So tonight I wanna preach about a royal priesthood,
a royal priesthood.
Let's look at verse number nine.
The Bible says, "But you're a chosen generation,
"a royal priesthood and holy nation of peculiar people
"that you should show forth the praises of him
"who hath called you out of darkness
"into his marvelous light."
I'm gonna pray real quick.
Lord, we thank you so much for the men of Steadfast
and Pure Words Baptist Church and for Pastor Shelley.
And I just wanna thank you, Lord,
for the opportunity to be here tonight.
I pray that you fill me with your spirit
and I pray that the men would be edified by the message.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
- Amen.
- So when it's talking about a royal priesthood,
royal means what?
What would that mean to you?
It mean like kings, princes.
And when the Bible says that we're a chosen generation
and a royal priesthood, I take that to mean
that we're a priesthood of kings.
And in the Old Testament, they obviously had kings
and they had a priesthood, but obviously that's all changed
in the New Testament.
And, but I would just like to preach to you guys tonight
about the fact that you guys have a great responsibility
as being kings and priests unto the Lord.
And it's not like it's just something
that's coming down the pike.
Like we're already kings and priests.
You know, we're already in that priesthood
and we should behave that way, we should live that way.
And it should be something that we take very seriously
because it is a great honor to be called a king
or a priest, isn't it?
And let's turn, we're gonna look at some scriptures tonight
and of course you guys know I usually go Bible heavy
but I wanna just show you some things
out of the Old Testament too, real quick.
And let's go to Exodus chapter 19 there,
Exodus chapter 19.
So as royal priesthoods, as kings and priests,
we have a special calling unto God
and we're supposed to be separated from the world.
We're supposed to, you know,
would you think that priests would pray?
Yes, priests would win souls,
priests would sacrifice and, you know,
in the Old Testament they had like specific things
that they had to do as priests,
but it's different in the New Testament.
Like I said, look at verse five in Exodus chapter 19.
It says, "Now therefore, if you will obey my voice indeed."
See, it was a stipulation.
They had to, it was an if and a then.
Look what it says.
"If you will obey my voice indeed and keep my covenant,
"then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me
"above all people for all the earth is mine."
So that priesthood in the Old Testament was by stipulation.
It wasn't something that lasted forever.
The Old Testament was gonna end.
But it is obviously picturing the believer
because the nation of Israel pictures the new nation,
which is all nations of the earth who are saved, right?
And you had to be in a specific family
to be in the priesthood back then.
And you also had to be chosen by God to be the king.
And then it went to succession after Saul and David,
but God would just set up and take down kings as he pleased.
And there was a lot of wicked kings back then.
Look at verse six.
It says, "And he shall be unto me a kingdom of priests
and in holy nation."
These are the words which thou shalt speak
unto the children of Israel.
So back then they were supposed to be a kingdom of priests.
So they had the priesthood, which was the Levites,
but like really he wanted them to be a holy nation.
He wanted them to be a kingdom of priests,
but it was stipulated by if you obey my voice
and if you keep my covenant.
Obviously we know that they didn't.
And so we're in the New Testament now.
They could not maintain what they're supposed to do.
So go ahead and turn to Revelation chapter one.
Also, I'm gonna read for you Revelation chapter five,
verse 10, where the Bible says,
"And has made us unto our God, kings and priests,
"and we shall reign on the earth."
There's coming a day when we will reign on the earth.
Right now, you know, we're kind of like downtrodden by men.
You know, men hate us because of the things that we preach
and the things that we believe,
but there's coming a day when we are going to be the ones
that are ruling this nation, ruling this world.
So we should prepare now for what we're going to have later,
don't you think?
I mean, if we don't act princely or kingly or priest-like,
you know, there's coming a day when we're going to be
that way, and remember in the parable of the talents,
where, you know, the guy that buried his talents
in the ground, you know, he didn't get anything, right?
He actually got a really bad punishment,
but the other people, you know, Jesus would say to them,
you know, "Enter into the joy of the Lord,
"I'm gonna make you the king over 10 cities," or whatever.
So I believe that, you know, that's a parable,
but obviously I think there's truth to that,
that we are going to be reigning over cities.
Like, if you're over 10 cities, that means, you know,
you probably have people that you're gonna be,
or under your subjection too,
because how would you be a king
if you don't rule over anybody?
It's called the kingdom of God, you know?
So look at Revelation 1:6, it says,
"and hath made us kings and priests unto God
"and his father, to him be glory and dominion
"forever and ever, amen."
So there's two scriptures in Revelation
where it clearly says that he's made us kings and priests.
And so now let's turn to 2 Samuel 7 verse 12,
and I'll just kinda show you how,
in the life of Saul and David,
that God showed us this picture
of a kingdom that is gonna end,
or the covenant that ended,
and then how David's is an everlasting covenant.
Look at 1 Samuel chapter 7 verse 12,
the Bible says,
"And when thy days be fulfilled,
thou shalt sleep with thy fathers.
I will set up thy seed after thee,
which shall proceed out of thy bowels,
and I will establish his kingdom."
So obviously he's talking about this kingdom of Christ,
and David is obviously a king of Israel
and a man after God's own heart.
And look at what it says in verse 13,
"He shall build a house for my name,
and I will establish the throne of his kingdom."
How long?
Forever, right?
And it says, "And I will be his father,
and he shall be my son."
Now obviously this part's talking about David
'cause Jesus didn't commit sin,
but look at what it says.
"If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him
with the rod of men and with the stripes
of the children of men."
So that's kind of how God deals with his children
when they step out of line,
but our life will never end.
You know, we get punished here,
obviously you all know that,
but later on, I mean, we're going to still reign
on the earth forever and ever.
Now, so God's saying that he's going to punish
and chasten David here.
It says, "But my mercy shall not depart away from him
as I took it from Saul,
whom I put away before thee."
So Saul was cut off,
and he obviously is the picture of the Old Testament
being done away with,
and David is the picture of the New Testament,
and obviously his seed will inherit the earth.
His seed is going to, you know, verse 16,
It says, "A nine house, and thy kingdom shall be established forever before thee.
Thy throne shall be established forever."
So it says he's going to build a house and a kingdom, and it will be established forever.
So the Old Testament ended, New Testament, that's where we're at.
So I mean, I'm sure all of you guys realize that, but there are differences obviously
between the priesthood and the kingdom in the Old Testament and the kingdom and the
priesthood in the New Testament.
So let's look at Numbers chapter 3 also, let's turn over to Numbers chapter 3.
I just want to talk to you about how, what the priest's job was to do in the Old Testament.
Look at Numbers 3.3, it says, "These are the names of the sons of Aaron, the priests
which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister in the priest's office."
So what was the job of the priest?
Well, it was to minister in the priest's office.
They were ordained and anointed and consecrated, that means set apart to do a certain specific
task.
Now look at what it says in verse 4, "And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord when
they offered strange fire before the Lord in the wilderness of Sinai.
And they had no children, and Eliezer and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office
in the sight of Aaron their father."
So the first high priest was Aaron in the Old Testament, and his sons ministered in
the office of the priest, and it says "in the sight of Aaron their father."
So obviously Aaron is a picture of the high priest that was going to come later, which
is of course the God-man Jesus Christ.
