The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies
which are given from one shepherd.
And the verse that I really want to focus in on is verse number 11 where the Bible reads,
the words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies
which are given from one shepherd.
I want to preach about the words of the wise tonight.
Now keep your finger there and flip over to Proverbs 1.
We're going to come right back to Ecclesiastes number 12 which is talking about what a preacher
should preach and the words that he should seek out and use to teach the people knowledge
and wisdom and so forth.
This morning I preached about the two different types of wisdom.
You know, there's the wisdom that's of this world that is not from above and then there's
the wisdom that comes from God.
And the two are very diametrically opposed to one another.
But as opposed to Ecclesiastes 12 which is telling us how a preacher should preach, Proverbs
1 is talking about the fact that even those who are not preachers should seek out to hear
the words of the wise and to learn the word of God from preaching.
Look at Proverbs chapter 1 verse 5.
It says, a wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding shall
attain unto wise counsels.
To understand a proverb and the interpretation, the words of the wise and their dark sayings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
So according to the Bible, those who are wise want to be instructed.
They want to learn something.
They want to get to these wise counsels and the dark sayings of the word of God and understand
them and learn from them.
And in Ecclesiastes 12 we learn something about the words of the wise.
So go back to Ecclesiastes 12 and we're going to see not only the words that the preacher
should be preaching but also the words that we as Christians should seek to listen to
even from the pew.
So this sermon is unto those who would preach what type of preaching needs to be done and
it's also unto those who would listen to preaching what's the type of preaching that they should
seek after and listen to.
You know we have many men in our church who someday I believe are going to go out and
start churches and pastor churches and thank God for that.
There aren't enough.
It's really a shame that we don't have more men that are being trained right now for the
ministry but thank God we do have some.
We've already sent several out and we've got a few more that are being trained and the
harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he would send forth laborers into his
harvest because the people today are truly as sheep having no shepherd as Jesus saw when
he made that profound statement.
But today you young men who desire to preach and pastor a church someday need to listen
to this sermon to understand what kind of wise words you need to seek out when you're
going to preach a sermon.
And what type of preaching we should do and seek after is all really characterized in
this verse chapter 12 verse 11 when it describes the words of the wise.
It says in verse 11 there, the words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by
the masters of assemblies which are given from one shepherd.
Three things in that verse and let's start out by talking about the first one.
It says the words of the wise are as goads.
Now what is a goad?
A goad is basically a sharp stick that you poke someone with.
That is what a goad is and you think about of course Shamgar, the famous judge from the
book of Judges who slew 600 Philistines with an ox goad.
I mean he used it as a weapon because a lot of times the children of Israel were prohibited
from owning real weapons.
Does that sound familiar?
You know they don't want to let you have real weapons.
For example in the days of Saul and Jonathan, no one was allowed to own a sword.
The only people who had swords were just Saul and Jonathan themselves.
Everyone else had to sharpen tools and one of the things that they sharpened was they
sharpened the goads.
They sharpened other garden tools and other equipment that they could use just as a weapon.
And so a goad is a sharp stick used usually like the Bible said of Shamgar used an ox
goad.
It's something that you'd poke oxen with or you could really poke any animal with it to
get it moving, to get it to do something.
The Bible says first and foremost here that the words of the wise and remember we've got
a preacher here.
It says the preacher in verse 9, because he was wise taught the people knowledge.
It says in verse 10 the preacher sought out to find acceptable words and the words that
he found the Bible tells us those words were like unto a goad.
The right words of preaching are like a sharp stick that will poke you and get you to do
something.
That's what the Bible says.
That's the kind of preaching that we need today.
Not the kind of preaching that soothes you and lulls you into a lethargy but rather preaching
that pokes you and gets you moving and gets you to do something and change something tonight.
That's the kind of preaching that we need.
Why?
Because there's a lot that needs to change.
In my life, in your life, in our church, things need to change and we constantly need to be
poked and prodded and motivated to do something different with our lives and to get moving
so that we don't get too relaxed and laid back about things.
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4, one of the most famous passages in the whole Bible talking
about preaching.
Now, Ecclesiastes 12 is not a famous passage about preaching, but it is a great instruction
unto preachers.
2 Timothy chapter 4, on the other hand, is the famous passage that we would all think
of when we think about instructing preachers, but yet the two in many ways are saying the
same thing.
There's a lot of the same thing that gets across in these two.
But while you're turning there, I'll just quote for you from Acts chapter 2 verse 37.
This is when Peter is preaching on the day of Pentecost unto the Hebrews and it says,
Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart.
Think about that pricking, right, like being poked with a goat.
It says when they heard Peter's preaching, they were pricked in their heart and said
unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do?
So notice that pricking of the heart motivates a person to ask a question.
What do I need to do?
It gets you motivated to do something.
Look at 2 Peter chapter number 4.
Of course, the famous passage, look at verse number 2, it says, Preach the word.
Be instant in season out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and
doctrine.
Those three words, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, are all demanding some kind of action to take
place.
Reprove and rebuke is telling you, hey, you need to stop doing the wrong things that you're
doing and exhort is getting you to start doing something that you should be doing.
It's a goad.
It's something that's pricking you to action and to doing something.
It says in verse 3, For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine,
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears
and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.
These people desire a preaching, not that's going to poke them and hurt and ouch and prod
them, but rather they want something that's going to soothe them and scratch their itching
ears.
Now, if you would turn to Ephesians chapter 5, verse 14, Ephesians chapter number 5, verse
14, what are the words of the wise?
What are the acceptable words that a preacher should seek out to use in his preaching?
Well the Bible says, first and foremost, the words of the wise are as goads.
You see, preachers don't need to just get up and just fill time.
Well, I've got to come up with three sermons this week to fill some time.
No, we need to get out the goad and get people moving and make something happen and do something
and use our time wisely.
