Man, the title of my sermon this morning is The Righteous Remnant.
The Righteous Remnant.
The Bible says in Romans chapter 11 verse 1, I say then hath God cast away his people?
God forbid, for I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew.
Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias?
That's Elijah.
How he maketh intercession to God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed thy
prophets and digged down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
But what saith the answer of God unto him?
I have reserved to myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to the image of
Baal.
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of
grace.
And if by grace then is it no more of works, otherwise grace is no more grace.
But if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work.
What then?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded.
The title of the sermon is The Righteous Remnant.
Now what does the word remnant mean?
Well it simply comes from the verb remain.
That which remains is the remnant, okay?
And the Bible uses this word remnant a lot when large groups of people are turning away
from the Lord.
Large groups of people are rejecting the word of God and doing wickedly, but then there
are a few people who still stay with the old paths, they stay with the Bible, they stay
with the truth.
That believing group is called the remnant, the righteous remnant that's still there.
Now in this passage, in the New Testament, we're talking about the fact that most of
the children of Israel rejected the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.
They rejected him as their Messiah.
The Bible says he came unto his own, but his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to
them that believe on his name.
So he told the children of Israel, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you and given to
a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
And he explains a lot about these concepts in chapters 9 and 10 of Romans.
So when he gets to chapter 11, he asks the question, hath God cast away his people?
Now earlier in the book, he does this same thing where he kind of asks questions and
then answers them.
Like for example, look at chapter 6 verse 1, it says, what shall we say then?
Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
Why does he ask that question?
Well, because in chapters 3, 4, and 5, he's just been hammering the fact that salvation
is by faith, it's by grace, it's not by our works, it's not by following the law, it's
not by keeping the law.
So he hammers that for three whole chapters so then, just to make sure we don't get the
wrong idea, he says, okay, well what shall we say then?
Should we continue in sin then since we have all this grace and since we're saved no matter
what, and since salvation's a free gift, hey, God forbid.
And then he explains why we should not sin, even though if we sin, we're still going to
be saved, why we should not continue in sin.
Okay.
Well, it's a similar thing in Romans chapter 11.
In chapters 9 and 10, he's explaining how they're not all Israel which are of Israel,
and he's explaining how the physical nation of Israel are not God's chosen people, but
that it's a spiritual nation made up of all believers.
And this is also taught very clearly in the book of Galatians.
Jesus is constantly bringing it up toward the end of the book of Matthew, and it's something
that's really a theme of the New Testament, and I'm not going to go into that for sake
of time.
But what I want to point out here is that in chapter 11, he asked the question, well,
in light of all that, that we talked about especially in chapter 9, he says, has God
cast away his people?
God forbid, and then he explains how he hasn't cast them away, for I also am an Israelite.
What's he saying?
You know, if God cast off all the children of Israel, what about me?
He said, I'm an Israelite, and I'm clearly one of God's chosen people, therefore God
has not cast away his people.
It says, I'm also an Israelite of the seed of Abraham of the tribe of Benjamin.
God has not cast away his people which he foreknew, and then he goes on to explain how
there was a time when Elias or Elijah thought that he was the only true prophet of God,
and that he was the only one who wanted to serve the Lord, but it turned out there were
7,000 other men in Israel that had also not bowed the knee to the image of Baal.
And it says in verse 5, even so at this present time also there's a remnant according to the
election of grace.
Just like at that low point in the history of Israel, there were 7,000 that hadn't bowed
the knee to Baal.
He says, even so right now, there's a remnant just like that.
I'm part of that remnant because I'm an Israelite, and I love the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says in verse 7, what then?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded.
So the only people that are part of this remnant are the ones who are saved by grace.
The remnant according to the election of grace, the ones who are saved by grace through faith
in Jesus are the remnant.
So guess what?
Unbelieving Israel has been cast off.
So when the Bible says, has God cast away his people, here's the answer to that question.
The answer is no, because there's a righteous remnant that believes in Jesus Christ that
is saved.
But has God cast away unbelieving Israel?
Yes he has, absolutely.
This chapter is often abused by people who want to use this to teach, well, God hasn't
cast them off, and then he'll point to an unbelieving Jew.
Is that what this says?
No, what this actually teaches is, well, he hasn't cast them off because there are some
of them who believe in Christ.
Not no, he hasn't cast them off, even if they spit in Christ's face, they won't be cast
off.
That's not what it says.