So there was multiple high priests that succeeded afterwards, but the picture was ultimately
of Christ Jesus, who was going to be the high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
Now look at verse 4.
It says, "And Nadab and Abai, who died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before
the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children, and Eliezer and Ithamar
ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father."
Did I just read that twice?
I did, didn't I?
Oh, I'm sorry about that.
Must have been a double copy-paste there.
Sorry about that.
Anyway, so yeah, they ministered in the priest's office.
So what was the job and the role of the priest in the Old Testament?
They were to minister and do the office of the priest that they were ordained to do.
So that pictures us in the New Testament that we are all kings and priests in the New Testament,
and you had to be in a specific family then, but you have to also be in a specific family
now.
You have to be in the family of God.
So the Levites were the tribe that they were supposed to be in, but of course the whole
nation was, you know, that's what God really desires, that they would be a nation of kings
and priests, but you know, they fell down on the job.
So now you have to be just saved to be in this priesthood.
And you know, so let's look back at 1 Peter chapter 2 back in our text from the beginning.
I was just trying to lay the groundwork a little bit for what God expects for us.
So in the Old Testament we know what they had to do, they had to take the sacrifices,
they had to cut them up, they had to kill them, all that kind of stuff.
They had to roast them with fire and they had to consecrate themselves, like wash their
bodies with water.
They had to wear clothes that didn't have sweat, like I'm sweating right now.
And then, you know, they had all kinds of chores to do.
And it's great that as priests we don't have to do those types of things.
I mean, the brisket was good yesterday, but that's a lot of work.
Imagine having to do that like several times a day, right?
It'd be pretty tough.
But we're supposed to be a spiritual priesthood.
And it says in 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 5, it says, "Ye also as lively stones are built
up a spiritual house."
So is this the physical house it's talking about?
No, it's a spiritual house.
So remember in 1 Samuel where I showed you those verses that he talked about how he would
build this house, well, it's a spiritual house.
This is what Peter's revealing to us here.
And it says in holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices.
So praise God that we get to just do spiritual things, right?
And acceptable to God by Christ Jesus.
So by Christ Jesus, everything that we do in our Christian life should be through Christ
Jesus.
I mean, don't try to do things in your own strength.
We have to offer these spiritual sacrifices in the name of our Lord and do things for
the right reasons, right?
So Jesus Christ is the High Priest now and forever.
That's never going to end.
And our priesthood is never going to end as believers.
Look at Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12.
Romans chapter 12 says in verse 1, "And I beseech thee therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice."
So we're no longer sacrificing these animals, we're sacrificing spiritual sacrifices, right?
Simply acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable, what's it say there, the last
word?
Service.
So as men of God, as kings and priests, our job is to serve the Lord.
And not just for part of our life until we get our retirement and our 401(k)s, it's for
the rest of our lives, right?
Because we're looking to eternity future and we should get some good practice in before
we get there.
Like, if you just do nothing with your spiritual life at all, you're going to be a pretty
poor, first of all, you're not going to get the rewards that another king or priest would
get.
So, you know, when he gives out the rewards, it's by fairness, by the things that we all
do in our life as Christians.
So look at verse two, it says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind.
We have to constantly renew our minds in Christ.
It says that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
So we continuously have to go through this process of waking up every day, putting on
the new man, following after Christ, taking up our cross, and fulfilling our role as a
priest.
Look at Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews chapter 12, verse number 28, Hebrews chapter 12, verse
number 28.
The Bible says, "Wherefore we receive a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby
we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
You know, God expects us to live a good life.
He expects us to fear Him, but He also expects us to serve Him.
So as men of God, we've got to take this responsibility and just do the best that we possibly can
in this life.
You know, and obviously like how He was saying that He would chasten David with the rod of
men.
We're going to get that same thing too if we're not following after Christ the way we're
supposed to.
Now turn over to another, just the next chapter over in Hebrews 13, it says, verse 15, "By
Him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually."
See the theme here?
He's just constantly talking about us sacrificing because serving God is sacrifice.
It really is.
And you're like, "Well, I just love serving God."
I do too.
But it is work, it is service, and to go to church three times a week might seem normal
to you right now, but there was a time when it wasn't, right?
And it is a spiritual sacrifice, and sometimes it's a fleshly sacrifice because you don't
feel like going.
You know, on those days like Wednesday, when you've worked a hard beginning of a week,
and you just can't barely keep your eyes open, you're just so tired.
But you know, God looks at those sacrifices and He loves that.
He loves that we love Him.
He loves that we just go, even if it's just out of duty, we still got to go.
So offer the sacrifice of praise continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks
to His name.
Don't forget to give thanks to God's name for the things that He does.
And you know, He does a lot of great things for us.
He loads us daily with benefits, that's what the Bible says, right?
Look at verse 16, it says, "But to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such
sacrifices God is well pleased."
Don't forget to communicate with God.
You know, He is God, He is our Father, and we should be communicating with Him on a regular
basis.
And it says to do good.
I mean, you know, don't sin.
It kind of seems like one of those things like, just do good, well what does that mean?
Well, you know what it means, the Bible tells us what the good things are and what the wrong
things are, what the sin is.
So we should just live a good life.
And you know, you're going to be more blessed in this life the less you sin.
Obviously you guys all know that, but we as believers, you know we have Jesus Christ as
our high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek, and we as believers are an eternal
priesthood under our high priest which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's look at, I'm just going to read Revelation 7, but go ahead and turn to Revelation 22
verse 3.
I'm going to read Revelation 7 verse 15.
The Bible says, "Therefore are they before the throne of God and serve Him day and night
in His temple, and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them."
Revelation 22 verse 3 where I had you turn says, "And there shall be no more curse, but
the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him."
So we are going to serve God for all eternity.
Get used to it now.
Get in the habit of it now.
And as men, it doesn't say be priestesses and queens, it says be priests and kings.
We are priests and kings.
We're not queens.
I hope there's no queens in here hiding out.
But we should be manly.
We should lead our families in the right way.
And maybe you don't have a family yet.
Well, start working on it now.
Start getting prepared for that now so that you're ready to be a husband, you're ready
to be a father, you know what you're supposed to do, and it's important for us as men to
lead.
What do kings do?
They rule over people, don't they?
What do priests do?
They serve their God.
And you also serve, you're the priest of your family.
You're the king of your family.
You know, have you ever heard that saying, "I'm the king of my castle"?
Well, that's literally true.
You know, you are the king of your castle.
Well, hopefully if your wife isn't telling you everything to do.
But you know, I mean sometimes they can get uppity, right?
You just have to like, you do have to check your wife sometimes.
I'm sorry ladies if you're listening, but it's just true.
Nothing's more frustrating than going to a drive-through window and they don't know what
they want.
Like you had all this time, you had the pre-menu on the way up, like, "I can't see it, put
your glasses on!"
You know, then you get there and you're just like, you know, you order your food really
quick because that's what guys do, and then they're just like, "Um, what's in that one?"
And you're just like, "Ah, you know, you're trying to be nice, you know."
But look, man, our job is to serve.
Our job is to be the man.
Our job is to rule our house and obviously be leaders in our church and be leaders in
the community.
You know, and I'm not talking about community organizing, I'm not talking about Barry Obama's
style of serving the community.