Look at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 14.
It says, wherefore, he saith, awake thou that sleepest and arise from the dead and Christ
shall give thee life.
You know, when you think of being poked with a goad, it's definitely going to wake you
up if you're asleep.
I mean, can you imagine being asleep and somebody starts poking you with a goad?
That'll wake you up, right?
The preaching that we do today needs to wake people up, needs to get their attention.
It says in verse 15, see then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming
the time because the days are evil, wherefore be ye not unwise but understanding what the
will of the Lord is.
The Bible's teaching here that we have a limited time in our lives and we need to do something
with our lives.
We need to redeem the time we've been given and good preaching is going to motivate you
to do something, to redeem the time, to get busy and make your life matter.
Now, if you would flip over to Hebrews chapter 10 and while you're turning there, actually
go to Ezekiel 46 because this is kind of an uncommon passage again so I want to have
you actually lay your eyes upon it.
Ezekiel chapter 46 verse 9 and while you're turning there, I'll just read for you from
Hebrews 10.
It says in Hebrews 10 24, let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good
works.
And what is provocation?
It's a call to action.
He says 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 as we see the day of Christ approaching, the Bible is saying don't forsake the assembling
of ourselves together.
He says we need to exhort one another so much the more as we see the day approaching.
Now if we think about our theme verse tonight in Ecclesiastes, he said the words of the
wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies.
You get that?
The assemblies?
Here he says don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together and when you go to
that assembly, you ought to be exhorting one another and he says you ought to be provoking
one another unto love and good works.
The Bible is teaching that the church is a place that we go to be called to action,
to be provoked to do some good works, to be goaded on.
Have you ever heard that expression?
Somebody will say, hey, don't goad him on.
It means don't encourage him.
Don't get him to do more.
That's what it means to goad someone on.
It means to get somebody going.
And the Bible here is saying that we should be goaded on when we go to church.
We need to be exhorted.
We need to be provoked unto love and good works.
Why?
Because we tend to get lazy.
We tend to get lethargic and apathetic and stop having the zeal that we should have to
do great works for God.
This is why soul winning is dying today in America.
Why so many churches are phasing it out.
I just did a bunch of research recently where I looked at the website of every independent
fundamental Baptist church in the state of Arizona and I was just checking them out,
what kind of soul winning programs they had going on and it blew my mind how many of them
have scaled back soul winning to once a month.
Literally once a month.
And then some of them it's every other week.
And then when you click on it, it's like, well, we're going to hand out tracts.
You know, I mean a guy just literally came to my door yesterday from an independent fundamental
Baptist church, but all he did was just put something on the door and just get out of
there.
And I went and chased him down.
Hey, wait a minute.
I want to talk to you.
Hey, I'm a Baptist too, you know, and I wanted to say hi to him.
And, you know, and just, you know, at least, you know, greet him in the name of the Lord
and bless him.
But it's just amazing to me how the real bona fide soul winning isn't happening in so many
places.
It's just it blows my mind where, you know, they rarely are even getting out into the
highways and hedges.
And when they do, it's just a door hanger and it's twice a month or once a month or
once in a blue moon, you know, or whatever.
Why?
There's not enough provoking going on.
There's not enough exhorting going on and the sermon has ceased to become an ox goad
and it's become like one of those wooden hands that's a back scratcher.
You know what I mean?
They've taken the sharp goad and carved it into a little hand, you know, and then the
people in the pew are like, oh, a little lower, a little lower, oh, to the left, left, oh,
you just missed it, oh, oh, oh, yeah, perfect, perfect, oh, oh, pastor, what a great sermon,
oh, it feels so good, you know, it ought to be like, oh, man, what in the world?
Oh, man, I guess I better, oh, wow, oh, wow, I need to wake up, wow, I need to go do something.
That's what it ought to be.
We need a swift kick in the pants today.
We as Christians need a swift kick in the pants because God is saying, wake up thou
that sleepest, arise from the dead.
You have a name that you live and you're dead.
And he's saying, get up and do something.
That's the kind of preaching we need today that will motivate us to get out there into
the highways and hedges and compel them to come in that God's house may be filled.
Where did I have you turn?
Ezekiel.
Look at this passage.
I like this passage.
It's kind of buried in a part of Ezekiel that's a really heavy part of Ezekiel where you're
seeing a lot of visions of a temple and there are a lot of measurements and it's one of
the rough patches of Ezekiel.
You know, starting in chapter 40, it gets a little bit tough to read.
But there are all these great nuggets of truth and I like this particular verse where it's
talking about the house of the Lord and it says in verse number 9, but when the people
of the land shall go before the Lord in the solemn feast, he that enterth in by the way
of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate.
And he that enterth in by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north
gate.
And he that enterth in by the way of the gate whereby he came in but he shall go forth over
against it.
And you say, what do I care about the specifics of people walking into a temple, you know,
thousands of years ago, walking into this temple from the north to south?
But here's the thing, it's symbolic of you don't walk into church the same way you walk
out.
You know, there should be a change.
There should be something different.
You know, you walk into church one way, you should walk out different and not walk out
the same because you've learned something new, because you've been motivated to change
something about your life or to do something for God.
It shouldn't just be you just go in and out the same, same, same, no change.
No, he says, if you go in by the north, go out by the south.
If you go in by the south, go out by the north because something needs to change while you're
there.
That's the symbolism that he's teaching there about what preaching should do for us.
It should change us.
The Bible says in Isaiah 58, 1, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet
and show my people their transgressions and the house of Jacob their sins.
You know, when somebody shows you your transgression and shows you your sin, it can be a little
bit of a poking and a prodding.
It can hurt a little bit.
You know, oh man, you know, he's really getting on me today.
But that's what we need though.
That's what preaching should do.
But secondly, in Ecclesiastes 12, he said, the words of the wise are as goads.
