1 Corinthians chapter number 6, I'm going to read verse number 12, the Bible says,
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.
All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.
Now go ahead and turn with me also to the book of Numbers, chapter number 14.
I'm going to read verse number, I'm going to start at verse number 1, the Bible says,
And all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried, and the people wept that night.
And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt,
or would God we had died in this wilderness?
And wherefore had the Lord brought us unto this land,
to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey?
Were it not better for us to return into Egypt?
And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt.
Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, so much to say thank you, Lord.
And I just ask that you meet with us tonight, Lord.
I pray that you would fill me with your spirit, and allow me, Lord, to just say what this church needs,
allow there to be growth tonight, and decisions made.
Lord, thank you for this church, thank you for the people.
I pray that you just help me as I take the next few minutes, Lord, here,
and try to preach your word in the praise of the name I pray, Amen.
Now, where we come to in this passage here, what we just read in the book of Numbers,
I'm going to move over here, this pulpit is too big.
It doesn't really work when you're short and skinny.
I remember, I think it was the first time I was here, I was preaching for Pastor Anderson back when we were in the house,
and, you know, he didn't have a pulpit, he had the little countertop,
and I was preaching about something, I was going, and I dropped my Bible,
and I remember I told him, I was like, you need to get a pulpit,
and I forgot to tell him you need to get a small pulpit.
So, where we come to here in Numbers, chapter 14, kind of to bring you up to date to the story,
what's been going on is the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt.
They were in captivity, they were afflicted, the Bible says, they were enslaved,
and the Bible, you know, you can read in the Bible there in the story that God sent Moses to deliver them out of the land of Egypt,
and, you know, you had the ten plagues there, and you got all the miracles, you saw the power of God,
and once they got delivered out of the land of Egypt, the Bible says they traveled over to the Promised Land,
the land flowing with milk and honey that God had promised them, and they sent in twelve spies,
and the Bible tells us that ten spies came back with an evil report.
Ten spies, they came back and they said, the land, you know, it's beautiful, it's flowing with milk and honey,
but there's giants in the land, whereas grasshoppers in their sight, and we can't take it, we can't do it.
And we're also told that two of the spies, Caleb and Joshua, came back and they said,
hey, let's do this thing, God's with us, we've seen his power already, let's go ahead and just take it.
But the people, the passage, right here where we started reading, Deuteronomy chapter 14,
the people listened to the accounts of these ten spies, the evil spies, and they got scared.
And if you read here, the Bible says, and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried,
and the people wept that night. You know, they wept and they were scared, and they said, oh, why are we out here?
Why have we been brought out of the captivity that we were in, and we've been brought up to this land,
and now we can't take it? And it says, and all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron,
and the whole congregation said unto them, would God that we had died in the land of Egypt,
or would God we had died in this wilderness? And if you look at verse number four, it says,
and they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt.
Now I have to ask myself a question when I'm reading through this passage, I have to think to myself,
why would a people, why would a nation who were in captivity, the Bible lets us know they've been in slavery
for 400 years now, and why would these people, once they've seen God's power, they've seen God deliver them,
you know, they saw the waters of Egypt turn into blood, they saw frogs, you know, come over all the land of Egypt,
they saw the lights come, they saw the thunder with the hail and the fire, they saw the darkness come,
they saw God kill the firstborn of all the children of Egypt, including Pharaoh's son,
and even once they've been delivered and they had gone on, they got up to the Red Sea there,
and Pharaoh decided he changed his mind and he came on after them and they didn't know what to do
and God miraculously parted that Red Sea and the Bible says they crossed through in dry land
and as the Pharaoh's army came over and the waters came back over them and just God won and wrought
a great victory for them and they saw, they saw this power, they saw God's hand in this
and I wonder myself, why would these people say, let's go back to the captivity we were in?
It doesn't really make sense to me that they say, let's make us a captain that'll take us back into Egypt.
But you know, as I was reading this in my Bible reading, I started thinking to myself, you know,
there's a lot of things in this story that are familiar to our lives.