I'm talking about serving the community where we go door to door, canvassing, the real type
of canvassing where we're actually getting people saved and making a difference in people's
lives.
So serve the Lord as a priest, serve your home as a priest, and serve your church and
serve your community.
It's pretty simple, but doing all that, like Pastor Shelley kind of said last night, it's
a little harder, you know, to do it than it is to just say things.
And you know, your life can last a long time, and there's a lot of ups and downs in life.
There's a lot of evil days that we have to endure.
There's a lot of evil times in our lives that we might have to endure, but we need to keep
serving God.
Don't blame Him for your problems.
You know, sometimes it's just because of the world we live in, things are tough.
So again, in the Old Testament, the priests were not the kings though.
There was a separation between them.
Think about what Saul was rejected for.
What was he rejected for?
What was the main thing?
First, he was already mad at him, and then he sacrificed a sacrifice that he was not
supposed to do.
Samuel, he said, "Wait for me," and he was like, "Well, you didn't get here on time,
so I just thought I would do it on my own."
You know, I'm paraphrasing that, but that was, you know, he didn't obey the voice of
the Lord.
But didn't David not obey the voice of the Lord too?
So what's the difference?
Again, I think that the typology is there.
That's part of the reason.
But also, you know, Saul just, he started off really good, but then he ended bad.
We want to start off good and keep doing good.
We don't want to, you know, be that Saul type of character, right?
So now, what are the expectations of a king?
I kind of went over the expectations of a priest in the Old Testament and in the New
Testament.
God wants us to do, he wants us to sacrifice, spiritual sacrifice, offer praise for his
name and to serve him and we're going to serve him for all eternity.
But what does he expect of kings?
Because it says we're kings and priests, right?
So let's look at Proverbs 31 verse 1, Proverbs 31 verse number 1.
Now, of course, we don't really know who this King Lemuel is in the Bible, but his name
is in the Bible, so I know that he was a real king, but he's not recorded as one of
the kings of Israel.
So I would just assume he's probably maybe a king of the Gentiles of some sort, maybe,
I don't know.
We just don't really know, but nonetheless, his mom is trying to give him some good advice.
What it says in verse 1, it says, "The words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother
taught him."
So his mother taught him these things, "What my son, and what the son of my womb, and what
the son of my vows, give not thy strength unto women."
As a king in God's spiritual kingdom, our job is to not, the first thing is, don't give
your strength to women.
So look, I'm not saying mistreat your wife, I don't want anybody to get me wrong, don't
get this attitude where you're like, you're just mean to your wife and you want to show
off in front of people and show how you can check her in front of people.
You're supposed to love your wife, but obviously yes, there is time to correct them on things,
but I would say in front of a roomful of hair legged men, that would be the wrong time to
do that.
Obviously if it's some huge deal, that's different, but we're not supposed to give our strength
unto them.
That means don't let them be in charge.
Don't let them be the boss.
Don't let them pick your church.
Don't let them pick when you're going to have children, when you're not going to.
You need to not give your strength unto women and it says, "Nor thy ways to that which
destroyeth kings."
So now she's going to say, "Hey, don't give your strength to women."
And who's right?
Who told him this?
His mom.
So she understands it and look guys, I mean we live in a time where women kind of are
dominating our society even though they can't make a decision.
They don't even know what to get a Taco Bell on the late night menu.
But we live in a world where men are, you know, these women get jobs and they can't
even do the jobs.
We were talking about this earlier like, you know, you work in a construction site and
then there's that one chick on the job that has like a white hat, you know, white hard
hat, her clothes are pristine, they've never seen a speck of dirt on them, they have no
clue what they're doing and yet they're making the same paycheck as you.
It's a hard world, it's a hard life.
It's hard to rule your families, it's harder to rule your families today than it was back
in the old times.
But, you know, there's no new thing under the sun.
You know, women have been trying to take control for a long time.
But they do want you to be the leader.
They might not even say it.
They might not even know that they believe it, but they do believe it.
Because the Bible says that, you know, they'll be, they want to be towards their husband.
You know, they want to, they do want a strong leader that can make decisions.
So, but it says, "Nor thy ways to that which destroyeth kings."
You know what's going to destroy you?
Look at what it says.
"It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes strong
drink."
And you're like, well, this is the Old Testament, Pastor Thompson, is it?
Because I thought that we're supposed to still read the Proverbs.
We're still supposed to sing the Psalms.
And a lot of times you'll see these little books and they say New Testament Psalms and
Proverbs and it has all that there for you.
Because you're going to get a lot of wisdom from reading the Proverbs.
But Proverbs has a lot of strong verses against drinking and Pastor Shelley covered how foolish
drinking is to a good extent last night.
But isn't that funny how it says don't give your strength to women and then the next thing
don't drink.
And what really I thought about last night, what he said about how it only takes one time
for some drunk man to smack his wife in front of their kids and you lose all credibility.
And they will never forget that.
Your wife's never going to forget it.
Your kids are never going to forget it.
I'm not saying, if you've ever done that, that you're, you know, to be cast in hell
or something.
I'm just saying that it would take a lot to get the respect back and, you know, we
got to think about these things because the other good point he made about that last night
was that you're under a lot of pressure from your peers and like we don't know what your
life is like outside of church.
Sometimes people just cling to their family for too long and you probably should have
severed that kind of relationship away from your family a long time ago.
Don't show up to the family reunions where everybody is drinking themselves drunk and
then expect that you're going to just be tough.
They all know you.
They know you had a history of drinking in the past and they're always going to offer
you a beer.
Your drunk brother or whatever, they all love that guy but when you change your life they're
like, "Oh, he just thinks he's better than everybody or whatever."
It's like, "Yeah, I am better.
I am better because you know what?
I'm saved."
And the Bible says not to give yourself to drinking wine.
Are we kings or not?
Does the Bible say we're kings?
You're like, "Well, yeah, we're not kings like this guy who's a king."
But yes we are.
We are going to be kings.
We are kings right now.
And he says, "Don't drink wine nor princes strong drink."
And princes are basically equal with kings, right?
Lest they drink and forget the law.
You know what you're going to do when you drink alcohol?
You're going to forget what the Bible says because it messes with your judgment immediately.
Look at what it says, "And pervert the judgment of any of the afflicted."
So you're going to be a pervert in judgment right away as soon as you start drinking.
Don't give yourself kings as a person would drink alcohol or let women rule over you.
