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Alright, good morning everyone. Welcome to First Works Baptist Church. Let's all find our seats.
As you find your seat, please grab a song book. Turn to song number 409.
Song number 409, the fight is on. Let's all stand together for this first song, if you are able.
Song number 409, the fight is on. All together, nice and strong on that first verse.
🎵The fight is on. The trumpet sound is ringing out. The cry to arms is heard afar and near.
The Lord of hosts is marching on to victory. The triumph of the Christ will soon appear.
The fight is on, O Christian soldier, and face to face in stern array.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engaged today.
The fight is on, but be not weary. Be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God before us is better or us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
The fight is on, around ye soldiers brave and true. Jehovah leads and victory will assure.
Go buckle on, the armor God has given you and in His strength forever will endure.
The fight is on, O Christian soldiers, and face to face in stern array.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engaged today.
The fight is on, but be not weary. Be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God before us is better or us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
The fight is on, around ye soldiers brave and true. Jehovah leads and victory will assure.
The fight is on, O Christian soldiers, and face to face in stern array.
With armor gleaming and colors streaming, the right and wrong engaged today.
The fight is on, but be not weary. Be strong and in His might hold fast.
If God before us is better or us, we'll sing the victor's song at last.
Amen. Wonderful singing. Let's start our service this morning with a word of prayer.
Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for giving us another day that we can come to your house, Lord,
and we thank you for bringing us all here safely, and Lord, we thank you for our salvation, for your word, Lord,
and for the fight that you've allowed us to be in, for your name, Lord, and we just ask that you please bless the service this morning,
and please bless the singing most of all. Please feel pastored to be here with your spirit as he preaches unto us,
and give us your spirit also in the congregation that we may leave here edified. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
You may be seated. Turn to song number 310. Song number 310, Footprints of Jesus.
Song number 310, all together on that first verse.
Sweetly, Lord, have we heard Thee calling, Come, follow me,
And we see where Thy footprints falling Lead us to Thee.
Footprints of Jesus That make the pathway glow,
We will follow the steps of Jesus Where'er they go,
Though they lead o'er the cold, dark mountains Seeking His sheep,
Or along by Siloam's fountains Helping the weak.
Footprints of Jesus That make the pathway glow,
We will follow the steps of Jesus Where'er they go,
If they lead through the temple, Holy preaching the word,
Or in homes of the poor and lowly Serving the Lord.
Footprints of Jesus That make the pathway glow,
We will follow the steps of Jesus Where'er they go,
Then at last when on high He sees us Our journey done,
We will rest where the steps of Jesus end At His throne.
Footprints of Jesus That make the pathway glow,
We will follow the steps of Jesus Where'er they go,
All right, great singing. Thank you for being here this morning.
Welcome to First Works Baptist Church.
Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song,
which will be 106. If you want to get that ready in your songbooks,
abide with me, song number 106.
If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand
and one of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there.
Of course, our Sunday morning service is at 1030 Sunday evening at 5 p.m.
and then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock.
We are currently going through the book of Matthew
which is a verse by verse Bible study on Thursday nights.
So hope to see you there. We are a family integrated church
and so infants and children, they stay with their parents.
We don't have Sunday school classes or nurseries,
but for your convenience, there is a mother baby room located in the back of the building.
Should your child need some distraction, if they need to get changed,
you need to take them out of the service for a little bit.
You can do so. Speakers and screens are available in there
as well as changing tables and you can bring them into the service
at your discretion. So that's available for you.
Of course, the rooms in the back are for the mothers
and dads, if you are on diaper duty, we do have a men's restroom right here
available with the changing table there as well.
And dads, if you are taking out your kids, just to distract them a little bit,
if they are kind of getting out of hand, you can use the foyer
and there are speakers and screens available there as well
so you can still tune into the preaching.
Today is the September birthdays and so let's get some birthdays here.
Whose birthday is in September? Do we have any birthdays?
Okay, one there, one here, okay one right there, right there.
Alright, don't be embarrassed. I know September is not the best month
but you know, hey, it's what God gave you so be proud of your month.
Anybody else? Did I miss anybody?
Alright, we are going to sing Happy Birthday to those in September.
Ready, here we go.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,
happy birthday God bless you, happy birthday to you.
Alright, hope you enjoyed all those healthy donuts there in the back.
You see the soul winning teams and times.
If you would like to learn how to preach the gospel,
share your faith and share the word of God with someone
so they can get saved, whether that be your family or friends.
You can see me after the service will put you on a team
where you can receive some training for that.
And of course we have different soul winning teams and times.
Times that you can participate in and learn how to preach the gospel.
That's on the left hand side there.
You see the list of expecting mothers.
Please continue to pray for them.
And the list is growing because we have another family in our church expecting
and that is Brother Marcus and Miss Ariel, amen.
So give them a round of applause.
Congratulations to them.
You see the important reminders there at the bottom.
You can read that on your own.
Some of the upcoming church events.
Next Monday, September 11th is the TJ Soul Winning.
And so you do need a passport.
Not to go there but to come back.
And so if you want to participate in that you can.
We do want to only encourage Spanish speakers
who are able to preach the gospel in Spanish to participate.
And so if you have any questions about that you can see Brother Ulysses Hernandez.
And we will be leaving the building approximately around 9 o'clock.
And so we're looking forward to a great time there.
Lord, we'll see a lot of people saved.
And then on Saturday, September 16th at 9.30 a.m.
there's a Fontana Soul Winning marathon as well.
Meet at Veterans Park. You have the address there.
If you have any other questions you can see Brother Ulysses.
Sunday, September 17th is our sixth year anniversary.
And we're looking forward to a great anniversary day.
And it's going to be exciting.
We don't know exactly what we're going to do.
It's just going to be exciting.
For sure it's going to involve like food.
And you know we'll add to that later on.
And so we'll give you more info as we approach.
And then the home school field trip is coming up on Friday, September 29th.
That'll be at Kids Space Children's Museum at 9 a.m.
You have the address there.
Of course that's free.
All our activities at our church are 100% free.
So you don't have to pay.
If you want to participate in that you can see Brother Ulysses.
Or you can talk to my wife for more details.
So we can plan accordingly with that.
And so and by the way there is a sign up sheet in the back at the Usher station for the Soul Winning marathon.
If you can sign up so we can get a head count of everyone that's coming.