We covered that.
We understand what that means when he says that it should be as a goad.
But secondly, he says that the words of the wise are as nails.
The words of the wise are as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies which are given
from one shepherd.
What does it mean when God said that the words of the wise are as nails fastened by the masters
of assemblies?
That means that the guy who's running the assembly, his words should be nailing things
down and fastening things down.
So not only do we need preaching that motivates us and wakes us up.
You know, I remember when I was a kid, there was a song that we would sing.
I've got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.
Where?
Who sung that song when you were growing up?
And you remember the next part?
And if the devil doesn't like it, he can sit on a tack.
Ouch!
Sit on a tack.
Who sung that song?
Lots of people, yeah.
You know who really needs to sit on a tack is Christians.
I remember one time I was in a preaching class and this guy got up and preached and the sermon
was kind of dead and the instructor of the preaching class said, you know, you need to
go sit on a nail or something because you need to get some fire with that sermon.
You need to wake up.
You need to start preaching hard.
Go sit on a nail or something.
We're the ones who need to sit on a tack because we just want to sit around and get us moving
again and wake us up.
So the words of the wise are as goats, but it's not enough if preaching just gets you
fired up and riled up and motivated and yeah, let's go do something.
That's not enough.
We also need to be fastened.
We also need to be nailed down.
Good preaching also confirms us in the doctrines of the faith and strengthens our belief and
our doctrine and our knowledge so that we actually know what we're doing.
See a lot of people have zeal today, but it's not according to knowledge.
We need to have both.
The goad is the zeal.
The nails are the knowledge because not only should we be motivated and fired up and poked
and prodded and, you know, get a little uncomfortable sometimes at church, we also need to be nailed
down and fastened so that we're not as children tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine.
So we need both zeal and knowledge.
We need both the goad of God's word, but we also need the nails of God's word that will
nail things down in our mind and fasten us down.
What do I mean?
I mean preaching that is heavy on doctrine.
Go to Hebrews chapter 2, Hebrews chapter number 2.
We need doctrinal preaching today.
We need preaching that really nails down the key teachings of the faith.
Things like the eternal security of the believer need to be constantly nailed down and strengthened
and confirmed from the pulpit.
We need to teach important doctrines such as the doctrine of the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost, and these three are one, and the doctrine of the deity of Jesus Christ,
and the doctrines of salvation by faith alone.
We need the doctrine that Jesus Christ died on the cross for all men to be saved, especially
of those that believe, but he died for all men.
He's the savior of all men.
The Bible says, he by the grace of God did taste death for every man.
We need to nail down key doctrines of the faith in regard to salvation, in regard to
the preservation of the Word of God, in regard to the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ,
his virgin birth, his death, his burial, his resurrection.
All of these key doctrines of the Bible need to constantly be nailed down and not just
be taken for granted and think, well, everybody knows that.
Everybody believes that.
Everybody's secure and shored up on that and nailed down on that, but you know what?
A lot of times people do let even some of the fundamental doctrines slip, and so they
do need to be stirred up.
And look down at your Bible there in Hebrews 2.
This is one of my favorite verses.
It says, therefore, we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard,
lest at any time we should let them slip.
Isn't the Bible telling us there's a danger where we've already heard teaching on something,
we've already heard preaching, but we let it slip when we don't take heed thereunto.
And we start to get lured away and carried off with the error of the wicked because we
haven't been rooted and grounded in what we believe, and we begin to let things slip,
the Bible says.
Not only that, but in Colossians chapter 2, you go ahead and turn to 2 Peter 3, if you
would.
2 Peter chapter 3.
In Colossians 2, 6 it says, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye
in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding
therein with thanksgiving.
God says he wants us to be established in the things wherein we've been taught.
We need to be taught doctrine today.
We need Bible doctrine to be taught and nailed down and confirmed, and then we need to be
reminded of things we've already been taught so that they don't slip.
And just keep the doctrine pure and keep people rooted in what they believe.
Because there is a lot of false teaching out there.
Many deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come
in the flesh, this is a deceiver and an antichrist, and there are people who are constantly being
caught up in false doctrine.
Just as sure as I'm standing here in Faithful Word Baptist Church, which is King James Bible
only, there will be people who will leave our church and someday they will go to a church
that teaches from the New King James or the NIV or the New American Standard or the ESV
and tell themselves, well, it's not really that bad.
Why?
Because you forget.
You know, at one point, and I've talked to people where I showed them everything that's
wrong with the new version, wow, I better stick with the King James.
But then five years go by, ten years go by, fifteen years go by, and pretty soon it's
like, well, you know, I know we were always King James, but I don't think it's that big
of a deal.
I mean, it's the New King James.
I mean, it still says King James in the name.
And they'll basically let it slip a little bit.
That's why we have to constantly be reminded and constantly shored up on these doctrines.
You know, there are many people who are sitting in the church here and believe like we believe,
but if they were to drift away, you know, you can get caught up in a lot of false doctrines.
And you know what?
It happened to me and my own family when I was young.
Because we started out, when I was born, we went to an independent, fundamental, King
James, soul-winning type church.
I mean, I was born and raised a fundamental Baptist.
And that's how we were taught.
But over time, things began to slip a little bit.
And what happened was our church went through a major turmoil and a church split, and there
were all kinds of problems.
When I was about 12 years old, we started looking for a different church, and we struggled
to find a good, independent, fundamental Baptist church where we were in Sacramento, California.
And so fondly, my parents just kind of threw up their hands and said, you know, all these
fundamental Baptist churches are so liberal.
They're just pretty much trying to be like the big, liberal churches.
We might as well just go to the big, liberal church, because that's where all our friends
go.
And that's where they have all the fun programs and all the fancy stuff.
Because look, let's face it.
The big, liberal fun centers of our day do have a lot to draw people in.
