Newer service this evening here at Faith Ward Baptist Church. It's good to see everyone here
on this Sunday night. Let's all take our seats please as we take our song books and let's
turn to hymn number 21. We'll begin tonight. Hymn number 21, What a Wonderful Savior.
Hymn number 21, we'll start on that first verse. Christ has for sin, atonement made.
What a Wonderful Savior. Hymn number 21, sing it out. Christ has for sin, atonement made. What a
wonderful Savior. We are redeemed, the price is made. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful
Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. I praise him for the cleansing
blood. What a wonderful Savior. I reconcile my soul to God. What a wonderful Savior.
What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus,
my Lord. He has cleansed my heart from all that's sin. What a wonderful Savior.
And now he reigns and grows therein. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior is
Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. He gives me overcoming power.
What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a wonderful Savior is
Jesus, my Lord. To him I've given all my heart. What a wonderful Savior. The world shall never
share a part. What a wonderful Savior. What a wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Jesus. What a
wonderful Savior is Jesus, my Lord. Can I ask Brother Kevin if you want to put something over
prayer please? Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for giving us the opportunity to be here tonight.
I thank you for all the souls that were saved this week. Please fill us all with your spirit
as we sing praises to you and please bless the services and the preaching to come. It's in Christ's
name I pray, amen. Amen number 119 is next. Till the storm passes by, hymn number 119.
In the dark of the midnights, hymn number 119. Sing it on this first verse together now.
In the dark of the midnight, have I often my days. While the storm does not love me,
and there's no fighting place. In the crash of the thunder,
Christ is Lord in my life. He will save till the storm passes by.
Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more. Till the clouds roll forever,
from the sky. Hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of my hand. Keep me safe, till the storm
passes by. Many times Satan whispered, there is no need to try. There is no end of sorrows,
there's no hope, I am blind. But I know thou art with me, and tomorrow I'll rise.
Till the storm, till the dark in the sky. Till the storm passes over, till the thunder sounds no more.
Till the clouds roll forever, from the sky. Hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of my hand.
Keep me safe, till the storm passes by. When the long night has ended, and the storms of the war.
Let me stand in thy presence, on that bright and peaceful shore. In that land where the tempest
never comes, Lord may I come out with thee, when the storm passes by. Till the storm passes over,
till the thunder sounds no more. Till the clouds roll forever, from the sky.
Hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of my hand. Keep me safe, till the storm passes by.
Let's sing that chorus acapella, till the storm passes over. Till the storm passes over,
till the thunder sounds no more. Till the clouds roll forever, from the sky.
Hold me fast, let me stand, in the hollow of my hand. Keep me safe, till the storm passes by.
All right, this time we'll go through our announcements. If you don't have a bulletin,
slip up your hand nice and high. We'll get to you with one. On the inside we have our service times.
Sunday mornings at 10 30 is our preaching service. Sunday nights at 6. Wednesday nights at 7 is our
Bible study. Starting a brand new book this Wednesday night will be in Ezekiel chapter
number one. We've got the soul winning times listed below, as well as salvations and baptisms.
And then across the page are the birthdays and anniversaries. And then tomorrow is the
first day trip to Mexico for the Mexico Mondays. See brother Segura, if you have any questions
about that. He's the one who's going to be spearheading that. On the back we've got the
note about the baby shower coming up on Saturday, August 14th. And here's the big one, the roller
skating night. All right, so this is Thursday, August 19th, 6 to 8. We rent out the entire
skating rink. So it's just our church people there. No music, no games. It's just skating
in all of its glory. And so we love this. We've done this as a church maybe what, five, six times
or something. And it's always super fun. So I hope you can make it out. Of course there's zero cost
to you. All of our church activities are always free. We never sell any materials. We never
charge for activities. That's part of our philosophy. So it's all paid for by the church.
You just show up and skate. And so mark the calendar for that, August 19th. And then below that,
the ladies retreat in Oracle is August 25th through the 28th. And so there will be more details
on that soon. If you're not already signed up and you want to go, you better sign up fast.
And then below that, other upcoming events. Music emphasis night this Thursday night. Various
small town soul winning trips and a camping trip at the end of September. So that's about it for
announcements. Let's go and count up the soul winning from the past few days. Going back to
Thursday. Anything from Thursday? Yes. Okay. All right. Any other soul winning from Thursday? How
about Friday? Okay. Okay. What about Saturday? In the Heber trip, five. Anything else from Saturday
outside the Heber trip? And then what about today? Sunday? Seven for the main group with
brother Scott. Four, three. Okay. Anything else from today? All right. Very good. Keep up the
great work on soul winning with that. Let's sing our next song. Sing Psalm 117. You should find
the insert there in your hymnal. If you don't have one, please raise your hand.
Pray toward us, where the truth of the Lord endures forever. Praise be the Lord. Praise be the Lord.
Okay, then in your hymnals now, please turn to number 127.
It tastes so sweet to trust in Jesus, hymn number 127.
Sing along that first verse, number 127.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for praise and trust in Lord. Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for praise and trust in Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for praise and trust in Lord.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for praise and trust in Lord. I'm so glad I learned to trust Him.
Precious Jesus, Savior friend, and I know that Thou art with me,
will be with me to the end. Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him, how I prove Him o'er and o'er.
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus. Oh, for praise and trust in Lord.
All right, this time we'll pass the offering plates around. As the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to Ephesians chapter 4.
Ephesians chapter number 4, as we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1.
Follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads Ephesians 4, beginning in verse number 1.
In Ephesians chapter 4, the Bible reads, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord,
beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love,
endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body and one Spirit, even as ye are called, and one hope of your calling,
one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all,
and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure the gift of Christ.
Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first in the lower parts of the earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all
things. And he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, unto a perfect man, under the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we
henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him all in all things, which is the head,
even Christ, from whom the whole body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint
supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the
body, under the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord,
that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them,
because of the blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over
unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ,
if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus,
that ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the
deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that ye put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be ye angry and sin
not, let not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil, let him that
stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands the thing which is good,
that he may have to give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth,
but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers,
and grieve not the holy spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption.
Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all
malice, and be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another,
even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Lord thank you that we all here we can all be here
tonight. Please feel past your answer with your spirit and give us the wisdom to understand and
apply it to our own lives. In your name I pray. Amen. Amen. Title of my sermon tonight is greed
and excess. Greed and excess. The Bible reads there in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 17,
this I say therefore and testify in the Lord that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from
the life of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their heart,
who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness
with greediness. Go over to chapter 5 verse 18, just one page over to the right in your Bible.
The Bible reads, and be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the
Spirit. So the Bible talks about people being characterized by greed and excess. You know the
Gentiles that are outside of the church, they're out just working uncleanness with greediness.