You know, Israel was in bondage to Egypt, you know, tonight we were once in bondage.
In fact, the whole world is in bondage and God sent Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt
and the Bible tells us in John 3 16, for God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son
and you know what, God sent the Lord Jesus Christ once to deliver us from our bondage.
The Bible says that Israel was delivered from their bondage and if you're here tonight and you're saved,
if you've accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, if you're born again, you've been delivered from your bondage.
And you know, Galatians chapter 5 verse 1, the Bible says, stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
There's a lot of similarities in our lives to these people. They were in bondage, we were in bondage.
They were sent to deliver, we were sent to deliver. They were made free, we were made free.
But just like Israel got to this place that said, let's go back to the land that held us captive.
You know, I see a lot of Christians tonight that look over in our society as I look at the independent
fundamental Baptist movement, I see a lot of Christians that say, let's go ahead and make us a captain
that will take us back into that captivity that we were delivered out of.
Let's go back to that sin that we were taken out of. And if you look at the first verse we read tonight,
1 Corinthians chapter number 6 verse 12, the apostle Paul is speaking and he says,
all things are lawful unto me. Now let's think about what the apostle Paul is saying.
He says, all things are lawful unto me. You know, I'd hate to break it to the average independent
fundamental Baptist preacher, but the apostle Paul did not believe in repenting of your sin.
See, the average Baptist preacher tonight will tell you, for you to be delivered from your sin,
you have to turn away from that sin. Now, does that make any sense? I mean, think about the children of Israel.
There they were in captivity. There they were afflicted. There they were, they had taskmasters over them
and simply just turning their backs to them and just walking off. Yeah, that would have made them free, right?
Now, the people would have just said, hey, you know, sure, you do whatever you want.
I mean, obviously God had to come and do something for them to be saved.
And Jesus Christ came and he has saved us and we see his power.
But the apostle Paul understood that, see, if you have to repent from your sin,
if you have to turn away from your sin to be saved, then that means once you are saved,
what happens when you go back to your sin? You lose your salvation.
And the apostle Paul understood that obviously you never repent of your sin because he says,
hey, all things are lawful unto me. He says, hey, I'm saved, I'm going to heaven,
but anything I do, it's lawful for me. I can do it. I'm not going to lose my salvation
because I skipped church or because I do something, you know, I sin against God.
He says, it's lawful for me. But he says, but all things are not expedient.
See, that's what you have to realize. Galatians chapter 6 verse 7 says,
Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap.
You know, you can do whatever you want, but you're going to have to reap for it.
You know, you can go ahead and sow your wild oats and then try to pray for a crop failure,
but it's not going to happen. You know, you go ahead and do what you want
and you go ahead and sow whatever you want, but you're going to have to reap that.
And he says, hey, all things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient.
He says, all things are lawful for me. And here's the title of the message.
He says, I will not be brought under the power of any.
See, the apostle Paul says, hey, I've been made free.
I've been, the sin that held me captive, the sin that condemned me to hell,
God has delivered me from that sin. He says, I will not be brought under the power of any.
I'm not going to allow this sin to control me. I'm not going to allow this sin that once held me captive.
I'm not going to make a captain to go back to it.
I'm talking tonight about allowing sin to control our lives.
I'm talking about things like being under the power of entertainment.
Job chapter 21, 16, you can turn there if you'd like. The Bible says, lo, their good is not in their hands.
The counsel of the wicked is far from me.
I'd like to ask you tonight, who do you allow to counsel you?
Who do you allow to direct you, to influence you?
Because if you sit down on a regular basis every night and you sit down on your couch there
and pick up that remote and turn on the television, let me tell you something,
you're allowing the world, you're allowing the devil, you're allowing Satan to counsel you.
I'd like to ask you, hey, are you allowing the King James Bible to counsel you tonight,
or are you allowing the Kings of Comedy? Are you allowing the book of Philippians to counsel you,
or are you allowing Dr. Phil? That's who you go to when you have a problem.
That's who you go to when you don't know what to do.
