motivate us and increase our faith in Jesus' name I pray, Amen
now verse number one the Bible reads how long wilt thou forget me O Lord forever
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me how long shall I take counsel in my soul
having sorrow in my heart daily how long shall my enemy
be exalted over me basically David's just crying out to God in desperation I mean
you can feel the despair when he says how long wilt thou forgive me O Lord forever
so he's been enduring a lot of tribulation he's been suffering at the
hands of his enemies
and he's just in desperation crying out to God
saying how long shall I take counsel in my soul having sorrow in my heart
daily how long shall my enemy be exalted over me consider and hear me O Lord my God
lighten mine eyes lest I sleep the sleep of dead
and watch verse four this is a key verse lest mine enemy say
I have prevailed against him and those that trouble me
rejoice when I am moved now here's what I want you to understand about this chapter
there are people out there whose goal it is to move you
okay there are people out there whose goal it is to destroy you to make you
fall
remember what we saw let's go back to Psalm 11 real quick I just want to show you
verse number two it says for lo the wicked bend their bow
they make ready their arrow upon the string that they may privily
shoot at the upright in heart the Bible says in Proverbs that the adulterous
woman
will hunt the precious life it's like a sport
it's her employment to go after and find someone who's
upright someone who's righteous and cause them to fall
uh Proverbs 4 flip over there if you would
Proverbs chapter 4 there are bad people in this world
evil people whose goal it is to destroy you
who would rejoice over nothing more than to watch you move and change and
stop serving God and quit look at Proverbs 4 the Bible says in verse number
14 enter not into the path of the wicked
and go not in the way of evil men avoid it
pass not by it turn from it and pass away
watch verse 16 for they sleep not except they have done
mischief and their sleep is taken away
unless they cause some to fall
they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence this is
basically their whole goal in life I mean they don't want to let a day goes by
they'll lay in their bed awake at night if they haven't destroyed one or caused one to fall
it says
that's their goal to destroy to harm and who are they going after
who are they setting their sights at who is the devil want to attack well who did he
attack in the book of Job
the most upright person in the entire world the most righteous man that there
was was the one that he set his sights on to destroy
look at the book of Acts where the devils
that were possessing the man that attacked the seven sons of Siva
and the devil's called out the seven sons of Siva you know Jesus I know and Paul I
know but who are ye
their goal is to destroy those who are doing right the most righteous people
are their targets
now look at Psalm 13 David was a righteous man
David was preaching the true word of God David was a righteous king that was
leading the children of Israel
to worship the Lord and to follow him alone to keep his laws and so forth
and basically he's begging God not to let him be destroyed he says in verse 4
lest mine enemies say
I have prevailed against him and those that trouble me
rejoice when I am moved what does he mean by being moved well
I was looking up all kinds of scriptures on being moved and this is something that the
Bible mentions a lot
now I first Thessalonians chapter 3 go ahead and turn there if you would
first Thessalonians 3 while you're turning there I'll read you this Colossians 123
if you continue in the faith grounded
and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel
which you have heard and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven
whereby Paul made a minister Acts 2 25 for David speaketh concerning him
I foresaw the Lord always before my face for he is
on my right hand that I should not be moved
look at first Thessalonians 3 1 wherefore when we could no longer forbear we thought it
could be left at Athens alone
and sent to Mothias our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the
gospel of Christ
to establish you and to comfort you concerning your faith
think of the word established as when you see a gigantic skyscraper
and at the bottom there's a stone at the bottom there's concrete
there's the base the foundation that's holding up that whole building and it says
established and then such and such the date he's saying
grounded established you're you're not going to be moved
look at verse number three that no man
should be moved by these afflictions for yourselves know that we are appointed
there unto
for verily when we were with you we told you before
that we should suffer tribulation even as it came to pass
and ye know. Now what tribulation is he talking about? Well
look back to chapter 2. In chapter 2 he describes
the tribulation that he's talking about he says
verse 14 for ye brethren became followers of the churches of God which
in Judea are in Christ Jesus
for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen
even as they have of the Jews. Now the words affliction and tribulation in the Bible
are talking about someone else attacking you okay
the Egyptians afflicted the children of Israel with cruel bondage
the tribulation that's coming one day at the hand of the Antichrist
at the hand of all the wicked men in this world that will be enforcing his
satanic regime. The tribulation
in Matthew 24 is called in Mark 13
great affliction. It's called in Mark 24 great tribulation
Mark 13 the same statement great affliction
being afflicted, being attacked, going through persecution
having people try to tempt you and try to wear you down
and grind you down to get you to be moved and Paul said I said Timothy
to build you up, to establish you so that you wouldn't be moved by these afflictions
because you say I know that the goal of those that persecute you
what we saw in chapter 2, I know that the goal of those that afflict you
is to make you move, to get you
to change and there's great pressure always
to change. Have you noticed how many people change?
