Pray that you would bless the truth as it's preached tonight, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now the subject that I'm going to preach on tonight, perhaps a controversial subject, but it's a subject that's huge in our nation right now.
It's a subject that is just exploding, it seems like, across the nation.
And especially here in Phoenix, I mean, it's kind of in our back door, so to speak.
That subject is immigration. Immigration.
And what does the Bible say about immigration?
Now I was studying this sermon, and the Bible speaks a huge amount on this subject.
A massive amount on this subject. Well, you know, the Bible speaks a huge amount on every subject.
I'll tell you that right now.
I always go to the Bible when I want to know what to believe about anything.
I mean anything.
Because I just believe that this is an infinite book, I believe it's written by God, I believe that it is God.
And so any answer that I need, any subject, I don't care what the subject is, it's going to be covered in the Bible, it's all going to be in the Bible.
You just have to be diligent enough to search the Scriptures and see what the Bible says about any particular issue.
But immigration, and this is not going to be a sermon where I give you my opinion or my feelings,
this is going to be a sermon where I show you through the Bible, and there's a huge amount of Bible that I'm going to be using in this sermon,
I'm going to show you from the Bible what does God say about immigration, what is God's opinion about this.
You know, maybe not everything in this sermon is going to be politically correct, I'm just going to warn you right now,
but it's going to be biblically correct, what I say.
And unlike our spineless wimp of a president that we have, George W. Bush, who's a liberal,
and I'll say that right now, the guy is just a flaming liberal, I don't care if he's a Republican, I don't care about that,
he is a liberal, and he's a wimp, and he's not a man because he will not stand up and say what he believes about anything.
And so I'm going to say, unlike him, I'm going to tell you exactly what God says about this subject,
and whether it's politically correct or not, I don't really care.
And I'm going to just explain to you what the Bible teaches about this important subject.
Number one, and please listen to the entire sermon before judging the content,
because I'm going to show you just all angles of this issue.
Now, number one, point number one, God is for immigration.
God is all for immigration, that's point number one, and I want you to see this.
Look, if you would, at Proverbs 14.28, just one short verse, but I want you to see it with your eyes,
because this is an important verse to understand for a lot of other things also.
Proverbs 14.28, I want you to lay eyes on this verse, because this is an important verse in the Bible.
The Bible reads in Proverbs 14.28,
In the multitude of people is the king's honor, but in the want of people is the destruction of the prince.
This is God's wisdom here in the book of Proverbs.
God's wisdom seems to be totally contrary to the wisdom of this world.
The wisdom of this world says that the less people we have, the better off we are.
That's what the world thinks. That's what they teach you about your family.
They say just have 2.3 children, because if you have any more than that,
then you're going to have problems financially, and it's going to be a hassle,
it's going to be a negative thing for you to have a lot of children.
It's totally contrary to what God is teaching you.
They say the world's overpopulated. Good night.
Anybody who's traveled around the United States at all knows that this country's not overpopulated.
I've been spending a lot of time in California, and I have driven the length and breadth of California
just in the last couple of months, and it is the most empty place you can imagine,
and California is the most populous state in the United States.
The population is approximately 43 million.
That was years ago when I was living there and so forth, but I don't know what it is now,
but we're talking about 60 million, you think? About 60 million people.
That is the most population of any state in the United States, and that state is empty.
You drive around, and there are a few giant cities where the population is concentrated,
but you drive through that land, and it is the most rural.
I mean, farmland, just acres and acres of national forest,
it is the most empty place you can imagine unless you're in these big cities.
The world is not overpopulated at all.
God is saying here that our country would be better off the more people we have.
The ungodly communist regimes that have been in power throughout history
and other ungodly nations have tried to control population.
In Cambodia, where they slaughtered one-third of the population when the communists took over.
In the Soviet Union, in Red China, controlling the population.
God does not think that we're overpopulated, and God is all for immigration.
And I'll show you that. Let me read a few verses that show that God's for immigration.
Not only does he say, look, the more people we have, the better off we are,
the stronger we are as a nation.
But number two, listen to these verses.
Leviticus 19, 34, you can just listen to this.
But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you,
and thou shalt love him as thyself.
He's saying, look, the stranger, now throughout the sermon we're going to see this word,
the stranger, and sometimes the foreigner is what God calls him.
Usually he calls him a stranger.
That's referring to an immigrant.
That's referring to somebody from a strange country.
Somebody from another country who is immigrating into the nation of Israel,
in our case the United States, same thing.
And so God is saying, I want you to love the stranger.
I want you to treat him like he was born here.
I want you to treat him like he's one of you,
and I want you to love him just like you love yourself.
He says, it's fine that he's here.