They draw people in with the bells and whistles and the lights and the cameras and the wonderful
things that they have going on.
But we know that the doctrine's not there.
We know that the soul-winning's not there.
And it's all just a big show and whatever.
I call them fun centers.
And it's sort of like a McDonald's play place is the way I like.
I would liken it unto that.
It's the question of, do you want to go to a restaurant where the food is organic, nutritious,
healthy, skillfully prepared food, but there's no playground?
Or do you want to go to McDonald's because there's a playground?
Hey, let's go.
It's the question of, do you want to go to Round Table Pizza, where the pizza's really
good?
Or are you going to go to Chuck E. Cheese because they have a playground.
They have plastic balls you can swim around in and everything.
And that's the way these churches are.
They're a spiritual Chuck E. Cheese.
They're a Chuck E. Cheese Baptist.
And they're a McDonald's play place.
And you get a toy with your Happy Meal.
It's a spiritual Happy Meal.
I mean, Pastor Ronald McDonald Osteen is going to get up and preach and give you a toy in
your Happy Meal.
It's going to make you happy and feel good.
Or you can go somewhere where you're going to get the filet mignon of God's word.
You're going to get the T-bone steak.
You're going to get the rib eye.
You're going to get some mashed potatoes and vegetables and something that you can really
sink your teeth into.
And you're going to be handed a steak knife of God's word.
You're not going to be handed a plastic spork and be told, here you go, here's your McNugget.
And yeah, there are traces of real meat in the McNugget.
Just like there will be traces of real Bible preaching or the word of God in the sermon
down at Fun Center Baptist.
But most of it's all the leftover junk.
I mean, that's what Chicken McNuggets are.
They take the chicken.
They take off the breast and the thighs and all that, which people want to eat.
And then all the leftover junk, they steam it off the bone with all the skin and all
the organs and whatever.
And they grind it up into paste.
And they add a little bit of plastic and glue and other weird things.
And then they put it all together.
That's what the fast food industry is serving.
It's horrible.
But you know what?
People are looking for a fast food religion.
A fast food sermon.
But you know what, honestly, kids, they don't even realize that the food is not up to snuff
because they're just looking at the play place.
You know, they're just looking at that big, what's that purple guy of McDonald's?
Grimace?
Why is his name Grimace?
I thought that's a face you make when the food's bad.
Every time I eat McDonald's, I grimace too.
So the guy's name is Grimace?
What in the world?
So you know, Grimace.
And then there's, who else is there?
There's Ronald.
There's Grimace.
Hamburgler?
Yeah, the thief.
You know, he that enterth in is a thief and a robber.
Jesus Christ is the real shepherd who enters in by the door.
But you know, I don't know why I'm preaching about this.
But the bottom line is today that a real church and the real word of God are going to nail
down doctrine for us, whereas the fun center doesn't want to talk too much about doctrine
because doctrine tends to divide people.
And their goal is to bring in all kinds of, we're non-denominational because we want to
bring in all denominations and we're seeker sensitive.
We're pathetic seeker sensitive.
And they just want to bring in just everything and all the doctrine and everything, you know.
And we don't want to divide and we want unity and both.
Yeah, I want unity do around God's word in a local church, not unity with all Christians.
I want to withdraw myself from every brother that walketh disorderly and not according
to the tradition that he received from us.
You know, that's what the Bible says, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3.
And so we need to seek after the true preaching of God's word where we're going to have doctrine
nailed down for us.
And I'm telling you, if we don't constantly nail down this thing of the preservation of
God's word, if we don't constantly nail down the doctrines of salvation, if we don't constantly
nail down the doctrine, and yes, it's a doctrine of going out and knocking doors and preaching
the gospel to every creature.
That's a doctrine, the doctrine of soul winning today, of evangelism, of going into all the
world and preaching the gospel to every creature, then there are people amongst us that will
let these things slip and they'll go to a non-soul winning church that's not King James,
that's not preaching it straight on salvation and many other things.
And you know, unfortunately, you know, my family and I, you know, we got to a point
where we kind of threw in the towel of looking for a good church and so we started going
to these liberal type churches when I was about 12 and we went there until I was about
16.
I turned 17 right after we got into a good church.
So we spent five years, 12 to 16 inclusively, at these type of, you know, NIV preaching,
rock and roll churches, dead as a doornail, no, I mean, I literally remember one person
getting baptized, I went to this one church for two years and in the two years I went
there three times a week, one person got baptized in the two years I went there and then we
talked to her later and we were convinced that she wasn't saved.
So we were there for two years, one person got baptized, then we actually talked to her,
she didn't believe the gospel.
You know, I mean, that's dead.
You know, the baptistry is filled with Christmas ornaments and whatever, it's become a storage
facility.
You know, and it's the NIV and it's not doctrine and I remember the word hell never came out
of the pastor's mouth once.
I mean, think about how much the Bible mentions hell.
You know, 54 times the word hell is used but there are other times, you know, the furnace
of fire, the lake of fire, other scriptures on everlasting fire, everlasting punishment
and my dad walked up to him because my dad had this record of a preacher preaching on
hell because why?
Because we didn't have a tape of it, we didn't have a CD of it because we couldn't find it.
So we had to go back to an LP and we literally had to get a record player out of the closet
and plug in a record player and I mean records were even archaic when I was a kid.
You know, when I was a kid it was cassettes and then CDs came out but, you know, we got
out the record player and I remember we all gathered around as a family and we sat in
the living room and put in a record called The Halls of Hell by Glenn Schunk and we put
in this sermon, The Halls of Hell and we sat and listened to that crackling record and
we loved it and we're like, wow, this is, I haven't heard a sermon on hell, you know,
since I was a little kid or something.
I can't remember because our pastor never would even say the word hell, never even mentioned
hell in any way.