It would help us a lot to coordinate and organize the event.
And so that is it.
You see there no food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee.
Please make sure you're not loitering in the four year fellowship hall during the preaching service.
We've taken out your children to distract them for a little bit.
And then quiet time this afternoon is from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Take advantage of that. Take a nap. Take a power nap to get ready for Sunday night service.
And then lastly please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service.
Let's go ahead and sing our next song. Song number 106, Abide With Me.
Song number 106, Abide With Me.
All together on that first verse.
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide.
When other helpers fail and comforts flee.
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life's little dames.
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away.
Change and decay in all around I see.
O thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need thy presence, every passing hour.
What but thy grace can, for the tempter's power.
Who like thyself my guidance they can be.
Through cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me.
Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes.
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies.
As morning breaks and earth's vain shadows flee.
In life, in death, oh, Lord, abide with me.
Amen. Wonderful singing.
At this time, the ushers will come forth to receive the offering.
You can turn your Bibles to Ezekiel chapter 33.
Ezekiel chapter number 33.
Ezekiel chapter 33.
The Bible reads,
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people
and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land,
if the people of the land take a man of their coasts
and set him for their watchmen,
if when he seeth the sword come upon the land
he blow the trumpet and warn the people,
then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet
and taketh not warning, if the sword come and take him away,
his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning,
his blood shall be upon him.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
But if the watchmen see the sword come and blow not the trumpet
and the people be not warned,
if the sword come and take any person from among them,
he is taken away in his iniquity,
but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So thou, O son of man,
I have set thee a watchman under the house of Israel.
Therefore, thou shalt hear the word at my mouth
and warn them from me.
When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man,
thou shalt surely die.
If thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way,
that wicked man shall die in his iniquity,
but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way
to turn from it,
if ye do not turn from his way,
he shall die in his iniquity,
but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Therefore, O thou son of man,
speak unto the house of Israel.
Thus ye speak, saying,
If our transgressions and our sins be upon us
and we pine away in them,
how should we then live?
Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God,
I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked,
but that the wicked turn from his way and live.
Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways,
for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
Say unto the children of thy people,
The righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver
him in the day of his transgression,
for as for the wickedness of the wicked,
he shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth
from his wickedness,
neither shall the righteous be able to live
for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth.
When I shall say to the righteous
that he shall surely live,
if he trust to his own righteousness
and commit iniquity,
all his righteousnesses shall not be remembered,
but for his iniquity that he hath committed,
he shall die for it.
If the wicked do that which is lawful and right,
if the wicked restore the pledge,
give again that he had robbed,
walk in the statutes of life,
without committing iniquity,
he shall surely live, he shall not die.
None of his sins that he committed
shall be mentioned unto him,
he hath done right.
He hath done that which is lawful and right,
he shall surely live.
Yet the children of thy people say,
The way of the Lord is not equal,
but as for them, their way is not equal.
When the righteous turneth from his righteousness
that he shall live thereby,
yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal.
O ye house of Israel,
I will judge you every one after his ways.
And it came to pass in the twelfth year
of our captivity, in the tenth month,
in the fifth day of the month,
that one that had escaped out of Jerusalem
came unto me, saying, The city is smitten.
Now the hand of the Lord was upon me in the evening,
afore he that was escaped came,
and it opened my mouth until he came to me
in the morning, and my mouth was opened
and I was no more dumb.
Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Those wastes of the land of Israel speak,
saying, Abraham was one, and he inherited the land,
but we are many, the land has given us for inheritance.
Wherefore, say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God,
Ye eat with the blood, and lift up your eyes
toward your idols, and shed blood,
and shall ye possess the land?
Ye stand upon your sword, you work abomination,
you defile everyone as neighbor's wife,
and shall ye possess the land?
Say thou thus unto them, Thus saith the Lord God,
As I live, surely they that are in the wastes
shall fall by the sword,
and him that is in the open field
will I give to the beast to be devoured,
and they that be in the forts and in the caves
shall die of the pestilence.
For I will lay the land most desolate,
and the pomp of her strength shall cease,
and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate,
that none shall pass through.
Then shall they know that I am the Lord,
when I have laid the land most desolate
because of all their abominations
which they have committed.
Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people
still are talking against thee by the walls
and in the doors of the houses,
and come, I pray you, and hear what is the word
that cometh forth from the Lord.
And they come unto thee as the people cometh,
and they sit before thee as my people,
and they hear thy words, but they will not do them.
With their mouth they show much love,
but their heart goeth after their covetousness.
And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song
of one that hath a pleasant voice
and can play well on an instrument,
for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
And when this cometh to pass, lo, it will come,
then shall they know that a prophet
hath been among them.
Amen.
Okay, we're in Ezekiel chapter 33 this morning.
And the title of my sermon this morning
is A Very Lovely Song.
A very lovely song.
And that's actually taken from Ezekiel chapter 33
and verse 32 where it says,
And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song
of one that hath a pleasant voice
and can play well on an instrument,
but they do not know that a prophet
hath a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument.
And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song
of one that hath a pleasant voice
and can play well on an instrument,
for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
And when this cometh to pass, lo, it will come,
then shall they know that a prophet
hath been among them.
And so I want to talk about this subject
of a lovely song and how it correlates
to preaching, how it correlates
to the preaching of God's word,
how it correlates to a sermon.
And I'm going to get into that in just a little bit.
But let me give you some introductory teaching
here regarding this particular chapter.
And I'm going to talk about the subject
of a lovely song.
And I'm going to get into this chapter.
Chapter 33 is very familiar to a lot
of Christians simply for the fact
that it talks about the watchman.
And that's something that a lot of Christians
know about when it comes to the book of Ezekiel,
the concept of being a watchman
and warning others.
Look at verse number one.
He talks about first the duty of a watchman.
He says in verse number one,
Again the word of the Lord came unto me,
saying, Son of man, speak to the children
of thy people, and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land,
take a man of their coast,
and set him for their watchman,
if when he seeth the sword come upon the land,
he blow the trumpet and warn the people,
then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet
and taketh not warning,
if the sword come and take him away,
his blood shall be upon his own head.
So what's this referring to?
