This preaching of this story, dear God, I just prayed that it would make a difference
even in one person that's here, that this would stick with them for the rest of their
life, what's being preached this morning.
It's so important.
And God, I just pray that you would be with me as I preach, dear God, fill me with the
Holy Spirit, and so that the Word can be preached with power, as it ought to be preached.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Now, it's a very familiar story that we just read in Genesis chapter 37.
Turn in your Bible two pages to the right here, just to Genesis chapter 39.
Genesis chapter 39, we just saw the familiar story about Joseph, 17-year-old boy doing
what he's supposed to be doing.
He's trying to serve God the best that he can.
He's obeying his father.
Did you notice how obedient he is to his father when we just read that story?
His dad tells him to do something.
He does it.
He asks him to do something that he probably didn't want to do, checking on his brothers.
And he just said, here am I, whatever you want me to do, I'll do it.
He brought to his father their evil report.
He didn't want to participate in the sin that his 11 brothers were participating in,
and we'll see later in their life what a bunch of sinful men these were, Joseph's brethren.
And here he is at age 17, attacked, beaten, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery.
He went from having a very close-knit bond with his father, Jacob.
He was the son that Jacob loved the most.
He was given gifts by his dad, and he had a close relationship with his dad.
He had a big family.
He had 11 brothers.
He had his mother.
All of a sudden, he's displaced and he's carried away captive into Egypt in a distant, faraway place.
No mom, no dad, no brothers and sisters, no friends, probably speaking a foreign language.
Totally ignorant of his surroundings.
He had no idea where he is.
He had no idea what's going on.
He has no one to turn to.
But look, if you would, at Genesis chapter 39, verse 1.
The Bible says, And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh,
captain of the guard and Egyptian, bought him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which
had brought him down thither.
And the Lord was with Joseph.
Notice those words.
The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master,
the Egyptian.
And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did
to prosper in his hand.
Look down at verse 20.
The Bible reads in verse 20, And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison,
a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison.
But the Lord was with Joseph, a third time that's mentioned, and showed him mercy, and
gave him favor on the side of the keepers of the prison.
And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were
in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.
The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord
was with him, the fourth time it's mentioned.
And that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper.
And of course, don't turn there, but in Acts chapter 7, the Bible reads in verse 9, In
the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him.
Okay, so five different times, God brings up the fact that even though Joseph was carried
captive into this foreign country, God was with him.
Now why was God with Joseph?
Do you think that God just chooses certain people?
Do you think God just looks down and just eeny meeny miny moe just picks somebody and
said, no matter where this person goes, I am going to be with them?
Well, I don't think so.
Let me read something that Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 29, you don't have to
turn there.
The Bible reads, And he that sent me is with me.
That's what Jesus Christ is saying of the Father.
And he that sent me is with me.
The Father had not left me alone.
Why?
He says, For I do always those things that please him.
Okay?
And then the Bible reads in John 16, and you don't have to turn there, but, Behold the
hour cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scattered, Jesus is speaking to his disciples
how they are going to forsake him.
He says, The hour is coming that ye shall be scattered.
Every man to his own shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the Father
is with me.
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace, and in the world
ye shall have tribulation.
But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
And so we see Jesus Christ making it very clear that the degree of God being with you
is to the degree that you are doing those things that are pleasing in his sight.
Well, read the book of 1 John and you'll find that out.
The Bible says, These things write me unto you, that ye may have fellowship with them.
And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
He says, If we walk in the light, as he is in the light.
It says, God is light, and him is no darkness at all.
And so we see the reason that God was with Joseph, the reason that God made everything
he did to prosper, is because, yes, the Lord went with Joseph, but I think Joseph brought
God with him when he was taken into Egypt, is really what was going on.
You see, there has to come a time in your life, and we're going to see several examples
of this in the Bible.
There has to come a time in your life where it's just you and God.
You can't always rely on church.
You can't always rely on mom and dad kids.
There's going to come a time where it's just going to be you and God.
You know, you can't always rely on Pastor Anderson.
You know, Pastor Anderson may not always be here.
Your mom and dad may not always be there.
You may be taken off to a distant land one day as Joseph was, God forbid, but stranger
things have happened.
And so you've got to come to the place where you understand that you must walk with God
on your own.
You must take the Lord with you.
Take the name of Jesus with you, as the great song says in the hymnal.
Hey, there's got to come a time where your walk with God becomes just between you and
God.
There's so many people that rely on someone else's spirituality.
A husband that relies on his wife as the spiritual leader, God help you if that's the case.
A wife, but still, a wife who relies on her husband to be her spirituality.
Hey, listen, you must walk with God on your own.
You must be reading the Bible.
You must know what you believe yourself.
Kids who rely on their parents.
I've seen a man and a woman where the man was a great spiritual leader.
You know, I'm not going to say who it was, but I've known people in the past.
And the man was a great spiritual leader, and he died, and his wife just was helpless.
She didn't know how to walk with God on her own.
She didn't know how to find God's will.
She didn't know how to choose a church on her own.
She didn't know how to stay with God on her own.
It was all just riding on the coattails of her husband.
You've got to, no matter who you are, be with God on your own.
I mean, here's a 17-year-old boy.
Can you imagine, you have to think about what this would be like to be displaced away from
your mom and dad, away from anybody you've ever known, away from church.
We have church that we come to Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night to get fired
up.
You know, to be around people who believe like us.
To be built up in the faith where we can talk after the service and talk before the service
and encourage one another, and build each other up and motivate one another, and stand
before one another.
Hey, nobody was standing with Joseph except the Lord Jesus Christ.
Hey, there was a time when nobody stood with Jesus, except it was just the Father.