So we listened to this sermon and we got all fired up about it and we said, let's go ask
the pastor, you know, why he doesn't preach on hell and my dad went to him and said, why
have you never preached on hell in the couple of years I've been here?
And here's what he said, well, I know that I should but I just don't like to.
It's just too negative, just don't want, you know, but see, when you don't talk about
hell, there's no goad.
What I mean, what is it that goads us to go out soul winning, that there's a hell, that
we want to get people saved, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted
by the flesh.
It'll goad you to get you to do something when you think about that and, you know, he
doesn't want to preach on hell.
Well, you know what, we need to shore people up on the doctrines of hell.
There are false teachers out there now preaching that hell isn't a real place or that hell
is not eternal or all these different doctrines that are out there.
We need this kind of preaching and we got caught up in this.
And look, if my family who were saved, I mean, my dad got saved when he was 10 years old,
my mom got saved at a similar age, I was brought up with them in a fundamental Baptist church.
Look, if we could let it slip, if we could drift away and get caught up going to these
NIV preaching churches, if we could backslide and so forth, why do you think it could not
happen to anyone in our church?
And by the way, people who have been at our church for a long time, we know the people
who have quit and gotten backslidden, go to church nowhere, go to a liberal watered down
church, you know, don't believe the same things that they used to believe.
Oh, it's out there my friend and you know what, you could be that person and that's
why you need to take heed to the things that you've heard lest at any time you let them
slip and the Bible says, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.
We can all fall, we can all get backslidden and you think, well, how could I forget the
things I've learned?
But you know what, if you don't hear it for a few years, you will forget it.
I listen to me, I listen to old sermons from myself, sometimes I'll listen to a sermon
of myself from 2006, 2007, 2008 and I'll learn a lot.
I'm like, wow, that was really interesting.
And I'm thinking to myself, you know, I don't think I've ever thought of that but I must
have because I'm the one who preached it.
Because you forget things, isn't that true?
I mean, I don't like listening to my recent sermons, it's boring, I already know it all.
But if I go back to 06, 07, 08, 09, I'm thinking like, wow, what am I going to learn today?
Because you forget things.
We're human beings and it's easy to, and how many times the Bible taught, oh, they forgot
the Lord's works.
They forgot the words of Moses.
And even taught them it in a song, in Deuteronomy, because he said, you'll forget the preaching
but you won't forget the song, you know, because music sticks in your head.
And see, Adam learned a song about it.
We need to constantly be stirred up.
Look at 2 Peter 3, verse 1, it says, this second epistle, beloved, I now write unto
you, in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance.
And you might say, well, I've already heard this before.
I've already learned everything that Pastor Anderson has to preach and, you know, I've
already kind of heard it all, but here's the thing, you need to be stirred up in remembrance.
And plus, you haven't heard it all because I'm constantly learning new things.
So if I'm preaching stuff that I've never preached, then you haven't heard it before
because I just learned it last week.
Because the Bible is a deep book and we're all constantly learning from it, or we ought
to be.
And so it says, I'm writing these letters to stir you up by way of remembrance.
Verse 2, that you might be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior.
Go back to Acts, chapter 14.
Acts 14, and as you're turning back to Acts 14, I'll read for you from 2 John, where the
Bible reads, and now I beseech thee, lady.
Not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning,
that we love one another.
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.
This is the commandment, that is, ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in
it.
So good preaching isn't always giving you something new.
Sometimes it's telling you, remember the commandment that you heard from the beginning, walk in
it.
You've already heard it, now do it.
You need to remember it.
I need to stir you up and bring to remembrance things that you've already known and heard
because you need to take heed unto those things lest at any time you should let them slip.
So yes, the words of the wise are as goads, to motivate us, to prod us, to prick us at
our heart and call us to action.
But the words of the wise are also as nails, to fasten down key doctrines and to remind
us of things that we've already heard that we might be confirmed.
This was a major ministry of the apostles in the book of Acts, confirmation.
The Catholics have ruined the word confirmation, haven't they?
But it's a Bible word.
See, they'll take it and twist it.
They'll twist everything.
The Catholics will twist baptism into sprinkling.
When the word baptize literally means to immerse in water, to dunk under water.
And so they'll twist baptism into sprinkling and then they'll take confirmation and turn
it into some weird thing where kids come.
And all I know is that when my wife was confirmed in the Catholic Church, the priest slapped
her across the face and said, receive the Holy Ghost.
And by the way, that's where these charismatics are getting it from.
There's no new thing under the sun.
You know this, you know where they slap them and they fall over?
It comes from the Catholic Church, literally.
Now they don't do it as much here.
Maybe they do.
Has anyone else slapped in the Catholic Church?
You were slapped in the Catholic Church?
You were as well?
You got to the forehead?
My wife got it like this.
Ramon got it like this.
Did you get it?
Yeah, you got the old school.
Yeah.
I've been really confirmed.
But you know, they literally get slapped.
And my wife said they didn't slap her that hard.
But that in the old days, they used to really slap you.
Now they've lightened it up a little bit.
You know, they water down everything nowadays.
The old days, they really slap you upside the head.
But guess what?
That's not in the Bible.
You know what Jesus did when he said, receive the Holy Ghost?
Breathed on them.
He didn't slap people in the face.
This whole slapping in the face thing is not something that the Lord taught us to do in
church.
But that's what confirmation is today.
Slap you in the face and say, receive the Holy Ghost.
But actually, biblical confirmation is what we see in Acts, for example, in Acts 14.
Look at verse 22.
Let's get a bit.
Don't let the Catholics steal our term.
You know what this reminds me of?
What's the street called?
The north-south street that's exactly one mile east of where I'm standing right now.
What's it called?
Priest Road.
And you know what somebody said?
Oh, Priest Road.
That's a bad name.
That's a Catholic street.
I'm thinking to myself, no, I'm a priest.
God has made us unto kings and priests.