God is basically explaining to Ezekiel
that when a city has a foreign nation,
for example, an enemy coming upon them
and he wants to conquer them,
they want to take them over and destroy them,
that particular city will obviously set up a watchman,
someone who can watch throughout the night
and essentially be able to warn the people
if there's some sort of foreign enemy
that's coming, right?
And so when he's looking out and he's watching
and he sees a band of soldiers coming with swords,
coming with torches, just looking like
they're going to do something pretty,
they're going to judge that city,
then obviously the responsibility of the watchman
is to blow a trumpet, okay?
And the trumpet signifies,
hey, we're about to be taken over,
everyone get ready, okay?
He's warning the people.
And it says there that if there's someone in the city
who hears the sound of that trumpet
and they're just kind of like,
eh, you know, whatever,
what's that supposed to mean, you know?
And they just kind of do nothing about it,
it says, okay, then the sword's going to come,
it's going to take him away
and his blood shall be upon his own head.
In other words, it's his fault, okay?
Because the watchman did everything he could.
He took care of his responsibility,
he saw that the enemy was coming,
he blew the trumpet, he warned the people,
but the people in the city chose not to give heed
to that warning, okay?
Then you know what, there's only so much
the watchman can do, it's the guy's own fault
for not taking heed to the warning.
It says in verse number five,
he heard the sound of the trumpet and took not warning.
His blood shall be upon him,
but he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
You know the person who actually listed
to the trumpet is obviously, you know,
and they're actually giving heed to it,
they're going to prepare themselves,
they're going to grab their sword,
they're going to grab their shield,
or if they don't know how to fight,
they can flee, they can take,
they can flee with their family
and protect themselves and essentially
run from the judgment to come.
Essentially what it's saying here,
this person can prepare himself
because he's actually listening to
and esteeming the sound of the trumpet,
the warning that's being sounded forth.
Verse number six.
So that's the example of a good watchman, right?
Someone who actually does his job.
Sounds the trumpet, warns the people, etc.
But then there's also examples of negligent watchman.
Because look at verse number six.
But if the watchman see the sword come
and blow not the trumpet
and the people be not warned
if the sword come and take any person from among them,
he is taken away in his iniquity,
but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
So in other words, there's examples
where the watchman see the enemy coming
and for whatever reason,
whether it's because maybe they're in cahoots
with the enemy or because of the fact
that they had the paralysis of the analysis,
they don't really know what to do,
they don't sound the trumpet
and then the city ends up paying
major consequences because of the negligence
of the watchman.
And in fact, the death of the people
in that city will be upon the hand
of the watchman because he chose
not to warn the people.
So there's a major responsibility here, right?
He can't be negligent in his job.
He can't just have the paralysis
of the analysis.
He has to make sure that he's vigilant.
While everyone else is sleeping
and taking care of their business,
his main job is to watch for the enemy
and to blow the trumpet
if they're coming upon the city.
Look at verse number seven.
Here's the commission, the application
that God gives to Ezekiel.
He says in verse number seven,
He gives a watchman unto the house of Israel.
Therefore, thou shall hear the word
in my mouth and warn them from me.
So here's the application that he gives.
Son of man, Ezekiel, you're the watchman
and your job is to sound the trumpet
which by the way, in the Bible,
sounding a trumpet is likened
unto preaching, right?
The Bible talks about cry out loud
and spare not, show my people
their transgression, the Bible talks about.
It often likens preaching to sounding
a trumpet.
And he says there, you're gonna hear
what I tell you and then I want you
to warn them about some foreign enemy.
No, he said warn them from me.
So who's the enemy of Israel at this point?
God is.
Because he's coming to judge Israel
for their wickedness, for their covetousness,
for their idolatry and he's telling them,
you know, I'm giving you guys a chance
to kind of change your ways.
So I'm gonna send a watchman which is Ezekiel.
He's gonna go and preach to you.
He's sounding the trumpet
and obviously we're gonna see later
on if a person decides to give heed to it
and turn from his wicked ways,
he's gonna save his soul.
Not his soul literally, the way we would
think of the soul, the spirit.
The soul often is used interchangeably
in the Bible to refer to just the body.
He's basically saying you're gonna save
your body, you're not gonna die
in this judgment.
He says in verse number eight,
when I say unto the wicked, oh wicked man,
thou shall surely die.
If thou does not speak to warn the wicked
from his way, that wicked man shall die
by thy hand.
Same instruction that he gave to the watchman
he's telling Ezekiel.
Verse number nine, nevertheless,
if thou warn the wicked of his way
to turn from it, if you do not turn
from his way, he shall die in his iniquity,
but thou has delivered thy soul.
Therefore, oh thou son of man,
speak unto the house of Israel.
Thus he speaks saying, if our transgressions
and our sins be upon us and we pine away
in them, how should we then live?
And basically what he's saying here,
verse number 11, let's finish off
with verse 12, I have no pleasure
in the death of the wicked, but that
the wicked turn from his way and live.
What is he saying here?
I don't wanna come and just destroy
everyone in this city for their wickedness.
My desire is that they get right
with God, right?
That's what God wants.
He's gonna bring the sword because
they're deserving of it.
They've blasphemed the Lord.
They've offended him exceedingly.
However, he's saying there,
but if they decide to repent from that,
I'll do what?
I'll spare them.
I'm willing to take away the sword
and they won't suffer the consequences
of their actions.
Now, how is this applicable to us?
Because this is a fantastic story,
fantastic analogy even for us
as Christians today.
Well, think about the office of a pastor.
Myself and other pastors included,
our job is to be a watchman
so that we warn the congregation
of impending judgment.
We preach every Sunday,
evening Sunday night and midweek service
and we're constantly warning people
of the consequences of their actions.
We're constantly warning people
of false prophets and heresies
and the wolves and Satan
and of their flesh
and we're just constantly sounding
that trumpet.
Well, there's a couple reactions
that people can have to that, right?
Either one response is
they're just not gonna listen
and what happens?
They suffer the consequences
and they change their ways
and they don't suffer the ramifications
of their inequity
because they decided to repent,
they get right with God
and they're essentially spared
from God's judgment upon their life.
The Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 14,
you don't have to turn there,
and even things without life giving sound,
whether pipe or harp,
except they give a distinction in the sound,
how shall it be known
what is pipe or harped?
For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,
Jesus' teaching is that
how do you know what's being played?
How do you know what's being sounded
if there's not a distinction
in that particular instrument?
