Thank you.
All right.
Please take your seats and turn to song number 147.
Song number 147.
Leaning on the everlasting arms.
Song number 147.
Yeah!
What a fellowship
What a joy
Divine
Leaning on the everlasting arms
What a blessedness
What a peace of mind
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms
Leaning, leaning
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Oh how sweet to walk in this pilgrim way
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Oh how bright the path grows from day to day
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms
Leaning, leaning
Leaning on the everlasting arms
What have I to dread? What have I to fear?
Leaning on the everlasting arms
I have blessed peace with my Lord so dear
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning
Safe and secure from all alarms
Leaning, leaning
Leaning on the everlasting arms
Alright, let's pray.
Lord, I thank you for giving us the opportunity to be in your house again tonight.
I just pray that you can bless the service, bless the preaching, and bless the singing, and I pray all these things in Jesus' name, Amen.
Alright, turn to song number 167.
Song number 167.
All hail the power of Jesus' name.
Song number 167.
All hail the power of Jesus' name.
Lord of all,
tell him who's saved you by his grace,
and crown him Lord of all.
Let every kindred, every tribe,
on this terrestrial home,
to him all majesty us cry,
and crown him Lord of all.
To him all majesty us cry,
and crown him Lord of all.
Oh, that with yonder sacred rock,
he at his feet may fall.
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
We'll join the everlasting song,
and crown him Lord of all.
All right, this time we'll go through our announcements together.
If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high.
We'll get to you with one.
On the inside we have our service time.
Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service.
Sunday nights at six.
Wednesday nights at seven is our Bible study.
This week we'll be in 2 Chronicles chapter number 15.
We've got the soul-winning times listed there below,
as well as salvations and baptisms.
Across the page are the birthdays and anniversaries for the month of July.
On the back, of course, we've got the annual mega conference coming up starting next Sunday.
We've got Pastor Shelley preaching, both services next Sunday.
After that we'll have Pastor Mejia on Wednesday night.
Down the list, Pastor Thompson, Pastor Enrique Reyes,
Pastor Dave Berzins, Pastor Jimenez, Pastor David Mark, and Brother Dylan Oz.
We've got a great lineup of pastors coming over the next several weeks.
I know you'll enjoy and be blessed by their preaching.
Be sure to be faithful and in your place to hear them come preach.
Below that, of course, we have the small town soul-winning in Ashhurst, Arizona.
Twelve soul winners with ten salvations.
And then really just a phenomenal weekend in Greenville, South Carolina.
Pastor Berzins and Stronghold Baptist Church have just planted this church in Greenville.
So it's just a brand new work in this area.
It's a few hours from Atlanta where Pastor Berzins is preaching.
But we had 162 people show up for the preaching on Friday night,
but then amazingly 137 people out the next day for soul-winning.
That's an even more amazing number.
And so praise God for that.
We had 63 saved, four baptized, and that was everything before today.
So I'm sure today they had a great day as well with two different services
and more salvations and baptisms and so forth.
So be praying for that church and definitely spread the word to anyone
that you know in that South Carolina region.
Other things that are coming up.
There's an overnight Navajo soul-winning trip coming up on July 12th and 13th.
And then there's just a one-day trip to Eden.
You get back to Paradise Reclaim, man's fallen place there.
That's on July 20th.
And then of course the roller skating night on August 15th.
That's about it for announcements.
So let's go ahead and count up the soul-winning from the past few days.
So going back to the 4th of July.
Anything to report?
Okay.
Got it.
Okay.
All right.
Anything else from the 4th?
How about the 5th?
Anything from the 5th?
Okay.
And then what about Saturday?
Anything from Saturday?
Okay.
Got it.
Okay.
All right.
And then today, Sunday.
Brother Scott?
6th for the main group with Brother Scott.
Okay.
Gotcha.
Okay.
Got it.
All right.
Very good.
Keep up the great work on soul-winning.
And with that, let's sing our next song.
Come lead us.
Turn with me to song number 187.
Song number 187.
Jesus loves me.
Song number 187.
Little ones to give me long.
They are weak but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me.
He who died.
Heaven's gate to open wide.
He will wash away my sin.
Let his little child come in.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Jesus loves me.
He will stay.
Close beside me all the way.
Thou hast bled and died for me.
I will henceforth live for thee.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.
Turn with me to song number 303.
Song number 303.
My faith looks up to thee.
Song number 303.
My faith looks up to thee.
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Save your Divine.
Now hear me wide.
Save your Divine.
Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day be holy night.
May thy rich grace impart strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire.
As thou hast died for me, obey my love to thee, pure, warm, and changeless be a living heart.
While life's dark fates I tread, and dreams around me spread, be thou my guide.
In darkness turned to day, life sorrows tears awake, O Lord, let me ever stray from thee aside.
When death's light transcends his dream, when death's cold soul is free, shall o'er be rolled?
Blessed Savior, then in love, fear and distrust removed, O bear me safe above, our ransomed soul.
We'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number one.
Follow along silently with Brother Dan as he reads Acts chapter 20 beginning in verse number one.
Chapter 20 of the Bible reads, And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.
And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months.
And when the Jews laid weight for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia.
And there accompanied him into Asia, Sopadar of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus, and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.
These going before tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them at Tetroas in five days, where we abode seven days.
And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man, named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep.
And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
And Paul went down and fell on him, and embracing him, said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him.
When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. And he went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos. There he tended to take in Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.
And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mydalene. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios.