And you know, we shouldn't let the Catholics ruin our words for us.
They'll ruin the word priest.
They'll ruin the word bishop.
They'll ruin the word communion for people.
People are like, oh, don't say communion.
That's Catholic.
That's a Bible word.
Communion, priest, bishop.
Those are good words.
We need to steal them back.
And confirmation is another one.
It says, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
The Bible is saying we need to be firmed up on things and confirmed in the faith and
so that we'll be able to stand strong and endure the tribulations that come our way
and one day, perhaps, if it's in our lifetime, even the great tribulation itself.
Because what you have to understand is that there's a parable of the sower that dealt
with this.
And if you remember, there was the seed that was sown among the shallow ground.
It was sown in stony places.
And it had no deepness of earth.
Remember that one?
It was sown in the stony places and there was no depth of earth.
And because it had no root, when the sun came, it was scorched and it withered away.
And when Jesus interpreted that parable, he said, he that received seed in the stony places
is he that heareth the word and with joy receiveth it.
And he says, yet hath he no root in himself, but he doereth for a while, but when tribulation
or persecution arises because of the word, by and by he's offended.
Did you get that?
When any tribulation or persecution, any troubles and trials come, he's offended because he
has no root in himself.
What is similar to a root?
Being nailed down.
The tree physically has a root that holds it down, but when we want to take something
and hold it down, what do we use?
A nail.
We nail things down in order to keep them in a solid place.
And the Bible says the words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters
of assemblies which are given by one shepherd.
Why do we need to be nailed down and rooted and confirmed?
Know that we don't fall away in times of persecution and tribulation and get out of
the fight.
Look at Acts 15 verse 32.
So we have Acts 14, 22 talking about their ministry confirming the souls of the disciples.
And it says in verse 32 of chapter 15, and Judas and Silas being prophets also themselves
exhorted the brethren with many words and confirmed them.
What's the operative part of the word confirm?
Firmness.
Being fastened.
Being solid, right?
He says in verse 41, he went through Syria and Cilicia confirming the churches.
I mean he's fastening things down with the nails of God's word.
And on and on we could go on and on, all the different scriptures.
Go if you would to John 10.
One last thing on the nails aspect of our preaching was Ephesians 4.11 where the Bible
reads and he gave some apostles, you're turning to John 10, and some prophets and some evangelists
and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry
for the edifying of the body of Christ.
Till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro.
You know it's pretty hard to be tossed to and fro when you're nailed down.
He says tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lay in wait to deceive.
And my friend, today with all this strange doctrine that's out there, everything is up
for grabs, even the name of Jesus itself.
I mean you want to talk about being confirmed on doctrine of salvation, baptism, the Word
of God, the Trinity, you know, even the name of Jesus is under attack.
This Hebrew roots garbage movement that tells us, oh his real name is Yeshua, yeah if you're
unlearned and unstable you'll believe that stupidity because you know what, the New Testament
was never even written in Hebrew.
The New Testament was never even written in Hebrew.
Let's just talk about his real name, the original, no the original says Esus, Esus,
which in English is pronounced Jesus, not Yeshua, well but you know Yeshua was HaKflem,
and he was Shalom Bar Mitzvah, HaKfla, HaKla, HaKla, Gondola, you know, no he wasn't, it's
a lie my friend.
Well now you know Jesus and the apostles didn't speak Greek, yeah but they just wrote the
New Testament in Greek, but don't let that confuse you.
Yeah they all wrote the New Testament in a language that they didn't speak.
Makes perfect sense right?
No it was originally written in Hebrew, zero manuscripts in Hebrew of the New Testament.
Almost 6,000 handwritten manuscripts of the Greek New Testament, in fact it has more manuscripts
than any ancient book on the planet.
Almost 6,000, 5,900 and some odd discovered manuscripts of the New Testament all written
in Greek.
Hebrew manuscripts of the New Testament, zero.
But those that are unlearned and unstable, and listen to me, I'm preaching because it's
spreading like wildfire, and you never used to hear this, Yahweh, Yeshua, now it's everywhere,
it's a fraud, the word Yahweh is a fraud, the word Yeshua is a fraud, it didn't come
from reading this book, it came from a bunch of guys who called themselves rabbi, when
Jesus said be ye not called rabbi, and they wear long clothing, and God said that's the
Pharisees who love to go in the long flowing clothing, and people that are unlearned and
unstable and have not been nailed down on doctrine fall for it.
We need to be nailed down even on the doctrine of the name of Jesus, even on the doctrine
of the name of the Lord, and the name of Jehovah, and the name of God Almighty.
We need to understand these doctrines, because there are people out there that lie in wait
with cunning craftiness to deceive us, and even get us to forsake, and I mean, people
just, did you know that his real name is Yeshua, really, really, and people just fall for it.
Why, because they haven't been confirmed?
Why, because they went to a church where they're not being taught doctrine?
Look it's, I can prove to you, I can prove to you from this book in my hand that the
name Yeshua is a fraud, because I've studied this book, I know what it teaches, and I've
taught whole sermons on it.
You know, my sermon Hebrew roots movement exposed was one that I did, I did another
one just recently, something about the, I don't forget, I don't remember what it's called,
something about the name of God, or the name of Jesus Christ, the name of the Lord, I've
done some sermons on the name, you know, where I went into all the teachings on it, but you
know what, there are people out there who literally, I mean, there's a word in Hebrew,
and the word is et, and it's just, it's a word that has to do with direct objects.
Who knows what a direct object is?
Okay, so, you know, things that are a direct object in Hebrew, they have this particle
in front of them called et, and literally there are whole websites saying that that
word is a magical word, and a mystical word, and that represents Jesus.
It's just, it's so bizarre, any person who actually knows Hebrew would just laugh at
that, but there are so many weird things going on, so many weird teachings about these
things, you know, that even the name of Jesus is up for grabs, even the name of the Lord's
up for grabs, you know, and people just come at you with all this crazy stuff.