Look at Deuteronomy chapter 17, and this is actually the chapter where really, you know,
the judges is the system that God set up, but obviously in Deuteronomy 17 he already
knew that they were going to ask for a king, which is exactly what they did, and they were
warned about not doing that, and basically that was a rejection of God to do that, but
God made that system for them because that's what they wanted, you know, sometimes God
just gives us what we deserve, and look at Deuteronomy 17 verse 14, it says, "When thou
art common to the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and
shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, 'I will set a king over me, like as the nations that
are about me.' Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God
shall choose." So God had to choose the king, right? And you know what? God chooses us when
we choose Him, right? He chooses us, He saves us, and that's how God chooses us to be kings,
you know, if you're, are you saved? You're a king then. It says, "One from among thy
brethren," so people that are saved, right? "Shalt thou set king over thee, thou mayest
not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother." So it's basically, I mean,
applying this to New Testament, these are saved people, right? Look at verse 16, "But
he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt." So,
you know, don't multiply horses. I would say in modern day, that's probably like, you
don't have to have a bunch of fancy cars, because horses were like a commodity back
then that showed, you know, your wealth. Like, Job had all these cattle and all these different
things, and they kind of measured their wealth by the animals that they had, because that's
kind of, you know, how they made their money. But anyway, it says, so we're not supposed
to just like, you know, just, that's not what we're here for. We're not here to just multiply
horses, and it says, "nor cause the people to return to Egypt." And you know, you have
the power to send your family back to Egypt. You know what is that? That's a picture of,
that's a picture of us going back to the world. That's a picture of us quitting and going
back to Pharaoh for the pleasures of sin for a season. And we have the power to keep our
families, you know, in the graces of God. We have the power to lead our family, but
we also have the power to tear it down. Wives have the power to tear it down, and we don't
want that to happen to our families. And let me just tell you something. If you quit church,
if you're just like, "Oh, I just can't do this anymore." Quit being weak, all right?
Quit being weak. Just lead your family because, look, yeah, you can drop out of church and
you can be backslidden and, you know, you can miss prime years that your kids are going
to get saved. There's a chance that if you get out of church, your kids won't get saved.
Your wife might turn into a whore. Who knows? I mean, you go back to Egypt. There's nothing
waiting for you there that's good. There's nothing waiting for you. That's why God said,
"Don't go back that way. Don't go back to Egypt. You know, if you have your hand in
the plow and you're looking back, you are not worthy of Him." So don't go back to Egypt.
Don't allow your family to go back to Egypt. And you know what, man? If you're leading,
that shouldn't happen. That should not happen. It says to the end that he should multiply
horses, "For as much as the Lord has said unto you, ye shall henceforth return no more
that way." So as a king, our responsibility in the New Testament, don't let your family
go back to Egypt. You know, and whatever that is, whatever that was to you, whatever sinful
life you lived before, maybe you grew up in a Christian home and you haven't lived that
much of a sinful life. I always forget that there's people that, you know, maybe stealing
a cookie out of the cookie jar might be the worst thing. Don't go back to the cookie jar.
Don't steal out of the cookie jar. Right? I mean, there's all kinds of folks here. Some
people have lived really wicked lives and some people are just wicked enough, you know.
But you don't want to return that way. It says, "Neither shall he multiply wives to
himself." And look, you have a hard time with the wife you have right now. You don't need
more wives, right? Don't multiply wives. Obviously, we live in a place where it's illegal to do
that unless you're like a Mormon in some pocket of Arizona or something. But I think they
have some extra culty Mormons, and that's what they all believe anyway. They probably
all believe that they're going to get 72 virgins or whatever like Islam later on, but they
know that they're going to get in trouble for it if they do it here on this earth. But
anyway, it says don't multiply wives yourself. Look, you already have a hard enough time,
and don't seek after other women. Don't be covetous towards other people's wives. Don't
say, "I wish I would have married this person." You're married to who you're married to,
and look, as priests and kings, it's your responsibility to keep your marriage intact.
Keep your marriage. Keep your vows. You're like, "Well, you just don't understand Pastor
Thompson." Look, I'm sick of all the excuses. Make it work. Make your family work. Look,
you made a vow. You're a king. You're a priest. Keep that vow. That's what God expects out
of you. You're like, "Well, I'm tired of it. I'm tired of the excuses." I had somebody
comment on... I had a priest's marriage sermon like four years ago, or maybe it was even
longer than that, and people still comment the dumbest things on there. It's like Jesus
said it in Matthew chapter 5. Jesus said it in Matthew chapter 19. He didn't stutter,
you know, except for the cause of fornication. Fornication happens before the marriage vows
or completed... or not before the marriage vows, but before the consummation of the marriage.
So, you know, it's like, and this is the comment I got today. I was just like, oh my goodness.
So it was like, Gene Kim taught a really good sermon on this. Look, if you're going to your
advice with Gene Kim instead of Jesus Christ, you've got a real big problem. Gene Kim is
a total idiot. Gene Kim is not saved. Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords
and our high priest. And he said, if you divorce and remarriage, you're committing adultery.
So don't do it. It's your responsibility, man. Look, God looks to us as the leaders.
He's not looking to your wife as the leader. I thought I already covered that. He's looking
for us to lead. And you know what, we need to just put away our pride and make things
work. And sometimes things are hard. Marriage is hard sometimes. And sometimes you do have
to tell your wife no. You have to tell them no. Have you ever, when was the last time
you told your wife no about something? You know, maybe she doesn't give you a reason
to. Maybe she is submissive. But, you know, what I found is that every marriage has its
problems with that specific, you know, thing where women just won't be submissive. And
it's part of the time that we're living in. It's like no fault divorces. It's, you know,
you can just do whatever you want. And the, you know, you didn't used to get divorced
or be able to divorce as easily as you can now. So, I mean, obviously we have to live
wise in this world, but sometimes you do have to kind of just check your wife and tell her
like what you're saying is not right, you know, because the Bible says when, you know,
you're supposed to obey your masters after the flesh and, you know, like I'm not expecting
my wife to call me master. I'm not even expect her to call me Lord, but you know what? Sarah,
the great example in the Bible, you know, she, she called Abraham Lord in her mind.
She didn't even say it out loud. That's just how much she loved Abraham and how much she
respected him. And it's really hard being in a world where, you know, wives just want
to talk back about every single thing that you tell them to do. And you know, it's just,
it's inexcusable. But again, we live in this kind of world and you married the wife you
married, so get it under control. Do your best, you know, but don't give your strength
to them. That's what the Bible says. So now it says neither shall thou greatly multiply
silver and gold. So, but I'm sorry, I missed the part where it says, so don't multiply
wives yourself, that his heart turn not away, and neither shall he greatly multiply himself
silver and gold. So, you know, riches is not the most important thing in this world. Making
more money is not the most important thing in this world. You might think it is, but
you know, we do have to, I saw this video on YouTube that says you don't have to have
a life work balance. I'm like, that guy's going to get divorced. You do have to have
a life work balance. You do have to spend time with your wife. You know, we're supposed
to love them like Christ loved the church, not ignore them, okay? So there are times
when yes, you have to work extra hard or you're working overtime or you got special projects
going on, but don't forget that you have a wife. Don't forget you have children. You
need to tend to them and, you know, gold and silver will lose its luster. You know, nobody's
ever going to say, oh man, I wish I would have made more money. They're going to say,
I wish I would have spent more time with my kids. I wish I would have spent more time
with my wife. I wish that my life was better with my wife in some of those hard years.
And you know, we're stubborn too. Men are stubborn. And you know, we get bitter. We
get bitter when we feel wronged. And you know, we're not supposed to be bitter with our wives.
You know, let that stuff go. If it's something you can let go, just let it go. You know,
don't just hold it over their head forever or hold it in your heart forever because you
know, when we get bitter, we just stop talking to them. Isn't that true? You know, because
you don't want that fight to just fester up again or whatever, but you know, we shouldn't
be bitter. Just let it go and just, you know, you got the rest of your life to be with them.