And the next day we arrived at Samos, and tarried at Tragilium. And the next day we came to Miletus.
For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church. And when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying in way to the Jews,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy,
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
And now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I take it a record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men,
for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers,
to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone, night and day, with tears.
And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up,
and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities,
and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak,
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all.
And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake,
that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied with him under the ship.
Thank you, Father, for the King James Bible and Faithful Baptist Church.
I pray that you fill Pastor Anderson with your Holy Spirit. Open our hearts and our ears to receive your perfect word.
I pray this in Jesus' holy name. Amen.
Amen. This evening I'm continuing in Acts chapter 20 where I left off last Sunday on Paul's third missionary journey.
And if you remember, he's in the middle of speaking to the elders that have come to him from Ephesus.
He wasn't actually able to visit Ephesus because he's in a hurry to get back to Jerusalem.
So when he's in a town that's somewhat near Ephesus, he calls for them, and they actually come to him.
And they're very zealous about hearing the word of God and about seeing the Apostle Paul.
So they're willing to make that trip to come hear him.
And he gives them this preaching. We already went over a lot of it last week.
I'm just going to jump in where I left off last time.
But the Bible reads in verse number 25,
And now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I take you to record this day that I am pure from the blood of all men,
for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
And I want to stop and talk about this idea of being pure from the blood of all men.
What does he mean by that? He's basically saying that no one's blood is on his hands.
He has done what he was supposed to do.
He's preached the gospel. He mentioned it a little bit earlier that he preached publicly and from house to house.
And also he's been teaching the church and the elders and everyone.
And so he's saying, I'm free from the blood of all men. I'm pure from the blood of all men.
No one's blood is on my hands.
If anyone hears a clear presentation of the gospel and then they turn around and reject it,
you know, that's no one's fault but their own.
But if people do not hear the gospel and they don't even have a chance to be saved,
well then that's our fault too.
If you would go to Ezekiel chapter number 33.
We're going to come back to Acts chapter 20, but go to Ezekiel chapter number 33.
Ezekiel chapter number 33, we'll find the same concept of us being held responsible for not warning people, right?
The Bible says if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost.
The God of this world has blinded the minds of those that believe not.
And it's our job to shine the light of the glorious gospel.
And if we don't do it, if we're delinquent in that, you know, woe is done to me, Paul said, if I preach not the gospel.
It says in Ezekiel 33 verse 1, again the word of the Lord came unto me saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people and say unto them,
when I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts and set him for their watchman,
if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet and warn the people,
then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
So the Bible's talking here about a watchman or what we would think of today as like a security guard or something, right?
And he's watching for danger. He's watching for the enemy to come.
And if he sees the sword coming and he warns the people and people just ignore, please stop talking while I'm preaching, okay?
You're starting to irritate me. If everyone did what you're doing, then no one would be able to hear anything. All right, thank you.
Where was I? The idea here is that if he sees the sword coming, then he warns the people and then they just ignore the warning.
Well, then at that point, it's their own fault if they end up getting slaughtered because they refuse to take heed under the warning.
The man of God, the preacher, is a watchman, right?
The Bible says of the New Testament pastor that he watches for your souls.
And so he's constantly warning you about all the pitfalls that are out there, all the traps that the devil has laid for you, all the sins and things that can ensnare you.
And by warning people, you know, he's saving lives in a sense, right?
By warning them, hey, don't get drunk, don't commit fornication, don't commit adultery, don't do these wicked things, you're going to be destroyed.
If people hear that preaching and then just go out and do all those wicked things anyway, even though they've heard that warning, that's their fault.
That's not the pastor's fault. The pastor can't really be blamed.
But if you have a church that's filled with fornication and the pastor is not preaching on fornication, well, then that is the pastor's fault.
He's not preaching on fornication, fornication abounds.
He's not preaching against adultery, adultery abounds.
He's not preaching against drunkenness and drunkenness abounds.
It's because he has been delinquent in warning the people about the dangers of these wicked sins.
Now, you could also apply this to the idea of soul winning, right?
Because number one, there's a lot of danger for saved people to just ruin their lives physically, to physically be destroyed, to physically be killed because they got in a drunk driving car accident or picked up an STD or committed adultery with the wrong guy's wife and got killed.
Or whatever. But also, there's another danger out there for the unsaved, which is, of course, an eternity in hell, right?
And that is the biggest danger of all that we need to be warning people about.
So unsaved people need to be warned about the dangers of dying and going to hell if they do not have Jesus Christ as their savior.
And so therefore, we've got to preach the gospel to every creature or people's blood is on our hands if we just fail to warn and fail to let people know.
That's a pretty sobering thought when you think about the responsibility of our gospel being hid to the lost and so forth.
So there are two different ways to apply this.
You could apply this, number one, with a soul winning type application that says, hey, there are lost people out there.
They don't know that hell's real.
They don't know that salvation is available, that it's easy, that it's a free gift.
They are headed to a cliff.
They're in danger.
We've got to warn them so that they can be saved.
That's one application, right?
But then there's another application, too, of warning Christians because Christians are also in danger of ruining their lives or being severely chastised by God and being hurt, being injured or even killed.
Just because you're saved, that does not mean that you are immune from being physically killed if you go down a dark path and commit wicked sins.
In fact, I would say the fact that you're saved makes you more likely to suffer severe consequences for the sins that you commit in this life and in this world.
Because whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
You are not in danger of going to hell because you are eternally saved.
