["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Amen, great team. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church here on our Sunday evening service.
We're glad to see everyone here this evening. Let's open the service with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you again for the opportunity to be in your house this evening, Lord.
Thank you for the dear people who would come and sing praises to your name, Lord,
and would love to hear your words preached tonight and pray that you bless the service,
pray that you bless the singing, pray for the preaching and the fellowship to come, Lord.
Pray that everything that we've said and done this evening would bring glory and honor to you in the name
of Jesus. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
All right, it's now time for our favorites, where if you're selected, we will sing a stanza
and a song that you pick. Go ahead, Avery.
161. Song number 161.
Our great Savior.
["Pomp and Circumstance"]
161. Let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
eker.
Jesus, the love of my soul, grants me railway flows.
I say that the old nice Savior makes me whole.
Hallelujah, what a savior.
Hallelujah, what a friend.
Saving, loving, keeping, loving, he's limiting the air.
Isabel.
Two hundred and forty-five, song number two, four, five, song number two hundred and forty-five.
The old account was settled long ago, song number two, four, five on the first.
There was a time on earth when in the book of man, an old man was standing.
For sins you cannot forgive, my name was at the top, and many things below.
I went to the keeper and settled long ago, long ago, long ago.
Yes, the old account was settled long ago, hallelujah, and the record's clear today.
For he washed my sins away when the old account was settled long ago.
Josiah.
Two hundred and forty-six redeemed.
I didn't have to go that far, song number two hundred and forty-six to get out on the first.
Redeem how I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Redeem through his infinite mercy, his child and forever I am.
Redeem, redeem, redeemed by the blood of the lamb.
Redeem, redeem, redeemed, his child and forever I am.
Ah, breath, God.
Three ninety-seven, three hundred and ninety-seven.
Little is much when God is in it, for song number three hundred and ninety-seven.
Sing it out on the first.
In the harvest filled, now writhe in, as the word for all to do.
Hark, the praise of God is calling to the harvest calling you.
Little is much when God is in it, late but not for wealth for fame.
There's a ground in you can bend in, if you fall in Jesus' name.
One hundred and twelve, one one two, be still my soul, amen.
Song number one one two, let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
Be still my soul, the Lord is all thy side.
There patiently, the cross of evil came.
Lead to thy God, to the land of our heart.
In every change, be faithful if you may.
Be still my soul, thy best, thy heavenly friend.
Through thorny waves, lead to my joyful end.
Excuse me.
Four oh five, song number four hundred and five.
The banner of the cross, song number four hundred and five.
There's a royal banner given for displacing it out, on the first.
There's a royal banner given for display to the soldiers of the king.
There's an anti-fair we lifted up today, as the ransom ones be staying.
Marching on, marching on, old parties count everything but lost.
Then the crowd can be full and sing, lead the banner of the cross.
Sing one more song, Miss Patricia got it.
Two hundred and sixteen.
This will be the last song for favorites.
Song number two one six, let's sing that last tag as well.
Song number two one six, so when it comes to the last tag let's sing it out, alright?
Song number two sixteen, let's sing it out on the first.
A pilgrim was I ever a king, In the cold night of sin I did call,
When Jesus some kind shepherd found me, And now I ever may call.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, All the days, all the days of my life.
Sing it out.
And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever, And I shall feast at the table spread for me.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, All the days, all the days of my life.
All the days, all the days of my life.
Amen.
Amen, we want to welcome you to the Sunday evening service here at Verity Baptist Church.
We call it the most exciting service of the week and we're glad that you are here.
Let's go ahead and take our bulletins, we'll look at some announcements real quickly.
If you do not have a bulletin please raise your hand and one of our ushers will get one for you.
If you need a bulletin just put your hand up and we'll get one for you.
The verse this week, Psalm 105-3, glory ye in his holy name.
Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.
And that's a good verse there, we like that.
If you open up your bulletin you'll see our service time Sunday morning service 10 30 a.m.
and we had a wonderful service this morning.
We're glad you're back out tonight of course for the evening service
and we do invite you to be with us on Wednesday night for the midweek Bible study.
If you look at our soul winning times, our main soul winning times on Saturday mornings
at 10 a.m. and then we have additional soul winning times on Thursdays and Fridays and Sundays
at 2 p.m. of course Thursdays and Fridays for now are postponed due to work days
but we do have the Sunday soul winning at 2 p.m. available for you.
And if you are a soul winner we ask that you please take a moment to turn in your maps.
If you have a map that you did not finish clearly mark what was done and was not done
and put it in the bin in the foyer so it can get recycled through.
If it is complete then you just throw it away and we count it as done.
Also if you had a salvation make sure you mark those on your communication card
and if you're running late please call us or text us at the number 916-868-9080.
Let us know that you plan on being there but you're running late.
That way we can make sure we have a map set aside for you and a partner and all of that.
If you're a first time guest, if it's your first time here at Verity Baptist Church,
we're glad you're with us.
We have a gift we'd like to give you as you walk out of the church building tonight.
If you go out our foyer, if you go out our secondary foyer you'll see a little table
set up and on that table you'll see these little gift bags.
Please grab one on your way out as a gift from us to you for being our guest tonight.
There are several resources in this bag that we'd like you to have.
The one that I'd like to highlight is this documentary that our church made.
It's called Being Baptist.
Very well made, very interesting.
We think you'll like it but we want to give this to you as a gift.
So please make sure you grab one of these on your way out.
And if you are a guest we'd ask that you please take a moment
and fill out the communication card which is inserted in your bulletin.
And we're going to sing a song here when we're done with the announcements.
We're going to receive the offering.
And as the offering plate goes by you can drop this card in the offering plate.
If you notice there in the announcements we of course are a family integrated church.
Children and infants are always welcome in the service.
We do not separate children from their parents for any reason.
We do have mother baby rooms and daddy rooms available for your convenience.
All of the rooms have comfortable seating.
They have monitor set up so you can watch the service and listen to it.
So please make sure you use those as needed.
And if you need to be baptized please let us know.
We'd love to baptize you.
The baptistry is filled.
We actually have a baptism tonight after the service.
And if you need to be baptized you can let us know on your communication card on the back
that you can check off that you'd like information about baptism.
We'll follow up with you in regards to that.
Or if you've already spoken to somebody then after the service
while we're singing the last song after the preaching if you step out that door
one of our staff guys will meet you there and we'll get you situated for baptism.
If you look at the announcements and upcoming events of course we've got the work days
coming up Thursday November 8th.
November 9th excuse me from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Friday November 10th from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday November 11th from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.
So please go by and look at the clipboards.
And we've got clipboards in the main foyer for Thursday, Friday and for Saturday.
And there's different shifts.
So you don't have to work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.
I can tell you this the staff guys work from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. over there.
So I mean you can do it.
It won't kill you but we're not necessarily asking you to do that.
We're asking you to take on a shift.
And I work back over there as much as I can.
Unfortunately this week I'm going to be preaching at a conference in Phoenix.
So I'm not going to be here this weekend for that.
But I try to be out there as much as possible.
We were out there last night so pretty late.
And I thought it was funny but Adam said to me this was fun.
We should do it again next week.
And I'm like yeah let's do it.
So but go by there.
Look at the shifts.
See where you could help.
And we have need for electrical leads.
We have need for office framing of walls.
And doors need to get put up and stuff like that.
We need to mask all the floors.
The floors we're trying to protect some of the tile and the carpet that's there.
So that we don't have to spend money replacing that.
At least not initially.
There's also a scraping for the main fellowship hall.
So there's definitely work to be done over there.
So please go by there.
We actually have a special.
I didn't announce it this morning but we have a little special treat tonight.
After the offering we're going to show a little recap video of the last month of the work
that's happened over there at the building.
Because I realize that some of you men have not seen it.
So I mean the ladies.
I mean the ladies.
The ladies haven't seen it.
And so we want to make sure you get to look at it.
And anyway worker appreciation Sunday is on November 19th.
And make sure you're aware of that.
We'll be highlighting all of the volunteers of our church.
Annual Pi social is on Wednesday November 22nd at 7 p.m.
And of course that's the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.
So we'll have a nice time of fellowship.
So if you could bring a pie.
Buy, bake, whatever.
