church if you would this time take your hymnals and turn to hymn number 32. He
lives on high. Hymn number 32. Go ahead and start there right on the first.
Christ the Savior is Lord.
Romans tonight in Jesus name I pray. Amen. Amen.
For our next song if you would turn your hymnals to hymn number 361. Did you think to pray? Hymn number 361.
This is the verse of the week. We're still in Genesis chapter 28. Service times are listed there.
Sunday morning at 10. Sunday evening at our Bible study. This evening at 7.
Below that we have our soul winning times listed there.
Make sure if you're interested in that Saturday time that you're in our signal group that you can get the address for Saturdays.
And then we have our year to date soul winning statistics and it's probably the only time of the year that Wednesday and Saturday are tied.
Alright so Wednesday you get your glory this time but hopefully we'll crush it on Saturday.
Then we have a recap of our stats for local salvations last year if you're interested in seeing that.
Our upcoming events January 31st we're going to be doing a soul winning marathon in Lawton, Oklahoma.
Really excited for this marathon, brother Cameron showed me some areas that look really receptive so we're looking forward to a great day there.
February 1st, the day after will be our next men's preaching night for the evening service followed by potluck and game night.
February 13th will be our sweetheart's banquet at 6 p.m. for married couples.
And just like last time, we'll probably have just an area set off to the side for the kiddos to hang out.
If you have people you love and trust that want to watch the kids, of course, you're welcome to do that, too.
That's up to you. But there'll always be an opportunity for them to be here with us, too.
March 7th will be another soul-winning marathon, the Tulsa, Oklahoma, soul-winning marathon.
And then on the right, we have our visitor card and our information about online giving.
And then before we go to the Lord in Prayer, there's one addition that was made to the prayer list today.
Brother Anthony Yefimov is a brother that goes to Sher Foundation Baptist Church, and his father is in the ICU.
He's comatose. He's in really bad health right now.
He just had some medical incident while working, and so he's in really bad shape, so we're going to pray for him.
And please keep him in prayer throughout the week.
Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer together.
Lord, thank you so much for this day.
Thank you for the opportunity to be in your house, to be gathered together with God's people, to come before your throne in prayer.
I pray that you would just please bless the father of Brother Anthony Yefimov, that you just please help him with his health situation,
that you would help him to get all the care that he needs in the ICU, that you would just touch and heal his body and bring him out of this comatose state.
And I pray that you not only bring him out, but that you would just bring him out with no lasting damage to his brain or his body, Lord.
And I pray that if he is not yet saved, that he would be able to hear the gospel again, that his heart would be softened to it.
I also pray for Brother Anthony and his family members during this very hard time, that you would just encourage and strengthen them.
And Lord, I just pray that you just bless overall in that situation.
I also pray for my brother's safety on his deployment, that he would come home safely to his family soon, Lord.
And we also want to pray for Brother Theodore's mother, that her cancer would just be eradicated, Lord,
that you please just heal her body and bless her with her health as well.
And also for the church members that we have that have unsaved loved ones, I'm sure that's all of us, Lord,
that she would just bless those people, that those unsaved loved ones would be able to hear the gospel,
that their hearts would be softened.
And I just pray that you would bless our service tonight, that you would just open up your word to our hearts,
help us to understand the things you want us to, Lord,
and please just bless the works of Anchor Baptist Church going forward.
We love you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, at this time we'll go ahead and go to our third song together.
All right, for our third song, if you would at this time take your white handouts
and turn to Psalm chapter 149.
Psalm chapter 149 in the white handouts.
Go ahead and start there right on the first.
Offering plates are being packed in your Bibles to number eight.
"There is therefore condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit,
for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh,
and for sin condemned sin in the flesh,
that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For they that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh,
but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God,
for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be,
so then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
For ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit,
if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his;
and if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.
Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh.
For if ye live after the flesh ye shall die;
but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
For ye have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear;
but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry Abba, Father.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons
of God.
For the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him who hath
subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
And not only they, but ourselves also, which had the first fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of
our body.
For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope.
For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
Likewise, the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities, for we know not what we should pray for as
we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh
intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who
are the called according to his purpose.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also
justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
What shall we then say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth.
Who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again.
Who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us?
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter.
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus,
our Lord.
Let's bow our heads for a prayer.
Father God in heaven, we thank you for our church, we thank you for New Year, and we
thank you for all the great works you've allowed us to do last year.
We ask that you help us to do greater works for you, and help us to pay attention to the
sermon.
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Chapter 8 is really all about our life in the Spirit, because Romans chapter 7, it's
a little bit lack-filling at times, a little bit negative to think of the condition that
we have, but chapter 8 is a lot more positive, it's a lot more encouraging about what could
our lives be like when we're actually walking in the Spirit.
And so it starts in verse number 1 where it says, "There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Now there's kind of two ways that you could look at this, is one way is that when we're
in Christ, if we're saved, there's no condemnation from an eternal perspective, right?
Jesus said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word and believeth on him
that sent me hath everlasting life and shall not come into condemnation but is passed from
death unto life."
So you won't come into condemnation when you believe in Christ, but also notice how it
says at the end of that verse, "Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit."
Even in our carnal lives, you're not going to be having any condemnation on your life
when you're walking in the Spirit because when we're walking in the Spirit, we're not
fulfilling the lust of the flesh.
So what is there to condemn about us when we're walking in the Spirit?
When we sin is when there's something that God can condemn or punish us for or other
people could even judge us for, but when we're walking in the Spirit, we're not out sinning.
When someone is sinning, it's just proving that they're not walking in the Spirit at
that moment.
But when you're out preaching the Gospel and you've asked God to fill you with the Spirit
and you're before someone's door and you're opening up the Bible and you're showing that
person the Gospel, you're filled with the Spirit at that moment and you're obviously
not sinning in that moment.
You are having no condemnation in that sense.
Let's go to Galatians chapter number five, Galatians chapter number five, because this
idea of being in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit has brought up a lot in Romans
chapter number eight.
But Galatians five, look at verse 16, it says, I say this then walk in the Spirit and you
shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
So Romans seven, he's talking a lot about, hey, this flesh is just constantly going to
sin and we're constantly doing things we don't want because of the flesh.
