Now, the part of the chapter that I would like to focus on is at the very end of the chapter, starting in verse 19, where the Bible reads,
What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
Now, what I want to preach about this morning is what does God require of us as Christians?
What does He demand of us? What does He expect of us as believers, as people here today who are saved?
And before I get into that, let me just make it clear. There's only one requirement for being saved.
Go to Acts chapter 16, if you would. We'll get right back to 1 Corinthians 6, but go back a few chapters to Acts chapter 16.
Because before I talk about what God demands of us as Christians, what God demands of us as believers, let me just start out by saying this.
There's only one demand when it comes to salvation. There's only one requirement for being saved.
This is clear throughout the Bible. Even the most famous verse in the Bible,
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
But look at Acts chapter 16. I like the way it's phrased here in verse 30.
It says, And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved in thy house.
There's only one requirement for being saved, and it's just believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's all.
It is what Paul said in Romans 1, 16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
It's all about whether or not you believe on Jesus Christ.
John 6, 47, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
John 11, 25, and 26, Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.
And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.
There's only one requirement to being saved, and that is believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
But just because there's only one thing that we must do to be saved, there are many things that we should do.
And in fact, there are many things that God demands us to do and commands us to do after we're saved.
You say, wait a minute, I don't understand. Let me give you an illustration.
My son, for example, let's pick Solomon. My son, Solomon, is my son.
Did he have to earn the right to be my son? Does he have to earn the right to stay my son?
No matter what he does, will he still be my son?
And that's the same thing with salvation. The Bible says as many as received him,
to then gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
But, do I let my son do whatever he wants?
But whatever he does, he's still my son.
Do I have certain requirements on my son? Do I have certain obedience that I demand of my son?
So, being saved, being a Christian, being a child of God, is not something you have to earn or try to keep.
Once you're saved, you're saved forever. Once you're saved, you're saved eternally.
Once you believe on Christ, you have, not will get or had, but you have present tense, everlasting life.
But, now that you're in the family, now that you're born again, now that you're a child of God,
you are under God's authority in your life, and God has certain requirements of his children.
Now, if we fail to meet those requirements, of course we will still be his children.
Of course we'll still be saved. But just as my son will remain my son,
he will still be disciplined if he does wrong, and God will discipline us if we do wrong.
And God will bless us if we do right.
So, just because salvation is free, which it is, doesn't mean that God doesn't require anything of us after we're saved.
So, now that we're saved, now that we've believed on Christ and know for sure we're going to heaven,
hey, God demands our obedience. God demands us to obey.
And many people today are teaching something else. They're teaching, oh, we're free in Christ, anything goes, no rules,
God's laws don't apply anymore, we're under grace, so we can live however we want.
Yeah, you're right, we can live however we want, we'll still go to heaven,
but it will not please God, and it will incur God's chastisement and judgment upon you in this life.
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man showeth, that shall he also reap.
But in 1 Corinthians 6, we just saw it. In verse 19, it says what?
Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God?
And look at that last phrase, and ye are not your own.
He's saying, you're not, well I'm my own man, I'm going to do what I want, no, you're not your own.
He said in verse 20, for you are bought with a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God.
It is our duty, go to Romans 12, you're in 1 Corinthians 6, one book back through the beginning,
go to Romans 12, you see that God demands of us obedience.
He demands us to use our body and our spirit to serve him.
You see, God created this whole world for himself, not for us, for himself.
The Bible says in Revelation chapter 4, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty.
He said, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
The reason that I was created, the reason you were created, the reason this whole world was created,
is for God's pleasure, it's for God's glory.
And we belong to him, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the sea and them which dwell therein.
It is our duty to serve God with our lives and to obey God.
Look if you would at verse 1 of Romans chapter 12.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God.
So are we talking to people that are saved or not saved?
Saved.
Saved because he's talking to the brethren.
He said, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your body.
So this isn't something that God is forcing you to do,
but it is something that he's demanding and expecting you to do of your own will,
to present your body a living sacrifice unto God, which is your reasonable service.
And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
So the Bible says that it's our reasonable service.
It's what God expects, that we would present our bodies a living sacrifice unto God
and that we would be holy, that our lives would be acceptable unto him
and that we would do God's will with our lives, not our own will.
Look at Luke chapter 17.
Luke chapter 17.
Because this morning what I want to preach to you are just some basic, minimal requirements
that God requires of Christians, that God requires of believers.
Again, this has nothing to do with salvation,
nothing to do with going to heaven.
If you're a believer, you're going to heaven.
But I don't want to just go to heaven.
That's not my only goal.
I want to be a good Christian.
I want to be an obedient Christian.
And I want to give God what he deserves,
which is my respect and love and obedience and service.
That is my reasonable service.
I want to present that to God.
Now I hope you're here in church this morning
because you want to serve God with your life,
because you want to obey God, because you want to do what's right.
You say, well, no, I'm just glad I'm sick.
Then why didn't you come to church?
Go eat, drink, and be married.
Go live the foolish life of this world.
But I want to do something with my life that has eternal value.
I want God to be pleased with me.
I want God to be happy with me as his child.
And so I want to do my reasonable service and serve God.
But when I preach to you this morning,
I'm going to preach to you some basic requirements
where God says this is what I require,
just some basic things.
He says in Luke chapter 17,
because you see, these are just the basic requirements.
He said in Luke 17, verse 7,
But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle,
will say unto him by and by when he has come from the field,
Go and sit down to meet,
and will not rather say unto him,
Make ready wherewith I may self,
and gird thyself and serve me,
till I have eaten and drunken,
and afterward thou shalt eat and drink.
You see, sometimes we get it backwards, don't we?
We think that God is there to serve us.
Everything is about what God can do for us,
and I want to come to church to see what I can get out of it,
and see how this can help my life,
and see how church can bless me,
and how serving God can make my life.
No, you've got it backwards there.
God is the boss.
God is the Lord.
God is the master.
We are here on this earth to serve him,
to do his will, to bring glory in.
He's not there to serve us.
We're there to serve him.
But keep reading.
He says in verse number 9,
Does he thank that servant
because he did the things that were commanded him?
I trod up.
He said, I think not.
Now, he's using an illustration here
of a man who has a servant.
He sends the servant out of the field,
and the servant does all the work
that he's commanded to do,
because he's the employee.
This man is the owner of the company.
He's the boss.
He says, when that guy comes in the field,
that guy's going to serve the boss,
not vice versa.
And he says, is he going to thank him?
I mean, look, you go to work every day, right?
Or five days a week, six days a week.
Does your boss every day say,
thank you so much for doing your job today?
Thank you so much for coming to work.
Who has a boss that thanks you every day?
Thank you so much for being here.
Why?
Because it's just what's expected of you.
It's just the minimum.
Now, he might thank you
if you go above and beyond, right?
If you do something really special,
hey, thanks for working a double shift
or staying overtime
or doing an extra good job.
But he doesn't just thank you
for doing the minimum, does he?
Why, thank you so much
for actually showing up today.
Wow.
But we as Christians think that God
is just going to jump for joy
and be so excited,
because we showed up to church.
You know, oh, wow.
Thank you so much for coming.
After Jesus died on the cross for you,
he lived a perfect life,
bled and died,
went to hell for three days and three nights,
risen again after he created you,
gave you everything you have in life,
and then you show up to church.
