man well it's an exciting day to be here and just to plant this church and then two years later to
see it being on its own being independent is just a dream come true literally and we need to have
a big vision for california i mean this is just such a huge city and this church is the church
to be in in this area and so i'd love to see it grow and just multiply and uh just churches all
over the state i also want to say i have a lot of love and respect for pastor joe esposito i
actually got to hear him preach in person many many years ago and he's a great man of god and
so i'm thankful for him and other people that have invested in us in the previous generation
and i'm thankful for brother bruce mejia and the great job that he's done over the last two years
and he's been a great guy to work with so in james chapter one let's get into the sermon
and then we'll get into the ordination in james chapter one verse number five the bible says if
any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god they give it to all men liberally and upbraideth not
and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he that wavereth is
like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed for let not that man think that he shall
receive anything of the lord a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways and the title of my
sermon tonight is nothing wavering nothing waver i love what he said a moment ago about hey the
best thing we could do to thank pastor anderson is just by staying the course just by continuing
the work that has begun here that is so true and the bible here uses this wonderful phrase
nothing wavering that's the title of the sermon tonight nothing wavering the bible says in verse
five if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of god they give it to all men liberally and upbraideth
not and it shall be given him but let him ask in faith nothing wavering flip over if you would to
matthew 21 keep your finger there in james go to matthew chapter number 21 the bible says that we
should have faith in god we should ask god in faith and that we should have no wavering we
should not be doubting the bible says that if we doubt you know and we're double-minded don't expect
to get anything from god he said in james chapter 1 but in matthew 21 verse 21 the bible says jesus
answered and said to them verily i say unto you if you have faith and doubt not you shall not only
do this which is done to the fig tree but also if you shall say unto this mountain be thou removed
and be thou cast into the sea it shall be done and all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer
believing ye shall receive and so what the bible is teaching us here if you would go back to james
chapter 1 is that when it comes to our faith in god not wavering not having doubt being steadfast
unmovable not being tossed around but just being steady and not wavering on what we believe he's
saying the sky is the limit there's really no limit to what we can accomplish for god
there's no limit for what god could do for us and i even preached a sermon at this church a while
back called the sky is the limit you remember that sermon and i was preaching about the fact
that there's so much potential here and there's so much potential in what god can do through brother
mahia through you here in this church but you've got to have faith without wavering okay now what
do i mean by that when i say nothing wavering or rather when god says nothing wavering what
is he talking about look we need to get into the christian life we need to get all the way in
we need to commit to it and not just be kind of trying it out see how it goes this week see how
it goes next week no you need to get all the way in you need to decide who you're going to serve
you need to decide hey i'm a part of this church i'm a christian i go to church i go soul-winning
i read my bible i pray as for me and my house we're going to serve the lord and just have that
decision made don't get up every sunday and decide am i going to church today it should be a foregone
conclusion and you need to decide that you are going to be here a year from now two years from
now three years now and those that are visiting from other places when i say here you know i mean
walking with god i mean winning souls reading your bible loving the lord don't be this double
minded unstable person that as soon as persecution or tribulation arises because of the word you're
going to fall away look you just have to stay steady and unmovable without wavering and god
will do great things in your life great things great things in your life how did brother bruce
get to the point where he is right now he's been very steady
he was steady with pacific baptist he's been steady with faithful word baptist and he's just
been plugging away working for the lord serving god staying with it and now great things are
happening in his life they're going to continue to happen in his life being steadfast the bible says
let him ask in faith nothing wavering for he the wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with
the wind and toss for let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the lord that's a
pretty strong statement you know what he's saying hey if you're just kind of trying things on with
god don't think that you're going to receive great things from god don't think you're going to
receive anything oh god please give me wisdom help me understand the bible even though i'm not even
going to be here next week you don't think you're going to receive anything from god
if you're double-minded you're unstable in all your ways the bible says you've got to be
single-minded you've got to just decide this is who i am this is what i do i go to church
i love god i read the bible i pray i win souls and not falter from that and then you get on your knees
and you ask god to show you the truth you ask god to give you wisdom you ask god to do great
things in your life and move mountains in your life and he does it you know what's the great
secret to the christian life what's the great secret why one person succeeds and one person
fails you know what the great secret is just staying with it and being steadfast and not
wavering not being tossed to and fro and you know anybody can do that it doesn't take a lot
of talent i don't have a lot of talent i don't have anything special you know but i've just been
steady with it and that's why i've been able to pastor and preach and do the things i've done
is just because i stayed with it and because never does the thought ever enter my mind
of quitting on god and and quitting on soul winning or quitting on reading my bible or
or being a sold out christian the thought doesn't even enter my mind because my mind's single on
that okay and you know i thank god for my parents when i was growing up with my parents you know
they're wonderful parents christian parents and my parents were not super zealous
uh members of the church or anything uh they've gotten more zealous later in life praise god when
we were growing up they were they were solid church members they weren't super zealous a lot
of people say hey was your dad a pastor's you know my dad was an electrician and uh my parents
