Man, the title of my sermon this morning is love versus self-love.
Love versus self-love.
A lot of people today don't understand the true meaning of what love is.
Part of that is because everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
God is love.
Love comes from God, and as we live in a godless society, we find people that
don't understand love anymore, and they've come up with their own definition of what
love is.
They'll say this or that is loving, and this or that is not loving, but it doesn't line
up with the true definition of love, biblical love, or God's definition of love, and God
is the author of love.
He's the source of love.
What they often call love is actually what the Bible would call self-love.
You see, real love is directed towards someone else, putting them first, wanting what's
best for them, wanting to do good unto them.
Self-love is all about glorifying, lifting up, helping yourself, doing what's best
for you.
Now, what does the Bible say here in 2 Timothy 3 verse 1?
This know also that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers
of their own selves.
So all of these horrible things that are listed as coming in the last times, the covetousness,
the boasting, the pride, the blasphemy, and all the other things that make the end
times perilous or dangerous, they all stem from the fact that men will be lovers of
their own selves.
The Bible also says of the end times that because iniquity shall abound, the love of
many shall wax cold.
So men being lovers of their own selves is something that goes hand in hand with wickedness
in the last days.
Now if you would flip over to 1 John chapter 5.
The books of the New Testament that really talk a lot about love are the Gospel of
John and the book of 1 John.
The books that John wrote really emphasize the topic of love.
Look at 1 John chapter 5 verse 1, whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born
of God.
That's a great verse that salvation is not by our works, but that it's by faith.
And everyone that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him.
By this we know that we love the children of God when we love God and keep his commandments.
So if we were to look through God's eyes at who is loving and who is not, God says
the person who loves God and keeps his commandments is the loving person.
And then the Bible says in verse 3, for this is the love of God that we keep his
commandments and his commandments are not grievous.
So verse 2, again, by this we know that we love the children of God.
How do we know whether we're a loving person to our fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ?
How do we know if we love the children of God?
Well it's when we love God and when we keep his commandments.
Why?
Because love worketh no ill to his neighbor.
Therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
So people say, oh, you know, you're so legalistic with all the do's and don'ts.
It's just about love, man.
Yeah, except for love is about what?
Loving God and keeping his commandments.
He can't say, oh, forget the laws, forget the rules, forget that thou shalt not.
It's just about love.
You can't have love without law.
The Bible says the love of God is to keep his commandments and his commandments are
not grievous.
Flip over to 2 John, just one page to the right, 2 John verse 6, and this is love,
that ye walk after his commandments.
This is the commandment that as you have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in
it.
And you say, well, I think I might be out of context.
Okay, well look at the end of verse 5, that we love one another.
Now we talk a lot about loving one another, don't we?
Well, we love one another, what's the next phrase?
And this is love that we walk after his commandments.
So we can't say that we love one another as we're just constantly breaking God's commandments.
Because if we're constantly breaking God's commandments, we don't love God and we don't
love one another.
That's what the Bible's saying.
We might have self-love, and I'm going to get into that a little further in the sermon,
but we don't have the real biblical love.
Go to John chapter 15, the Gospel of John chapter 15.
This is all introduction, I'm going to get into three points about love versus self-love.
Point number 1 is going to be love versus self-love for parents.
Point number 2 is going to be love versus self-love for preachers.
And point number 3 is going to be love versus self-love for people in general.
So let's look at John chapter 15, this is introduction, verse 9.
As the Father had loved me, so have I loved you.
Continue ye in my love.
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's
commandments and abide in his love.
Put that in your modalist pipe and smoke it.
Verse 11, these things have I spoken unto you that my joy might remain in you and
that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you.
Now that's a super popular verse, very often quoted, but let's keep going, get the context.
Greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Another popular verse.
How about the next verse?
You're my friends if you do whatsoever I command you.
Slightly less popular verse.
Verse 13 and 12 are on greeting cards all over America, but verse 14 is part of the
context and verse 10 is part of the context.
Verse 10 talks about keeping God's commandments, verse 14 talks about keeping God's commandments,
but we just want to take the cream out of the middle of the Oreo and discard the
two chocolate cookies and just scrape the cream with our teeth.
That's how people read the Bible, right?
They don't want to get the whole counsel of God, but we need to get the context when
we read the Bible and we see that loving God and keeping his commandments are inseparable.
Don't believe me?
Go back to chapter 14.
Chapter 14 verse 15 of course says if you love me, keep my commandments, but look at
verse 20.
At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you.
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.
You want to know who loves God?
It's the one who has his commandments and keeps them.
He it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father and I will
love him and will manifest myself to him.
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself
unto us and not unto the world?
Jesus answered and said unto him, if a man love me, he will keep my words and my Father
will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him.
He that loveth me, keep, excuse me, he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.
And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
I mean that's a pretty profound thought there in verse 24.
He that loveth me not, keep it not my sayings.
So the sayings of Jesus Christ and the commandments of God are to be obeyed and
if we obey them, we love God and we love one another.
If we don't obey them, we don't love God and we don't love one another.
I mean we've seen it how many times just in the past five minutes going through all these
scriptures.
So that's pretty clear.
