In the name of the Lord, amen.
Psalm 14 starts out with this very famous statement from the Bible.
The fool had said in his heart, there is no God.
Now it's interesting because I've known a lot of people who said they're an atheist
or they don't believe in God and I'm sure you've known a lot of people like that too.
And I remember we were in West Virginia just a couple weeks ago and Brother Doug Saunders
said that he was raised as an atheist.
His father was an atheist and they taught him growing up, there is no God and just very
strong atheism just ingrained into him.
And he said that when he was with other people he was an atheist but he said whenever he's
by himself, he pretty much knew there was an atheist.
He said he would talk to God.
He'd be walking around but he'd say, God, if you're out there, you'd be talking to God
even though he's a professing atheist.
And so deep down, most people deep down believe in God.
And little children, they are just very naturally inclined to believe in God.
It's only the school system and religion and other people who will ingrain in them that
the Bible is not true, God is not real, even my wife.
I talked to my wife, when I met my wife I wouldn't classify her as an atheist.
She was more agnostic, she didn't know what's out there and when I talked to her she said
when she was a very little child, she would pray all the time to God and she really wanted
to do what was right and serve God, she just didn't know anything about it.
I think it's just the natural thing for a child to believe that there is a God.
And later on they're taught that there is no God.
Now the Bible says the fool has said in his heart there is no God.
Now there are some people who in their heart literally believe that there's no God.
And the Bible says that they're a fool because only a fool would believe that there is no
God.
But I think a lot of other people that are not foolish maybe claim that they don't believe
in God but it's really just because they don't want to face who God is, they're just putting
on a show about it or they're trying to prove to other people or themselves that they don't
believe in God.
But let me say this, there's so much out there and I preached about this on Sunday night
but I wanted to go into it just a little bit further right now.
There's so many people out there and their biggest emphasis, instead of emphasizing the
gospel of Jesus Christ, instead of emphasizing the plan of salvation, using God's word to
preach the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the blood, all the things
that we need to be preaching, their biggest goal is just to prove to people that God exists.
And they think it's all about if we can just disprove evolution or if we can just get people
to believe that there's a God.
Look at Luke chapter 16 because here's what you have to understand.
Evolution has only existed as a theory for about 150 years and yet people were going
to hell en masse before evolution ever came about.
Think about that now.
Before the theory of evolution existed, the vast majority was going to hell.
I mean why does the gate that leads to destruction, many there be which go in their act.
Jesus spoke that a long time before Charles Darwin ever existed.
And so just getting people to believe that there's a God is a far cry from getting them saved.
It's not even close.
Let me prove to you what I'm saying from Luke chapter 16.
This is the famous verse about hell.
It talks about the rich man and Lazarus and of course Lazarus being comforted.
He's with Abraham.
He's in heaven and the rich man is being tormented and burning in hell.
And if you remember the rich man, while he's burning in hell, he becomes burdened about
his brethren that are not saved.
And he said in verse 27 of Luke 16, then he said, I praise you therefore father that
thou would have sent them to my father's house for I have five brethren that he may testify
unto them lest they also come into this place of torment.
Watch what Abraham says to him.
Abraham said unto him, they have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them.
And he said, nay father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, and this is what I want you to see.
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from
the dead.
Now you see that?
What the Bible is saying here is that people to get saved, the Bible says faith cometh
by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
The word of God is what's going to get them saved.
The power of God unto salvation is the gospel of Jesus Christ and God's word is what's going
to save them.
God's word is going to quicken their spirit when they believe his word, not physical evidence
because here's physical evidence right here.
He says, well, if somebody goes back to them from the dead, okay, then they're going to
repent.
Then they're going to change their mind.
Then they're going to get saved.
No.
He said, if they don't, let's read it again because I want this to sink down this statement.
If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one
rose from the dead.
So that's pretty clear.
If they don't hear this book, if this word is not going to get them saved, then nothing
will get them saved.