Steal it.
Whatever you need to do.
That'll be great.
And then the turkey bowl is on Thursday November 23rd.
That's at 7 a.m.
So if you guys want to play football on Thanksgiving morning.
There's a sign up sheet in the main foyer as well.
Choir is starting next Sunday November 12th at 5 p.m.
The adult choir here for the adult group.
And then the children's choir starts on the 19th in the children's playroom.
So make sure you're aware of that.
Homeschool group they've got PE class on Thursday November 16th.
There's other things there.
Ladies weight loss accountability group.
There's no meeting this week.
No meeting this week.
It will resume on Wednesday November 15th.
Please don't forget to turn your cell phones off or place them on silent during the service.
They're not a distraction to anybody.
If you look at the back of the bulletin.
Birthdays and anniversaries for the month of November.
We have Miss Angel Vincent's birthday on November 5th.
And Jocelyn Zuniga's birthday on November 8th.
Praise report.
Money matters.
All of those things are there for you to look at.
And I think that's it for all of the announcements.
So we're going to go ahead and sing the wonder of it all.
As we prepare to receive the offering tonight.
The wonder of it all.
There's a wonder of sunset at evening.
And let's go ahead and sing it out on the first.
We.
Just.
Singing out on the second.
I.
We're going to sing it on the third.
I'm going to ask the instruments to slow it down just a hair.
Let's sing it on purpose with some passion on the third.
Is that.
Singing out.
One.
Hey, man, good singing.
We'll have the guys come up and help us with the offering at this time.
And then we'll have a video before the reading of God's word.
A spot here tonight.
What a prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we do love you.
We thank you for the services you've allowed us to have today.
Lord, we pray that you would bless the evening service.
The preaching and the singing.
As you have the fellowship as well in the matchless name of Christ.
We pray.
Amen.
So.
Please, almost in number 16.
Numbers chapter 16.
If you do not have a Bible, please put your hand up and I know you can come by,
bring your Bible numbers.
Chapter 16.
Just keep your hand up and she'll come by.
Number 16.
We'll read verses 36 through 50.
Numbers 16 verses 36 through 50.
Number 16 beginning verse number 36.
The Bible says, and the Lord spake.
And a Moses saying, speak unto Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest.
They take up the sensors out of the burning and scattered out the fire yonder.
For they are hollowed.
The sensors of these sinners against their own souls.
Let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar.
For they offered them before the Lord.
Therefore, they are hollowed and they shall be assigned unto the children of Israel.
And Eliezer, the priest took the brazen sensors wherewith they that were burnt had offered.
And they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar.
To be immemorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger,
which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before the Lord.
That he be not as Korah and as his company, as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses.
But on the morrow, all the congregation of the children of Israel,
murmured against Moses and against Aaron, saying, ye have killed the people of the Lord.
And it came to pass, when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron,
it looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation.
And behold, the cloud covered it and the glory of the Lord appeared.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation.
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, get you up from among this congregation,
that I may consume them as in a moment.
And they fell upon their faces.
And Moses said unto Aaron, take a censer and put fire there from off the altar.
And put on incense and go quickly unto the congregation and make an atonement for them.
For there is wrath gone out from the Lord, the plague is begun.
And Aaron took as Moses commanded and ran into the midst of the congregation.
And behold, the plague was begun among the people.
And he put on incense and made an atonement for the people.
And he stood between the dead and the living, and the plague was stayed.
Now they that died in the plague were fourteen thousand and seven hundred,
beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
And Aaron returned unto Moses, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the plague was stayed.
Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening.
God, I thank you for your word and for our church for that it's here.
Please give us all ten hearts with a message tonight.
That should be the passage to strengthen him and from your spirit.
We love you.
In Jesus' name, pray. Amen.
Amen.
All right.
Well, we hope you enjoyed that little video.
Just wanted to give you kind of a recap of what's been going on over at The New Property.
And we're hoping that maybe once a month we can make a little video like that
and kind of document what's happening and keep you up to date.
And of course, we covet your prayers when it comes to the work going on over there.
There's just a lot to do.
It's a massive project.
And I've been amazed at what the men in our church can do.
But we still have more to do.
So keep that in prayer, of course, as we continue to work there.
All right.
Well, we're there in Numbers, chapter number 16.
And of course, we've been going through a series called Wilderness Wanderings
through the Book of Numbers on Sundays.
And this morning we began Numbers, chapter 16,
and we went through verses one through 35 this morning.
And we saw the main gist of the story this morning regarding Korah's rebellion.
If you were here this morning, if you remember the sermon,
we talked about the charge against Moses and Aaron,
the fact that Korah and Dathan and Abiram gathered 250 princes
and they came and accused Moses of taking too much upon himself,
of lifting himself up above the congregation.
And of course, we saw that the main problem
is that they had an insurrection before they even brought the accusation.
And they didn't go about it in the right way, of course.
And we saw that Moses challenged them.
There was a charge against Moses and Aaron,
and there was a challenge from Moses and Aaron.
And Moses did not defend himself.
He fell on his face and he challenged them,
and he said, we'll let God decide who is the one that is chosen.
And then, of course, we saw the choosing of Moses.
And we saw the fact that the challenge was that if these men die,
a normal death, a natural death, then God has not chosen me, is what Moses said.
But if God do a new thing, and if the earth open up her mouth
and they're swallowed into the pit,
then you will know, Moses said, that I have not done this of my own mind.
And of course, we saw that that's exactly what happened
before, as he finished the words, the Bible says that the ground opened up
and the men fell into the pit.
And then not only that, not only was Korah and Abiram and Dathan
and their families went into the pit,
but then you had the 250 princes that followed them.
And the Bible tells us that God sent a fire of the Lord and he consumed them.
So Korah, Dathan and Abiram, and Dathan and Abiram's wives and children
go into the pit, and then a fire from the Lord consumes the 250,000.
So that's where we left off.
And what I really want to get to is verse 41,
but I want to just cover verses 36 through 40,
just by way of introduction, just so you kind of understand what's going on.
In verse 36, the Bible says this,
And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest.
Now remember that there's the tribe of Levi,
and everyone in the tribe of Levi, all the men in the tribe of Levi are Levites.
They're all on staff at the tabernacle.
They are all what we might call a deacon in the New Testament,
or some churches call them assistant pastors.
They're all there to assist the priests,
but only Aaron and his sons are the priests.
They are the main leaders.
And here the Bible says that the Lord spoke to Moses,
saying, Speak unto Eliezer, the son of Aaron, the priest,
that he take up the censors out of the burning.
Now if you remember, the challenge was that they were to bring these censors,
and Aaron and Moses brought their censors,
the 250 men brought their censors,
and they were going to have this showdown where God chose Moses.
But because God sent a fire,
the Bible says there was a fire from the Lord that consumed the 250,
now God is directing Eliezer to go and take up the censors,
I want you to notice there in verse 37, out of the burning.
And what we're literally talking about is the fact that there was 250 men with censors,
God sends a fire and burns them all up,
and now Eliezer is being told to go and gather those 250 censors out of the burning
that were in the hands of the men that just got burnt alive and are now dead,
and scatter thou the fire yonder, for they are hallowed.
Look at verse 38, the censors of these sinners,
notice how God is referring to these 250 men,
the censors of these sinners against their own souls,
let them make broad plates for a covering of the altar.
So I want you to understand what's happening here,
these 250 men come with a censor, they get burnt off,
Eliezer is instructed to then go grab those censors,
and because those censors are made of brazen material,
that they are to be beat down and made into broad plates.
Now what this looks like exactly we don't know,
but they're taking these censors
and they're turning them into some sort of a decorative plate,
notice verse 38,
the censors of these sinners against their own souls,
let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar,
for they offered them before the Lord,
therefore they are hallowed,
and they shall be assigned unto the children of Israel.