It says that the ones who do not believe are doomed and damned.
He said in verse 9, let their table be made a snare and a trap and a stumbling block and
a recompense unto them.
Let their eyes be darkened.
By the way, it doesn't sound like he's blessing Israel here.
He's talking about the bad ones right there.
He's talking about the ones who hate the Lord.
Okay, but the righteous remnant has not been cast off.
So even the nation of Israel, which by and large rejected Christ, not all of them rejected
Christ.
There was a remnant that got saved.
Go back, if you would, to chapter 9, verse number 27.
Romans chapter 9, verse 27.
The Bible says, and it shall come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
ye are not my people, there shall they be called the children of the living God.
Isaiah also cried concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as
the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved, for he will finish the work and cut it short
in righteousness because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.
And as Isaiah said before, except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been
as Sedoma and been made like unto Gomorrah.
What shall we say then that the Gentiles which followed not after righteousness have attained
to righteousness even the righteousness which is of faith?
Now what does it say?
The remnant is going to be saved.
Does it say that every physical descendant of Israel is going to be saved?
No way.
And in Romans 11 when he says all Israel shall be saved, you got to remember chapter 9 says
they're not all Israel which are of Israel, neither because they are of the seed of Abraham
are they all children.
You got to be a child of God by faith in Christ Jesus and it's election by grace, not election
by race.
You got to believe on Jesus Christ, there's a remnant.
Go if you would to Acts chapter number 2, Acts chapter number 2, that's not what I want
to preach about this morning, that's just the introduction, I want to preach about the
righteous remnant today.
There's always a righteous remnant in every nation of the world, on every continent, in
every country, no matter how wicked that country is, no matter how bad it is, no matter how
far from the Lord that nation gets or their government gets, there's always a righteous
remnant in that nation.
Look at Acts chapter 2, the Bible says in verse 5, and there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews devout men out of every nation under heaven.
So at the time of Christ there were devout worshippers of the Lord at Jerusalem from
every nation under heaven.
Who believes that that's true?
I do.
The Bible says that it's the truth.
Go if you would to chapter 10 verse 34, Acts chapter 10 verse 34.
The Bible reads in Acts 10, 34, then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth I perceive
that God is no respecter of persons, watch this, but in every nation he that feareth
him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.
God doesn't care what nationality you are, he's not a respecter of persons, in every
nation the Bible says that he that fears God and works righteousness is accepted with
him.
And so God has people in all nations of the earth making up a righteous remnant.
That's why when we get to heaven the Bible says there will be people there from all tongues,
all nations, all kindreds, all families of the earth, all languages will be represented.
Now go back to 2 Chronicles chapter 30.
In 2 Chronicles chapter 30 this is a period in the history of Israel where Israel had
been broken into two different kingdoms.
The northern kingdom was called Israel and the southern kingdom is called Judah.
Well the southern kingdom of Judah was being ruled over by a righteous king named Hezekiah
and the northern kingdom of Israel is being ruled over by a wicked king who rejects the
Lord as his God.
The Bible says in 2 Chronicles 30 verse 1 and Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah,
so he's sending messages to both nations, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh
that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover unto
the Lord God of Israel for the king had taken counsel and his princes and all the congregation
in Jerusalem to keep the Passover in the second month.
Jump down to verse 5.
So they established a decree to make proclamation throughout all Israel from Beersheba even
to Dan that they should come to keep the Passover unto the Lord God of Israel at Jerusalem,
for they had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written.
So the post went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel
and Judah and according to the commandment of the king saying, ye children of Israel,
turn again unto the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel and he will return to the remnant
of you that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria and be not like your
fathers and like your brethren which trespassed against the Lord God of your fathers who therefore
gave them up to desolation as ye see.
Now be ye not stiff-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord and
enter into his sanctuary which he hath sanctified forever and serve the Lord your God that the
fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you.
For if you turn again unto the Lord, your brethren and your children shall find compassion
before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land for the
Lord your God is gracious and merciful and will not turn away his face from you if you
return unto him.
So the post passed from city to city through the country of Ephraim and Manasseh even unto
Zebulun, those are the areas of the northern kingdom, but they laughed them to scorn and
mocked them.
Okay, so here the righteous king of Judah who is also a man of God, he's preaching the
word of God and he's pleading with the people of the northern kingdom.
He's pleading with the people in that country in the north.
He's saying, look, you guys need to turn to the Lord your God.
