in the Bible, dear God, and give us ears that we may hear what you would have to say to us tonight, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now, in Malachi chapter 3, we're picking up exactly where chapter 2 left off. Look at chapter 2, verse number 17, the Bible reads,
Ye have wearied the Lord with your words, yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him?
When you say, Everyone that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them. Or, Where is the God of judgment?
Now turn, if you would, to John chapter 2. In Malachi 3, beginning in verse number 1 there, we see prophecies of the first advent, or the first coming of Jesus Christ to this earth.
And we see in verse number 1, I'll read it to you while you're turning to John chapter number 2, the Bible says, Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me.
Now, who's that talking about? We know that's John the Baptist from Mark chapter 1 and other places, and so we see that John the Baptist is coming, that's coming before me, he says.
Okay. Now, I know I had you turn to John 2, but are you still in Malachi 3? Do you still have a finger there?
Look down, if you would, at chapter number 2, verse 17. I have to show you this before we move on, forgive me.
But it says in verse number 17, You've wearied who with your words? It says you've wearied the Lord.
Now that Lord there is in all capitals, okay? You see it's capital L, and then a capital O, capital R, capital D.
Now, this word denotes the name of God. It's not just the word Lord meaning a master, like there are many lords, there are many bosses, so to speak.
But there's only one that's the Lord. That's a name of God, believe it or not. God's name of Jehovah is rendered into the New Testament.
You say, well, you know, are you going back to the Hebrew or something? Look, you don't have to go back to the Hebrew to understand these things.
If you look at a quote from the Old Testament where the word Jehovah is used, it's translated in the New Testament as Lord.
And even in the Old Testament you'll see it used interchangeably. Lord, capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D is the Hebrew word Jehovah.
Okay? Now, he says in verse number one, Behold, I will send my messenger and he shall prepare the way before me.
So who is it that's coming? Jehovah himself, God was manifest in the flesh, the Bible says.
And so yet another proof there that Jesus Christ is God.
Now look, if you would, down at John chapter two and look, if you would, at verse number 13.
The Bible says, And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting.
And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers' money and overthrew the tables and said unto them that sold doves,
Take these things hence, make not my Father's house and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Now look what we saw in Malachi 3.1, now go back to Malachi 3.1, it says, The Lord whom ye seek shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant whom ye delighted.
Behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of God. That was fulfilled, of course, when Jesus Christ suddenly came to the temple and threw out those that were perverting the house of God.
Now when Jesus came in, we saw that he made a scourge of small cords. We see that what he was doing was very premeditated. You must picture him sitting outside the temple fashioning and making a scourge out of cords.
I mean he sat there and took the leather and the small cords and he wove them into some kind of a whip. That's what a scourge is. It's a whip for the purpose of beating a person or an animal.
That's what a scourge means. You remember later on, Jesus himself will be scourged. But Jesus here makes a scourge, a whip that's for beating people or animals.
And he takes that scourge, he comes into the temple and he begins to chase people out of the temple. He begins to drive them out of the temple, which means that he's cracking the whip at them.
Maybe he even hit a few of them, I don't know. But he dragged them out of the temple. He must have been doing something serious enough to where they ran out of the temple scared of Jesus with a whip in his hand.
Then he took the money of the money changers that were in the temple. These are people who were pretty much like today's banker would be. The bankers of our day, the money changers.
And he took their money, he took the jar of money and the Bible says he dumped it out on the ground and began to take tables and flip them over.
I mean that means he put his hand under the table, grabbed it and threw it over and it threw aside all their garbage. He began to tear this place apart.
Now why did he do it? Well the answer is found in John 2.17 where it says,
The disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Boy it made him so angry. It just ate him up to see somebody using the house of God for financial gain.
Now the whole theme of the book of Malachi, you say what does that have to do with the book of Malachi?
Well we saw in chapter 1 of Malachi the horrible spiritual condition of the nation of Judah.
But then in chapter 2 we saw the blame for that condition was being placed on the spiritual leadership, the Levitical priesthood who had totally departed out of the way.
They caused many to stumble at the law God said. They corrupted the covenant of Levi.
They were not teaching the Bible. They were not preaching the truth. They were lying and I believe that they were financially motivated based on verse number 1 in chapter 3.
I believe that they were financially motivated. You have to understand that this prophecy was not very far removed from the actual event itself.
You see Malachi was the last book of the Old Testament to be written and of course when Jesus came on the scene it's only just a few hundred years later.
And so probably the same kinds of things were going on, the same thing that's going on today. People using the house of God for financial gain.
I got something stuck on my windshield yesterday. I was at work and I pulled in to do a service call and I came back out to my car and there was something on my windshield.
It was some kind of a religious leaflet or whatever you want to call it.
And I began to look through it and I saw the pictures on the back and you would not believe the pictures of this church.
It looked like some kind of a Las Vegas show. I mean the pastor looked like Elvis was back from the dead and I'm not kidding at all.
I mean this pastor, I almost thought it was Elvis. This guy is the next Elvis. Look out Elvis.
And he had the bouffant Elvis hairdo and he's standing up there in his fancy suit and his wife was wearing a dress that was shimmering and shining.
And the choir was behind these little podiums that had some kind of initials on them and glitter and glam.
I mean it looked like a Las Vegas showcase.
You see whenever anybody, just think about this statement for a second. Remember this statement that I told you this today.
Whenever anybody is teaching false doctrine from the pulpit, money is the motivation.
Whenever anybody is not preaching right, it's because of money. You say, proof it from the Bible.
Well the Bible says in Titus chapter 1, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake.
Lucre meaning money. Teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake.
I've watched churches deteriorate my friend. The churches that I grew up in, I've watched them go down the tubes.
I can tell you the pattern that they all went through.
And they go through this exact same pattern of deterioration, of liberaling out if you will.
And everybody leaves and then you find out that all along the pastor was dipping into the offerings, he was dipping into the missions, he was dipping into all the money.
Why? Because the love of money is the root of all evil.
And people are teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake.
And so you see pastors driving their fancy car like our buddy down the parking lot here, the church right down the street here, with the Jaguar.
The pastor drives a Jaguar convertible and the license plate says, God's man.
Okay, this is the religion of 2007.
This is the money worshiping religion that we have.
Where the pastor who's following a man who doesn't have a place to lay his head is what Jesus said while he was on this earth.
He's following a man who didn't even, he said the foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has not where to lay his head.
But his followers sure do well, don't they?
With their Lexus and their Jaguars and their fancy cars and their fancy suits and all their fancy things.
And I'm going to tell you why.
Because they are worshiping the God of money.
And we'll find out everything else about them down the road.
But we see here Jesus rebuking that once again.