were steady in church but i'll tell you one thing that i can say about my parents without any
without any reservation is that there was never any doubt in our minds as children
that our parents were going to stay in church and there was never any doubt that ever entered our
minds that our parents truly believed the word of god they truly had faith in the lord jesus christ
that was unwavering and that they would always be following christ they would always be going to
church and that it was real to them it was serious to them it was never something that they took
lightly or there was a joke to them hey they always took it seriously and they were always
gonna be taking us to church period it was the thought never entered our mind that we would just
stop going to church as a family or that or that they would just kind of just start slacking
even thinking of the things of god no it was just it was just no i mean this is who we are
we are a christian family we are independent fundamental baptists and you know i wonder if
that has something to do with the fact that all of my siblings are all in independent fundamental
baptist churches they're all saved they all love the lord okay because my parents were not tossed
to and fro driven with the sea just letting the waves just throw them around no they did not
waver on their faith in the lord and they stayed with it let not that man think that he shall
receive anything of the lord is the exact opposite of hey whatever you ask you'll receive it if you
have faith and doubt not and then the opposite of that is you're not gonna get anything so it
sounds like this is pretty important to be unwavering nothing wavering now flip over to
romans chapter four here's another powerful passage on this idea of not wavering don't waver
you know another way of saying this is is don't don't even flinch you know i mean the world is
throwing stuff at you the devil is throwing stuff at you all the forces of hell are throwing stuff
at you you know you just have to just stand there and just don't even flinch never break ranks never
flee never retreat because you know what god is gonna give you the victory all you have to do is
just show up and be there and stand there and not let anything move you that's all that's it
it's nothing complicated look what the bible says in romans chapter 4 verse 18 who against hope this
is abraham the father of faith who against hope believed in hope that he might become the father
of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be and being not weak in faith
he considered not his own body now dead when he was about a hundred years old neither yet the
deadness of sarah's womb he staggered not at the promise of god through unbelief but was strong in
faith giving glory to god and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was
able also to perform and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness against hope he believed
in hope he staggered not at the promise of god through unbelief meaning that he never decided
you know what i don't know if i'm gonna follow the lord anymore i'm not sure if now look did
he make mistakes sure and in fact he made some pretty serious mistakes if you look at the life
of abraham serious mistakes were made but yet there was never a point in abraham's life where
he's saying you know what i just don't know if i'm gonna be serving the lord anymore i'm thinking
about just kind of just getting out of church just kind of retiring from the christian life
just but you know we just needed a little family time right now you know that people always try
to come up with some weird justification for why they're actually doing the right thing by getting
out of church you know because they got to focus on their family a little bit well take your family
out to lunch after church right i mean have a family time on the way to and from church on that
commute amen the longer the commute the better amen brother perry right now so you know amen
fresno the point is you know abraham was steadfast in his faith in god that's why he was picked to be
the father of many nations okay he was not weak in faith he didn't stagger what does it mean to
stagger well when i hear the word stagger i think of somebody who's drunk right you think of
somebody who's drunk and they're just kind of like folks that's not that's not how god wants
us to be in the christian life where we're because here's the thing about the person who's staggering
let's say someone's staggering it'd be really easy to walk up to that person who's staggering
and just kind of guide them wherever you want to guide them wouldn't it i mean if somebody's just
like oh where's my car you know it's like all right just right over here you know you could
lead that person anywhere they're just driven by whatever tossed around by whatever hey don't
stagger at the promise of god don't just kind of waver and you know you're kind of like you know
you're just kind of like you know be solid nail some things down in your life you know how long
have you been coming to church here hey nail some things down and just decide hey i'm not trying it
anymore i'm not testing it out a little bit i'm not seeing if the christian life is a good fit for
me or anything hey just get all the way in lock that in make those decisions once
not should i read my bible it's just hey this is this is who i am this is what i do
reading the bible is like eating or breathing air it's just something that we do it's something
who we are going to church is just a foregone conclusion of course it's sunday let's go right
we're going we need to ingrain these things now go over if you would to joshua chapter 24 joshua
24 back in the old testament joshua chapter number 24 and this is when joshua is is in a
transitionary period here they get into the promised land and you know he wants to lay some
things down make things solid for the next generation that's going to rise up and things
like that and so in joshua 24 verse 14 he said now therefore fear the lord and serve him in sincerity
and in truth and put away the gods which your father served on the other side of the flood and
in egypt and serve you the lord and if it seemed good unto you to serve the lord choose you this
day whom you will serve whether the gods of your fathers which your father served that were on the
other side of the flood or the gods of the amorites in whose land you dwell but as for me in my house
we will serve the lord and the people answered and said god forbid that we should forsake the lord to
serve other gods and you know that ought to be our attitude too like what how could you even
insinuate that we would go worship other gods or that we would quit the church or quit serving god
quit praying quit reading our bibles quit going soul winning
god forbid for the lord our god he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land
of egypt from the house of bondage and which did those great signs in our sight and preserved us
in all the way wherein we went and among all the people through whom we passed and the lord
drave out from before us all the people even the amorites which dwelt in the land therefore