Well, how do we overcome that?
The only way we could overcome that is by walking in the Spirit.
That is not the same thing as being saved.
When we get saved, we get that permanent indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
We get that earnest of our inheritance, that ceiling of the Holy Ghost that stays with
us until the day of redemption.
That's one thing, the permanent indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Then there's actually walking in the Spirit.
That is not automatic.
That is a choice that you make.
Look at verse number 25, I believe it is here.
Yeah, verse number 25.
Notice, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
If this was automatic, then he wouldn't have to tell us to do this.
Here's what's automatic if you're saved, is you are living in the Spirit because you
have the Spirit of God.
You're saved.
Okay, if we're living in the Spirit, let's not just live in the Spirit, let's also walk
in the Spirit.
Go back to Romans chapter number eight, Romans chapter number eight.
So there's no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the
flesh but after the Spirit.
Verse two, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the
law of sin and death."
Romans chapter seven was comparing our relationship with the law like that of a husband and wife
and how the husband has dominion over his wife as long as he lives but if the husband's
dead he is free, sorry, she is free from that law.
That's the same thing for us that the law had dominion over us.
Now Christ has made us free from the law of sin and death.
Verse number three says, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the
flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin
in the flesh."
So notice that the law cannot condemn sin in the flesh.
The law cannot save anyone.
The law cannot absolve anyone of their sins.
This is the whole reason that Christ had to come, right?
I mean if righteousness were by the works of the law, the Bible says, then Christ is
dead in vain.
And yet a lot of people today think, oh, by just keeping the Ten Commandments, by following
the law of God, you know, I'm somehow going to make it to heaven.
The Bible just clearly says that the law could not do this.
Not that it used to be able to do this in the Old Testament, oh, but thankfully things
are different in the New Testament.
No, the law could never save any person.
All the law does is expose to us how unrighteous our flesh is, right?
That's why Paul said, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
You compare the law to your flesh, it's just showing you what a sinful person you are and
why we needed Jesus, the son of God in the likeness of sinful flesh, right?
So Jesus was fully man and so he was in the likeness of sinful flesh.
He was obviously not sinful, but he's in the likeness of sinful flesh.
Why?
Because he's a human being like us and every single other human being who has ever lived
was sinful flesh.
Of course, he's that exception, but he was in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
condemned sin in the flesh.
Notice verse four, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit.
And kind of like verse one, I think there's a couple different ways that you can look
at this.
One is that by Christ's imputed righteousness, we get his righteousness fulfilled in us,
right?
But also, read this again, that when you see a sentence that starts with that, it kind
of just helps me to read it as so that, right?
So I'm just understanding it's connecting these thoughts.
So Christ condemns it in the flesh, why?
Verse four, so that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit, obviously we are not saved by works.
You are not saved by fulfilling the works of the law, but by virtue of being saved,
we now have the option to walk in the spirit.
And when we do walk in the spirit, we are going to fulfill the righteousness of the
law.
Here's the thing.
People who are unsaved, they don't even have this option.
The people who are unsaved, they don't even have the option of, you know, walking in God's
commandments and fulfilling the righteousness of the law.
That'll never happen.
And I'll say this, a saved person who is walking in the flesh, who is not walking in the spirit,
that person too will never fulfill the righteousness of the law.
But if you are walking in the spirit during that time, you can fulfill the righteousness
of the law.
Obviously, never perfectly, obviously never all commandments.
But you understand what I'm saying when you're filled with the spirit, you're not fulfilling
the lusts of the flesh.
Verse five, four, they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh, but
they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit.
So a couple of things here.
How can you tell if someone is in the flesh or in the spirit?
Well, oftentimes it's what comes out of their mouth because what comes out of their mouth
is what they're thinking about what's in their heart.
And the Bible says that those that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh.
Right?
So here's a fast track on how to get backslidden and how to get worldly is constantly think
about worldly things and constantly look at worldly things and constantly do worldly things.
You know, if you're just living your life and you're just not reading the Bible, not
going to church, not listening to preaching, not praying, and you're just watching everything
the world does, listening to everything the world does, doing everything the world does,
you're going to be exactly like the world.
And you could see someone is after the flesh, why?
Because they mind the things of the flesh, right?
People just are consumed with the things of this earth, the worldly things that surround
us.
How do you tell if someone's spirit filled?
Will they mind the things of the spirit?
Right?
So, you know, if I'm looking at two people and it's like, well, one is a super zealous
soul winner, and they spend all this time going soul winning, and they take up their
own free time and their own resources and they go out to preach the gospel, they're
they're going on missions trips, they're three to thrive,
they're checking off the boxes, reading the Bible.
It's like, this is a spiritual person.
Why?
Because they're minding spiritual things.
And today people gaslight themselves
and trick themselves into thinking they're spiritual
without minding spiritual things.
It doesn't work that way.
You go out solo and people say, oh, I'm not religious.
I'm not a Christian.
I'm spiritual.
No, here's the thing.
If you're not reading the Bible, you're not spiritual.
If you're not in the house of God, you're not spiritual.
You know, oh, I'm so spiritual.
I just love Jesus so much.
Well, if you actually loved him,
he said that he'd make you fishers of men.
You'd follow his commandments if you loved him, right?
These people are just joking themselves,
acting like they're spiritual.
Here's how you know you're spiritual
when you mind spiritual things.
And if you feel like you're backslidden,
if you feel like your heart is being dragged away
from the things of this world, like how do you change that?
Well, you start by changing what you think about.
And you know what?
You can control what you think about
by how much of this you're putting into your system.
How much of the word of God you're getting into your heart
and into your soul, that's gonna change the way you think.
And here's the thing, you change the way you think,
that changes your actions.
If you're walking in the spirit,
now you're able to fulfill the righteousness of the law.
Verse number six, notice it says,
for to be carnally minded is death,
but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Just like Romans six, he's like, hey,
what fruit had you then in those things
where if you are now ashamed?
Being a carnal person,
the end of those things is just death.
Now it doesn't necessarily mean like
as soon as you sin, you're gonna die,
but what it means is that there's gonna be nothing
of substance, nothing of profit to your life.
You look out of this world at people
that are not serving God,
and they are just a bunch of NPCs.