Instead of going to the book of Obadiah, you go to Oprah Winfrey, because she has the answers, right?
Hey, instead of going to the apostle Paul, you go to Paul McCartney,
or you go to Paris Hilton instead of going to Peter.
Hey, I'm telling you, I'm asking you, who are you allowing to counsel you?
You know, you sit here, you know, you ladies.
I guess we know who you're allowing to influence your dress.
When you have the Bible telling you, you're supposed to dress a certain way,
but you have Paris Hilton telling you to dress another way.
You know, I guess we can see why you're wearing your tight skirts and your short skirts.
I can see why we're allowing the nakedness of your thigh to be shown.
I guess we can see why you're wearing those skirts with the slit to see your thigh.
We can see why you're wearing the flashy dress that brings attention to certain parts of your body.
Why? Because you're allowing God to counsel you, or are you allowing Lindsay Lohan and Mariah Carey
and the whores and the harlots and the prostitutes of Hollywood to counsel you?
I was telling a pastor Anderson, I was looking at these pictures of these preachers,
and I was thinking to myself, why, in God's name, is there a preacher, a man of God,
who would be sitting there in a picture in a conference with a laminar shirt and a purple tie
and another preacher with a pink tie and a white shirt with pink stripes?
I'm wondering myself, do these people call themselves men of God?
But see, I know who's counseling them. I know who's influencing them.
They're turning down their television and they're letting queer eye for the straight guy.
They're letting all these faggots, I can't even think of their names, Justin Timberlake, Keanu Reeves,
and Pro-Pac faggots and all these pastors, they're letting them influence them.
I'm asking you tonight, who are you allowing to counsel you?
Who are you allowing to influence you?
The Bible says in Psalm 26 5, I have hated the congregation of evildoers.
I'd like to ask you tonight, do you hate the congregation of evildoers?
I'm talking about the congregation of the Dallas Cowboys.
How much time do you spend talking about your little Dallas Cowboys and your Denver Broncos
and your Green Bay Packers and all this other congregation?
I don't care what the Red Sox are doing. I don't care what all these other sports teams are doing.
Why don't you decide? I'm going to hate the evildoer.
I'm going to hate the congregation. I'm going to hate the television.
I'm going to hate Hollywood. I'm going to hate American Idol.
It says I have hated the congregation of the evildoer.
I will not sit with the wicked.
Let's see, the independent fundamental, Psalm 1 and King James Bible,
Baptist preaching, hellfire and brimstone, sits down every night,
lines up their little children and their wife, goes and pops some popcorn,
turns on the television and sits down with the wicked every night.
And I'm asking you tonight, hey, who do you allow to counsel you?
Who do you allow to influence your life? Who do you sit with every night?
Do you sit with the Word of God? Do you sit with Jesus Christ Himself
and allow Him to counsel you? Or do you sit with the congregation of the wicked?
Don't you think it's about time that you just throw that television out the window and get right with God?
Hey, don't you think it's about time you throw that DVD player out the window
and read your Bible through once? Don't you think it's about time you sit down
and pray with your family instead of sit with the wicked and let them counsel you
and let them influence you? I'm talking about being under the power of drugs and alcohol.
I was Brother Dave and Gabriel and Pastor Anderson.
We've been out soul winning, you know, this whole marathon thing.
And all over Phoenix, I'm sure you've seen it, all over you see these ads.
You know, these meth ads. Have you seen them? You know what I'm talking about?
And they have this picture of this girl, you know, with her teeth all messed up
and, you know, her face all messed up or whatever.
And it says you never have to worry about lipstick on your teeth or whatever.
And they show their backs with all these sores and all this stuff.
And, you know, I started thinking about that and I was thinking about, you know, we have this war on drugs.
Such hypocrisy. It's so stupid for us to sit there and say, hey, don't do meth.
But our government and our nation makes an idol out of alcohol.
It doesn't matter where you go. You see a Budweiser ad.
If you have a television and you turn it on, I'm sure you see a Budweiser ad
or a Miller's Light ad or some sort of alcohol ad.
