We are in chapter number two, look down at your Bibles in verse number one, it says,
Thou therefore my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Now we mentioned last week that the book of 1 Timothy mainly has to do with the behavior
in church and he's instructing Timothy how they should behave themselves in the house
of God which is the pillar and ground of truth.
It's very specific in each chapter as far as the topics are concerned, it's very much
an administrative aspect of the ministry, what to preach, how to preach, how to take
care of the widows, you know, things of that nature, who's qualified to be the pastor,
etc.
Now chapter, excuse me, 2 Timothy on the other hand is dealing more so with Timothy as a
man and he's basically telling him, hey, you got to have this head knowledge, which you
see in 1 Timothy, but now you got to make sure that you have fortitude, you got to make
sure that you're able to endure hardships and difficulties because the ministry is not
just about knowledge of God's word but it's being able to endure, okay, being able to
endure until the end, being able to withstand pressure, sufferings and afflictions because
of the fact that the ministry comes with those things, okay.
It comes with hardships, afflictions, it comes with enemies of God, it comes with satanic
attack and demonic attacks and God's man has to be prepared for that, okay, has to be prepared
to not only withstand it but endure it, go through it, have victory over it and teach
others to do the same exact thing and literally this entire book, 2 Timothy is dealing with
this matter of endurance, the importance of being persistent, the importance of just persevering,
the importance of just enduring when you go through difficult times, hard times, whether
it's in the ministry, life in general and that's why he starts off by saying, thou therefore
my son be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and that's the only way that we can
endure hardness in the Christian life is by being strong in the Lord and in the power
of his might because of the fact that we're limited in our power, are we not?
You know, we're limited in our ability and in our fortitude and we're going to get to
a point where we feel we can press forward no more but it's at that point that we need
to wait upon the Lord and he shall renew our strength and that's why it says that we need
to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
Verse 2 says, and the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same
commit thou to faithful men who shall be able to teach others also.
Now this is a common verse that people will use and rightfully so, it's a good secondary
application but people will often use this to describe discipleship which you can see
that in there.
It's important that we take a brand new Christian, a brand new person who's new to the Lord,
who's newly saved, she's newly saved and take them under our wing and teach them the
ways of the Lord.
You know, show them the way of God more perfectly and teach them how to go soul winning and
how to live a holy life and the things that we have heard from others, we should take
that knowledge and impart it unto those who are discipling to help them to mature and
that's definitely a principle that you can see there.
However what he's specifically referring to in context of the entire book is this, hey,
what I'm telling you about enduring, you need to teach others also that they can go out
and teach someone else because of the fact that in order for this machine to keep running,
we need people to be in it for the long haul and we need brand new Christians to rise up
and we need to teach them how to endure afflictions and hardships because if not, you know, this
train is going to come to a halt, okay?
Also it's important that when brand new Christians come to our church, we teach them knowledge,
we teach them doctrine but we teach them how to just kind of man up, okay?
We teach them how to endure difficulties and hardships, whether it's a death in the family,
whether it's just an emotional difficulty that they're going through, we help them through
those times and help them to endure.
You know, we bear the infirmities of the weak, the Bible says, ye that are strong ought to
bear the infirmities of the weak in order to make them strong, okay?
And so he's telling them, you know, the things that you've heard of me, heard of me among
many witnesses, you need to commit to faithful men who are able to teach others also.
We'll get into that in just a little bit.
Verse three says, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
So what is it saying?
Well, it says thou therefore.
So because you should be teaching others how to endure, you need to be able to endure too, okay?
You can't teach what you don't practice, right?
You can't preach what you don't practice.
And so he's saying, hey, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier.
Chapter one he says, you know, don't be afraid of my chain, don't be ashamed of my chain.
You know, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.
He's really just driving in this point to Timothy because Timothy's afraid.
And he's telling, he's admonishing him, hey, you need to endure this time.
You know, don't be ashamed of Jesus Christ.
Don't be ashamed of me, his prisoner.
You know, don't be ashamed of the word of God, stand up for truth whenever it needs
to be done and whatever persecution, whatever criticism you receive, endure it, okay?
Now maybe to a lot of you in here, that's not really a big deal.
You know, it's like if you're criticized for your faith, it kind of fuels you, it helps
you to go forward.
That really doesn't bother you.
But to some it does bother.
To some it's a very, it's a difficult thing.
Why?
Because sometimes they have family members or friends that they're really close to.
And they actually take into account their opinions.
I mean, they worry about what other people may think about them.
And we need to help those people to endure when they're criticized.
Because let me say this, folks, you know, yea, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus
shall suffer persecution.
If you're living a godly life, if you're serving the Lord, you will be criticized for
your beliefs, you will be criticized for your stance, you'll be criticized just for coming
to this church.
And you have to be able to endure that.
And what does it mean to be able to endure?
Don't make excuses for it.
Well, it's the only church I can really go to, you know, it's like, I don't agree with
everything they say, just stand up and say, yeah, it's my church.
First works Baptist Church, that's my church.
I'm there all the time.
You should come visit.
You know, endure that hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
So it's not a playground.
You know, it's a it's a battlefield.
The Christian life is not a playground.