So, but obviously there's times when you do have to kind of, you know, drop the hammer
on some things. I'm not talking about on them, like literally. Okay. Pastor Thompson said
I was supposed to drop the hammer, so here he goes. But look what it says in verse 18.
It says, "Then it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall
write him a copy of this law and a book out of that which is before the priest and the
Levites." So it's kind of tying it back together with the priests and the Levites, but I would
just say this. If you're not going to write out a copy of the book or the law, but what's
wrong with actually doing that? I mean, I think it would probably be pretty useful.
Maybe sometime in your life you should do that. I haven't done it. Has anybody actually
done that, written out a whole copy of the Bible? It'd be pretty hard. I mean, I stutter
up here with just the words sometimes. Imagine you're writing with ink and it's like, "Oh,
man." I put "and" twice or something. Scribble error. But what about this? Why don't you
just make sure that you read it every day? We've got plenty of printed copies of the
King James. You probably have multiple copies at home. So why does he say to do this? Look
at what it says in verse 19. "And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all
the days of his life." So what does God require of a king? Well, he requires that you read
the Bible every day of your life. That he may learn to fear the Lord his God, to keep
all the words of this law and these statutes and do them. Now obviously in the New Testament
we're not under the law, but does God still want us to keep His commandments? Does our
life get better when we keep His commandments? Absolutely. So we need to be reading the Bible
all the time, every single day. And it says why? Well, look at verse 20. That is, "Heart
be not lifted up above his brethren." Don't be a holier than thou. So if you don't read
the Bible, then that makes your heart lifted up above your brethren. When you read the
Bible and you put yourself on the same level as everybody else, you know, you're not going
to be lifted up above your brethren. Isn't that funny how, you know, you think that the
holier than thou's are the people that read the Bible a lot and they're like, "Aha, I
caught you doing this, but that's not it." Because anybody that actually reads the Bible
is going to realize that they got a lot of flaws too and that we can be forgiving with
our brethren and we can be forgiving with our brothers and sisters and not put ourself
above them. But you know, some of the most wicked people I've ever dealt with in church
life are the holier than thou's. Some of those wicked pastors I've ever dealt with are holier
than thou's. And you know, you all have dealt with them too. And they're the worst, they're
one of the worst kind of people. And I'm not saying that everybody that's a holier than
thou is a bad person. But a lot of the bad people that I've dealt with are holier than
thou's. It's just true. Maybe they're just not reading their Bible. Maybe they need to
read their Bible. So it says that he turned not aside from the commandment. You know,
we need to read this book all the days of our life. It says to the right hand, to the
left, to the end that he may prolong his days in the kingdom. He and his children in the
midst of Israel. So as kings, you know, it's showing us, you know, the children are a big
part of our kingdom. As kings and priests in the New Testament, this is a big deal.
We need to command our children, prolong our days in the kingdom, because you know what,
if you don't prolong your days in this life in the kingdom of God, then you're probably
going to lose your family. You're going to lose your kids. You can lose your wife. You
know, God has severe punishments for breaking his commandments. And you know, if you just
continue to just break them and not care what he says, then maybe he's not going to care
about your marriage. Maybe he's not going to care about your kids. You know, I mean,
we got to really, you know, take a good look at this and just realize, hey, this is, this
is important stuff. All right. So let's look at John 13. John 13. So what does it say
in Deuteronomy 17? It says not to give, you know, or what does it say in Proverbs chapter
31? Not to give your power unto women. Lead your home. And you know, the reality of letting
women rule is, I mean, we see what it is like in our society now. There's nothing more embarrassing
when I see a grown man getting bossed around by his wife in a restaurant. It's like shame,
shame, shame. Or a little child screaming in a tantrum because they want everything
on the shelf. And their parents are just like, it's okay, it's okay. You know, that's what
going back to Egypt will get you though, folks. Your wife and your children ruling over you.
It's not what God wants. Don't drink strong drink. Booze is for losers. Copy out a Bible
and if you can't do that, then just make sure you read it every day. And you know what?
Teach your family the Bible. If they got questions, answer them. Don't just be like, well just
ask the pastor when you get to church. No, you should know your Bible. You should be
able to tell them what the Bible says and you should be reading it with your children
and preparing them to be the next generation. And you know, teach other people. You can
help other people in your own local church. So as kings we're supposed to rule also by
example. And by leading by example that means servant leadership. That's what Jesus taught.
That's what Jesus did. Jesus outworked all of his apostles. You know, they're still sleeping.
He's up on a mountain praying before it even is light outside. So Jesus showed us the way
that we should go. Now, obviously a lot of us would fail in a lot of different things
that he exceeded at, but he still set the example. Look at John 13, 13. It says, "You
call me master and lord, and you say, 'Well, for so I am.'" If I then your lord and master
have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I've given you an
example that you should do as I have done to you. I'm not advocating for foot washing
in church services, okay? What do you say? I've given you an example. Be like me. Lead
by example. Love your brethren. It says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not
greater than his lord, neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him." So look,
we have an example of Christ, how we should work, how we should serve, how we should raise
families, he's told us all these things and we need to be servant leaders. Nothing's more
annoying to me than a boss that like he's fresh out of college and he thinks he knows
more than everybody else that the works. Who's dealt with a guy like that before? Now like
these interns that come in, they want to change everything, they want to reinvent the wheel,
they want to reinvent all the construction tools and stuff, it's like just shut up buddy
and just fit in for a while and then maybe you can be a leader. It's like these pastors
that go to Bible college and they're ordained because they went to Bible college and then
they come into a church and they don't even have a wife or children. It's like how are
you going to lead a church full of hair-legged men when you don't even have a wife to lead?
You've never led anything. You've never let a hot dog stand and now all of a sudden you're
telling people in the church how to live their life. It's a very big deal, the job of a pastor.
But it's also a big deal for us as just, you know, any believer. It's a great responsibility
for us and God holds men in great responsibility. We should be servant leaders. Look at Proverbs
30 verse 8. We also should not be covetous. So in Deuteronomy 17 it kind of alluded to
not stacking silver and gold and multiplying horses, you know, in the way to do that by
going back to Egypt so you can multiply horses. Now some guys just drop out of church because
they're loving money, you know, and the Bible warns us against laboring to be rich and the
great afflictions that are going to await you when you love money more than you love
God. Look at Proverbs 30 verse 8. This should be our attitude right here. "Remove far from
me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for
me lest I be full and deny thee and say, 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal
and take the name of my God in vain." So we don't want, you know, there's a danger
in having too much. Having too much of a good thing. I think Pastor Shelley preached a
sermon about that and, you know, there's a danger in that. So we should just want what
we can get to get us through this life and not just try to stack silver, stack horses.
You know, you have every single type of truck and, you know, all these different toys and
stuff like that. Those toys cost money. And I said this in a sermon on Wednesday, if you
weren't there, that I literally had a person that I was, you know, was a great church member.
They went and bought a new truck and then slowly but surely they stopped coming to church.