We saw it in chapter 2, but he's rebuking it once again saying, don't think you're going to get away with it forever.
Don't say, where is the God of judgment?
And you see, I believe personally that the spiritual climate was similar at the first coming of Jesus Christ as it will be at the second coming.
I think there are some definite parallels that you could draw there.
Just as people said before Jesus' first coming, they said, hey, where is the God of judgment?
Where is he?
And then now we're seeing people saying the same thing according to 2 Peter chapter 3.
Where is the promise of his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they've always been.
And so here we see Jesus Christ's prophecy coming into the temple, suddenly turning over the tables,
upsetting the religious system, preaching the truth, exposing the lying Pharisees for what they were.
He talked about how they devoured widows' houses and for pretense made long prayer and that they received the greater damnation.
He talked about how they loved to wear long flowing robes like the Catholic perverts of our day.
He talked about how they liked to make broad their phylacteries and how they loved the uppermost rooms at the feasts and the synagogues.
They were high rollers is what they were.
That's what it means.
The Pharisees were high rollers.
And I'll tell you something, the man of God ought not be a high roller, period.
No Christian should be some kind of a high roller who just throws money around and drives fancy cars and does all this stuff.
I know that's not popular, but that's the truth.
We ought not be some kind of a high roller.
Look, we could all go out and make a whole lot more money than we make right now if we want to worship it and make it our God.
But we don't want to.
Our treasure is up in heaven, you know, if we're living for God.
And I'm not to say that you ought to be poor and live in poverty and things like that,
but at the same time, you know, quit pursuing money with your life.
I mean, you ought to make enough money to pay the bills and support your family and, you know, give your family nice things, but come on.
You're not going to be the rich man of this world.
Jesus said, you know, what you ought to do, rich young ruler, is sell all that you have and follow me.
Now you say, why did Jesus tell the rich young ruler to sell all that he had?
You remember that story in the book of Mark where he told him, sell all you have and give to the poor and take up your cross and follow me.
I believe that he was telling him to sell all that he had because he knew that it's going to be very difficult for him to follow Jesus with all that money and with all those nice things.
That's why.
I think he was just doing him a favor by telling him, just sell all you have because if you really want to be my disciple,
it's going to be extremely hard for you to have that kind of money.
Because the Bible says he had great possessions.
I mean, he was very wealthy.
It's going to be tough for you, son, to follow me, to follow somebody who doesn't even have a place to lay his head with that kind of money.
You better just lose the money.
You better just lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset you and run with patience the race that's set before you.
I believe that's why he told him that he ought to sell his money if he wanted to be perfect.
Not because it's wrong to have money, but because there's no way he's going to be following and serving Jesus like he should with that kind of money.
Period.
But look at verse number 2, the Bible says,
But who may abide the day of his coming?
We're in Malachi 3 again.
Who may abide the day of his coming?
And who shall stand when he appeareth?
For he is like a refiner's fire and like folders' soap.
And again, we're talking about the first coming here of Jesus Christ.
And you know, Jesus Christ, when he came and did that, did anyone stop him from flipping over those tables?
Did anyone stop him from dumping out the money?
Did anyone stop him?
How many times the Bible says he put the Pharisees to silence?
He put the Sadducees to silence.
No man answered him a word.
No man durst ask him any question from that day forward.
You remember that?
We're not going to ask him a question because we end up looking like fools, they said.
And so no one could stand in his presence.
No one could abide the day of his coming.
Because why?
He's like a refiner's fire.
You say, what is Jesus like?
Well, he's like a refiner's fire and like folders' soap.
See, what God's describing to us here is not a fire that consumes and destroys and burns.
But we're talking about in this, and obviously our God is a consuming fire,
but again, we're talking about the first coming of Jesus Christ, the first Advent.
The second coming of Jesus Christ, he's really going to burn and destroy and consume.
But Jesus said, let's see,
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever believe in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.
See, that was the purpose of his first coming to this earth.
The second coming is going to be coming in judgment.
There's a difference there.
But why?
Jesus Christ had a way of being a cleaning agent.
That's what the fire, the refiner's fire, is not a fire that's destroying or consuming,
but it's a fire that's purging.
Just like soap will clean things up and get the dirt out, fire has the same effect.
Now, if you remember in the Old Testament,
when the children of Israel were told to wash their vessels
and wash their plates and their forks and their cutlery and their beds and everything,
they were told that if it was made out of wood, to scrub it with water and wash it in running water.
If it was made out of pottery, to scrub it with water and so forth.
But then if it was something that could abide the fire like metal,
they were told to clean their dishes and clean things by passing them through the fire.
And if you pass them through the fire, it'll kill all the germs.
And so it's a good way to clean things.
But it's kind of like when you use your barbecue at home,
and when you're done barbecuing, you know what I always do?
I just crank it up to full blast.
When I'm done, once I take all the food...
No, that's not my barbecue method, okay?
Just crank it up, burn it all.
But I'm saying after I'm done, I crank it up
and just torque, get it really, really hot,
because then that'll just incinerate all the food that's in there
so I don't get ants and everything, and that cleans it up.
And then when you come to use the barbecue the next time,
you just kind of brush off the ashes and you're good to go.
And so here we see Jesus Christ as a purifier.
He's like soap in that he wants to clean you up.
He cleaned up the temple, okay?
He was trying to clean people up.
He's trying to clean up your life, huh?
He wants to clean up your movie library,
probably by cleaning it out.
He wants to clean up your music library.
He wants to clean up your wardrobe.
He wants to clean up your life
because God is not the God of dirt and filth and impurity.
God is a pure, clean God who says,
Be ye holy as I am holy.
Ask yourself this question.
Would you describe your house by this word, clean?
Now, I'm not just talking about keeping it physically clean,
although that is important as well.
You know, you ought to be clean and sanitary.
Maybe that's why God spent chapter after chapter
telling you in the book of Leviticus,
you say, Oh, we're not under the law.
Well, you know what? I'm not under the law,
but I still think God's a lot smarter than I am
about keeping things clean and about sanitation
and being sanitary.
And so I don't want to live in filth.
And so as clean as that is,
but would you describe it as a spiritually clean place?
Would you describe your car as clean?
Is it spiritually clean?
Or is there some kind of a spiritual dirt in it
that needs to be spiritually cleaned out?
And so Jesus Christ has this effect on your life.
He will clean up your life.
Jesus said, Every branch that abideth in me,
you know, bringeth forth fruit.
And he says, Every branch in me that bringeth forth fruit,
he said, My Father is going to purge it
that it will bring forth more fruit.
You see, in order for you to bring forth fruit
and to bring forth maximum fruit in your life,
you're going to have to be purged of some of the sins in your life
that are holding you back from serving God like you should.