And the application here is that
it's important for the watchman
to be clear about what he's saying
and not leave you in confusion.
A lot of pastors,
they speak very obscurely,
they kind of tiptoe around the tulips,
they beat around the bush
because they don't wanna tell you how it is
and they're afraid to offend people
they're afraid that people
just might walk out of the service
and they'll never come back
and they have all these fears about the people
but that's a negligent watchman
because at the end of the day
our job is to sound the trumpet
to warn people
and the response of the people
is not based upon the watchman
based upon how he's sounding the trumpet
because if he has a distinct sound to it
he's making the message clear
he's telling you what sin is
he's telling you the consequences of your actions
and the response is upon your own head
whether you wanna deliver yourself or not
from the judgment to come
from the consequences to come
so obviously this can be applied
to a pastor who preaches God's word
week in, week out
warning God's people
of the decisions that they're making
the actions that they're taking
the relationships that they have
the direction that they're going in
we're constantly preaching about these things
because we're trying to warn you
from the consequences that are to come
from the decisions
but also on a more practical level
you know, soul owners are basically like watchmen
right?
people who preach the gospel
and go door to door
they're like a watchman
they're going door to door
sounding a trumpet at each door
warning them of the wrath to come
referring to hell, right?
referring to the fact that
there's constantly people in our church
week in, week out
preaching the gospel to every person
of God's judgment
which is hell
the wrath of God that's going to come
upon an individual if they don't believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation
okay?
and obviously there's negligent
watchmen out there, right?
who don't make the message clear
or they don't go sowing
or they're just not taking that responsibility serious
well you know what? at that point
that person is going to suffer the consequences
of their actions which is
they might die without Christ
and so we can see how this is definitely applicable
go to verse 15 if you would
now what's one of the responses of the people
this is all introduction
I'm going to get into my main point in just a bit
but I want to explain some of these principles here
so what's one of the responses
of the children of Israel
to what Ezekiel is saying
okay? he says in verse 15
if the wicked restore the pledge
give again that he robbed
walk in the statutes of life
without committing iniquity
none of his sins that he had committed
shall be mentioned unto him
he hath done that which is lawful and right
he shall surely live
so if a person in Israel changes his ways
God's like okay that's enough
I will spare you from the judgment to come
it says in verse 17
yet the children of thy people say
the way of the Lord is not equal
but as for them their way is not equal
so they're hearing this preaching
from Ezekiel and here's their number one response
that's not fair
the way of the Lord is not equal
well that's not fair
that's their response
God is gracious enough to send a watchman
to warn them
about the consequences of their sin
because they're involved in wickedness
and he's trying to spare them
and this is what they say
well that's not fair
and what does God respond with
he says there in verse 16
excuse verse 17
yet the children of thy people say
the way of the Lord is not equal
but as for them their way is not equal
he says you guys aren't fair
you guys aren't righteous
you guys aren't just
because they expect God to bless them
in spite of the fact that they're involved
in iniquity and sin
that they're rebelling against him
he's like you're not equal
actually God isn't fair
it's actually true
because he's actually not giving them
what they actually deserve
and he's not being fair
because he's being gracious with them
which is essentially giving them
what they don't deserve
says in verse 18
when the righteous turned from his righteousness
and committed iniquity
he shall even die thereby
I mean that's logical
if a person who's righteous
deviates from the ways of righteousness
and decides to live a life of sin and iniquity
and he dies thereby
that's equal
that's just the way life is right
that's what it means
but if the wicked turn from his wickedness
and do that which is lawful and right
he shall live thereby
yet ye say the way of the Lord is not equal
oh ye house of Israel
I will judge you everyone
after his ways
he's like look if there's a wicked person
who's doing wickedly
but then they give heed to the warning
God essentially is willing to wink at that ignorance
and not allow them to suffer
the consequences of their actions
that's mercy
so he's like
your way is not equal
you're criticizing God
you're criticizing his laws
his statutes
but your way is actually the way that's not equal
look at verse 30
so that's one response
and you know what this is true today
you know you preach God's word
you talk about God's standard
you talk about doctrine
and then it's just like well that's not fair
you know you talk to people about hell
and it's like well I don't think that's right
I don't think God
to cast people into hell
and it's just like well you're gonna have to
take that up with him
because who's gonna convince him otherwise
God is the God of the universe
he takes orders from no one
he's the boss
and so you can say that's not fair all you want
you gotta play by his rules
and so you know
I'd rather just allow my mind
to be transformed by the word of God
and recognize that the ways of the Lord
are equal
that he is just
that he is righteous
he's just in accomplishing these things
and just align myself
with the statutes of God's word
instead of standing in judgment of God's word
because you're not gonna convince him otherwise
but if we run into people like this all the time
door knocking
I just don't think that's right
I don't think that's fair you know
and it's just like you know
I don't know what to tell you
that's what the Bible says
and you having a different opinion
doesn't change reality
just because you think it's not fair
just because you think it's not right
doesn't change what's real
you can have a different opinion
and God allows us
he's made us autonomous human beings
who can think freely
how we want to think
and have our opinions
but it doesn't change reality
there's no such thing as you know
that's your reality
no no no we all live in the same reality
okay you don't have a different program
differently this isn't the matrix
this isn't a dream
okay this is real
pinch yourself you'll feel pain
it's real life
and this entire world runs
on God's system
that he's already instituted
there's laws that are in place
and if you don't agree with it
then one
you can either suffer the consequences
of your actions
or two you can align yourself with God's word
and go by his rules
and his laws
which is obviously the better option
okay
look at verse 30
so there's another group here
it says also thou son of man
the children of thy people
still are talking against thee
by the walls and in the doors of the houses
what does that mean
because Ezekiel is well known
amongst the Israelites at this point
because he's preaching
I mean he's preaching at the trees
he's preaching at the mountains
he's preaching at Israel in a great way
so and so he's pretty much famous
in the camp per se
so people are talking about him
but it's not because they like him
so they're gossiping about the man of God
behind closed doors
because it says that they're still talking
against thee by the walls
and in the doors of the houses
you hear what Ezekiel said
he said that God's gonna do this
he doesn't know what he's talking about
who does that guy think he is
and they're criticizing him
and this is hypocrisy
why because later on we see
that they speak love to him
you know in other words
they're flattering him right
it goes on to say everyone his brother's saying
come I pray you and hear what is