And then like one time I had a conversation and they were just like, you know, I just
bought this truck and I really need to work some extra shifts. So I'm probably not going
to be in church as much. I'm just like, there it is. You know, we as pastors, we see the
road that you're heading down. And like sometimes I just want to grab people and shake them
and just say, what are you doing? You're going to ruin your life. You're going to ruin your
family. Stop being an idiot. And really, I think I might just start adopting this policy
anyway, because if I just get up and scream it anyway, and they still don't listen, then
you know, maybe I should just grab them, shake them and say, what are you doing, idiot? You're
going to lose everything that you've worked for when it comes to the things of the Lord.
It's better to be a king and a priest under God than some rich idiot that loses their
family, loses their children, loses their souls, because church wasn't important enough
for you. You walk in every once in a while on a Sunday morning. You know, and people,
you know, I love it when people come back, but I always think, well, I'll see them again
in three weeks. That ought not to be us, man. So, give me neither poverty nor wealth, right?
Feed me with the things that are convenient for me. Don't multiply horses. Don't multiply
wives. Be content with such things as you have. Don't be covetous. You know, Moses,
when he was picking people to help him, to give some of the workload to them, he was
one of the things that they were not supposed to be was covetous. Covetousness will just
ruin your life also. So, be content with the things that you have. Look, you know, I remember
a long time ago, I turned down a supervisor job and I know this is a dumb, this is a dumb story,
but this, it really did like work to like make me not do it. I was going to have to work nights
and my kids were young still. And I remember thinking by seniority, I might not ever get off
this shift and I'm going to be making a lot more money. I'm going to have a lot more clout or
whatever, you know, a lot more respect at work, whatever. I mean, it's a good career path to go
down. And that song "Cats in the Cradle and the Silver Spoon" started playing on the mic or on the
speaker system. I was just like, man, what a dumb way to get me to turn or turn. I should have,
it should have been God's word telling me, don't do this idiot. But I still, I decided not to,
you know, take this job because I would have just, you know, I was supposed to start coaching my,
or help coach my son in football. And I was, and I would start missing because they just started
putting me on the shift just to cover for it. And I just turned it down. You know what, because
what, who cares if you gain the whole world and lose your kids' soul? Working nights, I mean,
that obviously some people have to work nights. I've done my share. And if it's a temporary thing,
cool. But if you're just going to be a shift worker for your whole life, it's going to take
a toll on your family. And to be there with your kids when they're growing up, you know,
if you establish that relationship with them, you know, you're going to have a good relationship
with them later on. So, and as men, we should be the ones that are in the battles. Here's another
thing in modern day society where women have not been on the battlefield traditionally. I'm talking
about like real wars and things like that. And I watched this video where this lady, she's in the
military. You guys have probably seen it. Pastor Shelley put it on his show the other night. And
she's like standing here with one of those things where you fight with the sticks or whatever and
it has like the things on the end. And this guy's like commentating on how stupid this lady is.
The guy just runs across and just like hits her and then he just like starts
ground and pounding her with her and all the people are having to pull her off.
Look women are not meant to be on a battlefield. Men are supposed to go forth to battle. The kings
are supposed to go forth to battle. And even the priests in the Old Testament were supposed to go
forth and battle. Look at 2nd Samuel chapter 11 verse 1. 2nd Samuel chapter 11 verse 1. But that
video is so funny because like it just shows I mean think about if you're on a real battlefield
and that girl's next to you. I mean talk about just your heart melting in fear you know and like
even with like fire department jobs like they had to make the test way easier in order for them to
pass and they can still barely do it. And like I think Vancouver Washington was the first all women's
fire department you know they have these crews those all women there was like putting on the
internet like they're all well how would you like to be the one that your house is burning down
and all the same things that they had they they could test slower on because they're women and
weak and they can't lift a body out of a burning building by themselves as a man you have to be
able to do that. So you want to be the the house that's you know all sudden the women are showing
up you're like would you hurry up and like hook up the hose and like it takes like five women to
drag the hose over there. You have to be able to pull hoses up up storage you know stories and
levels and there's just a lot of things that women can't do physically and you know men are
the ones that are supposed to go out and battle right. So look at second Samuel chapter 11 verse
one it says and it came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to
battle. Does it say kings and queens? No it doesn't it says kings right. That David sent Joab and his
servants with him and all Israel and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabba
but David tarried still at Jerusalem. Don't tarry still at Jerusalem because you know what the next
thing that happens is David is caught being idle doing you know walking around on on building tops
at the you know at eventide in the evening while his people are fighting and his men are fighting
he's just like hey I think we'll just go for a walk and he's like sees Bathsheba and then you
know David is David's great man of God a man after God's own heart but there's still that stigma
about him what's the stigma about David what's the Bible say anybody know huh yeah so you know it
mentions that he was like he did all these great things that it says except for the case of your
right to hit tight it's just always going to follow him and right now he might be in heaven
just be like man I gotta mention it one more time you know it's just like but when we sin a great sin
that can be the effect of it and we need to be men that are willing to go out and battle
don't stay by with the wives and the children on the hot day while all the other men are
out soul winning go out to the battle we should be willing to get into the fight get behind your
pastor and I'm not saying to do anything to anybody or anything like that physically I'm
talking about spiritually be behind him praying for him you know and I know that steadfast and
pure words are you guys the soldiers are in this room and a lot of things have changed since pastor
Shelley became the pastor of these you know of steadfast and obviously pure words and there's
a great group of guys here you guys are all awesome and uh you know but think about what the
church was like before he came you know he had a lot of battles didn't he are you still battling
right now he's always in a battle but you know what you guys got to get his back don't start
complaining about the long hard battle get in and help him fight whatever that means and I'm not
talking about physically okay and that'll be twisted against me somehow see he's calling for
violence no I'm not just saying the men are the ones who are supposed to be in the battles you
know in real war and in the war the spiritual war that we're in so you know are you being a
royal priest is that what you're doing right now is that where your life is headed right now or are
you like the king of lazy don't be the king of lazy be the king of you know man of activity are
you the king of not attending church services nobody wants to be that king you're like well
you know sometimes it's just that quit making excuses all right don't take jobs that are going
to keep you out of church god's going to bless you even though you're making less at another job if
you're just going to say i'm going to serve you lord and are you or are you the king of not reading
your bible you're like i don't even know what you're talking about pastor i've never even seen
these verses well maybe you need to read your bible are you the king of bad husbands i mean
that's not a kingdom that we want to be the king of being the king of bad husbands or the king of
bad fathers is that what your title is the king of bad fathers you know we need to be the kings
that god made us to be and we got to fulfill those roles and they're big shoes to fill there's a lot
of responsibility you know god's not going to he's not going to say oh your wife you know i'm just
going to give you an excuse because your wife was just bad or whatever it's just like no he holds
the husband the man of the house responsible did he hold eve responsible or did he hold adam adam
all right that he's the husband obviously she screwed up and made a big mistake and but yeah
like pastor shelly said last night he didn't she didn't have to give it to him she could have just
died and then let somebody else be formed over his other rib you know she really loved him that much
right but by one man sin entered in the world and death by sin so death passed upon all men
for that all have sinned that's the reason god held him responsible and you know what he's
going to hold you responsible quit making excuses that you know my wife this and that will just make
her better help her you know and wives need to help their husbands you know instead of just
fighting us on every single thing maybe they should just get on board and help us out be the
help me that god made them to be it doesn't say that man was made for woman though but the woman
was made for the man you know and that hair lips a lot of people it gets people really upset
Especially, you know, these feminist, green-haired freaks with all the earrings in their face.