But you are in danger of physical repercussions in this life up to and including physical death.
Look at a guy like King Saul.
King Saul believed in the Lord, worshiped the Lord, followed the Lord, right?
But he ended up getting so wicked that God ended up punishing him and his sons by allowing them to all be killed in battle on the same day.
And that was a direct punishment from God.
And so we need to be careful that we take heed unto the warnings of preachers and the warnings of the Bible and the warnings of other godly Christians in our life who try to tell us about the dangers of sin.
And so the apostle Paul, he was preaching the gospel to the lost all throughout Ephesus and all Asia.
And he was also preaching in the church sound doctrine, warning about false prophets, and also warning about the dangers of sin.
So he could say, I'm pure from the blood of all men.
You know, if anybody out there dies and goes to hell, that's on them because, you know, they've all heard the gospel.
If anybody out there who's a born again child of God refuses to heed the admonitions to live a godly life,
well, if they go out and wreck their lives, it's not my fault.
I preached the truth. I preached the word of God. I sounded the trumpet. They didn't take warning.
The Bible says in verse six, but if the watchman see the sword, come and blow not the trumpet.
We're in Ezekiel 33 six and the people be not warned.
If the sword come and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity.
But his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So again, if he blows the trumpet and someone refuses to heed it, that's their fault.
But if he has been appointed as a watchman, that's his whole job is just to watch.
And he doesn't watch. He's sleeping on the job.
Well, then now he is going to be held accountable for the carnage that ensues from people not taking warning.
And the thing is, as pastors, that is literally the job to watch over the flock, to guard the flock.
And if we don't warn about false prophets, if we don't warn about false teaching, false doctrine and the dangers of serious sin,
well, then we're delinquent and we're going to be punished for the big gaps and holes in our preaching.
You know, it's really sad today how few churches preach against sin today.
And you would think that in 2024, a lot of watered-down churches would be shy about preaching certain things
because they want to be politically correct, so they're afraid to speak out against homos or whatever, right?
I get it, OK? It's wicked, but I get it.
It's trash. It's an embarrassment. It's ungodly. They need to step down, but I get it.
You know what I don't get? I don't get why pastors nowadays don't even preach against things that we all agree are wrong,
that everybody agrees is wrong, that even society would say is wrong, things like drunkenness and adultery.
Why not just preach some sermons on sin?
I mean, virtually all Christians agree that abortion is murder, and the ones who don't are pretty much just fake Christians anyway,
masquerading as Christians, because any idiot knows that murder is murder, that killing a baby is murder.
You say, don't call me an idiot. Well, you know, you're an idiot.
If you think that a baby inside of its mother's womb is not a living thing, you're an idiot.
If you think that's not a human, if you think that's not a person, you're an idiot.
There's no other word for you. It's murder.
Virtually every Christian agrees on that. So why are we not hearing this thundered forth from pulpits across America?
Look, I wish that pastors would preach everything in the Bible, including that which is controversial,
but can we at least get some preaching on sins that aren't even controversial, like fornication, adultery, drunkenness, abortion?
I mean, those are things that we should all be able to—stealing, for crying out loud? Shoplifting?
Can we get some preaching on sin? I've talked to Christian young people that go to liberal churches, liberal colleges, and they say,
and I've asked them, have you heard a sermon on stealing? No. Sermon on abortion? No. Sermon on adultery? No.
Sermon on drinking? No. Sermons against drugs? No.
I mean, look, I'm sure all the churches agree that you shouldn't be taking drugs.
Where are the sermons against taking drugs? Because you know what? Those sermons need to be preached.
Because if we don't have preaching on sin, people will drift into sin. That is just the nature of human beings.
It's just the way the world works. You've got to have these constant reminders not to—
I need these reminders. You need these reminders. We constantly need the Bible in front of us.
We constantly need the Word of God being preached on us, and especially teenagers and young people
who have all these temptations being thrown at them, and they have their friends offering them liquor,
they have their friends offering them drugs, they have friends that are leading them into places
where they're exposed to things and basically where there are temptations to commit fornication
and opportunity to commit fornication. Teenagers are dealing with these temptations,
and they need to hear some strong preaching, reminding them of the seriousness of these things.
It's crucial, okay? And if the men of God don't do that preaching, they are held accountable by God.
The Bible says they watch for your souls as they must give an account,
that they may do it with joy and not with grief, right?
You know, I want to give an account to God for my pastoring of Faithful Word Baptist Church,
and I want it to be a fun thing. I want it to be a joyous thing.
Man, I can't wait to get to heaven and talk to God about Faithful Word Baptist Church.
Not like, oh man, I have to face God for the condition of Faithful Word Baptist Church?
You know, this is going to be grief unto me.
And of course, if I were to die today and face God, you know, I'd be thrilled to talk about Faithful Word Baptist Church.
But let's keep it that way, amen?
I want to do it with joy and not with grief.
Why? Because it's unprofitable for you.
Because you're also in the same boat with me.
We're all part of the same team here.
It says in verse number 7,
So thou, O son of man, I've set thee a watchman under the house of Israel.
Verse 7, Therefore thou shalt hear the word of my mouth and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die,
if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way.
That wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it,
if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity,
but thou hast delivered thy soul, meaning you are off the hook.
Now if you would go to Acts chapter number 20 where we were.
Acts chapter 20.
He goes on and repeats that a few times.
And in fact, you can find this same theme elsewhere repeated in the book of Ezekiel.