That's basically what he's saying.
And you know, someday when Jesus Christ comes in the clouds and pours out his wrath on the
earth, there's still going to be people who resist because of the hardness of their heart
and believe a lie and believe the strong delusion from the devil and reject Jesus Christ
even when they see all these miracles happening, just like in Egypt.
There were those who hardened their heart and stiffened their neck at the miracles.
It's not physical evidence that's going to get people saved.
It's not me up here with a bunch of science and a PowerPoint and a slide show and a bunch
of fossils and a bunch of history books.
It's going to be God's word.
It's going to be preaching God's word house to house from the pulpit, one on one with
your friends, preach Moses and the prophets, preach God's word to get people saved.
Believing in God is not going to do it.
There are all kinds of people in America who will say, yes, I believe in God.
In fact, the vast majority, the vast majority of America don't even believe in evolution.
Now I'm sure if you're on a university campus, a lot of them do.
That's their religion.
But what about all the Lutherans?
What about all the Methodists?
I'm sure they believe in evolution.
What about all the Presbyterians?
What about all the Pentecostals?
They're not saved because they don't believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.
They need God's word.
They need salvation.
Ask my wife if she got saved because I proved to her unequivocally that evolution was false
or whether it was through God's word, through the preaching of the cross that God was saved.
And she believed in evolution.
And obviously that can be something that obviously holds somebody back if they say, well, there's
no God.
Yeah, okay, that's something that you need to show them from the Bible.
And look, if you want to preach something scientific, why don't you preach some science
from the Bible or something?
You know, use the Bible is what I'm saying.
Use God's word because I find that when you're arguing with people, you may win the argument.
That's not going to get them saved.
Think about that.
A lot of times somebody will say, well, I don't believe the Bible because of this and
that science.
And then you'll prove their junk science wrong, they'll just have another thing.
And then you'll prove that wrong and then they'll come up with something else.
Preach the word.
And I don't see Paul or Peter or James or John or Jesus doing any of these seminars
or anything.
I mean, it just seems like they're just coming up to people and just preaching to them.
Even when they went to people that were not even from the nation of Israel, they went
out into Greece, they were in Athens.
People who have a totally different religion, pagans, totally different thought process,
they get up and just preach it.
And some of them mocked.
And then others got saved.
And others said, hey, we'll hear you again on this matter.
But they preached God's word.
Now, the next thing I want to point out about this verse is that I don't think this is a
good soul-winning verse.
Okay.
And let me tell you why.
We're in, we're in Psalm 14.1.
One time I was out soul-winning, okay.
And we, I was a silent partner with a guy, this is when I was seven, no, I was 18, 19
years old, something like that.
And I knocked on the door, and it wasn't my turn to talk, the other guy I was with talked.
And he knocked on the door and said, hey, how you doing, I want to invite you to so-and-so
Baptist church.
And he said, do you go to church anywhere?
And he said, no, I'm an atheist.
And the guy who I was with, here's what he said, he said, well, the Bible only says one
thing about atheists.
It says the fool has said in his heart there is no God.
And obviously the guy just got mad and slammed the door.
Now, I'm not saying that that couldn't have some impact, okay, I'm sure that that could
have some impact on the guy, maybe he'll think about it or something.
But you know what, there have been so many people who I knocked on the door, and they
said, I'm an atheist, and I said, well, you know what, can I just take a few minutes and
just show you what the Bible says about being saved, you know, and then you can decide whether
you believe it or not.
Can I just show you what I believe, it'll just take a few minutes.
And I've gotten atheists saved like that.
So you've got to ask yourself the question, what's your goal when you're out souling?
And I'm not trying to sugarcoat the message, I mean, every single door I knock, I'm talking
about hell, I'm showing them the second death, I'm showing them all liars who are off their
part and the lake was burnt with fire bricks, I'm not trying to sugarcoat the message.
