I'm gonna know what's going on.
I'm not against going to the gym,
but you need to hit the mental gym.
Your muscles are sagging mentally.
You know that taxi cab drivers in New York,
they tested a bunch of them that use GPS
and a bunch of them that didn't use GPS.
Okay, and I'm not against you.
I use GPS, okay.
I'm horrible with directions.
But these cab drivers,
that's all they're doing all day is driving places.
Some of them use GPS.
The others are all just doing it with their brain.
And they looked at the part of the brain
that had to do with memory, the hippocampus, okay.
And it was smaller in the cab drivers who were using GPS
and it was bigger in the ones who were actually
using maps and thinking about it and doing it on memory.
So that shows, you know,
that your brain can be developed or underdeveloped.
The entertainment part of your brain is way overdeveloped
and the spiritual part is underdeveloped.
We're talking physically.
Gird up the loins of your mind.
Let's bow your heads in that word of prayer.
Father, thank you so much, Lord, for your word.
Thank you for the warning, Lord,
so that we don't have to just as sheep to the slaughter
just go to Madison Avenue and Hollywood and TV,
you know, and just get spoon fed a bunch of junk, Lord.
Thank you for warning us so we could know,
hey, we need to get in the Bible.
We need to clean all this stuff out of our mind
and get rid of it.
Lord, representatives of Hollywood this week told us
you have to be pro-homosexual.
You can't say anything negative about the Jews
because, you know, they run things here,
but Lord, help them not to run our mind.
Let them run Hollywood and Madison Avenue,
but help them not to control our minds
as Bible-believing Christians, Lord.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right.