It's something that God brings up repeatedly throughout the book of Ezekiel,
specifically because Ezekiel was preaching to an audience that for the most part was not listening.
Just like Jeremiah was constantly preaching to people who rejected his words.
And so God's explaining to Ezekiel, it's not your job to guarantee the outcome.
It's your job to preach the word of God and let the chips fall where they may.
And God told that to Jeremiah going in.
He said, look, I'm sending you to a rebellious house.
I'm sending you to a stiff necked people.
People aren't going to listen.
He tells the same thing to Ezekiel.
Look, a lot of people are going to reject your message.
And so just realize that you have a responsibility to preach.
And that is where your responsibility ends.
I cannot control the actions of other people.
I can't control the actions of anyone.
Okay, I can't control the actions of church members.
And you know, all I can do is preach the word of God.
Preach the truth.
And if I preach all the counsel of God, and people still go out and ruin their lives in this way, that way, or the other way,
well, you know what, I'm not going to take responsibility for that because it's not my fault.
Because I did what I was told.
And you know, this is a liberating thought.
And by the way, this is also the attitude that you should have when you're out soul winning.
I feel like a lot of people when they're out soul winning, if they preach the gospel to someone
and that person doesn't get saved, it's like they feel like it was their fault.
And I've been soul winning with so many people where they give someone the gospel and they do a great job
and the person doesn't get saved and they say, you know,
well Pastor Anderson, what do you think I could have done differently?
And I'm constantly telling people, you don't need to have done anything differently.
You did fine.
That person made a decision.
And you can't make that decision for them.
And so it's not that you did something wrong, it's just that they didn't get saved because they didn't get saved
and that's up to them and that's on them.
And so when you go out soul winning, go out and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ,
do the best you can, but at the end of the day, it's not your job to ensure that people get saved.
That is the Holy Spirit's job, that is the person that you're preaching to's job
to actually make that decision for themselves and no one can make it for them.
They have to make it for themselves.
And so realize that also when you're, you know, you're not a pastor,
but just even as a man, woman, boy or girl that's just a Christian in the church,
there are going to be times when you warn people about sin too.
You're not getting up behind a pulpit necessarily and warning people about sin,
but you might warn a friend or a loved one or someone close to you and say,
hey man, you're going down a dark path right now.
You're getting involved in some bad stuff.
You are doing some things that are clearly contrary to the word of God
and that person just blows you off and doesn't listen and doesn't care and it's my life.
Well, you know what? Your work there is done.
You don't have to just keep on, you know, fretting about how you can fix that situation
because honestly at the end of the day, you can take the horse to the water,
but you can't make him drink.
And that's just the sad reality of pastoring and that's the sad reality of the Christian life
and just trying to help your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Sometimes they will despise the wisdom of your words unfortunately.
But if you just don't say anything and you just kind of let the Christians around you
just, you know, do all these horrific things and you never express any disapproval
of their drunkenness and drug use, and I'm not talking about picking people apart for little things,
you know, obviously we don't want to nitpick everyone and pick everyone apart for every little thing,
but you know, when you see people committing serious sins in your life, you know, you should say something.
You should rebuke fornication amongst Christians.
Now look, I'm not saying to rebuke the unsaved for their sins
because that's just unsaved people being unsaved people.
They need the gospel of Jesus Christ.
But I'm talking about one that's called a brother that's a fornicator or a drunkard or whatever.
You know, you need to rebuke those people and hopefully wake them up
and hopefully they can get right with God before they do serious damage to their life.
And so he says, I'm pure from the blood of all men.
We're back in Acts 20 now, verse 27, for I've not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
And that is what we need today, the entire Bible preached.
I'm sick of pastors deciding what they think is relevant and what is not relevant.
You know, I don't know, preaching through 2 Chronicles?
I mean, is everything in there relevant?
I say yes, but even if it's not, I'm going to preach it anyway.
Because I'm going to preach all the counsel of God and all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and all scripture is profitable for doctrine, but it's not just profitable for doctrine.
It's profitable for reproof, for correction.
It's profitable for instruction in righteousness.
And so I can preach through 2 Chronicles and preach about how to live a righteous Christian life in 2024
using 2 Chronicles as my text.
And I'm preaching through the entire Bible on Wednesday nights because I don't want to miss anything.
Make sure that I preach everything.
I want to be like Paul and say I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
Look at verse 28. We kind of switched to a new thought here.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost
hath made you overseers to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Famous verse. The first thing I want to point out here is that we need to take heed to ourselves
before we take heed to other people.
It reminds me of every single time I fly on an airplane, the stewardess comes over and tells me,
Hey, make sure that you put on your oxygen mask before helping other people with their oxygen mask.
Because the idea here is that if the cabin depressurizes and you say,
Oh, I got to make sure that little Johnny and little Susie get their mask out.
Oh, let's put your mask on.
And you conk out and you end up not helping them and you also end up not helping yourself either.
But if you first take care of yourself, now you're able to take care of others more effectively.
So we don't want to get so concerned with other people that we're not thinking about ourselves.
You know, here's another illustration.
I remember I was on a soul winning trip in Aruba and we were riding these bikes that were rental bikes
and they were really heavy.
And so because these bikes were really heavy with a lot of like metal machinery, they weren't electric at all.
You had to pedal these things, but they were just really heavy.
I don't know why they were just really heavy metal bikes.
And so you'd get going down a hill on these things and you'd just be absolutely flying.