Let's get into the points.
Go if you would to Proverbs chapter 13, Proverbs chapter 13.
Number one, love versus self-love for parents.
We know what love is now.
We've seen that the Bible is pretty clear that love has to do with doing right by
other people.
Doing what's best for other people and that's done by walking in God's commandments.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor.
If we don't steal, don't lie, don't commit adultery, don't covet, don't kill, that all
shows that we love people and that we love God when we do right by them and obviously
there are a lot more commandments than just those ten, hundreds of commandments in
scripture.
But here's a perfect example from scripture of the difference between love and self-love,
the end times version of fake love where men are lovers of their own selves.
Proverbs 13, 24, he that spareth his rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth
him betimes.
Now that right there says that if we spare the rod, we don't spoil the child, it says
if we spare the rod, we hate our son.
But that if we love him, we'll chasten him betimes.
But this world today will teach you the exact opposite.
They'll say, oh, I just love my children too much to discipline them.
I love them too much to spank them.
I love them too much to tell them no.
I just give them whatever they want because I love them so much and I just want to be
good to them.
That is a lie and any person who says, well, I love my kids and I don't spank them, that
person is a liar.
Otherwise this book is a liar.
You want to come up to me and tell me that this book is lying?
Because this Bible says that he that spareth his rod hateth his son.
That's a fact.
That is Bible.
That is crystal clear.
Don't tell me that it's loving to withhold correction from the child.
The Bible says withhold not correction from the child.
For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die, thou shalt beat him with
the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell, the Bible says.
Nothing loving about withholding correction from your child that they might end up in
hell.
There's nothing loving about sparing the rod.
The loving thing to do is what's best for the child.
That's what it means to love them and by doing that you're doing what?
Keeping God's commandments.
Keeping Christ's sayings.
Now you say, well, what does that have to do with self-love?
Well because what people are actually saying when they say, oh, I just love my children.
I want to give them what they want.
Really what they're saying is I want my children to like me.
I want to be my children's buddy.
I want to be their pal.
I want to be the cool dad or the cool mom and give them what they want and not be
the mean jerk that spanks them or disciplines them or tells them no.
I want to be the cool one that just gives them everything that they want.
But that's self-love.
It's certainly not biblical love but it is self-love, why?
Because wanting your kids to like you and think you're cool is about exalting
yourself, gratifying yourself, glorifying yourself and doing what you in your misguided
logic think is best for yourself.
That is self-love, not real love.
Go to Proverbs 28 verse 23, chapter 28 of Proverbs verse 23.
The Bible says, he that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth
with the tongue.
So with the Bible saying that in the short term, flattering people with the tongue will
give you favor with them or make them like you but in the long run, if you actually
tell people the truth and rebuke them, in the long run, you'll find more favor with
that person.
See what it says?
He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with
the tongue.
So just telling your children all the time, hey, you're doing great.
Everything you do is fine.
Everything's great.
You don't want to tell them no.
You don't want to rebuke them.
You don't want to correct them.
You don't want to spank them.
You don't want to discipline them.
You know, maybe in the short term, they're going to throw their arms around you and say,
Oh, mom, you're the best.
You're so cool.
I mean, you just let me smoke pot, and you let me drink a beer.
And people laugh, but this is the world we live in.
This is what cool parents do, right?
You know, hey, you just let me go out with my friends until all hours of the night,
and you let me party, and you know, instead of giving me antiquated morals from the Bible,
you know, you just told me, hey, do it safely, and you sent me out to party and
be drunken and be a whore and to smoke pot.
But you know what?
That's the child in their 20s and 30s and 40s that's going to say, I hate you, mom.
I hate you, dad.
That's what they'll say.
The parent who actually tells their child no and puts boundaries and disciplines them
and lovingly corrects them and chastens them will grow up and call them blessed and love
them.
My parents disciplined me and spanked me and told me no, and I love my parents.
I love my mom.
I love my dad.
Why?
Because they found more favor with me afterwards by rebuking me, by punishing me, by disciplining
me.
And I love both my parents dearly.
Go to 1 Corinthians, chapter 5, verse 9, 1 Corinthians 5, 9, love versus self-love for
parents.
Now, I think most people who've been in our church for a while, they understand
what I'm talking about, how a loving parent is going to spank their children, discipline
their children, have boundaries, have rules, tell them no, don't spoil them, don't give
them everything, and that's not real love.
We need to rebuke them, don't just flatter them and tell them they did a good job.
Sometimes they need to be told they did a bad job, whether that's in their schoolwork
or cleaning their room, sometimes they need to be told that they failed.
The snowflake generation needs somebody to tell them that whatever they did needs
a little work, needs to be fixed, it needs to be improved, they need to do better.
Okay, you'll find more favor afterward when you actually tell your children the truth,
rebuke them, correct them, discipline them, and so forth.
But here's where you lose people today.
Even amongst our own circles, even amongst independent fundamental Baptists, even amongst
those who love the Lord, even amongst godly children is when their children become
adults at that magical age where they go to sleep 17 and then they just wake up and
suddenly they're an adult the next day when they turn 18, right?
Now all of a sudden all bets are off.