Have you noticed how many pastors change? Have you noticed how many preachers
preach the truth, preach what's right, people quit the church
people attack him, people persecute him and then all of a sudden
he's moved. All of a sudden he's preaching something different that's a little more
popular
that people like. That's the goal of persecution
and tribulation to get you to move, to get you to change
the Bible says in Proverbs 24, meddle not with them that are given
to change. We live in a world of shifting
sands and the foolish man is he who builds his house
upon the sand. But the wise man builds his house upon the rock
which never changes. Jesus Christ is saying yesterday and today and forever
and so we ought not move. If Jesus has not moved and Jesus is set at our right hand as David said
then we should not be moved. But you see the further you get from Jesus
you're going to start moving. If you're right there with Jesus he's not going to move and if you're
right there with him you're not moving either.
That's why I should be preaching the same thing today
that I preached a year ago, that I preached two years ago, that I preached three years ago
that I preached four years ago. Now I'm sure that I've learned more and grown more
and fine-tuned some things but let me tell you something
when I was six years old I told
the neighbor across the street that salvation was by faith alone
and that's why I believe today I'm not going to change on that. Nobody's going to move me
with all their cute little doctrines of repent of your sins
and oh you know way of the pastor or way of the master
and you know this new evangelism method and the grow program
and you know awake program and all these dumb programs.
No, I want to stay the same. I want to grow, I want to get better, I want to get closer to God
but I want to stay the same. When I started the church
it was based upon hard preaching. It was based upon preaching the truth
calling a spade a spade, like it or lump it
whether it's popular, in season, out of season, pulling no punches
not caring what people think, caring only what Jesus thinks
and I have to continue to preach that way until I die. It's not good enough that
oh I preached it back then. Yeah, I preached it hard and I went through the persecution.
No, I need to keep preaching it the same way. The way that you became great
is the way you're going to stay great and let me tell you something, this is a great church
and the way that it became great is the way it's going to stay great
and the way it became great was through heavy emphasis
on door to door preaching the gospel to every creature, heavy emphasis on
faith alone for salvation and heavy emphasis
on hard preaching, purity, cleanliness
righteousness, godliness because God has not called us to uncleanness
but unto holiness and somebody needs to tell that
to the average Baptist church today that God's called us to holiness
not watching Hollywood, not watching TV
not listening to all the world's rock and roll but holiness
being set apart, different than the world. I was sitting on the airplane today
bored out of my mind. You know, what else is new?
