Now, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is a great chapter, but in verse number 14,
just one phrase is what I'd like to preach on, and then we're going to turn to a few other places, but
the Bible reads in verse 14,
Whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow,
for what is your life? It is even a vapor that appeared for a little time and then vanished away.
The phrase that I want to focus on this morning is that phrase,
What is your life?
And that's the title of the sermon this morning.
What is your life?
Now turn to Revelation chapter 2, just a few books toward the end of your Bible, Revelation chapter 2,
and of course the context there in James chapter 4,
he's talking about people who talk about things that they're going to do way off in the future,
and they boast about things that they're going to do years from now, months from now, weeks from now,
and they talk about all the great things that they're going to do for God,
or the great things that they're going to do in their life,
and he says, you don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow.
He says, how can you boast and talk about things that you're going to do months from now,
or years from now, or decades from now.
You don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow.
And he says, what is your life?
It's even a vapor that appeared for a little time and then vanished away.
And then he closes the chapter, and in summary he says,
Therefore, to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him is a sin.
He says, if you don't do now what you're supposed to be doing now,
he said, that's a sin.
I don't care if you were planning on doing it months from now,
or planning on doing it, someday I'm going to do that.
He says, no, do it now, because you don't even know if you're going to be alive tomorrow.
That's what he's preaching there in James chapter 4.
But that's the immediate context.
But I'm not really preaching about that as much.
I am a little bit, but I want to just talk about that phrase.
What is your life?
I want you to ask yourself that question this morning.
What is my life?
What is my life about?
Who am I?
What does my life mean?
Look at Revelation chapter 2 verse 17.
The Bible reads,
He that hath the ear, leteth near what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give to he of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
Now, this is of course, and when it says to him that overcometh,
in the context he's talking about anybody who's saved,
he says, this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
Who is he that overcometh the world?
But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God.
This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ,
not by water only, but by water and blood is the Spirit that we bear witness,
because the Spirit is truth.
Hey, the overcomer, the one who overcomes, the Bible says,
when we overcome the wicked one in 1 John chapter 2,
is the person who believes on Jesus Christ,
and believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Faith is the victory that overcometh the world.
And look up the word overcome anywhere in the Bible,
and that's where you'll find Todd every time.
So that's the context.
So he's talking about anybody who's saved.
He's saying that someday when you get to heaven,
God is going to give you a white stone with a new name written in that stone.
He says, no one will know what that name is except you.
Let's read it again, I just want to make sure you understand it.
Even after the year, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
To him that overcometh will I give it to he of the hidden manna,
and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written,
which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it.
Now I don't believe that that name will be anything negative,
because God says that he separated our sins as far as the east is from the west.
He said there's sins and iniquities, but I remember no more.
But I believe that that name is going to be a name that defines who you are.
Because all throughout the Bible, people's names have a lot to do with who they are.
Do you remember all the times that God changed someone's name?
Like for example, Jacob later on was called Israel,
because he was a prince with God,
and the word Israel means prince,
and he became the patriarch of the nation of Israel and the progenitor of Jesus Christ.
Do you remember Abram's name was changed to Abraham,
which means the father of many nations?
Do you remember how Sarai's name was changed to Sarah?
Do you remember how Gideon's name was changed to Jerubel?
Do you remember how people were given names by God throughout the Old Testament?
Esau was changed to Edom? Why?
Because God gives people names based on who they are, what they are, what their life means.
What was Jesus' name mean?
The Bible says,
His name shall be called, thou shall call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins.
And the word Jesus means Jehovah is salvation, is what that word means.
It's the same name as in the Old Testament Joshua.
In the Greek it's Jesus, and that's where we get the name Jesus in the New Testament.
And so Jesus' name meant something.
It meant that he's the Savior.
Abraham's name meant something.
Gideon's name meant something.
Hey, people are given names throughout the Bible that mean something,
and one day, think about this now,
one day you're going to get to heaven.
God is going to change your name,
and it's going to be a name that means something.
Think about that.
Now, I don't really understand that completely.
You don't understand.
You know, we see through a glass darkly.
It does not yet appear what we shall be.
We don't know what it's going to be like when we get to heaven,
but I do know that God's going to give you a name that has to do with who you are.
And like I said, I don't believe it's going to be any negative.
I believe it's going to be something about you, though,
that really defines who you are and what your life is about.
I can think of some names that I'd like that to be.
And, you know, the first thing I thought of,
and this isn't what God's talking about,
but you know what I thought of? A tombstone.
Now, obviously this isn't a tombstone, okay?
I know that, okay?
You're like, come on, Pastor Anson.
You know what I'm about to say.
That's not what happens, but think about this.
Sometimes you go to a graveyard and there's a white stone,
and many times at the bottom of that stone, think about this now,
and I know that this is not what the Bible's talking about in this chapter,
but think about on that white stone in the graveyard,
usually sometimes there's something written at the bottom
that defines that person's life.
Think about that. Isn't that the truth?
I mean, they'll put some kind of a, you know, it's called an epitaph,
and it's something about that person that defines or sums up their life,
maybe in just a few words or in a few sentences.
I was thinking about the young man that passed away over in West Virginia,
and I was actually at his funeral,
and I was thinking about, and people got up and talked about
that he was a soul winner, and not as much as a funeral,
but just talking to his friends, what a great soul winner he was,
what a great Christian he was, how when the rescue team came in,
and, you know, the newspaper wrote it up
as if it was a bunch of college guys down the river having a good time.
You know, you picture drinking, you know, the rescue team came,
and they didn't find any beer where these young guys were.
They didn't find any drugs.
They didn't find anything.
You know what they found?
They found four Bibles in the tank when the rescue team came,
and the rescue team came to the viewing because they said,
we were so moved by the fact that we came expecting to find beer,
expecting to find kids that were with,
and we found these young college guys having a Bible study when this happened.
And I want to know, what if it were you that died today or died tomorrow?
And I'm not talking about salvation.
If you believe on Jesus Christ, you're saved,
and you ought to know that if you die today, for sure, that you'd go to heaven.
The Bible says that these things have I written unto you
that believe on the name of the Son of God,
that you may know that you have eternal life.
But what if you were to die today?
What would people get up and say about you?
Think about it.
What would they say about you if they told the truth?
What would be on your tombstone today?
What is your life?
Can we define your life in one sentence or two sentences?
What would those sentences be?
And I know that when you get to heaven,
God's going to give you the white stone with the new name written on it,
and I'm sure it's going to be something negative.