You need to come down here to Jerusalem.
You need to come to his house.
You need to celebrate the Passover and if you turn to God, if you plead with him to
be merciful, he will be merciful.
He will return to you.
He's a merciful God.
He wants to bless you.
Now the reaction by and large is that they mock them.
They make fun of these preachers that Jehoshaphat sends up there with that message.
They make fun of them.
They laugh at them and, you know, it says that they laughed them to scorn.
I mean, you know, that's probably got to be a little humiliating, right, when you're sent
up there and you're trying to preach and you're trying to get people saved and you're trying
to get people to come and get right with God and you're getting laughed at.
You're getting scorned.
You're getting made fun of.
That's not fun.
But look at verse 11.
Nevertheless, divers of Asher, diverse means just, you know, some of them miscellaneous
people, certain people that were scattered throughout.
Nevertheless, divers of Asher and Manasseh and of Zebulun humbled themselves and came
to Jerusalem.
You know, that's what makes it worth it when you preach the word of God, when you go soul-winning.
Who cares about the mockers and the scorners?
What you're trying to do is find those divers that will humble themselves and get saved.
And just to get that one person saved or those two or three people saved, it makes it all
worth it.
All the laughing and ridicule should be like water off a duck's back because we're just
trying to get to that one person or those couple of people that will get saved.
Also in Judah, the hand of God was to give them one heart to do the commandment of the
king and of the princes by the word of the Lord.
And here's the result of all these messengers, these soul winners, you know, who are going
throughout the northern kingdom.
They're going throughout the southern kingdom.
They're preaching the gospel.
They're preaching the truth.
And they're also just trying to get people to come to church.
They're trying to get them to come to the house of God.
What's the result?
Verse 13, they're assembled at Jerusalem, much people to keep the Feast of Unleavened
Bread in the second month, a very great congregation.
So obviously this is the Old Testament.
We're living in the New Testament, but we can still get this symbolically.
When they're trying to get them to the Passover, basically that's symbolic of us.
We're trying to get people to the blood of Christ.
We're trying to get people saved.
We're trying to get people to receive the Lord Jesus Christ, their Savior.
They're trying to get them to come to the temple.
We're trying to get people to come to church.
They're trying to get people to get their lives right as well, not to just get saved,
but also to get right with God.
Hey, we're trying to do the same thing.
We're on that same mission.
They're going to be people who mock and ridicule us and laugh at us, but they're also going
to be people who get saved and get right with God and come to church, and that's what makes
it worth it.
There's a righteous remnant that's there, and it doesn't matter what area we go to.
It doesn't matter whether we're knocking doors in Mesa or Scottsdale or Chandler or whatever
part of this area or whatever mission field we go to.
You're always going to find somebody who gets saved.
You'll always find somebody who's already saved.
You'll find both.
You'll find people that are already saved in any country in the world, and you'll find
people who will get saved, who will humble themselves, and who will also get right with
God.
There's always a righteous remnant no matter where you go.
Go if you went to Malachi chapter 3, you say, why preach about this?
Why preach about the righteous remnant?
Because the devil wants us to feel like we're alone.
He wants us to feel isolated and get the feeling that we're the only ones, and I remember when
I was a teenager, my family went through this where a lot of the churches that we went to
in Sacramento, they started to really change.
They started going liberal.
They started to get watered down, and so we'd switch churches, and then that church is going
liberal.
That church is watering down, and we were just struggling to find a good church to go
to, and finally the churches were getting so liberal they weren't really that different
from the NIV rock and roll church down the street that was Baptist, and so my parents
finally just broke down, and obviously this wasn't right, but this is what happened.
They finally just said, well, if our church is literally copying the liberal church anyway,
they're literally copying them.
Our pastor literally found out that one of our friends went to both our church and the
liberal church.
He literally said, hey, can you bring a bulletin back from that liberal church so I can see
what they're doing because he wanted to see what they're doing and emulate them to duplicate
their growth, and so my parents are saying, if our pastor is trying to copy the liberal
church anyway, why don't we just go to the liberal church because that's where all our
friends go, and it's got thousands of people, it's got more programs for the kids and the
youth and activities, you know, and I remember distinctly my dad saying this.
I remember my dad saying, maybe we're just crazy.
He said, it feels like we're the only ones left who are fundamental, we're the only ones
left who are King James only, we're the only ones left who want to stay on the old pads.