And it was kind of scary how fast these bikes were going.
We're riding our bikes to different places in the island to go soul winning.
And I was with my son, Isaac, and we're riding the bikes and, you know, Isaac started getting a little squirrely.
And so I start calling out advice to him about,
Hey, you know, here's what you need to do to not crash.
And as I'm giving him advice, I crashed because I got so focused on helping him that I completely ignored what I was doing.
And so I was just, and I was going, I was in shorts and a t-shirt and I was going fast.
Like, I don't know, 35 miles an hour probably because we were just absolutely flying down these hills, unfortunately.
And so I ended up just, just kind of just shredding my arm, just like shredding my, it was not a serious injury at all.
It was just kind of one of those, you know, one of those things that we all got as kids in the eighties, like every weekend, you know, on our BMX bikes, we were just built different back then.
You know, we're just constantly shredding our elbows and knees.
So I was just all shredded and tore up.
But I had to laugh at the fact that while I'm telling him how not to fall, I fall.
Because I'm thinking about him so much that I'm not taking heat unto myself.
And we need to make sure that we take heat unto ourselves and unto the church over the which the Holy Ghost has made us overseers.
Pastors need to also make sure that they're walking the walk with God and not just preaching to other people,
but that they're also taking heat under their own spiritual condition and their own attitude and their own Bible reading and prayer and their own life.
Because if we are just so worried about taking care of everybody else and saving everybody else and helping everybody else,
and then we let our own life fall apart, well then that's in the long run not going to help anybody, is it?
Because if we crash and burn spiritually, then we're not helping others.
Part of me being able to help you and help others is that I don't crash and burn myself.
I've got to actually live a stable life myself.
You know, I've been accused of being unstable, you know, because I preach hard.
And I guess my volume wasn't stable enough during my sermons or something because the sermon got loud sometimes or something, you know?
Because I blew up about sin or heresy or whatever.
But at the end of the day, I've been married to the same woman, I'm going to get it right this time, 24 years in August.
It's the easiest calculation in the world because I was married in the year 2000.
So I don't know why I'm always under...
You know, it just only feels like it's only been 21 years because it just flew by, baby.
But you know, I've been married to the same woman, my first wife, my only wife, for almost 24 years.
I've passed through the same church for 18 years.
I've lived in the same town for 18 years.
I've been the same religion my entire life, an independent fundamental Baptist, okay?
But I'm unstable, says some, you know, divorced and remarried Sunday school teacher who's on his, you know, 10th church or whatever.
Seriously, I mean, a divorced and remarried Sunday school teacher who's been to a whole bunch, you know, served at a bunch of different churches said I was unstable.
But at the end of the day, okay, we've got to make sure that we look out for ourselves.
And the Bible says that we that are strong ought to bear the burdens of the weak and not to please ourselves.
The Bible talks about us helping out people who are backslidden and reaching out to people that have problems.
But you know what? The Bible also says that we should consider ourselves lest we also be tempted.
You know, if you're a recovering alcoholic, it's probably not a good idea for you to go down to the bar and, you know, try to reach other people down at the bar and, you know, give the gospel at the bar while you drink your club soda.
Because putting yourself in that environment is probably not taking heat under yourself, okay?
You've got to not put yourself in tempting situations.
And when everybody has their different strengths and weaknesses, for some people being around alcohol is no temptation.
You know, other people being around alcohol is a huge temptation.
Or, you know, fill in the blank of the sin.
And the idea here is that we need to make sure that we are looking out for our own spiritual safety and putting on our oxygen mask first before helping other people.
And that's why the apostle Paul says here, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, right?
So first make sure, look, how can you feed the flock if you're not feeding yourself, right?
You've got to make sure that you're taking in the Word.
Make sure you're reading the Bible so that you can then teach the Bible to other people, right?
You've got to read it yourself.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God.
Now look, the office of being a bishop, the word bishop literally means overseer.
That's what it literally breaks down to, that word bishop means overseer.
And so it's important that the pastor is actually keeping an eye on the flock and watching out for the wolves, watching out for the dangers and warning people about those dangers.
This is part of the job, right?
The shepherd, he feeds the flock, he leads them to green pastures in God's Word and crystal clear water for them to drink from the Word of God.
But he's also warning them about the danger and he's overseeing them and if he sees the ones that are wandering, he warns them.
And if he sees the wolf coming, he warns the flock about that wolf that is coming.
And so the Bible says take heed that you, excuse me, take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the Church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Now notice, God has purchased the Church with his own blood, okay?
God has purchased the Church with his own blood.
Now here's the thing about this, it shouldn't be surprising to us because throughout the scripture, Jesus is referred to as God because Jesus is divine, okay?
There are many scriptures, for example, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8, but unto the Son he saith, thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
So is it a surprise that the blood of Jesus is the blood of God?
Of course, Jesus' blood is the blood of God because Jesus is God.
Let me tell you something, God the Father did not die on the cross for you.
The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
It is Jesus, the Son of God, who died on the cross for you, not God the Father, okay?
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But you've got these theologians and, you know, theology is so irritating unto me.
And you say, well, you're a pastor, you're supposed to love theology.
Well, you know what, I don't.
I don't believe in theology, in fact, because you know what theology is?
Theology at its core is applying the principles of pagan Greek philosophy to the Bible and using them to somehow interpret the Bible and understand who God is.
You know, I'm sure that that's not what, you know, the seminaries will tell you theology is.
But, you know, at the end of the day that's what theology ends up being.