They are just living their life for no purpose.
It's just when's the next time I can get off work early
to go drink alcohol, to go stuff poison into my body,
to make me forget about what a loser I am,
and to forget about how bad my life sucks.
You know, you just see people today
minding the things of the flesh.
They have no purpose, they're sad, they're losers.
There's just death in their life.
You just see the things that they are trying to accomplish.
Their marriage, it's just death.
Their child rearing, it's just death.
Their friendships, it's just death.
But to be spiritually minded, notice, is life and peace.
Right, so the things that you're gonna do in your life,
when you're spiritually minded,
when you're walking in the spirit,
it's gonna bring forth life, it's gonna have profit,
it's gonna bring forth fruit,
and it's just gonna give you peace,
which is one of the most underrated things
in all of the world, especially in our society in America,
in 2025, where we live in a very fast-paced society,
and everyone's just trying to climb the ladder
as quick as they can,
and just go everywhere as quick as they can.
One nice thing to have is just peace.
You know, that is an underrated value.
And you know what, when you're doing what's right,
when you're walking in the spirit,
you have life and you have peace.
And that is worth its weight in gold.
Verse number seven,
notice because the carnal mind is enmity against God,
for it is not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
All right, so notice the carnal mind,
you could look at that as an unsaved person.
The unsaved person is not going around
keeping God's commandments,
is not going around pleasing God.
Notice it says it can't be.
It's not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can be.
Oftentimes people, because of the result of their sin,
even if they're not saved,
will start to realize that they're destroying their life.
People will say, you know what,
I need to stop drinking
because it's just completely destroying my life,
or stop doing drugs,
or just completely try to change who they are as a person.
And oftentimes, they're just utterly fail at this.
They just utterly fail at this.
Why?
Because they're in the carnal mind.
One thing with Christians,
you cannot just reform your life
by just checking off the box,
and just thinking like,
this is gonna make you closer with God.
No, by being filled with the spirit,
you're not gonna fulfill the lust of the flesh.
And you cannot keep God's commandments
just with the carnal mind, with the flesh.
It has to be a spiritual endeavor.
Why?
Look at verse number eight.
"So then they that are in the flesh can not please God."
Two ways to look at this again.
The unsaved, they're not pleasing God.
Their prayer is an abomination.
The sacrifice of the wicked, Proverbs says,
is an abomination.
They are not pleasing to God whatsoever.
Even if they may think they're well-meaning in their heart,
look, God doesn't have any respect for false religion.
God doesn't have respect for people that aren't saved.
But even Christians that are in the flesh
are not pleasing God.
And we ought not to think that just because we're saved
that everything we do pleases God at all times.
That's not the case, right?
When Paul's talking about his inner struggle,
obviously he kind of hates himself a little bit.
He's just saying, "Oh, wretched man that I am," right?
Because he knows that when he is walking in the flesh,
he's not pleasing God in that moment.
Now go to John chapter number eight.
John chapter number eight, because the interesting,
the Bible says something interesting
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
In John chapter number eight, verse 29,
notice what it says, "And he that sent me is with me.
"The father hath not left me alone," right?
"For I do always those things that please him."
That's different than you and I, okay?
The Lord Jesus Christ is different than you and I
in the sense that he always is pleasing God, right?
The Bible says they that are in the flesh
cannot please God.
There was never a moment where Jesus was walking
in the flesh, where he was backslidden,
where he was fulfilling the lusts of the flesh.
Jesus was always filled with the Spirit.
Go to Hebrews chapter number one, Hebrews chapter number one.
Now this is just kind of a crazy thing to think about
because you and I don't live this life,
just always being filled with the Spirit.
It would be nice, it would be wonderful.
We'd be constantly fulfilling righteousness
if we were always filled with the Spirit.
But look at what the Bible says in verse eight
of Hebrews one, "But unto the Son he saith,
"Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever.
"A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
"Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.
"Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee
"with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."
What is the oil of gladness talking about?
It's talking about the filling of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit and oil are often used
to picture each other in the Bible.
And the Bible says that Jesus was anointed
with the oil of gladness above his fellows.
So why was he always doing those things
that pleased the Father?
Because he was always filled with the Spirit,
not only filled to the Spirit, but just filled to the max.
Like as max filled with the Spirit as you could possibly be,
Jesus was that at all times.
And so what's great about that,
knowing that Jesus is sinless,
knowing that he always pleased God,
is anytime you read anything that Jesus said or did,
you could take it to the bank that it's right.
You know, and so you don't get to sit here
and read the gospels and be like,
I just think Jesus was a little mean to the Pharisees
and the Sadducees when he's calling them snakes,
when he's calling them twofold more the children of hell,
right, saying all these things against them.
Oh, you know, Jesus was being mean.
No, no, no, he was always filled with the spirit.
So anything that Jesus does, you know,
if we do those same things, you can't judge us for that.
You know, if you're saying the things that Jesus are saying
and you're doing the things that Jesus is doing,
you know, you're walking in the spirit.
That's not the flesh.
Go back to Romans chapter number eight,
Romans chapter number eight.
But hey, if we want to live a life pleasing to God,
it's not gonna be through the strength of your flesh.
It's not gonna be by the intellect of your own human mind.
You're not gonna make God super pleased with you
just by just pursuing academics all your life
or pursuing the gym all your life
or pursuing power and money
and thinking that if we build smart minds
and strong bodies and big businesses and nice houses,
that God's gonna be impressed with us somehow.
No, God doesn't care about that.
What he cares about is are you walking in the spirit?
And when you're walking in the spirit,
you're pleasing to God.
And when we're sinning, he's angry at us
and he'll punish us for our sin.
Notice verse number nine.
It says, "But ye are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit, if so be,
that spirit of God dwell in you.
Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ,
he is none of his."
Right, so there's a difference between walking
in the spirit and having the spirit.
Hey, if you don't even have the spirit of God,
well, then you're not even saved.
It's like, what's the foundation?
The foundation is that when you're saved,
you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise.
If you don't even have that, you're not of Christ.
You are not saved, right?
That's the foundation, verse 10.
And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin,
but the spirit is life because of righteousness.
So we're saved, but we still have this body.