He said, maybe we're crazy, and I remember it stood out in my mind when he said, because
he kept saying, you know, maybe, he said, let's just try the liberal church, maybe they're
right, maybe we're crazy, why?
Because he was feeling alone, he's feeling isolated, you know, he's going to fundamental
Baptist churches, he expects to find people who want to stay with the old paths, who want
hard preaching, who want the King James, he's not finding it, he's finding deadness and
watered down churches that are trying to copy the liberal church and he got discouraged
and he just said, maybe we're crazy.
And so we started going to the watered down NIV rock and roll type churches.
You know, we still only read the King James in our personal lives and we still, you know,
had very fundamental beliefs but that's where we went to church and we spent literally five
years in that wilderness of those type of churches.
They weren't the super liberal fun centers, they were still Baptist and they were still
considered very conservative but it was a lot more liberal than what we were used to.
And you know, it was an eye opening experience, it was garbage, it was five, it was five,
it was five wasted years spiritually.
You know, I came out of the end of that five years less spiritual than I was going in and
knowing less than I did going in.
You know, but at least I can look back and know, hey, the grass is not greener on that
other side of the fence because I've been there, I've experienced it, I know what it's
like and I want nothing to do with it.
You know, I'm going to be fundamentalist because this is where the action is, this is where
people are being saved, this is where the lives are being changed.
The King James Bible is sharper than a two-edged sword, that NIV is a plastic airline butter
knife is what that is.
It's the dullest thing ever.
The preaching is dull, the Bible is dull down there, that's why they have to get all worked
up in the music program because it's the only thing they've got going for them over there.
But that attitude that my dad had, he's not alone in that.
There are a lot of people who feel the same way, am I the only one?
Are we the only ones left?
You know, maybe we're crazy if we're the only ones.
See the devil would love for you to feel that way.
He'd love for you to feel isolated like that so that you end up just throwing up your hands
and giving up and going a little bit.
The truth of the matter is that there were other churches in Sacramento at that time.
This is before the internet so it was a little harder to find things.
You know, you're flipping through the phone book and some of these churches don't even
have an ad and it turns out that looking back, I could look at those years and I could point
out there were some fired up soul winning churches in Sacramento at that time.
There were some churches that were fundamental, that were King James that were preaching hard.
We just didn't know about them.
We didn't know where they were but they're out there.
We didn't know.
We should have kept looking.
We should have kept looking but you start feeling alone sometimes.
You start feeling lonely like you're the only one left.
And maybe when you go to a family gathering or you get around other friends and everything,
you're kind of the only one who stands for the old past, you're the only one who believes
the Bible or the only one who's for fundamental Baptist preaching.
But don't feel that way because there are 7,000 that haven't bowed the knee to bail.
Whether you're in Canada or the United Kingdom or Mexico or just wherever it is throughout
this world, God's people are everywhere.
There are people who are saved.
There are people who feel just like you, who want to go soul winning just like you, who
love the preaching just like you.
And so we want to be careful in our lives that we don't start feeling alone or isolated.
You say, well, we're never going to feel alone because we're in a church with 300-some people
that are all just like us.
But you know what?
Even in a church like this, sometimes you can feel alone.
You can feel isolated.
Don't feel that way.
Did I have you go to Malachi chapter 3?
Yeah, look down at Malachi chapter 3.
This is another great scripture about the remnant.
It says in Malachi 3.15, and now we call the proud happy.
So he's talking about a wicked society that they're living in where they call the proud
happy.
And that's exactly what we do today because what do we call the proud today?
We call them gay.
And what does gay mean, happy?
And gay pride, that's called the proud happy.
And there's nothing happy about that disgusting, filthy lifestyle.
But it says now we call the proud happy.
Yea they that work wickedness are set up.
You know who that is?
That's your Hollywood stars, your rock and roll stars, your stars of Madison Avenue and
Hollywood and New York that are lifted up and we call the proud happy.
And they that work wickedness are set up and idolized and they're the role models of our
young people today.
And he says they that tempt God are even delivered.
So it's a society where everything's backward, everybody's wicked, it's ungodly.
But then it says this in verse 16.
And they that feared the Lord spake often one to another.
Look, even in that wicked society there was a righteous remnant.
There was a righteous remnant.
They that feared the Lord, what did they do?
They spoke often one to another.
And you know what?
That's what we need to keep us from feeling alone, to keep us from getting lonely, to
keep us from getting isolated and feeling like Elijah.