will we also serve the lord for he is our god look you can say the same thing you can say hey
god forbid i can stop serving the lord when he saved me from hell when he took me as a sinner
as an unrighteous person and that while we were yet sinners christ died for us and he gave us this
free gift of salvation and so we've been saved and not only have we been saved but god has showed
unto us a more excellent way to live our life so we're not living the stupid worthless foolish
life of the unsaved and you know what that's what it is i don't care who we're talking about the
unsaved live a vain foolish worthless life that's basically just eat drink and be married and
tomorrow we die okay thank god that we've been pulled out of that thank god that he has put our
feet on a rock and established our goings and so god has saved us he has showed us a more excellent
way to live our life and then not only that he gave us a church huge blessing hey if you want
to know what a huge blessing it is to have a church just talk to people in europe and many
of these places they can't even find a baptist they can't even find a baptist church and you
know what you sit there sometimes and pick apart the church here or elsewhere and you don't like
this you're like that you gotta thank god that you have a righteous church to go to and you know what
no church is perfect but this church is awesome all right i mean this church is fired up i mean
when you come and you hear the preaching you're guaranteed to be learning new things you're gonna
get stirred up you're gonna get fired up you're gonna go out and do greater works than you would
have done if you hadn't been here period you're gonna get motivated you're gonna get put on a team
you're gonna get sent out to win souls i mean you're gonna do great works that's something
to be thankful for salvation a more excellent way of life and a church where you've got friends
you've got camaraderie you're not just all by yourself you got a pastor that loves you and cares
about you that's there to uh you know be there and love you care about you teach you minister to you
right and look this is something to be thankful for because a lot of people they don't have that
in their life they don't have a pastor getting up and feeding them the word of god feeding them
according to knowledge teaching them caring about them they don't have a church where they can get
together with other believers and make friends and have somebody to go soul winning with some
people are just they just wish they had a soul winning partner i mean i get contacted by people
they just wish they had a soul any partner and they're going out so many by themselves
and look i've been out so many by myself it's not fun it is it's a drag it's a drudgery the
whole time i'm just thinking of reasons why to stop i'm not kidding i mean when you're not
sorting by yourself you're just it's it's a mental battle i mean for me like that well do
i need to be out here right now you know but when you got somebody with you you want to keep going
it keeps you motivated that the fellowship is there it's huge i've gone soloing by myself a
lot and it is not fun and and the only reason i even went soloing by myself is because i'd
already done it with a partner like a hundred times and then that gave me the confidence to
go try it by myself after i've done it with a partner a hundred times okay and then going
forward you know even to this day i don't like to go soloing by myself i rarely go soloing by myself
but then again i have a lot of soul winning partners also built in you know i could pretty
much grab any of my kids at any time and go soloing i have a church with 400 people in it
that you know could grab anybody and go soloing at any time but man some people don't have that
do they some people they're just living out in some spiritual desert somewhere in one of these
godforsaken countries in europe that's going down the toilet and they just wish they had a
soul-winning partner you know we we need to be thankful for what we have and not take it for
granted our salvation our lifestyle our church our prosperity here in america i mean we have
the free time to go soul-winning because we've got a belly full of food we got a comfortable
bed to sleep in we got safety security we've got a job hey let's get out there and win today god
forbid that you would even think about going back to the old way of life after god already did that
for you i mean it's like how can we do that when he already did so much for us and joshua said to
the people you cannot serve the lord he's he's kind of using a little reverse psychology here
you know it's sort of like uh you know if you really want your kids to accomplish something
you tell them like yeah i don't think you're old enough you know i i i don't think you're you're
big enough you know maybe when you get a little hey i can do that you know then they want to get
in there and prove you wrong right so he's like no i don't think you guys can serve the lord like
no no we can do it you know you cannot serve the lord for he's a holy god he's a jealous guy he's
not gonna put up with your garbage he's a holy god he's a jealous god he'll not forgive your
transgressions nor your sins if you forsake the lord and serve strange gods then he'll turn and
do you hurt and consume you after that he's done good done you good and the people said in joshua
nay but we will serve the lord and joshua said to the people okay you know your witnesses against
yourselves that you've chosen you the lord to serve him and they said we're witnesses
now therefore put away said he the strange gods which are among you
and incline your heart on the lord your god and the people said in joshua the lord our god will
we serve and his voice will obey now why do you have to repeatedly say put away the strange gods
put away the strange gods put away the strange gods here's the thing when we talk about the
strange gods this isn't an idea in somebody's head he's actually talking about physical objects
when he says this sort of like when jacob had the people that were with him he said hey we
got to get rid of these strange gods that have crept in and they took them all and they buried
them under the earth to get rid he's actually talking about physical objects so even though
these people are like no we only worship the lord we only worship god okay well then why do you still
have that item why you still have that object because you know what that is that's an open door
to go back to the old way of life so i believe that what he's trying to emphasize here by
repeating that over and over okay well if you're really going to serve the lord god
then you know what you need to do burn the bridge behind you burn your bridges behind you
no truck i have decided to follow jesus no turning back no turning back you got to burn the bridge
so don't just leave yourself like hey you know man i'm so excited i'm gonna get involved in
church but in case i don't here's my backup plan trash the backup plan
get rid of it ditch it just get all in just say you know what it's do or die do or die
and look that's not a crazy thing to ask christians to to to commit the bible says