But it's my goal to just go out and just mouth off to somebody right out of the gate before
I even have a chance to tell them about Jesus, before I even have a chance to explain to
them how it's eternal, because I'll tell you something, I preached the gospel to an atheist
who said, I don't believe in God, I'm an atheist, and had that atheist get saved a half hour
later because the gospel has power.
That's why.
And they said, yes, I believe that.
And you see, the difference is that my goal was to speak the truth in love, as the Bible
says, that my speech would be all the way with grace, seasoned with salt.
So I'm not just going to go to somebody and just right away just, you're a fool.
You know, I just met you 10 seconds ago and I want to tell you that you're a fool.
That's not going to get people, and when I look at the way that Jesus and Peter and Paul
were talking to people, their goal was to get them saved.
Look at the way he talked to the people in Athens, if you want to go back and read the
story in the book of Acts.
He was trying to get the gospel to, he was trying to get them saved, he was being kind
to them.
He wasn't just railing on them.
Now you say, well Jesus railed on people, you know who he was railing on was the false
teachers.
He railed on the Pharisees, he railed on the Sadducees.
He said, you're sending people to hell, you're making people too full of more than the child
of hell is yourself.
I mean, he ripped on the false religion, the false preacher, the false teacher, but he
didn't just go around just tearing people apart.
He was loving them, okay, he said, I came not to condemn the world, but that the world
through me might be saved, okay.
His goal was, you know, he said, they're condemned already.
I'm trying to be a light in the world, I'm trying to get them saved, I'm trying to give
them the good news, the gospel.
And so I wouldn't just go around and just ride out of the gate, just, well the fool
has said in his heart there is no God, so if you don't believe there's a God, you're
a fool, okay.
You ought to try to get them saved, maybe get the gospel to them, instead of just trying
to just be rude and then call that being bold.
You know, boldness is great, but this movement of being rude, tearing people down, and a
lot of it is like coming from the street preaching movement, where people are out on the street
and they're yelling at people with a megaphone and condemning people and there's really nothing
to accomplish by that, okay.
Preach the good news, don't sugar coat the message, be sure you talk about hell, make
sure they know what the Bible says about death and hell and about the wages of sin and punishment
and that there's no other way to heaven and that if they don't get saved, they're going
to go to hell.
But, you should have a goal to try to get them saved.
That should be your goal, that should be your motive, okay.
Not to just, you know, tear into them, who cares, you know, if they don't like it, nuts
to them.
Okay.
So, you know, that's all I'm saying.
Now, if you want to do that method, that's fine, because it is in the Bible, you know.
But I just don't think that, I just felt like we could have accomplished more talking to
the guy, because the guy seemed like a nice guy, like he probably would have listened
and I felt like he just kind of ruined it by just mouthing off to him that one time.
But it was like 10 years ago, so I'm going to let it go.
Anyway, so in Psalm 14, 1, it has this famous statement, the fool had said in his heart,
there is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that
do it good.
Now, by the way, that's why people say that there's no God.
It's explained right there, because they're corrupt and they've done abominable works.
Keep your finger there, look at 2 Peter chapter 3, because you see, the reason why so many
people want to deny the existence of God is because they don't want any authority in
their life.
They don't want any right and wrong, they don't want any morality, they want to go out
and do everything that's wicked and therefore they don't want to be accountable to God.
Let me show you an example in 2 Peter chapter 3.
It says in verse 5, for this they are willingly ignorant of, I'm sorry verse 5, for this they
are willingly ignorant of that by the word of God the heavens were of old and the earth
standing out of the water and in the water.
Why are they willingly ignorant?
Why are they choosing to ignore creation and God's marvelous works?
Look the answer is in verse number 3, knowing this verse that there shall come in the last
days scoffers, these are people who mock the Bible, they mock God, he said there will come
scoffers walking after their own lusts.
So why would people scoff at the Bible and scoff at the things of God and be willingly
ignorant of creation?
Because they want to walk after their own lusts in verse 3, that's why in verse 5 they're
just saying well I don't believe in God, I just believe in evolution.