I fly so much that I've pretty much gone through so many different entertainments
you know what I mean? The crossword puzzles, I mean just
everything and I mean I've just gone through everything
I've read my Bible, I've read this, I've read that and I'm always flying
flying, flying and sometimes it's just too much, you know, just being on a plane
over and over. Well, you know, I pull out the magazine
the little one that's provided by the airline
I say, you know, this is some interesting articles. There were a couple interesting articles
like
something about science and, you know, I was looking through it
and there was some article about some
some actress that's coming on the scene, this big scene
and I read a couple paragraphs of it and you know what, this woman's a whore
is what she is, you know, and it's telling her life story like she's just a nice person
but she's some whore, you know, and that's what, it just
it just reminded me why I don't watch TV and why I don't watch movies
because you read it and she looks like a real nice person
but then you start to read it and, you know, basically
she just had a baby or something and then now
she's in some movie, you know, acting in all these
love scenes with some other guy and you sit there and say
oh I watch these movies but they're clean because they cut out, you know, all the
all the bedroom scene but you're watching people kissing
with people that they're not married to and going to bed with people that they're not married to
and you say oh I didn't show anything, they're in bed with somebody that they're not married to
and they're married to somebody else
this woman has a newborn baby at home and she's acting in this kind of smut
and I'm going to tell you something, you can try to justify movies and justify TV
but you are taking pleasure in the ungodly of this world
David said I'll send no wicked thing before my eyes, I hate the work of them to turn aside
it shall not cleave to me and so it's as
you know, as if I needed a reminder just to look at this and just to get a biography of one of these people
just how wicked they really are in real life
it's all looking good on the outside and inside
it's full of rottenness and dead men's bones and so
we're not going to change, Faithful or Baptist Church will
not change, by God's grace
we will not be moved, let me give you some other scriptures on being moved
you don't have to turn to these because I'm just going to blow through them, if you want to turn to them you
can, they're pretty much all in the book of Psalms, but Psalm 121 says
I will lift up mine eyes under the hills from whence cometh my help
my help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth
he will not suffer thy foot to be moved, he that keepeth thee will not slumber
he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep, did you hear that?
he will not suffer thy foot to be moved, God can cause you to stand
if you're moved, if you change
if you let people push you around, when the Bible said
to be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the word of the Lord
if you're pushed off of your position it's not God's fault
because God said that he'll not suffer thy foot to be moved, if you want to stand
you can stand, if you're saved, if you have the Holy Spirit living inside
you can do all things through Christ which made you
you can succeed, you can stay in church
you can't stay with the right doctrines, you can do it
it's just a question of will you do it, because God's there to give you the support
it's just a question of whether you can handle it, look at
112, you don't have to turn there but if you want to you can, 112 verse 6
surely he shall not be moved forever
the righteous shall be an everlasting remembrance, he shall not be afraid of
evil tidings
his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord, his heart is established
he shall not be afraid until he sees his desire upon his enemies, Psalm 66 8
oh bless our God ye people and make the voice of his praise to be heard
which holdeth our soul in light and suffereth not
our feet to be moved, God
can hold you up, God can lift you up, God can keep you from being moved
Psalm 62 1, truly my soul waiteth upon God
from him cometh my salvation, he only is my rock
and my salvation, he is my defense, I shall not be greatly moved
how long will ye imagine mischief against a man, ye shall be slain
all of you, as a bowing wall shall ye be and as a tottering fence
they only consult to cast him down from his excellency
they delight in lies, they bless with their mouth but they curse inwardly
Selah, my soul
wait thou only upon God, my expectation is from him
he only is my rock and my salvation, he is my defense, I shall
not be moved, what a great statement, that ought to be your motto, your motto
your mantra should be I shall not be moved, Pastor Anderson
shall not be moved, Faith Ward Baptist Church shall not be
moved, now if I move it's because it's going to
be because I moved, it's not but I'm not going to be moved
you understand what I'm saying, I mean if I move I want to move
I'm going to move where I want to move, I'm not going to let other people move me
okay, the only person who's going to lead me is the Holy Spirit
and he's not going to force me to do anything, he's going to lead me and
direct me, I'm going to follow him of my own volition
but I'm not going to be moved, I'm not going to be pushed
I'm not going to have people from this church come to me and say
well you know tone it down