He said, that's all I wanted.
He said, you're going to leave me alone.
This is going to be me and the Father.
But thank God that he had the Father with him at all times.
Now look at a bad example.
That was the good example of Joseph.
Look at 2 Chronicles, chapter number 24.
The book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 24.
2 Chronicles 24.
I've spent my life watching maybe a good church.
I've seen a good church dissolve.
A good fundamental King James Bible preaching, door-to-door soul, any kind of church.
I've seen it dissolve, and I've watched the sheep be scattered.
I've watched people who once went to a fundamental church, once went to a Gospel preaching church.
I watched them scatter and not go to church anywhere, because their leader was God.
I watched them be scattered and go to a liberal church.
I watched them be scattered and go to the non-denominational church.
Hey, I watched them be scattered and go to a church that did not preach the way that
God wanted them to preach, but just tickled the ears of those that listened for filthy
lookers.
Hey, is that what's going to happen to you?
If there's no faithful word back at church, are you going to fall by the wayside?
I hope not.
I hope that I'm not your spirituality.
Hey, I hope that other people in this church that you come and see every week are not your
spirituality.
Hey, I hope that you know God yourself.
I hope that you know how to pick up the Bible and read it yourself and find out what's true
for yourself, and don't rely on somebody just to spoon feed you the truth.
Grow up.
Like the Bible says, everyone that uses milk is a babe.
It says it's unskillful in the word of righteousness, but strong meat belonging to them that are
of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.
Hey, can you come to the place where you can pick up the fork and pick up the knife and
pick up your Bible and feed yourself?
You say, I went to that church and I wasn't being fed.
Hey, feed yourself.
Now, that church should have been feeding you, but you ought to be feeding yourself.
Don't come to church starving hungry because you haven't eaten since Wednesday night.
Hey, come to church on Sunday morning.
You're already a little full, but this is just dessert.
This is dessert, believe it or not, when you come to church.
But look at 2 Chronicles 7, number 24, and look at verse number 1.
We're going to see a man who did not understand what I'm preaching to you this morning.
In verse number 1, his name was Joash.
The Bible reads, Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40
years in Jerusalem.
His mother's name also was Zebaiah of Beersheba, and Joash did that which was right in the
sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest, but looked down, if you would,
to verse number 15.
So here he is.
He's a seven-year-old boy.
He begins to reign.
Here's the way I look at it.
We could look at the spiritual application.
He got saved when he was seven.
That's the spiritual application.
God has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, and in the washes from our
sins and his own blood, made us kings and priests unto God and his Father.
So there's a metaphor here.
It's like a little kid that gets saved when he's seven, right?
And as long as Jehoiada the priest, who was his father figure, his parents were not alive,
he was adopted by his uncle, Jehoiada was actually his uncle if you study the Bible.
And so his uncle here, he's raising him as a father, he's saved at seven, perhaps, but
he's only doing right as long as Jehoiada's around, as long as Dad's around, as long as
Uncle Jehoiada's around.
But look down at verse 15, the Bible reads, but Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days
when he died, 130 years old was he when he died, and they buried him in the city of David
among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and toward his
house.
Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah and made obeisance to the king, then
the king hearkened unto them.
And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers and served groves and idols,
and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem, for this their trespass, yet he sent prophets
to them to bring them again unto the Lord.
And they testified against them, but they would not give ear.
And so we see here that Jehoiada, Joash's uncle, was protecting him from the evil influence
that's always out there.
You think these princes, you think people knew before Jehoiada died that these princes
were wicked and ungodly men who wanted to bring a whole nation into idolatry and destroy
the whole nation?
I don't think so.
I think these guys were smooth enough to be right there with the king, all the princes
and the elders.
They were doing what they did, they were putting on the show of being right with God because
they feared Jehoiada.
And Jehoiada was a protective influence over Joash, but as soon as Jehoiada was gone, then
came the attack, where they were going to come in and they were going to infiltrate
and say, we're going to get to Joash, we're going to get to this young mind, and we're
going to pervert his mind, we're going to get him to lead this nation into sin and wickedness.
Then they succeeded.
Why?
Because Joash had no walk with God for himself.
He didn't have any backbone of his own.
He had no spiritual basis of his own.
He was relying on Uncle Jehoiada to protect him.
And this is what I'm going to tell you.
The moment that you come out from under your protective influence, whether it's a child
that grows up and they leave the house, whether it be a child whose parents pass away unexpectedly,
whether it be someone who's somehow taken away from their church maybe, they're moved
away to a far place, perhaps a church falls apart and ceases to exist, God forbid, but
it happens.
The moment that happens, there's always going to be somebody waiting to attack, just like
there was here.
I mean, as soon as the Jehoiadas of this world are gone, then the evil princes are going
to come and they're going to tempt you, and they're going to try to entice you.
What happened to Joseph?
Same thing.
As soon as he got out from that protective influence, as soon as he was isolated from
his family, isolated from anyone who'd ever even heard of Jesus Christ or Jehovah God,
as soon as he was isolated from that, what's the first thing?
The devil sent some woman to try to entice him, to try to get him into fornication and
descent, to defile his own body in fornication.
Hey, the devil will always attack you when you're alone.
You think about the Bible talks about the devil walking the Bible as a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour.
I remember when I was a kid at school, they'd show us these little documentaries about lions
and about hyenas and all these different nature type shows, and you watch these lions, and
what do they do?
They try to find the one that's kind of away from the group.
They find the one who's lagging behind a little bit.
The sheep is just kind of looking around, doesn't know what's going on, and they're
ready to just pounce on them.
That's what the devil's doing, he's seeking whom he may devour.