You know what Elijah did?
He traveled this great distance to Mount Horeb.
He goes into a cave and he's all by himself.
I'm the only one.
And then God tells him, no, there are 7,000 men that have not bowed the knee to the image
of Baal.
And we need to understand that we're not alone.
And you know what we need to do?
We need to find other people that believe like us.
And we need to fellowship with those people.
We need to, look, what do we need to do?
Speak often one to another.
You know why we need to speak often one to another?
To remind us that we're not alone.
To remind us that there are other people who believe like us, that love the Lord, that
we love, and that we're not alone.
Or you might think to yourself, you know, oh man, there's only 300 and some people in
this church and Arizona has six and a half million people in it.
But hold on, we're not alone.
There are people all over this state who listen to the sermons from this church that don't
even come here.
And then there are other people who have never even heard of this church that are serving
God in other Baptist churches.
And you know what?
They love the Lord too.
They love the Word of God too.
They win souls too.
There are always more people out there than you think.
And I'll tell you this right now, I've been soul winning now for almost 19 years.
I started soul winning right around the time I turned 17 and I'm 36 now.
So I've been soul winning consistently for 19 years.
And you know what?
Every time I go soul winning, you know what I run into?
Virtually every single time I go soul winning, you know what I run into?
Somebody who's already saved.
Now obviously in certain areas, they're more few and far between that you run in.
But here in Phoenix, there's not a week that goes by that I don't run into somebody who's
already saved.
You know what that tells me?
There's a lot of people out there that are saved.
And even when you go to other countries, you'll run into people that are already saved when
you go soul winning.
And so we can sometimes feel like we're alone, there's so few of us, but there are more than
you think.
It's like Elijah was mixed up and didn't realize that there were 7,000 people that were just
as right on and fired up as he was.
And so it says here, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord
hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared
the Lord and that thought upon his name.
And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, and that day when I make up my jewels,
and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him
that serveth God and him that serveth him not.
Go to Luke chapter 4, Luke chapter number 4.
So not only is it important that we go to church so that we can get around to other
people who believe like us and realize that we're not alone, realize there's a remnant
here in Arizona, there's a remnant here in Phoenix, there's a remnant in the United States,
there are people all over the place that believe like us.
Not only should we show up to the church, but we should also speak often one to another.
You know, don't just come to church, be here for an hour, and then just rush out to the
car and get out of here as fast as you can.
You know, there are times when you have to do that, there's times when you're busy, but
you know, try getting here early sometime.
Try staying after a little bit and you say, well, I did and nobody approached me and talked
to me.
Here's an idea, why don't you approach someone and talk to them?
Can't just necessarily sit and wait for people to come to you, right?
Someone that has friends must show them self-friendly.
And we ought to speak often one to another, why?
Because it's encouraging.
Look, it's one of the biggest reasons why we go to church, is just so that we don't
feel alone and get isolated.
We need to get together and realize, hey, we're not alone, we're not the only ones.
There's other people out there who believe this stuff, who love the Lord.
You know, it's not as bad as we think because we got a great group here that believes right.
And look, that's why I'm constantly harping on people who are out in internet land listening
to the preaching or watching the sermon, to get in church.
You got to get in church and get that fellowship.
And look, if you live in the United States of America, there are a lot of independent
fundamental Baptist churches.
Now, you know, in Canada, I was just up in Canada and my trip to Canada is what inspired
this sermon because I got to hang around with a lot of the righteous remnant there in Canada.
And they were a lot of great people.
They're fired up.
They love the Lord, great spirit, even in a sinful nation, even in a nation that has
a reputation for being godless, even in a country where, you know, the government is
constantly doing things that are making the rest of the world roll their eyes at the things
that they do over there and the pronouncements that have been made over there.
But even in that nation, there's a righteous, godly, fired up remnant.
Now over there, they have a much harder time finding a good church than we do here.
You know, somebody claimed that there were only 10 churches that they knew that they
could find the whole country that did any soul-winning in the entire nation.
Now, I don't know.
Hopefully, I hope that they're wrong.
I hope that it's more than that.
But I told that person, I said, well, you know what?
We have 10 churches in Phoenix that do soul-winning just in Phoenix alone.
You know, there are a lot of churches in the U.S.
Some people just need to look a little harder and not, and that, well, I called, I emailed.
No, no, no.
Don't, you know what's the most annoying thing in the world?
People calling and emailing churches to figure out what they believe.