You're expecting God to just fall on his face.
Oh, thank you.
You came to church once.
You see, we don't understand
that God has a higher expectation
than we think.
He says, look, if you just do the minimum,
he says, you're not going to be thanked for that.
Look at verse 10.
So likewise ye,
when ye shall have done all those things
which are commanded you,
say, Jesus said,
this is what you should say
after you've done everything you've been commanded.
We are unprofitable servants,
for we've done that which was our duty to do.
So look, these things that are our duty,
it's not that if you do these things,
you are just so wonderful
and you are the greatest Christian in the world
if you do these things.
No, he said, you know, if you do these things,
okay, you're doing the minimum.
You know, now do something big for God.
You know what I mean?
And so that's what he's explaining here.
You say, well, that's depressing.
You know what?
It's not depressing.
It's not depressing at all
because you know what?
We ought to always be pushing to do more for God.
It's depressing if you just don't want to do anything,
if you want to be lazy
or just do the minimum or scrape by it.
And that was always the mentality of the Pharisees.
But you know, God wants us
to be the best that we can be
and to excel
and to go beyond the mediocre,
to go beyond what's expected,
to go beyond the minimum
and to do something great with our lives for God.
He doesn't want us to just try to scrape by.
You see, you say,
I just want to do the minimum to get into heaven.
Well, you don't have to do anything.
Just believe on Christ.
That's all.
Just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved.
But I want to do maximum.
And so I want to start out
by doing the basic requirements
and then take it even further from there.
Let's talk about some of the basic things
that God requires of us as Christians.
What does God expect?
Well, let's start out in Micah,
just to show you there are some requirements.
This is toward the end of the Old Testament.
Look at Micah chapter 6.
This is a very basic passage.
It's a pretty common, famous verse,
I guess you could say.
Toward the end of the Old Testament,
the book of Micah,
it's one of the minor prophets,
those 12 small books
at the end of the Old Testament.
It says in Micah 6-8,
He hath showed thee, O man,
Micah 6-8,
what is good
and what does the Lord require of thee,
but to do justly,
and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God.
So what I want to show you
from this verse here
is that God's requirements
are not a secret.
God spells out to us in the Bible here
what He requires of us,
what He wants us to do,
what He demands of us in our lives.
He tells us what we should do.
Now go to Matthew chapter 5,
first book of the New Testament,
Matthew chapter 5.
God tells us what He requires.
God tells us what He demands of us.
Matthew chapter 5.
He demands our obedience
to His commandments, first of all.
Jesus said this in John 14-14,
If you love me, keep my commandments.
He didn't say,
If you love me, keep my suggestions.
He didn't say,
If you love me, keep these guidelines.
No, He said,
If you love me, keep my commandments.
God has commandments for us today in 2010.
And commandments are not optional.
These are things that He demands of us
and requires of us as His children.
Look up Matthew chapter 5 says,
in verse number 17.
This is Jesus Christ speaking,
Matthew 5-17.
Think not that I am come to destroy
the law or the prophets.
I am not come to destroy,
but to fulfill.
For verily I say unto you,
Till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle
shall in no wise pass from the law,
till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments,
and shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven,
but whosoever shall do and teach them,
the same shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven.
So first of all,
God expects us to keep His commandments.
To keep His commandments.
Now look at Romans chapter 3.
People will often say,
Well no, that was the Old Testament,
that God had all those commandments.
But in the New Testament,
we're just under grace,
we're free in Christ,
anything goes.
That is so not true.
That is such a false doctrine.
You see, the grace of Christ
is what brings salvation to all men.
But it does not make void the law of God.
Faith in Christ does not nullify
God's laws as being something
He demands of us after we're saved.
Let me prove it to you in Romans 3.
Romans 3 is a great chapter
on salvation by faith.
It goes on and on about it.
Like for example,
in verse 28 when it says,
Therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
It says no works, just faith.
But look at the last verse
in the chapter, verse 31.
He says,
Do we then make void the law
through faith?
God forbid,
yea, we establish the law.
He says we don't make void
the law through faith.
Now He said if salvation
come by the law,
go down to chapter 4.
Chapter 4, verse number,
let me find my place here.
Verse 14, Romans 4, 14 says this,
For if they which are of the law be heirs,
faith is made void,
and the promise made of none effect.
He says look,
if salvation is by works,
if salvation is by keeping the law,
then faith is made void.
But He said if salvation is by faith,
that does not make the law void.
He said do we then make void the law
through faith?
God forbid,
yea, we establish the law.
Jesus Christ did not come
to destroy the law or the prophets.
He said you need to teach people
to keep these commandments.
And the Bible is filled with hundreds
and hundreds of commandments
and God expects you today
as His child
to keep His commandments.
He said if you love me,
keep my commandments.
Keep the commandments.
You say well,
I just believe if we love,
that's it.
This is what He said.
For this is the love of God
that we keep His commandments
and His commandments are not grievous.
2 John says this,
and this is love
that we walk after His commandments.
This is the commandment
that as you have heard
from the beginning,
ye should walk in it.
Our love for God is measured
by how much we walk in His commandments,
by how much we keep His commandments.
There's a lot of false teaching out there
that wants to throw out
the whole Old Testament.
Now look,
parts of the Old Testament
have been changed.
Those parts are clearly spelled out
in the book of Hebrews.
He says that we're not under
the Levitical priesthood.
Anything involving the priesthood.
He said all the carnal
or physical ordinances,
the meats, the drinks,
the things that had to do with food,
the things that had to do with washings.
Read the book of Hebrews
and he spells out a lot of things
that have been changed
from the Old Testament to the New.
But does that mean
that we just throw out
80% of the Bible
and say oh, that's the Old Testament?
No.
When God said in Deuteronomy 22, 5,
A woman shall not wear that
which pertaineth to a man,
neither shall a man
put on a woman's garment,
for all that do so
are an abomination
of the Lord thy God.
That hasn't changed.
If God commanded the Old Testament
that man should not wear women's clothing
and that women should not
wear men's clothing,
oh, that's Old Testament.
Yeah, and it's God's law
and God is against
our wicked cross-dressing
transgender society.
I'm sick of it.
And don't try to make void God's laws
or you'll be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven.
We need to establish God's laws.
There is a right and wrong
that has existed
all the way from Adam and Eve
until now.
It's always been wrong to steal.
It's always been wrong to lie.
It's always been wrong
to be cross-dressed.
It's always been wrong
to fornicate.
It's always been wrong
to commit adultery.
It's always been wrong
to murder.
It's always been wrong.
It's always been wrong
to covet, to steal,
to lie, to cheat,
to do all these things
because God has eternal,
unchanging laws
of right and wrong
and they've always been so
and we ought to live by those laws.
It's commanded of us.
He expects us.
He requires us
to keep His commandments.
Now, how are you going to know
God's commandments
if you don't read the Bible?
You know, and this is where
you have to read the whole Bible
cover to cover
to get all the commandments.
He said, He showed the old man
what is good and what does
the Lord require of thee.
It's all there in the Bible
but you have to read it.
You have to find it
in order to find what's there
in the Bible.
God's requirements.
God's commandments.
But here's another commandment.