Everything's forgiven and forgotten.
It's going to be positive.
But I wonder if he were to give it to you right now,
what would that stone say?
Maybe it would say something.
What if it said, now, personally, if God were to hand me a stone
and say, this is who you are,
I'd want it to say something like, soul winner.
A man who loved the Bible.
A man who loved people.
Pastor.
Fearless preacher of the Gospel.
But I wonder if some people would get a stone on it that said, wishy washy.
How would you like it if God handed you a stone?
I know God's not going to do this in heaven,
but I'm saying that he handed it to you today.
What if he walked in today and gave you a name tag?
What do you think it would say?
Would it say, worldly Christian,
half in, half out.
Reads the Bible about two verses a day.
Think about that.
What's your life?
What's it about?
What defines who you are?
I wonder how many preachers would get a white stone
and they'd be all excited.
They'd look down and say, motivated by money.
They'd look down and say, he held back because of popularity.
The Christian who said, how about this one?
The person who didn't have time to go soul winning.
I wouldn't want that to be my epitaph.
I wouldn't want that to be who I am.
I don't want my life to be about, he had a lot of money.
Would that really matter when you're dead and gone and in heaven with God
and on your tombstone and said, boy, did he make a lot of money.
Think about that.
What is your life?
Boy, he had a great house.
Wow, he had a fancy car.
He had a good sports.
Hey, I want my life to mean something beyond my life.
Hey, when I go to the grave, my body's in the grave
and my spirit and soul are in heaven with God.
I hope that my life is not defined by the things that I possessed.
Jesus said this.
He said, a man's life consists not in the abundance of the things
which he possessed him.
Beware of covetousness, Jesus said in Luke 12, 15.
Look at Colossians 3.
Let me show you what your life should be about.
Because remember the question is, what is your life?
Stop and take a step back from your life for a minute
and look at the big picture of your life, would you?
Now, I'm glad that you're still alive today.
But when people pass away, you stop and look at their whole life,
don't you, and examine it.
Why don't you just take a step back right now
and look at your life right now, your whole life that you've lived it,
or take a little snapshot of the last few months
or the last few years of your life and look at it
and answer the question for yourself.
What is my life?
What does my life matter?
What does it mean?
What is there about my life that has any lasting
or eternal value is what I'm talking about.
And many people need this message this morning
because they're going through life
and they don't know what their life is about.
They don't have any goals in their life that matter.
They're living for self or they're living for everything
the world is supposed to live for.
And if they were to die today, hey,
when did their life even really matter in the scheme of things?
You've got to think about that.
Now look at Colossians 3, verse 1.
The Bible reads,
if you then be risen with Christ,
he's saying if you're saved,
if you've been resurrected spiritually,
seek those things which are above
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
Set your affection, he's saying,
the things that you love,
your affections on things above,
not on things on the earth.
And then look at the next phrase.
For you're dead and your life is hid with Christ and God.
And then look at this.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear,
then shall ye appear with him in glory.
Is Christ your life?
Man, my life is Jesus Christ.
I like what Paul said.
For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
What do you mean by that?
He said my life is about Jesus Christ.
When I get up in the morning, it's about Jesus.
When I go to work, it's about Jesus Christ.
When I sit down to eat a meal, he says,
whether I eat or I drink, I do all to the glory of God.
Hey, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
That would have been a great epitaph
on the Apostle Paul's tombstone.
My life, Christ is our life.
For me, to live is Christ.
But what is your life?
You say, oh man, music is my life.
And there are people about whom that statement would be true.
School is my life.
College is my life.
Work is my life.
I mean, many people, this is what it would say on their tombstone.
Partying is my life.
Drinking is my life.
Playing and having fun is my life.
Recreation is my life.
But it ought not be so.
The Bible says Christ, who is our life, shall appear.
Then shall he appear with him in glory.
You see, our affection should not be on the things that are on this earth,
but on the things which are above.
Keep your finger in Colossians 3, because we're going to come right back there.
Look at 1 John 2, familiar verses.
1 John 2, verse 15.
And we read this, I didn't really talk about it in James 4,
but he said this in James 4,
The adulterer is an adulteress.
Note he not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God.
Whosoever, therefore, will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Now that's a pretty sobering statement.
You know, the Bible is a pretty sobering book, by the way.
Some people seem to just float through life.
They don't have any direction, and everything is a big joke to them,
and nothing seems to be taken seriously to them.
And you know, everybody who knows me knows that I joke around and have a good time,
but I'm going to tell you something, life is not a joke.
I'm going to tell you something.
You ought to take your life seriously,
because your life is a vapor that appears for a little time,
and then it's going to vanish away.
And you better ask yourself, what is my life?
If it's going to be gone tomorrow?
If it's here today, gone tomorrow?
If it's only here for a moment, what is it?
And that's why God asks that question.
What is your life? What does it mean?
What's the point of it all?
You better figure it out, because before you know it,
you're going to get to the end of your life and say,
what have I done?
What was my life worth?
But look at famous familiar verses in 1 John 2.15,
Love not the world.
Same thing he said over before about setting your effects on things involved,
and I don't think it's on this world.
Love not the world.
Neither the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in it.
You see, your love for God will be inversely proportional to your love for the world.
I mean, you see a person who, you know, their life is all about sports.
Their life is all about rock and roll.
Their life is all about partying.
Their life is all about the things in this world like covetousness,
just getting as much as they can, money, money, houses, cars,
and that's what their life is about.
That person does not love God.
Did you hear me? They don't.
Now, I'm sure that many people that are like that are saved
and they're going to heaven when they die to believe on Jesus Christ,
but they don't love God.
Because if any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in it.
I didn't write that. I didn't make that. It's the truth.
And you know, this might hurt when I say this to you, but it's the truth.
If you walk into your house and see a big stack of filthy DVDs,
I'm not going to come to your house. I don't care what you have in your house.
That's between you and God.
But you see a big stack of all the worldly DVDs.
I wonder how much you love God.
And that's for you to decide. I'm not going to decide that.
But you ask yourself this question. Do you really love God?
When you love all the whores and whoremongers of Hollywood that are destroying America,
do you really love God? Ask yourself this question.
Do I really love God when I love people who hate God?
You know, David was a man who loved God.
If you had to pick one person in the Bible that really loved God with all his heart,
I believe it was David.
Look at him expressing his love over and over again in the Psalms.
He was the man that was after God's own heart.