So here's what's happening,
God is pretty much saying,
well these men wanted to be priests,
they wanted to offer unto the Lord,
now they're dead,
so let's take their censors which they offered unto the Lord,
they're made out of valuable material,
they're made out of this brazen material,
and let's beat it down and turn it into these broad plates,
the Bible says,
for a covering,
notice verse 38,
for a covering of the altar,
so they're going to make these into some decorative plates,
and then they're going to cover the altar with these plates,
the Bible says,
last part of verse 38,
and they shall be assigned unto the children of Israel,
look at verse 39,
an alias of the priest took the brazen censors,
wherewith they that were burnt had offered,
the they that are burnt are the 250 princes of the assembly,
he takes the brazen censors,
wherewith they that were burnt had offered,
and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar,
verse 40,
to be a memorial unto the children of Israel,
that no stranger which is not of the seed of Aaron,
come near to offer incense before the Lord.
I want you to understand what's happening here,
God already said Aaron and his sons are the priests,
these 250 men,
along with Korah and Dathan and Abiram,
accused Moses of taking too much upon himself,
when the truth is they were taking too much upon themselves,
they were not of the seed of Aaron,
but they wanted to take the priesthood,
they wanted,
they were seeking the priesthood also,
is what verse 10 says,
and God says that we're going to take these censors,
and make them into broad plates,
put them on the altar,
and they're going to be a decoration for the altar,
and they're going to be a memorial unto the children of Israel,
and it's going to be a way for people to remember,
and when the children ask,
where did these brazen plates come from,
and what is the meaning of this,
they can tell the story of this is what happens
when people try to,
that were not supposed to be priests,
try to do the job of a priest,
250 men tried to just promote themselves,
and make themselves priests,
and here's what God thought about it,
God didn't like it,
God didn't like the fact that they tried to promote themselves,
God didn't like the fact that they tried to take a job
that he had not given them,
God did not like the fact that they were usurping the authority,
so God burnt them,
and then we took their censors,
and turned them into these decorative plates,
that's what's happening,
look at verse 40,
to be a memorial unto the children of Israel,
that no stranger,
which is not of the seeds of Aaron,
come near to offer incense before the Lord,
that he be not as Korah,
and as his company,
as the Lord said to him by the hand of Moses,
all right,
so this is how this fateful day ends,
the day it began at Numbers chapter 16 and verse 1,
remember it began with Moses in his office,
I'm adding that,
but Moses sitting in his office,
Aaron is sitting in his office,
and they hear a knock at the door,
and there's 250 princes,
and there's Korah, and Datham, and Abiram,
and all these people that are there
to try to take their jobs,
try to take them out of their position of authority,
Korah is trying to become the new Moses,
Datham and Abiram are trying to become the new Aaron,
these 250 princes,
which were not Levites,
which were not of the seed of Aaron,
are trying to become the new priest,
and of course,
how does this day end?
It ends with the earth opening up her mouth,
these men being swallowed alive down into the pit,
the 250 men being burnt alive,
and then Eliezer taking the censors,
beating them into plates,
and putting them in front of the tabernacle
as a decoration, as a memorial,
so that everybody knows,
this is what happens
when you try to fight the man of God.
That's how the day ended,
and I would say that that was probably
a very exhausting day.
Look at verse 41.
Verse 41 tells us this,
but on the morrow,
so understand the context.
It's the next day.
It's the very next day,
and I would imagine that on the morrow,
Moses wakes up,
Aaron wake up,
they head into the office,
and they probably think to themselves,
what a day we had yesterday.
I mean, they were probably physically
and mentally exhausted,
and I'm not going to say that,
I'm not going to put myself in the position of Moses,
but I will say this,
we've had some days around here,
and we've fought some battles around here,
where my wife and I,
we know we wake up on a Monday,
and we're just like,
good night.
That was a tough weekend.
I'm glad that's over.
We get to start a new week now,
and kind of put that behind us.
I'm sure that's what Moses was thinking,
I'm sure that's what Moses was feeling,
but the Bible tells us in verse 41,
and it seems so comical to me,
you can't make this kind of stuff up,
and the Bible says here,
but on the morrow,
all the congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
I mean, you look at this,
and you think to yourself,
what is wrong with these people?
I mean,
Korah rises up against Moses,
the earth opens up her mouth,
and swallows him alive,
and on the morrow,
all the congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
and here's the truth,
that you read this,
and you think to yourself,
and you know,
before I say what I'm going to say,
keep your place on number 16,
go to Jude if you would,
we looked at Jude,
and we looked at Acts this morning,
I'd like you to find those places again,
Jude,
right before the book of Revelation,
you have the book of Jude,
just one chapter,
and then also find the book of Acts,
Acts chapter 20,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.
You read this,
and you think to yourself,
this can't be.
I mean,
this is not reality, right?
These people,
they don't wake up the next day,
and murmur against Moses,
and against Aaron.
They don't wake up the next day,
after seeing what happened to Korah,
to Dathim, and Abiram,
they don't wake up the next day,
and just think to themselves,
okay,
you know,
now we're going to rebel against Moses and Aaron,
now we're going to continue the rebellion
against Moses and Aaron,
and let me just make a couple of statements
by way of introduction,
and here's what I want you to understand,
and we talked about it this morning,
remember that this is a picture of the church in the wilderness,
and a lot of these things
will be applied to church life today,
and as it was with Moses and Korah,
we need to realize that today in New Testament churches,
there are,
there will always be enemies that creep in,
that have crept in unawares into churches
to try to destroy churches.
Look at Jude 1 and verse 4,
notice what the Bible says,
for there are certain men crept in unawares.
There are certain men crept in unawares
who were before of old,
ordained to this condemnation,
ungodly men,
turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord and our Lord Jesus Christ.
We need to understand that it wasn't just Korah with Moses,
but today,
even in our congregation,
there can be those who come in here,
subtly,
they have crept in unawares,
trying to cause division,
trying to bring rebellion,
trying to stop the work of God
that is being done at Verity Baptist Church.
Look at Acts chapter 20,
and look at verse 28.
We saw it this morning,
but I want you to see it again.
Acts chapter 20 and verse 28.
And then do me a favor,
when you get to Acts 20,
put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there,
because we're going to leave it,
and we're going to come back to it.
Acts 20, 28,
notice what the Bible says,
take heed therefore unto yourselves.
Remember we saw this morning,
this was Paul speaking to pastors,
to elders in Ephesus,
and he says take heed.
The word heed means give careful attention to.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves
and to all the flock,
over which the Holy Ghost had made you overseers,
to feed the church of God,
which he hath purchased with his own blood.
He's telling pastors,
you need to take heed.
Here's how he said it in Timothy.
He said be vigilant.
A pastor has to be vigilant.
He has to take heed.
He has to pay attention.
Why?
Verse 29,
For I know this,
that after my departing,
shall grievous wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the flock,
also of your own selves,
shall men arise,
speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them.
And here's what you need to understand.
In the same way,
in the same way,
that in the book of Numbers chapter 16,
we have the congregation of the children of Israel,
we have the church in the wilderness,
who has their pastor Moses,
their deacon Aaron,
their staff the Levites,
and yet in that congregation,
there could be the Korah's and the Dathan's
and the Abiram's,
who try to stand up and draw disciples away,
and usurp the authority,
and split the church,
and cause rebellion.
In the same way that those things can happen
from the Old Testament in the New Testament,
you also need to understand this.
That oftentimes,
after we've fought the battles,
after we've kicked out the usurpers,
after we've exposed the heretics,
after we've destroyed the false prophets,
we've removed them from the congregation,
we've kicked them out of church,
on the morrow,
all the congregations of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
You know what I've learned is that
once you fight a Korah,
the battle's not done
because usually you have
what I will
refer to as bleeding hearts.
I've also referred to them in the past
as sympathizers
who will sympathize with the bad guy.
They'll have these bleeding hearts for the bad guy.
And this is what Moses finds him.
He wakes up the next day,
number 1641,
but on the morrow,
all the congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
saying,
you have killed the people of the Lord.
And I would look at number 16 and think,
this can't happen, right?
This doesn't really happen.
But then I've lived it!
Where you'll literally have
bad people in church,
and then you kick them out,
and then on the morrow
there's their followers.
There's the people they've influenced.
There's the sympathizers
and the bleeding hearts.
And this morning we talked about Korah,
but this evening I'd like to speak about
the bleeding hearts,
about the sympathizers,
about the people
who sympathize with the bad guys.