You see, if you want to be greatly used
in the soul winning marathon this week,
or any other week out soul winning,
if you want to win maximum people to Christ,
you must allow God to purge you.
Now, don't wait to get purged before you go soul winning
because the way to get purged is by bringing forth fruit
and then God will purge you.
But the more time you spend reading the Bible,
the Word of God, and the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God and the Word was God,
the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
This book, Jesus Christ in the Flesh,
these words, which is the Word of God,
which is what the Word became flesh, became Jesus,
it's hard to separate the two, isn't it?
It's the same thing.
Well, understand the fact that the more you spend,
reading the Bible is like taking a spiritual shower.
Let me put it to you that way.
Some of you haven't showered spiritually in days
and that's why your life stinks.
That's why your library stinks.
That's why your house and your car stink.
Can you imagine not taking a shower for a week
and yet imagine not reading the Bible for a week?
You're going to spiritually stink to high heaven.
I spent some time over in Germany
and I can testify to you from first-hand experience
that once a week, showering once a week is not enough,
because I was around people and lived with people
that showered once a week,
and I'll tell you right now, it's not enough.
I mean, it's not even close to being enough, all right?
And so you ought to shower daily, okay?
Maybe every other day, okay, you know?
You live in Phoenix, Arizona, okay?
You need to shower often.
But imagine how long we go
without getting our spiritual cleaning.
Huh?
I mean, we can go days,
and the sin and the filth begins to rot on us
and we begin to fester and stink,
and our life stinks,
and our soul and spirit is going to stink
with all the stench of sin
from not being cleaned by Jesus,
cleaned by the soap of God's Word,
purged by the fire of God's Word.
And so what's your goal in reading the Bible,
in drawing nigh to God,
in spending fellowship with Jesus?
Part of it is that He'll clean you up,
and that's part of why He came, was to clean things up.
And the Bible says,
He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,
verse number three,
and He shall purify the sons of Levi
and purge them as gold and silver,
that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness.
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be pleasant unto the Lord,
as in the days of old and as in former years.
You see, when you offer something to God,
let's say you bring a financial offering
and you put some money in the offering plate.
You've already tithed and you throw in a few bucks extra
because you want to show your love to God,
you want to give Him an offering.
Well, you see, God's not necessarily pleased with somebody
just because they give Him an offering.
You see, God would rather have you clean up your life
than for you to give an offering.
But then once your life is cleaned up,
He says in verse four,
Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be pleasant unto the Lord.
You see, it's not pleasant for God
for somebody to bring an offering with a wicked heart.
That's what the Bible says in the book of Proverbs.
I can't quote the verse to you verbatim,
but the Bible talks about
somebody bringing an offering to God with a wicked heart.
The Bible talks about it in the Sermon on the Mount
in Matthew chapter five.
Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar
and there remember'st that thy brother hath ought against thee,
leave there thy gift before the altar and go thy way.
First be reconciled to thy brother
and then come and offer thy gift.
You see, God says,
I'm not just some kind of a money hungry God
that's just sitting here begging you
and waiting for you to put all your money in the plate
or offer me all your resources.
He says,
I'm not even pleased with the offering
of somebody who has a wicked heart.
You can have a wicked heart
and give $10,000 to this church.
God will not be pleased.
In fact, it'll make God sick, I believe,
because that's the way God felt about
some of the other things that they were doing for him.
If you remember in the last chapter,
when we saw God talk about spreading dung in people's faces,
that's how he felt about their church service,
which was supposedly to bring honor and glory to him,
and yet God said to me, it's dung.
And so look at God's respect for Cain's offering.
He was not pleased.
Look at the offering that Saul made
when he disobeyed God
in regard to waiting for Samuel to do the offering.
God was not pleased.
You see, God wants you to first
quit hurting and harming your fellow man,
first get your heart pure and clean in the sight of God,
and then he's going to be pleased with your offering.
Remember in 2 Corinthians,
you don't have to turn to 2 Corinthians 8 and 9,
where it talks about the church at Corinth
giving to the apostle Paul,
supporting him as a missionary, if you will,
it says first they gave of their own selves.
First they offered themselves to God.
Then they gave a financial offering.
And so don't get so hung up everything's about money.
Clean up your life, clean up your act,
let God clean you up,
and then if you want to give a financial offering to God,
boy, God will be pleased with that.
But the Bible says in verse number 5,
And I will come near to you in judgment,
and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers.
Now what do you think a sorcerer is?
I've studied this in the Bible,
I've really gone in depth and looked at it every time,
just trying to understand the word sorcery.
And I've thought about the word,
and obviously it's related to witchcraft,
the word sorcery,
but I believe it goes further than that.
Personally, and I'm not the expert on this,
and I'm not maybe the authority on the word sorcerer,
but from what I can understand,
it's somebody who's using witchcraft to control someone else,
or to use someone else.
That's the way that I've understood the word to me,
but it's some kind of a devilish witchcraft.
And witchcraft usually involves controlling other people.
You see, one of the primary forms of witchcraft
is through the use of drugs.
I don't know if you know that.
But whenever you look at satanic practices,
whenever you look at satanism and the occult,
there are always two things that are very much a part of it.
Number one is music, and number two is drugs.
Every false religion in this world,
and I'm talking about pagan occult type religions,
they rely on two methods to commune with the spirit world,
if you will,
which we know to be devils and demons
that they're communicating with,
and they use music and drugs.
Music and drugs.
I remember when I was in college,
we were studying cultural geography all over the world,
and we learned about the, what are they called,
the Hmong people.
It's the people that live in Southeast Asia.
There's some in Laos, some in Vietnam,
some in Cambodia,
and there was a great big Hmong population in Sacramento,
and their religion involved a man, you know,
killing a pig and spraying pig blood all over the place,
and then he had like a wooden horse,
like a rocking horse like a child has, okay?
And he would dump pig blood all over,
and he'd ride this wooden rocking horse
and smoke dope blindfolded,
and that's how he communicated with the spirit world.
And I didn't make that up, I promise you.
That's what they showed us in college.
And they're showing it to us like
this is a valid religion or something.
And he literally was on a wooden rocking horse,
because he's high on drugs,
and he's blindfolded,
and there's this pig writhing on the other side of the room,
blood gushing all over the floor.
Well, isn't that wonderful?
You know what, but I think we should respect
all religions of the world, don't you?
I mean, and you know what, in India,
you say, oh, that's just a small group of people.
Well, you know, India, is that a small group of people?
That's the second most populated country in the world,
second only to China.
China and India's population are almost exactly the same.
India may have even passed up China by now, to be honest.
No one knows for sure,
because no one knows for sure
exactly how many people live in China.