So what's the moral of the story?
Just always stay in the group, right?
The group's not always going to be there, okay?
It'd be great if you could always, wouldn't it be great if you could always have a group
of people that love God, that are on fire for God, that love Solomon, that love the
King James Bible?
Hey, it's not going to be that way.
You're not always going to have that group.
You say, the moral of the story is never leave the group.
Hey, you will be away from the group.
There's going to come a time just as Joseph, do you think Joseph thought he was going to
be away from the group?
No.
Do you think Joash expected, I mean, he is 129 years old, Joash.
He is 130 years old.
Hey, he's going to die one of these days, Joash.
Would you learn that you can't always rely on other people?
It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.
You must walk with God by yourself.
Hey, I'm a strong believer in the local church.
Strong believer.
I think that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth.
I think you should not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some
is.
There are some people who forsake the assembly.
I don't want to be like them, is what the Bible's saying.
But I do believe in the local church.
It's very important.
I do believe in the family.
Very important to have a close family, strong family.
But I'm going to tell you something.
I also believe in the individual.
I believe in the individual standing on his own two feet.
Every man, every woman, every boy, every girl.
I believe in the priesthood of the believer.
I believe that every believer in Jesus Christ should be able to stand on his own before
God and to know the Bible on his own before God and to be able to make his own decisions
before God.
Don't let other people do your thinking for you, is what I'm saying this morning.
Don't let Pastor Anderson do your thinking for you.
If I, don't say, well, if somebody asks you, I hope when somebody asks you something about
what you believe, don't ever tell them, well, that's what Pastor Anderson said.
I just trust Pastor Anderson.
You know what I mean?
I've heard people say that.
Well, why do you believe this?
Look, Pastor Anderson preaches that all the time.
It must be right.
No, no.
Don't ever say that.
That's not a reason to believe anything.
You say, well, Pastor Anderson's right 99% of the time.
I think I've kept that average up.
They're like, hey, Pastor Anderson's right 99% of the time.
We're just going to by faith accept this 1%, okay, that we don't, I don't know where he's
getting it, but he's been right about so many things.
Let's just go with it.
No.
Hey, why don't you check the Bible and see if it's true for yourself?
Why don't you know what you believe yourself?
Look at another example.
Look at, look at Daniel chapter one.
Here's another man who was taken out of his comfort zone, who was isolated from anyone
else who believed like he believed.
We're living in perilous times.
The Bible says in the book of Timothy, this snow also, and perilous means dangerous, in
case you don't know what perilous means, it means dangerous.
This snow also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers
of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful,
unholy.
That's the day we're living in.
Traders, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
Hey, incontinent, fierce, false accusers, despisers of those that are good.
Yes, that's 2007.
Dangerous times, perilous times.
You better be able to identify with the story of Joseph in the Bible, because that might
become your life story and your lifetime.
Hey, you better identify with the book of Daniel right now, because this may be your
life story in a few years.
Hey, ten years from now, this could be your life.
You may be carried away captive somewhere.
Yes, it could happen.
Look at Daniel chapter 1, verse number 3.
Bible reads, And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should
bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes, children,
notice the words children, in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in
all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge and understanding science, and such is that ability in them
to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue
of the Chaldean.
They want to brainwash these young children in their lifestyle, their mentality, their
belief system.
And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which
he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before
the king.
Now, among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under
whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names.
For he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and to Mishael
of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego.
But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the
king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the
eunuchs that he might not defile himself.
You see, here's a young man, a child, who's kidnapped from his own house literally.
He's put in a school system where he's going to be brainwashed and taught to think like
we think, to talk like we talk, to be like we are, to dress like we are.
And he says, I'm going to take away anything about your identity, I'm going to change your
name.
I mean, think about that.
Think about what they're trying to do to these guys psychologically.
They're not just displacing them and saying, this is your new home.
They're saying, no, you're a brand new person.
Daniel does not exist anymore.
You are Belteshazzar.
You are one of us.
You're going to be like us.
You're going to learn what we have to teach.
But Daniel said, as a child, as a kid, he said, I will not, I will not defile myself
with the portion of the king.
I will not eat this meat that's been sacrificed unto idols.
I will not drink an alcoholic beverage.
I won't touch it.
How did he have the character, will mom and dad dare tell him, now son, remember what
we taught you son, we're going to ask you to be excused from the table.
No, he had nobody there.
What are you going to do when it's just you by yourself?
What are you going to do when nobody's around?
What are you going to do when it's you and the father?
Are you going to be able to stand up and take a stand for God alone?
Are you going to remember what you've been taught from the Bible?
Are you going to have the word of God dwelling in you when this happens?
Here's another example.
Look at Acts chapter 7.
Acts chapter 7 in the New Testament, fifth book in the New Testament, the book of Acts
chapter 7, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, my namesake Stephen is preaching
to the Jews that have arrested him and he's preaching this great sermon showing the history
of the children of Israel beginning with Abraham and he's explaining how all throughout the
history of the children of Israel they've always resisted the Holy Ghost.
They never understood what God was doing and it was, well let's see what the story is,
let's look at verse number 20.
The Bible reads in verse number 20, in which time Moses was born and was exceeding Pharaoh
and nourished up in his father's house three months and when he was cast out Pharaoh's
daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son and Moses was learned in all the
wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds.
Kind of a similar story with both Joseph and Daniel, especially with Daniel, a young boy
who's being trained by the heathen, by the ungodly, no spiritual right influence around.
As a small child for the first few years of his life he was nursed and raised by his mother
as a young toddler but then he's just put right into this world of Egypt.