not that anybody in this church would say that but if somebody in this church
did say that I'd tell them to go jump in a lake
yes I would, I told brother Dave one time I said if anybody ever comes to you
and tells them you know that they don't appreciate
me preaching so hard you know this is when we were going through the whole
battle and the persecution and everything and it was getting real bad
I said if anybody comes to you and tells you
that you know that you know I don't know Pastor Anderson's going too far, I said
just tell them to go jump in a lake and get out of our church
because we don't need people in our church who want to be moved all the time
who want to go with the shifting sands who say oh I love that sermon
and then the world hates it and then all of a sudden oh well I don't know about
that sermon anymore I mean some of the same people who said
oh I love that sermon then all of a sudden the sermon becomes
unpopular and all of a sudden it's oh
you know don't even call yourself a man
if that's if that's the way you are you stand up and
be a man and say this is what I believe this is why I believe it
I'm not going to let other people push me I'm not up here to be
a puppet you know hey what do you want to hear tonight
you know and a lot of pastors today are puppets of some denomination first of
all if they're a southern baptist they're a puppet
if they're a north american baptist they're a puppet if they're general
association of regular baptists they're a puppet
hey independent baptists have cut the strings
thank god if you're a real independent baptist and you're not anybody's puppet
and that means you're not trebor's puppet or scott's puppet or chapel's
puppet either okay because you should be doing your own
thing that's what it means to be independent
okay and uh it's important to be independent by the way
and uh I want to go into that but I'm not going to for sake of time
because I'm thinking about preaching a whole sermon on why we're independent
because I've got a lot of new things that I can say in the bible about that
just interesting things just all the more reasons why our church needs to be
independent because it needs to be and that's why we're independent
baptists but we don't want to be moved and by the
way churches that are part of a denomination
they have to move with the denomination you know the denomination says accept
the homos they have to move or else they have to quit the
denomination I mean look at look at the baptist churches
that are part of some of these liberal baptist conventions
and you say oh there are no baptists like that there are these big baptist
associations where jimmy carter is like one of the head guys I forget what it's
called but there's this big baptist association
where jimmy carter is like one of the head guys what does that tell you
okay and he's telling people you know and and that group said accept the
homos well if your church is tied in with that group
you're going to be moved every time jimmy carter decides to move
you know think about that for a while and uh basically uh where were we at
here how about psalm 21 7 for the king
trusted in the lord and through the mercy of the most high he
shall not be moved a lot of verses on this isn't there
psalm 55 22 cast thy burden upon the lord and he shall the stain
he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved
what does that tell you if you're being moved
that you're not righteous you know i mean no he's never going to suffer the
righteous to be moved when you see a pastor
get up and preach the truth and then somebody backs him down
and backs him into a corner he's not righteous he's not doing what's right
it's not preaching right because god will never suffer the
righteous to be moved
psalm 55 23 but thou oh god shall bring them down into the pit of
destruction bloody and deceitful men shall not live
out half their days but i will trust in thee
psalm 46 5 god is in the midst of her she shall not be moved god shall help
her and that right early and then psalm 16 8
we already heard upset the lord always before me because he is at my right hand
i shall not be moved say wire how do you know you're not going to change
because the lord is at my right hand that's why
because he's right right here and you know what i'm staying close to god
staying in the word that's the only way i'm not going to be moved otherwise
you're going to change so you got to set the lord at your right
hand you got to have him there all the time right there where you can reach out
and touch him right there you got god's word on the
tip of your tongue in your heart and in your mouth the word
of faith which we preach that's how you're not going to be moved
psalm 15 who memorized this with us back back when we were memorizing this
did you memorize the whole psalm who can still quote it right now lord who
shall abide in thy tabernacle who shall dwell in thy holy hill
he that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in
his heart he that backbiteth not with his tongue
nor doeth evil to his neighbor nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor
and whose eyes a vile person is contempt oh oh oh but he honoreth them that fear
the lord he that sweareth to his own hurt and
changes not he that putteth not out his money to usury nor
taketh reward against the innocent and here it is
he that doeth these things shall never be moved
there's your formula right there for not being moved we'll preach on in a couple