Look at Hebrews chapter 10.
So we're just going through
the basic commandments.
What does God require
of us as believers?
Well, number one, He requires
us to keep His commandments.
And in order to keep
those commandments,
we've got to know what they are
so we've got to read the Bible.
But look at Hebrews chapter 10.
Let's get another commandment
here of God,
something else that He requires
of us and demands of us
as believers.
He says in Hebrews chapter 10,
verse number 24,
and let us consider one another
to provoke unto love
and to good works,
verse 25,
not forsaking the assembly
of ourselves together
as the manner of some is,
but exhorting one another
and so much the more
as you see the day approaching.
He says here that we should
not forsake the assembly
of ourselves together.
That's talking about church.
That's talking about
assembling together.
The word church is not
referring to a building
ever in the Bible, ever.
The word church is used
hundreds of times,
and the word church
very simply means congregation
because there are three places
in the Old Testament
that use the word congregation
that are quoted in the
New Testament,
but God replaces the word
congregation with church.
The New Testament word church
corresponds to the Old Testament
word congregation.
For example,
in Psalm 22, 22,
it says in the midst
of the congregation
I will sing praise unto Thee.
In Hebrews 2, 14,
it says in the midst
of the church
will I sing praise unto Thee,
quoting the book of Psalms.
And so a church
is a congregation.
It's the people.
It's an assembly.
It's a group here.
God says that
in these last days
and in these last days
especially,
we ought not forsake
the assembling of ourselves
together.
We ought not forsake church.
We ought to assemble
and join with God's people
here in a church.
Now, many people today
will forsake church.
That's why he said
as the manner of some is.
Do you see that
in the verse there?
Keep your sense of the way
about it.
As the manner of some is.
There are people
who basically forsake church,
you know,
and they can justify it,
but the Bible says here
that we cannot forsake
the assembling of ourselves
together
as the manner of some is.
You say,
well, this is where
in the last days
it's getting so wicked
it's like you can't find
a good church to go to.
But he said no.
So much the more
as we see the day approaching,
the later we are,
the closer we are
to the second coming
of Jesus Christ,
the more important it is
for us to be assembled together,
the more wicked this world becomes,
the more we need the oasis
of coming to a place
where we can be
with God's people,
where we can sing
the praises of God,
where we can hear
God's word preached,
it's more important
in 2010 than it was
in 2009 to be in church.
And we need more church,
not less church.
We don't need less
next year,
we need more next year,
not less.
And so you say,
well, I used to go to church
three times a week
when I was growing up,
or I used to go
every single week, you know,
but now I just kind of
go hit and miss.
No, you need it more.
More and more and more
we need church.
We ought not forsake.
And God expects you
to be in church.
It's not optional.
Now, as far as I'm concerned,
it's optional.
I'm not going to make
you come to church.
And if you come here
every six months,
I'll just be glad to see you
when you come.
Some people will show up
in our church every few months
and I thought
they left the church,
but it's like they just
come every couple months.
And I'm glad to see them
every couple months
when they show up.
I think it's great.
But the bottom line is,
it's not me
that you're responsible to
at all.
It's not my job
to monitor me.
But let me tell you something.
God expects us
to be in church.
Hey, he said that the church
is the pillar
and ground of the truth.
That's what he said
in 1 Timothy 3, verse 50.
He said it's the pillar
and ground of the truth.
The church is mentioned
hundreds of times.
It's God's institution.
It's God's tool
for reaching the world
with the gospel of Christ,
the local church.
And so let's not forsake
that assembly.
Be in church.
Assemble together.
Get in church.
You say,
well, I don't think
it's that important.
Well, why don't we
assemble together?
Because I grew up
always hearing
Hebrews 10, 25 preached.
It's a pretty common
verse to hear preached.
Who's ever heard
a sermon preached
where the pastor mentioned
Hebrews 10, 25?
You know.
Okay.
It's pretty common.
But a lot of times
they don't keep reading
how serious this command is
because he says
in Hebrews 10, 25
not to forsake
the assembling of ourselves
together.
But then he tells us
why in verse 26.
Okay.
Because for,
the word for means
like because.
Okay.
It's a conjunction.
After that we have
received the knowledge
of the truth.
There remaineth
no more sacrifice
for sins.
But a certain fearful
looking for of judgment
and fiery indignation
which shall devour
the adversaries.
He that despised
Moses' law
died without mercy
under two or three witnesses.
Of how much
sorer punishment
suppose ye,
shall he be thought worthy
who hath trodden
underfoot the Son of God
and have counted
the blood of the covenant
wherewith he was sanctified.
Stop for a second.
Are we talking about
people who are saved
or unsaved?
He says the blood
of the covenant
wherewith he was sanctified.
So he's talking about
people who are saved.
He says,
an unholy thing
and it's done
despite under the
spirit of grace.
Now do you want that
to be the category
that you're in?
Somebody who just
doesn't care,
just doesn't care
what God wants,
just trample underfoot
the Son of God,
just who cares,
doesn't matter,
I'm going to do
what I want to do.
Hey, God has some demands
and requirements
of us as believers.
And by the way,
these aren't
Pastor Anderson's demands.
I'm not enforcing this.
I'm not demanding this.
Your problem is not with me.
I mean,
you need to deal
with God on this.
God commands these things
and demands and
requires these things of you.
Now are you going to
lose your salvation?
Of course not.
But God will chastise
and chasten
and discipline his children
as a Father,
the Son,
in whom he delighted.
The Bible says,
whom the Lord loveth,
he chastens it
and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth.
The Bible says,
Spareth his rod,
hateth his son.
You've heard the term,
spare the rod,
spoil the child.
No, the Bible says,
if you spare the rod,
you hate your child.
That's what the Bible
actually says.
People have toned that
down over the years.
Well, that sounds
a little bit,
you know,
I want to say,
spare the rod,
spoil the child.
No, spare the rod
and you hate your child.
People say this,
well, if you don't
spank your kids,
you don't love them.
That's not what
the Bible says.
The Bible says,
if you don't spank
your kids,
if you don't beat them
with the rod,
talking about spanking,
because people say,
oh, the rod isn't
really talking about
spanking.
It's the loving rod
of the shepherd
just guiding them along.
No, actually,
actually,
you say,
thou shalt beat him
with the rod.
So, that's in
the book of Proverbs.
So, if you picture
that rod with a hook
on the end,
that's fine.
Just as long as you
picture the shepherd
taking that rod
and you take the spank
because the Bible says,
and by the way,
isn't that thou shalt,
isn't that kind of like
a commandment,
thou shalt beat him
with the rod,
it shall deliver his soul
from hell,
the Bible says.
Because if you raise
a child that is
never spanked,
and you say,
oh, I don't know
if you should
talk about this.
Well, I don't know
if you should be
in this church
if you think I care
because I believe
the Bible and I'm
going to preach it tonight
or this morning
or whatever time it is
or any day of the week
or any month of the year
because it's God's word.
I believe it.
I'm going to obey it
and I'm going to
spank my children
and if more preachers
would get up and preach
like this,
we wouldn't be in the
position we're in
where people are trying
to make it illegal
to obey God
and raise your children
the way you want
to raise them.
And so the Bible teaches
us to spank our children.
I'm not talking about
abuse or hurting them.