He had a great love for God.
And this is what he said. He said, Do not I hate them that hate thee?
He said, I count them my enemies.
I hate them with the perfect hatred, he said in Psalm 139.
You see, David was not a person who loved people that hated God.
And he didn't love all the sin and filth in this world.
He didn't love all the worldliness and ungodliness.
And he loved God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength.
That's why he's a man after God's own heart.
Senator, I want to just do a self-check on your love.
Do I really love God as much as I should?
Why am I getting so much enjoyment out of watching people blessing God?
Why am I getting so much enjoyment out of watching people disobey God?
And there's no greater hypocrisy than a Christian who says,
I believe fornication is wrong.
I think women should dress like ladies and not like hoochie-mamas and hookers.
I believe that drinking is wrong.
I believe that drugs are wrong.
And then they go home and watch it on TV and enjoy it.
Hey, you are a hypocrite, my friend.
If you can watch it, you claim that you're against it.
You claim it's wrong.
And then you turn around and watch it. You're a hypocrite.
You say, oh, Pastor Anson, you're such a Pharisee.
No, you're the Pharisee because you're the one who says it's wrong and then goes home and watches it.
I say it's wrong and then I don't go home and watch it.
That doesn't make me a Pharisee.
Jesus said the Pharisees, they say and do not.
I don't want to be a hearer of the word or a speaker of the word or a teacher of the law.
Only I want to be a doer of the law.
And I'm not perfect and I'm not righteous.
I'm a sinner just like you are.
I sin on a daily basis.
But you better know something.
I'm not going to go home and watch the same stuff that I preach against when I get home today.
I'm not going to do it.
And if you do it, you're a hypocrite. I don't care who you are.
Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, is what Jesus said.
Be real.
Just say, I love Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.
I love Keanu Reeves.
I love, what's this guy's name that's in there?
And I don't know, some worldly person can help me out, but no, I'm just kidding.
I was talking to somebody this week, my sister, and she told me that the guy that's in the new Batman movie,
you know, he died, I guess, before the movie even came out.
Who knows the name of who I'm talking about?
Don't be ashamed.
What's his name?
Ledger.
Heath Ledger.
Heath Ledger. Thank you, sir.
No, I'm just kidding.
Okay, Heath Ledger.
Well, and you know what, my sister told me this.
She said, well, that's the same guy from the Brokeback Mountain.
A queer, you know, cowboy movie.
I think myself, and you know, I'm not trying to rip on anybody.
You know, I don't know who's seen it or who hasn't seen it.
I mean, it seems like it's a popular movie.
Everywhere I go, it seems like I see Christian young people that are watching it.
I mean, even just recently, I've walked in places and seen the logos and the stickers and everything.
I'm sorry, I just asked myself, why do you want to watch Heath Ledger
when the guy's, you know, some fairy or sodomite or whatever?
And you know why he's dead?
Because God killed him.
That's why.
God said, I kill and I make a lie.
The Lord's my name.
And you know, he did say in the Bible, the wicked should not live out half their days.
That's why a lot of these wicked Hollywood people die so young.
Because God kills them.
God ends their life.
God sends them to hell early.
Now, that's the truth.
That might be hard preaching to you, but it doesn't really matter.
It doesn't change the fact that that's what the Bible says.
And you know, the Bible says in Romans chapter one, when it goes through the rundown of the queers.
And let's turn there, shall we?
Because I just love to, you know, I just like to go to the Bible and let the Bible do my talking for me.
Because then you can walk out of here and be mad at God and not be mad at me.
I don't like to be mad at you.
I mean, I like you to like me and be my friend, okay?
And so, get mad at God.
Don't get mad at me because I'm not the one who wrote the Bible.
And if you want, I can go stand up here and lie to you.
And I'm sure you can find some Baptist church down the street that will stand up and lie to you.
But I can tell you the truth this morning.
And you know, you have to thank God that somebody will tell you the truth.
Now, look down at Romans chapter one, verse number 24.
It says, wherefore God also gave them up.
These are people that God has given up on.
Let's face it.
Deal with it.
To uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts.
To dishonor their own bodies between themselves.
Who changed the truth of God into a lie.
And worshiped and served the creature more than the creator.
Who is blessed forever. Amen.
For this cause, God gave them up on the vial.
The word vial means disgusting.
Affection.
For even their women to change the natural use in exactly against nature.
And likewise also the men.
Leaving the natural use of the woman.
Burned in their lusts one toward another.
Man with man.
Working that which is unseemly.
And receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was me.
I wish I had grandma's bible with me.
Sometimes I preach out of my grandma's New Testament that she gave me.
She wrote with a pen.
She's 87 years old.
She wrote the word age.
Next slide.
Receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was me.
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient.
Being filled. Here's your gay crowd.
Here's Heath Ledger.
Here's Keanu Reeves who's a sodomite by the way.
Here's Leonardo DiCaprio who's a queer by the way.
Here's Ricky Martin.
Here's Elton John.
Here's Michael Stipe from REM.
Here's all the sodomites and queers that you love and you claim you love God also at the same time.
But let's see what they're like.
It says being filled with all unrighteousness.
With all unrighteousness.
Fornication.
Wickedness.
Covetousness.
Maliciousness.
Full of envy.
Murder.
Debate.
Deceit.
Malignity.
Who knows what malignity means?
Cancer, right?
It's like a spreading cancer that destroys everything.
Whisperers.
Backbiters.
Haters of God.
Despiteful.
Proud.
Boasters.
Inventors of evil things.
Disobedient to parents.
Without understanding.
Covenant breakers.
Without natural affection.
Implicable.
And I think here's the most wicked one.
Unmerciful.
But watch this.
You say, well, that's them.
Okay, but watch the last verse.
Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death,
not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
Look at the next words.
Therefore, thou are inexcusable, O man.
Whosoever thou art that judges.
For whereon thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself.
But thou that judgest doest the same things.
He's saying, you stand up and pontificate and say, O man, these wicked queers and sodomites
and perverts.
But you take pleasure in them, and God says, you're judging them.
He says, you're inexcusable.
You wear that you do the same things they do.
You enjoy watching them.
You wear the same clothes they wear.
Listen to me.
You do the same things they do.
This is what he's saying.
If they're so wicked, if they're so ungodly, which they are.
Because look at the next verse.
Because he doesn't want you to mistake verse one.
A lot of people take verse one and they just take it out of context.
Look at the next verse.
But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit
such things.