Well it takes him until he's 40 years old but the Bible reads in verse number 23 and
when he was full 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children
of Israel and seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed
and smote the Egyptian and watch this, this is an important verse, verse 25, for he
supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them
but they understood not.
If you're expecting other people to take the stand spiritually that you're going to take
you might be let down by the fact that they're not going to understand.
See Moses expected his brethren to get on board with him.
Moses expected the children of Israel to rise up and say let's be free from the bondage
that we're in, let's fight against the enemy, let's go to the land that was promised
to our fathers, let's receive what God has already promised us.
He said come on let's do it and they didn't understand, they didn't get it.
And so what happened?
He had to flee away and we'll read the story but he had to flee away the Bible reads they
understood not and the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove and would
have sent them at one again saying sir so your brethren why do you wrong one to another
but he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away saying who made thee a ruler and
a judge over us?
Wilt thou kill me if thou didst the Egyptian yesterday?
Then fled Moses at this saying and was a stranger in the land of Midian where he begat
two sons and when forty years were expired there appeared to him in the wilderness of
Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire and a bush.
You see Moses think about what Moses must have felt like at this point.
Here he is a mighty man the Bible says mighty in words and in deeds learned in all the
learning of the Egyptians a powerful man.
He walks out and he does a great deed of saving this man from his oppressor and he says I
want you to get on board with me and to see that I'm going to deliver you out of Egypt
you know God's raising me up to be the deliverer here.
They didn't get it and they end up turning around and attacking him and he ends up walking
away through the desert all by himself all alone with nobody on his side and he just
you know he must have been frustrated and disappointed and he's just sitting in the
desert for forty years just he thought why why did he stick around for forty years because
he thought that somebody else was going to step up to the plate and stand with him and
you know that's just not always the way it's going to be you must learn to stand
alone you must learn to walk with God alone you must decide I have decided to follow Jesus
no turning back no turning no none go with me still I will follow no turning back and
so Moses and later on and I don't have time to get into it but later on in the book of
Exodus chapter 24 the Bible talks about I'll read it quickly it says he said unto Moses
come up unto the Lord thou and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and seven of the elders of Israel
and worship ye afar off and Moses alone shall come near the Lord but they shall not come
near me neither shall the people go up with him you see there's always a few people
a few people who are willing to stand alone that are willing to walk with God alone when
nobody else is you remember when Moses and Aaron come back and and Moses comes back
the second at 40 years later he's going to try it again and he's got Aaron with him
and what happens he goes in there he says thus saith the Lord let my people go he
performs the miracle of turning his rod into a serpent he performs the miracle of
turning his hand into leprosy in their presence and what happens Pharaoh increases
their workload and the Jews took up stones to stone Moses and Aaron and they were
going to kill him they didn't get it that time either they didn't understand but this time
Moses had learned his lesson he didn't go running off into the wilderness he realized
I guess Aaron we're just going to have to do this alone I guess it's just going to be us
and God Aaron I guess these people don't understand that God is going to deliver
them and so we're just going to have to rely on one person God because we can't rely on
these these princes notice they're trying to kill us and so that's the same lesson that
we're learning throughout the Bible look at Esther chapter 3 book of Esther chapter 3
right after where we were in 2nd Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther look at Esther chapter
3 verse number 1 and you'll see how this is just a theme throughout the Bible
all throughout the Bible remember Gideon just 300 men
versus thousands upon thousands just only 300 men that God
used you remember another story like when Jonathan and his armor bearer put the Philistines
to flight just the two of them when all the other men of Israel were cowering in fear
you remember another story like David and Goliath where David stood alone against
Goliath a giant warrior and also the whole army of the Philistines by him
he ran out there saying the battle is the Lord's look at Esther chapter 3 verse number 1
we'll see another man who learned what it's like to stand alone in
2007 the message that you need to be hearing is stand
alone because it's getting lonely those that are standing for God look at
Esther chapter 3 verse 1 after these things did King Asuiras promote Haman
the son of Hamadathah the aggregate and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes
that were with him by the way this aside that this doesn't have anything to do with the sermon but Haman
so interesting our study on Wednesday nights in the book of Revelation and you know the book of Revelation
you could pick any book in the Bible and put it side by side with the book of Revelation and the parallels
the Bible is such a deep book but as you read the book of Esther you have to understand that Haman is a picture of
the anti-Christ ok this one day coming and there are so many parallels and numbers
so many things I don't have time to go into it maybe we'll work it into a Wednesday night sermon but
Haman pictures the anti-Christ and you'll see a little bit of why just in this brief section that we're going to read
the Bible says advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him
and all the kings servants that were in the kings gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the king had so commanded concerning him
but Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence then the kings servants which were in the kings gate said unto Mordecai
why transgresses thou the kings commandment now it came to pass when they spake daily unto him and he hearkened not unto them
that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand for he had told them that he was a Jew
and when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence then was Haman full of wrath
and he got scored to lay hands on Mordecai alone for they had showed him the people of Mordecai
where for Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of the Hasuirs even the people of Mordecai