It's a battlefield.
And God expects us to behave as soldiers of Jesus Christ.
He says in verse four, no man that warth entanglement himself with the affairs of this life, that
he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
So what is he specifically saying here in verse four, it's a lot of lot of good truth
here.
Okay.
First and foremost, God's chosen us to fight.
So in other words, the Christian life is not supposed to be lived passively.
Just letting the wars come to you, you just capitulating, you know, the, the Satan comes
and says, take a knee, you just take a knee, just bow, you know, you have no fortitude
whatsoever.
You can't, you don't know how to fight any battles, any wars, you just immediately throw
in the towel when a difficulty comes.
No, God says you need to be a soldier.
You need to be tough.
But he's also saying this, someone who is fighting someone who's a soldier, they don't
involve themselves with the affairs of this life.
Now what does he mean?
Don't spend your life fighting the meaningless battles.
Don't spend your life fighting the wrong battles and keep in mind, he's talking to
Christians here.
Why?
Because Christians have a tendency to get into the wrong wars and they will literally
spend their entire life fighting a cause that's not the cause of Christ.
Fighting for this purpose, you know, fighting for a specific cause or, or a goal in mind
and it's meaningless.
It's not going to bear any fruit whatsoever.
He says, look, if you're warring, you can't entangle yourself with the affairs of this
life.
If you're going to please God, which is the one who we're supposed to please the most.
The Bible tells us in First Timothy, fight the good fight of faith.
What does that tell us?
That tells us there's all kinds of battles, there's all kinds of fights.
We need to involve ourselves in the good fight, which is a what?
Of faith.
Of politics?
Of who's going to be the next president?
Of social injustices?
No.
Fight the good fight of faith, the Bible says.
Lay hold on eternal life where unto thou are also called and has professed a good profession
before many witnesses.
You know, for though we walk in the flesh, the Bible tells us in Second Corinthians 10,
we do not war after the flesh.
Look folks, there's people out there who are Christians, well-meaning, but they're involved
in the wrong fight.
Oh, we got to fight for our constitutional rights.
Why don't you fight for your Bible rights?
Why don't you fight the enemies of God?
Because those are the only battles that are going to yield rewards in the life to come,
folks.
Now what are the affairs of this life?
Go to Matthew 13, Matthew chapter 13, if you will, hold your place there in Second Timothy.
So he's saying in order to be an effective soldier, to be able to fight the good fight
of faith, we can't involve ourselves, we can't entangle ourselves in the affairs of
this life, the Bible says.
Now, you know, for some it is politics.
Some people, the affairs of this life involves who's going to be the next president.
You know, we got to make sure we protest.
We got to protest all these social injustices that are trying to strip away our rights and
therefore we need to go to the state capital and hold up some stupid sign and say free
us and give us back our liberty.
I'm talking about Bible believing Christians.
Let the unsafe do that.
Let unsafe people who don't know the Bible but want their freedom, let them do that.
Give that to the birds.
Bible believing Christians, we have a higher purpose.
People want to fight, okay, to impede the new world order.
It's not going to happen, folks.
And I'm not for the new world order, obviously.
So you say, well, what are you going to do to fight the new world order?
Expose it.
But nowhere in the Bible does it say that I need to go to Congress, that I need to go
to the steps of the capital, of the state capital with the sign in my hand to protest.
Those are the affairs of this life, folks.
And I'm telling you, Christians get sidetracked all the time when it comes to politics.
They become an ineffective Christian because they get involved in those things.
And look, some of them are well-meaning, they're sincere, they mean well, they literally think
their vote counts.
They're out there, they want to fight this, and folks, it's meaningless.
Someone told me, they're like, how can you say that, go back to your country if you don't
like the United States of America?
And it's just like, well, I'd go back to my country, but I don't believe in suicide because
I seek for a better country.
I'm a citizen of Israel, which is a buff.
So sorry, you're stuck with me while I'm here.
You know what?
It doesn't matter where I'm at.
My country is heaven, folks.
It's the new Jerusalem.
But this is the mentality of Christians today, where they're so earthly-minded that they're
just no heavenly good.
They're not eternally good.
They're eternally worthless sometimes because they're incapable of getting their mind off
of patriotism, nationalism, fighting for their rights here.
Go and assault Christ if you want to do something that counts for all of eternity.
And look, people who listen to me say this stuff.
There's some people out there that get super offended at this.
Even in the new IFB, folks, you know, I'm not on Facebook very much, but lately I have
been.
And I've seen some, oh, man, now I know why I'm not on Facebook as much.
You see stupid stuff on Facebook, people fighting the wrong battles, well-meaning people, folks,
who get involved in the wrong battles.
In the old IFB, you wonder why they're so doctrinally shallow, but yet they go so deep
in politics.
It shows you where they invest their time in studying.
You know, when we talk about Fox News Baptist, that's what we're talking about.
Their pastor is Sean Hannity, and now this new guy, Tucker, right, they spend more time
studying these guys than actually going to the word of God and finding out what's really
important.
Well, you know, pastor, you know, if we don't fight these social injustices, we're not going
to get the attention we need.
I want God's attention, folks.