Because they want to live like an animal and then they want to say well I came from an
animal, I am an animal, I'm homo sapien, that's what species of animal I am and then there's
no morality.
They can do whatever they want, if it feels good do it, you know just free whatever and
I'm going to tell you something, that's where this atheism is coming from and that's where
this evolutionism is coming from and it's motivated by the lusts of the flesh, it's
motivated by people who are corrupt, who've done abominable works and we see it in the
book of Romans chapter 1 where he explains how they basically ignored creation, they
start to worship the creature, they forget the creator, they don't even want to retain
him in their knowledge and they start living out all their lusts and fornication, uncleanness
and then they degenerate even to the point, the bottom of the barrel, the worst depravity
of homosexuality, that's what Romans chapter 1 describes and so they become filthy, they
become an animal, the bible even calls them beasts, the homosexuals that is, calls them
beasts.
You say oh I can't believe you say that, I didn't say that, that's what the bible says.
He said that they're like brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed, 2 Peter chapter
2 and it calls them filthy, vile, sodomite, all these different things and I didn't make
that up and it says in verse number 2 here of Psalm 14, the Lord looked down from heaven
upon the children of men to see if there were any that did understand and seek God, they
are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy, there is none that doeth good,
no not one, have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge, who eat up my people as they
eat bread.
Now here's what I want to show you here, when he's talking about these people all being
filthy and there's none that doeth good, no not one, there's none that understand it,
there's none that seek after God, this is talking about the unbeliever.
Once we're saved, we're God's child.
This is talking about the children of men, the unregenerate physical man, there's none
that doeth good, they're all unprofitable, they flip over to Romans 3 where this is quoted
in the New Testament to get a little more understanding, in Romans chapter 3 he goes
back to Psalm 14, also Psalm 53 is almost identical to Psalm 14, there's a few phrases
that are different, but both Psalms are almost exactly the same, but look at Romans chapter
3 where this is quoted, you see the New Testament often sheds a little bit of light on Old Testament
passages and explains them a little bit more clearly and here in Romans chapter 3, God
just finished in Romans chapter 2 explaining the fact that the Jews who don't believe on
Jesus Christ, he said they're not even real Jews, I don't care if Abraham's their father,
I don't care if they're circumcised, he said at the end of chapter 2 verse 28, for he's
not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the
flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart and
the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God, and so in chapter
2 he basically spends the whole chapter basically condemning the Jews who don't believe on Jesus
Christ, he's saying they're not saved, and he's saying they're going to be condemned,
then in chapter 3 he says well in verse 1, what advantage then hath the Jew, or what
profit is there of circumcision? Much every way, chiefly because that unto them were convicted
of the oracles of God, for what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make the
faith of God without effect? God forbid, ye let God be true but every man a liar, as it
is written that thou mightest be justified in thy sayings and mightest overcome when
thou art judged, and then he goes on and explains this, look if you would at verse number 9,
what then, are we better than they? Now what does he mean are we better than they? He could
mean are the Gentiles better than the Jews? Are the Jews better than the Gentiles? He's
saying are we better than they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved both Jews
and Gentiles that they are all under sin. So that was his whole point, not to just condemn
the Jews more than he's condemning anyone else who doesn't believe on Jesus Christ,
he's just trying to explain that both Jew and Gentile, before they're saved, there's
none righteous, no not one, they're all equally condemned. He says they're all under sin
at the end of verse 9, as it is written there is none righteous, no not one, there is none
that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God, they are all gone out of the way,
they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one. So basically
what he's explaining here, if we get a little bit more light on this from Romans 3, is that
in Psalm 14 he's explaining that God looks down at an unsaved man, man in the flesh,
man that has not been regenerated, reborn, that does not have the Holy Spirit living
inside of him, that's not walking in the new man, that's not walking in the Spirit. He
looks down to see if there's anybody who's doing the right things, who's seeking after
God, who understands the things of God, because remember he said there's none that understand
it, and he said no, there's none that doeth good, no not one. He said they've all gone
aside, they're all together become unprofitable, there's none that doeth good, no not one.