And you know what? I'll tell you right now, I honestly believe this.
Alcohol is probably the worst drug that is affecting our nation tonight.
Alcohol is destroying life. I wish, you know, it's good that they have the little meth ad.
I wish they'd have an alcohol ad and tell the truth.
I wish they'd show the wife. I think I said this last time.
I wish they'd show the wife with the black eye and the fat lip and the beaten face
and the cuffs on her face because her husband came home after a fun night and just beat her.
And I wish they'd put on that ad, hey, this Bud's for you.
I wish they'd tell the truth. I wish they'd show the graves of the children
and the mothers and the fathers who have been killed because some idiot decided
he wanted to go drink and drive and kill them.
Take a life of iniveness in person. The hypocrisy in our life that, oh yeah, we're on drugs.
And you sit there and you drink your alcohol. You sit there and you smoke your cigarette.
Hey, why don't you decide tonight? I'm going to decide right now.
I will not be brought under the power of many. I'm not going to allow some little beer bottle to control me.
I'm not going to allow some little stick of tobacco to control my life.
I'm going to be under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don't you think it's time tonight you decide, hey, I'm not going to be under the power of drugs and alcohol.
I'm not going to let that garbage control me. I'm talking about being under the power of peer pressure tonight.
Go to Matthew chapter number 14.
Matthew chapter number 14, verse number 6, the Bible says,
But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughters of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod,
whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask.
And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John, Baptist, head and a charger.
And the king was sorry nevertheless for the old sake.
And then, which sat with him at meet, he commanded it to be given her.
And he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
And his head was brought in the charger and given to the damsel, and she brought it to her mother.
Now, the story you're seeing here, Herod is a king.
He's committing adultery with this woman.
And John the Baptist comes, like only a Baptist preacher would, and stands and says, Hey, this is sin. This is wrong.
And he gets thrown into prison.
Now, honestly, from what I can read in the Bible, I think Herod liked John the Baptist.
Because, see, the world is going to respect somebody who stands up to them.
You know, you sit here and you think, I can't tell my family about the Lord Jesus Christ.
They're going to hate me. But you know what? That's not true.
They might shun you or they might make fun of you, but deep down inside, they're going to respect you.
When they see your faithfulness through the years, maybe at first they're going to say, Hey, I know you.
I grew up with you. I know your life. I know this is a phase. It'll pass.
But you know what? You stay with it, and you stick with it, and you go get other people saved.
You know, I hear people say all the time, Oh, I wish my father would get saved, but he won't listen to me.
You know what I tell them? You go and get everybody else's father saved.
Hey, you want your wife to be saved? Go get everybody else's wife saved.
You want your grandkids to be saved? Go find every grandkid and get them saved.
And God, you go ahead and you sow that.
And be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever men soweth, that shall they also reap.
And I think John the Baptist, I think Herod respected him. I think Herod liked him.
And time went by, and this woman had a daughter who he was committing adultery with.
And her daughter came, it was his birthday, and she came and she danced in front of them.
And the Bible says, if you see there, whereupon, well it says, but when Herod's birthday was kept,
the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and it pleased Herod. Herod liked it.
Whereupon he promised with a note to give her wife. So he said, hey, whatever you want,
you please me, whatever you want, I'll give it to you right now.
And it says, and she being before instructed, so her mother told her, hey, you know,
when he asked you, what do you want, you tell him you want John the Baptist's head.
And look at this verse, verse number nine, the Bible says, and the king was sorry.
He didn't want to do it. He liked, he liked John the Baptist. He respected him.
And he said, nevertheless, for the oath's sake, and don't, don't miss this, it says,
and them which sat with him at knee.
You say, oh, well, peer pressure, that only affects teenagers in high school, right? Wrong.
It affects kings. It affects preachers. It affects church members.
You know, I, I, I can't, I can't fathom why independent funeral Baptist preachers,
you know, when there's a, when there's a man who calls himself a preacher over in,
in Hammond, Indiana, Jack Scott, who, who says that he believes that the Bible teaches
that holy communion, the Lord's Supper, which is for us to do in remembrance of the Lord Jesus Christ's death.