We need to be solid and confirm, where did I have you turn?
Did we do it yet?
Yeah, so, what I'm saying is, you know, we need the nails to be fastened tonight, okay,
but thirdly, what was the other element of our preaching, and remember, this is the preaching
that we should be doing if we're the preacher, and it's the preaching that we should be seeking
after if we're not a preacher, we should want to hear this kind of preaching, what type
is it?
Number one, it's like goads.
That means if you're going to a church and you're never motivated to change anything
or do anything, that's not goad preaching.
If you come in the south gate and go out the south gate and nothing changes, and you just,
you're comfortable, you never get poked, you never feel that sharp goad poking you, you
know, you're not getting the words of the wise, because the words of the wise are like
goads.
It's that simple.
And he said they're like nails fastened, you know, you need to be getting preaching that's
teaching doctrine, explaining doctrines, reminding us of key doctrines, and then thirdly, he
said that they're given from one shepherd.
It's from one shepherd.
Well, look what the Bible says in John chapter 10 verse 14.
This is Jesus talking, not Yeshua, Jesus.
Speak English.
And if you want to go back to the original, then speak Greek, not Hebrew, okay?
Hebrew is what the Old Testament was written in, and guess what?
The name of Jesus is not revealed in the Old Testament.
The name of Jesus is only revealed in the New Testament.
That's the original, my friend.
Don't be deceived.
And you say, why does it even matter?
Because if you say that the Greek New Testament is a fraud, you're saying that the King James
Bible is a fraud, because it was translated from the Greek New Testament.
And you're saying that every Bible that everybody's used for hundreds of years is a fraud, because
they're all translated from the Greek New Testament, and now you've just completely
taken out the foundation of everything we believe and just flushed it down the toilet.
Just remember that.
When you say Yeshua, you know what you're saying?
The Greek New Testament's a fraud and has the name wrong.
If it got the name wrong, then everything about it's wrong, then everything you believe
is vain, then you might as well just get rid of everything you believe and go out and become
a Jew.
A Christ-rejecting Jew is what you ought to go do, then, if you want to go down that road.
And that's where that road leads.
And by the way, that's who is behind it.
Christianity has been infiltrated by Christ-rejecting crypto-Jews.
There, I said it, crypto-Jews have crept in and brought in these lies and false teachings.
And they're trying to lead people back to Judaism, because that's what the anti-Christ
is going to do.
Because the spirit of anti-Christ is a spirit that denies that Jesus is the Messiah.
And that's what the anti-Christ is doing.
He's going to bring us all back to Judaism.
And that's what this Hebrew Roots movement is doing.
Just remember, when somebody hits you with Yeshua and Yahweh, excuse me, it's Jesus.
On what authority?
On the authority of the Greek New Testament, which every New Testament is translated from,
into our language in the King James English Bible that we hold and is the final authority
of all our faith and practice.
And if you're going to throw out the Greek New Testament and say, well, there's this
other Hebrew New Testament that nobody knows where it's at, you're saying that the Word
of God cannot be found.
And then we have to listen to some long-haired, long-skirted, Yeshua-Yahweh rabbi tell us
what, and it's a cult when you follow these people.
When you're following man instead of following this book, you're in a cult.
This book's the final authority.
And I want to preach a whole sermon on that because I get so fired up about people with
their crypto-Judaism infiltrating the church.
And that is another sermon, and it's coming to a church near you.
But the Bible says in John chapter 10 verse 14, I'm the good shepherd.
That's what Jesus said.
And know my sheep and am known of mine as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the
Father.
And I lay down my life for the sheep and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold.
Them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and
one shepherd.
Now I don't know if you remember the exact wording of Ecclesiastes, but he said, I'll
read it for you again, the words of the wise are as goads, as nails fastened by the masters
of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
And then Jesus used that exact same term.
He said, I'm the good shepherd, and he said, you know what, there's one shepherd.
There shall be one shepherd.
And by the way, he's talking about Jew and Gentile, one shepherd.
Means we don't need some separate Jewish church and a separate Gentile church.
No, all believers in Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile, should all worship together
in the house of prayer for all nations, the local church.
These bunch of messianic Jews need to just become a Baptist.
We don't need some separate church for people who, you know, want to do all, you know, look,
I got to stop myself here.
I'm just going to go off on a tangent on that again, and I'm going to get back on track
with what I'm supposed to be preaching right now.
John chapter 10, he said, there's going to be one fold, other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold.
He's talking about Gentiles.
Them also must I bring, because he's reaching Israel, but he also wants to bring in the
Gentiles, he says there's going to be one fold and one shepherd.
This is even prophesied in Ezekiel, you don't have to turn there, but in chapter 34 he said,
I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David,
he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
And then in chapter 37 verse 24 he said, and David my servant shall be king over them,
and they all shall have one shepherd.
They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them, and on and on.
Great passage, I'd love to preach on it.
But this all goes back to what Paul said in 2 Timothy 4, 2, when he said preach the word.
He says, look, the words of the wise are as goads, we know what that means, they're as
nails fastened by the masters of assemblies.
That means that the pastor should be up here with a hammer every service.
And the Bible says that God's words like a hammer in Jeremiah.
So basically a pastor, spiritually speaking, should get up here with a hammer in his hand
and just start hammering things down.
You know?
I'm sick of everything floating around and drifting around and everybody's being tossed
around, let's just hammer this thing down tonight and just hammer it down, it's not
going anywhere, hammer it down.
I'm literally hammering this nail all night just to make the point right here.
People have even contacted me and said, you know, I watch you online, you need to hammer
in that nail, it's driving me nuts, you know, the OCD, there are OCD people who this nail
drives them nuts.
But it's not that it hasn't been hammered out, it keeps drifting up.