And so basically he's just emphasizing the fact that everybody is a sinner, and without
salvation nobody is good enough to go to heaven at all. They're all unprofitable, they've
all turned aside, they've all gone out of the way, they're all condemned, Jew, Gentile,
it doesn't matter, they're all condemned. Back to Psalm 14, so that's what he's explaining
in Psalm 14, just basically the universal sin nature, every single person is a sinner.
And he looks down and you say, well you know this guy, he's an unbeliever but he's a really
good guy. What about according to the Bible though? Now a lot of people look good on the
outside, but wait a minute, they're a sinner. He's lied, whoever he is, he thinks bad thoughts,
he's selfish, he's done wicked things, he's done things that nobody knows about, and so
you just have to believe by faith that every single person who's an unbeliever is a sinful
person. Period. That's what the Bible teaches. Now after we get saved, you know if we walk
in the flesh we're still committing sin. And obviously every single day it's a battle.
Nobody, I don't think I go a whole day perfect, I don't think anybody does. I think that we
constantly have to battle the flesh, we have to die daily, we have to deny self, take up
the cross, follow Jesus, put on the new man. It's a daily struggle, the flesh warth against
the spirit, the spirit warth against the flesh. But without salvation, without the spirit,
we're just going to do the wrong things. Period. I don't care who you are, you're going to
live a sinful life. And don't be fooled into thinking that there are people who do not
live a sinful life even though they're not saved. The Bible says there's none that do
with good, no not one. They're corrupt. They've done abominable works. They've done things
that are wrong. He says in verse number four, have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?
Who eat up my people as they eat bread and call not upon the Lord? So again, this is
talking about people who call not upon the Lord. It's talking about people who don't
believe on Jesus Christ. Once we're saved, you know, God creates a new creature, okay.
But we still have the flesh. He says in verse five, there were they in great fear, for God
is in the generation of the righteous. So you see a contrast again between God's people,
the children of God, and the children of men. That's why he talked about looking down upon
the children of men and seeing they've all done wrong. Because basically there's the
children of men, and we're all born as children of men. You know, we're all born of Adam.
But when we get saved, we become a child of God. And so he's talking about here, those
that have called upon the Lord, those that are God's people, those that are righteous.
That's talking about those that are saved. He says in verse six, ye have shamed the
counsel of the poor, because the Lord is his refuge. Oh, that the salvation of Israel were
come out of Zion. When the Lord bringeth back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice
and Israel shall be glad. Now look at that verse. You've shamed the counsel of the poor.
Again, people looking down on those who are poor. People being ashamed of those who are
poor even. And God says, has not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith and
heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him? Look at Luke chapter
six, the Sermon on the Mount, famous passage. You see, we ought not ever get caught up in
the world's philosophy of the one with the most toys wins. You know, you think that people
are better or higher class even, is what people call them. You know, upper class or low class.
And people look down upon people because of the money that they have. When there's
no place in the Bible that commands us, you know, make money, you know, be successful
financially, have a lot of nice clothes and nice things to show off. There's no where
God lifts that up at all. He just says, having food arraignment, let us be there with content.
Now that's not, that's not rich. That's just getting by. That's just living, surviving.
And look, if you, if you can make money and have good things, great. Enjoy them. But you
ought never be high and puffed up. The Bible says, charge them that are rich in this world
that they be not high minded. Neither trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy, the Bible says. So anything that you have,
if you do have money, came from God anyway. He says, don't be high minded. Don't look
down on people. And you better realize that you better not trust in your uncertain riches.