And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things and doest the same
that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
He's saying, look, yes, they're worthy of death.
Yes, they're wicked.
Why do you take pleasure in them, he says?
Why do you do the same things that they do?
Why do you dress like them?
Why do you act like them?
Why do you talk like them?
Why do you enjoy the same music that they are?
They come and put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God.
And I don't enjoy the same music that they do.
I don't enjoy the same movies that they enjoy.
I don't dress the same way that they dress.
I don't talk the same way that they dress.
I don't act like they act.
I don't like them.
Why?
Because I'm a son of God, and they're a child of the devil.
That's why.
You say, oh man, you're so pompous.
Everyone who believeth on him, as many as received him, to them gave you power to become
the sons of God, even in the belief.
Hey, when I was a worldly, punk teenager, I got saved when I was six years old.
And when I was a worldly, punk teenager, I was still God's son.
But one day I decided I was going to start acting like God's son.
Right?
And stop acting like the world.
You say, is every unsaved person a child of the devil?
No, they're not.
Not everybody.
But you know what?
When people get rejected by God, they become twofold more than a child of hell.
And they become a child of the devil.
And they do his working.
And that's what we're talking about in Romans chapter one.
Now look, if you walk away this morning and say, I don't believe, I don't believe Romans
chapter one, I don't believe the Bible.
You know, I'll shake your hand and respect your opinion.
But if you walk away from the service this morning and say, I believe Romans chapter
one, I believe the Bible, but I think it's okay for me to watch a bunch of queers on
TV and listen to their music, I don't have any respect for you at all because you're
a hypocrite.
Do you hear me?
If you say I don't believe the Bible, you know what?
That's your prerogative.
I mean, there are people who are unbelievers.
They don't believe the Bible.
They don't believe God's work.
But you know what?
Don't walk out here claiming that you believe that Romans chapter one is divinely inspired,
spoken out of the mouth of God, which is what I believe.
And walk out here and say that it's okay for me to take pleasure in men who commit
fornication with other men.
No, it's not.
It's wrong.
You have not enjoyed it.
And you know what?
That'll pretty much just shut down all your primetime TV and all your Hollywood movies
because you know as well as I do that Hollywood is filled with queers.
If not, come with me next time.
I go to Hollywood all the time for the fire alarm.
I go to LA.
I was just there a week ago and I can tell you, I can tell you from the fact that it's
filled with queers from one end to the other.
I mean, if you haven't been there, then come along with me.
You shouldn't have to go there.
I mean, it's pretty obvious.
But if you're from Missouri, then show me state.
I can show you.
I'll show you what's going on.
If you want to see it to believe it, buckle up tight and you'll see it.
And so if you would turn back to Colossians chapter three.
I just feel like Christianity today is just too detective with worldliness.
I'm serious.
I mean, I said to somebody recently that they were talking about a church and they said,
yeah, you probably wouldn't approve of the music at this church, you know.
But it's, you know, independent fundamental baptism is very simple.
They said, I know you wouldn't approve it.
I said, I don't even know the church that I've ever even been to anymore where I approve
of the music.
Every time I visit some other church for some conference or some preaching conference, I
don't know.
I'm like, I don't know.
You know, I was kind of being kidding around.
I'm like, I don't approve of the music anyway.
But the sad thing is, I mean, that's almost a true statement anymore.
But it's not, it's not, it's not my fault.
I'm not being too picky or anything.
Hey, the music here is the kind of music that I grew up with.
It's kind of, isn't all Baptist churches used to have.
But I'm going to tell you something.
Our churches have been infected with worldliness and you know what's gone out the back door
and people don't understand this.
The love of God has gone out the back door.
You can't have, you can't love the world and love God.
You can't serve Christ and man.
You can't walk in darkness and have fellowship with Jesus.
It's not going to happen.
And so the sad thing is, people say, we're going to bring in the world because it's going
to bring more people in.
Hey, I don't want to bring in more people at the expense of the Spirit of God being
gone.
Right.
Think about that.
We're going to choose between more people without God's Spirit or God's Spirit present
here with a few less people.
I'll take a few less people.
Amen.
Because if any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not him.
If any church loved the world, the love of the Father is not him.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the
pride of life is not of the Father but of the world.
And so look at Colossians chapter three again.
He said, of course, set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth.
What do you love?
Do you want to know who I love?
First and foremost, the people that I love the most.
Are you ready for this?
People I love the most are born again believers on Jesus Christ who believe like I believe
and love God and love solely the way that I love God and love solely.
That's who I love the most.
And most of them are in this room right now.
And other people that are outside of this room that believe like I believe and love,
I'm just saying I love the people in this room the most because these are the ones that
I know the most.
But you know, other people outside this room who believe like I believe and they love God
like I love God and they're my brother and sister and Jesus Christ.
Hey, I love, that's who I love the most.
You know who else I love?
I love all believers everywhere.
I also love all believers, not as much as you say, oh, you just love everybody the same.
That's impossible.
And I love the people that are in this room more.
I love my family more.
And I love the people that are outside this room who love God and love souls more.
But you know what?
I love all believers.
I mean, all we're into believers sometimes that are not just like me.
I mean, they're very different than I am.
But there's still love there.
There's still a bond there.
There's still a connection there that we're brothers in Christ.
But you know who else I love?
I love the unbelievers that are out there.
The unsaved that are in this city that I don't know.
You know how I'm going to express that love today?
I'm going to go to them and bring the gospel today out and knock on doors.
Because I love them and I want them to hear the truth.
That's how I'm going to express my love to them.
And I'm not just going to tell it to them and say, well, if they accept it, they accept it.
If they don't, they don't.
You know, hey, at least I told them, I washed my hands of that.
No, I'm going to go there and I'm going to plead with them to be saved.
I'm going to have a tear in the eye.
And if I walk away from that door and they didn't get saved, hey, there's going to be a burden in my heart.
There's going to be sadness in my soul that that person didn't get saved.
And I'm going to pray to God that me or somebody else will go back and wander that seed and someday that seed will be reaped.
Hey, I love the unsaved.
But you know who I don't love?
I don't love the wicked children of the devil who are destroying this country by perverting America.
Because God already gave them up anyway.
They're just waiting for their appointment to drop into hell.
And no, I don't love the pervert.
I don't love the pedophile.
I don't love the kidnapper and rapist.
I don't love these wicked people that are filling Hollywood and filling the music industry.
And everybody knows, hey, look, I have a cousin who went into modeling.