present your body a living sacrifice to god it's your reasonable service
hey it's do or die for me as a christian it's do or die for him it ought to be do or die for you
there's no look and the lord's faithful you know i've been i've been saved now for 32 years
i've been serving the lord as far as you know really soul winning and really serious and
zealous about it for over 20 years now like 21 years that i've been serving the lord consistently
i've been saved for 32 years and you know what god's been faithful i mean just every time
and look there have been some times when i felt like man i'm doomed this is the end you know this
game over you know there have been some times when things look bad they look like they're falling
apart they look like a disaster but you know what never one time when things look like a disaster
did i say well you know what maybe it's time to just get out of church maybe it's time to just
stop serving god quit reading my bible so much and just kind of just focus on worldly things for a
while and just you know maybe i just need to try living my life another way you know because the
christian life is bringing me down a rough road and i'm going through trials and tribulations
maybe i just need to try something else for a while hey that never has entered my mind and look
i'll be honest with you there have been times when i thought about quitting being a pastor
there have been times when i thought to myself that's it i'm done you know what i mean there
have been times when i thought about quitting on church planting or quitting on training other
preachers there have been times when i thought about quitting but you know what i've never even
thought about quitting on going to church and reading my bible and loving the lord my god
with all my heart every day that thought has never entered my mind now look i'm not saying
that thought doesn't enter people's minds because that thought enters a lot of people's minds that's
why i'm preaching this sermon look just because you're saved doesn't mean that you're not going
to quit on god people quit on god all the time and look there have been so many church members
at faithful word that were great church members they were i mean they were they were they were
buddies they were friends they were serious about the things of god they were uh going soul winning
they were fire and they were not bad people they were great people they still are great people
but i'll tell you what after about two years that seems to be when the honeymoon's over
and that's when all of a sudden they just start to fade away and i'm not i'm not talking about
the judices and the you know the fakes and the weirdos i'm talking about look the vast majority
of people leave the church are not judices they're not fakes they're not weirdos they're not heretics
they're not going into some gross sin or something you know what they're doing they basically just
the honeymoon's over and they just kind of fade away because they were double-minded because they
wavered because they're tossed to and fro they were not what the bible's saying here where they
are just steadfast on the things of god and i'm telling you if you want to be the one who's still
here 10 years from now 15 years from now 20 years from now and you know what by the way this same
exact principle goes for your marriage the thought should never enter your mind of hey
let me bail on this marriage should that thought ever enter our mind that should just be off the
table well you know what ceasing to serve the lord should be off the table and you know what
i'm not the only person where that's off the table i guarantee you that there are a ton of
people in this room where quitting on god is just off the table it never enters their mind
it's just this is who i am come hell or high water it doesn't matter what happens it doesn't matter
if the whole world comes crashing down around me i will keep going to church i will keep reading my
bible i will keep loving god i will look up and pray to god every day no matter what though he
slayed me yet will i trust him and you know what there are a ton of people today who have that
attitude even in this building right now and they're the ones that are still going to be here
and they're the ones that 10 years from now 15 years from now 20 years from now no matter what
happens they will continue because they have settled this in their heart they're the guy
that god's talking about here when he says hey just ask ask and he shall receive i mean ask of
me wisdom i'll give you wisdom i'm not going to abrade you i'm not going to rebuke you i'm not
going to approve hey i want to answer your prayer i want to give you stuff oh wait you're that
double-minded guy who's got the little trial size christianity you got the little free trial that
you're testing he says well you know what don't think you're gonna get anything from me there are
two kinds of people in this room there are the kind of people that are set and settled i'm not
saying they're perfect i'm not perfect i'm not saying that they're a strong christian even
but what i am saying is that their faith is strong and they will not be moved and there are people
in this room that anything could happen to them anything they could be killed before they'll ever
back down on serving christ there are people in this room where you could you could throw
anything at them they could lose their job they could lose their family they could lose their
health they could be like joe covered in sores and they'll still love the lord and then there
are other people where the littlest thing is going to hit them and they're out they're gone
the smallest little speed bump the gas price goes up they you know whatever they lose their job
whatever it's just like oh that's it i'm done and they bail why you know why because they were
double-minded all along they were double-minded all along because look if everybody who got
married went into it do or die there'd be no such thing as divorce if everybody went into
the christian life do or die there'd be no such thing as oh so and so kind of drifted away floated
away he got back sledding and he faded away i'm telling you most people who leave the church they
fade away and you know you hope that they're going to come back someday you hope that they're
going to come back don't be that guy don't fade away like that go to isaiah chapter 50 isaiah
chapter number 50 you see it's it's just like marriage anybody can stay married for two years
the hollywood stars prove that every day because if you just go on their wikipedia page and look
at the list of marriages and it's just like all these little two-year marriages because that's
the two years when it was fun that was the two years when it was new the two years when it was
fresh the two years when it right and then it's just like every two years elizabeth taylor is
moving on to the next you know what i'm saying that's how long a lot of these relationships
anybody can stay married for two years okay
but i'll tell you what when that two years ends and let's say maybe you go through some low points
they're going to be ups and downs sometimes you're really jazzed about being married you love being