I mean this is the modern thinking even in church, even in Christian churches, even
amongst our circles.
I mean when they turn 18, now all of a sudden it says, well, they're an adult now,
they can do whatever now.
Now here's the thing, you're an adult when you get married and move out and start your
own household.
When you're 18, 19, and you're living at home with your parents, you're not an adult.
And even if you're older than that, even if you are technically an adult, when you're
at home under their authority, they are the boss.
When you're 20, they're the boss.
When you're 21, 22, they're the boss.
And so we need to understand that children who are still living in their parents' home
as adults should not be allowed to do whatever they want.
I mean there are parents today, Christian parents, who have their children living in
the home with them and they commit fornication and they commit drunkenness and they do all
this stuff and it's like, well, what can we do?
They're an adult.
I'll tell you what you do, you throw them out of the house if they refuse to obey.
Now it shouldn't come to that.
It should not come to that.
It should be that you actually teach them and guide them and bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
It should never come to that.
Look, we don't ever want to throw people out of the church either, but you know what?
I will not have a drunkard or a fornicator or a pot smoker living under my roof as
my son or daughter, they'll be thrown out of the home.
Now I don't believe that it will ever come to that because if you train up a child and
the way he should go, when he's old, he'll not depart from it, but you know what?
If my kids want to live a wicked lifestyle, they're not going to do it in my house because
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord in my house.
And I'll take it a step further and I know that this is going to probably make some
people offended or upset, but it's the biblical truth.
I'll take it a step further is that if my grown children are out living on their
own, they grow up and they're married or they move out or whatever and they're living
on their own, if they choose to live as born-again Christians in drunkenness and
fornication, I will have no fellowship with them.
I won't do it.
Look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 5-9, I wrote unto you in an epistle not to
company with fornicators, yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world or with
the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters, for then must he needs go out of the
world.
But now I've written unto you not to keep company.
If any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or
a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such in one, know not to eat.
For what have I to do to judge them also that are without?
Do not ye judge them that are within, but then that are without?
God judgeth, therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.
Now look, it's one thing, if you got saved later, your kids are unsaved, that's not
what this is talking about.
We are as Christians at liberty to eat and drink with the unsaved, amen?
I mean look, if the guy at work is a fornicator but he's a non-Christian, we
can have a meal with him.
If the guy at work is a drunkard and he's a non-Christian, we can have a meal with
him.
But let me tell you something, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator
or a drunk or any of these other things, the Bible says with such a one, know not to
eat.
And you know what that means?
Nobody is coming to my Thanksgiving dinner that's a backslidden Christian living in fornication
or drunkenness.
Now look, I would have an unsaved family member at a Thanksgiving all day long.
I'll invite Squanto and the Indians to come to the Thanksgiving dinner just like
the first Thanksgiving.
But you know what?
I'm not going to have a backslidden Christian who's living in fornication or drunkenness
or any of these other wicked things.
I'm not going to have them over because the Bible says with such a one, know not
to eat.
Well but they're family.
Where's the exception for that in this passage?
I don't see it.
Ouch.
Go to 1 Kings 15.
1 Kings 15.
And let me tell you, so I have nine children.
I've got the tenth on the way.
I don't believe that any of my children are going to go to the devil.
But you know what?
If one of them were to, God forbid, go to the devil, I wouldn't want them taking
all the rest of them with them.
So I'm certainly not going to set that individual up as a role model to them, as a hero
unto them, as a cool person unto them that we're cool with because we're not cool
with them.
And the Bible's on my side on this one.
Look at 1 Kings 15, 11.
And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord.
As did David his father and he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed
all the idols that his fathers had made.
And also Mayaca, his mother, even her, he removed from being queen because she had made
an idol in a grove.
And Asa destroyed her idol and burned it by the brook Kidron.
But the high places were not removed.
Nevertheless, Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.
So what was the one thing he did wrong?
He didn't get rid of the high places.
But you know what he did right in the sight of the Lord?
He got rid of the sodomites and he got rid of the idolatry and it says that even
his own mother was an idolater, he deposed her from being queen.
He took her out of that position that you can't be the queen anymore.
Why?
Because you're an idolater and you know I'm gonna break your idol.
That's what he did.
And you know what?
That's what the Bible says is right in the sight of the Lord.
Go to, uh, you say, well, Jesus taught love.
Go to Matthew 10, Matthew chapter 10.
Because again, we're talking about love versus self love.
Self love says, well, I want my kids to like me.
I want to be their buddy no matter what.
I want to be their friend no matter what.
I want to have them over and enjoy them and enjoy the grandkids or whatever.
You know what?
Hogwash, real love does what's best for that child.
And that's a rebuke.
That's a swift kick in the pants if they're living in those wicked sins.
You know, if your kids do well, praise them, bless them.
But when they're gonna do wickedly in the sight of the Lord, they need to be rebuked.
And it doesn't matter if it's your own family.
It doesn't matter because even, even when in this case, you know, this guy's mom is
bringing idolatry into the kingdom and idolatry is on the list, right?
Fornication, drunkenness, idolatry.
So this is a great example of that.
I mean people today, they're so warped on this.