They're just greedy of more pleasures and more sins that they can do. And he says don't be
drunk with wine wherein is excess. The Bible says in Proverbs 27 20, hell and destruction
are never full so the eyes of man are never satisfied. So this is just within our nature
as human beings to be greedy and to take things to excess. Instead of just enjoying a little bit,
wanting to just get greedy and take too much and go too far with things.
Now there are lots of examples of this in the Bible. Let's look at a few tonight. Look at 1
Samuel chapter 2. Go back to the Old Testament, 1 Samuel chapter 2. Again we're talking about
greed and excess. You know wanting too much, not being satisfied, not being content, but always
being greedy of more and taking things to excess. Look what the Bible says in 1 Samuel chapter 2
verse 12. Now the sons of Eli were sons of Belial. They knew not the Lord and the priest's
custom with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice the priest's servant came
while the flesh was in seething with a flesh hook of three teeth in his hand and he struck it in
the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the flesh hook brought up the priest took for himself
so they did in Shiloh unto all the Israelites that came thither. Also before they burnt the fat
the priest's servant came and said to the man that sacrificed, give flesh to roast for the priest
for he will not have sodden flesh of thee but raw and if any man said unto him let them not fail to
burn the fat presently and then take as much as thy soul desireth then he would answer him nay
but thou shalt give it me now and if not I will take it by force. Wherefore the sin of the young
men was very great before the Lord for men abhorred the offering of the Lord. So here you
see the priests they have a certain portion that God has given them and you know God in the law
says that he's the one who gave them that and he appointed them that when the children of Israel
would bring their sacrifice unto the Lord there was a part that the priest got to eat. That was
their food, that was their livelihood. They didn't have to go out and farm fields and work out in
agriculture because they as the priests as the Levites they received the tithes from the children
of Israel and the offerings of the Lord. That was their inheritance so they didn't get to inherit
farmland that they could work and and make a living that way. They were supposed to take from
the sacrifices but there was a certain part that they were supposed to take and then there's a part
that's burned on the altar for the Lord. You know the fat was supposed to be burned on the altar
before the Lord and the blood was supposed to be poured out. There were parts that they were
supposed to eat and parts they were not supposed to eat. Now these sons of Eli are greedy and
instead of just being satisfied with a good meal I mean these guys are eating good because think
about the children of Israel are bringing them the first fruits. They're bringing them the best.
They're bringing them the first fruits so they're getting the fresh fruits and vegetables and then
they're bringing them the firstlings of the flock and they're bringing animal sacrifices and so
these guys are not you know short on good food. They get to eat well but they're not satisfied
with that. They wanted to eat too much and the Bible says that these men were gluttonous. It
talks about how their father Eli was a very heavy man okay and so they instead of just eating what
God has appointed them they're actually stealing from the Lord. They're stealing and people are
seeing this and people are bringing offering to the Lord and they want to burn the fat under the
Lord and then give the part to the priest but because the priest is saying no no I want that
fatty stuff myself. Give me the fatty stuff before it's cooked or else I'll take it by force. It
caused men to abhor the offering of the Lord. It caused people to have a bad attitude where they
don't even want to put money in the offering plate. They don't even want to bring the offerings
because they see the greed of the sons of Eli and then it gives the Lord a bad name. Think about
today the same thing. You know you can see preachers that are living in these multi-million
dollar homes and driving fancy cars and wearing all the fancy suits and everything and flying
around a private jet. That makes people get bitter and rightly so when they see these bunch of sons
of Eli all these televangelist sons of Eli just becoming greedy and fat of the things of God
instead of just taking the portion that God allotted for them they just want more. It's not
enough. So this is part of the sinful nature of man to be greedy to be gluttonous. You know food
is good. It's good for us but we can overeat right. We could go too far and over indulge in that
and that's what God is showing us here in the story that these men they're wicked and they're
gluttonous and they're greedy and God had appointed them a certain thing and they just say no that's
not enough we want more. Go through it to Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23
and the bible I'll start reading it while you're on your way there. Proverbs 23 verse 19
hear thou my son and be wise and guide thine heart in the way be not among wine bibbers among riotous
eaters of flesh. Proverbs 31 verse 21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee and
despise not thy mother when she is old. So he says you know don't be around wine bibbers and riotous
eaters of flesh for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. He's warning us about
drunkenness and gluttony. Now here's the thing I don't believe that we should drink any alcohol
whatsoever. That's not what this sermon's about. That's what I believe and I've preached a lot of
sermons about that but you know all Christians would agree that drunkenness is a sin. You know
it'd be pretty rare that you'd find a Christian that would actually try to defend that okay. Now
I've talked to Jews who told me that in their religion not only is it okay to get drunk but
if you're an orthodox Jew drunkenness is actually prescribed. You know on the holiday Purim I was
talking to a Jewish guy the other day and and the holiday Purim they have to get so drunk that they
wouldn't be able to tell Haman from Mordecai. So they're prescribed to be drunk and I've had other
people tell me that too that in in these Jewish holidays not only they drink alcohol but they'll
often get drunk and and if they're very orthodox the more orthodox they are the drunker they get
on Purim is what I was told. So I've talked to a few people about that and you know but but but
that's not Christianity that's Judaism. I don't think any Christians would justify drunkenness
because that would just be bizarre. I mean you're pretty far from the word of God at that point
and so what is drunkenness if you think about it what is drunkenness? It's basically
drinking and drinking and drinking and you see that people who drink typically drink to excess.
It's it's rare that people drink moderately usually especially in the United States
when people drink they pretty much get drunk and it's it's rare you know oh it's just a glass of
wine with my dinner or whatever you know that's pretty rare because most people that I've known
well I'll put it this way everybody who I've ever known personally who was a social drinker
I knew them to get drunk and so so typically this leads to that this lends itself to that
and what is that but just an excess right? Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess
but be filled with the spirit. People just drinking themselves sick just eating themselves
sick just gluttonous drunkards. The Bible is explaining that this is something that people
have a tendency toward and this is something that we as Christians need to avoid that mentality.