Exodus 22, 21 says, thou shalt neither vex a stranger nor oppress him,
for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Exodus 23, 9, also thou shalt not oppress a stranger,
for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Leviticus 19, 33, and if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land,
ye shall not vex him.
And then in the book of Ruth, I was reading the book of Ruth, chapter 2, verse 10, it says,
Then she fell on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, and said unto him,
Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me,
seeing I am a stranger?
Now, if you understand the book of Ruth, Boaz, in the book of Ruth,
Boaz represents Jesus Christ.
And Boaz representing Jesus Christ in the story is taking knowledge of this stranger, Ruth,
who's from the land of Moab, and he gives her a job, he gives her a livelihood,
he takes care of her, even though she's a stranger.
He loves her, he says, you're welcome here, you're welcome on my property, he's all for it.
So, the first thing I want you to know is that I'm not against immigration,
God's not against immigration.
I mean, good night, everybody in America is an immigrant,
except the Native American people that are here,
but everybody else has immigrated at one time or another.
God's all for immigration.
Now we're going to get into the negative part.
Number two, point number one, God's all for immigration,
but number two, immigrants must obey the laws of the land, according to the Bible.
They must obey our laws.
Therefore, there goes illegal immigration right out the window,
and we're just obeying our law right away.
Listen to this verse.
Ye shall have one manner of law as well for the stranger as for one of your own country,
for I am the Lord your God.
He says, there's no double standard here.
Everyone must abide by the laws.
I don't care if they're a citizen, I don't care if they're a Native American,
I don't care if they're an immigrant, they must abide by the laws.
Here's another verse, numbers 15, 16.
One law and one manner shall be for you and for the stranger that sojourneth with you.
On and on, I'm going to have to skip some of these, but Deuteronomy 31, 12.
Gather the people together, men and women and children,
and thy stranger that is within thy gates,
that they may hear and that they may learn and fear the Lord your God
and observe to do all the words of this law.
So God is saying immigrants must obey our laws.
If they're going to come to our country, they must obey our laws.
Now, crossing the border illegally, they just violated our laws, first thing.
And look what God says, numbers 15, 30.
God says, but the soul that doeth ought presumptuously,
whether he be born in the land or a stranger,
the same reproacheth the Lord and that soul shall be cut off from among these people.
So in God's economy, in God's laws here in the book of Numbers,
when somebody, some stranger waltzes into town and just presumptuously says,
I don't care what your law is. I don't care what you say. I'm going to break the law anyway.
He says that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
He says, get out of here. In other words, deport the illegal immigrant.
In other words, the guy who breaks the law and comes here and commits crimes
and enters the country illegally should be deported according to God.
He should be cut off from among his people.
Now, again, let's review. God's not against the immigrants coming,
but he wants them to obey the law is the first thing we see.
He wants them to enter the country legally.
Now, in the next several points, you're going to see why it's so important
that immigrants enter this country legally as opposed to illegally
because you'll see in the next several points where this comes into play.
Point number three, immigrants need to learn the language of this land, which is English.
English is the language of the United States. Immigrants must learn English.
Turn, if you would, to Nehemiah chapter 13.
I want you to see this. This is in the Bible, you know, 1 and 2 Chronicles.
You got 1 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs.
So this is a few books before Psalms.
I'm sorry, Nehemiah chapter 13.
And look at verse number 23.
And here's a bad example of immigration. We'll see how Nehemiah responded to it.
It says here in Nehemiah chapter 13,
In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab.
It's talking about Jews that had married these women of other nationalities
that were foreigners, that were sojourning there, they were strangers.
And it says, and their children spake half in the speech of Ashdod
and could not speak in the Jews' language but according to the language of each people.
Now he's saying these immigrants had come here, they'd come into the land,
and it seems like, you know, they'd even come legitimately somewhat
because they'd married into the land, and here they are.
But he says their children couldn't speak the language of the land.
They could not speak the Jews' language.
They'd spake everyone their own language,
and sometimes they just spake half in their language and half in some of the language.
Look at the reaction. Verse number 25.
This is Nehemiah, great man of God, preacher.
I contended with them and cursed them and smote certain of them and plucked off their hair.
Okay, are you kids listening to this?
He says he cursed them, he smote them, he plucked off their hair and made them swear by God,
saying, you shall not give your daughters unto their sons nor take their daughters
unto your sons unto for yourselves.
See, Nehemiah here was angered and irritated by the fact that these people were coming in,
mixing in with his people, messing up the language, messing up their culture,
and saying, we're going to speak our own language.
We're not going to teach our kids English, or here in this case it would be Hebrew.
But he said, we're not going to teach them the language.
He got angry. He started cursing.
He started punching them. He started tearing their hair out and saying, get out of here.