Trust in the living God. Because here today, God, tomorrow, riches, the Bible says, make
themselves wings and fly away in the book of Proverbs. And so you better be leaning
upon God, not leaning upon your portfolio because your portfolio could be gone. You're,
you're, you're still, oh, you say, ah, mine's very diversified. Yeah. What happens when
the dollar is not worth anything? You know what I mean? You don't know what it's going
to be. You say, well, it's gold until somebody breaks in and steals it. All right. Cause
that's what the Bible says. You know, where moth and rust is corrupt and where thieves
break through and steal. He said, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Now look down
if you would at verse number 20. Did I take, did I say Luke six, Luke six, 20 and he lifted
up his eyes on his disciples and said, blessed be ye poor for yours is the kingdom of heaven.
Our kingdom of God. He wasn't surrounded by a bunch of rich people. Now look, anybody
who was rich, he did have some rich people following him. Like Joseph of Barrow, Matheo
was one of the ones that followed him that had money. Philemon was another man that seemed
to be wealthy because he had a servant and he had some other things that, that indicate
that he, that he was pretty well to do. But he's saying here to his disciples, he pretty
much just universally says to, Hey, those that are out there, blessed be ye poor for
yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled. Blessed
are ye that weep now for ye shall laugh. Blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they
shall separate you from their company. You know, does that sound, have you ever had that
happen before? He said, separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast
out your name as evil for the son of man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day and leap for
joy for behold, your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner did their fathers under
the prophets. That's a pretty stark statement. Leap for joy. You say like, yes, you know,
what are you so excited about? I just got kicked out of the break room. I'm not allowed
to eat my lunch there anymore. But look what he says next. He says, but woe unto you that
are rich for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full for ye shall hunger.
Woe unto you that laugh now for you shall weep. Woe unto you when all men shall speak
well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets. So there, there you have it.
And I mean, we can, we can go to so many different scriptures where God says, look, it's not
about being rich. In fact, it's, it's more difficult for a rich man or it's more difficult
for a camel to go through the eye of an eagle than for a rich man to be saved. Okay. He
said, woe unto you, he said, woe unto you that are rich. He said, you have your consolation.
He said, go to now you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon
you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are mothy. Your gold and silver is cankered.
And so it's not about money. The love of money is the root of all evil, which while some
coveted after they've heard from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows.
But thou, O man of God, flee these things, flee the love of money and don't lay up for
yourselves treasures upon earth. You say, well, why not? Why can't I lay up a bunch
of money? Cause he said, well, your treasure is there where your heart be also. I don't
want my heart to be at Wells Fargo. I don't want my heart to be at bank of America or
chase. I don't want my heart to be a Washington mutual. I want my heart to be in heaven. Our
conversation is in heaven from when it's all. So we look for the savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall change our bile body that it may be fashioned like on his glorious body.
I want to be setting my affection on things above, not on the things of this earth. And
so being poor is nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, Jesus said, wear it as a badge. Hey,
if you're poor, you're blessed. Well, what do you when you're rich? Now we say, oh man,
you know, I think I'll just take the world, you know, and I'll take, I'll take the dough
and have the world, but it's like, you know, we need to get our priorities right and understand
spiritually speaking, being rich is just, it's fleeting. It's vain. Solomon had it all.
He said, vanity, vanities, all vanity. He said, I hated life and he could have whatever
he wanted. Stop and think about it. Who here had breakfast this morning? Put up your hand.
Okay. Who here had a breakfast that was unfit for human consumption? Okay. Everybody here
had a decent breakfast, right? Who had a decent lunch that was fit for human consumption?
Put up your hand. All right. Now look, you're not that different from the richest person
in the world. You know what I mean? Who slept in a bed last night? Put up your hand. Okay.