And even after the earth opens up its mouth
and they are destroyed,
even after they get kicked out of church and they leave,
even after they're no longer here,
you still have these sympathizers
who stick around and cause problems
after the bad guy and the wolf has been removed.
I'd like you to notice in this passage
we have three thoughts,
three lessons,
three things we can learn about the sympathizers.
And I want you to know this for a couple reasons.
Number one,
I want you to know
so that you don't become a sympathizer.
So that you are not a bleeding heart
that gets drawn in to these situations.
But I also want you to know this
so that you can identify a sympathizer.
So that you can identify a bleeding heart.
So that you can identify,
because look at Verity Baptist Church,
we have kicked people out of church.
We will continue to kick people out of church.
It's biblical.
It's what the Bible says.
We'll fight battles.
You're looking at a pastor that's doing the best that he can
to be vigilant,
to take heed,
to be watching for the grievous wolves
who are trying to draw away disciples after themselves.
We're going to continue to fight the chorus.
But as we do,
you need to be aware of the bleeding hearts,
the sympathizers who sympathize with the chorus.
So how do you know them?
How can you identify them?
Let me give you three thoughts this evening.
The first thought is this,
and I'd encourage you to write this down on the back of your course this week.
You can take notes, of course.
Maybe you brought a notebook or something to take notes with.
When it comes to the bleeding hearts,
when it comes to the sympathizers,
the bleeding hearts, number one,
will criticize the leadership.
Notice what the Bible says here in number 1641.
But on the morrow,
all the congregation of the children of Israel,
notice the words,
murmured against Moses and against Aaron.
They are complaining and criticizing Moses and Aaron.
What are they saying?
They're saying,
I think you were too harsh on Korah.
I think you were too mean to Dathan.
I think you could have acted with a little more grace towards Abiram.
These individuals are literally trying to destroy the work of God.
But when the man of God stands up and deals with the enemies of the Lord,
oftentimes you find these sympathizers who will criticize you
and murmur against you.
And they'll say,
well, maybe we didn't have to kick them out.
Maybe you didn't have to publicly expose them.
Look, false prophets need to be publicly exposed.
Period.
The Bible says mark them and avoid them.
You don't mark them secretly.
You mark them so people can know who they are.
But here we find these individuals who want to criticize and murmur against Moses.
Now let me just talk about murmuring for a second.
You're there in Numbers.
Go to Philippians chapter 2.
If you get your place in Acts,
and I'd like you to keep your place in Acts,
from Acts you have Romans 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
Acts, Romans 1, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians.
First of all, let me just say this.
You should decide in your life to wage a war against complaining.
The older I get, I get so sick and tired of hearing people complain.
You should just make a goal in your life.
Just make it a rule in your life that you will not complain.
You say, well, is that, you know, do I have to do that?
Well, we'll look at Philippians 2.14.
Notice what the Bible says.
Do, look at these words, all things.
Do all things without murmuring and disputing.
Now, people, oftentimes what they get, when people complain, they get this idea.
And this is how they usually justify it in their own mind.
They'll say, well, I don't usually complain, but in this situation.
But wait a minute, the Bible says, do some things without murmuring?
Is that what it says?
Do most things without murmuring?
Is that what it says?
No, it says do all things without murmuring.
You know what that means?
That means God doesn't want you to murmur or complain at all, ever.
According to this verse, there's never a good reason to complain.
And murmur, the word murmur is definitely a complaint,
but it's this idea of, like, someone kind of mumbling, you know, below their breath.
Like, your dad tells you to take the trash out, and you're just like,
I've got to take this stupid trash out.
We've literally had church members who do that.
Like, you know, where I preach something or whatever,
and then they're just, like, murmuring below their breath.
You want to sign up for the workday?
And it's just like, you know, the Bible says do all things without murmuring.
You know, you ought to just decide in life you're not going to be a complainer.
That you're not going to complain.
You're not just going to be a big whiner.
And look, if there's issues and there are problems,
then issues need to be dealt with, problems need to be dealt with.
We're not talking about allowing bad things to happen or not identifying bad things.
Obviously, we deal with those things.
But the Bible says do all things without murmuring and disputing.
But these people are criticizing the leadership.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter 5.
If you're there in Philippians, you have Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians,
1 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter 5.
Do me a favor, when you get to 1 Timothy, put your ribbon or bookmark there as well.
Keep your place in Acts, but also keep your place in those T books.
1 Timothy or 1 Thessalonians and Titus.
We're going to be coming back and forth to that area as well.
How can you identify the bleeding hearts?
They're not the chorus.
They're not leading an insurrection against Moses.
But you know what the bleeding hearts do?
You know what the sympathizers do?
You know what these individuals do?
Is they criticize the leadership.
They disapprove with the leader's decisions.
They disapprove with what the leader is doing.
They think that he should have done it different.
He should have said it different.
He should have handled it different.
They complain about the leader.
But listen to me, you ought to do all things without murmuring and disputing.
And in life, you ought to just give the leader the benefit of the doubt.
You know, sometimes we make decisions as leaders with a certain amount of information
that we can't disclose.
We take certain steps based off the information we have,
but we can't tell you all that information
because it's not right to tell you because it's none of your business.
Because if it was you, you wouldn't want us to tell people.
But then what people do, they're like,
well, I don't understand why he's doing X, Y, Z.
Well, you don't know everything I know.
And you don't need to know everything I know.
You're not the leader.
You're not the pastor.
So why don't you just shut your mouth and say,
hey, I trust pastor.
And if pastor's making this decision, he must have a good reason for it.
And you say, well, what if I don't trust the pastor?
Then go find one you do!
Then go find a church and a pastor you trust!
And then give him the benefit of the doubt.
But these individuals, they disapprove.
And look, everyone wants to be a Monday morning quarterback.
Everyone wants to be a backseat driver.
Everyone, you know, you listen to people talk.
It's like they act like passing a church is the easiest thing in the world.
But you can't do it.
You're not even qualified to do it.
And it's always interesting to me that you find individuals,
they've never ran a hot dog stand.
I mean, they've never built a dog house.
But they're going to tell me how to run a church with 250 people in it.
You know, why don't you just give the leader in your life the benefit of the doubt?
And at work, man, instead of criticizing the boss for every decision,
why don't you just realize maybe he knows what he's talking about?
Or maybe even if he doesn't, he started the business.
It's his business!
Quit complaining and quit criticizing and quit murmuring.
And listen to me, some of you guys might get the promotions you've been bypassed
because you just quit complaining so much.
Because you better believe that even if you're a good worker,
if you're constantly murmuring and complaining and criticizing and being negative,
they might keep you working, but they're not going to give you promotions.
So bleeding hearts often are these critical people.
They disapprove of the leader.
And look, you say, well, what do we do at church
if you do something that we don't agree with?
Here's what you do, 1 Timothy 5, verse 1,
rebuke not an elder. That's what you do.
Rebuke not an elder. That's what the Bible says.
Oh, so we can't bring anything to you?
Did I say that?
All I'm doing is reading a verse to you.
Why don't you read?
Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father.
And the younger man as brethren.
You know what the Bible says?
The Bible says that if you have an issue with the pastor,
or you have an issue with spiritual leadership or whatever,
that what you do is you go to them carefully and you entreat.
The word entreat means to treat them like you would treat your father.
Now, I don't know what house you grew up in,
but I didn't grow up mouthing off to my dad.
Okay, if I mouthed off to my dad, I would have been sent to an early grave.
I didn't, and I wasn't just looking for reasons to disagree with my dad.
Just sitting there like, well, you did this wrong and you did that wrong.
I'm 37 years old and I'm still afraid of my dad.
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Now, I understand that there might be situations where you got to go to the pastor,
but look, you should do that carefully.
You should do that with the right attitude.
You should approach them and entreat them like a father.
It doesn't mean that you can't go to him and ask a question or say,
hey, I want to get some more clarification on this,
or I disagree with this and I just want to bring it to your attention.
You can do that fine,
but you're not to do that with a critical attitude, with a bad attitude.
And I've literally, I mean, I'm to the point now,
I guess I'm old now, I don't know.
I've kind of always been an old soul,
but I'm to the point now where I've even had situations where someone comes to me
and I tell them like, hey, you can come talk to me about that,
but you're going to fix your attitude before you come talk to me.