Now, I'm not condoning that. I'm obviously not advocating that.
But here's a man who says, look, that's not going to work.
If you're going to be here, you're going to speak in the Jews' language if you're going to live among us.
See, immigrants need to learn the language of the land. They need to learn English.
This week, I was just having another one. I saw a car dealership, and it said, we speak English.
You know, you usually see the sign that says, se habla español.
And this was not a joke. This was not somebody trying to be a smart-out.
It said, we speak English.
They were advertising the fact that they spoke English, because it was an area that was a little bit Hispanic.
And so they're advertising the fact. And this is in Mesa.
I mean, it wasn't even really that Hispanic of an area, actually.
And there's a sign, we speak English. Don't worry, man.
If you come here, you're going to be able to communicate in English.
Well, these things ought not so to be.
We should be able to speak English. People should be speaking English if they're going to live in this country.
And we're going to see more about that in later points.
But number four, so number one, God's all for immigration.
He says, come on in, the more the merrier.
But number two, it must be legally. It must obey the laws of the land.
You must follow our laws if you come here.
And you should be deported if you cross illegally, or if you don't obey the laws.
Number three, learn the language of the land.
Learn English. You must speak English.
This is an English-speaking country. They should learn English.
And that's straight out of the Bible.
Number four, immigrants need to respect the religion of the land here.
The religion of this land.
Listen to Leviticus 24, 16. Just one example. I have to skip a lot for the sake of time.
But it says, and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord.
Somebody who doesn't have respect for Jesus Christ.
Somebody who doesn't have respect for our Christian religion in this country.
And it says, and he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, he shall surely be put to death.
And all the congregation shall certainly stone him, as well the stranger as he that is born in the land,
when he blasphemeth the name of the Lord shall be put to death.
God is saying, look, we don't need some stranger, or even somebody who lives here,
but we don't need some stranger coming in here, bringing some other religion and saying,
you know what I think about your religion? Blankety, blank, blank. No.
That's not going to work.
Now I believe in religious freedom, and so does God.
And I believe that immigrants should be able to practice whatever religion they want.
Hey, if they want to be a Muslim, if they want to be a Catholic, they can be whatever they want.
But when they start blaspheming our religion, when they start cursing our religion,
when they start trying to change our country to being their religion,
when they start trying to infiltrate our religion in this country, they have crossed the line.
Now if they can practice their religion, hey, they have freedom to practice whatever religion they want.
God bless them. I don't want them to be forced to be a Christian.
Absolutely not. I'm totally against that. I'm 100% for religious freedom.
But they have no right to come in here and badmouth our religion,
and they have no right to come in here and try to change our religion in this country.
You say, well, wait a minute. America is not a religion. America is just a secular nation.
That is a lie. That is not true. This country was founded upon the principles of Christianity.
And I'll tell you something. It wasn't the Roman Catholic Church. I'll tell you something right now.
The people who came into this country in the 1600s and 1700s, they were trying to get away from that whore of the Catholic Church.
The Bible calls it a whore. That's not me talking. Read Revelation chapter 17,
and God says the mother whore, the mother of abominations, the Roman Catholic Church,
is what they were trying to get away from when they came to this country.
You know, we sing these songs. We're singing a song this morning, Faith of Our Fathers.
We're singing songs we gather together. These are songs from that time period.
These are songs from the 1670s. You know, we gather together.
Written in the Netherlands where the Christians were being persecuted by the Catholic Church
and by the Protestant offspring of the Catholic Church.
They were being persecuted and killed. Baptists and other religions that were being persecuted by the Catholic Church.
And this country was not founded a Catholic nation. It was founded a Christian nation.
I'll tell you that right now. People used to say, you know, the Catholics, and I'm against this too,
but it's just a fact of history. The Catholics used to be persecuted in this country
because the people who had come to this country and started this country still had a real bad taste in their mouth
from what the Catholic Church was like over in Europe, persecuting them and putting them to death,
burning them at the stake and all the torturing them and everything else.
And they had a pretty bad taste in their mouth, and they said, we don't want you here. Get out of here.
We don't want the Pope, and we don't want that whore in this country.
This is God's country, not the Catholic Church wants you out of here.
Now, this is not a Catholic nation, period. And by the way, it's not a Muslim nation. This is a Christian nation.
You say, well, if we teach Christianity in school, they should teach Islam. Why?
This is not an Islamic nation. You want to be in an Islamic nation? Why don't you go there and see how you like living there?
Why don't you go to Saudi Arabia and see how you like it?
Why don't you go live in these different countries of Syria and Iran and just see how you like it?
See how nice it is to be living in a Muslim nation.