They have adult children that are literally sodomites.
And they say, well, but it's my kid.
Bring it over for a barbecue.
And I use the word it purposely.
You say I don't like this kind of preaching.
Okay.
Well then go somewhere else.
Because you know what?
This is the truth.
This is the Word of God.
Go to Self-Love Baptist down the street where the pastor loves himself.
He'll tell you what you want to hear.
He'll tell you, yeah, bring all your faggot relatives over for Thanksgiving.
Bring over the drunks.
Bring over the fornicators.
Just show them unconditional love.
And this is the buzzword today.
Unconditional love, right?
Let me just come right out and say it.
I don't believe in it.
But it got me.
Unconditional love.
Did you get that from the Bible?
Unconditional love?
I thought the Bible says, you know, if, tell me if this is a condition.
You know, if, if a man loved me, he'll keep my words and my father will love him
and we'll come unto him and make our abode in him.
He that keepeth my commandments and keepeth, he that hath my commandments and keepeth
them, he it is that loveth me and he that loveth me shall be loved of my father
and I'll love him and, well, just because I just love everybody, that's why.
That's not what he said.
You stop getting your doctrine from a greeting card and get your doctrine from the Bible.
Hey, listen, if you're saved, nothing can separate you from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But there's a condition on God's love.
There's a condition on my love.
There's a condition on love today.
Unconditional love is a fraud.
Like it or lump it.
It's what the Bible says.
But oh, we got to just show them unconditional love.
And when they say love, they're not talking about biblical love when they say unconditional
love.
They're talking about unconditional world's version of love.
Unconditional tolerance for sin.
Unconditional telling people what they want to hear.
Unconditional get along with everybody.
That's what they really mean with their sloppy agape teaching.
And you know what?
Agape just means love.
And it's the same thing in English as it is in Greek.
So don't let people spin your head with that nonsense.
Like that there's a difference between agape and phileo, right?
You heard that a million times.
That's funny because if agape is this unconditional love, then why did the Pharisees love a chair
with agape, right?
They loved the uppermost seats at the feast.
They loved a chair with agape and the father loves the son with phileo, the lesser love.
So are you telling me that Pharisees love a chair more than God the father loves God
the son?
That's ridiculous.
It's just two different words.
They love being loved because they're called synonyms.
So it's the same thing.
Look at Matthew chapter 10 verse 34.
Think not that I'm come to send peace on earth.
I came not to send peace but a sword for I'm come to set a man at variance against
his father and the daughter against her mother and the daughter-in-law against her
mother-in-law.
This is Jesus talking.
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.
Nothing could be clearer in scripture but there are people who want to hear what the
scripture says and others who just say, well, no, I just still think that I just
need to show them just unconditional love and just unconditional tolerance and just
no matter what they do, no matter what they're into, they're always welcome at
my house.
They're always welcome for Thanksgiving.
They're always welcome for Christmas.
I'll always bring them to church.
No!
That is not what the Bible says.
Go to Ephesians 5.
And this is what blows my mind.
People will have an, and look, again, if your child's unsaved, bring them to church.
Your adult child who's living in sin, bring them to church.
They're a non-Christian.
If your adult child is not saved, bring them to Thanksgiving.
If your adult child is not saved, bring them to Christmas.
Show them the love of Christ.
But let me tell you something.
When your adult child is a backslidden Christian who has been taught the right way
that's saved, entwilled by the Holy Ghost, and then turns to a life of fornication
or drunkenness, don't even eat with that wicked person.
You know what?
It's my son.
Your son's a wicked person.
That's right.
That's my dad.
Your daughter's a wicked person.
And you know what?
That wicked person's going to do that backslidden Christian.
They're going to corrupt everyone around them.
See, unsaved people will never corrupt us like backslidden Christians will.
I mean, look, when we see the worldly, unsaved guy at our church who's drunk and
a fornicator, we're not going to go down his path.
We just feel sorry for him, and we want him to get saved, right?
But when we see people that are saved, Christians who know the Bible, and then they're living
in fornication, you know what?
Then your kids start thinking, oh, well, you know, she's a Christian.
He's a Christian.
You know, they're just, you know, it's not perfect, but hey, we're all sinners,
you know?
I mean, they're just, you know, doing a little different.
It's wicked.
It's a wicked person.
I hope your son's not a wicked person.
I hope your daughter's not a wicked person.
I hope your mom and your dad and aunts and uncles and cousins aren't wicked people.
But you know, if they're that wicked where they're a born-again child of God that's
backslidden to the point, and look, fornication's a big sin, friend, drunkenness, idolatry.
If they're backslidden to that point, you just have to break fellowship with that
person.
I remember I was in Bible college, and I got up in a preaching class, and I preached
about, hey, we got to, you know, 1 Corinthians 5, and I said, hey, even if that's your
own relatives, you know what I mean?
If they're a Christian that's backslidden to that point with such a 1, no not to eat.
And the teacher got up and said, well, you know, the Bible says that, but, you know,
our family's our family.
We're stuck with them.
See, and he kind of explained why I was wrong, and I'm just thinking like, well,
I'm not wrong.