A very good looking guy.
I mean, we're late.
So you can get kind of a feel for what he looked like.
You know what I mean?
No, I'm just kidding.
He didn't look anything like me.
But this guy is a good looking guy.
He's half Polynesian and half white.
He has kind of a real modeling type face.
And so this guy, he went into modeling and you know what?
He got to a point where he just said, I have to get out of this business.
And what happened was his younger sister, also very good looking.
She was thinking about going into it.
She was getting some calls.
Being contacted by his mommy.
And boy, my cousin, when he was in modeling, he was making a lot of money.
I mean, he just had so much money.
He had multiple places to live.
He had a place in Europe.
He had a place in the United States.
I mean, he was making a lot of money.
Those models are very well paid in that industry.
He was traveling all over the world.
He had just everything at his fingertips.
All the money.
And he basically, I mean, there were times it was like turn the TV into this channel.
You'd see him on there in some music video or something.
Or we'd get the newspaper every week.
And he'd usually flip through the ads and find them in there.
You know, the Mervins and whatever department stores ads.
And when his sister was thinking about going into it and a few things happened in his life,
he just said, you know what?
I've got to get out of this business.
And he said, I'm not going to tell you what it was like.
But he said, I'll tell you one thing.
He said it was totally wicked.
He said, I never should have even been around these people.
Because he said it was filled with queers.
And he said they were wicked.
They were perverted.
It was evil.
It was disgusting.
It was sick.
It was just such a dark place and a dark, wicked place.
He just said, I had to just get out of here.
You know what he does for a living now?
As much as I heard it.
He's building spares.
Working in construction.
Building rails.
He just said, you know what?
I'm just going to go work this out with the sweat on my face.
And he gave all that up.
But I don't think he was really giving up much.
You know what I mean?
But he gave up all that the world thinks would be great.
Oh man, flying around, fancy clothes, servants waiting on you.
And all this stuff.
He gave it up.
Because he said, in order to have it, I had to be around the filth of the world.
He said it was disgusting.
And this isn't a guy that's like me.
I mean, he's not a fanatic.
He's not even our brand.
He's not like an independent criminal guy.
He's just a Christian guy, though.
Much different than our stripe.
But he said it was wicked.
He said, I had to separate myself from that industry.
Talk to anybody who's really in that industry.
And you'll find out.
I mean, look.
I used to really be interested in rock music.
I used to have thousands of dollars of musical equipment.
And when I was a teenager, I would love to go be in a rock band.
I mean, seriously, I'm just being honest with you.
I would have thought that was the coolest thing in the world.
But you know, I started to realize that the people who make it in the music industry,
it's not because they necessarily have the most talent or because they have the best music.
It's because you know what?
The devil lifts up one and puts down another in that industry.
I mean, it's true.
And even people that are just not even Christians who are in the music business,
they know that it's about connections of who you know.
And you pretty much just have to sell your soul to the devil
if you want to succeed in those industries.
It's the truth.
And look back at your Bible in Colossians.
It says, set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
But you're dead.
And your life is hid with Christ and God.
When Christ, who is our life, shall appear.
I'm going to explain that part about your dead.
He explains a little more.
Who is our life shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.
Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection,
evil concupiscence and covetousness, which is idolatry.
For which things state, the wrath of God cometh on the two of them, misopenius,
into which he also walked sometime when he lived in them.
But now ye also put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy,
filthy communication out of your mouth.
Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds,
and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge
after the image of him that created him.
For there is neither greed, nor Jews, circumcision, nor uncircumcision,
barbarians, Scythian, bond, nor freedom, but Christ is all and in all.
Put on, therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved,
vows of mercy's kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering,
forbearing one another and forgiving one another,
if any man have a will against any, even as Christ forgave you,
so also do me.
Above all these things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Now notice how he keeps saying, put on charity.
Put on, therefore, holy and beloved, vows of mercy's kindness.
He says, put off the old man.
Did you see that a little earlier in the chapter?
And put on the new man.
You say, what does that mean, put on the new man, put off the old man?
Well, the old man is the natural man, the person that you were born.
Your flesh.
Now all of us were born into this world, we're born sinners.
I mean, I didn't teach my kids to lie.
They figured out how to lie on their own.
You got taught them how to kiss, you get into trouble.
Sometimes you just coach the truth a little bit.
No, I mean, I didn't have to teach them that.
It's amazing how they just pick it up.
And I did have to teach them to tell the truth.
Kids, old man is just naturally good is what the world will tell you.
It's a lie.
They don't have kids.
And so you have to understand that kids are born to do wrong, they have to be taught to do right.
I mean, that's just the natural law.
Anybody who argues with that needs to get their heads screwed on straight.
And so the point is that we're born in sin.
We're born sinners.
We live in the flesh.
Well, what happens is, and you say, well, is the flesh capable of doing anything right?
Sure, obviously there are unsaved people who do things right, that do good things.
You'd be a fool to say that an unsaved person never does anything good.
That's not true.
I mean, people do nice things that are unsaved.
But here's what you have to understand.
The moment that you get saved, the Bible says this, and turn there.
Turn to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5.
The moment that you got saved, because remember, we've got to put off the old land, but this deeds, and put on new ones.
In 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, the Bible says this, in 2 Corinthians 5, 17.
Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
Old things are passed away.
Behold, all things are become new.
Now, the old man, you know, his desires, his affections are for the things of this world.
Now, does he do right sometimes?
Yes, but usually when it makes him feel good, or when he's got something to gain from it, you know.
But he can sometimes just do things right, and do good things.
But here's the thing.
When you get saved, God creates a new man.
A lot of people say, well, God will change you when you get saved.
That's not true. He doesn't change you at all.
He doesn't put new wine into an old bottle.
What he does is he creates a brand new creature.
He doesn't reform and change the old.
So the old man remains exactly the way he was before you got saved.
But now God creates this new man, and says, if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature.
Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new.
Now, many people take this verse, and this, I can't understand this for the life of me.
They'll read this verse, and they'll say, see, when a person gets saved, there's got to be some change.
Now, does that verse say some change?
Look at it.
Does it say some change?
Does it even say a lot of change?
No, it says all is changed.
Do you see that?
This is beyond me how anybody could misinterpret this verse.
He said, it's a brand new creature.
Old things are passed away.
All things are become new.
And they'll take this verse, and you know, many times, people believe on Jesus Christ,
and you know what they do?