And he sits there and he writes a book and he preaches a message and he says, oh, no, no, no, no,
that has nothing to do with the Lord Jesus Christ.
But what you're actually doing is committing, committing sexual intercourse with God.
And he teaches this garbage. He teaches this class. And this pervert teaches this.
And you see independent funeral Baptist, and they might separate quietly.
They might say something here and there, but they don't separate. They don't fight the fight.
They don't stand up for what they know is right. And I, and I can't, I can't understand it other than the fact
they're giving into peer pressure. No one else wants to stand against it. You know, some pervert,
I can't, I don't even remember his name. What's that guy's name? Clank Cavaness.
I'll make sure they get this on the internet. Clank Cavaness, some pervert who calls himself a man of God.
He calls himself a preacher of the word of God. And he writes a sex manual.
He writes a pornography manual with pictures and everything.
And I, and I just think to myself, and then, and you can go on heartpreaching.com to find this.
And, and then, and then I see this picture and there's these, these so-called men of God,
Dr. Jack Trever, you know, the, the, the great man of God that he is.
And, and what's that lawyer's name? I can't remember his name now.
David Gist. This man of God. Yeah. You're losing all your support tonight, brother.
No, I'm just kidding. He doesn't, he works. He doesn't get support.
And I see all these men of God and I see this pervert right in the middle of it.
And I think to myself, what's wrong with these guys? And I just, I just can't think other than
they're just giving in to the pressure. They're sitting there at meat with this guy and they know it's wrong.
Maybe, I hope. And then, but they say, well, because of the people around me, I better just keep my mouth shut.
You know, but that's no better than what we do. Hey, maybe it's time you decide.
It doesn't matter what my coworkers think. It doesn't matter what my family thinks.
Hey, it doesn't matter what my, what my husband thinks. I'm going to go home tonight, ladies,
and I'm going to take all my pants and burn them tonight. I don't care what anybody else thinks.
I'm not going to give in to the pressure of doing what people think is right.
I'm going to follow God. I will not be brought under the power of any.
I'm talking about being brought under the power, for those of you who are single tonight,
I'm talking about being brought under the power of sexual sin.
You know, you have your little girlfriend there and she wants to go a little further.
You have your little boyfriend, young lady, and she wants to put his hands on you.
Don't you allow that pressure to take you? Don't you allow her to do that?
Hey, the passage we're in, 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 14, or verse 13,
this whole passage is dealing with fornication. The Bible says,
Meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them.
Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord and the Lord for the body.
And God has both raised up the Lord and will also raise up by his own power.
Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?
Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of in Harlot? God forbid.
What? Know ye not that he which is joined to in Harlot is one body?
For to save he shall be one flesh, but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body,
but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
You know, it's your responsibility, young man, young woman,
make sure when you get to that point where you're going to leave your mother and father
and cleave unto your wife that you get there pure. You get there a virgin.
You know, there's a lot of things that I'm ashamed of doing in my life, but I just praise God
that on June 5th, 2004, I hope I got that right, the day that I married my wife,
I thank God I got there and I was a virgin. I was slain. I was pure.
Hey, there's been a lot of things I've done in my life, but I'm glad I was taught to be pure.
And I'm telling you today, it's your job to flee fornication. It's your job to keep yourself clean.
It's your job to not allow yourself to be put in those divisions where you'll sin against God.
Flee fornication. I'm talking about being put under the power of fear pressure.
I'm talking about being put under the power of fear.
Romans chapter 8 verse 15, the Bible says, 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.
Look at those words again, it says, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again.
You know, many Christians tonight are just living their lives in fear.
Many would-be pastors tonight are living their lives in fear.
Many preachers that God is trying to get a hold of, that God is trying to call,
and they're just fighting God because they're living their lives in fear.
Listen, this thing about soul winning.
You're fooling yourself if you think you're the only one that's scared when they go soul winning.