well it's the same old story isn't it everybody else is bowing the knee everybody else just goes ahead and just says
well what's the big deal anyway we know that Haman's not God let's just go ahead and just bow down to him
because that's what we're supposed to do one man says no no one man stands up and says no I will not bow down
and just stands like this and boy Haman walks in with all his pomp and circumstance everybody else is falling on the knee
and just conspicuously one man just stands there like a rock refusing to bend his knee to a human being
and what happens Haman's wrath is kindled see it's not enough for him that hundreds of other people are bowing down
it's just one person that's standing up makes him so angry and makes him so rough that he says now I'm going to destroy
because he sees he talks to people and you can see this in the story he finds out that this is just something that the Jews believe
that they're not supposed to be bowing down to anybody except God okay thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve
okay and so it wasn't just Mordecai had this idea that he wasn't going to bow down to Haman
no it was he was the only one that was obeying the Bible that already said that
now I'm sure there were many other Jews because if you study the book of Esther there were many Jews living at Shushan the palace
because later on those same Jews that are living at Shushan will kill the enemies of the Jews by the hundreds there were a lot of people
and it talks about all the Jews living at Shushan that were getting together and praying and fasting and so forth
but one man was the one who stood up when all of his other Jew friends are on their knees
one man refused to bow down and then what happens now all of a sudden they're going to kill all the Jews
imagine he probably took some flak I mean I don't know but maybe he was taking some flak from some of his friends who were not standing up
oh great job Haman now we're all going to be killed kind of like they did with Moses
oh thanks Moses thanks for marching into Pharaoh and saying what we believe and preaching the word of God
now we got to gather the stall by night nobody's standing with Mordecai nobody stood with Moses
hey nobody stood with Joseph nobody stood with Daniel he got to stand alone and Mordecai stood alone
hey read to the end of the book read chapters 9 and 10 you'll see Mordecai exalted
you'll see Mordecai riding on a horse you'll see Mordecai dressed in the royal apparel
and you'll see men fearing and trembling at the sight of Mordecai and you'll see Mordecai being the leader of the Jews
he was exalted why because he was the one man who took a stand
he was the one man who stood up for what he believed when nobody else would
and he's not in his homeland either here he is in Shushan the palace
here he is in the land of Assyria you know Mesopotamia is where he is far away from his homeland
displaced from his country this is the captivity of the Jews where they're scattered throughout the whole world
the diaspora and here he is standing alone standing up
why because one day he just decided to stand no I think it's because he had a lifetime of walking with God on his own
he probably had a track record of making his own decisions
he probably had a track record of deciding for himself what's true based on the Bible
not just what some man or some preacher says and that's your standard
hey you better know what the Bible says
well so-and-so says it's okay is it okay by the standards of God
that's what I want to know well so-and-so Church is doing it
hey I don't care what they're doing I care what God's doing I care what the Bible says
and so you must learn to stand for God alone
you know just because one just because you're the only person you know
I've had people say this to me and I'm sure I've heard people say it about other people
you're the only one who believes that
you ever heard that before
you're in a camp all by yourself on this one buddy I've heard people say it
I've heard people say it well it must be lonely
because you and so-and-so are the only people who believe that way
I've had people say that to me before
you're the only one everybody else come on
maybe you need to rethink this
well how about this the Bible says
thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil
that's what it says Exodus 23 2
thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil
neither shall thou speak in the cause to decline after many to rest judgment
how about 1 Timothy 5 22
lay hands suddenly on no man
neither be partaker of other men's sins
keep thyself pure
you may not be able to keep everybody else pure
but you cannot partake in other people's sins you can keep yourself pure
1 Timothy 4 16
take heed unto thyself
and unto the doctrine
continue in them for in doing this
thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee
just like Moses he stood alone
he took heed to himself he saved the whole nation
Mordecai took heed to himself
saved both himself and them that heard him
and on and on throughout the Bible
Daniel saved himself
in Daniel chapter 1
and the people that heard him
because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were then exalted
in their position as well at the end of the chapter
and at the end of chapter 2 as well in the same situation
and so on and on we see throughout the Bible
how about this one
turn to 1 Kings, turn to the book of 1 Kings
I mean we could go on and on with the examples
there's so many examples of the Bible
this is one of the great themes of the Bible
someone stepping out from the crowd
or someone being taken away from the crowd against their own will
but because they have their own walk with God
because they have their own Bible to read
because they have their own Holy Spirit dwelling inside them
as every believer has
they were able to stand for God
and be the only one who stood for God
look at 1 Kings chapter 22 verse number 7
I'm sorry I forgot to tell you which chapter
1 Kings chapter 22 verse number 7
1 Kings 22 7 the Bible reads
And Jehoshaphat said
Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides
that we might inquire of him?
And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat
There is yet one man
well just think about that one statement
there is yet one man
do you know if there's one man?
that's a pretty sad statement isn't it?
well there's one person that we can ask what the Bible really says
well there's one person that stands for God
isn't that a terrible statement?
hey are you going to be that one man or that one woman
some day
where somebody can say well
is anybody living for God anymore?
does anybody believe the Bible anymore?
does anybody take a stand against sin anymore?
well there's one
it's old so and so
you know
they still believe but
let's read on what it says
it says
there is yet one man
Micaiah the son of Imlah
by whom we may inquire of the Lord
there's one person that can tell us what God really believes
you know there's one person who knows the Bible
enough to tell us the truth about this
okay
but I hate him
well
we saw that coming didn't we?