They continue to walk in the flesh and live like the world.
And people will point at them and say, well, that person wasn't even saved,
because there's no change.
They'll look at them and say, they're not saved because there's no change.
It's a lie.
Some people are saved, even though you look at them and think that they're just like the world.
Let me prove it to you.
Anybody here, don't raise your hand or anything, but just think hard.
Anybody here who at one time in your life was saved, but you were living exactly like the world?
You know that's true.
There are a lot of people in this room.
You were saved.
You're right over there.
You lived exactly like the world.
Were you still saved?
Sure you were, man.
But the problem is, you did not put on the new man.
You were walking in the flesh, not in the spirit.
You see what I'm saying?
And so God never says anywhere in the Bible that when a person gets saved, there's going to be some change.
No.
He says all things are passing.
So if this were talking about a change in your life, then basically everything would have changed in your life.
And you'd have to be perfect.
And that's not true.
Let me prove it to you further.
Look at 1 John.
Look at the book of 1 John.
Toward the end of your Bible, right before Revelation, you'll find those three books, 1, 2, 3 John, Jude, Revelation.
Look at 1 John.
And I'll prove it to you, my friend.
Look at 1 John chapter 1.
1 John chapter 1, the Bible says in verse number 8,
If we say that we have no sin,
That's talking about me, you, John, any Christian.
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Turn to chapter 3.
If I stood up here and said, look, I don't sin.
I used to sin, but now I don't sin anymore.
I'm a liar.
I'm a deceiver.
I'm deceiving you and I'm deceiving myself.
And the truth is not in me.
The Bible says if we say that we've not sinned, we make him a liar.
And his word is not in us.
Anybody who gets up and says I don't have any sin is a liar, a deceiver, and a false prophet.
But now look at 1 John chapter 3, though.
See, you have to understand that the spirit is what's born again when you get saved.
Did you know that when you got saved, your body did not get born again?
Your spirit was born again.
One day your body will be born again at the rapture, at the first resurrection, when your
body is resurrected in the image of Jesus Christ.
Right now your spirit has been resurrected in the image of Jesus.
I mean, did you start glowing or something?
You got saved?
Whenever people get saved, all of a sudden they just look perfect and stuff.
I've been saved a long time.
All of a sudden they start glowing and ah, because their body's been born again.
And they've been healed and we throw our crutches and woo.
You know, like Benny Hinn style and everything.
And all of a sudden we're just healed.
We're healed physically and everything.
No, but your spirit's saved.
Your spirit is born of God.
Your flesh is not.
One day we're still waiting for the adoption of sons that is to wit the redemption of our body.
So you say, are you God's son?
Well, my spirit is, but my flesh isn't.
That's a fact.
And you can say that I'm preaching wrong and you'll just prove your ignorance of what the Bible says.
That's what it says in Romans chapter 8.
But look down at your Bible, 1 John 3, 9.
Whosoever is born of God, this is talking about the spirit that's born of God, not the flesh.
It's talking about the new man.
The old man is not born of God.
The old man is born of the flesh.
The new man is born of the spirit.
He says, whosoever is born of God does not commit sin.
For his seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he is born of God.
Now, a lot of people will walk away and say, I'm confused because I'm born of God and I sin.
Well, but see, when you sin, it's the flesh that's sinning, not the spirit.
It's the old man, not the new man.
Now, when you die, your old man is going to die.
The flesh is going to die.
And guess what?
When you get to heaven, he'll never sin again.
Amen.
Because it'll just be the new man.
The new man can do what?
He can't sin.
Now, people will go back to the Greek.
And, you know, whenever anybody goes back to the Greek, just get up and walk out or something.
You know, they try to change what the Bible says.
Add thou not unto his words, lest he but prove the endowment kind of a liar.
And they'll say, well, to go back to the Greek and talk about somebody continuously sinning.
I mean, could this verse be any clearer?
Doth not commit sin.
He cannot sin because he's born of God.
And that's why Paul said, walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
When you fulfill the lust of the flesh, you're walking in the flesh.
Right.
When you're doing right, you're walking in the spirit at that moment.
Okay.
Because the spiritual man, the inward man, the new man cannot sin.
It's Bible doctrine.
And so here, he says, and they'll say, oh, it's talking about somebody who continuously
sins.
And then they'll again say, if somebody continuously sins, they're not sinning.
We all continuously sin.
I probably already sinned today and it's only like 11.30.
Even a bad dog or not doing something I should have done.
If I slept in too long, I don't know, you know.
So, I'm sure I've committed sin.
But it was the flesh, if anything, and that's why Paul said, now when I do that, I will
not sin.
It's no longer I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Oh, righteous man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death.
And he said, thanks be to God, one day he will be delivered.
In Romans chapter 8, he describes the redemption of the body that's coming in the future.
And so he says here, and they'll say, well, somebody's continuing to sin.
Look, if they continue to walk in the flesh, they'll continue to be exactly the same.
Did you hear me?
Exactly the same as they were before they were saved.
I mean, how do you expect somebody to live differently when they don't, I mean, if they
just believe in Jesus Christ, right?
But they never go to church, they never read the Bible, they don't pray, and they're filling
their mind with TV, the radio, the world, worldly friends, alcohol, and you expect them
to change?
They're in the flesh.
They're feeding the flesh.
But man, you'll take that same person, take them in a church like this, preach the hell
out of them, scream at them, and say, come up, get in the car, your little soul-witting
would be.
Take them soul-witting for three hours until they're ready to pass out in the sun because
it's 115 outside.
Put the Bible under their nose and say, read this for hours a day.
Hey, that same person, you'll see the new creature.
That's the truth.
But hey, I'm telling you, I can name the people that I've wondered the Lord, where
they were the same, the same, the same, the same as they were.
You get them in a hellfire and damnation Baptist church, you get them in a zealous church,
you get them reading the Bible, you get the worldliness out of their life, you get the
wicked friends out of their life, and that person will grow to life.
You can't believe.
But it's funny how before that they never grew.
Why?
Because they were just feeding the flesh.
Nobody was feeding their spirit.
Nobody had taken one in their wing and trained them and taught them anything.
People who come to a church like this grow.
Every single person who comes to this church that you're sitting in, faithful or Baptist
church, for any length of time, you will see a dramatic change in their life, period.
It's not because I have any rules, it's not because I told them what to do.
Hey, because God's spirit is working on them in this church, and they're walking in the
new man and not the old man.
You're looking at the new man going, this isn't the same person I knew.