You're fooling yourself if you're the only one, if you think you're the only one that has fear
when they go out and knock on a, I mean, who goes to a person who they've never met,
knock on their door, and is just confident? Nobody.
I've been out soul winning for years, and I still get scared.
And you know, you honestly just have to get over yourself.
Because you know, if you're saved tonight, somebody got you saved,
and they were just as scared of you as you are of your neighbor, but you know what?
They came and they gave you the gospel, they let you get that decision
where you could choose to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, this soul winning marathon, 23 people were saved.
I mean, I don't know if you understand that, but there's 23 people,
I know they're not here tonight, but there's 23 people who have been saved.
They will no longer see the flames of hell.
They'll never hear the Lord Jesus Christ say,
Depart from me, I never knew you.
There's 23 souls who we might not see them here.
Yes, they might go to a liberal church down the street.
Yes, they might go to some church somewhere else ten years from now.
Yes, they might never make a choice to turn from their sin,
but there's 23 people who are going to heaven
because 18 members of Faithful Word Baptist Church decided,
I will not live in fear, I will go soul winning, I will knock on that door,
I'm scared, I don't know what I'm doing, but I'm going to make the decision to go.
And if you're here tonight and you say,
Well, you know what, it's not my calling, it's not my thing, I don't really like it, I'm scared.
Just get over yourself.
Just decide, hey, hey, Saturday morning, next week, I will be here, soul winning.
Whenever you guys go soul winning, Tuesday nights or Thursday nights or any night or daily,
go soul winning, go find a neighbor and get them saved,
go find a co-worker and get them saved, go find a relative and get them saved,
go find somebody above on the street, get them saved.
Stop being scared, stop being afraid, stop living in fear.
Decide, hey, I'm not going to live under the power of any.
Remember you're thinking to yourself, hey, why is it wrong to allow ourselves to be put under the power of any?
Go back to the passage we were looking at, 1 Corinthians 6.
What's wrong with it?
I mean, the apostle Paul said all things are lawful.
Why can't I just do what I want?
Why can't I just live how I feel?
Why can't I just drink my alcohol, smoke my cigarette, watch my television, dress like I want?
Why?
1 Corinthians 6, the Bible says in verse number 19,
Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?
Which ye have of God, and ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price.
Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
See, the reason we preach like this, the reason Pastor Anderson preaches the way he does,
the reason we preach this hard preaching, this strong doctrine, is because you don't belong to yourself.
You never belong to yourself, by the way.
Before you were saved, you didn't belong to yourself.
You were of your father, the devil.
You were held captive to your sin.
You were in bondage.
You think you could live a good life and be happy and prosper in your life?
Before you were saved, you didn't belong to yourself.
The world had its hands on you and you were held in bondage and you were held in sin.
But when you got saved and you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and you were taken from death unto life
and you are going to go to heaven now, what you didn't know was that now you don't belong to yourself.
You didn't belong to yourself before, but now you belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost?
Your body for the New Testament church in the Old Testament, they had a physical temple.
In the New Testament, you're the temple.
Imagine if the temple that you read of in the Old Testament, the temple that Solomon built
and where the Ark of the Covenant was, where God lived, the house of God.
Imagine if in there they had adultery.
Imagine if people just went in there and committed fornication.
Imagine if they just went in there and did whatever they wanted, but you know what?
You're the temple now.
You're the temple of the Holy Ghost.
God lives in you.
The Holy Spirit of God abides in you and if you're here and you allow all that filth in your life,
you're allowing it in the temple of God.
Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you?
Which ye have of God and ye are not your own?
For ye are bought with a price.
That price was Jesus Christ dying on the cross.
That price was Jesus Christ going to hell.
You know why you were delivered of your sin?
You know you were saved?
I know Pastor Anderson preached a message, Saved From Your Sins.
Is that what it was called?
And you know, I was thinking about this and the Bible says that about Jesus Christ,
He who knew no sin became sin for us.
You know, and Jesus actually became sin.
He took our sin.
When He died, that sin died.