We need to do things moderately and not go overboard into anything okay uh like it says
hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of man are never satisfied and so eating is good
and and you know I don't think that there's anything wrong with eating sweets and desserts
and things but you can definitely take that too far can't you and so you know the Bible is
telling us don't be a glutton don't be a wine bibber don't be a drunkard. Now in Habakkuk
chapter 2 verse 4 it says behold his soul which is lifted up is not a pride in him but the just
shall live by his faith yea also because he transgresseth by wine he is a proud man neither
keepeth at home who enlargeth his desire as hell and is as death and cannot be satisfied
but gathereth unto him all nations and heapeth unto him all people. So this is talking about
a king who just keeps conquering more lands and he's just never satisfied with it and
also he's a drunkard in his personal life. The Bible says because he transgresseth by
wine he's a proud man because drinking begets pride in people who drink and it says he doesn't
keep at home he enlarges his desire as hell and so this is talking about the king of Babylon
but you know if you think about it there are other examples of this just from history like
you think about Alexander the Great. You know here's a guy who's greedy of just conquering
more and more and you know his army is just away from Macedonia for years and years and
it's like they just keep pushing it further and people kind of want to go home at some
point but Alexander the Great just keeps wanting to push it all the way to India and just keep
conquering and conquering and it's just never enough for him to have more power and then
how did Alexander the Great die? Well he died young I believe he was what 29 years old and
the story is that he drank himself drunk. He got super drunk and he ended up getting
pneumonia and I don't know but he drank himself into some kind of a stupor and ended up dying
shortly thereafter so he's known to be an immoderate person, a drunkard and somebody
who just greedily wants to just conquer more and more and the Bible is describing a similar
character in Habakkuk chapter 2 whose soul is lifted up because of wine. You know you
think about when Belshazzar drank of the wine and then he became lifted up and is praising
all the false gods and he blasphemes God and everything right before he sees the handwriting
on the wall. My grandfather actually quit drinking because he went to a church where
a sermon was preached about Belshazzar drinking and blaspheming God and he said you know what
that's exactly how I am when I drink. I get arrogant, I get cocky and that's when he decided
to quit drinking because of that Bible story about Belshazzar. But go if you would to 2
Chronicles chapter 11. So obviously there are people who are eating excessively, there
are people who are drinking excessively, becoming extremely drunk, binge drinking and all of
these other things and then that's not enough. They move on to drugs and they indulge in
that and they're never satisfied with that either. Another thing that people indulge
in or are greedy for is fornication or adultery. You know God has prescribed for us that we
engage in that relationship within marriage. So God has provided us something beautiful.
He's provided us something pleasurable to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage.
A man leaves his father and mother and cleaves unto his wife and they too are one flesh.
That's what God has designed marriage to be between one man and one woman and that's what
marriage is supposed to be all the way back to the beginning. That's what God created.
That's what God ordained in Genesis chapter 2. But human nature of course is to be greedy
and that's not enough. So look what the Bible says in 2 Chronicles chapter 11 verse 21 says
in Rehoboam, loved Mayacah the daughter of Absalom, oh isn't that sweet, above all his
wives and his concubines. For he took 18 wives and 3 score concubines. Well that's not as
sweet anymore of a love story there. So 18 wives and 3 score concubines. That's a lot.
Let that sink in. 18 wives. I have one wife. You have one wife. You had 18 wives. But then
that's not enough. 3 score concubines. Now what is a concubine? A concubine is a woman
that you're sleeping with but she's not your wife. She doesn't have the status of being
a wife but the literal meaning of that word concubine just means someone that you lie
with is what that means. Okay so he's basically, he's got his 18 wives that are the legitimate
wives that have that status of being a wife and then he's just got basically 60 other
bed buddies, you know if you want to call it that, concubines. I mean how do you translate
that into our modern vernacular? We don't really have a term for that. So I guess we'll
just call it a concubine. And he begat 20 and 8 sons and 3 score daughters. I mean that's
a lot right? I mean this guy, he's got 18 wives, 60 more concubines, so of course he's
just begetting a whole bunch of kids, 88 kids. Now this guy sounds pretty excessive. This
is excess. This is too much. 78 women and having 88 kids, it's too much. It's overboard.
Right? God provided, you know, hey you have one wife. Why? Because there's more to life
than just that, isn't there? There's more to life. There's other things we're supposed
to be doing with our lives than just dealing with these 78 women. We're supposed to be
out doing other things, but this guy, he's taking something good, marriage, and he's
overindulging in it and going overboard in it and saying, well one's not enough, how
about two? Why not 18? Why not 60 on the side? Okay, this guy is excessive, but oh, but we're
not done reading the story yet. Keep going. And Rehoboam made Abijah, the son of Maacah,
the chief, to be ruler among his brethren for he thought to make him king. And he dealt
wisely and dispersed of all his children throughout all the countries of Judah and
Benjamin unto every fence city and he gave them vittles and abundance. Oh, and by the
way, and he desired many wives. So is this guy satisfied? I mean, he's got it dialed
in, man. It's like I got my 18 wives, I got my 60 concubines, that ought to keep me busy.
Not enough. Let me explain something to you. If one's not enough, 60 is not going to be
enough. 78 is not going to be enough. You know, you've got to be moderate and not go
into excess and not desire more than what God has given you. It's like God provided
the sons of Eli with a certain amount of food and they just want to gorge themselves on
more food. And look, we could always eat more food, right? I mean, there's always more,
you know? Well, we could always have more fun and more food and more enjoy, but you
know what? There's a limit where God says, look, this is what is appropriate. Don't go
beyond that. Don't push past that. And it's our tendency as human beings to be greedy
and to take things to excess. And that's what Rehoboam is clearly doing. He's excessive.
Here's a great verse to illustrate what I'm saying. Go, if you would, to Proverbs 25.
This is probably one of the best verses in the Bible on this subject. Go to Proverbs
25. While you're turning there, I'm going to read for you some other Bible verses. How
about Isaiah 56 verse 9? All ye beasts of the field, come to devour. Yea, all ye beasts
in the forest. His watchmen are blind. They're all ignorant. They're all dumb dogs. They
cannot bark. Sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. And he's talking about the preachers,
the men of God, the guys who are supposed to be watching out for the souls. They're
asleep at the job. They're dumb dogs. They're greedy dogs. Verse 11, yea, there are greedy
dogs which can never have enough. They can never have enough. And they're shepherds that
cannot understand. They all look to their own way, everyone for his gain, from his quarter.
Some say they all fetch wine and we will fill ourselves with strong drink and tomorrow
shall be as this day and much more abundant. Those are the greedy dog pastors, the ones
who are not looking out for the flock. They're not warning them about sin and warning them
of the dangers out there. It's just greediness, don't preach anything controversial, eat,
drink and be merry, excessive paycheck, etc. That's why the Bible says of the pastor in
1 Timothy 3, he's supposed to be not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy
lucre, but patient, not a brawler, not covetous. Of the deacon it says, not given to much wine,
not greedy of filthy lucre. False prophets in the book of Jude are described as running
greedily after the error of Balaam for reward. Running greedily after the error of Balaam
for reward. It's human nature. The sinful human nature of man is never satisfied. If
a person wants to drink, they don't want to drink a little bit, they want to get drunk.
You offer someone some good food, that's not enough. They've got to have a second helping
and a third and just go overboard and just do it too much. Ruin it. People get paid for
their work, it's not enough so then they have to steal to get more because they just are
not satisfied with what they're getting paid and what they legitimately receive. People
are married, they have their wife, that's not enough. Second wife, third wife, action
on the side. We see it all throughout scripture, people falling into this trap of greed and
excess. We need to identify this in our lives and look at ourselves and say, am I being
greedy here? Am I being excessive here? Is this too much of a good thing? And we need
to check ourselves and realize that it's possible even for something good to be done in excess
or for us to get greedy, we need to be content with what we have and satisfied with what
we have and learn to be moderate in these areas of our lives, of eating and so forth.
Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 25 verse 16, hast thou found honey? And this is before
you could just kind of go to the gas station and there's just all these candy aisle. These
people are living in a more primitive time. He says, hast thou found honey? Eat so much
as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited. And you know, this
is again human nature. You come across something good, honey. Well, you know what? Not only
is honey sweet, not only does it taste good, it's also good for you. Honey has many health
benefits for eating it. So God says, hey, you found honey? Great, eat it, enjoy, eat
it up, buddy. Eat as much as is sufficient for you, but he warns of eating too much because
if you eat too much, you will throw up. And you know what? This has happened in our house
before where, you know, there's some kind of a party or some kind of a church activity
or something. There's a lot of cake and pints and sodas and ice cream and sometimes the
children will overindulge and they will throw up. Who knows what I'm talking about? I'm
seeing a, can I get a witness? You know, and one of my kids just raised their hand, so
okay. Yeah, so I'm glad you remember that too. But anyway, you know, the point is, you
know, it's just, it's a phenomenon that happens, right? People eat, I mean, what's the Bible
say? You know, you eat too much honey and you throw up. Well, guess what? I've seen
it. It's real. The Bible's true. You know, people, they overindulge in sweets and their
body's like, no, you're going to kill me. I don't want diabetes yet. And just puke it
up and throw it, your body just rejects it. No, stop giving me little Debbie's or whatever.
So eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith and vomited.
You know, it's just, God gives us something nice. Instead of just being happy with it,
it's like we want more. Isn't that the wickedness of human nature? To just want more, to just
be greedy, to just overdo it, just to go crazy with it. And then in the next verse, it's
interesting the next verse kind of ties in the same way. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's
house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee. Again, too much of a good thing. You
know, your friend wants to hang out with you, but your friend might eventually need a break
from you. And so, you know, you can have a great relationship with your friend, but if
you're just constantly at your friend's house, eventually they might just get sick of you
and hate you is what the Bible says, right? I mean, that's what the Bible says. Withdraw
thy foot from thy neighbor's house lest he be weary of thee and so hate thee. You know,
I guarantee you that that visit to a friend's house is a good thing, but you know, look,
I like having people over at my house or going over to their house sometimes, but like sometimes
it's like, okay, it's time to go home now. You know what I mean? Sometimes it's like,
all right. You know, I remember when we used to have church in the house, you know, it
was like I couldn't just leave and go home because I was home and sometimes people would
just stay for hours and hours fellowshipping and it's like, all right, so, you know, getting
kind of late, huh? Kind of give you a little hint here, you know, it's getting super late
and everything and you're still here, huh? Of course I never felt that way ever. But
the point is, you know, again, it's just too much of a good thing. Being greedy, excessive
instead of being moderate in things, right? So we've got to be careful about this. Go
to 1 Peter chapter 4, if you would. 1 Peter chapter 4. I mean, this is all over the Bible.
1 Peter chapter 4. I'll read you some other verses while you're turning to 1 Peter chapter
4. The Bible talks about wicked people coveting greedily all the day long, but the righteous
giveth and spareth not. Look what the Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 3. For the
time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles when we walked
in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries
wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking
evil of you. You know, the world thinks it's strange when you don't do things to excess,
when you don't go out and party and binge drink and do all these revelings and excesses
of wine and all the lasciviousness and the lust and all the banqueting and partying and
just overdoing everything. They think it's strange. Why? Because it's human nature to
overindulge. That's why. It's human nature to overindulge, which is why when you have
Christians being temperate and moderate and abstaining from that kind of a lifestyle,
they look at you like, whoa, what are you doing? You're not going to indulge. You're
not going to drink with us. You're not going to party with us. You're not going to stay
out with us until, you know, the middle of the night till 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. What are
you doing? You know, but they're the ones that are being excessive and staying up way
too late and eating too much and drinking too much and partying too much and playing
too much. And look, I'm for playing and having a good time. But, you know, you can play too
much. You can have a good time too much. You can joke around too much. You can eat too
much. You know, there's a time to get to work and be serious and do something with your
life that matters. And there's a time to just say no and, you know, push away that plate
of food, push away that beverage, say no to that temptation. You know, there are things
that are just too much. Here's another good Bible story that illustrates this. Go to 2
Kings chapter 14. 2 Kings chapter 14. And, you know, I was thinking of a historical example
too that it kind of ties in with this 2 Kings 14 story. Another good example of this I think
is Adolf Hitler. So those of you who know a little bit about history and especially
World War II history, here's the thing about Adolf Hitler, okay. He took power in 1933
and throughout the 30s he actually really like turned things around in Germany because
the economy was really bad under what's known as the Weimar Republic. And so there was hyper
inflation. The economy was bad. Also Germany was just kind of in the toilet morally. There's
a lot of just sodomites and weird stuff going on in the 20s. You know, we had our roaring
20s over here. Over in Germany it was a pretty debauched time. The economy was depressed.
Things were just going bad in a lot of ways, okay. So, you know, Adolf Hitler took over
and ended up turning around a lot of that stuff and actually, you know, fixing the economy
because things had been bad in Germany ever since World War I. When the Germans lost World
War I, things were bad. He comes along and, you know, he kind of took advantage of the
things that were going bad because if you look at the Nazi party was very small and
unpopular until the economy crashed. And then when the economy crashed, you look at their
popularity just skyrocketed, okay. Because they'd been predicting a lot of those things
and basically, you know, they were claiming that they were going to fix everything and
whatever. So then, you know, people jumped on board with that. And so Adolf Hitler, you
know, he turned around the economy such to the point to where Austria, which was a separate
country, you know, you have Germany and you have Austria, but in Austria they speak German.