It's a bunch of just man's reasoning and philosophizing and most of it is based upon these medieval scholars who were super deep into Plato and Aristotle.
And all of these Greek pagan philosophers and they would take stuff that unsaved idolatrous pagans said about God and try to make it jive with Christian theology.
Try to make it jive with what the Bible teaches.
And so philosophy is something that the Bible warns us about that it's not the correct way to understand scripture.
People will spoil us with vain philosophy.
We are not to use philosophy to understand the Bible.
We should take the Bible for what it says with the Holy Spirit as our guide and not try to impose some external philosophical system upon the Bible.
Because you end up getting weird doctrines that don't, they don't come from the Bible.
You know, theology.
Like for example, I'll give you an example of something that theologians teach.
Divine simplicity.
You know, divine simplicity.
Friend, that's not a biblical doctrine.
That is not something that the Bible teaches at all.
You can force it on the Bible if you want.
If you take that doctrine and then try to jam it and fit it into the Bible.
Well, you can do that just like everybody does with every false doctrine.
You know, here's another one.
The impassivity of God.
I mean you have these dumb medieval dark ages philosophies and you've got Protestants still running around teaching them in 2024 instead of just letting the Bible say what it says.
And this impassivity doctrine says that God does not experience any emotion.
Why? Because Aristotle said so.
Because Thomas Aquinas said so.
Because Augustine said so.
I don't care.
What are you talking about?
I'm reading the Bible and over and over again we have God being angry.
God having compassion.
God having pity.
God having all kinds of feelings.
And then they just say, well, you know, he just didn't really, he wasn't really mad.
He wasn't really compassionate there.
You know, he doesn't really feel love or hatred or anger or joy or grief.
You know, when it says you're grieving the Holy Spirit, you know, that's just, you know, God putting it so that we can understand.
Or maybe you're just making crap up right now.
Because can you show me a Bible verse that says, just kidding, God's never angry.
Just kidding, God doesn't feel compassion.
Just kidding, God is not hate and God does not love.
No, my friend, why don't we just go with the Bible when the Bible says God loves and just say God loves.
And if it says God hates, then God hates.
And if God's mad, then he's mad.
If God repented, then God repented.
Get over it.
But they say, well, you know, according to Aristotle, the most superior being would never feel emotion.
Emotion is weakness.
Or maybe emotion makes you a superior being because you're not a robot.
Maybe the ultimate being in the universe does feel emotion.
And maybe he created us to be like him and feel emotion too.
And care about things and actually feel things.
But no, no, the theologians have decided that it's, you know, divine impassivity.
God's just up in heaven not caring about anything.
He just pretends to care.
He just makes it sound like he cares so that we can relate to him.
But in reality, he doesn't care about anything.
Because he's just so impass- I mean, is that just a dumb doctrine or what?
Am I the only one who thinks that's dumb?
But all of these- and then they'll come up with these theological things about Jesus.
Okay, here's- let me give you the true story about Jesus.
And you know what?
The theologians who don't like it can go jump in a lake as far as I'm concerned.
Okay?
Here's what the Bible teaches about Jesus.
The Bible teaches that Jesus is 100% man and he's 100% God.
Right?
Jesus is God and it's not that part of Jesus is God.
It's not that Jesus became God or started being God or stopped being God.
Jesus just is God.
Okay?
Jesus eternally coexists with the Father and the Holy Ghost as the eternal Son of God.
Okay?
That's what the Bible actually teaches.
Okay?
But Jesus Christ is also a full-fledged, literal human being.
Born as a physical baby, flesh and blood.
He sucked at his mother's breast.
He grew up.
He learned how to walk.
He learned how to talk.
He grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God.
He went through a real human experience.
Okay?
And Jesus Christ died on the cross.
The man Christ Jesus died on the cross.
And he literally died and he was buried and three days later, he physically rose again from the dead.
And at the end of the day, you cannot separate the divinity of Christ from the humanity of Christ.
Right?
Because Jesus Christ is just through and through man and he's through and through God.
He's the God-man.
He's 100% divine, 100% human.
And so you'll get this stupidity of saying, well, you know, his soul is the God part and his body is the human part.
And they'll say, well, God didn't die for you.
It was just the human part that died.
What is that?
There's only one, it is heresy.
There's only one person who died for us and it's Jesus and there's no non-divine Jesus.
There's just Jesus and he's divine.
Well, but his physical body is not divine.
Yeah, it is.
And you say, well, how do you know?
Well, part of his body is his blood and the Bible calls it the blood of God.
Now why is it called the blood of God?
Because Jesus is God and it's Jesus' blood.
And Jesus' blood is the blood of God.
Because Jesus is God.
Okay?
That's just a fact.
Now you say, well, does that make Mary the mother of God?
Well, technically, yes, technically, but that is a stupid name to call Mary because it's misleading.
And if it's never used in the Bible, we should never use it.
And it is a sin to worship Mary because Mary is not God.
She's not divine.
She's not sinless.
In fact, she's not even a virgin anymore because she was only a virgin until she brought forth her firstborn son and called his name Jesus.
After that, her and Joseph had relations and had other kids.
Okay.
So Mary should not be worshiped and given a title that the Bible never gives her.
Because if you're going to call Mary the brother of God, or excuse me, the mother of God, then you'd have to call James the brother of God.
You know, do we have God's grandpa, God's grandson, God's cousin, cousin of God, hail John, cousin of God?