When He went to hell, that sin was paid for in hell.
That's why you're not held captive to your sin anymore.
That's why you're not held bondage to your sin anymore.
Hey, my sin or the bliss of that glorious thought,
my sin not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord O my soul.
Your sin has been taken and paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.
You don't belong to yourself anymore.
For ye are bought with a price.
You are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
I wonder myself, why do the Israelites, as do other Christians, decide to go back to bondage?
That's the first question I ask you.
I went over on a rampage and I never answered it.
Why do they live, why did they die?
How did they get to the point where they thought to themselves,
let's make a captain that'll take us back to Egypt.
Well, first of all, they were scared. Remember that fear?
They got saved, they got baptized, but they got to the place where God said,
okay, now I have battles for you to fight.
Now I have a land for you to conquer.
And they said, oh no, no, let's go back to the sin.
And you know, maybe you're here tonight and you've been saved, you've been baptized, I hope so.
If you're not, let's get baptized tonight.
I'll baptize you, amen, maybe Pastor Anderson will let me.
You've been saved and you've been baptized, but now you're at that door of Canaan's land
and maybe you're seeing those giants and you're saying, I can't do it.
Don't let that fear get you.
Don't let those emotions pick over you and just decide, hey, I'm not going to be brought under the power of any.
If God was powerful enough to part the Red Sea, if God was powerful enough to darken the sun to the Egyptians,
if God was powerful enough to take my sin and save me from my sin,
then he's powerful enough to lead me through my life and I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to fight that fight.
But see, here's the thing.
Why did they get to the place where they thought themselves, we can't do it, let's go back.
Let's just go back to Egypt.
I believe you can find that answer in Hebrews chapter 11.
If you go to Hebrews 11, verse number 13, the Bible says, I'll wait for you to get there.
Verse number 13, the Bible says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them
and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seeked country.
And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, there's a key.
And truly, if they had been mindful from that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country, that is in heavenly.
Wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.
I want you to go back to verse 14, it says, don't miss this, when you read the word of God,
try to understand what it's saying, don't miss what the Bible says.
For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
It says they declare plainly, they make it plain, they live their lives in a way where people understand
when they see them, they say that person is very plainly declaring with their life, with their work,
with their actions, they're declaring that they're seeking a country, they're pilgrims on this earth,
they don't belong here, they're going to a country that's heavenly.
And it says, things declare plainly that they seek a country,
and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came.
See, if you're wrapped up in the things of this world,
Pastor Anderson and I were talking last night about being wrapped up into money and the love of money.
And if your treasures are on this earth, then your heart is on this earth.
Your treasures are in heaven, your heart, your cares are in heaven.
And if you're mindful of the world you came from,
see, you're not going to be mindful of the world you came from if you spend your free time reading the word of God.
But you will be mindful of the world you came from if you spend your free time at Blockbuster.
Do you understand that?
You're not going to be mindful of the world you came from if you spend your days on your
knees praying for your unsaved relatives.
But you will be mindful of the world if you're listening to their music, if you're listening
to them on the radio, if you're into all these sports and into all this just trash.
But if you're mindful of the things of God, if they had been mindful of that country from
when they came out and then it says, they might have had opportunity to have returned
and that's where the independent, fundamental Baptist movement is at tonight.
They have returned to the sin that held them captive.
Do you understand that that filthy sin is a sin that Jesus Christ died for?
You know you say, I love Jesus, I love church, I love coming to church on Sunday morning
and hearing about Jesus, but yet you don't understand that that sin that you're living
in, the Apostle Paul said, what, shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
God forbid.
And he said, hey, that sin that you're living in is a sin that Jesus died for.
That's the reason he died, that's the reason he was humiliated and he was killed, that's
the reason he went to hell.
I mean think about the humility that it must take for God to create hell and send his son
there to hell, to create hell for Satan and his angels and then decide, oh, look at these
people, I love them, I'm gonna wrap myself in flesh, I'm gonna go down, I'm gonna die
and I'm gonna go to hell.