what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord
so this is weird
so they're at home
they're criticizing the man of God
behind closed doors
and then they tell their brother
now let's go and see what else he's gonna say
now you would think that if you don't like the prophet
listen to the prophet right
like if you don't like the pastor that you're under
you're not gonna go every service
or you're not even gonna go to that church
you would just go somewhere else
like if you really disdain that pastor
and that man of God
and you're constantly criticizing him
behind closed doors
you know the logical thing we'll do
let me go find another church
but these people they're just like
we hate them but let's go listen
to what he has to say this Sunday
that's weird
so we can hate them even more
verse 31 and they come unto thee
as the people cometh
and they sit before thee as my people
and they hear thy words
but they will not do them
listen to this for with their mouth
they show much love
but their heart goeth after their covetousness
oh pastor that was
we love this church
we love you that was a great sermon
I hate this guy
and their heart is just like they hate them
this is a very strange thing to do
okay and it's what the Bible calls flattery
okay flattery you know
the way people use flattery today
is not the way that the Bible uses it
you know people think of flattery
as like a compliment
but flattery is excessive
insincere compliments
that are designated to kind of
throw you off or deceive you
because the person who's giving you
that compliment
has some other underlying motive
against you basically
okay so they kind of butter you up
because they don't want you to know
how they really feel about you
so this is what they're doing
because they don't like Ezekiel
but they show him much love
with their mouth right
and it says there but their heart
goeth after their covetousness
verse 32 says and lo thou are unto them
as a very lovely song
of one that hath a pleasant voice
they hear thy words
but they do them not
now one of the reasons that
they're not really taken serious
with what Ezekiel is saying
through the word of the Lord
it says there because their heart
is filled with covetousness
and when you look at the Bible
in the New Testament the Bible talks
about in Mark that the cares of this world
and the deceitfulness of riches
and the lust of other things
entering in choke the word
and they become unfruitful
and everything is going on in the heart
that's kind of taking away their attention
from the most important matter at hand
which is the preaching of God's word
and in this particular case it's covetousness
they're thinking about money
they're thinking about possessions
and that's kind of blocking
the word of God from coming in
and working in their hearts
but I want to talk about the fact
that preaching can be compared
to a lovely song and I think
this is a great comparison here
because a sermon preaching
is a lovely song is entertaining
you think of whatever song
that you're thinking about right now
it's like yeah that's a nice song
it's entertaining
not only that but it invokes
deep emotion too
there's certain songs in this world
certain scores or soundtracks
or whatever that can invoke
deep emotion and you know what
preaching does that
it can be entertaining
you know you catch me on a good Sunday
when I'm on a roll
it can be very entertaining
you're just like laughing
you're smiling you're like this is great
this is funny not only that
but you know sermons can actually invoke
deep emotions such as sadness
it can invoke empathy
and passion and zeal
and hatred and love
and it can move you to tears
to a point right
I've been under preaching
where they preach with such passion
and there's so much empathy
in their hearts and in their voice
it brings me to tears
you know and I weep thinking about lost souls
or thinking about those who
have strayed from the ways of the Lord
or just thinking about the love of the Lord right
there's certain things that preaching can do
it's so powerful in the delivery aspect
that it can invoke deep emotions
so a lovely song is entertaining
a lovely song can invoke deep emotions
and there's nothing wrong with that
he just wants preaching to be that way
he wants preaching to be entertaining
he wants to invoke deep emotions
why because it captures the audience
if you have a pastor who's preaching
and he's just dry as dust
he's not excited about the things of God
he's not raising his voice
he's not angry at iniquity and sin
and the state of the nation
if he's not passionate about what he does
you know it's really boring to listen to
and this is why
God even tells Ezekiel when he preaches
he told him he said look
aside from what I want you to preach
this is how I want you to preach
because he would tell him like smite your thigh
stamp your thigh
preaching he would tell him that
in Ezekiel chapter 6 he says
make sure you stamp with thy foot
and smite thy thigh
he's like go wild while you're up there
so that you know people are walking by
you're not like hey the word of the Lord is saying
hey the word of God
he's just like the word of God
you know and he's like judgment is coming
and he's because it obviously
reflects how true the the sermon really is
you know if you got a guy preaching
God's Word and he's talking about sin
and judgment and these negative things
but he's doing it in a very mild manner
you know people are just not going to
take him very serious okay
he even tells him cry and how
you think of what he told Isaiah
cry out loud and spare not
he told Ezekiel cry and how
now I'm not going to howl for you right now
because my voice would probably crack if I did
but you can you can picture how that would look
okay and I'm not even sure exactly how
Ezekiel did that okay
but I'll tell you this
whoever was there never forgot it
because which leads me to my next point
is that a lovely song is memorable
right there's certain songs that you know
from back in the day that are just stuck
right here and everyone who's smiling
is thinking of it right now
why because they're memorable right
well there's certain sermons
that are just very memorable
you just you'll never forget them
okay maybe it's a sermon from here
from other churches there's certain
sermons that you just you might not
remember it verbatim but there's
aspects of a sermon that you just will
never forget because it's like a very
lovely song that's memorable
and so when it comes to preaching
you will undoubtedly or should I say
I will undoubtedly preach to someone
who only views the sermon
as just that though
as a lovely song
a pleasant song a beautiful
instrument and guess what
nothing more than that
which is how Israel is viewing
the preaching of Ezekiel
that's why they want to go listen to
them they'll go listen to me like
this is this is interesting
this is entertaining
this is like fun
it's like a very lovely song he sings
well and here's a good way to explain
this you know have you ever gone
soul winning and you knock at a door
and you preach the gospel to someone
they don't get saved but they're but
they're kind of impressed by your
ability to communicate the Bible
they're just like you know you speak
very well right they're like you speak
very well you seem to know a lot about
the Bible but in your mind you're like
then why don't you get saved
like why don't you believe what I'm
telling you then and they're just like
wow I've just never heard it's almost
like they're like pulling verses out of
the Bible like no man ever speak like
this before but then they don't get
saved right and it's just like why
because you're just a very lovely song
to them you're just like a beautiful
instrument you're just like someone who
has a pleasant voice and I've I've gone
so many many times throughout the 16
years that I've been saved and multiple
times that's happened to me where it's
just like no thank you but you speak so
well you know that like I like the way
you communicate that the way you kind of
worded everything and show me the verses
I think that's just that's beautiful and
I'm just like thanks I guess but it's