I didn't say anything because, you know, he's the boss in the class, but I was thinking
to myself, well, you know, actually, you didn't give any Bible for that last little
tag on that you added there.
You know, that's verse number, what, in chapter 5.
Some of your Bibles might have a verse 14 that says, but, family's family, and we're
stuck with them.
Now look at Ephesians 5, Ephesians chapter 5.
It says, but fornication, and just to be clear, in case anybody here is a new believer
or maybe you don't know the Bible that much, fornication is sex outside of marriage, okay.
This is people that aren't married, but they're sleeping together, okay.
Fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you as become
its saints.
Do you see that?
Let it not be once named among you.
Well, what's he saying?
It's even just shameful to even hear about it or talk about it or no, I mean, it's
a very shameful thing.
He's saying not only don't do it, but don't let it be even named among you, right.
It's unbecoming of saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are
not convenient, but rather giving of thanks, the dirty jokes, the smut, the unclean,
the filth, saying, don't even talk about that stuff.
For this you know that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who is
an idolater hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of
God upon the children of disobedience.
Be not ye therefore partakers with them, the unsaved, the unbelievers who are into
that stuff, who are not going to heaven.
For ye were sometimes darkness, but now you're light in the Lord.
Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, for it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret.
Now again, when we read the Bible, we want to get context.
Verse three comes full circle in verse 12.
He's saying, hey, you know, let it not even be named among you, right?
And then nine verses later, he's saying what?
Hey, it's a shame to even speak of it.
Isn't that a similar saying?
It's all one thought.
It's one point here.
It's one thought of, look, this stuff cannot be commonly accepted amongst us.
Now, is fornication going to happen in our world in 2017?
Of course.
But should it be named among us and accepted among us?
No.
We need to send a strong message that we don't approve of it.
And look, yeah, the unsaved world, that's what they do.
But you're the children of light.
You know, we need to tell that wayward son or daughter, we need to tell them, hey,
you were darkness, but now you're light.
You better walk as a child of light.
We can't have fellowship with this.
We don't want to name this.
We don't want to talk about this.
We don't want to hear about this.
But you know what?
Today we have, we have a bunch of fornicators being congratulated and praised for getting
pregnant with their bastard children.
I said bastard.
Now listen to me.
I'm using the dictionary definition of the word bastard, which is a child that is illegitimate,
a child that's born out of wedlock, a child born to unmarried parents.
It's a bastard child.
That's what the Bible says.
You know what?
That's mean.
No, it's love.
Speaking the truth in love.
Keeping the commandments of God.
God says walk in love.
Ephesians is a pretty loving book.
A lot of love, love, love in Ephesians.
And right in the middle of that is him telling us, hey, look, we can't tolerate
fornication.
Can't have it around.
Let it not be named among you.
Okay.
So if it's not supposed to be named among us, why is it that when some woman gets
knocked up out of wedlock, and I'm talking about a Christian.
I'm not talking about unbelievers.
I'm talking about a Christian lady.
And look, if you don't like this preaching, don't say that you like hard preaching.
You know, we got to, oh, I love hard preaching because I like the yelling.
You know, until it hits you.
This is hard preaching.
Hard preaching is not about the volume of the preacher.
It's not about, you know, it's about what's being said.
It's about taking the hard truth from the Bible and laying it on you unfiltered.
And let me tell you something.
We got too many people today congratulating women who are pregnant with a bastard and
we're supposed to just congratulate that.
I thought it's not even supposed to be named among us.
Oh, you're pregnant.
Congratulations.
Except that you're not married.
That's not a congratulation.
You know what we ought to say.
And look, I'm not saying to be a jerk.
I'm saying to do the right thing.
And you know what?
If somebody came to me and said, I'm pregnant and they're not married.
You know, I'd say, I'd say that that's too bad.
I'm really sorry to hear that.
That's terrible.
That's a shame.
And you know what, if you're going to tell, oh, congratulations, you're an idiot and you're
not loving.
You're not loving.
Don't come.
Well, you're just not loving.
No, you're not loving.
You love yourself and you want everybody to like you and you want to be popular and
you don't want to make any waves in the family.
So you're going to tell people what they want to hear.
Not because you love that person, not because you love the people around them, because
you love yourself.
It's self love today.
It's not the love of God.
The love of God says that's terrible.
Well, I'm sorry to hear that.
Why?
Because you're telling the person the truth because you want to get them to see that
they need to change their ways.
And why?
Because you don't want their younger siblings to go down the same road.
I mean, the younger siblings look up and they see their adult sibling congratulated
for being pregnant with some dude's bastard that there's not even any talk of marriage.
No talk of marriage.
You're pregnant with some dude's bastard.
Why are we congratulating you?
What are we teaching our children?
What are we teaching the other young people?
What are we teaching the teenagers of the church?
What are we teaching the unsingles?
We're teaching them that this can be named among us and it's fine.
No it's a shame is what it is.
It's an embarrassment.
It ought to be humiliating.
It's how it used to be when this world was a normal place.
But today the world's been turned upside down with a bunch of fake preaching and fake
love and self-love.
I'm not going to do it.
Not congratulating women who get knocked up out of their life.
And here's what people say, well it's not the child's fault.