We want God's favor on our life.
We don't need to be in the limelight of the world.
We want to be in God's limelight so He can use us to see more people saved.
Look, the only time I'm interested in being involved in government politics is in the
millennial reign.
That's the only time I will ever care about that, okay?
Now it's meaningless.
It's the affairs of this life.
And if you're going to be a good soldier of Jesus Christ, you can't involve yourself in
those things because it's going to take you away from your true purpose.
It's not going to give you the right mindset.
You know, show me in the Bible of where Peter and the apostles were just running for to
be kings and rulers, you know, in the New Testament.
You're not going to find it.
What you do find is John the Baptist preaching against the politicians of that day.
What you do find is Jeremiah and the prophets preaching against the rulers of that day.
You don't see them trying to take a vote to see if they can become a president.
You know, the only person who actually had a position of authority in the political realm
was Daniel.
But folks, the exception proves the rule.
Look at Matthew 13 verse 20, but he that received the seed in stony places, the same
as he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he not root in
himself.
Now how do we get rooted in the Lord?
Through the Bible.
The more we read the word of God, we meditate upon it, we think about it, the deeper our
roots go, okay?
But this guy, he gets saved, he receives the word, anon, he receives it with joy, but he
doesn't have a root.
Look what it says, yet hath he not rooted himself, but doereth for a while.
That word doereth simply means endure.
For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, by and by, he's offended.
You know, when the coronavirus pandemic comes around, by and by, they get offended.
And then they start turning their attention to the political fight.
Oh, we need a fight to not put on masks, and I hate masks.
I hate masks.
I try not to wear my mask as much as possible, okay?
And even when I wear it, it's like hanging, it's just very, you know, just like off my
ear.
They have to come to tell me.
My wife and I, we were shopping at Aldi, and we walked in there with the masks.
We don't put them on, people literally, people put them on as they're like in the shower
or something, like, oh, I mean, obviously you got to, there's a balance.
There's people who put them, I mean, they're by themselves in their car.
I'm like, you know, I'm driving, I'm like, look at that, I'm like, man, that poor fellow
with gloves and everything is just like, but we went to Aldi, and then I thought to myself,
I was like, did that sign says masks recommended?
And I asked him, I was like, hey, are we supposed to wear, you know, is it required to wear
masks in here?
He's like, well, it's not required, like, cool.
Not to make a political statement, because I don't like a piece of cloth on my face,
you know?
And it's just like, you know, you go to a restaurant or some drive-through or whatever,
they're wearing the masks, and then it's just like you order your food, and they're like,
excuse me?
I'm like, this is what I want, okay?
And it's obviously a lot of it is just unreasonable.
When they tell you to wear a mask to go into the restaurant, but as soon as you sit down,
you can take off the mask, it's like we've got this coronavirus down to a science.
It only follows you when you're walking into a restaurant, but as soon as like you sit
down, it's like, there's this force field where you're not going to be able to pass.
So obviously, it's stupid.
I know it is, okay?
And you know, I've had to buy like five masks from the people on the corner, because I just
forget it everywhere I go, because everywhere I go, I'm not used to just carrying a mask.
And they're like, you have to wear a mask, I'm like, but you know what, that's not a
hill I want to die on.
Why?
Because it's a stupid fight.
It's a stupid fight.
And people want to make it seem as though it's just the end of the world, you know,
to wear a mask.
And look, again, I'm not for it, I hate it, I try not to wear it as often as possible.
But it's nonsense.
But you know, the person who doesn't have root in himself, the person who's just not
thinking about the Bible, thinking about the Word of God, thinking about the work of God,
when persecution arises, tribulation, they're offended.
And look, this coronavirus, whether you think it's fake or not, it's gotten to a lot of
people.
It's gotten to a lot of people.
There's people that were in this church that were offended by that virus, okay?
You know, and it's unfortunate.
And look, folks, be rooted, don't entangle yourself with the affairs of this life.
He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care
of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, choked the word and he becometh unfruitful,
the Bible says.
So when the Bible talks about the affairs of this life, you can insert anything into
that, from political fights, social injustice fights and battles, or just plain, the lust
of other things entering in, the deceitfulness of riches.
These are the cares of this life, or the affairs of this life that really impede a Christian
and distract them from what the true fight is.
Whether it's fighting for your family, fighting for your wife, fighting for your spouse, fighting
for your children, fighting for the right type of doctrine, fighting for the souls of
men, they get distracted and they get involved in these little petty battles that really
mean nothing.
And look, people out there disagree on YouTube land, I don't really care if they do or not.
You know, it doesn't matter if they're older or younger, it's right here folks.
If you're going to be an effective soldier for Jesus Christ, you can't entangle yourself
in those affairs.
Now we can opinionate on them.
We have our views, but should we live for those things?
No, it's not worth it.
Go back to 2 Timothy 2, so it tells us, hey, in order for you to be a good soldier of Jesus
Christ, which should be a goal that we all have, we ought to desire to be a good soldier
of Jesus Christ, fighting the battles of the Lord, making sure that we're succeeding, we're
bearing fruit.
But number one, you can't entangle yourself with the affairs of this life.