married you're thrilled about being married you're excited about and then other times you're at kind
of a low point and you know things are going to get better you know life goes through cycles
marriage goes through cycles that's just life you know it's not all hollywood and music industry
sunshine and roses and you know the first time i laid eyes on you and everything was perfect for
the rest of our life and you know that that's just real life has up and down periods well it's
the exact same thing with your christian life there are going to be times when you can't wait
to read your bible there have been times when you're craving to read your bible longing to
read your bible you know you're just waiting for the chance to get in and read your bible
where you're just like man i gotta get out soul winning i want to get out and go soul winning and
look there are times when i am just chomping at the bit to go soul winning and then there are
other times when soul winning is the last thing i want to do you know there are times when i can't
wait to hear the next sermon other times you're just kind of meh and look i think if we'd be
honest most people would probably like that you know you go through ups and downs you're not
always having a great day but you know what the difference is the one person has just made a
decision that just says i'm married and it's till death do us part and it's just do or die and then
and then other people have made that same decision about church they've made that same decision about
soul winning they've made that same decision about reading their bible so on the days when
they don't feel like doing it they just do it anyway out of character and then they wait until
the spark comes back till the electricity comes back till the feeling comes back but you know
what if you're if you're running on feelings only you know the feelings aren't always going to be
there you got to stay with it you got to have a backup engine when that feeling engine kind of
sputters out when that feeling gas tanks but you need to switch over to that reserve tank
of hey it's do or die character not stopping because stopping is not an option you must burn
the bridge i've opened my mouth unto the lord and i cannot go back god forbid that i would stop
serving the lord this is who i am the only way to stop me from being the person that i am is to kill
me because this is who i am that's where we need to be amen look at isaiah chapter number 50 we're
going to start reading in verse number four isaiah chapter 50 verse number four the bible reads
the lord god hath given me the tongue of the learned that i should know how to speak a word
and season to him that is weary he wakeneth morning by morning he wakeneth my ear to hear
as the learned the lord god at the open mind ear and i was not rebellious neither turned away back
i gave my back to the smiters and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair i hid not my face
from shame and spitting for the lord god will help me therefore shall i not be confounded
therefore have i set my face like a flint and i know that i shall not be ashamed he's saying look
you can punch me you can beat me you can whip me you can rip the beard out of my face but you know
what my face is set like a flint it's like a rock it's not gonna move go ahead beat me spit on me
attack me nothing will stop me god is with me who can be against me he is near verse eight
that justifieth me who will contend with me and listen to this verse who will contend with me
let us stand together who's my adversary let him come near to me come on take me on
he's saying come at me bro okay who wants to fight let's go who's my enemy
let him come near to me let him stand before me
why because look at the beginning of verse eight hey he's near that justifies me i got god in my
corner if god's in my corner if the lord is at my right hand then i shall not be moved because he
is at my right hand so he said look i got the lord with me you know it reminds me of uh one time i
did this uh table tennis uh tournament you know this uh ping pong it was like a doubles ping pong
i picked a guy that was really good at ping pong and i stood side by side with him and i rode that
all the way to the championship you know and this is just this isn't like this was just a church
activity all right this wasn't like a big we weren't in china or anything you know it wasn't
anything like that you know we're a church activity i picked a guy who was good at ping pong
and you know what that's why i won it wasn't because i was good at ping pong i wasn't any good
he was doing it you know i just kind of just stood my ground on my little you know i'll take
this part of the take you know you do everything over here i'll just kind of you know i'll take
care of this corner right here but the point is that's how it is with jesus we're in the yoke with
him he we have the ultimate teammate we're in a relay race with the fastest runner we're playing
doubles ping pong with the greatest ping pong player of all time at our side we're gonna ride
we're going all the way to beijing folks you know the what the bible's saying is look if i've
got jesus right here with me the one that justifies me is right here with me hey god be
forced who can be against me so bring it on bring on the fight come on enemies smiters spitters
hey come on because you know what god's with me jesus is with me it doesn't matter that i don't
know how to fight i've got this ultimate fighting champion right here with me
he's gonna wipe out anybody who comes at me
he said behold the lord god will help me hey who's my adversary at the end of verse eight let him
come near to me behold the lord god will help me who is he that shall condemn me it's a lot
like romans chapter 8 it's like an old testament romans 8 lo they shall wax old as a garment
the moth shall eat them up who is among you that feareth the lord that obeyeth the voice of his
servant that walketh in darkness and hath no light let him trust in the name of the lord and stay
upon his god stay on him rest on him trust in him put your faith in him and don't
waiver don't doubt just you're it's just it's it's settled i'm staying i'm done if you would
go to hebrews chapter number 10 hebrews chapter number 10 hebrews chapter number 10 what's the
title of the sermon nothing wavering nothing wavering not wavering at all why does god
use certain men in the bible why does god use certain men in 2019 because they don't waver
they're steadfast they stay with it quitting is not an option hebrews chapter 10 verse 23
let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering and then watch what he says here
for he is faithful that promised there's no doubt that god's going to back us up that he's going to
stand with us that he's going to see us through it you know like i said just my life which is
like a vapor you know my life is so short in the in the scheme of history in this world right
our life is as a vapor but even in my short life you know that i've served god for 20 some years
god has been faithful every single time i can't even believe all the blessings he's given me i