And so they actually, the Austrians actually voted to join Germany. And they, by an overwhelming
majority when Hitler was in power, it was like 90 some percent of Austrians said like
yes, make us part of Germany. Like we want to be absorbed into Germany as part of the
German kingdom. And it was just overwhelming. And, you know, Hitler, you know, rode into
Vienna, Austria, because he was originally from Austria. And everybody's cheering, there's
like parades, you can see pictures and video of it. I don't know, I think there's a video,
but there's for sure pictures of him entering Vienna and everybody's just going crazy. Like
he's the biggest hero to them that they're just, they love him. Because, you know, that's
what people care about is fixing the economy. You know, they're loving it. So they were
real happy. But not only that, here's some other things that Hitler did in the 30s. Is
he started taking back territory that Germany had lost after World War I. So there's like
a big chunk of Germany that had been taken by the French, a big chunk of Germany that
had been incorporated into Czechoslovakia. And here's the thing, he basically seized
that territory back. So he got back land over here. And so he's adding territory to Germany,
but without any warfare happening. Like, you know, there's no fighting. There's kind of,
you know, he's just kind of pushing it and getting it diplomatically. And he ends up
seizing land in France and seizing land in Czechoslovakia. And so, I mean, Germans are
loving this. It's like they're getting their territory back, economy's going great. Now
stop and think about this. Here's like a little alternative history for you. What if Hitler
at that point, you know, 1938, 1939, what if at that point he just decided, you know
what, let's just stop there. I mean, he could have gone down in history as being, you know,
this great successful lead. People would have just looked back and thought, man, this guy
really turned Germany around, fixed the economy, he gave us our dignity back, he took back
this territory and whatever. But then what does he do? Is he content to just say, hey,
I've been successful, I fixed things, we got our territory back, this is great, now let's
just have peace and be happy and enjoy. Note the problem with Adolf Hitler is that he's
greedy. And so he wasn't happy with that. He said, no, no, no, we need more land. We
want to take over all these countries in Eastern Europe. We're going to take more. And he'd
already talked about this all the way back when he wrote his book Mein Kampf. It was
always his plan to take over and invade territory in Eastern Europe because he said that the
Germans needed more room and we need more land and whatever. So, you know, he took back
what they'd lost but that's not enough. Now he wants to just go on a conquest and think
about what a lack of integrity, because I don't want anybody to think that I'm praising
Hitler because I'm certainly not praising Hitler. Hitler was greedy, I'm using him as
a bad example. Okay, so I hope you're paying attention tonight. You're like, well, Pastor
Anderson said that he did a lot of good things. Because here's the deal, this is what Hitler
did. Okay, Hitler, just think about what a hypocrite Hitler is. I'm going to slam Hitler
right now because let me tell you something, he was a big time hypocrite and let me tell
you why he was such a phony and such a hypocrite. Because he spent all of the twenties and thirties
just ripping on communism. How communism is the worst thing, communism is bad, and he
was just super anti-communist. Amen. But then what does he do? He forms an alliance with
Stalin, the evil communist dictator Stalin. He goes against everything he's been saying,
everything he's stood for for the last twenty years, he goes against all of that and forms
a deal with Stalin where they both invade Poland and of course September 1st, 1939,
Hitler invades Poland and basically he's going to take half of Poland for Germany, Soviet
Union's going to take the other half, and Poland's just going to cease to exist because
basically they just divide it up and carve it up and that's where he went too far because
when he invaded Poland, then what happened? It thrust the whole world into World War II.
That's what was the spark that triggered World War II. You know the famous headline, Hitler
invades Poland. And that's when everybody declared war and that's when it all, you know
the story that basically led to what? Fifty to seventy million people dying in World War
II. Fifty to seventy million, it was a bloodbath, it was horrible. But based on what I know,
I've read many books about Hitler, I've read many books about World War II, and from what
I understand, and I read David Irving's book, Hitler's War, which I think really gives you
insight into Hitler and all of his personal thoughts and everything, I read that book
and let me tell you something, from what I understand of Hitler, is that let's say Hitler
would have got away with taking over Poland like that, let's say everybody would just
let him do it and he got away with it, I promise you he would have just invaded somewhere else
after that. And he would have kept pushing it until a war started. He wasn't going to
stop because he was greedy like that. He was just like the man being described in Habakkuk
chapter 2 verses 4 and 5. He was just like Alexander the Great in that sense where he's
just greedy and just keeps wanting to conquer more. You know, if you've ever played the
game Risk, who knows the board game Risk? Okay, lots of people, very good. I'm among
friends tonight. You know, I grew up playing Risk, I love Risk, but here's the thing about
Risk. The key to winning at Risk is not to do too much on your turn because you see people
that are novices and they just get carried away and they just keep invading more territory
and they spread themselves so thin and because you do the reinforcements at the beginning
of the turn in Risk, at the end of your turn there's no reinforcements that you're adding.
So you get all spread thin and then when it's the next person's turn, they get to reinforce
at the beginning of their turn and then they just plow over you. They just conquest. Everything
that you did, they just undo it the next turn. So you know, my strategy when I play Risk
is just take over one territory and then get your card. Because if you don't take over
territory you don't get a card. So you got to take over the one territory, get a card
and pass the dice. The problem with Hitler is that he's just greedy and he's not happy
just to take back these German territories. He just wants to carve up other people's territories
and keep invading and he was just going to keep going until he hits a boundary. Okay,
and that's what he was doing and that's what happened. That's why he failed. But think
about it. If you could get in a time machine and go back and tell him, like, don't invade
Poland. Stop. You're done. Look at all the success you've had. Look at all the things
you've accomplished. Just stop. But you know what he'd probably tell you? He'd probably
just tell you, like, you know, he'd probably wouldn't listen. Because this is who he is.
Greedy. Not content to quit while he's ahead. To stop. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Now here's a biblical example that's sort of like the Hitler example in a sense. Okay.
But this guy is not Hitler. Okay. This guy is actually a good guy. But look at 2 Kings
chapter 14 verse 1. In the second year of Joash, son of Jehoahaz king of Israel, reigned
Amaziah the son of Joash king of Judah. And he did that which was right in the side of
the Lord, yet not like David his father. He did, according to all things, as Joash
his father did. So he's saying, you know, this guy's a pretty good guy. He did that
which was right in the side of the Lord. Not as good as David, but he was kind of as good
as Joash. Okay. Look at verse 7. He slew of Edom in the valley of salt, 10,000, and took
Selah by war and called the name of it Jochtiel unto this day. So he has a great victory.
You know, he fights against the Edomites. He defeats them. He has a great victory. He's
doing that which is right in the side of the Lord. Things are going good for this guy,
right? But then look what he does in verse 8. Then Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash,
the son of Jehoahaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying, come, let us look one another
in the face. Now he has no beef with Israel. He has no issue with Israel. He just picks
a fight with Israel out of nowhere like, hey man, let's fight. Let's look one another in
the face, man. Come face me. Come at me, bro, is what he basically says. In the modern versions
it just says, come at me, bro. And Jehoash, the king of Israel, sent to Amaziah, king
of Judah, saying, the thistle that was in Lebanon, sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon,
saying, give thy daughter to my son to wife. And there passed by a wild beast that was
in Lebanon and trode down the thistle. Thou hast indeed smitten Edom and thine heart had
lifted thee up. Glory of this and tarry at home. You know, kind of like the time machine
advice for Hitler, like, hey buddy, quit, pass the dice, take your card, you're done.
Tarry at home, glory in what you've accomplished, but you're done. Okay? For why shouldest thou
meddle to thy hurt that thou shouldest fall even now and Judah with thee? He's saying,
don't meddle with me. And remember, it's not God's will for Judah to reign over Israel.
God divided these kingdoms and when Rehoboam wanted to fight and get Israel back, God told
Rehoboam, don't do it. Don't go. Those 10 tribes were taken away from the house of David.