Look what it says in verse 5, and if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,
except he strive lawfully.
By the way, just side note here, this is how you know people, they're very touchy when
it comes to the subject.
You opinionate on a public forum on how stupid you think it is, and they just jump on you.
They just jump on you, it's just like, chill out.
You know, they just jump on you, it's like, I can't believe it, we need to fight for all
constitutional rights, and all these things, and you know, all this stuff is taking place,
it's just like, where'd you read in your Bible today?
Is this thing getting you in the flesh?
If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Very important.
What are masteries?
Well the first part of the word there is master, right?
So if someone is striving for masteries, in other words, they're pressing towards dexterity,
being proficient, superior in what they do, right?
We're trying to master the Christian life.
And if we're striving for masteries of soul winning, if we're striving for the mastery
of the right type of doctrine, if we're striving for things that pertain to the kingdom of
God, we're not going to be crowned unless we strive lawfully.
So look folks, in other words, you know, have you ever heard of someone making it to the
top of the ladder only to realize they were on the wrong ladder, right?
There's tons of people out there that strive for masteries.
You know, they strive for masteries, they're striving for this goal, but then they reach
the top of the goal and it's just like, well this is all you're going to get in this lifetime
for that.
Obviously I'm not saying, you know, there's things in this life that will only end up
in this life, you know, things that you do.
You know, for example, though work is a spiritual thing, those are things that we do to take
care of our temper life, you understand?
But the Bible here is telling us that if you're striving, you better make sure that you're
striving lawfully.
What does that mean?
You better make sure you're fighting the Lord's battles.
Except he strived lawfully, the Bible says.
It has to be a legitimate fight, you understand?
You know, and look, there's people out there, you have your Christians who, you know, they
do street preaching.
And let's just, in theory, say that some of those guys are saved.
I know a lot of them are not, okay?
But let's say in theory, you have people out there that are saved and they're street preaching.
Do you really think they're going to get any rewards for that?
For holding a sign that says turn or burn?
You know, do you really think you get any rewards for putting up a sign on that little
gate, that little bridge under the freeway or over the freeway that says Jesus is the
way?
Do you really think you get a reward for putting up a sign on a fence that says believe on
Jesus Christ?
And by the way, I agree with that statement, amen.
But do you really think you get any rewards for that?
You don't.
You're supposed to open your mouth boldly to make known the mysteries of the gospel.
You think you're going to get rewarded for standing up against a politician for some
law that has nothing to do with Christianity?
No.
You don't get that.
You have to strive lawfully in order to be crowned.
It's not like when you get to heaven, we're in the millennial reign, Jesus Christ is going
to come to you with a crown and say, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
I saw all the signs that you made when you did that rally, you know, at your state capital
in California.
Great job for that.
Here's your special little crown that you're going to get.
No, folks, it doesn't work that way.
I don't know, a lot of people hate to hear that stuff.
But you know what?
This is not politics Baptist Church, folks.
This is not Republican Baptist Church.
This is not, you know, some politician Baptist Church.
This is a Baptist Church.
Go to 1 Corinthians 3, dedicating your life to politics does not grant your crown of life.
Fighting social injustices does not yield eternal rewards.
You have to strive lawfully.
Fight the battles that God is actually concerned about.
Look, I'm against abortion.
Did you know what is an unlawful battle is protesting outside of an abortion clinic.
Doesn't yield anything.
I'm for preaching the gospel.
But you know what, standing on the corner with the blow horn doesn't make doesn't help
you.
It just makes you sound like a jack in the box drive through.
It annoys people quite honest with you.
I know it annoys me.
Look at verse 11 of 1 Corinthians 3, it says, for other foundation can no man lay than that
is laid which is Jesus Christ.
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay,
stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest for the day shall declare because it shall
be revealed by fire.
And the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved
yet so as by fire.
Now keep in mind, we never get judged as Christians for the sins that we do, right?
The Bible says that he hath made them to be sin who knew no sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him.
So all of our sins, God judged our sins on Jesus Christ.
So what is the wood, hay, and stubble then?
If the wood, hay, and stubble is not our sins because we're not going to get judged according
to our sins, what is that?
That is the unprofitable works that you did on this earth, the things that were just meaningless,
right?
Because you can't say it's nothing, you can't say it's sin.
We've already been forgiven of our sins.
You can't say it's the past sins, it's the future sins, you can't say anything else because
in context, this is referring to the work that we do, right?
So apparently, there's some works that will not be burned and some that will.
So what can we gather from these verses?
This is what we can gather.
There's things that Christians do that they consider to be work, striving, they're just
going to burn.
It's wood, hay, and stubble.
It will not withstand the test of the judgment seat of Christ.
Why?
Why Jesus?
Because how does that benefit the kingdom of God, that's why.
How does fighting social injustices, you know, man, ever since I put that thing about should
Christians support Black Lives Matter, people mad, older mad, and I'm talking about these
lame watered-down, limp-wristed, sissified Christians out there who are offended, oh,
how dare you, God loves everyone.