This body is not regenerated.
This body is not saved.
This body is going to die.
It's death, but that spirit in us
is life because of righteousness.
Verse 11, "But if the spirit of him
that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you,
he that raised up Christ from the dead
shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you."
So we do have this sinful flesh right now.
And the reason why we can't just always walk in the spirit
is because we have this sinful flesh.
We've already broken God's commandments.
But the good news is that someday,
because Jesus was risen up from the dead
by the glory of the Father, and he got a glorified body,
the same exact thing is gonna happen to us.
Let's look at that at 1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
1 Corinthians chapter number 15.
1 Corinthians 15, let's look at verse number 42.
It says, "There are also celestial bodies
and bodies terrestrial,
but the glory of the celestial is one
glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon
and another glory of the stars for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption. It is raised in in corruption. It is sown in
dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown in
natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual
body. Look at verse number 53 or verse 52 actually in a moment in the twinkling of an eye the last
trump for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be
changed for this corruptible must put on in corruption and this mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on in corruption and this mortal shall have put on
immortality then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written death is swallowed up in
victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory so these verses here describing
the event of the rapture where god comes with the saved in heaven the dead in christ raised first
were caught up in the air with the lord so we shall ever be with the lord but during that time
we are given glorified bodies and kinda at the beginning of what i was reading to you how he
talks about the celestial bodies the sun the moon the different planets and how some differ from
others in glory he says its the same thing with the resurrection of the dead so it seems like were
not gonna have necessarily the same exact type of resurrected body were gonna have things in similar
like were all gonna have you know were not gonna have any sickness your not gonna be able to break
your leg your not gonna be able to get cancer right your not going to be sinning but you know go
to daniel chapter 12 makes me think of a verse in daniel chapter number 12 lets go there daniel
chapter 12 notice lets see i think its verse yeah verse number 3 it says and they that be wise shall
shine as the brightness of the firmament and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars
forever and ever so it seems to allude to some sort of brightness you know some sort of glory
about our resurrected bodies and you know this kind of makes sense that god has an incentive system
for us there's not going to be this equality in heaven in the sense that we all have the same
exact rewards god's not a commie right we're going to be rewarded according to our works
and possibly even in our own appearance could differ from one another based on the works that
we do for christ now this makes sense again because some people could just look at this and say like
well if i'm already saved and i can't lose my salvation you know what's the point of me
walking in the spirit mortifying the deeds of the body not walking in the flesh when our flesh
wants to sin our flesh craves the things of this world our flesh craves in it's like well why even
walk in the spirit well here's one reason is maybe you'll have a better glorified body
maybe you'll shine brighter than everyone else and you know i'm already pretty white so i just
i'm trying my best to get even wider i guess in the kingdom of heaven that's a joke all right
don't get all offended go back to roman's chapter number eight roman's chapter number eight but it
does seem that hey there'll be a difference there i think we're in verse number 12 yeah verse 12 it
says therefore brethren we are debtors not to the flesh to live after the flesh hey it's like this
flesh is going away we're going to get new glorified bodies and so let's not be in debt
to our flesh and live after the flesh and use our instruments as members of unrighteousness no verse
13 for if you live after the flesh you shall die but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds
of the body ye shall live hey if you just live after the flesh it's just going to bring forth
death in your life you're not going to have a profitable life you're not going to bring
forth fruit unto god and then on top of that you're not going to have rewards in heaven
on top of that you're not going to have as great of a glorified body verse number 14 says for as
many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god right so what is one of the tests
that we know that we are the sons of god that we are the children of god is the fact that the spirit
of god is leading us go to john chapter number 16 john chapter number 16 because again we do
have the holy spirit with us always notice verse 13 it says how be it when he the spirit of truth
is come he will guide you into all truth for he shall not speak of himself but whatsoever he shall
hear that shall he speak and he will show you things to come he shall glorify me for he shall
receive of mine and shall show it unto you so one of the roles of the holy spirit of god is to guide
us and to lead us into all truth he's constantly bearing witness of the lord jesus christ he's with
us always so as many as are led by the spirit of god they are the sons of god one thing that's just
a guarantee if you're saved is that you have that indwelling of the holy spirit and that holy spirit
is going to lead you and guide you into all truth this is one of the reasons i do not believe it's
possible for a saved person to stop believing right because you're almost just saying like the
holy spirit is not doing his job right this idea that oh you know you could fully understand the
gospel you could fully understand the stakes of not believing it that if you don't get saved you're
going to hell you put all your trust in him to save you you call upon his name and then later
you just stop believing that or you just go from being you know save quote unquote to a buddhist
to a catholic to a jew or something like that that does not happen folks once you are saved
the holy spirit is always leading you into truth now does that mean does that not mean we can't
quench the spirit yes you can quench the spirit right you walking in the flesh the bible says not
to quench the spirit but you know what you can't just fully extinguish the spirit you can't evict
the spirit the spirit is with you always and you know the spirit of god is never going to lead you
into becoming an atheist he's never going to lead you into becoming a mormon and if someone says
with their lips that they were saved and then later they become an atheist that person just
never was saved that person didn't lose their salvation that person obviously just believed
in vain meaning they're believing the wrong things or they didn't understand it or they're lying to
you these things happen but the spirit of god is with us and so look you know you should take
comfort in this also is that you know a lot of times people doubt their salvation but you know
i think sometimes maybe not always but sometimes i think maybe people are doubting their salvation
just because of how much they're walking in the flesh i mean the spirit's always there but maybe
you've just quenched him so much that you're not hearing from the spirit you know guiding you as
much as you did before just because you're so entrenched in the flesh and maybe that could
cause people to doubt their salvation but you know what you want the fullness of the spirit to come
back start walking in the spirit start coming back to reading your bible come back to church
and of course you know if you believe in jesus christ period there's no reason to doubt your
salvation because that's all it takes to be saved number verse number 15 it says for you have not
received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby
we cry abba father so when you get saved you are adopted in a sense into god's spiritual family
you are a son of god or daughter of god verse number 16 says the spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of god see another role of the spirit
is literally just bearing witness with you and reminding you like hey you are saved why because