That's Israel. This is Judah. It was divided into two separate kingdoms and this is not
a legitimate warfare. It's not the king of Judah's place to try to conquer Israel. Okay?
There's the kingdom of Israel, the kingdom of Judah. He's not supposed to try to conquer
them. Okay? But Amaziah would not hear. He won't listen. Therefore, Jehoash, king of
Israel, went up and he and Amaziah, king of Judah, looked one another in the face at Beth
Shemesh, which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the worst before Israel and they
fled every man to their tents and Jehoash, king of Israel, took Amaziah, king of Judah,
the son of Jehoash, the son of Ahaziah, at Beth Shemesh and came to Jerusalem and break
down the wall of Jerusalem from the gate of Ephraim unto the corner gate, 400 cubits.
And he took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in the house of
the Lord and in the treasures of the king's house and hostages and returned to Samaria.
Now the rest of the acts of Jehoash, which he did in his might and how he fought with
Amaziah, king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings
of Israel? Jehoash slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria with the kings of
Israel and Jeroboam his son reigned in his stead and life goes on. But you see the story
here. Here's a guy who gets greedy. I mean he has a success. The Lord blesses him. He
beats the Edomites. He has a great victory. Everything's good. It's time to just be content,
to be happy, to be satisfied, to enjoy the blessings that God has given him. But instead
what does he do? He picks a fight with somebody for no reason, picks a fight with the northern
kingdom of Israel because he gets pompous and full of himself and arrogant and just
wants to greedily take more territory and just keep going and even fight against someone
that he's not supposed to be fighting against. And as a result he ends up having his own
capital wiped out. His own city Jerusalem gets destroyed. The wall, I mean look how
much of the wall gets destroyed. It says, you know, 400 cubits. So that's like 600 feet
of the wall gets broken down. There's a huge breach in the wall. You know the wall's supposed
to protect and guard. Now there's just a 600 foot wide opening in the thing, ripped open.
All the silver and gold, you know, the king of Israel takes all that and just completely
humiliates him, defeats him, takes a bunch of hostages, people are taken captive. I mean
don't you think he wishes that he would have just quit when he was ahead and just relaxed
and been happy with what he had? But again this is human nature, right? Leaders just,
they just want to get more power. They want to have more victories, more achievements,
more money for the rich, right? More wives for Rehoboam, more food for the glutton, you
know, more booze for the drunkard, more drugs for the junkie. This is human nature. If you
would go to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. We need to, you say, why are you preaching
about this? Because this is a tendency that exists in all of us to be greedy, to want
more than is due to us, to be immoderate and to be excessive and to just not be happy with
what we have and to just always push things too far. We need to know this about ourselves
and guard against this. Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall and make
sure that we're not tempted by these things because this is something that people struggle
with all throughout the word of God, all throughout history, all throughout the Bible. And then
you know the other rotten thing about Hitler too, not only does he just go against everything
he's been teaching for the last two decades and make this deal with Stalin and team up
with Stalin to defeat Poland, which goes against everything he's been saying, but then he turns
around after making the pact of steel with Stalin. What does he do? Then he double crosses
Stalin and invades Soviet Union, which is like, you know, what's up with that? I mean
he makes an agreement, he makes a deal, but he breaks his covenant with Stalin. Now he
should have never made a covenant with Stalin, but once you make a covenant you're supposed
to honor that. It's wicked to make a vow, to make a covenant, to make a treaty and then
break that agreement. You know, when you make that agreement, when you swear that oath,
you got to keep that. But then he just breaks his word. So it's like, you know, he's against
Stalin, now he's teaming up with Stalin, now he's turning on Stalin. You know, that's somebody
who cares more about just greedily taking more power and territory than about their
actual core values that they're supposed to be standing for. You know, so it's not like,
oh man, he really was just against communism and he was just a really just this altruistic
guy. No way, because look, look what he's doing. He's teaming up with Stalin because
he's just drunk on power and drunk on taking over more territory that he, not only does
he want to take territory that's legitimate for him, but now he wants to just invade countries
that aren't even part of Germany and just take over as much of the Eastern Europe as
he can just to just use for his own benefit. And so he just wanted to keep going, didn't
he? And just keep going and keep going and keep going and plunge the entire world into
this bloody conflict. And obviously I'm not saying that the other parties were good, okay.
Obviously there were lots of, we could point to, we could point to the wickedness of other
leaders like Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill and all of these murderous, evil leaders of
that time. But that's not the point. The point is that this is universal to human beings
getting in positions of power, getting greedy and being excessive and not knowing when to
stop and just be happy with what they have. Now, you know, thankfully when we make these
mistakes we're not going to, you know, kill 50 million people, okay, or, or, you know,
indirectly lead to the deaths of 50 to 70 million people in that bloody conflict. But,
you know, we can nonetheless go down the same road of just where we just can't get enough
money and we just can't get enough partying and we just can't get enough whatever, okay.
We need to be more moderate. Look at Luke chapter 12 verse 15. The Bible says,
He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth
not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. And he spake a parable unto them
saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. And he thought within himself
saying, What shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? You know,
here's what you should do, farm less. You know, it's like, or, you know, do some kind
of philanthropy or help people or something, you know, what am I going to do? I have so
much money, I have so much food, I don't even know where to put it all. What do I do? I
know what I'll do. Get a bigger barn. Build a second barn to just stockpile more and more.
There's only so much food that you can eat. There's only so much food you can put down
your throat, my friend. I mean, think about this, you know, I saw, I don't even know how
I saw this, but I think somebody posted to Facebook or something. I saw a news article
this week about an actress, Scarlett Johansson, suing Disney because she was in a movie recently
and instead of just releasing the movie just at the theater, they released it on the theater
and Disney Plus at the same time. So she's suing them saying, that's not fair. You're
supposed to do it in the theater alone. And then Disney Plus later, because she's like,
part of my paycheck is based on how much money is made at the theater. So, you know, I want
to be just at the theater. Obviously, you know, I mean, I don't think theaters are doing
very well right now. Okay, because of the whole COVID and the fact that there's just
so much junk to watch online for free, you don't have to pay to watch the junk that Hollywood's
putting out. It's all free now. So, you know, these greedy actors and actresses are whining
and complaining. So then Disney's response was, well, you've already been paid $20 million
just for this one movie. They said, you've already made 20 million. And what is, I mean,
that's a lot of money. And I mean, this woman has been in a bunch of movies and she already
got paid $20 million for this movie. And she's suing them, suing her employer or whatever,
I don't know, whatever that relationship is considered, suing this company. Like, how
dare you, you know, only pay me $20 million and then it didn't stay at the theater long
enough or something. I mean, can you imagine the greed? I mean, how much money does this
woman have? I mean, I'm assuming if she got paid 20 million just for this one movie, she's
probably got like $100 million or something or $50 million or $200 million. You couldn't
even spend that much money in your whole life. How do you even spend that much money? I mean,
think about it. Like, what, I mean, how much money would you have to spend every day? I
mean, think about this. If you're spending every day, let's say you're, let's, let's
do a little math. You guys want to do a little math? Say you're just spending like $1,000
every day, just 1,000 bucks every day. On Monday I spend 1,000, Tuesday I spend 1,000,
Wednesday I spend 1,000, Thursday I spend 1,000. That's a lot of money. I mean, for
me, like, I can't imagine, like, trying to figure out, it'd be stressful to me. Like,
how am I going to spend my $1,000 today? If somebody's like, you guys spend $1,000 every
day, I'd be like, ah! I mean, that's $365,000 a year. That's like, that's a lot of money
to spend. I mean, 1,000 bucks every day, right? Some of you are like, I think I could do
it, you know? It's because you're greedy, you covetous, materialistic person. You know,
to me, it sounds like a lot, 365,000 bucks, $1,000 every day, right? Think about this.