I mean, you know, where does it end?
It's a foolish term, but to turn around and say, well, Mary's only the mother of the human part.
You basically, you've escaped one wrong doctrine and now you're falling for something else.
Okay.
Now you could say, and look, I'm not saying that everyone who says that, you know, well, you know, she's his mother in the sense of his physical incarnation.
I mean, that's accurate to say that, to say she's his mother in the sense that that's his physical incarnation.
Obviously, Jesus predates Mary.
She's not his mother in that sense.
In that sense, he's without father, without mother, without descent because he's the eternal son of God in that sense.
But obviously, physically speaking, you could say that in some sense, Mary is God's mother if she's Jesus' mother.
But again, that's a stupid term that we shouldn't use because it's misleading, confusing and leads to idolatry.
Okay.
So I hope that that helps you understand that point.
The idea here is, though, that we cannot separate Jesus into the God part and the human part because there's just Jesus and he's just God.
And he's always been God and he always will be God.
And there was never a moment when he stopped being God.
There's no, you know, it's not that just his soul is God, but not his flesh or something like that.
Sorry, but his blood is the blood of God.
That's what the Bible actually teaches.
And I don't care what Protestants say, they need to leave the Dark Ages, please, and actually go by what the Bible teaches.
Okay.
I don't believe this garbage for one second that says that somehow, you know, Jesus' body is 100% human, not divine at all, will then explain to me how in the world was he even born because last time I checked, he didn't have a physical father.
So how does that work?
Where did he get the other half of his DNA?
He got it from God.
God the Father because he's the son of God.
Any questions?
And you know what?
If you're the son, you know, I'm the son of an Anderson, that makes me an Anderson.
And Jesus is the son of God and that actually, since he's the actual son of God without even having an earthly father, that makes him the literal son of God.
That makes him literally divine, literally God in every sense of the word.
And so, you know, that's just the way it is.
And this is a great verse to show that Jesus' blood is the blood of God.
And you say, well, God can't die.
Well, you just made that rule up right now because I say that God can die.
I say that God did die on the cross for you 2,000 years ago and he was buried and he rose again.
Now God the Father didn't die.
The Holy Spirit didn't die.
But the son of God, who is also God, did die.
And he was buried and he rose again.
God can't die.
You know, that's funny.
That's what the Christ rejecting Jehovah's Witnesses tell me.
That's what the unsaved Jehovah's Witnesses tell me.
God can't die.
Now we're hearing that from Baptists?
Hang that garbage.
Verse 29, for I know this, speaking of heretical garbage amongst Baptists,
for I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
And Paul warns them.
He says, hey, I'm never going to see you again.
And it's just a fact.
I know that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you.
It's not a question if they might.
It's that they will.
There will be false prophets among you.
The Bible says in 2 Peter 2, there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you.
It will happen.
It's a guarantee.
False prophets will infiltrate our churches.
And not only will false prophets infiltrate from without, but also, verse 30, of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them.
You'll have people come into a church and get a little click, get a little faction going, that they can deceive and twist and teach their false Trinity-denying doctrine unto, or whatever doctrine they're denying.
And they'll try to get their little crowd.
What is their motive?
They're trying to draw away disciples after them.
They're trying to build a following.
You see, we often say of the Sodomites that they're not reproducers, they're recruiters.
But we could also say the same thing about false prophets, because you know what?
You've got to be saved to win people to Christ.
You know, because everything brings forth after its own kind.
A good tree brings forth good fruit.
A corrupt tree brings forth corrupt fruit.
You know, if you're not even saved yourself, how can you save other people?
Okay?
And so the idea here is that you have to be saved to win people to Christ, so you've got an unsaved false prophet.
They're not actually going out and finding unsaved people and getting them saved.
What they do is they go in and try to take someone else's fruit and pervert it and corrupt it and draw away disciples after them.
And so then they're not bringing forth any good fruit themselves.
They're taking someone else's good fruit and seeing if they can spoil it and teach wrong doctrine to it and get them messed up,
because they can't actually produce something on their own.
So they have to just leech off of something else and draw away disciples after them.
It says in verse 31, Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears.
Look, preaching is not all just sweetness and light.
Some of it's a warning.
Some of it's with tears saying watch out for these people.
Watch out for this doctrine.
Watch out for this sin.
He warned them every day with tears.
And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
I've coveted no man's silver, verse 33, or gold or apparel.
Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me.
He's saying, look, I'm not in it for the money.
I care about you.
I love you.
I'm in it because I want people to get saved and I want people to live for God.
And I want people to believe right.
He says, I've showed you all things, how that so laboring you ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
Now, what's interesting is, of course, you're not going to find this quote in the four gospels.
But obviously this is something that Jesus said that Paul knew about.
What's interesting is that you will not see Paul typically quoting the four gospels, you know, in his epistles.
Look at all of Paul's epistles and go through Romans, first, second Corinthians.
He's not supporting what he's saying with quotes from the four gospels.
OK, why?
Why is Paul not quoting the four gospels?
Simply because Paul is writing before the four gospels.
OK, the earliest New Testament scriptures are the epistles of Paul.
And so Paul is writing before the four gospels have been written.
The four gospels are written later.
OK, so while Paul's preaching, he's typically using the Old Testament to preach because the most of the New Testament hadn't been written at that time.
He obviously wrote half the books in the New Testament himself.
So when he's first starting out, he's preaching out of the Old Testament and then he's writing epistles.