having the spirit of god is something only that the saved have and so hey if you've got the spirit
of god you're saved and you could be resting assured in that verse 17 and if children then
heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also
glorified together so this idea of children being heirs is something not as common in our society
now as it used to be but it used to be just taken for granted that hey if you're a child
you're going to get that inheritance right you're going to inherit that property you're going to
inherit your parents you know money or something like that and because we are now children of god
we get inheritance we get to be heirs and we get to be joint heirs with christ right what are we
inheriting we're inheriting number one a glorified body and we're joint heirs with christ in that sense
because of the fact that he too has a glorified body we're inheriting the riches of heaven we're
inheriting eternal life right by virtue simply of being the sons of god by being saved but notice
here it also says and if children then heirs heirs of god and joint heirs with christ notice it says
if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together every single person
that is saved is going to go to heaven and every single person that's saved is going to have a
resurrected body a glorified body of some sort but it's like who are those that are going to be
great in the kingdom of god who are those that are going to be glorified together with the lord
who are those that are going to be reigning over much in the millennial reign and things like that
it's those that have suffered with the lord jesus christ and go if you would to act chapter number
14 let's take a look at this in act chapter 14 act chapter number 14 notice what it says in verse
22 it says confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith
and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of god what does that mean that
does not mean that you have to suffer tribulation to be saved you know it doesn't say get protested
and thou shall be saved here's what it's saying if you really are going to serve god if you're
really going to be sold out for god and you're going to do that from today january 7th 2026
till whenever the lord takes you home let me tell you between this day and that day that you die
there's going to be great tribulation between those days and if you're actually going to get
rewarded greatly in heaven if you want to be joint heirs with christ and be glorified together with
him hey you've got to endure through that much tribulation entering into the kingdom of god and
look that's not everybody that's not most people that's the vast minority of christians most people
don't even come to church most people when jesus cleansed the 10 lepers nine walked away and didn't
even say thank you one came back and praised god and thanked him for it right most people are not
reading their bible once in their entire life not to mention yearly cover to cover or more most
christians are not getting anyone saved most christians are not making a hard stand on the
word of god and making the world angry at them and having persecution and having lawsuits and
having voicemails and even the stuff we've been through is very light compared to what the apostles
have been through right but here's the point is that ye and all that will of godly in christ jesus
shall suffer persecution and if you actually want to make it to the end of your life
serving god all the way well you better buckle up for a lot of hardship the prosperity gospel
is a lie this idea that hey we threw much riches and comfort and five star meals and five star
hotels much must enter to the kingdom of god that joel osteen gospel is trash folks and people you
know they don't like to hear this but it's like you know when you're when you get saved you just
got signed up for a free gift a free ride to heaven everything handed to you easy right but
if you actually want to serve god here's what you're signing up for people lie lying about you
slandering you you know removing you from their company for christ's sake hating you right all
these just trials and tribulations and battles and issues and problems and you know what even
just stuff with our bodies health issues and all these things that we're going to deal with in life
you got to endure all that to heaven to be greatly rewarded in heaven you know god's not
just handing out participation trophies in the millennial reign he's and again participation
would be a step up for a lot of christians because a lot of christians aren't even participating
whatsoever right they're just taking that free ride and praise god for those people we're happy
that they're saved but you know what i would like to be an heir a joint heir with christ i'd like to
be glorified together with him because i want to give my whole life to serving him and if that
means that i have to go through hardship to serve him all the way to the bitter end then i pray for
the strength and resolve to be able to go through that and be able to make it all the way through
my life doing that go to verse number 18 verse number 18 now he's putting stuff in perspective
right think about the tribulations think about the problems that the apostle paul had think about
the problems that you've had think about the problems our church has had think about those things
but verse 18 for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us see it will all be worth it right that that song that
i love so much it will be worth it all when we see jesus life's trials will seem so small when
we see christ right one glimpse of his dear face all sorrows will erase it will be worth it all
right so bravely run the race till we see christ the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared and this is the apostle paul writing this this is the guy that was shipwrecked this is
the guy that was stoned this is the guy that was left dead you know he gets up the next day and
goes soul winning this is the guy that's suffering getting beaten with rods this is the guy that's
suffering being in peril of his own countrymen and perils of the water perils of the sea perils
of the wilderness perils of false brethren right the apostle paul actually went through some stuff
the apostle paul actually had a thorn in the flesh the messenger of satan to buffet him i mean the
apostle paul has gone through so much more than any of us have gone through in suffering for the
lord jesus christ but even from his perspective he says that the glory that's going to be revealed
in us it's not even worthy to compare the sufferings that we have right now so what should
that tell you and me about our sufferings in our life you know whatever issues that you and i have
and look we all have issues right we all have problems we all have hardships we all have tragedy
and let me tell you there's more coming in the future because we through much tribulation much
must enter in the kingdom of god but here's all i'm telling you is that it doesn't matter whether
your cross to bear is you know railing and people turning on you or family members dying or having
a miscarriage or just you know your spouse dies your kids die yet whatever happens you know in
your life you die you die for christ you suffer as a martyr whatever it is you could listen to me
i just know that it's not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us
and so you know we shouldn't just like live our life scared right just being afraid of all the
things that could happen to us because once we get to heaven we're going to look back at those
things and realize how silly it was that we worried about them and even people that go
through horrible stuff like john the baptist getting his head cut off like when john the
baptist got to heaven he's excited to be there he's happy to be there and he's happy that he
was faithful unto the end one of the scariest things for me is not losing my life one of the
scariest things for me is like being a coward stopping serving god quitting becoming a watered
down person becoming lame you know getting into my my old age and just becoming like every other
baptist preacher that just waters down and stops soul winning and stops preaching hard like those
things scare me we shouldn't be afraid of death we shouldn't be afraid of the tribulation we
shouldn't be afraid of the persecution let's be afraid of being quitters notice verse number 19
says for the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
god wasn't talking about there the manifestation of the sons of god keep your place there