Well, you're right, it's not.
And so that's the new man versus the old man.
So let me ask you something.
What is your life about?
Is it about the new man or is it the old man?
That's the real question.
I mean, what is your life about?
Because if your life's about money, that's the old man talking.
Who dominates in your life?
Who's the one that we would say is really the one that we know?
Is it the new Steven Anderson or is it the old Steven Anderson that we're constantly
confronted with?
A person who loves money, a person who's out for pleasure, a person who's out for the party
and the fun.
And look, nothing wrong with having fun, but my life is not about fun.
Nothing wrong with laughing and having a good time, but my life is not having a good time
and laughing.
Nothing wrong with having money and making money and buying nice things, buying a house,
buying a car, but my life is not about things.
My life is about people that I want to win to Christ.
My life is about a person, Jesus Christ, who is my life.
And for me to live is Christ and to die is gain.
And for that young man that died in West Virginia, hey, for him to live was Christ and to die
was gain for him.
And now he has departed to be with Christ which is far better.
But one day Jesus Christ is going to hand him a new stone.
Now I'm never going to know what's written on his stone.
You're never going to know what's written on my stone.
I'll never know what's written on your white stone.
Is there going to be anything negative?
No.
I have a feeling that some people that were handed to them right now, it could be something
a little negative.
If it were truthful, I believe God gave people a truthful name.
When you get to heaven, it's not going to be anything negative.
It's going to be all about what you accomplished in the new man, whatever that was.
Now some of you, it might be written in such a small font because you spent so much time
walking in the old man, the new man, you're going to have to get a microscope to look
at it because it's written in size 4 font.
I mean, when I get there, I want my white stone to be on a dolly or something.
You know what I mean?
Something big.
You ever go to a graveyard and dissolve them in sizes?
Some of them are huge.
Some of them are as tall.
I've seen one look as tall as this room.
You don't believe me?
This is true.
I've seen one as tall as this room, a monument.
And all the way down, there's just a little plate in the ground.
But you know what?
When I get that white stone, or maybe even a physical stone that somebody puts in a graveyard
somewhere, when I pass on and when I go to be with the Lord someday, you know, perhaps
I'll be buried somewhere in Tempe, Arizona, and there will be a physical stone.
I wonder what that stone's going to say about me.
I wonder how man perceived my life.
I wonder what man would think of as the crown and achievements or the things about my life
that really mattered.
Aaron was a really good-looking guy.
Go dig it up and see how good-looking he is now.
I mean, it's crass, but it's true.
Dig it up.
We'll dig six feet and see how good-looking he is.
Oh man, there was a guy who has a lot of money.
Where's it all now?
Probably went to the death tax.
You know what I mean?
Right?
Oh man, there was a guy who had a lot of friends.
I wonder how many of them are going to remember me, you know, 20 years after I'm gone.
Think about that.
What if it said, man, there's a guy.
Like how about when I visited my grandpa's old church where he used to be a deacon in Los Angeles.
I walked up and took the pastor's hand and he said, about my grandpa,
there was a guy who really knelt with a lot of doors.
Now that's a great attachment.
There is a guy in one vehicle of Christ.
So what's going to be the first word out of people's mouths?
But not only that, not only what does man think about what?
Remember what's a sermon?
What is your life?
What does man think your life is?
But more and more in that, what does God know that your life really is?
What is your life?
What's the way?
It's going to be gone.
What was it?
Who are you?
Remember when I started this church, the first sermon that I had preached, and we didn't
record the sermon back then.
We only started recording it two months after I started the church.
In those early days, I remember the very first Sunday morning I preached this sermon.
It was called, Who Art Thou?
It was from John chapter one.
They came from the Pharisees and the surprised, and they came to John.
They said, what sayest thou of thyself?
Who are you? What do you have to say about yourself? Tell us who you are.
And I said on that Sunday morning, I said, let me tell you who we are.
And you know what? We, and we back then, it was like me and my family and a couple of people.
But I said, this is who we are. But you know what we're the same today as we were back then?
Amen. Amen. We're the same.
And not only what is your life, what is your church?
When I think of faith, we're Baptist Church, you know what I think of?
Number one, soul winning. Faithful, let me just, let me just give you a sentence.
Faithful word Baptist Church is soul winning. Period.
Faithful word Baptist Church is hard preaching. That's how we define this church.
Faithful word Baptist Church is Bible preaching. Faithful word Baptist Church is independent.
You know, I mean, this is who we are. And you know, sometimes I wonder if church are having an identity crisis.
They're going through like a midlife crisis. And you know, there's nothing more ridiculous than when people go through a midlife crisis.
You ever see these people who, who they're like in their 40s and they're 50 and they start dressing like a teenager again?
It's called a midlife crisis. And you know, they think they're cool. Everybody else looks at them and thinks they're stupid.
You know it's true. Everybody else looks at them and thinks they're a moron. You're stupid. You look like a fool.
You're 50 years old and you dress like you're 15. Girl up. And it looks stupid to everybody else who knows better.
But to them, man, they think they're the coolest person in the world. They think they've still got it. You don't.
And you know, that's exactly what I think of when I think of these churches that are going through a midlife crisis.
And you know, the whole independent fundamental Baptist movement, listen to me. Listen to me good.
The whole independent fundamental Baptist movement is going through an identity crisis right now.
They're going through like a midlife crisis. I mean they're old-fashioned. They're old-school. I mean they've got an old Bible.
The teenage Bible. And yet they're trying to dress and act and have music that's hit like a teenager.
And I'm looking at it and saying, it's stupid. The world looks at it and says, you're stupid.
Fundamental Baptist looks at them and says, you're stupid. I mean look, young people look at the guy, listen to me now.
Young people look at the guy who's having a midlife crisis and say, you're stupid. We're cool. You're not, basically.
We're young. You're old. Deal with it. And you know, old people, they look down at the guy who's having a midlife crisis and say, look man, you're an idiot.
Okay, it's the same thing. These fundamental Baptist churches with their little midlife crisis right now, the world looks at them and says,
why don't we just listen to the world's music instead of your rockabilly, sorry excuse for rock music?
Your Christian contemporary garbage? They might as well just turn on the radio and hear it from a professional sound studio.
And your back was recording. And then the fundamentalists, you know, representing the elders, looked down and said, hey look man, why don't you act your age?
Why don't you grow up? When I became a man, I put away childish things. Hey, when I was a child, I think as a child.