But India, most people believe,
has passed up China in population,
because India has a fertility rate of four children per woman,
and China has a fertility rate of one child per woman,
because the law only allows them
to have one child in most areas.
And so in India, 1.2 billion people strong,
one-fifth or so of the entire world's population.
The religion of Hinduism is the most bizarre,
satanic, strange religion in the world.
They have over a thousand gods.
You say, over a thousand gods?
That's unbelievable.
No, it's not.
The Bible says that there are
10,000 times 10,000 angels and thousands of thousands,
and we know that 10,000 times 10,000 is 100 million, okay?
100 million plus thousands of thousands,
so we have an excess of 100 million angels.
One-third of them went with the devil,
which means that there are at least 34 million angels,
fallen angels that are devils in this world.
34 million demons and devils live in this world minimum,
maybe more than that,
because there's 10,000 times 1,000, 1,000, 1,000,
one-third of them follow Satan and do Satan's bidding.
And so what?
They're worshipping a thousand of them over in India,
because you must understand that every false god is a devil.
The Bible says that when the Gentiles,
in 2 Corinthians chapter whatever,
where it says...
Sorry about that.
I don't know what chapter.
In 2 Corinthians chapter...
It's stated that when the Gentiles offer sacrifices to idols,
they don't offer them to idols.
It says they're really offering them to devils,
whether they know it or not.
And I don't know what chapter that's in.
But anyway...
And so we know that the thousand gods that they worship in India
are devils and demons, of course.
Are they real?
Of course they're real.
Every time the word God, by the way,
is a lower case G in your King James Bible,
it's referring to a devil or a demon.
Okay.
And so, you know, the gods of the heathen,
the gods of the people, of the countries, of the Hittites,
and so forth, they're devils.
And one of them, of course, the most famous god in India,
has four arms, he's tall,
his head and shoulders above a human being,
has four arms, one of them holding a severed head.
And who's ever heard of the video game Mortal Kombat?
You know the video game Mortal Kombat?
You know, I used to play it as a teenager,
in my worldly, sinful days.
I played Mortal Kombat,
and when you beat everybody in Mortal Kombat,
then you fight the last two bosses.
The second to last boss is named Goro,
and he's the exact replica of that Indian evil heathen god,
where he has the four arms and the ponytail,
and it's an exact replica.
Well, I wonder, these game manufacturers
are really godly, righteous people, aren't they?
I mean, where did they get that?
It was amazing to me.
I remember I used to play Mortal Kombat,
and then I learned about it in college, Hinduism,
and I saw that picture, I said,
that's familiar, I remember beating that guy up, you know?
I remember scoring all the points and beating this guy,
and here he is, he's one of the deities in India,
demonic religion, sorcery.
It very much involves drug use.
It very much involves, why?
Because people who are high on drugs
experience all these sensations,
and they chalk it up as a religious experience.
Still don't believe me?
How about the Native Americans?
No, they don't have anything to do with drugs, do they?
Good night.
All they're doing, their whole religion
is based on smoking a peace pipe, peyote.
The name of the Navajo religion,
the name of the religion is called peyote,
and all LSD is is just a synthetic version
of what peyote is, naturally.
It's a hallucinogenic drug.
And I could go on and on about that,
I'm not going to go into that.
But you know, sorcery, drug use
is something that people use to control other people.
And I'm trying to hurry for sake of time,
but you know, the drug dealer,
everybody knows that the drug dealer on the street,
he's controlling other people,
because they're dependent upon him to get their drug supply.
Okay, women prostitute their bodies, why?
Because they have to get drugs,
and the only way they can get drugs
is to prostitute their body
and to sell their body to get drugs.
That's sorcery, that's wickedness, that's ungodly.
And so we see drug use is a great way
that people control other people.
A demonic witchcraft to control people.
How about this?
I'm just talking about the subject of sorcery.
What about, what's that called, hypnosis?
Hypnosis is nothing more than sorcery.
Nothing more than sorcery and Satanism.
Controlling someone else, putting someone in a condition,
putting someone in a trance,
where whatever you say they'll do.
That's what hypnosis is.
Hypnosis, putting someone in a trance,
where whatever you say, they do it without thinking.
Nothing could be more satanic and ungodly
than being controlled by an outside force.
The spirit of the prophets is the subject of the prophets,
and anybody who's being controlled by an outside spirit
or force or human being controlling them supremely,
that is sorcery and Satanism, and it's wrong.
Drugs are used to control.
And by the way, the pharmaceutical company
is a sorcerer when he sells you Ritalin,
when he sells you Ambien,
and when he sells you these other mind-altering drugs
that you become dependent upon,
and he's into you for money,
and he makes you rely on him like a god-man,
and what would you ever do without him,
if I didn't know what I'd do, if I couldn't afford it,
so let's all have Hillary Clinton pay us all health care
so that she can be our grand sorceress,
providing all our drugs for us, all our dope for us.
Good night.
Get off the dope in your life, please.
I mean, I'm telling you,
and you know what, there is legitimate medicine.
We were talking before the service
about strep throat infections
and bronchial infections.
Sometimes you can't get rid of them.
They're so mean, strained these days,
you've got to take antibiotics,
and that's about the only time I go to the doctor
is to get antibiotics, and that's very rare.
I've been to the doctor over three years.
You say, are you against going to the doctor?
No, I'm not against going to the doctor,
but I'm against the doctor,
and I think he's a pervert and a drug dealer in most cases.
I'm not saying every doctor is,
and there are good doctors out there,
and if I had to go to the doctor tomorrow,
I'd try to find the best one that I could,
but the pharmaceutical industry as a whole
is making merchandise of you,
selling you mind-altering drugs
like muscle relaxers and antidepressants
and Ritalin and uppers and downers and pills,
and it's wrong, and you ought not let anybody.
Paul said, all things are lawful for me,
but I will not be brought under the power of any.
See, I don't want to be brought on the power
of the sorcerers of this world.
I don't want to be brought under the power
of the dope dealer on the street.
I don't want to be brought under the power
of some doctor that's got me on mind-altering medication
or psychiatric drugs.
I don't want to be brought under the power
of the television controlling my mind
and warping my ideas about right and wrong,
about reality and fiction.
I don't want to be brought under the power
of any of the sorcerers of this world.
You see, much of television is sorcery.
Much of the rock music is sorcery.
You don't believe me?
What about the famous Led Zeppelin song,
Doesn't that sound wonderful?
Remember these lyrics?
Let the music be your master.
Think about that.
They're not even making any secret
that they're satanic and filled with the devil.
Let the music be your master.
I have one master, Jesus Christ,
one Father, Jesus Christ,
one master, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism.
I will not be brought under the power of any.
Any, any, any.
And you know what?
This world wants to control your life.