Oh, you think this should be a Catholic nation? Why don't you go live in Catholic countries and see how much you like it there?
Why don't you see if you like it when they take money out of your paycheck and it goes to the Catholic Church?
Just like the government taxes you, then you've got the church taxing you.
Go and see if you like it in these different countries.
See if you like it down in Latin America where the Catholic Church runs the show.
See if you like it. And then come back and tell me that this is a Catholic nation, this is a Muslim nation.
No, this was founded a Christian nation. What about Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence?
He said, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights.
Now look, this country was started out by people saying, we have a Creator. In God we trust is our motto.
In the Star-Spangled Banner itself, the fourth verse says, and this is our motto, in God is our trust.
The fourth verse of the Star-Spangled Banner, the song we sang earlier, My Country Tis of Thee, said,
Our Father's God to Thee, Author of Liberty, to Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light, Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.
They said, look, our King is God. Our freedoms come from God. He's the Author of Liberty.
He's the reason why we have this free country, is God, and He's our Creator, and we respect Him.
And by the way, they believe that that God was Jesus Christ.
That's why you read any of the writings of these men, and they'll tell you, they'll say, you know, this is a Christian nation.
We have religious freedom for everybody, but this is a Christian nation.
The government was set up by Bible principles. The laws in this country were straight out of the Bible.
You look at the book, there's a verse in Isaiah, I don't have the reference in front of me,
but the Bible says that God is our King, our Judge, and our Lawgiver,
and from that verse is where you get the three branches of government that we have in this country.
Lawyers used to have to study the Bible in this country to be able to practice law, to be able to pass the bar exam.
They had to study the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy because that is where the laws of this nation were based.
This nation was founded on the Bible. This nation was founded on the Christian principles of God's Word
by people who were trying to get away from these oppressive religions of the world, such as Islam and Catholicism.
The two religions in the Crusades that were slaughtering millions of people during the Crusades and the Dark Ages.
Islam and Catholicism, the two most bloodiest, murderous religions in the world.
The religion of Adolf Hitler, Catholicism, the religion of the Taliban, Islam,
the two most wicked religions in the world that want to hurt people and murder people,
and that want to conquest the world, basically.
I don't think that this country should be conquested by Catholicism from the South.
I don't think it should.
I don't think that masses of Mexican people should be allowed to just cross the border
and turn this into a Catholic country.
It should not be.
These things ought not so to be.
Look at their country and see if you want to live there.
Well, you know why? They got that way for a reason.
They got that way because of their wicked as hell religion,
and they got that way because of their culture that's ungodly,
which brings me to my next point.
Number five.
Immigrants should have a desire to become Americans.
That should be what motivates them to come into this country.
I mean, look, I don't blame them. I don't want to live in Mexico.
If you're in Mexico and you say, I want to live in America,
it should be because you have a desire to become an American.
Now, all throughout the Bible, you see people who move to an area,
they move to another country for financial reasons only, always negative.
Let me give you a few examples.
Abraham.
Abraham went down into Egypt because there was a famine in his land,
and, you know, the economy was better in Egypt.
He went down to Egypt.
He ended up picking up an Egyptian handmaid there.
He ended up, his nephew Lot became infatuated with Egyptian culture.
Later on, he ended up committing an adulterous act with that Egyptian handmaid
that he picked up while he was down in that wrong country.
It shouldn't have been that he went to for financial reasons.
His nephew Lot, because he was so enamored by the worldly, ungodly culture of Egypt,
ended up going to a place called Sodom and Gomorrah,
which he said was like the land of Egypt.
It says that he looked at it, and he said, boy, it's like the land of Egypt.
And so he said, I'm going to go there.
Well, he never would have known what Egypt was like.
He never would have been so enamored with the things of Egypt
if he'd never been to Egypt, if Abraham would have trusted God,
stayed in the land that God had put him instead of saying,
well, I think I'm going to go over here for financial reasons.
Here's another person, Elimelech and Naomi in Ruth chapter 1.
Elimelech and Naomi, we said, you know what?
Things are a little lean here in the land of Israel.
We're going to go live in Moab for a while.
They said, we're just going to sojourn there.
That's a temporary stay.
We're just going to go there for a little while.
They ended up staying there.
I'm sorry, my memory fails, but I think they ended up staying there for something like 13 years
or some huge amount of time.
They came back. Her husband died, and both her sons died.
It ended up being a wreck. They were ruined financially.
She said, I went out full, and I came back empty.
See, that's the way it is.
When you don't trust God, and when the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence,
you go out full. You think you've got it bad when you're full,
and then you come back empty, and then that's when you're really bad.
Naomi said, don't call me Naomi.
She said, call me Merah.
Merah means bitter. She came back bitter against God.