I'm not talking about
punching them or something.
I'm talking about
taking the rod of correction
and applying it
to the seed of learning.
I'm talking about
the padded area
that God created
just for that intent
of receiving punishment.
I'm talking about
spanking your children
lovingly.
But hey,
I'm talking about
spanking your children
because he says,
thou shalt beat him
with the rod
and shall deliver
his soul from hell.
Because let me tell you
something, the child
who grows up
without being spanked,
you know what he thinks?
That there's no punishment.
That there's no consequence
for his actions.
And guess what?
He doesn't believe in a God
that would create
a place called hell.
It's true.
He doesn't believe in hell
because he thinks
he can live life
and fornicate and steal
and lie and cheat
and be wicked
and that there will be
no consequence
because all the time
he grew up
there was never a consequence
for any of his actions.
And he thinks
that God is the same way.
Well, sorry.
He's going to face a God
that does have consequences
and it's called
the lake of fire.
It's called hell.
But thank God,
because he loves us,
he provided Jesus Christ
as our substitute.
But you see,
the person who's
never been spanked
in many cases,
they probably won't even
see a need to believe
on Christ
because they don't
even think hell exists.
And today,
most people in America
do not believe in hell.
And yet the Bible
talks about hell
hundreds of times.
But people today
don't believe in it
because they've
been mixed up on this.
But I'm getting
a little bit off course
on a rabbit trail here.
The bottom line is
God expects us
to follow his commandments.
Now look,
who's a parent in here?
Who has children?
Put up your hand
if you have one
or more children.
Now look,
when your children
were in your house
did you expect
those children to obey you?
Did you demand
that they obey you
or was it optional?
Obey me if you want.
You know,
just,
I'd rather,
I'd rather
that you brush your teeth.
You know,
I would prefer it
if you would go to bed
before 11 o'clock.
I mean, no,
you had some demands,
didn't you?
And it was your way
or the highway.
And it was because
I said so.
You know,
but then we look at God
and it's different.
But God is the heavenly father
and it's because he said so.
It's his way or the highway.
It's his dad.
He's the boss.
He's the father.
He makes the rules
and we are to follow his rules.
And God demands it.
He commands it.
He requires it.
That's the first thing.
But number two,
one of the things
he requires is for us
to be in church.
He says,
don't forsake that assembly
that I died for.
Don't forsake that assembly
that's the pillar
and ground of the truth.
You need to be there.
What else does God demand
or require of us?
Look at 1 Corinthians 4.
1 Corinthians 4.
This is halfway through
the New Testament.
1 Corinthians 4.
The Bible tells us
in verse number one.
It says this,
Let a man sow account of us
as of the ministers of Christ
and the stewards
of the mysteries of God.
Verse number two.
Moreover,
it is required in stewards
that a man be found faithful.
Now, what does it mean
to be faithful?
Well, there are two meanings
of faithful in the Bible.
The Bible uses the word
for two meanings
and really in English today
we use both meanings.
One of the meanings
of faithful is basically
someone who has faith.
Someone who's faithful
is someone who's full of faith.
That's not what's
being referred to here.
The other meaning of faithful
is someone in whom
we place our faith.
So for example,
if I say,
Hey, they are the faithful few.
Or he is a faithful man
as in he believes
on Jesus Christ.
The Bible says of Abraham
that those that are of faith
are blessed with faithful Abraham
because Abraham was a man
who was full of faith.
But the word faithful
can also mean,
Hey, if I have
a faithful messenger,
it means I trust him.
I put my faith in him
because he is faith worthy.
That's what faithful means.
So a faithful follower,
or how about this?
Have you ever heard of this?
You know, being faithful
to your husband
or faithful to your wife.
And then the opposite of that
would be what?
Unfaithfulness or infidelity.
That would be adultery.
That would mean
that you've broken
the trust there, right?
So does everybody understand
what the word faithful means?
So faithful is where
somebody can trust you.
And God has entrusted us
with the ministry
of the Gospel, the Bible says.
God has entrusted us
with the job
of getting people saved.
Are you in 1 Corinthians 4?
Go to 2 Corinthians 5.
Look at 2 Corinthians 5.
The Bible says in
2 Corinthians 5, verse 18,
it says,
And all things are of God
who has reconciled us
to himself by Jesus Christ
and hath given to us
the ministry of reconciliation,
to wit, that God was in Christ
reconciling the world unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses
unto them,
and hath committed unto us
the word of reconciliation.
Now then, we are
ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us,
we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God,
for he hath made him
to be sin,
talking about Jesus,
who knew no sin,
that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.
So one of the things
that God expects and demands of us
is faithfulness.
Being a faithful steward
of what he has committed unto us.
One of the things
that he has committed unto us
is the ministry of reconciliation.
You see, Jesus Christ died on the cross
for the sins of the whole world.
Now, Jesus Christ
does not go door to door,
or house to house,
or person to person,
telling people how to be saved, does he?
Does he go door to door in Phoenix,
and go around and tell everybody
how to be saved?
No.
He has committed unto us
the ministry of reconciliation,
and he says that
we are his ambassadors, okay?
It would be like,
for example,
the United States
wanted to have some kind
of a peaceful talk
with some distant foreign country.
We would send our ambassadors
into that country, right?
And those people would represent us,
and they would go there,
and talk to that country,
and try to explain to them
what we want,
and what's going on.
What kind of a treaty we want,
what kind of covenant we want.
So, if we sent ambassadors,
let's say we're the United States of America,
and we send our ambassadors to,
you know, Iran or something,
you know, because they're having
some kind of a talk with Iran,
and we send our ambassadors onto Iran,
and our ambassadors go there,
and what if they were just dressed
just like the total, like,
gang banger that you picture?
Can you imagine, like,
you know, president of Iran,
you know, these ambassadors
are here to see you
from the United States,
and, you know, these guys walk in,
their pants are falling down,
their boxers are showing,
you know, they're sagging,
they're all worldly,
and they're all ghettoed out,
and whatever, you know,
and they show up,
and they're using a lot of slang and stuff,
and what's up, you know.
Are they really being a good ambassador
of what the United States wants,
Iran, or whoever to think of us?
No.
So, we ought to think the same way.
The Bible says we're ambassadors of Christ,
and he expects us to be a faithful ambassador.
I mean, to be somebody
where he can trust us
to represent him well,
where he can trust us,
first of all, to be an ambassador,
to give the message,
to preach the gospel to every creature.
He's not going out and preaching it.
He said, as the Father sent me,
so send I you.
He said, go ye therefore
into all of the world
and preach the gospel,
if you feel like it,
if you feel that's your gift.
No.
He said, go and preach the gospel
to every creature.
He said, you're my ambassador.
I'm sending you to represent me
to besiege people in Christ's stead.
Instead of Jesus Christ coming to them,
you're going to come to them
in the place of Christ and say,
be ye reconciled to God.
Believe on Christ.
Be saved.
That's our message.
We're ambassadors.
So, what kind of an ambassador
do you think we should be?
Let me ask you this.
If you got a job tomorrow,
and you were given a job
to be an ambassador
for the United States,
and they said,
we've chosen you,
you're going to be the ambassador,
and we're sending you
to this distant country,
we're sending you to Asia,
we're sending you to the Middle East,
you're going to represent
the United States.