They want to control your mind.
They want to control your actions.
They want to control your money.
The government wants to control your money.
They want to control your health care.
They want to control what you do,
what you don't do.
They want to control what you think
and what you don't think.
The best way to not have anybody control you,
turn off the TV,
turn off the radio,
throw away the drugs,
flush them down the toilet.
Benny Hinn was right.
Throw them at the stage or whatever.
And just get off all that garbage
and then, no, he's not right.
I'm just kidding.
But anyway, and just, you know what?
Just spend some time with God
and the Son shall make you free.
And if the Son shall make you free,
then you'll be free indeed.
That's what the Bible says.
And so just a word on sorcery.
Again, that's not,
that's just my definition that I've studied the word
and that's what I came up with.
I studied its origins and everything like that.
But we know that it's talking about Satanism and witchcraft
and we know that Harry Potter is satanic and witchcraft
and we know that all these Chronicles of Narnia
is satanic out of hell.
The man C.S. Lewis who made the movie Chronicles of Narnia
who wrote the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
was part of a secret society
with another man, J.R.R. Tolkien
who wrote the book The Lord of the Rings.
They were also both devout Roman Catholics.
Did you know that J.R.R. Tolkien
who made the satanic weirdo freako movie
The Lord of the Rings,
The Hobbit book series is also a devout Roman Catholic
and that his best friend's name was C.S. Lewis
and they're both devout Roman Catholics
and they're both filled with the devil?
So you've got to be careful what your children
are being influenced by
and you've got to be careful what you're being influenced by.
A lot of it is Satanism and the occult
and it's wrong.
Sorcerers, against the adulterers,
and against false swearers.
We talked about that last week
when God was preaching against divorce
in Malachi chapter 2
when you swear an oath to God
till death do us part
you're supposed to keep that oath.
Against those that oppress the hireling and his wages
ripping people off
trying to see how cheap you can get people to work for you
is a sin against God.
You ought not go through business
and go through life if you have employees
trying to see how cheap you can get people to work for you
and bragging about how little you can pay somebody.
You ought to pay somebody what they're worth
because the Bible says the laborer is worthy of his hire
the laborer is worthy of his reward
you ought not pay people slave wages
and slave labor rates
you ought to pay people what they're worth.
And you know what, if you're being paid slave wages
you ought not cry about it though
this is a command to the person who's paying the bills
and you ought to just trust God to take care of that
and you ought to work hard and serve your job
and rely on God to take care of you.
But it says people that oppress the hireling and his wages
the widow and the fatherless
and the turn aside of the stranger from his right
and fear not me saith the Lord of hosts
for I am the Lord, I change not
therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed.
I'm so glad that God doesn't change
we live in this ever-changing world
churches definitely change
churches that I grew up in that have changed
and you know what the funny thing is
if you ever ask any pastor who has dramatically changed
he'll say he didn't change
you know no one thinks that they're changing
you talk to a pastor who used to be a red hot fundamentalist
used to be straight down the line
now he's just as liberal as hell
but if you ask him man he hasn't changed at all
he's still the same
now his Bible sure changed
his music sure changed
the plan of salvation sure changed
one of my relatives was going to a church
they said oh we got a brand new soul winning program
brand new soul winning program come out for this
she comes out for it
and turns out
they're saying we're doing away with the Romans road of salvation
you know and
you know not that the Romans road is the only way to
you know I don't even use the Romans road exactly
I mean I have my own variation you know
I use my own verses from the Bible
but the Romans road is a great way to win somebody to Christ
you know Romans 3.23
Romans
let's see it starts out Romans 3.10, Romans 3.23
Romans 5.12, Romans 6.23
Romans 5.8, Romans 10.9, Romans 10.13
it's pretty much the classic Romans road
hey great that's a great way to win somebody to Christ
he said oh we're getting rid of that we got this brand new soul winning plan
and it comes out and it's like an acronym for the word faith
like f-a-i-t-h
and faith is you know
I don't remember what it stands for thank God
but I just remember the t stands for turn
where you turn from all your sins
okay for salvation
remember Jonah 3.10
remember Jonah were you here on Sunday morning
Jonah 3.10
and God saw their works
that they turned from their evil way
so turning from your evil way is
works
and they're doing this
and so then she looks at the book
and says you know this doesn't seem right
I don't want to and she was trying to learn it
but
just the Holy Spirit was fighting her all the way
you know and she's looking at this saying this doesn't seem right
well all of a sudden she gets to a part in the book
where it says how Jesus is God's one and only son
and she's thinking to herself
that's not true you know I mean
behold what manner of love the father bestowed upon us
that we should be called the sons of God
beloved now are we the sons of God
and she looked at that and said that's straight out of the NIV
John 3.16 and the NIV says
for God to love the world that he gave his one and only son
as opposed to the King James where it says
he gave his only begotten son
and she took it to the pastor and said
this is garbage what is this
and of course he rebuked her and ripped on her
and then she looked at the back of the book
and it all became apparent
because she looked at the back of the book and had a little fine print
at the bottom of where it came from
and it came from the Southern Baptist Convention
you know what I mean
yeah we know they've been teaching lordship salvation
for like what how many decades now
they've been teaching that you have to make Jesus
the Lord of your life to be saved
and that you have to put him in control
put him behind the driver's seat of your life
you know Jesus is not
completely behind the driver's seat
of anyone's life in the whole world
and that lordship salvation
is just a veiled form of work salvation
and you know
as soon as she saw that Southern Baptist Convention
she said okay
now I see why this is garbage
and then she noticed that also
the scripture quotations were from
the New King James Version
that's why the gospel was changed
that's why it was garbage
and she quit the church and is never going back
thank God
for somebody who realizes
that if the church is using the wrong Bible
you run screaming out the door
if Faithful Word Baptist Church ever uses a different Bible
run out screaming so fast
don't even wait, jump out the window
don't even wait for the door to open
throw it, throw aside anybody who's in your way
so you can run out screaming mad
and do me one favor would you
if Faithful Word Baptist Church ever uses the wrong Bible
and changes the plan of salvation
do me one favor would you
tell every single person in this church
why you're leaving
I get so sick of churches changing
and people cower away in the shadows
I'm going to tell you something
I've left churches over false doctrine before
well really just one
I left a church over false doctrine one time
and I'll tell you something
I went out with a bang
I left a church over false doctrine
and you know what
if this church ever changes
I hope you'll have enough sense
and enough guts to tell every single person
and say you know what
I'm leaving because they're not using the King James anymore
and if you're right with God
you'll leave too
what kind of a world do we live in
what are we going to separate over
if we don't separate over
what Bible we're using
is more important
what are we going to separate over
it's funny how people separate over music
and clothing
those things are important
they'll separate over this little thing
they'll separate over this and that and the other
but then they won't separate over the plan of salvation
or what Bible you're using
those are kind of
the two most important things in the whole world
and so I can't understand
that for one second
what in the world does that have to do with Malachi
I don't know but
oh yeah God doesn't change
these church you know
Faithful Word Baptist Church may change someday
but God won't change