can't even believe i mean he's done exceedingly abundantly more than i could have ever asked or
thought and i mean that he has done more than i ever could have imagined that i ever would
have asked or thought i never even dreamed of what god has done and just the blessings
i mean some some my biggest thing is that sometimes i'm just like this is too good to be true
you know and i'm just scared like what's the what you know there's got to be a catch you know what
i mean because god is so good and look i'm not saying i haven't gone through pain and suffering
and misery and and problems and you know i've gone through some really bad things but you know what
though like when you compare it with all the blessings it's nothing and you just look at it
and say god is faithful god has been faithful why would i doubt why would i waver when i know
he's always been faithful the bible says he's going to be faithful i can take that to the bank
you know just set your face like a flint amen so he says here hold fast the profession of our faith
without wavering for he's faithful that promised and let us consider one another to provoke unto
love and to good works not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as a matter of
some is but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching go to luke
chapter nine luke chapter number nine verse 59 luke chapter 9 59
look we're saved by faith you know we we had the faith to confess with our mouth the lord jesus
and to believe in our heart that god raised him from the dead and whatever amount of faith we
had you know we just took it and just put it all on jesus and said you know what i'm not going to
heaven because i'm a good person because i'm not a good person there's none good but one and that's
god you know we just took our faith and we just said you know what i'm putting it all on jesus
jesus is the only way to heaven jesus is my only hope of heaven without jesus i am doomed
only jesus can save me jesus will you please save me and it's just you're saved it's faith right
but you know what that's not where faith ends in our life because the bible says we go from faith
to faith we don't just receive christ by faith we live by faith the disciples asked jesus to increase
their faith jesus told us that was have faith in god we need to have faith in god and not
waver and that means that we believe that we will always be best off doing what he wants us to do
and letting him take care of us let him take care of the outcome getting out of church is never
going to solve your problems quitting reading your bible trying out a worldly philosophy
that is not the answer you know oh man i'm struggling with child rearing
i'm struggling you know let's go for dr spock you know maybe i need to just put aside the
bible for a while and just go with dr spock for a while and go with just the timeouts and the
affirmative parenting what's it called the attachment parenting or uh
uh positive only affirmation i don't know what's it does anybody know what that's called
hey i don't even know what it's called i don't even know what that's called okay
i don't want to do it because you know what this is how i'm going to stay with my marriage this
i'm going to stay with my child rearing this i'm going to stay with pastoring the church
i'm just going to keep doing this and it's just the faith has to be there that everything in the
bible is true not just hey i believed in jesus i'm going to heaven but how about what's the
next thing you need to have faith about what's the next thing you need to trust the lord on in
your life and say hey let's do it his way because then i know he's going to be faithful with the
outcome look at luke chapter 9 verse 59 the bible reads in luke 9 59
and he said unto another follow me but he said lord suffer me first to go and bury my father
jesus said unto him let the dead bury their dead but go thou and preach the kingdom of god
let the dead bury their dead go preach the kingdom of god another also said lord i will follow thee
but let me first go bid them farewell which are at home at my house and jesus said unto him no
man having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god these are some
kind of strong words from jesus and it's kind of interesting because these guys who are making
excuses they actually sound pretty reasonable don't they hey my dad just died can i go bury
him no follow me let the dead bury their dead i mean it seems a little radical right
and oh let me just go say goodbye to people who don't nope if you put your hand to the plow and
you look back you're not fit for the game well now i've heard people try to explain this away
and they said well you know when this man said if you're going to say the culture you know you
gotta you understand the jewish custom when he said let me bury my father his dad wasn't even
really dead yet have you heard this one who's heard this one his dad his dad wasn't really
dead yet what he meant was i'm gonna wait for my dad to die you know that could be you know
who knows how long then i'll bury my father no no the dad's dead
and he's saying hey i'm gonna bury my dad for you know i need to do that he said no let other
people do that let the dead bury their dead you go preach the kingdom of god and then the guy says
hey i just want to bid them farewell when you're at home in my house it seems like a pretty
reasonable uh demand but what the bible is showing us here is that you know jesus christ is a man on
a mission i mean how long was jesus on this earth not long and especially because he started his
ministry when he was 30 his ministry lasts a little more than three years so three and a
half years of ministry right so in three and a half years of ministry and i mean that that goes
fast think about how fast two years have gone right three and a half years of ministry and i
mean this is a one-time deal i mean like you know god willing you know we're gonna be preaching for
decades and decades and decades right jesus didn't have that luxury he's got three and a half years
and he's going to all the cities and the whole nation of israel all the lost sheep of the house
of israel he's gonna go throughout all that region in palestine and and preach the gospel he doesn't
have time to just kind of wait for this person and wait for oh we gotta wait for this guy oh
let's wait for this guy you know he just says you know what i'm going somewhere you just need
to you just need to go with you just need to be ready to roll immediately because i you know i'm
leaving here we are you know we're about to get in the ship we're loading up the ship the boat's here
we're lifting up the anchor hey if you want to come with me let's go and i mean this is kind of
a once in a lifetime jesus we don't have this opportunity we would who would like to have this
opportunity just to hang out with jesus the son of god in the flesh just for a few days or weeks or
months or years i mean this this would be an unparalleled experience nothing is more important
dad's funeral is not as important saying goodbye at home and and and having a farewell party
not important nothing is important in regard i mean this is like that this is huge i mean he's