Now, would you say
that's a pretty important job?
Is that probably more important
than your current job?
You'd probably think,
oh yeah,
that's a really important job.
So, would you take it,
would you, okay,
and they said,
be there at a certain time.
Would you be late?
No, you'd be on time.
I mean, this is a big deal.
They'd say,
you know,
you got your plane ticket,
be at the airport at this time,
you know,
we're going to pay you
$110,000 a year,
and you know,
be there at a certain time,
you know,
dress nice.
You'd be dressed nice.
You'd look like
you'd just been peeled
out of an egg or something.
I mean,
you'd look perfect.
You'd show up.
You'd be polite.
You'd shake hands.
You'd look them in the eye.
You know,
you would try hard
because you'd say,
Well, let me tell you something.
Being an ambassador
of Jesus Christ
is way more important
than any position
in the United States
government,
and you are representing
a much more powerful man
than, say,
the President of the
United States
or someone else
in our government.
No, you're representing
the King of Kings
and the Lord of Lords.
He expects you
to be a good
representation of that,
and you laugh at me
when I talk about
people being dressed
really slovenly
representing,
you know,
the government,
but it's like,
if you're going to
represent Jesus Christ,
shouldn't you dress up
and at least,
I mean,
I'm not saying to
wear fancy clothes
or something.
I'm not up here
wearing fancy clothes
or a gold ring
or, you know,
some kind of
an Italian suit
or something, you know.
This suit's from
the thrift store.
It costs $10.
Seriously.
I'm not talking about
being rich and fancy
and so forth,
but I'm talking about,
hey, just trying
to put forth the image
of what you think
that God wants you
to put forth
and be who God
is and take things
seriously about Christianity.
Take your job
as ambassador of Christ
seriously.
More seriously than you
take your job
that you work at
because you just said
being an ambassador
for the United States
would be more important
than your current job.
Well, this is more
important than your job,
you know,
and your job's important.
I'm not downplaying
your job,
especially in today's economy,
you know,
you need to work hard
at that job.
You need to do your best
and make many
and make ends meet,
but let me tell you
something.
God's work
is even more important.
It supersedes your job.
It supersedes this world.
It's eternal.
It's bigger than
all of our lives
put together.
It's the kingdom of God
and so God expects us
and demands us
to be his ambassador
and to take that seriously
and to preach the gospel
to every creature,
to bring the gospel
to the lost.
He requires it of us.
He expects it of us.
Look at Ezekiel chapter 3.
Ezekiel chapter 3.
So we saw first of all
that God demands
and expects us
to keep his commandments,
doesn't he?
He also expects us
to be a good ambassador
of Christ,
to be a good
representation of him.
He also expects us
to assemble together
with God's people
and to come to church,
but let's see
a little more on that.
Look at Ezekiel chapter 3,
verse 17.
In Ezekiel chapter 3,
verse 17,
it says,
son of man.
Now, you probably fall
into that category,
right?
Son of man,
you know?
Now you say,
well, I'm a woman,
so this doesn't apply to me.
You know,
it actually does
because even God
expects women
to be ambassadors
for Christ.
Did you know that?
Because it says
in Acts chapter 2,
you remember the story
in Acts chapter 2
about the day of Pentecost?
And at the day of Pentecost
was right after
Acts chapter 1
where Jesus had said,
Ye shall receive power
after that the Holy Ghost
has come upon you,
and ye shall be witnesses
unto me,
both in Jerusalem
and in all Judea
and in Samaria,
and that's the uttermost
part of the earth.
So he said,
look,
the Spirit of the Lord
is going to come upon you
and you are going
to be witnesses unto me.
You will preach the gospel
in Jerusalem, Judea,
Samaria,
and that's the uttermost
part of the earth.
Well, in chapter 2,
the 120 disciples there
of the early church,
there were about 120 people
gathered together.
It makes it clear
there was men and women
that were gathered together.
Mary the mother
of Jesus was there.
Jesus' brethren were there.
Other women were there.
It was a male
and female assembly.
It was a local church.
Just like today,
we have a mixture
of men and women
in the auditorium today.
And it says
in Acts chapter 2
that they were all
in one accord,
they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost,
and they were all
preaching the gospel
to these people
in all these various languages
of these people
from different countries.
And Peter got up
in the midst of them
and said,
this is that which was prophesied
in the book of Joel.
He said,
today you are seeing
the fulfillment
of the book of Joel
where Joel said,
it shall come to pass
in the last days,
saith God,
that I will pour out
my spirit upon all flesh.
He said,
your young men
shall dream dreams,
your old men
shall see visions.
And he said,
upon the servants
and upon the handmaidens,
is that male or female?
Handmaidens.
I will pour out
of my spirit
and they shall prophesy.
So he said,
both the men and the women,
he'll fill them
with his spirit
and they will preach
God's word.
We're not talking about
preaching behind the pulpit
because the Bible says
that women should keep
silence in the church.
1 Corinthians 14,
1 Timothy 2,
that was the sermon
I preached last week
or the week before.
I talked about that.
But when it comes
to preaching the Gospel,
when it comes to giving
the Gospel,
that's not just the job
of the men.
That's the job
of the men and the women.
That's not just the job
of the young,
it's the job of the young
and the old.
Read Acts chapter 2.
He said in Philippians
chapter 4,
I beseech you,
those are women's names.
He said,
that they be of the same
mind in the Lord
and I entreat thee
also, true yoke fellow,
help those women
which labored with me
in the Gospel.
With Clement also
and with other my fellow
laborers whose names
are in the Book of Life.
He said,
there were women
that had labored with him
in the Gospel.
Women who were out
giving the Gospel.
I thank God
the faithful word
of Baptist Church
has always been a church
where the ladies
also win souls.
It's true.
I mean,
we have ladies going out
knocking doors,
preaching to God.
We have ladies that will
win their co-workers
and friends and loved ones
and family and the Lord.
That's the way our
church has been
since day one.
The first year
our church existed,
the ladies,
my wife,
won souls to Christ
and every year since
my wife,
Amanda,
other lady,
have won souls
in this church
because this is a church
where the men
and the women
ought to be filled
with the Spirit
and be a witness
of Jesus Christ
both here and abroad.
Verse 17,
Son of Man,
I have made thee
a watchman
unto the house of Israel.
Therefore,
hear the word
at my mouth
and give them
warning from me.
He says,
Look, it's your job
to warn man.
He says in verse 18,
When I say unto the wicked,
Thou shalt surely die
and thou givest him
not warning nor speakest
to warn the wicked
from his wicked way
to save his life,
the same wicked man
shall die in his iniquity,
but his blood
will I require
at thine hand.
He says,
Look,
if I warn the wicked
and say,
Hey, he's going to die.
He's going to go to hell.
And he says,
If you don't give
that warning,
you don't pass on
that warning
when that's your job,
when you are
the ambassador of Christ,
when that is your ministry
to preach the gospel
to every creature.
He said,
If you don't warn him,
he's going to die,
but his blood
will I require
at thine hand.
Basically,
what he's saying,
it'll be your fault.
That's basically
what he's saying.
If Phoenix, Arizona
goes to hell
without hearing the gospel,
it's our fault.
And not just us,
but all Christians
in Phoenix
are responsible.