Okay, so just, just to kind of simplify the math a little bit, just to kind of simplify
the math, you know, that means, like, every three years you're spending, like, a million
bucks, right? So basically, every three years you're spending one million bucks, it would
take, like, 60 years just to spend the money from that one movie. Like, do you see what
I'm saying? Like, just one movie, and if you're not getting any interest or anything, it's
been, like, 60 years because you're spending $1,000 every single day. You know, I mean,
this is just how I think. I'm just thinking to myself, like, that's an incredible amount
of money. You know, and if, and if, let's say she has a hundred million dollars, which
she probably does. I didn't research her portfolio or whatever. You know, assuming she has, like,
a hundred million dollars or something. I mean, how long is it going to take to spend
that 300 years of spending $1,000 every single day? And it's like, meanwhile, you know, other
people are just kind of, like, struggling to get by and just, you know, they're just
kind of living paycheck to paycheck and people are tightening their belts and making sacrifices
and, you know, they took a pay cut here and, you know, they're just, they're thrilled if
they can just make, you know, $1,000, you know, a week or something. You know, they're
like, yeah, or 2,000 bucks a week, great, 2,000 bucks a week, right? She's making 20
million, like, how long did it take her to make this movie? I mean, how long does it
take for a Hollywood actor to make a movie? Let's just say it took her six months, right?
I mean, don't you think it probably took less than that? Who knows about these things? Any
Hollywood people out there today? I mean, it probably took, what, six months to make
the movie by the time she, you know, maybe prepared herself for the part, you know, and
because I'm sure these movies are real intelligent, it's some comic book movie. It's some Marvel
comic movie, so I don't think she had to really immerse herself in literature to really, like,
understand the part or something. She basically had to read a few comic books. Okay, so giving
her time to read the comic books, so she's got to read some comic books, you know, go
to the gym every day and, you know, eat a bunch of brown rice and vegetables and have
some personal trainer make her super skinny, get all muscle bound or whatever, so she can
be this skinny, muscular chick beating up dudes in a comic book movie. But by the time
she does all that, learns her lines, and then the filming of the movie probably takes two
months. What's that? So the, thank you. Man, I love technology. The movie was filmed in
87 days. So therefore, I think six months is, you know, probably accurate of just kind
of the whole process from her perspective. She's probably got to come back and do some
voiceover and whatever. Let's just say it took a year. Twenty million dollars? For a
year of your life? A year of your work? You know, most of us, that's probably how much
we'll make, like, we won't even make that much in our entire lives. I mean, think about
that. We'd make like a fraction of that. We'd make like a small fraction of that in our
entire life. She spends 87 days filming, little extra time reading comic books and working
out at the gym and starving herself. And it's just like all she can think about instead
of just thinking about the fact, and I, maybe you can Google this too since you're helping
me out. I thought I saw somewhere that she's like the highest paid actress in the world
right now or something? She has a hundred and sixty-five million dollars. That's her
net worth a hundred and sixty-five million dollars. So forget spending a thousand dollars
a day. She could spend like eight thousand dollars a day, right? She could spend eight
thousand dollars a day. It'll still take her sixty years to spend it all. Eight grand
every day. Think about how much money that is. Eight grand a day. It's just stupid. It's
like, ah, you're not paying me. You know what that shows me? It shows me, do you think she
gives a rip about the fans? Oh, you love Scarlett Johansson so much and you want her autograph
so much and you want to go meet her? She doesn't give a rip about you. She doesn't care about
you. She doesn't care about the fans. She's not saying like, oh wonderful, my fans can
now rot their brain on my stupid brainless movie on Disney Plus instead of having to
go to the theater. It's just like, where's my money? I want more money. Best paid actress
in Hollywood, that's not enough. A hundred and sixty-five million dollars, that's not
enough. She's literally Hitler, is what I'm saying. No, I'm just kidding. Just kidding.
All right, see now I'm getting excessive. See the tendency to go to excess? You just
saw it happen. But folks, I mean, I'm sorry but, you know, what a rotten person. What
a rotten person. Especially because, you know, think about the fact that, you know, I mean
I could go on and on but it's like all the junk of COVID, COVID's been kind of a pain
in a lot of people's neck over the last year and a half. Don't you think COVID has inconvenience
to a lot of people? You know, let alone all the people that got sick and died. But oh,
the inconvenience. But what about the fact that people got sick, they died and then plus
a lot of people were inconvenienced, it messed up their job or it messed up their schooling
or it messed up whatever their wedding plans, it messed up travel plans, it messed up the
mission strips, it messed up all this stuff, right? And it totally, so obviously yeah things
are still kind of messed up in certain industries or whatever, you know, and I don't feel bad
for Hollywood because I want Hollywood to fail. I want the theaters to all go out of
business and fail. But here's the thing about that though, like she's not even thinking
about any of that. All she's thinking about is, I got 165 million dollars but now I only
got 20 million for this movie. How dare you release this on Disney Plus? I want this to
be theater only. I want people to have to go down there and watch it. I don't want them
to watch it at home, they have to go down there. I mean, does anybody else think that
that's just bizarre? No! You're kidding! Is that way, is it true though? Are you just
throwing that out there or did you check, did you check the early life section? Well,
if her mother's Jewish then she's Jewish buddy, that's how rabbinic law works buddy. Every
single time. But here's the thing though, here's the thing, you know what, it's true
though, whenever I look up any kind of an actor or actress on Wikipedia, you go to the
early life section and it's like, oh, her grandfather is rabbi so-and-so and she's born
a Jewish family, you know, this and that. So, alright, thank you for letting me get
that off my chest. Thank you for that by the way. This sermon's very interactive tonight.