Oh, oh, oh really?
So that you're congratulating the child?
Really?
So you're walking up to the stomach and saying congratulations on being conceived.
That child in the womb doesn't know whether you congratulate its mom or not.
That little child in the womb at four weeks gestation, six weeks gestation, eight weeks
gestation, it doesn't know whether you told the mom you need to stop living in fornication.
You need to stop living in sin.
You need to stop being a whore.
You need to get married.
You need to change your life.
Look, the child doesn't know.
So don't tell me well I'm doing it for the sake of the child.
You're not alone.
You're doing it for the sake of yourself.
Because you want to be the cool dad, the cool mom, the cool aunt, the cool uncle,
the cool cousin, the cool pastor.
Why don't you be real and tell people hey it's a shame, it's terrible.
Is the guy even going to marry you?
Are you even getting married?
It's a shame.
And you know what?
Oh it's just wonderful being a single mother.
It's garbage.
You know what single mothers produce?
More single mothers.
They get pregnant with a girl and then that girl grows up to be a single mother.
Who gets pregnant with a girl that grows up to be a single mother?
You know what the number one indicator for poverty in America is?
If you're a single mother, lowest income possible.
Why?
Because you're going to fail in life as a single mother because it's a stupid way
to live your life.
I said it's stupid.
I said it's foolish.
It's ungodly.
It's wicked.
It's unbiblical.
It's non-Christian.
You need to be a virgin when you get married and keep yourself pure.
That's what a loving pastor is going to tell you.
He said well I've already made the mistake.
Well you know what?
Shame on you.
Repent and get it right.
I got to move on.
I got to move on to the next point.
Go if you would to 2 Timothy chapter 4.
Number one, self-love versus love for parents.
Self-love says oh I don't want to spank them.
I just want to give them everything that they want because I love them so much.
And then when that child grows up and gets knocked up with some dude's bastard then it's
like oh I just love them so much so that's why I want to put on the baby shower and
congratulate and celebrate.
And look I'm not saying to take it out on the kid.
It's not the kid's fault that he's born out of wedlock.
You know reach out to the kid.
Try to help the kid as best as you can but you know what sorry you can't sit there
and expect to just allow people to just be backslidden Christians around you and drinking
and fornicate and then you expect your kids to turn out right because you're showing
them the opposite of what you're preaching.
You're showing them well you know we're against fornication but hit hint wink wink
nod nod.
We look the other way.
No I don't look the other way.
Makes me sick.
So number two love versus self love for preachers.
A lot of preachers today they love themselves.
Now this is also known as narcissism right when you love yourself that was the mythical
character narcissus who fell in love with his own reflection in the mirror.
Right so narcissism or self love amongst preachers is manifested by preachers who
don't care about helping people by by keeping God's commandments telling them to keep
God's commandments telling them what they need to hear but the self loving preacher
tells people what they want to hear so they don't like them.
Everybody understand.
Yeah.
So I have a poster board brother Quinn.
I said a poster board on the sofa in there would you grab that and bring it in.
I'm going to get to second Timothy four in just a moment but first I want to read
you a verse that I quoted earlier from Matthew 24 it says in Matthew 24 verse 11 and
many false prophets shall arise and shall deceive many and because iniquity shall abound
iniquity is another word or another type of sin shall abound the love of many shall
wax cold.
So the Bible talks about in the end times are going to be a lot of false preachers
and iniquity is going to abound and people's love will wax cold.
Now I just want to use a little logic with you for a moment.
The Bible tells us that in the last days the love of many is going to wax cold a lot
of false teaching and iniquity is going to abound.
So I drew a little chart it's a very simple chart it's a very crude chart it just has
a red line and a green line.
Hopefully you can see it okay all right.
So this green line represents people preaching hard against sin and standing for the principles
I'm talking about like hey fornication shameful you know getting pregnant out of
wedlock that's embarrassing that's humility that's shameful it's not something we brag
about on social media and you know they didn't have social media back then but they
you know you get it but anyway they you know this is the hard preaching the leather
lung if you love me keep my commandments you know throw out the drunks and fornicators
that are Christians.
Okay here's here's how it's been going down less do I mean they may disagree with
that.
So the green line represents the prevalence in America of hard face ripping leather lung
preaching against sin.
It's on the decline.
I think anybody would admit that.
Right okay.
Then the red line represents people living a fornicating lifestyle.
That's going up dramatically everybody agree with that I mean just recently a few years
ago we just crossed the line where now in America more children are being born out
of wedlock or into homes where the you know the parents aren't married then then
otherwise it's like more than half now are being born out of wedlock versus being
born in wedlock right.
So this is going through the roof right.
Everybody see that.
Okay so the preaching is is is less the hard face ripping preaching is less.
The wickedness is going up see the inverse relationship there okay all right.
Okay now ask yourself this question.
What about the preaching that says love them unconditionally.
What about the preaching that says tolerate sin have the have you the sodomites over
the barbeque have the fornicators over for the barbecue.
You know no matter what you support them in anything that they do.
All that soft lovey-dovey sloppy agape preaching is that going up or down.
It's going up right.