Because the Bible says rebuke not an elder,
but entreat him as a father.
And the younger man is brethren.
Here's what the Bible says, look at verse 19.
Because oftentimes they don't go to the elder, they go to everyone else.
Sympathizers like to hang out with sympathizers.
Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses,
then that sin rebuke before all that others also may fear.
You know, the Bible teaches that you're not even supposed to receive an accusation
without two or three witnesses against an elder.
And you say, that's not fair, why do you get special treatment?
Well, first of all, you're not supposed to receive any accusation without two witnesses,
period, is what the Bible says in the Old Testament.
But in the New Testament, God highlights it here for the leader,
because it's very common for people to just accuse and falsely accuse a leader.
If a leader makes a decision they don't like,
if a leader preaches something they don't like,
it's very easy for people to get upset with them.
And look, this is what I've learned in ministry.
I've learned in ministry that I cannot make a decision without upsetting someone.
It's just a law of the universe.
Every decision has an equal criticism that comes along with it.
It's just, and look, we're moving into this building.
That's why sometimes I don't even like to talk to people,
I just like to do things, because there's an opinion for everything.
And look, I promise you, I promise you,
and I go to experts and people who know what they're talking about,
I do ask for their opinion, but I promise you,
we're going to move into that building
and there's going to be something you don't like about the building.
And there's going to be some carpet color you don't like,
or you're going to think we should have got rid of some tile.
Why did we keep this?
Why did we get rid of that?
Why didn't we do this?
Why didn't we do that?
And my response is, well, why didn't you show up to the workday?
You're going to give in your opinion then.
And look, this has been a theme of my preaching for a while,
and I don't know that I'm communicating it well,
and I'm going to ask the Lord to help me with it,
but this is what I honestly believe.
I just think that America in 2023, or whatever year we're in,
we're just too highly of opinionated people.
And I think it's because of social media,
we have developed this culture where people feel like
they have to always give their opinion
and they always have to make their opinion known,
and I'm just telling you, you don't.
You don't have to give your opinion about everything.
You don't have to argue about everything.
You don't have to criticize.
Now, if you're in a position of authority,
then say what you need to say.
If you're being asked, great, praise the Lord.
Or if it's a friend or someone you really care,
but this idea where you just go around telling everybody,
it's not needed.
So these bleeding hearts, they'll often criticize everything,
but they'll criticize the leadership.
And look, you are not to rebuke an elder,
you are to entreat him as a father,
and you're not even to receive an accusation against an elder,
and you should just take this position
that says,
if somebody tries to tell you something about someone,
unless they have evidence,
and unless it's your place of authority,
you should take this position that says,
I don't want to hear it.
I don't want to hear it,
because we don't need to be murmuring,
we don't need to be complaining,
we don't need to be disputing.
So they disapprove the leader's decision,
but not only that, they also devalue the leader's position.
Look at 1 Thessalonians 5.
Because what are they doing?
They're bringing Moses down.
I mean, do you see in the story,
God is doing everything again to lift Moses up.
You have Miriam and Aaron criticizing Moses,
and God gives her leprosy and says,
I've chosen Moses.
I'll speak with prophets and visions and dreams,
but I talked to Moses mouth to mouth.
You have Korah and Abiram just trying to bring Moses down,
and God's just like, I've chosen Moses!
And look, please understand this,
in the Bible, there is this concept
that God always sides with the man of God.
And you're not going to like this,
and I don't care,
but God even sides with the man of God,
oftentimes when the man of God is wrong.
I'm not talking about some major sins or some whatever,
but oftentimes, I mean, I read the story of Abraham
going down to the Philistines,
and lying about his wife being his sister,
and they take his wife,
and then God plagues the other guys.
And you read the story, you're like,
Abraham's a bad guy here, he's the one lying.
And the other guy's like,
I did this in the integrity of my heart,
I didn't know, and God's like,
I know, I know, give him his wife back.
And look, oftentimes, and here's the whole point,
no one made you the cop
that has to right every wrong and bring down every...
Look, are there people in authority
that I know are doing wrong things?
Absolutely.
There are men in this church that I think to myself,
what they're doing with their wife,
and what they're doing with their family is wrong.
Some of you let your kids play video games
that I would never let my kids play.
I mean, I won't let my kids play any video games,
but I'm saying like even just like really bad video games.
Some of you let your kids watch movies
that are just horrible, terrible.
And I think to myself like, what in the world?
But I'm not gonna walk up and say anything to you,
you know why?
Because you're the authority at home.
Now your kids might fall into the pit with you,
they might suffer the consequences of your stupidity,
they might suffer the consequences of you being an idiot,
giving your kids, children, phones with internet
with no filter and no one watching it.
I mean, what kind of stupidity is that?
I'll tell you what I think from the pulpit,
but I'm not gonna walk up to you and be like,
what are you doing, moron?
Because you're the authority.
It's not my job to be this cop,
like I gotta fix everything, I gotta fix it.
Why do you feel like that?
Why not just worry about your own family?
And look, you say, well,
and look, you say, well, why do you do it at church?
Because this is my authority.
Let me let you in on the secret.
I rule Verity Baptist Church.
I'm the ruler.
You're like, those are biblical terms.
I rule this church, but I don't rule your home.
Now I'm gonna preach and tell you,
some of you need to stop letting your kids
watch R-rated movies.
And some of you need to stop letting your kids
have unfiltered access to the internet.
And some of you need to stop, just start being good parents.
I'll tell you that from the pulpit,
but I'm not gonna say, I'm not gonna go to you
and say, hey, you suck as a parent.
I mean, maybe I should, I don't know.
First Thessalonians 5, look at verse 12.
They disapprove of the leader's decisions.
And look, I'm talking about parents,
they know, like they're allowing their kids.
Obviously, kids are stupid, they do stupid things.
First Thessalonians 5, look at verse 12.
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them
which labor among you and are over you in the Lord
and admonish you, and to esteem them
very highly in love for their work's sake
and be at peace among yourselves.
The Bible says that we should not devalue
the position of a leader.
And look, at work, you ought not be devaluing
your boss's position.
You understand that?
I'm not saying to be a brown-noser,
I'm not saying to be a suck-up,
but you shouldn't be just constantly criticizing.
Look, just decide that I'm going to be the follower
who is going to be respectful to the leader,
I'm gonna be loyal to the leader,
I'm gonna support the leader.
I'm gonna realize the leader is a human being
and they're gonna make mistakes.
But you know what?
God gave me this job and God put that boss
as my authority while I have this job.
God gave you this church and God put me as a pastor
while you're at this church.
You know, you married that bozo.
I don't know what else to tell you.
I didn't tell you to marry him.
In fact, I'm usually telling people not to marry them.
So it's just once you find yourself
in positions of authority,
you just need to submit and be respectful.
So we find these sympathizers,
they criticize the leadership.
And then not only do they criticize the leadership,
but go back to number 16,
they also condemn the leadership.
The bleeding hearts will criticize the leader,
they disapprove of the leader's decisions,
they devalue the leader's position,
and the bleeding hearts will condemn the leadership.
And here's what's really interesting to me about this.
And again, this is what I mean like,
the Bible, if you really studied the Bible,
if you really just read it and studied it
and tried to understand it,
you would realize that this book was not written by man.
Because this is a psychology book,
a real psychology book,
not the crap they're teaching at universities.
This book has so much insight into human nature,
because you look at it and you're just like,
this has to be a made-up story, right?
And then you're in the ministry and you're like,
this is just like number 16.
Because notice what these people say, verse 41.
But on the morrow,
all the congregation of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
saying, ye have killed, notice what they said,
the people of the Lord.
I want you to understand something about the sympathizers.
Not only do they criticize the leadership,
they also condemn the leadership.
And here's something you need to understand.
The sympathizers are fools.
They're simpletons.
They are fooled in their discernment.
Say, what do you mean by that?
They are people who are not smart enough,
are not wise enough, are not godly enough
to have proper discernment to be able to tell
when someone is bad.
These people on the morrow woke up the next day
and they said to Moses and they said to Aaron,
ye have killed, ye have killed,
here's what they said, the people of the Lord,
who got killed the day before?
Korah.
According to the Bible, Korah is a reprobate.