and go to first john chapter three first john chapter number three first john three look at
verse number two it says beloved now are we the sons of god and it doth not yet appear what we
shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is
so the manifestation of the sons of god i believe is referring to again when we get those new bodies
because today right now you just look at a human being and you can't just tell by looking at them
are they saved right they don't got a light over their head it's not a skin color thing all right
black hebrew israelites you know there's no way to tell just by looking at someone whether or not
they're saved but it's like someday it's going to be manifest who the sons of god are and it's
going to be obvious who the sons of god are in all of creation it says the earnest expectation
of the creature what is that just anything created by god waiteth for the manifestation
of the sons of god notice verse 20 for the creature was made subject to vanity not willingly
but by reason of him who have subjected the same in hope so all of creation was made subject to
vanity not willingly right so you know it wasn't the animals fault it wasn't the trees fault that
man sinned and god cursed this earth that the sin the curse of sin came upon this earth right they
were made subject to that vanity by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope verse number
21 says because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the glorious liberty of the children of god right so right now we kind of have this bondage
of corruption of our flesh and our flesh can get injured our flesh can get diseased we can get
cancer we could die and we kind of have this bondage of this corruptible flesh and we're
kind of yearning and groaning for our new body but in some way all of the earth is doing the same
the animals are kind of doing the same exact thing why because the creature itself also shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption when we get our glorified bodies when we get you know
the new heaven and new earth that's going to affect us and it's going to affect all of creation
go to isaiah chapter 65 this is kind of a cool idea a cool thought here go to isaiah 65 isaiah
65 when you there start reading verse 17 says for behold i create new heavens and a new earth
and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind but be ye glad and rejoice forever in
that which i create for behold i create jerusalem a rejoicing in her people a joy and i will rejoice
in jerusalem and joy in my people and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her nor the
voice of crying there shall be no more thence an infant of days nor an old man that hath not
fulfilled his days for the child shall die in hundred years old but the sinner being in hundred
years old shall be accursed so there's coming a time where it's just like if someone dies at a
hundred they'll say that was a child that was a young child right or if someone's cursed like oh
you only made it to a hundred years it's like this person didn't honor their mother or father
you know they only made it to a hundred i regularly pray that i make it to a hundred years old
it'd be super cool if i could make it to 103 because then i could see the year 2100 that'd
be really cool i don't know it's kind of a long shot for that maybe my kids can see it but you
know like imagine dying at 100 and they're just like he died so young he's taken from us too soon
right there's coming a day that's like that verse 21 and they shall build houses and inhabit them
and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them they shall not build and another inhabit
they shall not plant and another eat for as the days of a tree are the days of my people
and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands they shall not labor in vain
nor bring forth for trouble for they are the seed of the blessed of the lord and their offspring
with them notice it doesn't say they're not going to work at all just says they're not going to
labor in vain just like how adam had work to do before the curse of sin to keep and dress
the garden but after sin entered in the world it brought forth thorns it was cursed it was harder
in the future there's going to return a time just like how it was in eden eden uh garden of eden
excuse me where you're not laboring in vain notice this verse 24 it shall come to pass that before
they call i will answer and while they are yet speaking i will hear the wolf and the lamb shall
feed together and the lion shall eat straw like a like the bullock and dust shall be the serpent's
meat they shall not hurt nor destroy and all my holy mountains say of the lord so notice there's
coming a time where not only will we change and our biology will change we'll have a new body
but like the animals themselves are changing the the nature of this world is changing because right
now you will not go into the wild and see a wolf hanging out with a lamb in fact if you didn't know
this wolves are notorious for killing sheep and lambs it's like their favorite food you live in
idaho and and no one hates wolves more than the sheep farmers and the people who have lambs because
they'll come through and they'll just wipe out 80 in one night they don't even eat them all they
just kill them to kill right and so imagine seeing a wolf hanging out with a lamb why is that
happening because obviously the wolf is not eating the lamb anymore right and it says that the lion
shall eat straw like the bullock the lion is no longer devouring and killing and having carnage
and death it's eating straw now that's not even possible right now right the lion is a carnivore
if you just fed straw to the lion unless god performs a miracle that lion is going to die
but you can kind of see why it makes sense here if we go back to romans chapter 8 how it's saying
that all of creation uh in verse 21 because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of god for we know that the whole
creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now right so now you turn on you know the
animal shows that are out there and they're just going to show you all the blood and guts
and destruction that happens out in nature there's a channel on instagram called nature is metal has
anyone ever seen this before it's brutal and it just shows like animals just killing and eating
each other but you know in a way it's just like creations like groaning out and calling out like
not enjoying that obviously but hey when the sons of god are manifest that's going to change
they'll be delivered as well verse 23 and not only they but ourselves also which have the first
fruits of the spirit even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to
wit the redemption of our body right so even we ourselves everyone at some point in their life
i mean i guess if you're blessed enough to live long everyone's going to have body pains everyone's
going to have an injury everyone is likely going to have illnesses maybe in a chronic illness maybe
when you're old a life-ending illness and there's going to be that time where we're just groaning
right where we we want out of this corruptible body and you know what thank god i'm young right
now and i'm in pretty good health but you know i've had like a shoulder surgery broken some bones
and during those times it's like it just sucks to have this corruptible body right i'm sure as you
get older you've grown out even more waiting for your body knows what it says verse 24 for we are
saved by hope but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why doth he yet hope for right
so we're hoping for we're earnestly expecting that future resurrected body likewise the spirit
also helpeth our infirmities for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit
itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered so look god knows that we
have this corruptible flesh that we are sinful human beings and he knows that sometimes we don't
even know what we should pray for as we ought and i think some people often don't pray because they
say like i don't know how to pray or i don't know what to pray but it's like hey if you're saved you
just need to pray because the holy spirit is going to make intercession for you with groanings that
cannot be uttered and sometimes let's be honest we just don't even know what we really need we
don't even know how god can help us we don't even know what's wrong with us you know when
you have children you kind of realize sometimes how god must feel about us because especially
having girls wow honey why are you crying all right girls just cry honey what's wrong why are
you crying i don't know that's an honest answer right and it's like sometimes as human beings we