But he's still quoting things that Jesus Christ said and talking about things that Jesus Christ did.
Obviously, people know the sayings of Jesus even orally before they're written down in the four gospels themselves.
And so that's why you shouldn't really be surprised that this quote is not in the four gospels and that Paul isn't packing his preaching with stuff from the four gospels.
He's constantly quoting Psalms and Deuteronomy and things like that.
He's quoting the scripture that he has at the time.
Now we, of course, have the whole Bible.
And so it is more blessed to give than to receive, the Bible says.
And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all.
And they all wept, sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,
sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.
And they accompanied him under the ship.
I just want to end on this thought here that preaching the entire word of God,
preaching instant, in season, out of season, warning all men, preaching the entire Bible,
even the parts of the Bible that are not popular, will ultimately endear you unto God's people.
Okay? The Bible says that he that...
Good night. I'm drawing a blank on this.
Can you stop this verse for me?
In Proverbs, where he says that, you know, afterward, he that, he that, uh,
the guy who flattereth, and then there's the guy who, like, reproveth,
and afterward, he's more something or other.
Who's got it?
This is like a, this is like an advanced level sword drill,
because I don't even give you the reference.
I just give you, like, a vague idea of what I'm talking about.
What is it?
He that rebuketh the man afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue.
Right? So rebuking people is not fun, and it's not fun for the person who's being rebuked,
but he that rebuketh the man afterward shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue.
Who's the one that flattereth with the tongue?
The pastor that just gets up and just tells you everything's great, and there's no problem,
you're looking sharp, you know, keep it up, you're doing great, even as you're going off the cliff.
In the long run, five years from now, ten years from now, fifteen years from now,
you know who's really going to be appreciated is the guy who told the truth, not the one who flattered you.
I guarantee you that there are people in this room that would say,
you know, there's a, you know, I, I think about my childhood preacher,
and I'm irritated that he didn't warn me about stuff,
because I made a bunch of mistakes, and he, I wouldn't have made them if he would have warned me.
And they wish that their pastor would have preached harder and warned them before they made certain mistakes.
How do I know that? Because I've had people come up and tell me that over the years and say,
man, if I would have known, I wouldn't have done that.
I wish my pastor would have told me that.
I wish I knew now, or excuse me, I wish I knew then what I knew now.
People are saying, man, I wish I would have heard this preaching as a teenager.
I'm hearing it when I'm forty, I wish I would have heard it as a teen.
I can't even count how many people have said that to me.
You know, and they're not sitting there thinking fondly about some pastor that sugar-coated everything,
and, and censored everything, and wouldn't tell them anything.
And, you know, there are people that get irritated by the preaching,
and then they come back years later and say, hey, I'm sorry, you were right.
You know, I, I shouldn't have gotten mad, or whatever.
And I'm like, I don't even remember what you're talking about, so it's really easy to forgive you.
It's when people come to me and apologize for stuff so many years later, and I'm just like,
you know what, I forgive you, because I don't even know what you're talking about,
and I don't even remember any of that.
So, you know, it's just like, you had me at hello, forgive, right?
Easy.
Easiest forgiveness doled out ever when you don't even remember what they did.
Hey, I said some stuff to you, and you're just like, no problem.
No problem.
What's your name again?
But the point is that, you know, these people love Paul.
I mean, the biggest thing that made an impact on them was, you're not going to see my face anymore.
That was the biggest thing that they took away.
Why? Because they love him.
Why? Because he preached the whole Bible.
Okay, and look, sometimes you have to say things to people that they don't want to hear,
but in the long run, you know, telling the truth is more endearing than lying in the long run.
Okay, because ultimately, hopefully, people are going to get right and realize, you know, what the truth was.
And so, the Bible says here that they wept, they fell on Paul's neck, they kissed him,
they sorrowed at not seeing him anymore because of the fact that he had been among them for years,
preaching the truth, and not leaving anything out, and not sugar-coating anything, and that was valuable unto them.
That meant something to them.
And so, we'll leave it there for tonight.
Chapter 21 has just a little bit more in the missionary journey, but let's close in prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, and Lord God, I pray that you would just help us to be faithful,
to warn the lost about the reality of hell and to tell people how they can be saved through Jesus before it's eternally too late.
Lord, help us also to watch out for our brothers and sisters who are getting deep into sin or committing serious sin.
Help us to be faithful to kindly and gently and lovingly warn them and admonish them,
and if necessary, rebuke them to help get them back on that right path.
Lord God, thank you so much for giving us the local church as an institution where we could come together with like-minded believers for fellowship and preaching,
but Lord, help us to realize that there will be false prophets who come in and false teachers.
Lord, help us to be on the lookout, help us to be alert to those things,
and help us to be on our guard as we learn true biblical doctrine so that we'll be able to identify those things when they pop up.
And in Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
In your hymn books, turn to song number 413, song number 413, stand up for Jesus, song number 413.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
We soldiers of the cross, Lift high his loyal manner,
It must not suffer loss, From victory on to victory,
His army shall we lead, Till every foe is vanquished,
And Christ is Lord in need.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, A trumpet call obey,
For to the mighty conflict, In this his glorious day,
He, that our men now serve him, Against unnumbered foes,
When courage rise with danger, In strength to strength oppose,
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in his strength alone,
The arm of flesh will fill you, He dare not trust your own,
Put on the gospel armor, And watch his eyes to prayer,
Where duty calls your danger, Be never wanting there.
Thank you for coming. You are dismissed.
.