kind of like in vain if you're not
accepting what I'm telling you you know
I mean but this is the reason why and
you think to yourself yeah that's happened
to me but you know that's happened to me
or like I'm preaching the Bible and I
preach because I want people's lives to
change people to repent of specific sins
to get right with God and it's just like
great sermon pastor but they don't change
because it's just a lovely song to you
sometimes it's just like a pleasant
instrument it's just like something like
you come on Sunday you hear the Bible
that's good but you do you go and you
don't do the things that were told for
you to do the Word of God is becoming to
you as a very lovely song nothing more
it's a dangerous place to be my friends
and so obviously this all has to do with
the delivery of a sermon but if the
person in the pew only views it as a
lovely song and not a call to action then
it's a major problem okay it becomes a
major problem when it comes to God's
word you know it can make you here's the
thing is that the Bible has a lot of
power behind it it's a lot of power
because it's God's Word but really it
only has so much power as you allow it
to have in your life right like if I
preach the Word of God I can preach the
most doctrinally sound emotion evoking
just hits where it hurts but at the end
of the day you have to choose to actually
affect your life and if it doesn't I
mean that's as far as the Word of God can
go it can be sown in your heart but it's
really up to you if you're going to do
something about it okay now let's talk
about first and foremost Christians who
are already saved you know the danger in
the sermon becoming a very lovely song is
that the Word of God becomes dull into
you you become bored with preaching and
that's definitely a possibility
sometimes where you're in church for so
long you hear so many sermons and
sometimes they're very repetitious same
concept same doctrines it just becomes
dull into you and what happens when the
Word of God becomes dull into you it
becomes a very lovely song it's not
something you feel like you need to apply
the Bible tells us in Hebrews chapter 5
verse number 11 you don't have to turn
there of whom we have many things to say
and hard to be uttered seeing your dull
of hearing for when for the time you
ought to be teachers you have neither one
teach you again which be the first
and it becomes such as have need of milk
and not of strong meat the Apostle Paul
is basically saying you know I preach the
Word of God and there's so many other
things I want to cover but you're kind of
already dull of hearing of just the basics
so I can't really go beyond that because
you're bored with the basics and so it's
definitely a danger amongst Christians to
allow sermons to just become a very
lovely song and don't don't misunderstand
what I'm saying you know if you enjoy a
sermon that's great you know I'd rather
have you just enjoy the sermon then not
listen to a sermon at all because you're
so cold towards the things of God you
don't even want to hear the Bible right
but never get to a point where oh I've
already heard this before or and this is
not applicable to me or and you know
that's not a cool I was good I guess you
know a lot to touch your heart right and
one thing I learned when I was a young
Christian is that even if I felt like the
sermon didn't 100% apply to me at that
moment I would always ask God how can I
apply this sermon because it's God's Word
so there's always a way that you can
apply it and I would always make certain
decisions in my life based upon a sermon
that wasn't necessarily geared towards me
but I think to myself Lord there's
something in that sermon that I needed
and if anything may have moved me to just
be a better Christian by reading the Bible
by praying more by you know maybe being
more bold and witnessing to my family
members that I don't see very often I
would try to look for some application
in that sermon even though maybe I
thought it was a very lovely song I
wanted to memorize that song I wanted it
to move me to actually do something about
it okay now here's the main point that I
want to I want to get this morning and
that is there's a danger listen to me
very closely in allowing the song to
become very lovely unto you and you're
not saved now I think the vast majority
of people in here are saved okay you know
we've communed with one another we've
talked about doctrine as far as I know a
lot of people in here are saved but I'm
sure there's a couple people that are not
saved okay maybe they've joined our
church within recent months or even years
or they're just here today and they're
not saved okay and sometimes unsafe
people can enjoy the preaching of God's
Word too because preaching is just
enjoyable all across the board okay I
know this for a fact when you expound on
God's Word at any capacity through any
avenue there's always someone willing to
listen even if they're not saved okay I
have people online that listen to me
through Instagram and other avenues and
some of them are just not saved I have
full-blown Catholics listen to me online
and they tell me that they're Catholics
and they believe Catholic doctrine but
they like listening to my sermons now I
think that's really weird because I
preach against Catholics all the time and
they know that but to them it's just like
a lovely song to just enjoy listening to
it you know they just to them it's like
a pleasant instrument a pleasant voice
and I've even had people tell me like hey
that was a really good explanation but I
know this person I'm like this person is
not saved like we've talked about
salvation and they're not saved you know
we're talking about end times prophecy
they really like the teaching but it's
just like but they're not even saved so
this is very common and it's common out
there and it can be common in churches
too okay now I want to talk about the
reprobate doctrine for just a little bit
because this is kind of how I want to tie
it in let me just deviate from the lovely
song concept for just a bit because I
want to talk about the reprobate doctrine
just for just a moment what is a reprobate
let me just explain briefly what a
reprobate is according to because this is
a biblical concept it's a biblical
doctrine a simple definition of what a
reprobate is is someone who is beyond the
world there's a there's a concept out
there that people think well it's never
too late but that's actually not true
sometimes it is too late for people okay
for people to be saved obviously even
though the people who are currently in
hell it's already too late for them but
the Bible also describes individuals who
are currently in this world who it's
already too late for and they're referred
to by the Bible as reprobates reprobate
is a synonym for the word rejected and
according to the Bible they've been
rejected by God not because you know God
did something to them or because he just
chose them to be that way these
individuals have essentially rejected
the Word of God to such a inordinate
extent that God basically says okay if
you don't want me then I'll help you with
that and you'll never have me kind of a
thing that's basically what it is there's
people in this world that hate God so
much because of whatever reason that
eventually God says okay because
obviously God's the one who sees the
heart and you think to yourself well yeah
you don't know their hearts yeah but God
does though so when someone says that
they hate the Lord you actually don't
know to what extent they hate the Lord
but God knows how deep their hatred is
for him and so there's instances even in
the Bible where someone hates the Lord
to the extent where God says okay then
I'll never make myself available to you
ever again it's a sad thing and that's
when they they go beyond the hope of
salvation they're given over to a
reprobate mind and the Bible says they
become reprobate concerning the faith in
other words they can no longer believe
on the Lord and you know people have a
hard time with that you know and that's
where people bring up hey the way of the
Lord is not equal that's not fair but
here's the thing though is that God is