Angry at God. She came back empty of financial means, empty of family because why?
Because she moved based on money.
She moved to another country. She moved to another place based on money.
Here, let's freeze on immigration.
Boy, don't just move just in your life because of money.
Don't make any decisions because of money.
Move where God wants you to live. Live where God wants you to live.
You say, well, Brother Anderson, I'm moving to such and such a town.
Can you see if there's a good church there?
If you don't know if there's a good church there, then why are you moving there?
That's the first question that I have because I thought the church was pretty boring.
You say, well, that's where my job is.
Well, is that where church is?
Well, I can see what's motivating you.
It's money, and whenever people make that kind of decision, it's disastrous in the Bible.
So should immigrants coming into America, should their motivation be money and say,
I don't want to live where I live because there's not money here.
I want to live there because there's money there.
Should that be the motivation? No.
The Bible says, as a bird that leaveth his nest, so is a man that leaveth his place.
You know, don't leave your nest.
Stay in your nest, sir, unless you want to be an American.
And we're going to see that in just a minute.
We're going to see why a legitimate reason for immigration.
Look, listen, amigo, okay?
Don't leave your nest. That's where God puts you.
You've got to live there.
Now, if you want to come here, it should be because you don't want to be where you are
because you don't like what you are, and you say, I want to be like America.
I want to be an American.
And so I'm going to go across the border legitimately legally because I want to be like you.
Now, listen, I'm probably the most non-racist person that you've ever laid eyes on in your life.
I'm not racist at all.
If half of this nation was Hispanic or if 75% of this nation was of Hispanic background
or if 99% of this nation was Hispanic or black or eight, I would be thrilled.
I wouldn't care. It doesn't bother me at all.
But what I'm against is the ungodly culture where they say, I don't want to be like an American with freedom.
I want to bring my culture with me, and I want to bring my language with me,
and I want to bring my music with me, and I want to bring my everything with me,
and I want to change your country and change it from what you had it for the last several hundred years.
I'm going to change it to be like my hellhole that I came from.
Now, that's not right.
It has nothing to do with the color of people's skin.
It has nothing to do with their nationality because God says if they come across
and they are willing to become an American, you should treat them exactly like you treat somebody born in the land.
You should treat them exactly like you treat the people who have been here for hundreds of years.
It should be totally equal. It should be one even playing field.
But the key thing is that they need to come here to be an American.
I mean, that's the fact of it. Let me show you that from the Bible.
Well, the first thing I thought of was Hebrews chapter 11.
We've just been studying the book of Hebrews a couple months ago, but it says in Hebrews 11,
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned, but now they desire a better country that isn't heavenly.
Wherefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them to save.
This is talking about people getting saved because they want to leave the world.
They desire a better country, a heavenly country, their citizenship to be in heaven.
Well, you could apply this also.
If they desire a better country, they shouldn't be mindful of the country from whence they came out,
or else it says they might as well return. That's what it says here.
But if they desire a better country, hey, praise the Lord, man. Come on in.
Well, look at this. This is Exodus chapter 12. This was our text, and I'll read this for you.
Exodus chapter 12, this is what we read originally at the beginning of the sermon.
But the Bible says here,
And the Lord said unto Moses and Aaron, This is the ordinance of the Passover, there shall no stranger eat thereof.
So he's saying, no foreigners eating it. But then he goes down and says,
And when a stranger shall sojourn with thee, and will keep the Passover to the Lord.
So he's saying, look, if somebody wants to come and live with you, and he says,
I want to keep Passover to the Lord. He says, okay.
Let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it.
And he shall be as one that is born in the land. For no uncircumcised person shall eat thereof.
One law shall be to him that is home-born, and unto the stranger that sojourneth might.
He's saying, look, come on in to the nation of Israel. Hey, sit down and eat with us.
Let's eat the Passover together. Let's get along. But you know what? Get circumcised, sir.
And obviously that's something from the Old Testament. That's not something that we're about today.
But what is he saying? He's saying, be like us. He said, he shall be as one born in the land.
He said, be like somebody who's born in the land. Get circumcised like I'm circumcised.
If you're going to live in this country, if you're going to eat the Passover with me, you need to be like me.
If you're going to live with us, you need to follow our culture. You need to be like us.
Now, look if you would at 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse number 41.
1 Kings chapter 8, verse number 41.
Now, in 1 Kings 8, 41, everybody there, 1 Kings 8, 41, the Bible reads,
Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people is real.
And let me tell you, this is Solomon praying to God. He's just finished building the temple.
He's on his knees. He's set up a platform and he's on his knees on the platform with his hands raised up in heaven.
He's praying to God in the sight of the whole congregation of Israel.
This is part of his prayer to God.
Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people is real,
but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake.
Why are these people immigrating into Israel?
Because they came because they wanted to be part of the things of God.
They came because they loved the Lord.
They came because they heard about what a righteous nation Israel was and they said,
That's why I'm coming. Not for money.
I'm coming because I want to be a part of this great nation.
I'm coming because I want to worship the Lord.
And it says here in verse 42,
For they shall hear of thy great name.
Boy, America's got a great name. People hear about it.
It says,
And of thy strong hand and of thy stretched out arm,
when he shall come and pray toward this house,
Hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place,
and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for,
that all people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee,
and as do thy people Israel.
See, he's saying that they can come here and fear you the same way we fear you,
as thy people Israel,
and that they may know that this house which I have builded is called by thy name.
See, here's a great reason for immigration.
People who, in this particular case,
they hear about the Lord. They hear about Jesus Christ.
And they say, I want to come. I want to be a part of this.
I want to come and be a part of the nation of Israel.
And all throughout the Old Testament, you'll see people coming
and just joining themselves with Israel.
And God says, great, let them get circumcised
and let them, you know, eat the Passover.
And he says, treat them just like you.
Love them like you love yourself.
Love them like you love your own family, these immigrants,
but just, you know, they really should be coming because they want to be like you,
because they want to be a part of your country.
So that pretty much sums it up.
And then I'm going to go into something else.
But let's review quickly.
Number one, God's all for immigration.
He says the more the merrier.
We don't have too many people in this country. That's a lie.
Number two, the immigrants must obey the law of the land.
They must come in legally.
Number three, immigrants must learn the language of this land, which is English.
It's not English and Spanish.
It's not Spanish. It's not Chinese. It's English.
Number four, immigrants need to at least have respect for our religion.
They can practice their religion, but they need to respect that this is a Christian nation.
That's our religion in this country.
And number five is that immigrants need to have a desire to become Americans,
to become an American, to become like us and say, I'm an American.
I love America. This is my country.
I'm here because I want to be here because I respect America.
But let me show you something interesting.
Turn to Proverbs chapter five. Proverbs number five.
And I want to show you an interesting statement that God makes here in Proverbs chapter five.
Proverbs chapter five, we're going to begin reading in verse number one of Proverbs five.
The Bible says, my son, attend unto my wisdom and bow thine ear to my understanding,
that thou mayst regard discretion and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil,
but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death. Her steps take hold on hell.
Lest thou shouldst ponder the path of life, her ways are movable,
that thou canst not know them.
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of her house.
Lest thou give thine honor unto others and thy years unto the cruel.
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labors be in the house of a stranger.
And thou mourn at the last when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
and say, How have I hated instruction? And my heart despised reproof
and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear unto them that instructed me.
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
You see what he's saying here? God here is warning a young man saying,
Beware of strange women, beware of this flashy woman, and so forth.
But he says, Look, if you go that route, son, if you go that route of the strange woman,
if you go that route of the partying lifestyle, of the fornication,
he says, You know what's going to happen? He says, Strangers are going to eat up your wealth.
And he says, Your labor is going to be in the house of a stranger.
That's the warning. And so I submit to you that illegal immigration,
the masses of people that are coming across our border every day,
they're coming across our border, they're giving birth at our hospitals that are paid for.
It's paid for by those that pay health insurance every time you pay the doctor,
or in many cases it's subsidized by the government, actually, most of the time.
It's paid for by tax dollars. When they come across the border and they've all got their food stamps,
and they're spending up food stamps, they're eating up our food that they didn't pay for,
they didn't pay into the taxes, and when they come across the border by the thousands every single day,
because George W. Bush will refuse to do what God said to do throughout the Bible and build a wall,
which God had him do in the book of Nehemiah, it's what God had him do throughout the Bible,
they say, You need to protect yourself, protect your borders, put a wall around the city.
And because George Bush will refuse to secure our border,
and because the real root of the problem is the wicked, lascivious, fornicating, ungodly society we live in,
God said it would happen. God said it would happen. God said, America, if you live a life of fornication,
if you live your life lusting after the bodies of women, if you live that ungodly life,
he said, your food is going to be eaten up by strangers.
He said, the immigrants are going to come in, they're going to eat up your food, they're going to eat up your wealth,
and pretty soon you're going to be laboring for a stranger. You're going to be working to pay for strangers.
That's exactly what's happening in this country. We live an ungodly lifestyle, we've thumbed our nose at God,
every billboard, every magazine is filthy, every newspaper has these filthy pictures in it,
it's jammed down our throat, this fornication and the lasciviousness and ungodliness,
and God is saying, you're going to live your life paying for somebody else, not for your family,
not for the people that are in your nation, not for the people that you love,
but for strangers that are just going to come in and they're going to eat it up.