Who had a pillow? Okay. Look, what's the difference if you have like $10 million in the bank or
$10 in the bank? Okay. I mean, you slept in the bed, you ate breakfast, you eat lunch,
you drive. What's the difference whether you drive, you know, a Lexus SUV or whether you
drive, you know, a bicycle or whether you drive, you know, whatever car, whatever, you
know, 1992, whatever. Okay. What's the difference? The reality is if we look at the life of the
richest person versus the poorest person, okay, it's really not that different. What's
the difference if I'm wearing a suit from the thrift store like I'm doing right now
or whether I'm wearing a suit that's from some Italian maid? Do you think I'd really
feel any different? Do you think I'd preach any different? You know, that's what's wrong
with Pastor Anderson's preaching. He's wearing, he needs to get a better wardrobe because
the clothes make the man. Stop and think about it. What would you do if you had millions
and millions of dollars? You know, you could only eat so much food in one day. You can
only wear one outfit at a time. Stop and think about it. And you say, well, I'd never have
to work again. That's not going to make you happy. Working is what men are born to do.
So look, you get up, you eat breakfast, you work, you eat lunch, you work, you go home,
you know, you go to bed on a pillow and a bed, you know, what's the difference whether
you had millions of dollars or whether you're poor as the world would call it? Stop and
think about that. Get your values right. Does it cost you anything to get people saved?
And that's the true riches right there. Does it cost you anything to go to church? I'd
rather go to church than to go to some fancy country club where you got to pay to get in.
I'd rather go to church. I'd rather go soul wedding. I'd rather read my Bible. I'd rather
read my Bible than to pay hundreds of dollars to get into some orchestra or opera or symphony
house. You know, I'd rather be a faithful or Baptist church. And we only charge what,
$10 a service? Yeah, right. Believe it or not, there are churches that charge admission.
And obviously that's wicked as the devil and ungodly and blasphemous and whatever else.
But the point that I'm trying to make is that we see this, this mirage out in the distance
of, Oh, you know, money, fame, you know, the, the, the cars, the, the, the clothes, the,
the gear, you know, what's the difference whether you're listening to a cassette on
your Walkman or whether you have like the coolest new iPod, what's the difference? It's
the same thing. Okay. And yet today we just have to have this and we just have to have
that. And you know what you say, Oh, I just want to travel. Look, you're looking at somebody
who does a lot of traveling. Okay. And let me tell you something, you know what the rest
of the States in America are like? They're a lot like this one. Okay. It's really not
that much difference. You know, it's all the same stores, the same restaurants, same roads,
same for, I mean, yeah. Okay. There's a few sites to see, but Arizona is one of the coolest
places anyway. So why just be content that you live here? I mean, I travel all over America.
This is my favorite place. I like to come home and be in Arizona because I think this
is the most beautiful state. It has the most fun things to do. I love Arizona. And today
we, you know, Oh, I want to travel. Oh, I want to go see Europe. I've been to Europe.
It's not even worth going to, you know, I can stand up here and brag about it and say
how cool it is. It's not, it just really isn't. You know, I mean, if I, if I were taking my
family on vacation, you know, I would not choose to go to Germany or places like that.
I would much rather just take them somewhere in the good old USA because it's just nicer
here. Just, there's just a lot of reasons why. And so just be content with such things
as you have and don't ever look down on people that are poor. You ought to look up to people
that are poor, you know, because, because that's who God has chosen in this world. The
Bible says that's who he's, he's a preaching about in a positive way. And so back to Psalm
14, we'll finish up, but you know, it's, it's possible for us as Christians to get infected
with the world's values and just, Oh wow, yo, whoa, look at the car. You know, don't
be a respecter person. If somebody comes into your assembly, the Bible says with a gold
ring and goodly apparel, and you have respect him to wear the gay clothing and say to him,
you know, sit down here in a good place and say to the poor, stand out there or sit here
under my footstool. Are you not then, uh, he's saying, look, you're, you're, you're,
you're being partial to those that are rich. You're carnal. He said, you're, you're transgressing
God's law. Love your neighbor as yourself and don't judge people based upon their finances.