but I hate him
for he did not prophesy good concerning me
but evil
and Jehoshaphat said
let not the king say so
don't be like that come on
same thing is
same thing is stated in the
book of chronicles
we have time to turn there
look back at 1 Kings 19
actually I'm sorry that's forward
1 Kings 19 verse number 10
so here's Micaiah
where were we? I'm sorry
that's not forward good night
we were in chapter 22 I'm mixed up
look at chapter 18 verse 22
18 22
the Bible reads
then said Elijah unto the people
I even I only
remain a prophet of the Lord
but Baal's prophets
450 men
look at the verse before that
look what it says in the verse before that
let me turn there I was reading off my notes
but I remembered what it says in the verse before that
the Bible says here
and Elijah came unto all the people and said
how long halts ye between two opinions
hey if the Lord be God follow him
but if Baal then follow him
and the people answered him not a word
isn't that so typical
they didn't say anything
they won't take a stand for what's wrong
they won't take a stand for what's right
they're just sitting by
just waiting to see what happens
waiting to just listen and see what happens
and Elijah stands up and says
I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord
Baal's prophets are 450 men
I don't hear anybody standing up and correcting him saying
no Elijah you're not the only one
because I'm willing to take a stand for God with you
nobody
plenty of people on beta you know 450
of the preachers that are preaching wrong
one is preaching right
and no one would take a stand with them
until they wait and see how it turns out
isn't that terrible
and they answered him not a word
look at look at the next chapter
chapter 19 verse 10
Bible reads in 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 10
and he said I've been very jealous
for the Lord God of hosts
for the children of Israel
have forsaken thy covenant
thrown down thine altars
and slain thy prophets with the sword
and I even I only am left
and they seek my life to take it away
look at verse 14
and he said I have been very jealous
for the Lord God of hosts
because the children of Israel
have forsaken thy covenant
thrown down thine altars
and slain thy prophets with the sword
and I even I only am left
and they seek my life to take it away
he's alone
look at verse 18
yet I have left me
God says
seven thousand in Israel
all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal
and every mouth which have not kissed him
you know there were seven thousand other people
who had not bowed the knee to Baal
but were they standing up and preaching it
like Elijah was
he even he only was the prophet
that was standing up and preaching the truth
now you say oh you're talking about pastors
you're talking about preachers
no I'm talking about you
okay
I'm talking about you being the one man
I'm talking about you being the one
I don't think Joseph was a preacher
when he was 17 years old
I don't think Daniel was a preacher
he was a child
okay
I don't think Joash was ever a preacher
I don't think any of these people were preachers
you must stand for God no matter who you are
God can use a little girl
or a little boy
God can use a man or a woman
to stand for God to be the one person
that will not bow the knee
that will be the one person
that will walk with God on their own
so that when the time comes
when you're isolated from the crowd
when you don't have a good church
that you're going to
look at the book of Revelation
you'll notice a lot of talk about the churches
back in John's day
you know the church at Ephesus
church of Smyrna
Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea
hells back then
okay
but you notice the rest of the book of Revelation
you know he talks a lot about the saints
the saints
not a lot about churches
because when the Antichrist is killing every Christian
probably not going to be a lot of churches around
okay
there's probably going to be some phony church
you know
Antichrist Baptist Church or something
you know there's probably one
there's probably one right now in Phoenix
there's probably a lot of them
go down the list if you want
but anyway
the point is
there's some people
that are going to be standing alone someday
not a church
a saint
okay
a saint
are you
going to be that saint
and you know obviously
every believer is a saint
I've preached on that
I've taught that from the Bible
but you know what
are you going to be
one of the saints
not a great church that stands for God
yes this is a church that stands for God
I hope this can
continue to be a great church that stands for God
and grow and be
a great powerhouse of the gospel
and preaching and so on
hey but are you going to be a saint
on your own
that could stand for God
without Pastor Anderson
without your fellow church member here
that motivates you
and that
iron sharpens iron
and you come to church
and everybody's on board
and everybody believes
the Bible
and everybody believes
in winning people to Christ
everybody's excited
hey what about when the person
that's sitting next to you
is not there anymore
and I'm not here
and the person behind you is not here
are you still going to be standing for God then
that's the question
you must now learn
to be just you and God
make decisions for yourself
read the Bible for yourself
walk with God for yourself
hey you win souls yourself
don't just look at the bulletin
and see how many people got saved
how many people did you get saved
come tell me about the people
that you got saved after the service
okay
come report to me and tell me
you know I'm not your boss
obviously good night
but come to me
and so I can rejoice with you
and say this is who I won to the Lord
okay
or this is who I tried to win the Lord
this is who I gave the gospel to
hey who are you preaching the gospel to
huh
oh that's great
let's come to church
and hear what
what Pastor Anderson learned
from the Bible this week
hey what did you learn
from the Bible this week
hey what
what have you done
to take a stand for God this week
you need to start standing
on your own two feet
and being an adult person
and not acting like
a spiritual child
that just always has to have the group
you always have to have the family
you always have to have the church
hey can you be a saint
of the Lord
and stand alone
but look if you would
it's just you
and God
but look if you would
at just a couple more examples
look at the book of 2 Timothy
this will be the last place
that I'll have you turn
the Bible reads in Genesis 7 1
you don't have to turn there
here's another example
Noah
enough time to go into it
but the Lord said unto Noah
in verse 1 of Genesis 7
come thou and all thy house
into the ark
for thee
these singular you
thee
have I seen righteous
before me in this generation
now personally
I don't believe that Noah
was the only saved person
on the earth
okay before the flood
and I could prove that
from the Bible
I've studied it out
you know
very much
and I don't believe
that everybody on the ark
was saved
I'll tell you that right now
okay and the Bible
makes that clear
in the book of 2 Peter
I don't have time to
go into all that
it's another sermon
that I'm working on
about that subject
but
not everyone who got
not everyone who crossed
the Red Sea was saved
were they?