Look at the website and then get your rear end down there and figure out what that church
is about.
It's sort of like this.
If you don't have a job, if you don't have a job, your job is to look for a job.
So if you want to work for 40 hours a week and you're unemployed, then you spend 40 hours
a week looking for a job.
And that's not 40 hours a week on your rear end in a coffee shop on the Wi-Fi looking
for a job.
And look, I know some of it needs to be done on the Wi-Fi today, but I don't care.
People tell me, oh, yeah, you're outdated.
It's all on the Wi-Fi.
It's all.
No.
It's never going to be outdated to walk into a business and look them in the eye and say,
hey, are you hiring?
Looking sharp.
You know what?
Sometimes they will be hiring.
So do both.
Have three different methods to look for a job because the three-fold cord is not quickly
broken.
And you got to physically go down there, shirt and tie.
You say, well, I'm applying for a minimum wage job.
The shirt and tie is overkill.
You know what?
You wear a shirt and tie, they'll make fun of you for being overdressed right before
hiring you.
They'll laugh at you and make fun of you and, oh, you're wearing a suit, what do you think
this is?
You doofus.
All right.
You start tomorrow.
It's true.
Laugh at me all you want, but you show up in a suit and tie.
I don't care what the job, I don't care if it's fast food.
That makes an impression.
When you're looking sharp, when you look classy, when you're walking in and your pants are
sagging and everything, you know what, forget about it.
They're going to put a little mark on that application, a secret code that says sagging
pants do not hire.
So when you don't have a church to go to, your job on Sundays is to be trying a different
church every Sunday then.
How about that?
Right?
If there's no church and you say, well, why are you preaching to us?
We already have a church.
Well, I'm sure we, who's visiting here from out of town or somewhere else out of town?
Anybody today from another town?
Couple people.
Yeah.
So there could be people from other towns.
Hopefully they have a good church in their area, but not only that, some of you are going
to end up in other towns in the future, right, because you might get moved for whatever reason
that you don't foresee right now.
Not everyone here is going to die in Arizona.
That's just not the way life works.
And you know what?
You need to realize that no matter where God takes you, you need to find that remnant.
You need to associate with that remnant.
You need to get plugged in with that.
And thank God you have a remnant right here.
Pretty big remnant right here for you.
But no matter where you go, no matter where you, you better find that remnant or you better
make that remnant.
And you better speak often one to another.
And so here in the United States, you know, if you don't have a church to go to, what
do you do?
You spend every Sunday not just calling and emailing, no, no, you physically go down to
a different church every Sunday.
You keep trying churches until you find the best one in your area and then you go there.
And you be a blessing and you get what you can out of it and you find that remnant.
Now people in other countries, I realize they might be in a situation where they're, when
people tell me in the U.S. there's no church in my area, I just tell them, sorry, I know
that's not true.
I mean, I know the churches might be lame, but there are soul-winning churches in every
area.
You might have to drive a long ways, but you know what?
There are people who drive two hours each way to church and, well, I shouldn't have
to do that.
Well, if Jesus dragged the cross up a hill for you and died on the cross for you and
dipped his soul into hell for three days and three nights, maybe you can drive and commute
to church because you chose to live out in Timbuktu where there's very few churches.
You know, you love that farm living or whatever, well, you might have to commute to church.
Everything's got its pros and cons.
We live in the city, we have to put up with negatives about living in the city, but we
also have a lot of churches around us.
So we are close to church.
You know, everything in life's about trade-offs and pros and cons.
And so people living in other countries, though, they might not have access legitimately, especially,
I mean, people who are in a Muslim-controlled country or people that are in a really heathen
or godless country, you know, they might be in a situation where there legitimately is
no decent church in their area, but you know what?
They need to still find some kind of fellowship.
They need to at least find whatever believers they can find and at least get together and
go soul-winning.
Make a soul-winning club or something, you know, get together, do some soul-winning,
read the Bible, whatever.
But you've got to have that fellowship.
You can't make it on your own.
It's not good for the man to be alone.
I'm just being perfectly honest with you, I couldn't make it alone.
You say, oh, Pastor Anderson, great man of God, but you know what?
I couldn't make it on my own.
I'm not some great man of God that could just be all by myself.
Look, Elijah couldn't even make it on his own, right?
I can't make it on my own.
I guarantee you that if I got out of church, I'll quit soul-winning.