here this is the son of god standing in front of you jesus christ you better get on that ship you
better just be following him you better just do what he says if he says let's go let's go
nothing's more important nothing puts that on the back burner and i think that he's using this kind
of extreme example the bible sometimes uses kind of just radical or extreme examples like this
and when you put it in that perspective you can see how it is reasonable for jesus
he's got 12 other guys they're getting in a ship and he's who knows how many other people
are following them they're all ready to go we can't do all right let's just wait a couple days
for this funeral and this guy's got to say goodbye you know it's just no we're on a program here
get in or get out but i think that the reason that god allowed this scenario to happen
where people were in that position where they had to make those difficult choices
is because he's trying to drive in a spiritual principle here that says no man having put his
hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of god now this is not talking about
salvation it's not talking about salvation it's talking about being fit what does it mean to be
fit well when i hear the word fit okay i think of fitness right fitness so what does fitness
really mean why why do we call it when you go and do exercise or you do cardio or you lift weights
why is that we call that fitness well the idea behind that word fitness is basically you're ready
to do stuff because think about if you're out of shape what if you need to climb a big flight
of stairs you're not really prepared for that what if somebody says hey let's go hiking
uh you're not prepared because you're not fit hey let's go swim out i'm not fit for that
does everybody understand what i'm saying or hey we got to go do this physical work
we're gonna go lay these bricks we're gonna go dig a hole and you're out there
you're unfit for that because fit the word fit like if we think about if something fits
it means like you know the round peg goes into the round hole the square peg goes into the
squirrel it means that you're you're suitable for that task you're ready for that task you know it's
it's just you know if i'm out of shape then that run or that swim or that physical labor of
digging this is a bad fit for me you know i put me in the office in the air conditioning i can
sit at the desk i can answer the phone that's where i'm gonna fit but i'm not gonna fit out
there in the sun you know i'm digging a hole i'm gonna die out there you know it's like the guy in
luke 16 he's like i can't dig he was not fit so that that's why we use that word physical fitness
you know because you're you're basically ready to do stuff as a human being you know our bodies
if we keep our bodies in shape then we're ready to do stuff you know we're ready to go out and
and walk up and down the street soul winning and then other people they can't even walk
you know they go to the mailbox and they're out of breath okay because that means that they're
unfit does everybody understand what i mean but we're not well i'm not here to give you a fitness
seminar i'm not here to to try to talk to you about getting your cardio up or being able to
to walk a long distance or hike or do those things i'm talking about spiritual fitness
we don't care about physical fitness right now we as long as you're fit enough to just walk
around in englewood for a couple hours that's all the fitness you need for tomorrow amen you know
you can walk up and down the street but you know some people are so physically unfit they can't
even do uh soul winning as a result because their their feet and their legs just came and handle an
hour of walking you know or even just you know and so uh at that point yeah let's talk about
physical fitness amen but the point is tonight we're talking about a spiritual fitness right we
want god to look at us and say you know what this guy's fit for the kingdom of god this guy's fit
to pastor this guy's fit to be a deacon this guy's fit to be a leader of the church this guy is fit
to be used greatly for god look i want to be fit i want to be fit as a pastor i want to be fit as
a christian i want to be fit as a soul winner i want to be fit as a parent i how can we be fit
how do we get spiritually fit well you know what the bible says
if you put your hand in the plow and look back you're not fit
doesn't fit say oh i want to be greatly used by god you know what if you're double-minded
you're not fit and you know what don't think you're going to receive anything from the lord
on the trial plan on the free trial
you're not fit you will not receive anything from the lord a double-minded man's unstable in all
his ways it says in genesis 49 unstable as water thou shalt not excel if you're unstable if you're
double-minded you will not excel if you look back you are not fit for the kingdom of god
you've got to look forward set your face like a flint and say i've decided to follow jesus no
turning back and god looks down at that and he says that's somebody that i could use this guy's
fit for the kingdom of god this guy is in the spiritual shape that he needs to be to be used
because he's not got his eye on the exit all the time well i'm worshiping the lord but you know
i got to hang on to these false gods because of the fact i might need to melt this down
and use it for money or something like that you know or who knows i might need to to go back to
that or no you're not fit don't leave doorways open to go back to the old life don't leave
doorways open even in your mind or in your heart that say you know what quitting is an option or
well i'm gonna see how this goes you know i'm gonna try out serving the lord for the next six
months nine months and see if god blesses me well here let me just save you the nine months he's not
gonna bless you so you might as well just quit now if you're like well i'm gonna see if god and
i've literally seen people say like well i'm gonna see if god does x y and z for me and if he does
that for me then i'll serve him well let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the
lord you know i'm gonna go to church for six months to see if god's gonna give me a wife
and if that doesn't happen if the right girl doesn't come along then i'm just gonna quit
well just quit now because you're double mighty you're not gonna receive anything well i'm just
gonna wait for a husband you know i'm gonna try out church and the christian life and this whole
godly womanhood thing just to see if god will send me some godly husband to come sweep me off
my feet if it doesn't happen in six months and i'm out well you know what bye because let not
that woman think that she's gonna receive anything from the lord you can't just be in church because
oh i need god to give me a wife i need god to give me a husband or i'm gonna see if god blesses my
finances you know and i'm gonna go to church for six months nine months a year and see if i'm
doing better or worse financially i'm gonna try out tithing i'm gonna put money in the plate and
see if it comes back to me like the tv preacher told me you know that i'm gonna make all this