But you know, you just had to play that anti-Semite card, didn't you? You just had to throw that
in there. But the point is though, you know, we joke about Jews, you know, being greedy
like that but guess what, it is just human nature, it's not just Jews. You know, it's
all of us, okay. You know, some men's sins are open beforehand, going before the judgment,
others they follow after. So, you know, yeah, it's an example though of how this Hollywood
actor's just so greedy and so excessive and she probably thinks that she's just fighting
some justice, righteous cause because, you know, she's fighting for all actors, you know.
And it's the same thing, it's like when these, it's like U2 or something whining about people
pirating their music or something. You know, it's like these multi-millionaires and it's
just like, oh, you're pirating our music, oh, Napster, oh. But it's like they want to
just be these multi-millionaire, multi, it's just not enough, it's never enough. They want
to still be getting paid from some song they came out with 30 years ago, they just want
to be just making millions of dollars off it because they're greedy. It's because human
beings are all greedy by nature. This is part of the sin nature and, you know, it's easy
for us to get up and rag on these, you know, whores and whoremongers of Hollywood and their
greed and, you know, you can always just be attacking Hitler for the umpteenth time. But
let me tell you something, the real emphasis of the sermon tonight is not to just rag on
Scarlett Johansson and Hitler and Eli's gluttonous sons and Amaziah. You know, the real point
of the sermon is to understand that all of us, all of us have that sin nature that could
tend toward greed or excess in our lives. And so we all need to watch out for this.
And you know, these are extreme examples that we're talking about, but you know what, it's
easy for all of us to fall into this trap where we have something good going, we have
a good gig and, you know, things are going good and we receive something good and then
it's just like we just want to take it too far. We want to have too, you know, we find
honey instead of just praising God and just eating the right amount, it's just like no,
we just have to keep going and keep eating until we puke. And people are out there tonight
and you know what they're going to do tonight? They're going to drink until they literally
puke tonight. Somewhere in Tempe right now, someone is beginning a long night of drinking
that's going to end with them puking their guts out. You know that's true. Somebody's
walking into that bar on Mill Avenue right now and taking the first of many drinks and
eventually they will be puking. Why drink until you puke? Why eat until you puke? You
know, why? Because it's human nature to be greedy and excessive and so we as God's people,
we as Christians, we need to put off the old man, not walk in the flesh, we need to walk
in the spirit and take heed lest we fall and realize, you know what, there's a little
bit of Hitler in all of us. There's a little bit of Scarlett Johansson in all of us. There's
a little bit of King Amaziah in all of us. There's a little bit of Nebuchadnezzar in
all of us because we all have a sinful nature and we all need to understand that, you know,
God has given us blessings. He's given us food, drink, clothing, a roof over our head.
He's given you a wife. He's given you a husband. He's given you children. Don't get greedy.
Don't get greedy and get excessive. Just be happy with what you have. Be content and don't
go too far. Just say, you know what, this is enough for me. I'm happy. This is good.
This is enough. Not like, no, I got to have more. I got to keep going. And you say, well,
ambition's good. You know, that's the wrong kind of ambition. How much you can drink,
how much you can eat, how much you can party, how much money you can pile up that you don't
need, that you don't even have room for. You have to build another barn because you can't.
You know, it's like, oh man, the FDIC will only insure my bank account up to $100,000.
You know, what do I do? I know what I'll do. Open 10 more bank accounts. I'll open bank
accounts in the Cayman Islands. You know, it's just like, then I can just shelter it
all over there. Folks, a man's life consists of not in the abundance of things which he
possessed. If you want to get excessive about something, you want to go wild, you want to
go crazy, go wild serving God. Go crazy serving God. You know, if you want to have ambition,
how about getting ambitious about laying up treasures in heaven and not be like those
lost Gentile examples of people who go to this excess of riot, excess of partying, excess
of drinking, or the Jewish excess of money grabbing or whatever that we saw in the case
of Miss Johansen. You know, we need to be moderate in the pleasures of life, thankful
for every pleasure, but do it moderately. And don't sin. Because that's already, you're
over the line when you're partaking in sinful things. You know, no amount of fornication
is okay. No amount of adultery is okay. But you're allowed to have one wife. Marriage
is honorable and all. The bed is undefiled. But Hormag is an adulterer. God will just
be happy. It's enough. One wife, it's enough. You know, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, that's
enough. Right? Eating one serving, one helping, you know, it's enough. Don't go too far, don't
go too crazy. And the Bible says in this story, I'll pull down my barns and build greater.
There will I bestow all my fruits and goods. And I'll say to my soul, soul thou hast much
goods laid up for many years. You've got 165 million dollars. Take thine ease. Eat, drink,
and be merry. But God said unto him, thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required
of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up
treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. That's the lesson to the greedy. That
God can take everything away. He's like, oh, I only got 20 million dollars. You know, she's
just lucky to be alive right now because God could just go like. You know, she should be
thankful that she's even alive, that God is even giving her life and allowing her to breathe.
Because here's the thing, when she dies, she cannot take any of that 165 million with her.
She's not going to be able to take any of the money with her. You know, and so if she
doesn't get saved, if she doesn't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, her whole
life is a waste anyway. And money doesn't buy you anything after you're dead. And so
we don't want to fall into the same trap of being like unto the heathen and laying up
treasures and being obsessed with these things. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for these examples in the word, Lord, and I pray that every single
person here would watch out for this, Lord, and would catch themselves being excessive
and going overboard and that they would catch themselves getting greedy and taking too much,
Lord. Help us to take what is due unto us. Help us to take a portion like you gave the
children in the wilderness, a portion of manna, you know, one omer for every man. Help
us to just take that amount that you've allotted and not go out and try to gather extra manna
and load up and gorge on too much of a good thing, Lord. Help us not to be excessive and
not to be greedy, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Amen. Take your hymnals, please, and we'll turn to number 410. Faith is the victory,
hymn number 410.
Camp Along the Hills of Light, ye Christian soldiers rise, hymn number 410. Sing it out
on this first verse together now.
And camp along the hills of light, ye Christian soldiers rise,
and press the battle air, let life shall bail the rolling skies.
Against the cold air, gales we blow, let all our strength be heard.
Faith is the victory, we know, that overcomes the world.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
His banner over us is love, our sword the word of God.
We tread the road, the saints of all, we shout so triumph draw.
By faith they like a world with friends, but don't for every feel.
The faith by which they conquered death is still our shining shield.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
On every hand the foe we find, drawn up in dread array.
Let tensile needs be left behind, and onward to the fray.
Salvation's helmet on each hand, which truth all gird about.
The earth shall tremble, leave us dread, and echo with our shout.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
To him that overcomes the world, white rain we shall begin.
Before the angels he shall know, his name confess in heaven.
Then onward from the hills of light, our hearts will love a flame.
We'll relinquish all the hosts of night, in Jesus' conquering name.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
You are dismissed.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
Faith is the victory, faith is the victory,
O glorious victory, that overcomes the world.
Thank you.