In fact, everyone in Korah's camp was not saved.
You say, prove it.
Well, look at verse 32, number 1632.
Number 1632.
The earth opened her mouth.
I mean, that should be a hint right there.
The earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up
and their houses and all of them
and all the men that appertained unto Korah
and all their goods, they and all that appertained to them
went down, notice it, alive into the pit.
And the earth closed upon them
and they perished from among the congregation.
The Bible says that they went alive into the pit.
The word pit is used throughout the Bible
in reference to hell.
Go to Isaiah 14.
Let me give you a proof of this.
And actually, I was asked about this this morning
and I'm glad I was asked
because I actually had already planned to cover it tonight,
but I'm glad I was asked
because it shows that you guys are paying attention
and thinking about these things and that's great.
Isaiah 14 and verse 15.
Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah.
Isaiah 14, 15.
We can spend a lot of time on this
because there's lots of verses.
I'm not going to take the time to do that.
I'll just give you one reference.
Isaiah 14, 15.
Yet thou shalt be brought down.
This is Satan, by the way, Lucifer.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell,
notice it, to the sides of the pit.
So when the earth opened up,
the Bible is telling us that Korah,
Dathan, Abiram, they went down alive into hell.
The Bible calls hell in the book of Revelation
the bottomless pit.
Jude, we saw it this morning,
Jude tells us about three reprobate false prophets.
He talks about the fact that they followed Cain,
that they ran greedily after the reward of Balaam,
and he says that they perished in the gainsaying of Korah.
And if you read the book of Jude,
which is one chapter,
it's all about reprobate false prophets.
And he's telling, here's three examples
of three reprobates from the Old Testament.
Cain, Balaam, and Korah.
So Korah was a bad guy, obviously.
He was a reprobate.
He was not saved.
His family went down into hell.
God opened up the earth and just created a tunnel
that went down into hell.
They went alive into the pit.
But these simpletons the next day say,
you killed the people of the Lord.
It's like they're not the people of the Lord.
They're reprobates.
These people were foolish in their discernment.
Go to 2 Samuel chapter 15.
Now you kept your place in Acts,
and thank you for that.
Keep your place in 2 Samuel as well,
if you would.
We'll go to Numbers, Acts, and 2 Samuel.
2 Samuel 15.
Remember this morning I was telling you
how Numbers 16 is like the biggest chapter
on rebels in the Bible.
And then, I think, that's my opinion.
Maybe other people disagree with that.
And then my opinion is that 2 Samuel,
the story of Absalom,
is probably the next biggest story
of rebels in the Bible.
Well, that's what we're going to look at
in 2 Samuel 15.
And if you look at verse 6,
we saw it this morning.
I just want to remind you.
Remember the Bible says,
And on this manner did Absalom to all Israel
that came to the king for judgment.
So Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.
Remember he was kissing babies.
He was saying everyone's good, everyone's great.
So he stole the hearts of the men.
But I want you to notice what the Bible says
about these men.
Now these people were not bad people.
They were just dumb.
Look at verse 10.
2 Samuel 15, 10.
You know that you can be dumb and not bad?
2 Samuel 15, 10.
But Absalom sent spies throughout
all the tribes of Israel saying,
As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
then ye shall say,
Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
Remember he's trying to take over the kingdom.
This is when he was going to fight against David
and make himself king.
He said I'm going to sound the trumpet
and ye shall say,
Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
Verse 11,
And with Absalom went two hundred men.
Doesn't that sound a lot like Korah?
Korah had 250 men,
Absalom had 200 men.
When Absalom went 200 men out of Jerusalem
that were called,
they were called when he sent spies
throughout all the tribes of Israel saying,
As soon as ye hear the sound of the trumpet,
then ye shall say,
Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
These men are helping him usurp David's kingdom
and become king.
And here's what the Bible says about them.
Verse 11,
And with Absalom went 200 men out of Jerusalem
that were called,
and they went in their simplicity,
and they knew not anything.
Did you just catch that?
These people were idiots.
Simple means dumb.
They went in their simplicity,
they knew not anything,
they're being manipulated by Absalom
who's smarter than them.
So what's the takeaway here?
Couple of takeaways.
Number one, get smart.
You know what the Bible says?
The Bible says that when you are using the word of God,
Hebrews tells us,
when you are using the word of God
and you become skillful in the word of God,
you exercise discernment.
When you read the Bible, study the Bible,
memorize the Bible,
show up to church,
have the Bible taught to you,
you will become wiser,
you will become smarter,
you will be able to discern,
and you'll be able,
and again, to me, it's kind of ridiculous,
but you begin to realize,
huh, maybe I shouldn't be letting my 10-year-old,
my 12-year-old,
my 13-year-old watch R-rated movies.
Like, I don't know why that has to be explained to anyone.
But then I think, well, maybe they're just simple.
When you read the Bible,
when you grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ,
you become wiser.
But you know who the Korah's look for?
They look for the simpleton.
You know who the Korah's look for?
They look for the person.
You know who the Absalom's look for?
They look for the person that went in their simplicity
and knew not anything.
That's what they're looking for.
So look, I don't get it,
but if I wasn't a pastor and I was a church member
and somebody walked up to me and said,
hey, don't tell pastor, but let me tell you something.
I'd be like, do you think I'm an idiot?
You must think I'm an idiot!
Because Absalom's only look for morons.
I'm so ashamed.
Like, that's what your response should be.
Instead of, you have killed the people of the Lord.
These people were fooled in their discernment
and they were also foolish in their judgment.
Look at verse 41.
And look, I preached like a 10-part series
on the subject of justice and judgment.
You should all go back and listen to it.
Including, you know, and myself.
You know, we should all,
these are things that we should constantly be learning.
How to determine right and wrong.
How to determine justice from injustice.
How to have discernment and how to make right decisions.
These are things that we all need in the Christian life.
Okay, number 1641.
Not only were they fooled in their discernment,
they thought Korah was a good guy.
They said, ye have killed the people of the Lord.
But they were also foolish in their judgment.
Notice it, verse 41.
But on the morrow, all the congregation
of the children of Israel murmured
against Mosin Aaron saying, ye,
here's what they're saying to Mosin Aaron,
ye have killed.
These people are stupid in their judgment.
They can't even judge properly.
They're saying to Moses,
ye have killed the people of the Lord.
And here's the question I got asked.
Did Moses kill anyone?
Did Aaron kill anyone?
Moses, look, Moses said,
here's what Moses said.
Moses said, if these people die a natural death,
then God didn't choose me.
But if God, but if they die,
just a peculiar death.
If God were to do a new thing
and open up the earth
and they fall alive straight into hell,
wouldn't that be something?
That's what Moses said.
And then it happened.
But here's the question that I have to ask.
Who made the earth open her mouth
and swallow up Korah?
Did Moses do that?
No, God did that.
Who made the fire come from the Lord
and burn up the 250 men
Did Moses do that?
No, God did that.
And by the way, how about this question?
Who made Korah usurp Moses' authority?
Did Moses do that?
No, Korah did that.
Who made Abiram and Dathan follow Moses?
Did Moses do that?
No, they chose that.
Who made the 250 simpletons follow them?
Did Moses do that?
No, they did that.
So you know who's at fault here?
The idiots and God.
Because Korah rebelled, the idiots followed,
God killed them.
But who do they blame?
They say, Moses and Aaron.
You caused some sort of earthquake
that killed the people of the Lord.
These people are foolish in their discernment
and they're foolish in their judgment.
And you know what I've often found in situations
when we cast out false prophets
is that the sympathizers who try to defend them,
they are brainwashed.
And they think like, oh, that was a good guy.
Look, let me let you in on a little secret.
Just because somebody compliments you
doesn't make them a good person.
And unfortunately, that's how easy it is
to influence simpletons.
When someone's lavishing me with compliments,
I'm thinking to myself, what do you want?
What do you want?
Because this is not my first rodeo.
But I watch simpletons, and people are like, oh,
and they're just lavishing with compliments,
and they're just like little popular.
And I think to myself, not very smart.
You're not very smart.
It's not your fault you're not smart,
but you can read the Bible and get some smarts.
And if you're not smart enough to read the Bible
and get some smarts, then why don't you
at least follow some leaders who've read the Bible,
who fought some battles, and give Moses and Aaron
the benefit of the doubt.