And I have to keep hammering it down, you know?
And you know, this one pops up, it's like that game where things pop up and you've got
to...
But you know what?
What's that game called?
Whack-a-mole?
You know what?
We need pastoral whack-a-mole.
We need whack-a-mole Baptist church where the pastor, he sees things starting to loosen
up, he say, oh, Yeshua, bam, you know, oh, you know, oh, maybe Jesus didn't die for everybody.
Bam, shut that Calvinism up, died for everybody.
You know, it's like, oh, well, maybe the new King James isn't that bad, bam.
You know, oh, well, let's have a woman get up and preach, bam.
Well, maybe it is pre-trib.
And look, this is what it means to be a pastor.
All these little nails are popping up everywhere and you've got to get a hammer in each hand
and be like, wham, wham, wham, wham, wham, wham.
Say why do you beat the pulpit?
Because it's just to remind me that I need to be up here hammering things down and nailing
it down.
And here's what he's saying here.
He says preach the word because he said, they're as goads, they're nails fastened by the masters
of assembly and he said these words are from one shepherd.
What's that mean?
That means that the preacher needs to be preaching the words of Jesus Christ.
That's why the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2, 13, which things also we speak, not in
the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual
things with spiritual, that's saying that we should use biblical words.
And not only that, it means that if we preach for an hour, there should be a lot of Bible
in that sermon.
Shouldn't be one verse, hour of preaching.
I mean that's, that would be, you know what that's like?
That's like if you took like a teaspoon of juice and put it in like a glass of water.
That's a pint.
And it's just, oh here's your orange juice with breakfast, and you're like, what?
Do you ever make the orange juice and put too much water in it or water it way down
and it's just like barely, you know, that's what this preaching's like.
There's just so much filler and not a lot of scripture.
When he said preach the word, take it literally.
Get up here and preach the word.
I mean actually you're speaking verse, hey turn to this verse, hey while you're turning
let me read you some other verse, hey let's go to Ezekiel, let's go to Colossians, let's
go to 2 Peter, let's go to Jude, let's go to Matthew.
That's why, hold up your Bible if you brought your Bible to church.
See all the, this is why people bring their Bible.
This is why people bring their Bible because we're using the Bible tonight.
We're turning places, we're getting the word of God tonight.
Not just man's opinion, but we're getting the word and that's what preaching is supposed
to be.
It's supposed to be the word that comes from one shepherd, from Jesus.
That's the teaching that we need.
So if you're a preacher, and let's go just to Proverbs 1 to wrap things up.
Proverbs 1, come full circle here, we've already nailed down Ecclesiastes 12, let's go to Proverbs
1 tonight to close.
Let's go to verse number 5, it says, a wise man will hear and will increase learning and
a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels to understand a proverb and the interpretation.
And this is the term from Ecclesiastes 12, the words of the wise.
And we know what they are, don't we, goads, nails from Jesus.
He says, the words of the wise and their dark sayings, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
What's it mean to despise wisdom and instruction?
What's despise mean?
You know, roughly, I mean, it's its own word, but it kind of means to hate.
So if it says, fools despise wisdom and instruction, they're not seeking the words of the wise.
What's that mean?
Foolish people hate preaching that's a goad-like preaching.
Foolish people hate the nail preaching.
Why?
It's just too heavy, too doctrinal, oh man, just way too, you know, way too deep and doctrinal
and heavy.
How is this relevant?
I need something relevant to my life.
You need a kick in the pants and then you need to be nailed down on things.
Look, there's nothing in the Bible that's not relevant.
Nothing in the Bible is not relevant.
And you know what, sometimes we need to henceforth be no more children and, you know, you need
to get that teat out of your mouth that's been in your mouth for the last 20 years and
get a fork and a knife and get the strong meat of the word sometimes and not just be
a baby all the time.
And so you can't just sit there and say, hey, you know, it's too deep, it's too hard, it's
boring, it's too doctrinal, I need something a little more practical.
No, you need to be nailed down on doctrine.
You need a whole sermon on the name of Jesus in the name of God.
You need sermons shoring you up on the Trinity and shoring you up on salvation by faith and
on these doctrines of the Bible that are so critical and important.
You know, but those that are fools, they hate the nail type sermon.
They hate the goad sermon because it makes them uncomfortable and it wakes them up and
they're trying to get a good nap.
And then also, you know, the words of Jesus, you know, the fool doesn't want to hear the
word of God, doesn't want to hear the Bible.
You know, whereas a wise person wants to hear God's word and they're going to seek it out
and hunger and thirst for God's word and desire it.
So what's the Bible saying here?
We need to seek after preaching that's wisdom and that's deep and that's biblical and that's
the words of Jesus Christ.
Not be lured into a fun center where we're going to be, you know, patted on the back
and scratched and coddled.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you for our church where
people do desire the truth, Lord, and they do desire the word of God.
We have a church of wise people and the way that I know that is because the Bible says
he that win its souls is wise.
And we have a soul winning church, therefore our church is filled with wise people, Lord.
Help our preaching to always be the words of the wise, Lord.
Help me as a preacher to preach wise words as Ecclesiastes taught.
And Lord, I pray that you would raise up a generation of young men out of this exact
church, Lord, out of faithful word Baptist church, that a generation would rise up of
men that would go out and do likewise and be masters of assemblies.
Not a single assembly, Lord, but you said masters of assemblies, Lord.
Help us to have these men go out and start the churches and goad on the people of some
distant city and nail them down on the key doctrines that come from one shepherd.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, let's sing one song.
All right, that's twice in one day.
We broke the record again.
How many do we have tonight?
A hundred and twenty-one.
What was the old record?
One-fifteen.
Man, we're smashing it.
So here's the thing.
When we break the record twice in one day, we don't do ice cream both times.
The second time we do popcorn, all right?