Don't look down on people because they come in and their clothes aren't nice versus somebody
who's dressed really well. Don't even respect that at all. When, when somebody walks through
these doors, everybody should be like, if somebody walks through that door and it's,
you know, the mayor of Tempe or whatever, you know, that's the president of the United
States who, you know, let's say some, let's say some really wealthy millionaire walks
through the door and then somebody just comes in the door from like the worst area in South
Phoenix. There should be no difference. We shouldn't just rush, Oh, to the dignified
person, want to shake their hand, want to be their buddy. And then the other person's
just kind of left out in the cold. You know, the, the person that we knocked on the door
in the ghetto, Al Solany. Now we ought to give the priority to the poor, if anything,
and everybody walks through that door. It should be equal in the, in God's house. It
should be on equal footing. The one who makes 200,000 or 20,000 or 2000, it doesn't matter.
It's you're in God's house. You know, you're a Christian. We're brothers and sisters in
Christ and it means nothing. It means nothing. And you brought nothing into this world and
it is certain that you can carry nothing out. The Bible says, and so let's, let's finish
up the chapter here quickly. He said in verse six, you have shamed the council of the poor
because the Lord is his refuge. This is one thing about the poor. They rely on God. He
said, you shamed the council of the poor because the Lord is his refuge. He's saying, you know,
you shamed the fact that they're relying on God because the poor people, they don't have
the nest egg and the money in the bag. They have to pray and say, give us this day our
daily bread. And he's saying, Hey, that's a good thing that God's their refuge. He said,
Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion. When the Lord bring it back,
the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad. Of course, the nation
of Israel went into captivity is back in the old Testament. And they went into captivity
because of all their sins, their idolatry, their wickedness. They went into captivity.
And if you want to talk about the Southern kingdom of Judah, 70 years in Babylon. And
then when they came back, they rejoice, they were glad, et cetera. Weeping may, there's
another Psalm about this exact subject about them going into captivity and so forth where
he said, weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And basically what
God's explaining here is that sometimes when we do wrong, like the nation of Israel did
wrong, we're punished, we're chastened by the Lord and the children of Israel were chastened
by going into captivity. A lot of times we'll do something wrong and God chases us. And
it could be a major chasing like they went through, but that doesn't mean God's through
with you. You know, don't give up and say, Oh, you know, I've committed sin. God's judging
me. God's chasing me. I might as well just quit church. Get back up because God is saying
here, look, he turned the captivity of the children of Israel and they'd done a lot of
really wrong things. And just because you've sinned, look at Peter. Peter denied the Lord
thrice, went out and wept bitterly, quit preaching the gospel, quit soul winning and just went
back to fishing. Jesus made a point to seek him out and try to get him back in the saddle
again because he didn't want him to quit just because he'd done wrong and had to be chastened.
You know, he paid for his crime, but you know, you got to just get back into it because God
will bring again your captivity. God's not through with you if you're still breathing
air. So just because God chases you, don't think that it's never going to be over. You
might be going through a hard thing right now and maybe it's a chasing for something
that you did. Hang in there. Stay with it. God will bring again your captivity. Okay.
And God will use you once again. Look at Samson. Look at Samson. I mean, you think it's over
for him. His eyes are put out. He's grinding the mill like an animal. He's basically lost
all of his dignity. He's mocked, but he prayed and said, God, use me one more time. Remember
the hair of his head began to grow again, the Bible says, and he, and he prayed to God
and God still use them one more time. And so as long as you're breathing air, God has
something for you to do. Let's put our heads in that word of prayer. Father, please bless
us now as we go our separate ways. Please just help us to take the truth from, from
your word and use them to get people saved, dear God. Help us to realize that it's not
physical evidence that people need that's going to get them saved, but rather it's Moses
and the prophets. It's the word of God that's going to bring salvation. Help us to preach
your word and to use your word when we're out soul winning, dear God, and to speak your
word with boldness. Help us to do it in love and to see many people saved, dear God. And
please just bless us this week, dear God, and bring us back safely on Sunday. In Jesus'
name we pray. Amen.