I mean come on you know and I know that there is way more preaching today of just
tolerate everything you know put up with everything.
No no restraint.
Okay everybody agree with that.
Okay so now with all this in mind all this data now think about this.
The Bible said in the last days that the love of many shall wax cold right.
The love of many would wax cold.
Now if and now let's make the red line be the loving preaching that Joel Osteen Joyce
Meyer God's not mad at you preaching unconditional love preaching that's going up right.
So if in the end times the love of many is going to wax cold which one of these
lines is loving because if you're going to tell me oh yeah the loving preacher like
Joel Osteen Joyce Meyer well that's going up so how is that waxing cold.
The real preaching is going down why because the love is waxing cold because the false
prophets abound and because iniquity shall abound and because false prophets shall deceive
many the love of many will wax cold.
So that tells me that just even based on simple logic the loving preaching is the hard
preaching because that's what's disappearing and the lovey-dovey sloppy agape preaching
is on the increase that can't be love.
It's really quite simple when you look at it that way isn't it.
Look at 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus
Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead it is appearing in his kingdom preach
the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke exhort with all long suffering
and doctrine for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine but
after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and
they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables but
watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof
of thy ministry.
So God here is exhorting preachers to preach the word whether it's popular or not and
to be ready to endure the affliction and persecution and to be instant in season out
of season but the part I want to focus on is that it says that they will heap
to themselves teachers having itching ears having itching ears okay.
So these teachers these preachers right they're telling people what they want to hear people's
ears are itching this is the illustration of a dog dogs have itching ears don't they
that's pretty much what they except they would use this foot but I'm not that limber
but you know they do like this right what is it they have this itch that they want
scratched they come to church to get an itch scratched right make me feel good give
me feelings of euphoria I want to get endorphins when I go to church right like
the dog gets endorphins and euphoric feeling scratching his ear he's saying that's what
it's going to be like in the last days they'll heap to themselves preachers teachers
actually because you know preaching is just too hard they need teaching having
itching ears right so why would a preacher tell them what they want to hear because
he wants to be their buddy he wants to be their friend he wants to be popular he
wants them to like him not but if he really loved them he'd tell them what they needed
to hear they might get angry and walk out the door but at least they heard the truth
you know me you're going to lose people but at least you did you did right by those
people by telling the truth in fact I just heard a story yesterday someone told
me that you know they they were raised in a false religion that promoted infant
baptism right so then they were going to a Baptist church and they didn't know
the correct doctrine about baptism and they brought a small child that was too young
to understand the gospel not say just a very small child they brought the child to their Baptist
pastor said will you baptize this child and he just told them well he hemmed and
hawed and said well you know I'm not going to do it at our church no he wouldn't give
like a clearance like no it's wrong no baptism comes after salvation no that's a false
target he just said well you know just not at this church so then she just took it to a
different church and got the kid baptized and thought it was fine because he never told her
it's wrong okay later this person learns the truth about baptism goes that pastor and says
why didn't you tell me that infant baptism is wrong I baptized this young child because I
thought I was doing the right thing and he said well I didn't want to offend you I didn't
want to make you upset but the irony is that he made her upset by lying to her but it was
afterward see the one who rebukes gets more favor afterward right if he would have rebuked
he would add more favor afterward than just flattering the gloves same pastor is offered
alcohol right by people in the church who don't know that there's anything wrong with alcohol
you know probably because he's not preaching against these things like infant baptism alcohol
etc but anyway offer the same pastor alcohol and he declines and they say oh you don't you
don't drink is it because of the Bible oh no I just don't like it I mean look weak that's
the pastor I mean you think if somebody offered me alcohol and I said oh no thank
you and then they said well you know is it because of the Bible oh no I just don't
like it I just don't like the taste I mean that's just horrible I mean how hard
is it that's so weak I mean how hard is it just to say and you don't have to be mean
you have to be rude you can speak the truth and love you can just say yeah it is because
of the Bible yeah yeah it's because the Bible tells us to abstain from alcohol right
that's why you know and quote a few scriptures but it's like well I don't want to be seen
as that pastor who's a teetotaler you know I mean it's a joke today isn't it yeah but
I got to hurry up and get to my third point this is the last place we'll turn Proverbs
27 Proverbs chapter 27 verse 5 and look that's not even that's not even hard I mean
that's milk of the word stuff you know what I mean don't baptize your baby don't
drink alcohol I mean these aren't the deep doctrines of the faith right these aren't
major steps of Christian growth here I mean if he can't take a stand on that what's he
gonna take a stand on it's unbelievable today but he said but he literally said I
don't want to make you upset I didn't want to offend you I didn't want to hurt
your feelings but you know what he offended them on both counts once they eventually learned
the truth then they're mad at him on both counts why don't you tell us not to
drink why don't you tell us not to baptize the baby you know a lot of people are hungry
for the truth today and they're not being fed today in their churches Proverbs 27 verse
5 says this open rebuke is better than secret love faithful are the wounds of a friend
but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful you see love versus self love for people
in general you know all of us even with our friends right because this is saying
faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful open
rebuke is better than secret love not only do we need to have real love as parents not