and I hope you have enough sense to where this is your God
and this is who you're following
and you're not just loyal to an institution
Faithful Word Baptist Church
now you know as God is my witness
as long as I'm here
good night it's going to be over my dead body
and I prayed to God
I said God if I ever begin to become a liberal
and I prayed that to God many times
I'd rather die
than be one of these liberal phonies
teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake
and so I'm telling you
churches may change
people will change, your heroes
will change
God doesn't change, God says
looking unto Jesus because I am the Lord
I change not
Jesus Christ the same
yesterday and today and forever
everybody changing around me it seems like
I'm not going to change
the Bible will not change
my music's not going to change
my preaching's not going to change
my soul winning's not going to change
my method for church building is not going to change
it's called daily in the temple and every house
I cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ
doesn't change
it's not hand out a flyer
glossy pictures and photographs
and flyers
it's soul winning
that's the way it works around here
I think it will always be that way around here
but look at the next verse, it says in verse 7
even from the days of your father
you've gone away from mine ordinances
see here's the next trap we fall into
number one we fall into the trap of changing
changing changing going the way of the world
when God doesn't change
but secondly sometimes
we'll go back to somebody in the 50's or 60's
and say we're old fashioned because we're just like
so and so in the 1950's
well you know back in the 50's they were already changing
people have always been changing
see he says even from the days of your father
you've gone away from mine ordinances
your dad was wrong is what he's saying
your dad's a liberal
even from the days of your father you've gone away
from mine ordinances and have not
kept them return unto me
and I will return unto you saith the Lord of hosts
draw an eye to God and he'll draw an eye to you
there's an Old Testament parallel
return unto me and I'll return unto you
saith the Lord of hosts but you said
wherein shall we return? now we enter a new
subject in the chapter here
in Malachi will a man rob God?
can you believe the audacity of a person who would
presume to rob God is what he's saying
will a man
rob God? yet ye have robbed
me
but you say wherein have we robbed thee?
in tithes and offerings
now why is that? because the Bible says this
statement the tithe is the
Lord's now because the tithe
or the tenth and the word tithe means
tenth because a tenth of your income
belongs to God according to the
Bible if you keep it
you've committed robbery by stealing
from God okay you're stealing
now I would rather steal
from brother Dave than steal from God
I'd rather steal from brother Lawless than steal from
God I'd rather steal from
anybody than steal from God
I mean if there's one person I don't want to
and I don't want to steal from either you guys
hey if there's one person I don't want to mess with
or steal from it's God
agreed? that's probably the last person
that you want to steal from
and so he says
ye are cursed with the curse
for you've robbed me even this whole nation
bring ye all the
tithes into the storehouse
that there may be meat in mine house
and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of hosts
if I will not open you the windows of heaven
and pour you out a blessing that there shall not
be room enough to receive it now you see
the tithe the tenth of your
increase the Bible says you're supposed to tithe
unto the Lord all your increase this is not
just something that's from the mosaic law
this went all the way back to the book of Genesis
this went back to Abraham
and Melchizedek Genesis 14
I'm not going to take the time to go into all that
this goes back even really to the garden of Eden
where God said I'm giving you
this whole garden but part of it's mine
don't mess with it you know don't touch the tree that belongs
to me all throughout
the Bible you see this principle of
bringing the Lord the first fruits
you don't have to turn there I'll turn there
but in Proverbs chapter 3 for example
and I'll turn there
in Proverbs chapter number 3
the Bible says
let's see
honor the Lord with thy substance
he's talking about with your money
and with the first fruits of all
thy increase so shall thy barns
be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine and so
the Bible also says in 1 Corinthians 16
1 about laying up in store
on the first day of the week on Sunday
as God has prospered
you to bring the offering
to God according to how he's prospered
you meaning i.e. 10%
you know it's based on how much money
you made
now what's the method
of tithing and I don't want to spend too much time on this
but what is the method of tithing
according to the Bible what do we do with our 10%
of our money
or 10% of goods that we receive
the Bible says we're supposed to turn that into money
so if somebody gives me something worth $50
I'm supposed to tithe $5
because it was worth $50
and so forth
where do I bring that tithe to
well the Bible says in verse 10
bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse
now does it say send it in the mail to the storehouse
put it in the envelope
and put a stamp on it and send it to the storehouse
no it says bring ye all
the tithes into the storehouse
now what is the storehouse
well look at the next phrase
that there may be meat in mine house
the house of God is the storehouse
the pillar and ground of the truth
the local church according to 2 Timothy 3.16
and so the Bible says
you're to bring the tithe to church
now in order to bring the tithe to church
get this you have to be at church
because you can't bring it somewhere
that you didn't go
so this is a good way to keep yourself in church every week
because you say well I just didn't go to church on Sunday
well you didn't bring your tithe either
okay
now God said to bring it and you didn't bring it
because you weren't there so you got to be there
to bring it you must be there on the first day of the week
as it says in 1 Corinthians 16.1
and he says
bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse
that there may be meat in mine house
and prove me now herewith sayeth the Lord of hosts
if I will not open you the windows of heaven
and pour you out a blessing
that there shall not be room enough to receive it
and I will rebuke the devourer
oh by the way you know Dr. Jack Skop
pastor of First Baptist Church of Hammond, Indiana
among all the other weirdo things that he teaches
he teaches this teaching that
when it says here
he'll open the windows of heaven
and I listened to this very sermon
he said
he laughed and mocked and said
you don't put windows
in buildings
to bring things in and out of a building
he said when was the last time
you brought something in and out of a window
he said windows are to see through
and so when God says
he'll open you the windows of heaven
he's saying he's going to show you new dimensions
you're going to see things
that nobody else can see
you're going to look through that window
now here's the problem
Dr. Skop
I mean Dr. Spook
here's the problem with that
it says if I will not open you the windows of heaven
and pour you out a blessing
wow
well let's think for a moment
when else did God open the windows of heaven
I seem to remember God opening the windows of heaven
for the first time in Genesis chapter 7
when he opened the windows of heaven
and then rain came pouring out
I guess he was just trying to show Noah something
up in the sky
when he opened the windows of heaven
look up Noah
if he looks up he's going to get hit in the face
with a big drop of water because it's raining
and so God opens the windows of heaven
and pours you out a blessing
he doesn't show you new dimensions
into the spirit world because you tithe
okay, tithing does not bring you
into the spirit world dimension
does not even exist
but anyway
the Bible says here that if you tithe
God will open you the windows of heaven
and pour you out a blessing
now does that mean you're going to drive a Lexus
and a Jaguar and a fancy car
and all this stuff
no, it means that God's going to bless you
and God will rebuke the devourer
for your sakes it says in verse 11
and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground
neither shall your vine
cast her fruit before the time in the field
sayeth the Lord of hosts
and all nations shall call you blessed
for you shall be a delightsome land
sayeth the Lord of hosts
God's saying he's going to bless you
why? because of your obedience and tithing
now let me ask you something
if you tithe but you've got a wicked heart
is God going to bless you?