People say, oh man, when you were a teenager, you used to do this. I had somebody throwing stuff in my face the other day from when I was a teenager.
Oh man, you know, when you were 16, I'm thinking to myself, you know what, I'll be the first to admit, when I was a child, I think as a child.
I thought as a child, I understood as a child, but the difference between me and somebody was that when I became a man, I put away childish things.
And this identity crisis, this midlife crisis that's going on in independent fundamental Baptist churches, to everybody on the outside, it looks pretty stupid.
But they think, man, they've got the perfect blend, the perfect mixture of just enough of the world and just enough of God, but you know what?
It's a lie. Hey man, love the world, love the Father's not it.
And so the bottom line is, and you know what else faith-ward Baptist churches and anybody who's come to this church for any length of time and really knows this knows that faith-ward Baptist church is friends who really love you.
That's the truth about this church. I mean, friends who really love you.
And you know, I'm telling you, I was talking to my wife the other day. I'm not going to embarrass her either.
I was talking to my wife the other day and I named some people. She talked about some people that were her friends.
And I wasn't trying to be unkind to her or mean to her. I was just telling her the truth and I said, those people aren't your friends.
I said, they don't love you. She was listening to people, you know, that she knows from past, everything that she's still in contact with and everything.
I said, you know what? I said, those people aren't your friends, honey. They don't love you. And she's like, what? Those are my friends.
You know, it sounds like I was being unkind, but I wasn't because I told her, I said, honey, I said, those people aren't your friends.
Because I said, as soon as you became unpopular or as soon as it wasn't popular to be your friend or as soon as you needed something or as soon as you had some kind of a chain like Paul said about his friend.
He said, he wasn't ashamed of my chain. I said, if those people were with you around their friends, they'd be ashamed to be seen with you and they'd separate themselves because they're not your real friends.
Because your real friends are people who love you all the time. And they're there for you all the time.
You know, I hope that somebody puts on my tombstone when I die, there was a guy who was really your friend. When he was your friend, man, he loved you and he was your real friend.
I hope that, I mean, I hope that that would be out there. I hope that my epitaph, my white soul says, a real friend.
Because you know what, the world, the friendship of the world is not the friendship of God. It shouldn't be. And I told her, and I think she agreed with me. Did you agree with me by the time I was done about those particular people, honey?
She'd be better if not, and don't ruin my storm, please.
Because I told her, I said, honey, you know that if those people were around you and their friends, they would not want to have anything to do with you.
They'd be ashamed of you and embarrassed of you for the stand that you take for what's right. I said, as soon as you were in trouble or needed anything, they would not be there for you.
I said, that's not what a friend is. A friend loveth at all times, the Bible says. And a brother is born for adversity. That's what the Bible says.
A friend loveth at all times. So some people need to stop and think about who their friends really are, by the way.
And you've got to be loyal to the people that are really your friends, and not loyal to your fair-weather, phony friends that you think are your friends. That's the truth.
And so I hope you realize that Faithful Baptist Church is soul-winning, is hard preaching, is Bible preaching, is fundamental Baptist, is hard preaching, is uncompromising, is fearless, is not fair-weather, is not, does not care.
It's the end season, out of season. Hey, this church is on fire all the time. I hope that's what we are. That's what I believe we are. Hey, that's what I said we were two and a half years ago, and I believe that's what we are today.
And Faithful Baptist Church is friends who really love you. Don't be a part of this church. You'll find friends who really love you.
Many churches are having an identity crisis. This one isn't. But are you having an identity crisis in your own life? Are you having trouble deciding whether you're on the world side or on the Lord's side?
Are you having trouble deciding, young man, whether you want to serve God with your life or whether you want to serve the almighty God with your life?
Are you having trouble, young ladies, deciding whether you want a life that's based on money and cars and clothing and friends, or whether your life's going to be about what God said women's life should be like?
Like Eve in the Bible, the first woman, God said, let's call you Eve because you're the mother of all living. Because he said women, the woman is made for the man and not the man for the woman.
He said the woman is made for the man, and that women's job primarily is to get married, bear children, guide the house. We've got a bunch of young people who don't understand that. They don't believe that.
And I don't blame them because nobody preached it to them.
You say, well, that's not my situation. I'm beyond childbearing years, or I'm not in that condition. I'm not married. Hey, if you're a lady, why don't you go out and bring forth fruit unto God?
That's even greater than giving birth to physical children. Hey, go out today and win somebody to Christ, and when you get to the end of your life, you can go to bed tonight and look up at your ceiling in your bed tonight, man, woman, boy, and girl.
And I don't care how young you are listening to me right now, or whether you're a woman or a man, or what's your financial situation, when you go to bed tonight, I hope you can lay in bed, look up at the ceiling and say, what is my life? Solely.
What is my life? Jesus Christ. What is my life? Loving other people. No matter who you are today, your life can mean something.
And when I get to the end of my life, I want people to say what they said about that guy that was finished. Sole with him. Christian. God be righteous.
A good friend. A man who loved Jesus Christ. Hey, what is your epitaph going to be at the bottom of that tombstone? And even better than a physical tombstone on this earth that's going to decay and tinker and sour, what's it going to say upon your stone that you received in heaven?
When God looks at your life, and stands back, and he looks at your whole life, and he looks at who you are, and we're talking about the new man now, because the old man is going to perish long before God gives you the white stone.
And he looks at you, and he looks at the new man, and what you did, and he says, let me give you a name, and I wonder, again, how proud are you to be that name? How proud are you to be about that name?
I don't know what my name is going to be, but I want to work and love God and live for God in such a way where I can ask myself this question, what is my life?
And it's going to be, whatever it is, it's going to be something spiritual. I don't want it to be something that does not have eternal value.
And go ahead and live for the world and the future and everything else, but you know what? I'm not living for the future, I'm living for eternity.
I'm living for today, and I'm living for eternity. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we love you, and thank you for finding your God, and I'm glad that we don't have to just float through life like some people float through life, and you'd ask them, what is your life?
They wouldn't even know what to answer that question they threw, or it'd be something that doesn't need sports, or money, or friends, or a good time, or a party, something that doesn't matter.
God helped my life to matter, and helped every person in this room this morning to realize my life needs to matter. It's time that I put on the new man.
It's time that I stop taking pleasure in the world of ungodliness, and put walk in the flesh, walk in the new man, so that I can earn some kind of reputation for God and man that has value.
Father, we love you, and thank you for everything you do for us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.