even though that's you know
even though that's a picture
of baptism
not everyone who put the blood
on the doorpost was saved
just because they put
the blood on the doorpost
they were saved physically
and it was a picture
of spiritual salvation
okay
but I don't believe
Ham was saved for a moment
Ham is a sodomite
okay
no
he was a reprobate
okay
and he was on the ark
okay
and I personally
I believe that there were
saved people
that did not get on the ark
because they were
living like hell
and because they didn't
have the faith
to get on the ark
it was a picture
of spiritual salvation
eight people were physically
saved
the like figure weren't
through baptism
that also now save us
the Bible says
not the putting away
of the filth of the flesh
but the answer of a good
conscience toward God
by the resurrection
we're saved by the resurrection
baptism is a figure
of that
the Bible says
Noah's ark was a figure
of our salvation
through the resurrection
of Christ
but you know
Noah was the only one
who was righteous
Noah was the only one
that was living for God
Noah was the only person
in the entire world
that was standing for God
he was called a preacher
of righteousness
who was motivating him
who was preaching to him
who was teaching him
what he needed to say
who was standing over him
making sure he did
what he was supposed to
hey nobody was
it was him and God
and that's the way
it's always going to be
look at 2 Timothy
actually look at
chapter 1 verse 15 first
you're in 2 Timothy 4
chapter 1 verse 15
this thou knowest
that all they which are
in Asia be turned away
from me
of whom are by jealous
and homages
look at 2 Timothy chapter 4
verse 16
and my first answer
no man stood with me
but all men
forsook me
I pray God
that it may not be
laid to their charge
and just as Jesus said
and just like it said
about Joseph
notwithstanding
the Lord stood with me
and strengthened me
that by me the preaching
might be fully known
and that all the Gentiles
might hear
and I was delivered
out of the mouth of the lion
and the Lord
shall deliver me
from every evil work
and will preserve me
into his heavenly kingdom
to whom be glory
forever and ever
Amen
even the Apostle Paul
you think the Apostle Paul
came into town
and had big billboards up
Apostle Paul Crusade
buy your tickets now
Bass Ticketmaster Outlet
buy your tickets now
you think scalpers were outside
holding the tickets
to the Apostle Paul Crusade
all the Christian rock bands
were there
all the youth groups
and the churches
Paul said
and I believe the Bible
Paul said there's a time in my life
when everybody forsook me
I mean there came a time
in Paul's life
when it was him alone
now I'm not saying he was
the only believer in the world
but where he was in Asia
at that time
okay
because keep in mind
he's far away from his homeland
he's far away from Jerusalem
and Antioch
where these enclaves
of Christianity
and the Apostles
and the believers are
hey he's all the way
over here in Asia
he said there's a time
when all men forsook me
and no one stood with me
nobody stood up for me
I'm thrown in jail
I'm falsely accused
I'm attacked
I was beaten with rods
I was shipwrecked
and on and on
and nobody would stand with me
he said one person stood with me
it was the Lord that stood with me
God stood with me
I was all by myself
in a jail cell
and I looked over
and the only person there
is Jesus Christ
and I sang the praises of God
and I quoted verses from the Bible
you know
you think that he
you know he didn't even
have his Bible in prison
I don't think he even had it
because there's a time
when he's sitting in prison
when he's writing the book
of 2 Timothy
and he says
when thou comest
I'm sorry
the cloak that I left
to throw out with Carpus
bring with thee
he says
and the books
especially the parchments
I think he's asking for
the Bible
and he's asking for
the word of God
he's asking for
books and parchments
I don't think he was asking
for his copy of
the purpose driven church
you know
he replaced his copy
of the prayer of Jabez
ok
I don't think he lost
his little devotional book
hey I think he's saying
can you bring me
the Old Testament Scriptures
can you bring me the Bible
can you bring me my Bible
hey God's with you
you don't even have the Bible
yeah he probably memorized
the Bible
that's probably how
he had it with him
nobody can take my Bible
away from me
try and take the Bible from me
I got the Bible up here
oh you gotta have the Bible
in your mind
you gotta have the Bible
in your head
what happens when somebody
takes your Bible away
you gotta have the Bible
in your mind
you gotta have the word
of God in your heart
you gotta have the Bible
written in your mind
as the Bible says
you gotta have the Bible
hidden in your heart
or nobody can take it from you
because there's gonna come a day
there's gonna come a day
when you might go into captivity
because that's what the Bible
said would happen to us
if we turned away from God
which this country has
turned away from God
there might become a day
when your children
go into captivity
there might come a day
when you go into captivity
there might be a day
when your leaders
go into captivity
there might come a day
when you're separated
from your family
there might come a day
when you're separated
from your church
there might come a day
when you're separated
from that person
that you're leaning on
to be your spirituality
it's time that you start
leaning on the person
that's never gonna leave you
nor forsake you
it's time that you
start leaning on
not some spiritual leader
but the Holy Spirit
to be your spiritual leader
it's time that you start
leaning on the word of God
yourself
and pick up the Bible
yourself
you say well I'm 5 years old
hey pick up the Bible
and read it yourself
and learn the Bible yourself
it's not a certain age
it doesn't matter whether
you're 7 like Joash
it doesn't matter whether
you're a 5 year old boy
hey what about if you're
a little 2 or 3 year old boy
like Moses was
when he was taken away
from his family
2 or 3 years old
cause it was as soon as
he was done being weaned
probably a 2 year old boy
the oldest actually
a 2 year old boy
taken from his family
but when he's 40 years old
he said I remember
what I was taught
as a 2 year old boy
I'm gonna go
push the reset button
I'm gonna go back
to where I came from
I'm gonna go back
to my roots
of Christianity
of the Lord Jesus Christ
of the Bible
stand alone
I was driving down
the road yesterday
I was out working
ok
I was working on
a fire alarm job
in Phoenix
driving that Indian
school road
stuck in traffic
trying to get to the job
I was driving down
the road yesterday
I was out working