only giving them what they want which is
to not which is not God because the
Bible says that they don't want to retain
God in their knowledge so you know and
let me just say this is not the vast
majority of the population either this
is this is certain people in this world
that can get to a point where they hate
the Lord they hate the Word of God they
hate the truth and they tell him to his
face essentially and God says okay then
I will never be available to you ever
again salvation will never be available
to you God essentially assists them and
their rejection of him it's basically how
it is you know God's not a stalker you
know he's not gonna force himself on
someone he's not like hiding behind a
bush like are you sure you know you know
I mean like like a dude who stalks a girl
or something he's just you know he just
can't take no for an answer right I mean
I hopefully that's never happened to you
but or hopefully you're not that person
but but I'm saying you know there's
no answer they just don't get all the
the the signals right and they just keep
persisting and the girl just wants
nothing to do with them well you know
what God gets the hint he actually gets
the hint and so when people hate them
and they blaspheme him and they even say
in their hearts that they hate the Lord
they want nothing to do with them God's
like fine I will seal the deal and just
never let you believe ever again and
you'll perpetually be in that state of
mind forever so that's what the Bible
actually teaches my friends okay now how
do people become reprobates well
sometimes you know because when we think
of reprobates according to the Bible the
most obvious example is a sodomite okay
people call homosexuals right and people
would say well homosexuals become that
way through recruitment right and that
is true to a certain extent but really
that's not the entire story because when
people are recruited by sodomites they're
often molested violated and that person
the molestation doesn't make that person
a sodomite okay what the molestation does
is it causes the victim to become bitter
towards God because then they think why
did God allow this you could have
prevented this and then they begin to
harbor anger and bitterness and bitter
feelings towards the Lord and they shift
the blame on God rather than on the
violator and so then that bitterness ends
up turning to hatred ends up turning to
rejection and then eventually they end
up just rejecting the Lord altogether
they become a reprobate and they're given
over to do those things which are not
reprobate okay but let me say this is
that's not the only way people become
reprobates you say what's another way
that a person becomes a reprobate to the
point where they're just beyond the hope
of salvation listen to this consuming
large quantities of truth with the
intention to reject it let me say that
again consuming large quantities of truth
with the intention to reject it now the
people out there don't really have an
opportunity to do that because they're
at their homes you know they might get a
soul winner every once in a while and
they just reject it offhand but what I'm
referring to is a person who purposely
positions themselves to hear God's Word
only because they want to reject it and
I'm not referring to safe people I'm
referring to unsafe people meaning
there's people in this world they will
they will attend a church where they
know they'll get Bible preaching they
know they'll get the truth in large
quantities but they go there anyways
knowing full well that they're gonna
reject everything that's being stated now
to you and I that's crazy it's like I
don't believe that that's that's it you
know why you can't believe this because
you're saved because you actually woke
up in the morning say I'm gonna go to
church I want to hear preaching I want
to sing the hymns but folks there's
actually people out there that are like
that they consume large quantities of
preaching and truth and in the Bible and
they literally do it because they don't
like it because they want to reject it
you're like how do you know that to be
true well didn't we just read in Ezekiel
how they're criticizing the man of God
and then they're just like let's go hear
them right you think that's only in
Ezekiel's day that's going on today as
well where people will literally attend
a church here preaching for months even
years on end and they just don't believe
it they sit there and they're not saved
they don't want to get saved people are
constantly giving them the gospel they're
just like no no no they're constantly
rejecting it rejecting hours and hours
and hours of biblical preaching not
because they don't understand it but
because they're rejecting it they don't
like it they think the way of the Lord is
and you know what let me just say this
that's a mockery of God they're mocking
God because they're saying I will go to
your institution I will listen to your
preaching I will listen to the Bible and
I'll still reject it that's that's
mocking God and so be not deceived God
is not mocked God's not just gonna stand
there and watch you consume large
quantities of the truth and just
completely reject it when there's other
people out there who want the truth you
know there's people out there who are
hungry for the truth you know there's
people out there who would love a clear
presentation of the gospel they would
love for someone to just come and knock
on their door because they're confused
about salvation they would want to know
about salvation and get saved they would
want to know what the Bible says but they
can't because how can they except some
man should guide them and so with that
in mind think about a person who knows
where that's where that that truth is
available and will willingly attend that
church willingly go to that institution
and just not even care they're just like
I'm not getting saved I'm not gonna
listen to that that produces reprobates
what a second Corinthians chapter 13
second Corinthians chapter 13 well I
just think they didn't have a chance to
be saved well the Bible says because that
when they knew God they glorified him
not as God neither were thankful but
became vain in their imaginations and
their foolish heart was darkened I want
you to listen to that because that when
they knew God they glorified him not as
God you know when people unsaved people
come to our church obviously if they
agree with what's being said and they
agree with the the the gospel
presentation they're not gonna be like
glory to God right what does that mean
it means they give recognition to the
Lord that this is of God they glorify the
Lord and so when people come to our
church they hear the gospel and they're
like I do want to get saved that's a
form of them glorifying God because
they're in agreement with what's being
stated you understand but there's people
who have been given the truth and they
don't glorify him neither are they
thankful for the message neither are they
thankful for the word of God they become
vain in their imagination and then their
foolish heart is becomes dark and they
become a reprobate look at second
Corinthians 13 verse number 5 examine
yourselves this is the Apostle Paul
speaking to the church at Corinth which
by the way was started by the Apostle
Paul so they're receiving two letters
from the Apostle Paul they're getting
weekly preaching and now they're
rejecting the Apostle Paul he says
examine yourselves whether you be in the
faith prove your own selves know you not
your own selves how that Jesus Christ is
in you listen to this except he be
reprobates what's the implication if
you're a reprobate you don't have Christ
because a reprobate is beyond the hope
of salvation so he's saying and what he
said why is he accusing the church at
Corinth of possibly being reprobates
because they're going to church every
week listening to all this truth
consuming these large quantities of the
Bible and they're rejecting I mean
they're questioning the resurrection
right first Corinthians 15 they're like
don't even know if there is a
resurrection I mean that's a major
doctrine they're rejecting all these