You know, I can't believe you said that, you know, the black people have been oppressed
for so many years, and you're a Christian, God is love, you know, all these quotes that
they say that they think that Jesus made, God loves everyone, and how dare you, it's
like, can you show me like a verse here, I hear a lot of, I see a lot of text on here,
but not a whole lot of Bible.
And they think, you know, these liberal churches, they think, well, BLM, we got to support them,
and again, I'm not for police brutality, and I know it exists.
Police brutality is real, folks, you know, and these Fox News Baptists need to get their
head out of the sand and stop acting like police can do no wrong.
There's some wicked police out there, okay?
But again, not all of them, but there are wicked police out there, just as there's sincere
people who are probably involved in Black Lives Matter, but there's also some wicked
reprobate bastards who are in that too.
Some children of Satan who are there just to make an insurrection to cause chaos and
to violate people, and no Christians to support Black Lives Matter.
It's a wicked organization, folks, it's promoting sodomy, faggotry, folks.
They're trying to normalize transgenderism, they're trying to normalize animals, folks.
Beasts that are made to be taken and destroyed, according to the Bible, and you're trying
to tell me that as a Christian, you want to fight for them?
Woe unto you.
Shouldn't that help the ungodly and love them to hate the Lord?
Therefore, wrath is upon thee from before the Lord, that's what the Bible tells us.
I will not support any organization that loves faggots, there, I said it, pedophiles, faggots,
and transgenders, it's the month of June, all fags should die, there, I said it.
And you know what?
I don't care if they hide behind this whole cloak that says, well, we're trying to fight
for racism.
You know what?
This is how I fight for racism, or against racism, it's through the Bible, by getting
people saved.
For in Christ Jesus, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, bond or free, male or female,
all you're wanting Christ Jesus, the Bible says.
And I refuse to support an organization that loves faggots, why?
Because fags are people who violate others.
Fags are people that rape children, they murder them, but no one wants to talk about that.
Hey, children's lives matter, right?
You want to fight for black people?
You want to say that black people, black people, black lives matter?
How about the aborted black babies then?
When's the last time there was a movement to fight for all the black babies that have
been aborted over the decades?
Bunch of nonsense.
Wrong fight, you limp-wristed weenies, you democratic Christians, bunch of liberals.
Read the Bible.
Oh, you should, how are you just going to call them faggots?
That's not very Christian.
There are a bundle of sticks that are going to be burned, that's what it means, folks.
How are you going to offend them at the word homo, it's just short for homosexual.
How are you going to call them homos?
What do you call them?
Homosexual?
Well, you should call them gay.
Nothing happening about those homos.
Makes me mad.
There's Christians out there that fight for that stuff.
Wake up!
We should strive for masteries and we should strive lawfully.
Well, that's, yeah, but you know, that's not, how are you going to win people?
Did you see all these people that we won today?
What do you mean how?
We don't win people by fighting social injustice.
You win people by preaching the gospel.
You don't win people by joining some ungodly movement, you win people by preaching the
gospel.
Yeah, but you're going to scare a lot of people away.
Good, I'm probably scaring away all the homos.
I don't want homos in my church.
Yeah, but what if they want to repent?
They're lying.
No homos allowed in our church, folks.
So check on that.
I ain't got to worry about that.
Look at the sign on my door.
In beautiful calligraphy, it says no homos allowed, brought to you in part by Chris Cervantes.
The way we win people is by preaching the gospel.
The way we win safe people is by preaching the word of God, unfiltered.
Go to 1 Corinthians 9.
So if we're going to strive for masteries, we've got to strive lawfully.
We have to make sure that we're fighting the battles that God wants us to fight, as uncomfortable
as it may seem sometimes.
We need to go against the grain, according to the Bible.
And sometimes people are like, well, you know, Fox News, they say some right things, you
know, sometimes.
Yeah, they have to lie to you a little bit, or they have to tell you the truth a little
bit to mix it in with the lies in order to deceive you, right?
But folks, just the name in itself, Fox News.
You know whether their shows are on Fox?
I mean, you think it's like a Christian television program or something?
That thing is as Christian as TBN, which is not very Christian, okay, just to let you
know that.
My old pastor used to say the TBN is the totally bogus network.
That's what it is.
Look at 1 Corinthians 9.24 says, know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but
one receiveth the prize, so run that ye may obtain.
And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.
In other words, hey, if you're striving for superiority, if you're striving for dexterity
in the Christian life, you need to be temperate, you need to be disciplined, right?
Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we, an incorruptible crown.
So let me ask you, Christians, what are you trying to get by fighting these social injustices
and being involved in politics?
Do you want that little, that leafy little corruptible crown?
Do you want the glory that comes with that, that only lasts in this lifetime?
Or are you trying to get an incorruptible crown?
Because the incorruptible crown only comes when you fight when you strive lawfully.
He says, I therefore so run, not as in certainty, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air,
but I keep under my body, bringing it to subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to
others, I myself should be a castaway.
These who do not strive lawfully, Christians who are not striving for the right masteries,
they become castaways.
What is that?
You just become a worthless Christian.
Because the gospel no longer becomes the centerpiece of your life.
It's fighting these political battles and all these other things that don't matter.
They don't matter.
And I wish I can like just shake people and say, the new world order is still coming no
matter what you do.