just need to go cry out to god just be like god i don't even know what's wrong with me just please
help me what you know what's wrong i don't know i just need help i'm just sinful flesh i'm just
frail i'm just weak i just need you to help me god right and she's like sometimes the kids come
up to you and they're just crying it's like what's wrong honey i don't know it's like i know what you
need you need a hug right and you just you help that child and they feel better well it's like
the holy spirit just knows what we need the holy spirit is able to translate for us and bring to
the father the requests that we need and sometimes we're just like that weak helpless child's like i
don't even know what to pray for i don't even know what's wrong with me i don't even know what i need
but you know what even if you don't know still pray to the lord because the holy spirit will
translate for you will help you notice what it says in verse 27 and he that searcheth the hearts
knoweth what is the mind of the spirit because he maketh intercession for the saints according
to the will of god a great thing to pray is that god would answer our prayers according to his will
because boy oh boy isn't there times in our life where our will looking back we're like i'm glad
we didn't get our will glad god didn't give me what i wanted there glad god didn't answer it
with a yes in this situation sometimes we ask for what we want but we say god please answer these
according to your will why here's why verse 28 and we know that all things work together for good
to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose we don't always know
what's best we don't see the future we don't know how things are going to turn out and oftentimes
we sit here and complain about our situation complain about god answering a prayer a certain
way or not answering a prayer a certain way but what we should concern ourselves more is hey do we
love god because if we love god we know we're the called according to his purpose we know we're saved
but hey do you love god because if you love god guess what there's purpose and we know that all
things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his
purpose the great thing about being saved is is not that you're not going to experience pain in
your life because quite honestly you'll probably experience more pain in your life by getting
saved you'll probably have more issues you probably have more persecution you'll probably
have more tribulation than the average person you're definitely gonna have more spankings from god
because god's coming down on his children he's correcting his children right but when that stuff
happens you know it's it's not a time when bad stuff happens it's not a time to just lose your
faith get back slid in turn away from the lord turn away from church start foolishly charging god
no it's a time to draw near to him in love to the lord because you could know that whatever thing
whatever thing you're going through that it could be worked out for good if you love god
there could be purpose to that and even just some of the light afflictions that we've gone through
it's like you know why did when i was working at steadfast baptist church why did we have to get
evicted and lose our super nice building that we just put just unbelievable amount of man hours
and effort and energy and money into and then on top of that why did reprobates have to steal our
money you know steal the church money and then why do we just have to like meet in hotels for
forever and oh wait before that sorry excuse me why do we have to get evicted again the second
time you know and then why do we have to meet in hotels and it's like why do i have to be docs why
do i have to have a bunch of faggots at my house all the time and threatening my life and threatening
my family and threatening all this and it's like well steadfast baptist church seems to be doing
pretty great today in 2026 hey anchor baptist church seemed to have had a pretty great year in
2025 reaching 2200 plus people to the lord and it's like all that stuff's not fun during the time
and you're kind of questioning like god what are you doing here what's going on but hey maybe the
lord needed to whittle down the army you need to to whittle down gideon's army to 300 because maybe
there's too many cowards there and you know over the battles over the years there's a lot of people
that quit that turn on you that become haters that become enemies it's like maybe god just had to
whittle down some of those people so that the real warriors that steadfast baptist church could have
a great year and it's like maybe you know day one hour one minute one all of a sudden we come here
it's just like a bunch of people leave and i'm not saying all those people are bad there's a lot of
great people that left for a bunch of different reasons that's okay but you know i bet you a
bunch of losers also left because you know what a person just leaving a great church to go to a
lame church that's a loser if you ask me and so like maybe god just had to whittle down the
cowards and just whittle down our army to those that are serious so that we can go do great
things for god and get lots of people saved you know so it's like oh man why is this happening
it's like don't worry about that because you're not god i'm not god but here's what i do know
is i know that all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are recalled
according to his purpose verse 29 says for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be
conformed to the image of a son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren we're not going
to spend too much time on this but this idea of predestination that god picks and chooses who goes
to heaven and who goes to hell some people use this verse to teach that but notice obviously god
has foreknowledge right god knows everything god knows the beginning from the ending it says for
whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate now don't stop reading there it doesn't say
whom he foreknew he predestinated to go to heaven or who's going to hell no he predestinated he says
for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he
might be the force firstborn among many brethren hey all the people god knew that all the people
that would get saved in the future someday would also be conformed to the image of the son of god
by having a glorified body that's the context that we've been talking about verse 30 moreover whom
he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called them he also justified whom he justified
them he also glorified verse 31 what shall we say then to these things if god be for us
who can be against us right so kind of an interesting question of just he's explained to
us how living in the flesh is pointless it brings forth death you know this battle that he has
between the flesh and the spirit he explains to us how important it is to walk in the flesh he's
like what shall we say to these things hey if god be for us who can be against us even though we
still do have this sinful flesh you know if we love god if god is for us who can be against us
verse 32 he that spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things i mean if you understand the great sacrifice that god made
in giving us his son giving us the lord jesus christ to die it's like how is he not going to
also just give us everything that's good for us right if he's not withholding us the most
valuable thing that there is the lord jesus christ you know he's not going to hold other
things back from us either who shall lay anything to the charge of god's elect it is god that
justify us justify it right so who's going to come against us who's going to defeat us who's
going to cause us to fail hey if god's for us no one can be against us and for some reason i don't
know why but you know i had that sermon that went viral in 2022 and it seems like it goes through
waves like every six months sometimes even shorter where it kind of goes like mini viral again
and for some reason like the last week i've gotten like 30 voicemails right before church
on the way here some angry sodomite freaking out you know but it's like hey go ahead and just rage
and scream and leave the voicemails and leave the google reviews and tarnish our name because if
god's for us who could be against us you know we don't have to be afraid of these things because
if god's for us who could be against us who is he that condemneth it is christ that died
yay rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of god who also maketh intercession for
us don't forget about that reality right that we are the children of god that the lord jesus christ