I mean,
how many people do you think
are in Phoenix, Arizona
that are saved?
Probably a lot, right?
I mean,
thousands and thousands
and thousands of people.
We don't know the number,
do we?
Only God knows
who is saved
and who is not.
But I mean,
there are tons
of Baptist churches
in Phoenix, right?
And then there are tons
of other churches
that are not Baptist,
but we'll run into people
out soul-winding
that just go to like
so-and-so Bible church
or so-and-so.
You know,
and we'll run into them
and they're saved
in other churches.
So I mean,
we run into a ton of people
out soul-winding
that are saved, don't we?
If we go out and knock doors.
We don't know
the exact number,
but we know
that it's the minority.
We know that most people
are not saved,
of course,
the Bible tells us.
But we know that
there are tons of people,
what Trent and I,
we ran into people
out of churches.
You know,
the bottom line is
there are a lot of people
out there that are saved, right?
But now ask yourself
this question,
how many people
in this city
are aggressively going out
and getting other people saved?
How many of those
Baptist churches,
those hundreds of Baptist
churches in Phoenix,
are out knocking doors
and even trying
to get people saved,
even trying to preach
the gospel to them?
It's a pretty small number.
It's a pretty small minority.
And even of those churches
that do have soul-winding,
maybe just a really small
part of the congregation
goes out.
Now, thank God in our church,
literally more than half
the church goes out
and knocks doors
on a weekly basis.
It's true.
It's a fact.
Because our church
is a soul-winding church.
Because we take this seriously.
We take it seriously
that there's a heaven and hell.
We take it seriously
that God requires us
and expects us
to be His ambassadors
to bring the glorious gospel
of Jesus Christ
to a lost and dying world.
I don't look at it
as it's optional.
I might do it
if I feel like it.
He said,
Woe unto me
if I preach not the gospel.
I need to preach the gospel
to every creature.
God commands me to do it.
And if I don't do it,
and if we don't do it,
then it's our fault.
But He said in verse number 19,
Yet if thou warn the wicked,
so if we go out
and give somebody the gospel,
we warn them,
we show them the Bible
that hell is real.
And we show them
how to be saved from hell
by placing their faith
in Jesus Christ
It says,
And he turned not from
his wickedness,
nor from his wicked way.
He shall die in his iniquity,
but thou has delivered
thy soul.
So he says,
Look, if you warn him,
and he does not heed
the warning,
he's basically saying,
You know what?
It's not your fault.
You warned him.
What else can you do?
And they keep reading.
It says again,
When a righteous man
doth turn from
his righteousness
and commit iniquity,
and I lay a stumbling block
before him,
he shall die,
because thou hast not
given him warning.
He shall die in his sin,
and his righteousness,
which he hath done,
shall not be remembered.
But his blood
will I require
at thine hand.
Nevertheless,
if thou warn the righteous man
that the righteous sin not,
and even not sin,
he shall surely live,
because he's warned.
Also,
thou hast delivered
thy soul.
So basically,
God's explaining here
that when you warn people,
he's saying
their blood is not
on your hands.
I love what Paul said
in Acts chapter 20.
He said,
I'm free from the blood
of all men.
He'd been in Ephesus
preaching the gospel
for years,
and he said,
Hey, at this point,
I can stand up here
and truly say,
I am free
from the blood of all men,
for I have not shunned
to declare unto you
all the counsel of God.
He said,
I taught you publicly
and from house to house.
He said,
I've preached the gospel
to every creature.
He said,
There's nobody in this town
that has not heard
the gospel
of Jesus Christ
in the last few years
that I've been here.
He said,
I'm free from the blood
of all men.
He said,
It's not on my hands.
And you know,
that ought to be something
that faithful word
Baptist church one day
can say
and stand before God
and say,
You know what,
God,
we are free
from the blood
of all men in Phoenix.
We're free from the blood
of all men in Maricopa County
or the city of Tempe.
We are free
because we gave the gospel.
We knocked every door.
Sure,
some people
did not heed the warning.
They didn't like you
or they didn't believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But let me tell you something,
they all got the message.
That's all we can do.
We can't force anyone to be saved.
We can't save anybody.
All we can do
is preach them the gospel
and it's up to them.
But if we don't warn them,
how can they be saved?
The Bible says,
For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved.
How then shall they call
on him whom they have not believed?
How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear
without a preacher?
And how shall they preach
except they be sent?
And that's what's wrong
with churches
that won't send people out
preaching the gospel.
How are they going to hear?
How are they going to hear
without a preacher?
How are they going to preach
except they be sent?
And then the Bible tells us
that faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God.
It's our job
to bring the word of God
to the lost.
He demands it of us.
He requires it of us.
And if we don't do it,
there's a consequence.
Now, this is a symbolic meaning
in Ezekiel 3.
I was going to turn
to Ezekiel 33.
He preaches the same thing.
But here he's talking about
people committing physical crimes
and getting physical death penalty
if you read the whole context
because he describes the fact
that they're saying it's not fair
and all this stuff.
It's not part of their legal system.
But the spiritual application
applies here
that, look, if we don't warn
the unsaved,
then it's our fault.
You know?
Because didn't somebody
give you the gospel?
Thank God.
Thank God that somebody
preached the gospel to you.
Amen.
But let's look at some
of other God's requirements.
We've got to hurry here.
I'm running out of time.
But look, if you would,
at Deuteronomy chapter 23.
Deuteronomy chapter 23.
Quick review.
He requires us
to keep His commandments.
He requires us to be in church.
He requires us
to be an ambassador of Christ,
to be a good ambassador,
to present our bodies
as a living sacrifice
that's holy and acceptable unto God.
And if our bodies
are the temple of the Holy Ghost
which is in us
and we're not our own,
we're bought with Christ
and we're supposed to glorify God
and our body and our spirit
which are God's,
should we abuse our body?
Should we abuse
the temple of God?
Shall I then take
the temple of Christ?
He said,
shall I then take
the members of Christ
and make them
the members of an harlot?
God forbid.
He said,
am I going to take God's temple
and commit fornication?
Am I going to take
the temple of God,
the body that God's given me,
and abuse it?
The Bible says, for example,
thou shalt not print
any marks upon thy body.
He says that,
thou shalt not print
any marks upon thee.
And yet people today
will tattoo their bodies
and say,
well, I have tattoos.
Look, hey,
that's in the past,
you know,
the bad thing about tattoos
is they don't come up,
you know?
And so I'm not condemning
anybody who's already got tattoos
but I'm saying to you,
if you don't have tattoos,
you know,
that it's a commandment of God
not to tattoo your body,
you know?
And if you already have tattoos,
don't give more.
Don't say,
well, you know,
I've already got some
so let's just give more.
The Bible says,
thou shalt not print
any marks upon thy body.
And yet today people
will print out their bodies
and say,
wait a minute,
that body doesn't belong to you.
People will put all kinds
of poisons in their body
like alcohol, drugs,
cigarettes,
that body doesn't belong to you.
Your body is the temple
of the Holy Ghost.
He said,
you're not your own,
you're bought with a price,
therefore glorify God
in your body
and in your spirit
with your God.
He said,
it's on the inside that counts.
No,
he said,
in your body
and in your spirit
with your God.