It's in the Bible.
Have you read Revelation?
You can't stop it.
We were supposed to just take it lying down?
No, you're supposed to priest the gospel and priest the word of God.
That's what you're supposed to do.
Stay in your Bible lane.
If God wanted us to vote, he would have told us.
If God wanted us to be patriots, he would have told us.
Some of them told me, they're like, how can you say patriotism is not biblical?
You know, patriotism is in the Bible.
Pray for Israel.
Peace people within thy walls.
Piss people within thy walls for Israel.
And they need to read what those verses are actually talking about, folks.
They never read them in context.
They just cherry pick all these verses to make it seem like, oh, you know, God's calling
us to be patriots.
He wants us to be all American and red, white, and blues and Republican, bless God.
Ha, this Tony Hudson type of mentality.
They want us to wave the Babylonian flag around.
It's not biblical, folks.
You don't see any of the apostles waving flags around.
Well, tell me this.
Was Jesus just a good old fashioned Roman?
Was he just for like, was he saying, hey, disciples, when the ballot comes and it's
time to vote a new emperor and we've got to make sure we vote Roman.
We've got to make sure, hey, we've got a Caesar, man.
Caesar is the man.
We've got to make sure he stays in office because he's fighting for, you know, our conservative
rights.
I didn't hear anything about that, right, in the Bible, you know.
So these guys become castaways.
They just become worthless.
Why are they castaways?
Because it's like you have so much potential, you have the gospel within you.
You know, you know the Bible, but yet you choose to fight a battle that is just a meaningless
fight that will yield no fruit.
It's just for the temporal glory.
It's for that corruptible crown, you know.
And look, I'm for exposing this nonsense and exposing the New World Order, exposing vaccines.
That's why we're still making that documentary.
But what's the purpose behind that, to see people saved?
I'll be honest with you.
I'm not joining a rally to go fight against vaccines.
People invite me to those things all the time and they say, hey, you want to come to this
rally?
Okay, cool.
That's all.
I'm not trying to offend them, I'm just saying, yeah, that's the thing that you do.
Someone asked me, they're like, how come you never, I'm not interested, it's not my thing,
you know.
I don't like holding signs.
Go back to 2 Timothy, look at verse 6, the husband that laborerth must be first partaker
of the fruits.
Consider what I say and the Lord give the understanding of all things.
Consider that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to
my gospel.
Verse 9, wherein I suffer trouble as an evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not
bound.
So why is he suffering trouble?
Because of the gospel, the word of God.
And he's saying, look, I'm suffering trouble even to the point where he's being arrested,
he's being thrown into prison, he's bound.
That's what that's referring to.
But then he counteracts that by saying, but you know what, the word of God is not bound.
And what he's saying is this, I'm bound, but you know what, ultimately, God's gonna let
me get out of prison so I can preach the word of God again, because the word of God is not
bound.
And if the word of God is in me, and I'm the one who's supposed to deliver the word of
God, God's gonna allow me to go free so I can keep preaching the Bible.
Verse 10 says, therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Now, there's this teaching that basically anytime the Bible uses the word elect, it's
automatically referring to the Jews in Israel, okay?
This is only half true, literally, because when the word is used in the Old Testament,
it is referring to Israel.
Because during the Old Testament, they were considered the elect, God considered them
to be the chosen people of God in the Old Testament.
But the Bible tells us that now in the New Testament, we're in the New Covenant, a better
Testament which is established upon better promises with a better mediator, which is
Jesus Christ.
Go with me if you would to 1 Peter chapter number one, 1 Peter chapter number one.
So in the New Testament, the Jews are no longer the elect of God.
They've been replaced, according to the Bible.
This is why we believe in what's referred to as replacement theology.
Now, you say, well, how can you say you believe that the church replaced Israel?
No, because I don't believe in the universal church.
I believe all believers, people who believe in Christ, people who are saved, replace the
nation of Israel.
The spiritual house, according to the Bible, the spiritual nation is that which replaces
the nation of Israel as being the chosen people of God, okay?
The Bible says in Romans 833, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth.
Romans 11 verse five says, even so at this present time, also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
And then verse number seven says, what then Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh
for, but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.
So how can you tell me that Israel is the elect when it literally gave a distinction
between the elect and Israel?
It says Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, but the election hath obtained
it.
Who's the election?
Believers.
Romans 1 verse one, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the stranger scattered throughout
Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, oh, these are these Jewish nations, right?
Nope.
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification of the Spirit
until obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you and peace
be multiplied.
Go to chapter two, chapter two and verse seven.
So he just named Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia, and he says, you guys are
elect.
Because you believed on Jesus Christ.
It says in verse seven of first Peter chapter two, unto you therefore, which believe he
is precious, but unto them, which be disobedient, referring to the Jews, the stone, which the
builders disallowed, the same has become the head of the corner and a stone of stumbling,
a rock of offense, even to them, which stumble at the word being disobedient, where into
they are, they were appointed.
But ye, you know, those in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Bithynia, Asia, ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people that ye should show forth
the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
So go back to second Timothy.
Now the reason I say that is because people will take a verse like this in verse 10 and
say, well, the elect is referring to the Jews, but hold on a second.