self love of just oh I want everybody to like me but number two as preachers we have
real love that tough love sometimes right it tells people the truth not self love
like how popular can I be how happy will people be after the sermon everybody's
going to tell me I did great but number three we need to have real love for even our
friends just just even just people in general when you have real love for our friends not
self love and sometimes that means telling people what they don't want to hear sometimes
it's an open rebuke why because open rebuke is better than secret love faithful
are the wounds of a friend you know and sometimes it can have a great impact when your
friend comes to you and lovingly tells you you're going down a dark path you I'm worried
about you you're going down a dark path what you're doing is wrong here's what the Bible
says you know let's get this right let's come back to the Lord you know that's something
that we need to do and not just watch our friends go off the cliff and we're just
clicking like on every bastard baby picture and we're clicking like on all the drunken
pictures and the alcohol we're clicking like on the sleazy attire of a harlot and we're
clicking like on everything that's wicked you know I I don't ever click like on a picture
on Facebook unless the people in that picture are dressed properly I don't care who they
are I mean ouch but I look if somebody's in a short skirt I'm not clicking like
on that picture some guy's tagging his pants and showing his underwear no like for you
bottle of booze in the picture I'm not clicking like woman in pants I'm not even clicking
like you know I click like when people are dressed right I click like when people
are doing right why because that's what I like right that's what I like I like things
whatsoever things are true I click like whatsoever things are honest I click like whatsoever
things are just I'll click like whatsoever things are pure I'm going to click like whatsoever
things are lovely click like whatsoever things are a good report click like there
may be virtue I'm going to click like there may be praise I'm going to click like
why because I want to think on those things I don't click like on stuff that I don't
approve of cuz I'm not fake cuz I'm not a phony cuz I don't have self-love if I don't
like it I'm not going to click like I only click like on stuff that I like and if you
like wickedness something's wrong with you now if you need to unfriend me on Facebook now
go ahead it won't hurt my feelings unfriend me block me get rid of me you know cuz you're
like well he didn't click like enough or or you know now I'm afraid he's gonna see
what I liked just block me then I don't care what you click like I'm not the like
police I'm just telling you what I click like you go like what you want I don't care
what you like I'm gonna like what I like which I sure hope is what God likes I'm
not gonna click like I want the devil likes and I'm certainly not gonna be clicking love
you might get a wow or angry alright let's let's bring the sermon back down to earth
here let me give you one last let me give you one last illustration that I think
kind of drives this in so I'm out soul winning yesterday on the Navajo Nation and I talked to
a lady and her daughter and I won them unto Christ thank God and it was it was a blessing and
this lady told me she said I need prayer because things are going bad in my life and
you know I'm struggling in this area in that area and and I really want God to bless me
can you pray for me because everything's going bad and and she's listening problems
and I said to her I said this I said well are you married and you said well you know how
dare you well isn't that what Jesus asked the woman at the well didn't he say like go
call your husband so I just asked her I just said well let me ask you know do you have
a husband I said it nicer than Jesus a woman go call the husband I said I said well you know
do you have a husband and she said no she's like I have a boyfriend and I said well
do you live with your boyfriend well kind of and you know what I told her I told her
and I wasn't mean I didn't you know it's kind of like I was preaching on Wednesday
night I didn't switch into pulpit mode I told her very nicely I said look I said I said I want
God to bless you and God wants to bless you but I said here's the thing I want to offend
you but what you're doing is living in sin and God can't bless you while you're living in
sin and I explained to her that things are not going to go well for her as she lives in
sin and you know and I quoted her some scripture I explained that concept to her seek ye first the
kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you I explained
you know and I left her on a high note and a smile and a handshake and she came to the movie
premiere and everything was fine you know she didn't hate me she didn't say how dare you judge
me what but but you know what I still told the truth you can tell you know just because you tell
people the truth doesn't mean they're gonna hate you but even if it does make them hate
you tell them the truth anyway tell them anyway I mean if she would have just said how
dare you judge not and peeled out of that parking lot where I was witnessing to her you
know what I still would have done the exact same thing and I would have felt great about it
but thankfully she received at least what I had to say and you know what that's what we need to do
with people that are Christians who are living in sin not to just sit there and condone it now
again if people are unsaved you know preach Christ and him crucified you know that's the
main thing you need to do with people that are not saved is get them saved cleaning up their
life isn't the most important thing on the agenda for unsaved people but you know what
when you're dealing with people that are saved when you're dealing with people that are Christians
when you're dealing with people saying pray for me for God to bless you you know you got
to tell them hey look I want to pray for you I want God to bless you God wants to bless
you but he's not going to because you're living in sin you're living in fornication
let's probably have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word Lord and we
thank you so much for real love Lord because those of us that are saved and have known
you for years we've experienced your love and we've experienced your love through
our brothers and sisters in Christ who loved us with real love and Lord we're thankful
for every person who loves us and does good things for us and gives us things that
we need or blesses us or helps us in any way and Lord I pray that we would love
others and help them and bless them in any way possible Lord but help us never to get
sucked into this fake self-love that just disregards your word and tells people what
they want to hear Lord help us to care more about other people's well-being than
on what people think about us and in Jesus name we pray amen.