You know, and people talk about going soul-winning by themselves without a soul-winning partner.
And you know what?
I think it's great.
I'm all for it.
There's nothing in the Bible that commands you that you have to go two by two.
It's better to go two by two.
There's one example in the Bible where he sends them out two by two and we send them
out two by two and four sending them out in groups of two or three because it's way better.
Two are better than one, the Bible says.
But I'll say this, I think if somebody is by themselves and they have to go soul-winning
by themselves, guess what?
That's what I did when I moved here and started the church.
I had no soul-winning partner.
And I went by myself for the first nine months.
I was by myself virtually every time.
But I'll tell you this right now, that the first time I went soul-winning by myself,
I'd already been soul-winning for a year with partners.
And after like a year or maybe even two years of soul-winning with partners, I said to myself,
you know, someday if I start a church, I'm probably going to have to do a lot of soul-winning
on my own.
So I should start getting used to that and seeing what that's like now.
So I remember going out soul-winning by myself and I hated it.
And it was hard.
And the second time I hated it and the third time I hated it, it's very difficult for me.
And after a while I got used to it.
But you know, but to expect your average person who's never even been soul-winning with people
to just go soul-winning by themselves, you know what, it's just frankly probably not
going to happen.
I mean, there might be special people out there that are really self-motivated that
are going to get themselves out there and go soul-winning and that's great and praise
the Lord for them.
But you know what?
Not so they preach except they be sent.
You know, it's great if they can do it on their own, but the majority of people are
going to need to be sent or they're just not going to get out there and do it.
And if you get out of church, you're going to quit soul-winning.
You get out of church, you're going to quit reading your Bible.
You get out of church, you're going to get backslidden.
And I'm just here to tell you that I know myself.
I can say as Paul did that I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
And I know my personality and I know how I am that if I didn't have a church to go
to I would quit soul-winning and I would get backslidden, I would.
And I think most of you probably would too, but I'll just admit it right now that I know
for a fact that I would get backslidden if I didn't get backslidden.
Church keeps me on the right path.
Church keeps us all on the right path because I often speak with God's people and it keeps
me on the right path.
That's why God gave us church.
We got to find that righteous remnant wherever it is.
And here in Phoenix, Arizona, it's at 2741 West Southern Avenue and it's here Sunday
morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night and there's a remnant here and you need to
get a part of this remnant and you need to speak often one to another and you need to
go soul-winning and you need to get some iron sharpening iron.
You need that fellowship.
And if you end up in the future at some other state or some other country, you've got to
find that remnant.
You must.
It's essential to get hooked up with some other godly friends that you can have fellowship
with.
Here's a more example of remnant here in Luke chapter 4.
The Bible says in Luke 4 23, he said unto them, you will surely say unto me this proverb,
physician, heal thyself whatsoever we've heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country.
And he said, verily I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country.
That's what Jesus is saying to them.
But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven
was shut up three years and six months, when the great famine was throughout all the land,
but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman
that was a widow.
And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Alyssius the prophet, and none of them
was cleansed, save Nahum in the Syria.
And all they in the synagogue, when they heard those things were filled with wrath, and rose
up and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon the
city was built, that they might cast him down headlong.
They want to throw Jesus off a cliff.
But he passing through the midst of them went his way.
He was allowed to escape.
What's he saying here?
He's talking about the fact that in the Old Testament, there were these examples of righteous
foreigners who God did great things in their lives.
Why?
Because they represented a righteous remnant in the most unlikely places.
For example, Elijah.
Who was sort of the arch enemy of Elijah?
Who was sort of his nemesis?
Ahab, right?
Ahab and Jezebel, right?
Okay.
Well, when he makes this pronouncement, it's not going to rain for the next three and a
half years except by my word.
When he makes that pronouncement, or he doesn't even give a time frame, he just says it's
not going to rain again until I say so, when he makes that pronouncement to Ahab and Jezebel
and they become his arch enemy, God hides him and protects him and cares for him during
that time while he's waiting until the time is right in God's timing to have the great
face off with Ahab.
Well, he runs out of water and food where he is.
So God commands him, he says, go to Zarephath, or as it's called in this scripture, Sarepta,
it's just a different pronunciation.
He says, go to Zarephath in the land of Zidane, because I've commanded a widow woman to sustain
thee there.
But here's the significance of that, Jezebel is, that's her hometown.
That's the town, like, all of the corruption that's coming into Israel is coming through
Jezebel, because Jezebel's the one who's really stirring up Ahab.