Where does the Bible say that we have to endure all things in order to save anybody?
In order that anybody might obtain the salvation, which is, which is in Jesus Christ by enduring?
It doesn't make any sense.
We say, well, what does this mean then?
What this is referring to, because remember it's referring to enduring and a concept that
we see over and over again in the Bible is this, they that endure until the end, the
same shall be saved.
That salvation is not referring to the salvation of the spirit.
It's referring to the salvation of the flesh.
And one thing that the Bible constantly reiterates is the fact that when we endure hardships,
God will deliver our flesh, which is exactly what the apostle Paul is talking about.
Now, how is it that the elect referring to Christians will obtain salvation by our endurance?
I'll tell you how, when you endure hardship, especially if you're being persecuted, you
embolden others to endure as well.
So people who were once afraid of persecution, people who were once afraid of affliction
and suffering, if they see you go through it and endure, they're no longer afraid because
they think to themselves, well, he did it.
I can do it too.
You ever experience or see someone that's just bold than the Lord.
And if there is an ounce of fear in you, it just completely dissipated.
Once you saw how bold they are, you know what you're like, yeah, hey, faggots, yeah, preach
the word of God.
And then you just grow bold.
This is why it's important that when you go so when you go two and two, and you go with
someone who knows what they're doing, because when you go with a seasoned soul winner who
knows how to preach the gospel, it emboldens you to preach as well.
So you may go out there afraid, but once you see them do it after the third or fourth door,
you want to do it.
You know, let me take this door, I think I can do this too.
Why?
Because an example delivers you from fear.
The example delivers you from the difficulty that you're going through.
So he's saying, I suffer troubles and evildoer, but I'm enduring all things for the elect's
sake that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus.
Now let me ask you this, how did the Apostle Paul die?
Did the Romans just chop his head off as it's so commonly reported amongst old IVs?
They chopped his head off.
No, he just died in old age.
Preaching the word of God, just a good death.
Okay?
And you know what the Bible tells us?
He obtained the salvation of the Lord, because even in the midst of being in Rome and arrested,
they never heard him.
Why?
Because he was preaching the word of God.
And here's what I personally believe.
Anybody who's preaching the word of God, you're seen soul saved, and you go through a difficult
time where you're being persecuted, I believe God will deliver you.
I believe it.
Even in the end times when you go in, if the tribulation so happens in our lifetime, and
you go through great tribulation, I believe God will deliver you if you're out there preaching
the word of God.
If you're out there seeing soul saved, you say, what about those who are dying?
Because aren't there people dying in the end times who are Christians?
Well, one, yes, it's lame Christians who die, who are not preaching the word of God.
And two, it's those who refuse deliverance, that they may obtain a better resurrection.
That's what I believe.
And I referenced that in my sermons in Revelation.
Go with me if you would to Philippians chapter one, hold your place there.
So look, what I'm saying is this, we need to endure all things for the elect's sake.
So when brand new people come in here, and look, don't expect everyone to be bold like
you when they first come.
You've been in our church for a while, you're going to get some boldness.
You know, maybe when you first came, you weren't very social.
You're just kind of timid and not social.
You're here for a couple months.
And now you just know, you just can't shut up now.
I'm just kidding.
You know, you're just you know, you're talkative.
Well, you know, that's how people are when they first come.
They come and they're a little timid, they're a little shy.
But the more they get around other bold people, they become bold themselves because it rubs
off on them.
Look what it says in Philippians one verse 12, but I would you should understand brethren
that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of
the gospel, so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and all the places.
In other words, hey, people know that I'm arrested for preaching the Word of God.
My bonds, everyone knows about it.
Says in verse 14, and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confident by my bonds are
much more bold to speak the word without fear.
So you would think it's the opposite.
You would think that it because they saw the Apostle Paul be arrested.
Everyone's like, Oh, man, I don't want to preach the Word of God, I want to get arrested.
It actually has the opposite effect.
And this is the formula that God has.
So this is why, you know, for example, you have people who, you know, let's say a preacher
dies, you know, who's a who's a popular preacher.
You know, if they die in the Lord, or if they get killed for preaching the Word of
God, it's just going to make that person so much more, what if they kill Pastor Anderson?
It's gonna make them even more famous.
If they killed any of us, the best thing that happened, the best thing that can happen to
my YouTube channel is for me to die and explode.
Why?
Because then people are like, wow, this person died for his faith.
What is it?
Why?
And it's been like that throughout history.
Anytime people have died for their faith, the Word of God just increases so much the
more because of it, okay?
Anytime there's persecution, more people grow bold in the Lord.
There's more that I want to say about that, but I'm almost out of time.
Go back to Second Timothy chapter two.
So he's saying, I endure all things for the elect's sake, why?
So they can obtain that salvation, so they can experience the deliverance of God.
Because God, look, we're already saved.
God's already delivered our souls, so to speak, right?
But you know what?
Our flesh, there's times when we question whether God's going to deliver us physically,
but you know, if we endure, the Word of God abided strong in us, we're going to be delivered
as well.
Verse 11 says, it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him, we shall also live
with him.