rose again from the dead and is sitting at the right hand of god the father making intercession
for us why would we be afraid of enemies when that's the situation for us who shall separate
us from the love of christ shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness
or peril or sword now a lot of fake christians in the prosperity gospel crowd would look at these
things and if this happened to them they would think like oh god doesn't love me god's anger
with me you know i'm not right with god in this situation but paul's saying hey can even these
things separate us from the love of god right so if you go through tribulation distress persecution
hey even famine even nakedness peril sword right all the way up to death you know should these
things cause you to doubt god's love for us should these things cause you to doubt the validity of
the word of god no who it says in verse number 36 as it is written for thy sake we are killed all
the day long we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter it's like oh that doesn't sound like
winning oh that doesn't sound like you know god's love pouring out on us well it's like again the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared right hey we die we spend eternity
in glory the people of this world die unsaved they spend eternity in hell that's why it says
in verse 37 nay in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us the
world just cannot beat us the devil cannot beat us the enemies of god can never beat us because
even if they kill us even if it goes all the way to death we're still more than conquerors we're
still going to bright you know shine brightly as the firmament as the stars of heaven we're still
going to be joint heirs with christ for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels
nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord
beautiful words there you know make those passages make sense with the doctrine you can lose your
salvation right that you could somehow be separated from the love of god after you're saved
absolutely not but i kind of want to close on this thought and i brought it up a little bit
already but this list if we just read this list a lot of things on this list are people's greatest
fears and the things that they struggle with the most that they fret about that they have anxiety
about right what are people afraid today of tribulation right people even christians are
afraid of tribulation some people have the mentality that they will not be a part of a church
that experiences tribulation okay distress right people try to avoid stress we try to avoid
stressful situations right hey no one likes it when their finances are on the razor edge
right or when you're going into debt when you're struggling you have distress right we try to avoid
that persecution very similar to tribulation or famine hey no man ever hated his own flesh right
we're not trying to be starving here no one's going out seeking to be in a famine unless your
brother theodore maybe but i'm just kidding brother right all right you know no one is is actually
seeking that in reality or nakedness please you better not be seeking that all right please wear
clothes or peril or sword i mean obviously being put to death is a scary thought for human beings
that they want to try to avoid right then it even lists death right neither death nor life nor angels
and principalities look these are things that people fear but i think one of the things we
we should come away from with Romans chapter eight,
is that we should not sit here and number one,
fear those that kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul, right?
We're supposed to rather fear God,
who's able to destroy both body and soul in hell, right?
So we shouldn't sit here and stress about persecution.
What's gonna happen if we get in the news?
What's gonna happen if I lose my money?
What's gonna happen if this person turns on me?
What's gonna happen if I make my, you know, whoever mad?
What's gonna happen if I get persecuted?
What's gonna happen if I go to prison for Christ?
Hey, what's gonna happen if I die for Christ?
You know, you shouldn't be afraid of those things.
You should rather be afraid of walking in the flesh.
That's what you should actually be afraid of.
Because living a life just selfish,
living a life that's just walking in the flesh,
the Bible says the end of those things is death.
And it's so ironic how so many Christians,
to try to avoid anything bad happening in their life,
they end up watering themselves down,
being weak, being carnal,
and they end up producing death in their lives.
And I'm telling you, it would just,
it would literally be better to die a martyr.
Not that I want that, not that I want anyone to do that,
but it would be better to die a martyr
than to die an old watered down coward.
That's what I'm actually afraid of.
I'm not sitting up here beating my chest saying like,
all for sure, you know, be hardcore all the way to the end.
But I am telling you, that is my desire, that is my goal.
That's what I'm striving for.
And I am telling you that what terrifies me
is not some faggot shooting me,
is not a lawsuit, is not losing a building,
is not losing a job, is not losing money,
is not losing friendships.
Those things do not terrify me.
What terrifies me is me becoming a weak person.
What terrifies me is me becoming a wicked backslidden person.
That's what terrifies me.
What terrifies me is instead of being able
to look back on my life five years ago and say like,
man, I've stayed steadfast, still three to thrive,
hey, still in church, hey, still getting more people saved,
hey, still learning more Bible,
hey, still memorizing more scripture,
I would hate to look back five years ago and be like,
man, I used to be a pastor, man,
and you know, I could eat these words someday.
And that's why I'm saying this is scary stuff right here.
This is what I'm actually afraid of.
I'm not afraid of dying.
I'm not afraid of getting fired, folks.
I'm afraid of becoming a loser, a watered down,
a castaway, that's what I'm afraid of.
And you know what?
That's what you should actually be afraid of.
You should not be afraid to show up
to Anchor Baptist Church if there's protests someday.
You should not be afraid to walk up to a stranger's door
and preach them the gospel.
You should be afraid of dying
without winning people to Christ.
You should be afraid of standing
before the Lord Jesus Christ and having nothing.
You should be afraid if it's like,
oh, here's your talents back, Jesus.
I went and buried him in the ground
'cause I know you're a hard man.
I know you're a nasty man.
It's like, thou wicked and slothful servant.
I'm afraid of Jesus saying,
thou wicked and slothful servant.
That's what I'm afraid of.
I'm not afraid of the chastisement of God
because you know what?
It yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those who are exercised thereby.
Bring on the spankings, Lord,
because I'd rather take the spankings
that keep me on the right path
than God just saying like, you know what?
I'm just done with this person.
The correction doesn't work.
You know, people could get to that point
where it's like, the correction doesn't work.
The reproof doesn't work.
They're not responding.
It's just like, I'm done with you.
Get out of my sight, you know?
Becoming worthless, becoming that dunghill,
becoming good for nothing.
You know, God could take those type of people home.
Hey, if I'm gonna be afraid of dying,
I'm afraid of dying because I'm so worthless
that God said, let's just take them home early.
That's something I'm afraid of.
But you know what?
I want you to leave with this thought.
Don't fear death, don't fear persecution,
don't fear distress, don't feel peril,
don't fear sword, fear walking in the flesh.
Let's pray, Lord.
Thank you so much for this great chapter.
Such an encouraging chapter, Lord.
I know it's encouraged me many times in my life.
I pray that you'd help us to just really meditate
on these great truths.
Help us to have a fear of you, Lord.
Help us to have a fear of just going back to the world,
being wicked, being evil.
But help us never to fear the things that you may have
for us that are your will.
Even if those things are negative during the time, Lord,
help us always to have the faith
that we know that all things work together for good
to those that love you.
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
- That we'll go ahead and sing one last song
to conclude the service.
If you would, at this time, take your hymnals
and turn to hymn number 198.
Joy Unspeakable, hymn number 198.
Start there right on the first.
♪ I have found two people ♪