ok
I was working on
irritated
you know
running late on my schedule
had a bunch of jobs to do
good night
why is there so much
traffic on a Saturday
you know
here I am
on Saturday
westbound on Indian
school road
you know
I took 143
the traffic was heavy
I took I-10
it was heavy
I took uh
what's that one
51 north
you know
heavy traffic
I get off at Indian school
and the traffic is just
stopped
sitting there waiting
creeping and
crawling along
you know why
I was stuck in traffic
you know why
I was having such a hard time
getting to the job site
it was the
gay pride parade
yesterday
on Indian school road
and the job I was going to
was on Indian school
and 7th street
and this pride parade
and it's like
it is called
Phoenix pride
thank you for just
using Phoenix
as a synonym
for being a sodomite
isn't that wonderful
I hope that's not
what Phoenix means
I hope that's not
what Phoenix is to you
you know
but I'm driving on the road
and uh
here it is
Phoenix pride
and all the rainbows
and all the flags
and all the
freakish perverts
are walking down the street
all the sodomites
and the animals
are walking down the street
and uh
so you know
I rolled down my window
I expressed the love of God
to some of them
as I was driving by
okay
and uh
yeah right
you know what I was really
expressing to them
when I rolled down the window
and uh
and I drove into the job site
and I just thought to myself
you know what
there's a whole lot more people
cause you wouldn't believe
how many people I saw
there were thousands
thousands of them
thousands
I mean it wasn't
this wasn't a few hundred people
this wasn't five hundred people
this wasn't one thousand people
this was thousands
upon thousands
I mean it was a crowd
it was a throng
of people
a mighty throng
you know that's true
look in the news
I don't know
I didn't look at the news
I didn't look at the number
I don't know if the number's accurate
I don't know what it is
I know what I saw with my own eyes
I saw thousands
I saw a great army
and I thought to myself
I wonder if I
I wonder if I walk in tomorrow morning
in the Faithful Word Baptist Church
at ten thirty
I wonder if this is the kind of attendance
that we're gonna have
you know
I mean
I wonder if
I wonder if uh
Forty-eight Street's
gonna be all jammed up
I wonder if
I mean it's not
kids it's not even funny though
I mean
I know I'm being funny
but
it's not funny
because
you know what
I wonder if
baseline road's gonna be jammed up
in all directions
I wonder if
Southern Avenue
is gonna have to have a
a policeman
directing traffic
because people
are trying to get
to a place where
they can hear God's word preached
without compromise
I
that's what
that's what I thought to myself
I was thinking
I wonder
maybe
maybe so
I mean
if this many people
will show up
good night
I mean
how many of them
are there
there's gotta be more
fundamentalist
Baptists
who wanna go to a
church with hard preaching
who don't wanna go to some
uh
uh little
uh
New Evangelical
uh
charismatic church that's
that's doctored up to look like
a fundamental Baptist church
uh
there's gotta be
somebody who wants to hear
the Bible preached
there's gotta be
more of them
than of these
pervert animal
child blessers
and that's what they are
yes they are child
blessers
turn up
why don't you shut down your TV
and your radio for a while
and open this book
and you'll find out
the truth about that
and I said
there must be more
of us
than there are of them
but you know what
there's not
there's more of them
ok
there's more of them
you say
oh no
they're all
these other great
Bible believing churches
all over this area
but I'm sure
you know
I'm sure there's some
other great
Bible believing churches
in this area
we're living in
perilous times
we're living in a
scary day
and you may think
it's no big deal
oh they're gonna do
what they're gonna do
no they're taking over
I'll guarantee
that pride
was a lot bigger
than it was last year
I'd be willing to mention
that it was way bigger
I guess
it's probably twice as big
this year as it was last year
I mean I'm just guessing
and I bet next year
it's gonna be twice
as big as it was this year
are you willing to
roll up your sleeves
and fight
so that your kids
at least some semblance
of decency in this country
are you willing to
fight the fight
of faith
are you willing to fight
so that your kids
can grow up
in a semi-decent
well too late for that
but at least that
they could not go
into captivity
why don't you get
serious about your
Christianity
why don't you go home
don't come down the aisle
of this church
good night
go get on your face
before God in your house
by yourself alone
when nobody's around
to watch you
why don't you get on
your face by yourself
and say you know what God
let me get acquainted
with you right now God
because one day
it might just be me
and you
and I want to be
the one person
that takes heat
unto myself
and in doing this
I'll save myself
and them that hear me
let's bow our heads
and have a word of prayer
Father we live
in a perilous time
we live in a
dangerous place
but greater is he
that is in us
than he that's in the world
and as Elisha said
to the young man
that was with him
he said there be more
that be with them
than there are with them
and he saw the great
heavenly hosts
of the angels of God
and flaming chariots
not a human army
because humanly speaking
there are more
that be with them
than there are with us
but of God before us
who can be against us
that's where we get
our great numbers
and God
we're like Gideon this morning
we just have a small group
in comparison with
the Midianites
that are out there
the Midianites
that marched down the street
of Phoenix yesterday
preaching the gospel of sin
preaching their bad news message
their gospel of perversity
and filth
but God one man
rolled down the window
and told him how it really was
and Father I just pray
that you would build this church
you said upon this rock
I'll build my church
I pray you build this church
an assembly of people
that are willing to stand up
for what they believe
but not only an assembly
that stands up
but an assembly of individuals
who individually
will stand up one day
when they're called upon
to stand up alone
by themselves dear God
against sin
and against the devil
and against worldliness
and against ungodliness
Father we don't know
what it is that's going to happen
we don't know what it is
that awaits us God
but would you please just
help us to be the people
that we need to be
so that no matter what we face
we'll be ready for it
and God please just lead us
not into temptation
and deliver us from evil
and help the evil doers
to not get their hands on us