weeks the formula for not moving don't move
stand fast therefore in the liberty where with christ have made us free and
be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage
stand fast having done all to stand stand therefore having your loins girt
about with truth and having on the breastplate of
righteousness and your feet shot with the preparation of the gospel of peace
stand is what he's saying don't move look at mica seven i love the book of
mica and mica chapter seven is probably my
favorite chapter in the book of mica but look at mica chapter seven minor
prophets at the end of the old testament
but mica is a really great book in the bible a lot of great preaching
look at verse two this reminds me of uh last week do you remember the the
sermon last week help lord for the godly man sees it for
the faithful fail from among the children of men you remember that
verse number one look at a similar statement in mica seven two
the good man is perished out of the earth and there is none upright among
men they all lie and wait for blood they hunt every man's brother
with a net that they may do evil with both hands earnestly
the prince asketh and the judge ask it for a reward basically taking a bribe to
pervert justice and i think that's probably what a lot
of judges are doing today you know i i otherwise i can't explain
otherwise it's like what god said you know i hate to say this so
hopefully you know well never mind but anyway
i remember what god said to the children of israel
he told the children of israel he said you're worse than a prostitute
because he said at least the prostitute is getting paid
you remember that statement in the bible who remember put up your head if you
remember reading that in the bible he said you're worse than a prostitute
and you're you're playing the harlot for free
so you know and so you know i sometimes i hope they're getting paid
is all i can say by by some of the things that they rule you know the
supreme court and you look at our justice system
i mean if they're if they're not getting paid i i don't know if they're what
they're doing okay maybe they're just working for satan or whatever
when they make all these rulings protecting the homosexuals and all these
rulings uh basically you know damning the
innocent lives of babies to to be murdered and so forth
in the name of uh you know the woman's right to choose or whatever they you
know euphemistically call it but he says hey the judge ask it for a
reward a corrupt justice system and the great man
he uttereth his mischievous desire so they wrap it up
the best of them is as a briar the most upright is sharper than a thorn
hedge the day of thy watchman and thy
visitation cometh now shall be their perplexity trust ye
not in a friend put ye not confidence in a guide keep
the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom
for the son dishonor the father and by the way this is the day we're living in
because this these verses are quoted in matthew 24 talking about the last days
he said in the last days this is the way it's going to be and he quotes mica 7
he said the son dishonor at the father the daughter rises up against her mother
the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law a man's enemies are the
men of his own house verse 7 therefore i will look unto the
lord i will wait for the god of my salvation
my god will hear me and look at verse 8 this
reminds me of what we just read in psalm 13
rejoice not against me oh mine enemy remember they just want to see him fall
and rejoice about it he says rejoice not against me oh mine
enemy when i fall i shall arise when i sit in
darkness the lord shall be a light unto me you
see the just man fallen seven times and rises up again
go ahead lock me up in darkness and the lord will be a light unto me
go ahead cause me to fall and i'll rise once again
because it says in verse number nine i will bear the indignation of the lord
because i have sinned against him until he plead my cause and execute
judgment for me he will bring me forth to the light and i shall behold his
righteousness then she that is at mine enemy shall see
it and shame shall cover her which said unto
me where is the lord thy god mine eyes shall behold her now shall she
be trodden down as the mire in the streets let's go back to
psalm 13 psalm chapter number 13
and so if we're trusting in the lord not trusting in man
we don't have to be moved people are going to constantly try to move us
they're going to try to get us to buckle under the pressure
and this is what it is it's an endurance game the devil wants to wear you down
the devil wants to wear you down and the people that work for the devil
they want to wear you down and so they'll constantly wear at you
wear at you wear at you and and after just daily
remember what remember samson and delilah
remember how delilah came to him and he said no i'm not going to tell you
we're in my great strength life but she kept bugging him and bugging and what
she did she warmed down the bible says just because she kept
doing it daily it finally warmed out and that's a picture of the devil there
he wears you down he wants to take the power of god off of your life
he wants you to be blinded as samson was he wants you to be binded as samson was
he wants you to be grinded like samson was he doesn't want you
to serve him he doesn't want you to be a great leader like samson was
fighting against the enemies of the lord no he wants to knock you down and make