So they are fooled in their discernment.
They are foolish in their judgments.
They think Moses killed them, God killed them.
They think that Korah was the people of the Lord.
He was a reprobate.
So we see that the bleeding hearts
will not only criticize the leadership,
the bleeding hearts will, and look,
you don't think this happens?
We literally cast out false prophets,
and we're like, that guy's a reprobate.
And then people are like, you reprobate everybody.
It's like, no, if they're reprobates,
we call them reprobates.
If they don't believe in the Lord Jesus Christ,
and they're teaching a false gospel,
and they're just denying over and over,
and they're trying to usurp authority and destroy churches,
yeah, they're a reprobate.
So the bleeding hearts will criticize the leadership.
They'll condemn the leadership.
And let me give you the third one.
Go back to number 16, verse 42.
They conspire against the leadership.
The bleeding hearts will criticize the leadership.
The bleeding hearts will condemn the leadership.
And then thirdly, they'll conspire against the leadership.
Notice verse 42.
And it came to pass when the congregation
was gathered against Moses and against Aaron.
The congregation has chosen a side.
They've sided with Korah.
You understand that?
God literally killed Korah.
And the next day, they're like, I sided with Korah.
I think you're too hard on Korah.
The congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron,
that they looked toward the tabernacle of the congregation,
and behold, the cloud covered it.
And the glory of the Lord appeared.
Here we go again.
God shows up again.
I like it when God shows up to these church business meetings.
These individuals sided with Korah.
So let me just give you the last application,
and we'll finish up.
They sided with Korah.
They woke up the next day, and they said,
you killed, which is wrong,
the people of the Lord, which is wrong.
They murmured, which is wrong.
They sided, they gathered against Moses and against Aaron,
which means they sided with Korah, verse 43.
And Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle of the congregation,
and the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,
get you up from among the congregation,
that I may consume them as in a moment,
and they fell upon their faces.
And again, you see the consistency of Moses and Aaron,
just the meekness.
Again, here's day two of the drama,
and they fell upon their faces.
They're praying for the people,
even though the people are just bad-mouthing them,
are just criticizing them, are just fighting against them.
But here's what I want you to understand,
and here's the point number three,
is that they sided with Korah, so they suffered with Korah.
Look at verse 49.
Now they that died in the plague,
because now this is not the earth opening up its mouth.
Now this is not the fire coming from the Lord.
Now we're on day two.
This is the next day God sends a plague.
And they that died in the plague were 14,700.
Did you get that?
That's a lot of people.
14,700 beside them that died about the matter of Korah.
So who died about the matter of Korah?
Korah, Dathan, Abiram, Ann,
who was mentioned one time and never again.
All their children, their family, right?
And the 250 men.
So we know at least 260, maybe closer to, you know, maybe 275,
maybe 300 people died the previous day.
And then another 14,700 die in a plague.
And here's the point.
They sided with Korah, so they suffered with Korah.
This is a principle taught in the Bible.
I take the time to have you turn to a bunch of passages.
Go to 2 Samuel, if you would, 2 Samuel 15.
We'll finish up there.
2 Samuel 15.
But I won't have you turn to a bunch of passages,
but let me just give you some examples.
Remember when Lot chose the well-watered plains of Sodom?
What happened when Sodom gets taken over?
Lot gets taken with them.
And what happens when God destroys Sodom and Gomorrah?
Because then Abraham goes and gets them back,
but he still chooses Sodom.
So then what happens?
He sided with Sodom, so he suffered with Sodom.
Did Lot live a blessed life after Sodom?
He goes in hiding and gets drunk and has children with his two daughters
and ruins his life in perversion,
which is obviously not the same as sodomy,
but the idea is this.
He sided with Sodom, so he suffered like Sodom.
How about the angels that sinned?
They sided with Satan.
They suffered with Satan.
They sided when it was time to choose.
They sided with Satan.
One-third of the angels sided with Satan.
So what does the Bible tell us in Jude?
What does the Bible tell us in 2 Peter?
That they have chains reserved for them,
and they're going to burn in hell for all of eternity
because they sided with Satan.
They're going to suffer with Satan.
Lot sided with Sodom.
They're going to suffer with, he suffered with Sodom.
These people sided with Korah.
They suffered with Korah.
So here's the application for you.
Be careful who you hit your wagon to,
because a lot of times it's the blind leading the blind,
and if the blind lead the blind, they both fall into a ditch.
You say, well, who should I side with?
How about the man of God?
How about the people of God?
Because you can go ahead and side with a bad guy.
But you're going to suffer with a bad guy.
And we've had that here.
I mean, I remember years ago I threw out
some idiot out of our church, and then
I had four idiots back there, literally mumbling to themselves,
grumbling.
And I'm just like, you guys are going to,
you want to side with idiot?
Suffer with idiot.
Get out of here too.
And you think they're living blessed lives?
I promise you they're not.
So be careful who you associate yourself with.
Look, when it comes to conflict,
and whatever it is, maybe it's your home,
maybe it's your business, whatever it is,
but obviously the application here is church.
When it comes to conflict, you ought to just decide.
I'm going to side with the man of God.
I'm going to give the man of God
the benefit of the doubt.
And you know what?
If the man of God is in some grievous sin,
then obviously he needs to be removed.
And if it's to the point where you can't trust him,
then leave the church and find a church you can.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But to side with a Korah who wants to split the church,
that is wicked.
And if you side with Korah, you'll just suffer with Korah.
God says, OK, you want to side with Korah?
You can die too.
So we have the bleeding hearts.
And this is, by the way, why you
don't want to be a bleeding heart.
Because if you side with Korah, you'll suffer with Korah.
Let me end with this.
I love this story.
I think a lot about leadership.
Obviously, as a pastor, I'm a leader.
And I like to read about leadership.
And I like to think a lot about leadership
within the context of the Bible.
And this is one of my favorite kind of leadership
passages in the Bible.
Because let me just kind of end with this.
You know what every leader wants more than anything?
He wants someone to side with them.
He wants followers that are going to side with him.
And I feel bad for Moses because he really
didn't have this.
I mean, he had this in Joshua and Caleb.
But he had a lot of idiots, which
is why God had to kill them all in the wilderness
for 40 years.
But you should just know this.
Whatever situation you find yourself
in where you're a follower, just
know this about your leader.
Your leader wants someone who's going to side with them,
who's going to give them the benefit of the doubt,
who realizes they're not perfect.
But it's going to be someone that
is going to be with them in the highs and in the lows.
And we find this in the story of 2 Samuel
because we've been referencing 2 Samuel.
Remember the second best story on rebellion, Absalom.
When David is leaving town, he's leaving Jerusalem.
He's fleeing Jerusalem because Absalom has pretty much
usurped his authority.
We know that David's going to get his kingdom back later on.
But when he's getting ready to leave,
he's getting all of his soldiers
that he expects them to go with him and to side with him.
Look at verse 13, 2 Samuel, chapter 15, verse 13.
And there came a messenger to David,
saying, the hearts of the men of Israel are after Absalom.
So this is when David has found out
that Absalom has usurped his authority.
He's stolen the hearts of the people.
Here he's told the hearts of the men of Israel
are after Absalom.
And David said unto all the servants that
were with him at Jerusalem, arise and let us flee,
for we shall not else escape from Absalom.
Make speed to depart, lest you overtake us suddenly,
and bring evil upon us, and smite the city
with the edge of the sword.
And the king's servant said unto the king, behold,
thy servants are ready to do whatsoever,
my lord, the king shall appoint.
I think that was very encouraging to David.
And the king went forth and all his household after him.
And the king left 10 women, which were concubines,
to keep the house.
And the king went forth and all the people after him,
and tarried in a place that was afar off.
And all his servants passed on beside him.
And all the Carathites, and all the Pelathites,
and all the Gittites, 600 men,
which came after him from Gath,
passed on before the king.
What are we talking about here?
We're talking about the mighty man.
The mighty man, when David lost his kingdom,
they stuck with him.
When he was losing, they said, we're going with you.
Now that's great, and I'm sure
that was encouraging to David.
But here's the part that I want you to see.