For that filthy sin you say, I can't quit, I can't quit drinking alcohol, I can't quit
smoking my cigarettes, I can't get rid of my TV, that's just too weird, I can't change
my clothing, I can't go soloing, I can't read the Bible, but that's the sin that killed
my Savior and you're here and you say, no, I can't do it and you don't understand that
you're just quitting yourself under the power of everything except the only person you should
be putting yourself under the power and that's the Lord Jesus Christ, the Bible, the Word
of God.
And he says, and truly if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out,
they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Verse 16 it says, but now they desire a better country that is unheavenly.
And catch this, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he hath prepared
for them a city.
If God is not ashamed to be called their God that seek a country, that means those who
don't seek a country, God is ashamed to be called their God.
And I don't know about you, but I don't want to get to heaven one day, I don't want to
live my life in a way where God looks down from heaven and he looks at me and he's ashamed.
I don't want to live my life, I don't want to spend my years on this earth in a way where
God looks down and he's ashamed, I want God to be proud of me.
I want to get to heaven and have God say, hey, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
I don't want to get there and God say, well, glad you're saved, and just kind of walk off.
I mean, wouldn't that be sad, you know, Pastor Steve Anderson gets there, well done, thou
good and faithful servant, Roger Jimenez gets there, glad you made it.
I mean, seriously, but you live your life in a way where you say, hey, hey, like God
is just going to say that to everybody, like God is just going to welcome everybody, hey,
you got saved, hey, you made it to Sunday morning church, well done, really, honestly.
When men have died to bring us the Bible, when men have gone to foreign fields and died
to bring people the gospel, when people have devoted their lives to bring the gospel to
those who they don't know, who they've never met, and we sit here in our little church
in our little seats, and we spend a little hour on Sunday night, and we think God's going
to get, we're going to get there and, oh, everything's going to be great.
God's going to hug us and say, hey, well done.
Really?
Do you really think that?
I think it's going to be, I think it's going to be a day when we're going to be ashamed,
let alone God be ashamed.
I don't want to live my life in a way where God says He's ashamed, I want to be in the
crowd that says, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He had prepared
for them a city.
You know, there's a song, it says, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full on His wonderful
face, and this is pretty much the only part of the song I like, it says, and the things
of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
The message I want to, the point I'd like you to get tonight is, why don't you decide
to live your life in a way where your eyes are always on Jesus, where your life is always
lived in a way where you're following the Lord Jesus Christ, and why don't you decide
tonight I'm not going to be put under the power of any, why don't you just say, don't
just say, oh, you know, I'm really convicted, I feel really bad, and then you go home and
you live the same.
Why don't you say, hey, I'm going to make a decision, I'm going to go home and I'm going
to change something, I'm going to find something that controls my life, that holds me under
its power, and tonight, tonight, before I go to bed, I'm going to get rid of it.
If it's the pants, burn them, if it's the TV, throw it out the window, whatever it is
that the Holy Spirit is telling you, hey, this is what you're allowing to control you,
why don't you decide tonight, I'm going to get rid of it, I'm going to grow, and I'm
going to live my life in a way where God won't be ashamed of me.
Don't let your life be under the power of anything but the Lord Jesus Christ, and don't
say in your heart, let's make a captain that will take us back to that bondage.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you so much for this opportunity to preach.
I really do not take it lightly.
And Lord, I really don't, my desire is not to come up here and just yell.
Lord, I don't want to waste these people's time, and I want to make sure when I bring
a message that they would decide, Lord, to grow, that they would make a decision, that
there would be a step taken tonight, Lord, help this church, help them tonight to grow,
help the individuals to decide, I'm going to live for God tonight, I'm going to look
at the things of God, I'm going to be mindful of the heavenly country.
Please bless these people.
Give me, Lord, for not being yielded to you like I should, and help me not to live under
the power of any.
In your precious name I pray, amen.
I'll turn the service over to Pastor Anderson.
All right, well that was great, let me read a verse for you.
Bible says in 1 John 2.28, and now little children abide in Him.