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
If we deny him, he will also deny us.
If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
I'm going to finish right here.
Go to Hebrews chapter six, because I'm pretty much out of time.
So let me explain a couple of things from Second Timothy two.
You're going to Hebrews chapter six.
He says here in verse 12 in Second Timothy, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him.
So he's giving us a big promise there.
He says, look, if you're willing to suffer, you got a big reward coming for you.
My reward is with me, right?
And he's saying if you suffer, you will reign with me.
Why?
Because the Bible tells us in Romans chapter number eight, that we're heirs of God and
joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him.
So believing on Christ gives us the inheritance of eternal life.
Reigning with Jesus makes us joint heirs, joint heir rulers with Jesus Christ, because
there's something called the millennial reign.
And in those thousand years, if you suffer persecution in this lifetime, if you go through
those things, God is going to reward you with reigning, with ruling over cities, etc.
And then he says, if we deny him, he will also deny us.
Now people want to use that to say, you see, if you deny Jesus, you know, you're just going
to lose your salvation.
No, it's referring to the fact that if you deny him, he's going to deny you that reward.
Because the opposite, if a person chooses not to suffer, what do they choose if they're
choosing to deny the Word of God?
And don't we have an example of that in the Bible with Peter?
Peter was a saved man.
And what did he do?
I know not the man.
It's like saying I'm not a Christian, right?
Christians can do that.
He says, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Now, what does he mean by that?
Well, believe not is not referring to, well, he's just going to stop believing that he's
saved, as some would allegedly say that that's what it means, right?
Because this is all in context of being rescued physically.
So sometimes people can get to a point where they lack so much faith that they're like,
man, I don't know if God's going to deliver me from this, from the sickness, from this
persecution, from death.
If we believe not, the Bible says here, he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Kind of a cryptic verse here.
We're going to explain what it means.
Go to Hebrews 6, verse 13.
Hebrews 6, this portion here is dealing with the promise that God gave to Abraham.
And he encourages Abraham to endure in order to obtain that promise.
Verse 13 says, for when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater,
he sware by himself saying, surely blessing I will bless thee and multiplying I will multiply
thee.
And so after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise for men, barely swear
by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them and end of all strife, wherein
God willing more abundantly to show into the heirs of promise, the immutability of his
counsel confirmed it by an oath that by two immutable things in which it is impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon
the hope that is set before us.
So in verse 13, it tells us that he sware by himself.
This is why when the Bible says, if we believe not, he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself.
Because even if we don't get delivered, our physical body does not get delivered in our
lifetime.
Because one day if you're saved, your physical body will be delivered.
Because we're waiting to win the redemption of our body.
Now surely, we want to see that deliverance sooner than later if we're going through persecution.
But let's say, theoretically speaking, you die for serving the Lord, it's okay, God is
not a man that he should lie.
You will still get delivered one day because your body will be delivered.
The Holy Spirit of God abides within you.
He is the earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchased possession
unto the praise of his glory, the Bible says.
But either way, if we believe not, if you say I can't believe, therefore I'm not going
to keep preaching.
Well, it's okay, he cannot deny himself, he's still going to resurrect you.
He's still going to deliver your flesh one day.
Now if you choose to believe, he's going to deliver you.
And you'll still experience the resurrection.
But if you choose not to believe, not to serve God, that's okay, he can't deny himself.
He's still going to deliver you and that's why we have a strong consolation and as the
Bible says here in verse 18, we have fled from refuge to lay hold upon the hope that
is set before us.
So look, if you're a coward, it's okay.
If you're afraid to die, it's okay, you're still going to get to resurrect the body no
matter what.
That's how good God is, amen?
Because the salvation does not only include our soul, it includes our body as well.
But I don't know about you, I want to be delivered in this lifetime if I go through things.
Not because I'm afraid, but rather because I just want to see the salvation of the Lord.
And if you read the book of Psalms, you often see that.
David talked about the salvation of the Lord.
It's not necessarily always referring to the salvation of his soul, it's talking about
the salvation of his flesh.
He had so many enemies that were out to get him, but he also often talked about the salvation
and the deliverance of God.
Way more to go over, but we ran out of time here.
The main gist of this chapter is this, is that it carries on that same thought of enduring.
And making sure that when you go through hardships, you just plow through it, believe that God
could deliver you, but it's okay.
If you don't want to believe that, he still abides faithful, he cannot deny himself.
You will still be delivered one day in the resurrection, amen.
Spire heads, another word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word, thank you for the example of the Apostle Paul
and these admonishments and instructions that he's given to Timothy.
Help us, Lord, because we're all going to go through difficult times.
Yea, there may be times that our lives are threatened, people want to take our lives
or may attempt to, and that can cause fear in our hearts, Lord, but at the end of the
day, we have eternal life.
We know that you will deliver us if we keep preaching the word, but if our faith wanes
and we don't believe, you still abide faithful, you cannot deny yourself.
And we know that you swore by yourself, Lord.
Thank you so much for the promise of eternal life, thank you for the redemption of our
bodies that we will receive one day, and for the earnest of our inheritance, which is the
Holy Spirit.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Please turn to your song, it's a song from 353.