Ahab is just a really weak-minded guy where Jezebel can manipulate him.
She's the real bad person.
He wasn't as bad.
He actually had some good things about him.
But he's manipulated by this wicked woman, Jezebel.
She's from Zarephath, and that is literally the capital city of Baal worship.
You know, as Mecca is to Islam, or as the Vatican is to Roman Catholicism, this is just
literally the hub, you know, as Hollywood is to Scientology or whatever.
This wicked religion of worshiping Baal, it's all based out of Zarephath.
That's where Jezebel's hometown is.
And he tells Elijah, go there.
That's where you're going to hang out.
That's where you're going to hide.
And I've commanded a widow woman.
What I want to point out about that is that there was a godly person there that was ready
to take care of Elijah right there that represents what?
A remnant even in Zarephath.
Even in the most wicked city where all the corruption's coming from into Israel, there's
a godly person there.
And even in Syria, which was an enemy of Israel, even up in the government forces, even in
the military, even the captain of the host, Naaman, right, is a righteous remnant even
in Syria.
And so there's always a remnant.
Every country, every time period, there's never been a time when Bible believing Christianity
was gone off the face of this earth.
Don't let people tell you, well back then everybody was Catholic.
No they weren't.
There's always been a remnant.
I don't care if the history book exalts them or not.
You don't always know about the remnant.
Elijah didn't know about the 7,000, but they're there.
Every country, every generation, every time period, there is a righteous remnant.
And even so then at this present time also there's a remnant according to the election
of grace.
So let's close on this.
Go to Hebrews chapter 10.
Hebrews chapter number 10.
Don't ever let the devil trick you into thinking that there's nobody out there that believes
right or that there's certain countries on this earth where nobody's saved or, you know,
there's nobody in my state, there's nobody in my country, there's nobody in my area.
There's always a righteous remnant.
And there are always people who are ready to become the righteous remnant.
There are receptive people that are just waiting for you to win them to Christ in every area.
Even when we go to the most unreceptive town or country, you always get one person saved.
You're always going to get a couple people saved.
It says in Hebrews 10 23, let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
Don't doubt.
Don't waver.
Don't fluctuate.
Be steadfast.
Be unmovable.
Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering.
Why?
He is faithful to promise.
The promises of God are true.
It doesn't matter what you see in your town or in your city or in your country or in your
life, God is faithful.
Don't waver.
Don't doubt.
And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking
the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another
and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
So the Bible say, look, in these last days, it could be easy to get discouraged with the
wickedness, with what the governments are doing, with what churches are doing when they
apostatize and when there's a great falling away going on.
Now more than ever, we need to keep the assembling of ourselves together.
Now the most important institution is the local church.
The local church.
It's super important.
The Bible spends a lot of time talking about in the New Testament qualifications for leaders.
It talks about the importance of churches being established and founded in every city,
the importance of having godly leadership in those churches, and that's the paramount
way that we need to be assembling together in these last days is in the local church.
And we don't need less church.
We need more church in the last days.
Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together.
But not just the church existing as a place where we come together and physically congregate.
We need to also consider one another.
Consider one another.
What does that mean?
Think about other people.
Consider one another.
Why?
To provoke and to love and to good works.
So you don't just show up to church but you talk to people and you think about other people
and you try to be a blessing to other people.
You try to edify other people.
You try to encourage other people and you speak often one to another.
Why?
So that we don't get to feeling isolated, alone, all by ourselves.
No we need to realize that we're not alone because there's a righteous remnant and there
are plenty of people who believe just...
Look sometimes I've been at times in my life when I felt like I was out in the wilderness
spiritually a little bit.
And when you run into another person who's saved and you run into that other person who
not only is saved but they love the Lord, they love the Bible, they love soul wedding.
It's the most refreshing thing ever.
It's just like and it is amazing how you can meet people for the first time you've never
met and this is the only thing you have in common is the Lord.
And it's like you can you spend 20 minutes with them and you feel like you've been friends
your whole life.
You feel like you've known them your whole life.
You feel like you're with family.
You know that's the bond that we have in Christ Jesus.
And it's essential to our Christian lives.
You know and yeah there's that rare person who can do it as a commando but 99.9% of us
we need that fellowship.
We need that encouragement.
We need people to build us up and encourage us and fellowship with us in order to keep
us going.
I know I do and I think I'm pretty normal in that.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.