He said,
cleanse first that
which is within the cup
and the platter
that the outside of them
may be clean also.
The outside does matter to God.
The inside matters more,
but the outside does matter.
And so he says,
present them both
unto God,
holy and acceptable.
Do not abuse
the temple of God.
Look at Deuteronomy
chapter 23 verse 21.
When thou shalt
bow a-bow unto the Lord
thy God,
thou shalt not slack
to pay it.
For the Lord thy God
will surely require it of thee,
and it would be sin in thee.
So he says,
if you bow a-bow,
if you swear an oath,
you must keep that vow.
God requires you
to keep any vow
that you make,
any promise that you make.
He says in verse 22,
but if thou shalt forbear
to bow,
it shall be no sin in thee.
He said,
look,
if you don't want
to make any vows
or promises,
he said,
that's fine,
but if you do,
you better keep that vow.
Read,
that which is gone
out of thy lips,
thou shalt keep
and perform
even a free will offering,
according as thou has vowed
unto the Lord thy God,
which thou hast promised
with thy mouth.
So basically,
if I make an oath,
if I make a vow,
I need to keep
what I've vowed.
Here's the most common
example of marriage.
Isn't that a vow?
When you vow and say,
I, Stephen Anderson,
take thee,
Zuza,
to be my lawfully wedded wife,
to have and to hold
from this day forward,
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sicknesses and health
and poverty and wealth
and forsaking all others,
keep me only unto thee
so long as we both shall live.
Isn't that a vow
that I made
over ten years ago
to my wife?
I better pay that vow
or God's gonna require it
on my hide
if I don't pay that vow
because that is a promise,
that is an oath
that I swore
in the presence of God
and man,
I've got to keep that vow.
Say,
well, but there's
other extenuating
circumstances.
No.
There are no extenuating
circumstances
that I will keep,
hey, for better or for worse,
for richer or for poorer,
sickness as in health
and poverty as in wealth.
Hey, through thick and thin,
I've sworn my life
over to one person
as long as we both shall live.
Now, if one of us dies,
then it's over.
But as long as we are both alive,
I am bound unto my wife
by that oath.
As long as she is breathing
and I am breathing,
we are both bound by that law
according to the Bible.
Keep that vow.
But oftentimes,
we make other vows in our life,
other promises.
God says,
the thing that has gone
out of thy lips,
thou shalt surely perform.
He said,
let your yea be yea
and your nay be nay.
Do what you say you will do.
If you say,
I will do this,
do it.
The Bible says,
Lord, who shall abide
in thy tabernacle?
Who shall dwell
in thy holy hill?
He that walketh uprightly
and worketh righteousness
to speaketh the truth
in his heart.
He that doeth not evil,
he that needeth back by
him not with his tongue,
nor taking up a reproach
against his neighbor,
and whose eyes
a vile person is content,
but he honoreth in the fear
of the Lord.
He that sweareth
to his own hurt
and changeth not.
He that puteth not out
his money to use dream,
nor taketh a reward
against the innocent,
he that doeth these things
shall never be moved.
Psalm 15.
He said,
even if you swear
to your own hurt,
change not.
Stay with it.
Pay what you bow.
Keep your oath
that's gone out
of your lips.
If you make a vow.
Now, some people make a vow
to pay a certain offering.
Now, we don't really,
we don't do this
in our church.
You know, and I'm not saying
that I'm against
those who do it, okay?
But the reason that
it always bothered me,
who's ever been to a church
where they had like
a faith promise, missions,
where you like promise
to pay a certain amount?
It always bothered me.
And it really bothered me a lot
because this is
what would happen.
They would hand out cards
and people would promise
that they were going to give
a certain offering
throughout the course of the year.
Like, I'm going to give,
you know, 20 bucks a week
to the missionaries.
Or I'm going to give
40 bucks a week to missions.
And they would fill out
this promise card
and put it in.
And then throughout the year
in the bulletin,
there would be two numbers.
The promise and what
was actually coming in.
Well, the promise was
always bigger than
what actually came in.
And they would get up
and say, wow, this is great.
We had 75% of what
was promised come in.
And I like,
I took it really seriously.
This is me like
as a teenager
and I'm just like,
these people have broken
a vow to God,
like God's wrath.
And I was thinking
of Ananias and Sapphira.
Remember, Ananias and Sapphira
promised that they were
going to give a certain
amount of money in Acts 5.
They promised they were
going to give this money
and then they lied and said,
oh yeah, we gave it all,
but they only gave part
of what they promised
and they fell over dead.
And I read that story
and I was like,
wow, you know, God.
And it wasn't that,
and he even told them.
Peter even said to them,
he said, look,
you didn't even have to
give any of it to God.
He said, when you sold it,
it was in your own power.
The money belonged to you.
You didn't have to give
it to church.
But why did you lie to God?
And that's when they died.
And I mean,
they carried them out
and they were dead
and it was a big,
you know, they were scared
and everybody else
in the church was scared.
So I was scared.
Even a couple thousand
years later, you know,
when people aren't paying
what they vowed,
they promised this.
And it really,
and I just thought to myself,
you know what,
I would rather just not even,
if that's how people
are going to be,
I don't even want to get
God's wrath upon
the people in my church
so I'm not even going to
do the faith promise
because I'm afraid
people will promise
and they won't pay it.
And I don't want to bring
God's wrath upon people.
You know what I mean?
I mean, it just made me nervous,
the whole thing.
I remember I went to a church
and I had made
my faith promise
and I was poor
whenever I first got married
and even for many years
after I got married,
I started out really poor.
I mean, we were really poor.
We never went out to eat.
I mean, my wife's grocery
allowance was 40 bucks for years,
40 bucks a week, you know,
to feed us
and I mean, to feed
the whole family, you know.
And so it was tough,
you know, to get by.
We lived, I mean,
when we had two kids,
we were living in a
one bedroom apartment.
You know what I mean?
We started out at the bottom
and we scraped by.
You know, we were happy
and you know,
we were happy with
what God had given us
but, you know, we were poor.
And I remember, you know,
I moved away.
I moved across the country
and I was living
in Sacramento, California
and when I moved away,
you know, I had made
the faith promise
because, you know,
everybody in the church
made this promise, you know.
And I took it real seriously,
you know.
Like even if I was sick,
I like dragged myself out of bed
and just like brought
the money down
and just like dropped it off
and went home.
Even if I was sick as a dog.
But basically,
when I moved out of Sacramento,
I still owed like six months,
you know, because I had made
this faith promise
like six months ago
to give this much per week
or whatever.
And so it was like
there's six months left
on this thing
and I'm moving out of Sacramento
and so I just paid it off.
I mean, I added up
how many more weeks
there were left
and it was not easy.
I had to sell a bunch of stuff
to do it.
So we had a big garage sale,
sold stuff
and I basically paid off
that part that I still owed.
Now I didn't have to make
that promise, right?
Did God force me
to make that promise?
No.
But, and turn to Malachi
chapter three if you would.
God didn't force me
to make that promise
but you know what?
Since I did make that promise,
I wanted to make sure
that I kept that promise
and so I paid it off.
I sold some stuff
and I paid off.
It was a big,
it was a substantial
amount of money.
It hurt.
But you know what?
I paid it off
because I was just afraid
to even leave town
because it was like,
well, you know,
you can mail it back
or whatever.