money and i'm gonna test that out and see well you know what sorry you're not gonna receive
anything from the lord if you have an attitude that's just always got one foot heading toward
the door one eye on the exit all the time nope you've got to be steadfast and you have to
have nothing wavering and look i'm not asking you to do anything crazy to have some crazy amount of
faith to say i'm not asking you hey get out of the boat and start walking on water peter
come on peter come out of the boat peter come walk on water that's that's not what i'm saying
you know what what i'm asking you to do tonight is to decide you know i will serve the lord until i
die just like i'm gonna stay married to my wife until i die i am going to serve the lord until i
die now look i i hope that i'm a pastor until i die but even if i'm not a pastor i'll still be
serving god i'll still be going to church i'll still be going soul winning i'll always do that
no matter what i don't care if i'm imprisoned if i'm beaten if i'm who knows what who knows what
is going to happen i hope that god blesses me and i just live to a ripe old age and see my children's
children's children like joe or something but i don't want to go through that stuff that joe
went through on the way there amen but you know i want to live a prosperous old life i want to be
pastoring for maybe i'll get another glass plaque or something after after 50 years in the ministry
you know thanking me for being there for 50 years you know that'd be cool amen but you know what it
doesn't matter to me what happens it doesn't matter what happens it doesn't matter if everyone
my church has got up and walked out they all just staged a big walkout
and it's like hey where you going where you going you know it's just everybody's just gone
and it's just me it doesn't matter because i have decided to follow jesus and there is no turning
back that's all i'm just hey i'm just asking i'm not asking you to be perfect i'm not asking you
to do anything crazy to take any radical step you know i'm asking you to do is to make a decision
that that just that just just says you know what i'm a christian i go to church i read the bible
i win souls this is who i am and i'm not going to change i'm you know maybe maybe i'll have my ups
and downs but i will always always always follow christ no matter what people around me do no
matter what happens i will not look if you get that attitude then you know what then you get
on your knees and pray and god is ready to answer you that's when the blessings are going to start
coming down spout rides enough word of prayer father we thank you so much for this church lord
and for all the blessings lord and and you've been faithful over the last two years lord and we know
that you'll continue to be faithful and we know that you will build your church and the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it we're thankful for the fact that you've put us into the ministry
and that you've given us the privilege of serving you and loving you and lord we just pray that you
continue to bless this church and allow great things to happen with a group of people that are
steadfast and unmovable and in jesus name we pray amen all right this time brother bruce me here
would you come this is a very exciting day for us and after two years it's finally here amen
i look i've been looking forward to this day as much as you have i'm sure and as much as all of
you have because of the fact that it's it's it's so it's so exciting to see something come to an
end you know the fruition of a job you know people start things but man it's great to see something
finished and planting a church is a big deal and so this is a very exciting day i hope you remember
this day for the rest of your life and and realize what an important day this is and i am excited and
looking forward to ordaining bruce mahia as the pastor of this church because i have confidence
in him i love him as a brother as a friend and uh he's done a great job amen and so at this time
i'm going to pray for god's special blessing on brother bruce mahia's ministry from here on out
let's bow your eyes and have a word of prayer dear lord god i just pray that you would please just
bless brother mahia lord fill him with your spirit and lord god i just pray that you would just allow
him to do great works for you just to use you great or for for you to use him greatly lord
over the next few years and even many decades lord there's so much work that needs to be done
in los angeles california and lord i just pray that you would just put an anointing upon brother
bruce mahia right now lord god just give him a great anointing and just beyond anything that we
could even ask or think lord i just pray that you would just fill his preaching with power
and that you would just lead him guide him direct him and just be right at his right hand when all
the attacks come and just fight with his enemies lord hold him up and just keep him sharp and on
the front lines serving you lord god and lord i just pray that that like saul had a band of men
whose hearts you had touched that that he would have a group of people that would rally around
him here and follow him and see his zeal for you and that this church would just do amazing things
lord where we'd all stand back in wonder and awe at your mighty power and stand back and say that
had to be god that did that and lord god we pray all this in the name of jesus christ amen god bless
you and now i i just want to say goodbye to you as your pastor i'm no longer your pastor this is
your pastor i'm still your friend maybe you guys will still have me come preach every once in a
while or something you know but anyway you know i i'm your friend i love you but look this is your
pastor all right don't ever think that i'm your pastor this is your pastor all right i'm your
friend i love you but you know what this is the guy that you need to be following this is the guy
who god has raised up for los angeles california and for this area and and look i have a great
burden for california just i i feel exactly the way that pastor joe esposito felt the way that
you feel i mean i love to see churches started up everywhere but i have a special burden for
california i am a california all right i was born in sacramento california and so this this church
and and all california churches and ministries have a special place in my heart so i beg you
and i know that you've already been great about this man rally behind
brother bruce mohia get behind him follow him get behind his vision be a part of it
and and let him lead you as he follows christ follow him amen and i think that this church
has great things in store in the future and i i truly believe that the sky is the limit
and you've been very blessed to have uh pastor bruce mohia he's he's really already been doing
the job de facto for pretty much almost the last two years he's obviously done you know 99 of the
pastoring as far as doing the actual job but he's been found faithful now he's received that office
of the bishop you know he's received that that position
where it's official amen and so let's give him a big hand
and with that i'm out of here