you fall and he will keep on pushing and
pushing and pushing and you have to have the endurance and
it's got to come from god it's got to be because the lord's at your right hand
or you're not going to be able to handle it
look at the worldly people look at the worldly people whenever they get
attacked when they get persecuted they buckle they give in
it's going to take the lord's help for you to stand up and not be moved
but he says here in uh psalm 15 i'm sorry psalm 13 how long now this is
again three times he says how long because of
the fact that we're talking about endurance
we're talking about something that's not going to be one day you get attacked
and then you win the battle no we're talking about the devil constantly
working on you wearing you down people who just want
to wear it you and wear it you wear it you
and that's why it's how long it's an extended process
how long will thou forget me oh lord forever how long will thou hide thy face
from me how long shall i take counsel in my soul
having sorrow in my heart daily how long shall my enemy be exalted over
me consider it hear me oh lord my god lighten
my eyes lest i sleep the sleep of death lest my enemies say
i've prevailed against him and those that trouble me
here it is rejoice when i moved they'll rejoice about it look at verse
five but i have trusted in thy mercy my heart
shall rejoice in thy salvation i will sing unto the lord
because he had dealt bountifully with me now
don't you just want to do what's right because it would just make you sick to
think about all the wicked people rejoicing if you fall
i mean that should motivate you think about that for a minute
think about all the people who would just love to see you fall
they'd love to see your marriage fall apart or they'd love to see
you go into sin they'd love to see you quit church they'd love to see you
change your doctrine they'd love it doesn't just make you sick to think
about them rejoicing the enemies of the lord rejoicing the
devil rejoicing boy just to show them stay with it you
know don't quit don't be moved stand up for what's
right but let's just look at the last verse
that's that's verses one through five let's
let's finish up with this last verse i'll sing unto the lord
because he had dealt bountifully with me now every single person in this room can
say the lord has dealt bountifully with me
everybody here has had good food durable clothing
you know you've had blessings from god not everything has gone your way in life
but you have a lot of things to be thankful for and praise hopefully over
thanksgiving you were thankful and thinking about these things and
meditating upon all the things that god had done for
not only that but he saved us and called us within holy calling not
according to our works but according to his own purpose and
grace which was given us in christ jesus before the world began
so we're saved we're on our way to heaven our sins are forgiven he's dealt
balance with us he's fed us clothed us blessed us and
we ought to sing unto the lord because of that and so
when you come to church say i will sing unto the lord
not i'm just going to move my mouth or listen
no come to church and sing with all your heart sing like you mean it
when you sing songs of praise to god because you ought to be
singing praises to him with a loud noise because he's dealt balance with you
and not only just on sunday i wouldn't limit it to just that throughout the
week monday tuesday wednesday thursday friday
sing unto the lord a new song the bible says sing
songs of praise to the most high praise the lord for he's good for his mercy and
doerth forever and so we ought to sing unto the lord
because of all the great things that he's done for us
see i don't like to sing do it because god told you to do it
and you will learn that if you don't like singing you'll learn to love
singing i mean if you just start praising god and singing
you will like saying why is the longest book in the bible a song book
why is it look at psalm 22 and we'll close with this
psalm 22 will close with this thought verse 3
psalm 22 3 but thou art holy oh thou that inhabits the praises of israel
now isn't that interesting statement that inhabits the praises of israel
basically when you're when we as a church are singing song
god is present with us god is inhabiting our praises okay
where two or three are gathered together in his name he said there am i in the
midst and when we sing these great songs god
is here that's why he said be filled with the spirit
speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and
making melody in your heart to the lord that's part of being filled with the
spirit you say how am i going to become filled with the spirit
sing praises to god sing psalms and hymn spiritual songs
seven days a week that's how you're going to be filled with the spirit let's
bow our heads and have a word of prayer father please just bless our church dear
god and thank you for the great church that we have
and god help it to stay great help us not to be moved
help us to be steadfast and unmovable because you've commanded us to dear god
and help our enemies never to rejoice over our destruction dear god
but help them to be confounded that seek our hurt dear god
help us years and years from now to still be doing the same thing we're
doing right now getting people saved preaching hard on sin breathing fire
against the enemies of the lord and we love you
and we'll thank you for all the wonderful things you do for us in jesus