It makes them mad, but because of just how society is, it makes Christian women mad too.
They're like, "Well, what are you saying? We're just worthless?" I'm not saying that.
You know, people are like, "You just hate women." I love women. I'm married to one, you know.
I love women. I love my daughters. I love my granddaughters.
I got seven granddaughters and I love them all. And one grandson, you know, and he's the
prodigy right now. But, you know, he's going to be the king of all the grandkids for a while. But
anyway, I'm just kidding. But on earth, we are given a David-like figure to follow. And that's
through your pastor. And I just want to talk about that for just a few more minutes and then I'll be
done here pretty quickly. So it's not going to be an hour and a half sermon, I hope. You guys are
like, it's almost an hour. Okay, quit whining. I've never preached till midnight. That's a fact.
So anyway, you need to get behind your pastor and rally around him. Realize your pastor is not
perfect or sinless. And you know what? Sometimes he's going to make mistakes. And people just kind
of get this idea that pastors can never make a mistake. Their kids can never make a mistake.
Anybody in their family can never make a mistake. That's just not true. That's not what the Bible
says. It doesn't say that pastors are sinless, does it? Does it say their children are sinless?
No, it doesn't say that because you know what? Nobody's sinless. Obviously, we're supposed to
rule our family well and all that stuff, but you know we're not sinless. Pastor Shelley's
going to make mistakes, but instead of just saying you know it's funny how people just be like they'll
follow a pastor, follow him, and then they make one mistake and they're like I can't follow this
guy anymore. It's like what about all the stupid mistakes that you make all the time? You make a
lot more mistakes too you know and and then when you're in leadership you're on a spotlight and
you know and rightly so. God wants us you know He wants us to be a cut above and in a lot of
different things but all the things that are qualifications of pastors should be all the
things that you guys are supposed to be doing too in reality but maybe just not being a pastor
not everybody's called to be a pastor not everybody has the qualifications but get behind the one you
have and quit trying to act like you know he's got to be perfect sinlessly perfect or his family
because that's not what the bible says says to have your family in subjection that means when
you drop the hammer and tell them what to do that they're going to do what you say right but people
just get this weird idea that pastors kids are sinless and i've noticed a lot of bad people
attack the pastor's wife a lot of bad people attack the pastor's kids and it's just it's
just something i knew going into the ministry and it's something i've experienced and it's
something i've seen other people do to other pastors and it's wicked you know once you look
at your the perfect law of liberty not the not the dumb baptist church pastored by that idiot
adam fanon i'm talking about the the bible look in the perfect law of liberty and quit being
double-minded in all your ways look at what it says and and what you're supposed to get is
the reflection of what you're supposed to be and if your life isn't matching up to that then work
on it but don't you know you know try to knock on the neighbor's door and make sure that their
life's in order that's what holier than now is like to do oh i didn't hear it shut up get your
life together get your act together first anyway look at proverbs chapter 25 verse 23 and and just
also you know sometimes people like to talk crap about the pastor behind their back to other people
in the church but you know if you're receiving that accusation or receiving the things that they say
about him maybe you should just walk that person over to pastor and say hey pastor shelly this uh
this guy has a problem with you in this area and i guarantee you they'll never do that to you again
i guarantee you pastor shelly like a little super saiyan
but anyway proverbs 25 verse 23 says the north wind driveth the way rain so does
an angry countenance a backbiting tongue just just look at them like you know just give them a just
give them a fierce countenance look and they'll stop you know sometimes people just need to be
told what they're doing is wrong i think that sometimes as christians we always try to be so
nice and yes you should be nice but there's times when you need to rebuke people and when
they're talking crap about your pastor or your pastor's wife or your pastor's kids you should
check them and if it's just giving them a stern look or just walking over with them and go no no
come on no you want to talk about pastor shelly why don't you say to his face because you know
you're not supposed to receive an accusation against an elder except for by two or three witnesses
so when they're doing that they're doing something wicked and it needs to be checked look at hebrews
chapter 13 verse 7 hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 i love hebrews chapter 13 verse 7 i think it's
it's got three i mean there's a lot of great scriptures in here but there's three great
ones about pastors and it says in verse 7 remember them that have the rule over you who has spoken
unto you the word of god obviously it's talking about a pastor whose faith follow considering
the end of their conversation so pastor shelly was talking about uh about people that you know
you need to find someone to follow well why don't you follow your pastor you know he's doing great
works paul said follow me as i follow christ well right here saying whose faith follow who's it
talking about here it's talking about your pastor and i realized today there's a lot of pastors are
not worth following but you know that one is and he's worth following and consider the end of their
conversation was that talking about their lifestyle how does he live in his life well consider those
things but follow his faith you know and obviously we don't have to follow every single thing that
they do but follow them you know they're setting an example for you as the pastor follow them and
it says remember them what does that mean well why don't you pray for your pastor you know because
this being a pastor in a church like this with you know a lot of great spiritual things going on and
you know a lot of spiritual warfare going on you know he could use your prayers your you know you
remember other people remember your pastor that's what the bible says right verse 17 obey them that
have the rule over you don't go to advice to pastor Shelly and then just completely ignore
everything he just said quit shopping for advice you know you ask the pastor then you'll call some
other pastor like well what do you think about this it's like you're just trying to get the
answer that you want so if they say if you go to your pastor for advice be prepared to listen to
what the advice is and do it you know we don't just like i don't just dream for people like
oh can i really wish this person would come to me for counsel you know not that i don't want to
give counsel but it's just like i got a lot of things to do and wasting my time isn't one of
them so if you're going to just come to me and and you're not going to listen to what i have to say
don't waste my time just do what you're going to do and don't try to make me the blame for what
you're doing that's what another thing that people like to do with pastors is they wait for the thing
that they don't like them doing and they're like i'm quitting the church and this happens a lot
it's never because they suck it's never because they're idiots it's never because they just
couldn't cut the mustard it's because pastor shelley said a bad word or whatever who cares
i'm like and you're perverting children
as your children share the perverted meme or whatever that they're saying and then put the
put the whole word so everybody can say and then share it to other people it's just like
people are such hypocrites but anyway this says and submit yourselves so obey them and submit
yourselves to the to the who the person that's the pastor right and it says for they watch for
your souls as they might or excuse me as they that must give account and they may do it with joy
and not with grief so that is unprofitable for you so there's nothing worse than having to deal
with bozos as a pastor it's it sucks because it's like they're not giving you enough to kick them
out you know they're a bozo but and they're just a pain in your neck but some people are just you
know they're saved and they and they you know are a pain in our neck so don't be a pain in the neck
to your pastor you know be a be a good priest be a good king and you know pastor shelly is basically
the king of the church i guess if you want to call it that he's the one that's in charge he's
the one that's ruling over you know like it's it's not what kind of car you're going to buy
it's not what color to paint your house it's not what job to take necessarily you know he's trying
to he's the ruler of the house of god and to make sure that everything is going the way it's supposed
to go everything's decently and in order the service is in order the preaching is in order
the singing is in order that's his job and also to kind of correct the people that just never seem
to want to be corrected it's like hey please quit letting your kids run around the church
the next like five minutes later their kids your kids are running around the church hey when he's
we don't just make up rules just to make up rules hey quit running the church just because
we don't like kids to have fun is that why you think we make that rule or is it because they're