That's what God's saying here. And so that's why they're coming across the border and using the food stamps,
that's why they're coming across the border getting the free health care,
they're coming across the border getting the free education for thousands of dollars per student.
That's why it's because we have disobeyed God in this country and we're being judged by God.
It's part of the judgment of God. And boy, I tell you what, it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon.
Every day thousands are crossing the border, thousands and thousands and thousands. Who's paying for them?
Somebody's got to be paying for them. Money doesn't grow on trees and somebody's paying for these women
who will give birth in the hospital. Somebody's paying for it.
Not only that, but you take an illegal immigrant who can't get a normal job.
He can't go down and get a normal job and get paid minimum wage because he's undocumented.
He doesn't have a Social Security card. He doesn't have the birth certificate. He can't do it.
So what's he do? He goes and works somewhere for $3 an hour.
He goes and works somewhere for $4 an hour below minimum wage. Well, here's what's happening.
Those jobs that he's working for $3 an hour, those should be worked by Americans.
Those should be worked by Americans. And here's what will happen.
It's like a stair-step thing. You've got the Americans should be working those jobs.
You say, well, they won't work for $3 an hour. Yeah, that's because you shouldn't pay people $3 an hour.
Because that's wicked as hell to pay somebody under a livable wage, to pay somebody less than they're worth.
And supply and demand. They shouldn't have all these workers working for $3 an hour. That's not right.
And so they should have to pay them a more livable wage.
And then what happens is you get all these people flooding in who are willing to work for these super low wages.
And then what happens? The supply and demand try and follow this just economically.
If the supply of workers goes up, then the price of workers goes down.
If the supply of workers goes down, then the price of a worker goes up. It's supply and demand. Basic economics.
So what happens? A bunch of illegal immigrants flood across the border. They're willing to work for dirt cheap.
Well, now the supply goes up and everyone's wages goes down as a result of it.
Because they are sucking up these jobs that normally the employer would say, I need workers.
And so he's going to have to keep raising the price per hour until people will work for him.
Because Americans are not going to work for $3 an hour, will they?
So guess what? He can't pay $3 an hour. Then he might put it out there for $6 an hour.
And if he can't find anybody that will do it for $6 an hour, he's going to have to go up to $10 an hour.
And it's supply and demand. You wouldn't even need minimum wage, by the way. You wouldn't even need minimum wage.
If you took the women out of the workforce and if you took the illegal immigrants out of the workforce,
you'd have such a demand for workers that people would be getting paid what they're worth and the wages would go up.
But what happens is you flood the market with all these workers, the wages are going to go down.
It's just basic economics. Supply and demand.
So illegal immigration is a negative thing because, number one, they're sucking up our tax dollar resources.
And number two, they're driving down the wages of all of us.
Nowadays, the typical norm is that most people would sell you. You just have to have two incomes to survive.
Because it wasn't like that. It didn't used to be that way.
Back in the 1950s and 60s, when my dad was starting out, there was one income.
Pretty much everybody could own a home. Just one income. Just a man would go to work and work his job and own a home.
Boy, nowadays, and I'm committed to it and I'll eat rice and beans and live in the car if I have to, but I'm going to support my family.
But I'll tell you something. It's not easy, is it?
It's not easy as a man in this country supporting a family on one income anymore.
Why? Because the market has just been flooded with these workers of illegal immigrants, of women joining the workforce.
Both of those things have caused the wages to go down, and then it just forces more women to go to work.
And so, it's a curse of God on this country. They're sucking up so much money in the tax dollars and just hurting all of our wages.
Well, let me read one more verse, and then I'm going to switch subjects again. I'm almost done.
Ecclesiastes chapter 6. The Bible says to you,
There is an evil which I have seen under the sun, and it's common among men.
A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul, of all that he desireth.
Yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it. This is vanity and it is an evil disease.
That's what God says. He says, look, here's a guy who has worked his whole life.
God is blessing him. I mean, this guy has got wealth, he's got riches, he's got honor.
I mean, it sounds like America. It sounds like the United States of America.
He doesn't want anything. He's worked hard to get it.
And it says that, but God does not give him the power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it.
He says, it's an evil disease.
So I submit to you that this illegal immigration is an evil disease.
It's people coming over and taking something that they didn't work for, their fathers didn't work for it, and they're taking it.
I mean, if they want to come, document it, and work, and earn their way, praise the Lord.
I want them here. I love them. Bring them here.
But don't come across the border and take all our services, take our welfare, and our food stamps, and our education, and everything, without paying for it.
You think the illegal immigrant is making three bucks an hour paying taxes? No.
But he's taking all the services, and it's an evil disease.