if you tithe but you are not right with God
and you're not clean in your life
is God going to bless you just because you tithe
he's got to bless you, I've heard people say this so many times
I've had people say to me
I've been tithed and tithed for years
and my finances were goofed up
and my life is messed up
and God never blessed me
well, see, they need to be back in chapter 2
and they need to be back in
chapter 3 verse 4
when he says
then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem
be pleasant unto the Lord
see, you can't just tithe
and all of a sudden you're going to get all this blessing
I've heard pastors say God will bless anybody that tithes
even if you're not saved he'll bless you if you tithe
even if you're a wicked, dope smoking jerk
he's going to bless you if you tithe
well yeah, I know, that sounds good because you want money
but God says
you ought to purify your heart
and bring your tithe with a pure heart
and a clear conscience to God
now, if you don't have a pure heart
don't increase the problem by robbing God
but you ought to clean up your life
clean up your act, clean up your heart
and then bring the tithe
it's not that tithing is this miracle cure-all
for your life, where if you tithe
God's going to bless you and everything's going to go great
see, the problem is
you're taking it out of the context of the chapter
like verses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
where in verses 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5
he talked about bringing offerings that are acceptable to God
by cleaning up your life first
and cleaning your heart first
and so understand that carefully
but also, what is tithing?
is it because God wants money?
is it because I want money?
first of all, I don't get paid
I work a job just like you do
I see my tithe every week
just like you do
and you say, where does the tithe go?
well, we use the tithe for advertising
yellow pages ads
we use it for the building, we use it for all the food
oh, I can't believe you spent a tithe on food
well, doesn't the Bible say right here
bring you all the tithes into the source
that there may be meat in my house?
hey, I take that literally
we're going to have some meat up in there
we bring meat to the house of God
and so we use it for food, for activities
for the ladies' activity, all that stuff
because we want everything to be free of charge
the CDs, the website
blah, blah, blah
we reinvest every dime that comes in
back into the ministry
back into the Lord's work
and that's what we do
now, does God want your money?
does the pastor want your money?
does church want your money?
you know, anybody who's been in this church
can tell you, there are people in this church
who I've gone to them and told them
that they were putting too much in for their tithe
and I explained to them
what is required of the tithe
and I said, if you want to give more than that
then that's an offering, if you want to give an offering
a free will offering to God
but I've explained to people
years and years back even
I remember years and years back there was a man who asked me
a question about tithing on his social security
that he was receiving each month
and I told him, I said, you paid a whole lot more
into that thing than you're ever going to get out of it
I said, that's not an increase, that's a decrease
because the government blew all your money
spent your money
and things like that, insurance payouts
and things like that
that aren't income, they're not increase
if you go to the hospital
and you have surgery for $100,000
and then the insurance pays that $100,000
that's not an increase
you didn't make $100,000
you don't tithe $10,000 on that
because you paid in the insurance premium
you paid and you got the goods
you paid for the surgery when you paid your insurance
and blah blah blah
I'm not teaching a whole sermon on tithing
but the point is, it's not about money
it's not about throwing money in the plate
it's about obedience
and so God's not impressed
by somebody who throws in
big giant wads of $1,000
$2,000, $3,000, $4,000
but then they don't tithe consistently
on a weekly basis
you can't just throw $25,000
in the plate and then just say, oh that covers me
for the whole year
because you're not tithing
oh yeah I'm covered
God must sure be pleased with me
well no because God asked you to bring it on a weekly basis
and he asked you to bring it to the storehouse
and he asked you to bring 10%
anything above 10%
I've heard people talk about double tithing
you can't double tithe, tithe is 10%
you can give an offering on top of it
but there's no such thing as a double
oh you need to start double tithing
I've heard this in churches, double tithe, triple tithe
look it's 10% it's tithe
ok so you bring 10%
oh and God requires more than that
no that's not true
the Bible says fear God and keep his commandments
for this is the whole duty
of man
see if anybody ever tells you that you have to do something
that's not commanded by God
they're violating the Bible
because the Bible says fear God and keep his commandments
this is the whole duty of man
ok and so the offering is a free will offering
it's something that's not commanded by God
the offering is a free will offering
it's something that you give because you want to
above your tithe
can you say why did I give tithe I'm just going to give an offering
no you tithe then you give an offering
because a tithe is your first fruit
well I can't afford a tithe
well it's easy, this is how you afford tithing
you make it the first thing that you do
when you get paid the first thing you do is you take out your tithe
and you give God the first fruits
then it's always there
and then if you have to stiff somebody it's not God
ok you ought not stiff anybody
if you have to stiff somebody don't stiff God
I don't know what's funny about that
but anyway
and I don't preach much on tithing
and maybe I should preach more about it
I don't know
the last time I preached on it was January 14th
of this year I preached a sermon about it
and before that I preached on it
back in like March of 2006
and so
I'm not preaching on this every week
because I want the giving to be up
and blah blah blah
but you ought to love God and keep his commandments
and bring your tithe to the storehouse, the house of God
don't send it to Oral Roberts
and don't send it to Benny Hinn and Joel Osteen
and all your heroes
bring it to the house of God, bring the tithe
if you want to give it to Joel Osteen
then go get in the car and drive to that freakos church
that sissified queer little sissy
who calls himself a preacher
that girly wimp
that phony
that fake, that fraud Joel Osteen
go drive there and bring it to him
if you want to give your money to him
then bring it to him, don't send it to him
and if you want to sit in this church
and listen to me rattle my cage
three times a week then bring it to me
and we'll spend it for you
on the work of God
alright
let's finish here
we need to hurry
look at verse number 13, the Bible says
your words have been stout against me
sayeth the Lord
yet ye say, what have we spoken so much
against thee? now one thing that stands out to me
in the book of Malachi
everyone in the book of Malachi underestimates
how bad they've been
what? we've been robbing you?
how? or what have we spoken
so much against thee? I mean
I know we said some things against thee
doesn't that sentence seem a little weird to you?
come on, I know I spoke
against you God, but was it really
that bad? what have we spoken
so much? I mean shouldn't they ask
this question? what have we spoken
so much against thee?