going to knock some old person over that they can't see some little kid knocking into them it's like
you know yeah it's an accident but is it an accident when you keep letting them do something
that you ask them not to do and listen i know that this is a a popular thing with guys sometimes
that you you never watch your kids but you both have kids together and if your wife isn't watching
them or maybe you have some set agreement whatever you're the king of your house you do what you want
but i'm just saying maybe help your wife out every once in a while instead of just continuing
your conversation as your kids just you know tearing the church to pieces or something so
anyway i know it's getting quiet in here but they don't want to have to be your pastor with grief
we don't want to have to be your pastor with grief just it says obey them you know the law
came because of transgressions when church rules are made you know why they're made because of
transgressions you know the church gets bigger and then you know it's hard you know it's hard
sometimes because the kids are like there they got a lot of energy and all that stuff but you
know find something else for them to do they don't have to run around the church and terrorize people
right and he didn't tell me to preach this i'm just saying that every pastor deals with this
okay like you got to put like a rule book a second the second law deuteronomy like you know we got
we got to put a new law you know you're under this law and we don't like to have to do that but you
know one bad apple you know spoils the bunch so all it takes is one person doing the one dumb
thing that we haven't said there's a rule about and then there's a rule about it you know don't
be that guy but you're and and here's the other thing look at it says the verse 24 it says salute
all of them that have the rule over you you know it's okay to just say hi to your pastor and shake
his hand i think it's weird when people avoid me i'm like why are they avoiding me because i don't
avoid them it's like you got a problem got something you want to say to me but you're too
scared they always say they're always tough when they leave too they're like yeah they did this and
they did that it's like well why don't you come to me and talk to me about it then you coward you
spineless coward it's all past it's all pastor thompson's fault because we left it's like no
it's your fault because you're weak it's your fault because you let your wife tell you what to do
it's your fault because you're covetous it's your fault because you don't show up for church
it's your fault because you don't read the bible it's your fault because you just suck as a
christian instead of sucking as a christian why don't you just get better and quit trying to blame
the pastor for all your problems everything changed when i came to this church no maybe you
should have changed when you came to this church maybe your life would be better your pastor
shouldn't have to track you down every week to find out where you're at i mean yeah we are under
shepherds and shepherds are supposed to try to bring the fold back in yeah and i do that and i do
want to do that but we shouldn't have to you know it shouldn't be have to we wrangle you one week
and then you're faithful for a few weeks and then we have to wrangle you again just show up to church
dummy that's your responsibility that god gave you and all you're doing is teaching your kids
to forsake church all you're doing is teaching your kids to not be spiritual it shouldn't even
be an option just go to church get up and go to church quit being lazy uh i don't feel good i'm
tired shut up man that's so weak no i really am tired everybody else is tired everybody else
is busy you're not busier than everybody else and if you're too busy to serve god then maybe
you need to stop being so busy be busy about the right things be busy about the things that god's
called us to do instead of worried about egypt and worried about your horses and worried about
stacking up gold and silver and worried about somebody else's wife you know and as pastor
shelley said last night some other training on the internet i mean was that yeah see it's still
it's still hitting hard right from last night there were some real quiet times after they said that
so anyway again we're not called to be priestesses and queens it's priests and kings get it right be
manly and you know as christians we should always be the best single men we should be the best
husbands we should be the best fathers we should be the best and most obedient workers we should
be the most spiritual and we should be faithful in all of our christian duties and let me just
tell you the real easy ones i covered them the other night but let me tell you again be
three to thrive pray read your bible go soul winning be a separated christian you know you
notice when he said that their priests are there's you know they're sanctified holy separated you
know we're supposed to be different than other people that's what being set apart is all about
so and then stay that way don't quit don't go back to the heathen don't be like the heathen
and you know i mean obviously the new ifb is just like we're a loosely or maybe not loosely but
we're associated with each other because we have a lot of the same beliefs you know we're friends
with other churches that believe like us i'm friends with other pastors that believe like me
that's the natural order of things what am i supposed to be friends with the pentacostals
or something or the old ifb church church pastors that don't even have kids or a wife
like what do i have in common with someone's not even qualified so as new ifb type believers we
shouldn't be known as the least spiritual of all the churches we shouldn't be the worst examples
you know we're the ones that are getting the hard preaching so we shouldn't be the ones that are all
the worst we don't want to be the worst of the worst we want to be the best of the best
when people you know say something bad about us it's our doctrine the things that we believe
they don't agree with that but it shouldn't be what we live like that they say oh they're the
worst they're they cuss or whatever they think hell's a cuss word though so they think damn's
a cuss word they think bastard and piss are cuss words so you can't help that i mean people are
just going to be done but they shouldn't people shouldn't look at us and think they're the meanest
nastiest and you know they're the worst christians their church is filled with fornication that
should not be said among us we're the ones that kick people out but obviously we can't control
what everybody does in secret you know god roots those people out on his own or allows us to come
to the knowledge of it let's turn to one last verse we'll be done first corinthians 16 you know
what people should say when they see men in our churches they should say these guys are solid on
everything even if they don't like some of the things we believe at least they know that we have
character at least they know that we have morals at least they know that we actually believe the
bible we read the bible we go soul winning and you know they get envious of things like that
because they're not doing them and so they just try to hate on us but let it not be our examples
in our daily lives don't let them judge us based upon the things that we're doing in
our daily lives and say look that's the fruit of the new afb so don't don't let that be you
first Corinthians 16 verse 13 watch ye stand fast in the faith quit you like men be strong
do you think the apostle paul was a weenie i mean every time he walked into a place he's like am i
gonna get beaten with rods this time or someone gonna throw rocks at me you know what's gonna
happen you're gonna throw me in jail beat me some more he was a man's man and he was probably a
small guy his name was paul and that means little but he wasn't little in courage he wasn't little
in faith and he was definitely watching out for other people watching out for other churches
watching for the lord jesus christ leading and that's the way we should be as men too it says
let all your things be done with charity i was teaching you brethren you know the house of
stiffonus that is the first fruits of akea and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry
of the saints pastor charlie talked a lot about addiction to alcohol last night well why don't we
get some addicts to the ministry why don't we have some people that are addicted to coming to church
addicted to reading their bible addicted to going soul winning you're like that those are some good
addictions you know they say that when you're addicted to something that you replace it with
something else you know people that smoke go to chew or they go to you know people go to alcohol
go to whatever you know it's just people that have addictive personalities will go to the next
addiction well why don't you instead replace it with something great replace it with the ministry
replace it and fulfill your roles as priests and kings under the lord let's pray lord we thank you
so much for the fact that you count on us and that you love us and that you want us to be
priests and kings unto you and lord i pray that we would just take that ministry that you've
given us lord and that we would take it seriously we would lead our families we'd be leaders in our
church and that we would follow you all the days of our lives as we know that in eternity we're
going to be following you and serving you anyway pray that you just help us and our and our families
help us to be great leaders lord if we're lacking wisdom i pray that we'd ask for it
and that we would listen to what you have to say in your book pray these things in jesus name amen