But I'm going to close with this. This is in closing.
I want to draw the parallel between us as immigrants.
You say, are we immigrants? Yes. Every single one of us is an immigrant if we're saved.
Because God said, and I alluded to this earlier when I talked about Hebrews chapter 11,
and truly if they'd been mindful of that country from whence they came out, talking about the world,
they might have had opportunity to have returned, but now they desire a better country that is in heavenly.
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.
And the Bible says many times that we're citizens of another country, of heaven.
Now we're immigrants. We weren't born. We weren't born saved. We weren't born on our way to heaven.
No, we were born in sin. We were born in this world.
We were born aliens, the Bible says, from the commonwealth of Israel.
It even uses the word alien. It says we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel.
But he says now we've been accepted into the beloved.
Let me ask you something, immigrants.
Let me ask you, those of you who have immigrated by getting saved into God's kingdom,
and it's many times called the kingdom, which is like a country.
Let me ask you something. Are you trying to force your culture on God's kingdom?
Are you trying to force your lifestyle on God's kingdom?
Hey, let me ask you something. Are you trying to force your language and not speak in God's language?
God says, look, if you've immigrated into heaven, if you've been born again and you're saved,
he says I don't want you talking in the language of the world where you came from.
I don't want you talking in the language of that country that you came from.
I don't want you using the cursing. I don't want you taking my name in vain.
You know, these things that I hear Christians say, and it makes me cringe,
and it makes me sick when I hear Christians say, oh, my God.
They got it from the world. I mean, it's cussing God's name.
God says his name is God. It's not just a title. I mean, it's a name, God.
Study the Bible. It's a name. God. And you say, oh, my God.
Or you say, oh, my gosh. And what are you doing? That's not the language of heaven.
That's not God's language. Don't speak that foreign language around me.
Speak God's language. If you're going to be an immigrant into God's country, speak God's language.
Don't try and bring your worldly music into God's kingdom.
Look, I thought that the reason, hopefully the reason that you got saved,
now, I got saved for one reason, so I wouldn't go to hell.
I think that's why everybody gets saved who really gets saved,
because they understand that they don't want to go to hell. They want to go to heaven.
But I didn't want to go to hell. I wanted to go to heaven.
And so if I want to go to heaven, good night. I ought to want to be like Jesus Christ.
I don't want to be like a Christian. I don't want to be like a citizen of heaven.
So I need to adopt His kind of music and say that's the kind of music that I want to be like,
because I want to be like you, Jesus. I'm not trying to be like the country from whence I came out.
And I think I'm going to use your language, God, not the language that I used to use.
And I think I'm going to adopt your culture. I think I'm going to be like you, God,
because if I'm going to be in your country, I don't want to be like you.
You see, we're all immigrants. And just as I said, immigration's good.
Hey, God wants as many people to immigrate into His country as possible.
And He says you're going to have to do it legally. You're going to have to do it by my rules.
You can't jump the border. You can't swim across the Rio Grande into heaven.
You can't swim across the Rio Grande. That's like people who think you get baptized to go to heaven.
You can't swim across the baptistry and be some kind of a wetback into heaven.
No, it's not going to work. You must enter heaven legally. You must be documented in heaven.
You say, well, how do I get documented? How do I become a documented immigrant into heaven?
Well, there's a book that God has where He's got you on file. It's called the Book of Life.
And you've got to be in God's book. You've got to have your spiritual green card.
And if you're going to have your spiritual green card, you've got to be documented.
You've got to go through the blood of Jesus Christ, not through the baptistry tank,
not through church attendance, not through your good life. You've got to go God's way.
You're going to immigrate into God's kingdom. And once you get there, once you've gone God's way,
hey, speak God's language. Hey, act like God. Be like somebody who's from God's area
and not like from the country you get from whence you came out. Quit looking back to that country.
Quit hanging around with those old friends. Quit calling them up on the phone.
Quit going to those places. You've desired a better country and heavenly.
And don't be mindful of the country from whence you came out. You know why?
Because you might have opportunity to return. You just might end up, of course, not becoming unsaved,
but returning to that world that you lived in. Even though you're still a citizen of the United States,
you just might find yourself crossing the border back into the world just to sojourn there a little bit.
You don't want to sojourn there. There's a reason why you came out of that, so don't go back there.
So we've seen immigration's good, but it's got to be somebody who wants to be like an American.
And listen, it's great to be an immigrant, and everybody should be an immigrant into God's kingdom.
But once you're there, please, for crying out loud, would you live like God lives?
Would you be like God wants you to be? His music, his clothing, his culture, his language, be like he is.
Let's bow our heads and pray.
Father, I thank you so much for the message tonight, and I just thank you so much.