no, it's what have we spoken so much
against thee? because they knew that they were talking
against God
they knew that they were doing me sin
I mean, where in est thou loved us
God? you haven't shown us
any love, we haven't robbed you
huh?
what have we spoken against you?
look at these stupid questions they keep asking
where in shall we return?
what? return unto me and I'll return unto you?
what do I need to return? I thought I'm right
where are we supposed to be? you know why?
because there's a generation that is pure in their own eyes
and yet is not washed from their filthiness
and it's the generation of Malachi
at the first coming of Jesus Christ
and it's dead sure
the generation we're living in
the generation that is pure in their own eyes
and yet is not washed from their filthiness
the Baptist church that's
pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed
from their filthiness
the Christian who's pure in their own eyes
and yet is not washed from their filthiness
and on and on
we could go with that
he says in verse number 14
you've said it's being to serve God
and what profit is it that we've kept his ordinance
and that we have walked mournfully
before the Lord of hosts
we see people here who think that they've been living
a wonderful Christian life
they think they were following his ordinances
but God even said all the way back
to Dad's generation you haven't even been
keeping mine ordinance and yet these people
still think that they've kept
his ordinance they still think that they
walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts
we dealt with that last week in chapter 2
people filling the altar of the Lord with crying
and tears and much weeping but they wouldn't change
their life they wouldn't change their heart
they'd come down an aisle like many people
do in Baptist Church of America
they'd come down an aisle crying
oh my God I'm so sorry
and then they'd get up on Monday morning
and live the exact same way
cause it's just a bunch of emotional
build up work yourself up into
some kind of a frenzy it doesn't change you
then it's fake and phony
and so we see people
we cried we mourned
Isaiah 58
we fasted God
and you don't see it we bought our tithe
and God's not blessing us we fasted
we mourned we cried
clean up your life is what God's saying
see God has more pleasure
in somebody who lives a clean
and righteous life and obeys God
than somebody who gives offerings
cries a lot
Joel Osteen
you know he had this
I saw this promo thing
about Joel Osteen and no I don't watch
TV I haven't watched TV
in years TV straight out of hell
glory to God
but Joel Osteen
on this little somebody
this little was my wife
my wife
years ago somebody said
she looked up Joel Osteen
and she went on to his website
and I guess to look at his website
because she was just trying to find out who it was
and you had to like give him your email address
and so they send periodic emails
well they sent her this email
with a video clip of him promoting
some
I don't know he's going to be on some hellish TV show
or so I don't know
but anyway she clicked on it
and Joel Osteen he's talking you know
and all of a sudden he puts his head down like this
like he just puts
his head between his knees like
and then he goes like this
here he pops up and his face is all
it's like he's probably like jamming his
finger in his eye to make tears
because he looks totally fine
and then all of a sudden he just like
shoves his head between his knees
and then he just pops up like
I told you I was a crybaby
that's what he said literally
I told you I was a crybaby
oh just the people
that we blessed and helped
this is so great
does that please God
tears
look you know tears are a wonderful thing
you know Jesus wept
but tears
that are not based on the reality of serving and loving God
with a clean heart and a pure life
mean nothing to God
God's not looking for your emotion he's looking for your obedience
God's not looking for a lovey dovey feeling
he's looking for legitimate
works
for God
let me hurry and finish it says
and now we call the proud happy
they that work wickedness are set up
again a lack of discernment
between him that serveth God
look at verse number 18
and him that serveth them not
a lack of discernment between the righteous
and the wicked
an attitude that says everyone that doeth evil
is good in the sight of the Lord
that's what we see here
and that's the day that we're living in
but look at verse 16 I'll end with this
two positive verses
that was nice of God to throw us a bone
in this very negative book of Malachi
but look at verses 16 and 17
it says
then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another
now I wonder if they were just
using their cell phone a lot
do you think that's what that means
then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another
well what does that mean
that means they're getting together often
kind of like we get together on Sunday morning
Sunday night and Wednesday night
often
you say ah that's a little bit often
sure it is
then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another
see part of the reason of church is not only to hear
Pastor Anderson preach the Bible to you
not only to sing the songs in the midst of the congregation
Hebrews 2.17
but it's also to speak
one to another
boy there's something good about getting together with people that also
feared the Lord and speaking one to another
you get that encouragement iron sharpened with iron
so does the man sharpen the countenance of his fellow
and when you come to church
and get around people who love God
and fear God and you speak with them often
one to another that's going to strengthen you
and build you up
you see listening to sermons on the radio
or on the internet or on CD's
is not a substitute for attending
the right kind of a church
attending, you say well you know
I'll just listen to it
if you're sick and you can't make it
you ought to get the tape and listen to it
especially since they're free
you ought to jump on the internet and download it
but I'm going to tell you something
listening to the sermon is not a substitute
for in the midst of the congregation
I will sing praise unto thee
you don't get that with the CD
being here
is where you'll speak often one to another
as God says
and that's part of your spiritual life and your spiritual
development is coming to church and speaking often
one to another
you know everybody in this church and talk to each other
and be friends one with another
and speak to one another
and it says
and the Lord hearkened and heard it
see God not only hears you when you pray to him
he hears you when you talk positively
about him to other people
and when you discuss the Bible and the things of God
God's listening too
and God's pleased with that as well not just prayer
although prayer is important
and it says
and that day when I make up my jewels
and I will spare them
as a man spareth his own son that serveth him
then shall you return and discern
between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God
and him that serveth him not
that's pretty much what the book's been about
him that serveth God
is it the cry baby
is it cry baby Joel Osteen
is it the guy who puts money in the plate
is it the guy who brings the tide to the storehouse
is it the guy who
mourns before God
no it's the guy who cleans up
and obeys God and does things exactly
the way that God tells him to do them
that's who's really serving God
that's who's righteous
and the guy who's living a sinful life
and brings an offering and cries about it at the altar
is wicked
and he does not serve God
let's bow our heads for a word of prayer
Father thank you so much for a fantastic chapter
in the word of God for us to study tonight
so many different things we could apply
maybe there's somebody here who's not
tithing and they're robbing God
please help them to get that right
dear God and maybe there's somebody here who
just needs to
be more faithful to church
and be here and get to know the people
at church and talk to people at church
and understand that that's part of their life
with Jesus and their spiritual life
dear God
maybe there's somebody here who needs to be cleaned up
they need to spend a little more time around Jesus
the refiner, the fuller soap
the refining fire and let
Jesus Christ cleanse them of some of the sin
and iniquity in their heart dear God and in their life
and in their house dear God
please just bless us tonight
and help everyone to
do what they know they need in the Bible
dear God and give us ears that we may hear