Then in verse 19, the Bible says,
then said the king to Ittai the Gittite.
Now Ittai the Gittite is a new character in the story.
And David sees Ittai the Gittite.
And by the way, later in this story of David,
when David goes to fight Absalom,
he divides his army into three camps.
And Ittai the Gittite is one of the captains
that helps him win the battle.
But I want you to notice in verse 19,
what David says to Ittai the Gittite.
Then said the king to Ittai the Gittite,
wherefore goest thou also with us?
Return to thy place and abide with the king,
for thou art a stranger and also an exile.
Whereas thou comest but yesterday,
should I this day make thee go up and down with us,
seeing I go whither I may return thou
and take thy brethren, mercy and truth be with thee.
And here's what David is saying to this man,
Ittai the Gittite,
because he's getting all his guys together.
They're going to flee the city
and Ittai the Gittite's with them.
And David says, hey, listen, Ittai.
I mean, that was a cool name, Ittai the Gittite.
That's an awesome name.
Listen, Ittai, David says to him,
I don't expect you to go.
And here's why.
He says, because you are a stranger,
he said, you're not of the children of Israel
because you are in exile.
And here's the main reason, verse 20,
whereas thou comest but yesterday.
This is a guy that just joined David's team.
Literally, he just got there.
Now, David said, you came yesterday.
I don't know if that's literal,
like he literally got there the day before,
or if it's more of like an expression.
And he's just saying like,
you haven't been with us very long.
And he's just saying like,
you just got here like yesterday,
meaning you haven't been with us very long.
But here's what David is saying,
because David is a great leader.
And he's saying, you know,
you haven't been with me long enough
for me to earn your respect.
I don't expect you to come out into the wilderness
and suffer with us.
He said, I would understand if you stayed here
and served Absalom.
That's what David said.
Now, that requires a lot of maturity on David's part.
But I want you to notice,
and I'm impressed with David,
but I'm more impressed with Ittai the Gittite,
because here's what he says in verse 21.
And Ittai answered the king and said,
as the Lord liveth and as my Lord the king liveth,
surely in what place my Lord the king shall be,
whether in death or life,
even there also will thy servant be.
And here's a man that hadn't been with David that long,
but you know what he's saying?
He's saying, I decided to hitch my wagon to you, David,
and I'm not going to be a fair weather follower.
Whether you're succeeding or whether you're fleeing,
I'm with you.
That's a great follower,
and that's what every leader wants.
Every leader wants a follower that says,
I'm with you.
I'm with you, Moses.
I know you're not perfect.
I'm with you, David.
I know you're not perfect,
but I've decided to follow you.
I'm not going to be a sympathizer
and side with the enemies.
I'm not going to be a sympathizer
and side with the Absaloms.
I'm going to side with the man of God,
and that's the position that we should all take.
Let's bow our heads tonight with a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you,
and we thank you for these stories in the Bible.
And there's just so much humanity
in these passages of Scripture.
There's just so much to learn about human nature
that there's just no way these stories were written by men.
Men would not write down these intimate details
of how human nature is.
But we know it's true,
because even in our church,
we've thrown out chorus
and then had to deal with sympathizers the next day.
And Lord, I pray that you'd help everyone here
to not be a bleeding heart,
help them all to decide,
you know what?
I'm going to be a loyal church member.
I'm not going to be just drawn away
with anyone who's giving me a compliment.
I'm not going to criticize.
I'm going to stay with the man of God.
I'm going to be faithful.
And I just love that example of ittai,
the gettai, and his faithfulness.
Lord, we love you.
In the matchless name of Christ, we pray.
Amen.
All right, we're going to have Brother RJ come up
and lead us in a final song.
And we've got a baptism tonight,
so we'll sing as we prepare for baptism.
Now let's grab a song,
let's turn to page number 136.
Song number 136.
We'll sing,
Master, the tempest is raging.
Prepare for baptism this evening.
Sing it out on the first.
Master, the tempest is raging.
The bellows are tossing high.
The sky is all shadowed with blindness.
No shelter or help is nigh.
Careless thou not that we perish.
How canst thou I assume?
When each moment so madly is standing
by brave and angry feet.
The winds in whom each other be my will.
Please be still.
Whether the wrath of the storms are seen.
Or demons or men or whatever we be.
No water can swallow the ship but lies.
One master of motion and earth and skies.
They all shall sweep thee open.
Please be still.
They all shall sweep thee open my will.
Please be, must be still.
Song number 136 on the second.
Master, when anguish or spirit
are how it might be to live.
The deaths of my sabbath are troubled.
Awaken until I pray.
The torrents of sin and anguish
are my sinking soul.
When I perish, I perish, my master.
Oh, hasten and take control.
The winds and the wind shall obey my will.
Please be still.
Whether the wrath of the storms are seen.
Or demons or men or whatever we be.
No water can swallow the ship but lies.
One master of motion and earth and skies.
They all shall sweep thee open.
Please be still.
They all shall sweep thee open my will.
Please be still.
Please be still, see it out on the last.
Massive terror is over.
The elements leave me rest.
The sign in the salt lake is nearer.
In my breast,
anger or blessed redeemer
gave me a whole new world.
And with joy I shall make the blessed harbor
for the rest of the blissful shore.
The winds and the wind shall obey my will.
Please be still.
Whether the wrath of the storms are seen.
Or demons or men or whatever we be.
No water can swallow the ship but lies.
The master of ocean and earth and skies.
They all shall sweep thee open my will.
Please be still.
They all shall sweep thee open my will.
Please be still.
Turn to page number 146.
Song number 146.
Sing it out on the first.
The lords are rocking him behind.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Secure whatever will be tied.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weeping land.
A weeping land, a weeping land.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
A shake by day, defense by night.
A shelter in the time of storm.
No fears alarmed, no foes afraid.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weeping land, a weeping land.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
A raging storm may pound us feet.
A shelter in the time of storm.
We'll never leave our safe retreat.
A shelter in the time of storm.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A weeping land, a weeping land.
Oh Jesus is a rock in a weary land.
A shelter in the time of storm.
All right.
Well, we're excited to have
Ms. Linda Meyer coming for baptism tonight.
And Ms. Linda's been coming to our church for a couple of months now.
And Ms. Ariel picks her up, and we, of course, are thankful for her.
And we're excited to have Ms. Linda Meyer coming for baptism tonight.
And Ms. Linda's been coming to our church for a couple of months now.
And Ms. Ariel picks her up, and we, of course, are thankful for that.
And Ms. Linda, have you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior?
All right, Linda, by your profession of faith, I baptize you, my sister,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,
buried in the likeness of His death, raised to walk in newness of life.
God bless you. Amen.
All right.
Well, we are here tonight. I do want to encourage you, of course, to be back
for Wednesday night for the midweek service. And make sure you go by
the clipboards in the foyer. And we've got, of course, work days
for this weekend. So if you can go by there, check out the days that are available,
the shifts that are available. We could really use your guys' help with that.
Also, there's a clipboard for the turkey bowl, so make sure you sign up for that as well.
If you'd like to play football on Thanksgiving day.
I would appreciate if you were a prayer for myself and my family. I'm going to be preaching this week
at the FWC missions conference.
So we'll be back, of course, for these Sunday services, but
if you would keep us in prayer, I would appreciate that. If there's anything we can do for you, please let us know.
If you would not mind looking around your area there and kind of putting your
hymn books back and maybe picking up any mess that your kids might have made, help the cleaners
tomorrow. And of course, we want you to know that we, my wife and I, we love you, we pray for
you, and we're excited about the things that God is doing here at
Verity Baptist Church. We hope you're excited as well. And I'm going to ask Brother RJ if he would
not mind dismissing us with a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father who love you, we thank you for a sermon that was
preached and we thank you for that baptism. Lord, we pray that you bless Miss Linda,
as that happened this evening. Lord, we pray that you would help her and pray for
our church, pray that you would help us remember the sermon. Lord, that we would
be loyal to the leadership that you've given us, Lord, and pray for our pastor and his family
that will be traveling to Faithful Ward this week. Lord,
pray that you bless them and pray that everything will be said and done this week over there.
In honor of your name, pray that you dismiss us with your grace and bring us back to church on Wednesday.
We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
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