And I'm just like,
I'm just going to pay it now
and just be done with it.
You know?
Because I don't know
what my job situation
is going to be over there.
So I mean,
I just sold stuff
and paid it off.
Look, nobody's forcing you
to make any vows.
You know,
but when you make a vow,
take it seriously.
Pay it off.
Especially when it's
a vowing to God.
You know?
You should keep your vows
that you make
unto other people too,
by the way.
You know,
if you make promises
to other people.
But if you make a promise
to God,
but he says in Malachi chapter 3,
verse number,
let me find my place here.
Verse number 8.
Malachi 3.8,
it says,
Will a man rob God?
Yet ye have robbed me,
but ye say,
We rob thee in tithes and offerings.
Ye are cursed with a curse,
for ye have robbed me,
even this whole nation.
Bring ye all the tithes
into the storehouse,
that there may be meat in mine house,
and prove me now herewith,
saith the Lord of hosts,
if I will not open you
the windows of heaven,
and pour you out a blessing,
that there shall not be
room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer
for your sakes,
and he shall not destroy
the fruits of your ground,
neither shall your vine
cast her fruit
before the time in the field,
saith the Lord of hosts.
And all nations
shall call you blessed,
for ye shall be
a delightsome land,
saith the Lord of hosts.
See,
God requires of us
the tithes,
you know,
10% of what we make.
God requires us
to give it unto the Lord.
Bring it into his house.
Bring it to God's house.
And that's why we tithe
to our local church.
I've literally tithed
since I was like four years old.
Even before I was saved,
I was tithing.
You know?
Because I was a little kid,
and my mom used to give me
30 cents allowance.
That was my first allowance.
30 cents.
And I had to give
three cents in the offering.
And I did it religiously.
And I remember
I got up to 50 cents.
My tithe became a nickel.
I got up to a dollar.
My tithe was 10 cents.
And one day,
I went to my mom,
and I said,
Mom, I said...
Because I was
a pretty smart little kid,
you know?
I came up to my mom,
and I said,
Mom, I said,
I want a raise
in my allowance.
You know,
you always ask for a raise
when you're a kid.
Like,
how do you raise
in my allowance?
And I said,
I want a raise.
And she said,
How much are we
talking here?
I said,
I want a dollar
and 11 cents.
She said,
What?
I said,
I want a complete dollar.
And, you know,
you got to make change,
and you got to turn
a dollar into coins,
and everything.
I said,
Give me a dollar
and 11 cents.
Because I knew
that if I had
a dollar and 10 cents,
you know,
my tithe would become 11.
And I'm like,
With 99.
So I'm like,
I want a dollar
and 11 cents.
That way,
I can pay my tithe
and still have a dollar.
And my mom said,
No.
Because she said,
The whole point
is that you learn,
you know,
how much it needs to hurt,
you know,
and bring it down to 90,
and God will bless you for it.
You know,
that's what she explained
this to me.
You know,
so I didn't get a raise
for a long time.
You know,
way down the road,
I got up to two bucks.
You know,
then it was 20 cents.
I was left with a dollar,
80.
But, you know,
I think I grew up,
I grew up that way.
You know,
giving the tithe
of the Lord.
And this is a concept
all throughout the Bible.
It's found in Proverbs
chapter 3,
where the Bible says,
Honor the Lord
but here's the thing,
God requires the 10%.
He doesn't require
anything above that.
Everything else above that
is just considered
a free will offering.
Now,
Ananias and Sapphira
didn't have to give,
and they gave
more than their tithe.
Ananias and Sapphira
gave this huge amount,
but they lied
and they broke their promise.
That's why they were
judged by God.
Now look,
on Wednesday night,
like we take the offering
on Sunday morning,
Sunday night, right?
Well,
we take the offering
and the money goes
to our missionaries
on Wednesday night.
You know,
that's just like an optional,
just, you know,
extra,
just throw some money
in the plate
so that you can have
a part in people being
saved in a distant country.
And it's funny because,
you know,
when we first started
the church,
our missions offering
was pretty high
because remember,
the economy
was doing really well.
So back in 06,
07, 08,
you know,
everybody's doing
great financially.
So people had abundance.
You know,
the financial bubble.
So everybody's throwing in
money in the missions,
throwing money in the missions.
You know,
well nowadays,
times are real tough.
You know,
things are real tight.
So now people are not
throwing as much,
now look,
is that bad?
No, I mean,
I understand,
it makes sense to me.
It makes sense that
when times are tough,
you're probably just
giving your 10%
and calling it good
because that's all you got
because times are tough.
You know,
and that's all God requires.
That's all God expects.
He doesn't expect you
to put in your
whole paycheck.
You know,
this isn't like the
TV preacher,
just give it all to God,
you know.
Double time,
triple time,
you know.
No.
God's requirements
are when anything
above 10%
is just of your own
free will,
of the goodness
of your heart
because God has
blessed you.
You know,
you give extra,
you know,
and there are a lot
of churches that will
try to encourage you
to give money
that you don't even have.
You know,
you're giving all this
extra money to church,
by the way.
You know,
you shouldn't be behind
on your bills,
but you're giving all
this extra money to church.
You know what I mean?
God would rather
you paid your bills,
but you know
what my first bill is?
My first bill is my time.
That's my first bill
because in all things,
he must have the
imminence,
and I don't want
to rob God.
So the first thing I do
is give my time.
Then I see where I'm at,
and then at the end of that,
then I see where I'm at
for a free will offering,
you know,
if I want to give extra.
Does that make sense?
I don't think it does
because of time.
I have other points here
about God's requirements,
but let me just sum it up
by saying this.
There's a lot more
that God requires.
He requires us to read
the Bible every day.
I was going to take you
to that scripture.
He requires us to pray.
I was going to take you
to that scripture.
All kinds of other things
that he requires,
but the bottom line is this.
Just get this concept
in your mind.
God requires something of you.
It's not optional.
God has a lot of requirements
that he expects you to do,
and in order for you
to be right with God
and God to be pleased with you,
you better get on board
with his requirements.
Nothing to do with salvation,
but it has everything to do
with having a good relationship
with God
and with pleasing God
with your life.
You better realize
that you were not put
on this earth
so that the world
could revolve around you
and God is here
to serve you and help you
and no, no,
you're here to serve him.
Get that right.
I mean, Jesus said
to his disciples,
hey, the disciple's
not above his master.
The servant's not
above his Lord.
Hey, you are the servant.
You are the disciple.
He is the master.
He is the Lord.
We need to get that
straight in our lives
and realize, hey,
our lives ought to be
about him and not about us.
It shouldn't be about
how much money can I get,
how much things and wealth
and how much fun can I have
and how much comfort
can I have.
No, it ought to be about
what can I do for God
in my life
because I'm his servant.
He gave everything for us
and we're bought with a price.
We owe him everything
and we ought to give our lives
to serve and to follow him.
Let's bow our heads
and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much
for the free gift of salvation.
I thank you that we don't
have to earn salvation.
It's free.
Just as my children
don't have to earn
the right to be my children,
but God, help us to realize
that now that we are
your children,
you are our father
and you have some rules.
You have some demands.
Help us to get on board
with your requirements.
We love you
and thank you for everything
you do for us.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.