truths it's just like maybe you guys are
going beyond the hope of salvation then
he says but I trust that you shall know
that we are not reprobates go to Hebrew
chapter 6 Hebrew chapter 6 now let me
explain to you where this is very common
I said that it was common within
churches but then there's ministries
within churches where it kind of
streamlines this process so what do you
mean like Christian schools Christian
schools Bible colleges can often
streamline the process of reprobation
you say why is that how is that well
because if you have safe parents listen
closely you have safe parents who want
their kids out of the public school
system they want them to be in a
Christian environment they think the
next next best move is to place them
within a Christian school where it
doesn't have all the worldliness and all
that and they're constantly being fed
the Word of God so they're being forced
to go to these Christian schools for
hours a day five days a week Bible
classes aside from all the other classes
that they have on top of that is Bible
classes they have chapel so they're
constantly getting the Word of God and
I've worked in a Christian school so I
know what I'm talking about then when I
taught some of these students they hated
Christianity they did not want to be
there whatsoever they were willingly
in the Bible and I would think to myself
why are these kids here like they seem
to just hate church hate the Bible hate
the Lord but they're here why and you
know their parents just think that's just
the best option but what they don't know
is that because their kids aren't saved
their heart is becoming hardened towards
the things of God because of the
preaching because they're constantly
being preached to shown the Word of God
and they're constantly hardening their
hearts and hardening their hearts and I
can tell you person after person after
person who after high school just became
a full-blown apostate reprobate hater of
God even sodomites who came out of a
Christian school because they're getting
saturated with the Bible constantly so
the Christian school streamlines that
Bible colleges streamline that
because you know if their parents are
forcing them to go and they don't want to
be there and they're being forced you
see you shouldn't be forced to listen to
preaching right God wants you to choose
to listen to preaching no one forced you
to come here unless you are a child of a
parent who's making you come here which
by the way that's okay according to the
Bible but obviously you're gonna get to
an age where you can choose not to come
anymore and even parents you know you
don't have to come here you can stay
home and sleep in and barbecue and do
whatever and not be so you're obviously
choosing to come here the Bible so you
have a willing heart to listen to the
Word of God so think about these students
and young people who go to these
institutions they're forced in these
institutions they're not and they're not
people are not checking on their
salvation they're not preaching the
gospel to them and maybe they maybe in
some instances they are but they're just
rejecting that gospel rejecting the Word
of the Lord they're bitter towards their
parents they're bitter towards the
pastor and then reprobation it happens
and it's a very scary thought you say
well how can the Word of God do that
well the Word of God is light and so
when we get saved it's like we're
enlightened to the truth right well you
know what light does to a person that
just doesn't want it it sears their
conscience look at Hebrews 6 and verse
1 he says therefore leaving the
principles of the doctrine of Christ let
us go into perfection not laying again
the foundation of repentance from dead
works and faith toward God of the
doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of
hands and of the resurrection of the
dead and of eternal judgment and this
will we do if God permits let me explain
this little passage right here the
possible saying let's leave the
principles of the doctrines of Christ
meaning the foundational doctrines of the
Christian faith let's go let's mature a
little bit and move beyond that let's
move beyond foundational doctrines right
he talks about baptisms laying on of
hands and he says let's move on from that
to perfection to maturity and then he
says this in verse 3 and this we will do
if God permit so in other words you can
move on and mature in your knowledge of
the Bible if God allows you to now why
would God forbid someone to move on to
perfection well if you're rejecting the
doctrines of Christ you can't go beyond
you know the Bible talks about they shall
proceed no further there's like a limit
he says verse number four for it is
impossible for those who were once
enlightened and have tasted of the
heavenly gift and were made partakers of
the Holy Ghost and have tasted of the
good word of God and the powers of the
world to come if they shall fall away
fall away means gone apostate to renew
them again into repentance seeing they
crucified to themselves the Son of God
is in shame in other words if someone
just has knowledge of the foundational
truths they've been saturated with these
these principles of the doctrines of
Christ and they reject them that it's
impossible to help them to renew them
again to repentance it's impossible to
get them to mature because they've
essentially stunted their growth by
reparation look at verse 7 for the earth
which drinketh in the rain that cometh
off the pond it and bringeth forth herbs
meet for whom it is dressed receiveth
blessings from God but that which bear
thorns and briars is rejected and is
nine to cursing whose end is to be
burned so when it talks about the rain
the rain is is symbolic of the Word of
God so you think about rain coming upon
the earth it has an effect on two types
of grounds one ground that's receiving
the Word of God it bears fruit right it
receives blessings it bears fruit but
then rain comes upon that earth that has
rejected the Bible bears thorns and
briars why because it's rejected it's
showing you the capacity and the power
of God's Word to either bless a life or
curse a life and it's all based upon the
recipient of that truth and so if you're
in here Sunday morning Sunday night
Thursday week in week out and you're not
saved you're in a dangerous place I
would much rather you just leave our
church to spare you reprobation if you
are here you just don't agree with
what's being said you don't agree with
the preaching you don't agree with the
Word of God you don't agree with the
doctrine but you want to keep coming you
know I would tell you and obviously we're
probably never gonna have this
conversation but I would tell you you
don't agree with it in order to spare
you the possibility of having a seared
conscience or the better option would be
just get saved believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and then you're sealed until the
day of redemption you'll never become a
reprobate you're saved folks this
happens it's happened in our church it's
happened in multiple churches where
people come and they listen to the Bible
over and over and over again they're not
saved let me say this if you have maybe
you say like man I'm not saved but I've
told people that I am saved just out of
pride I just but I'm not saved just get
saved today then like yeah but I'm
embarrassed you listen listen to me
you'll be way more embarrassed when you
actually go to hell that's just the
honest truth so better to just humble
yourself and say you know what I've been
saved but I'm not saved but today I want
to get saved and so you know I this is a
very lovely song for a long time but I
actually want to get saved now and so
you know there's there's a danger you
know this is this is a great church I
believe it's a great church because that's
great people and I believe it has great
preaching because we have a great Bible
and I try to do my best to saturate our
church with as much Bible as we possibly
can and just get ourselves spiritually
fat from God's Word but you know what
there's a danger in someone who's not
saved coming to our church and let me
just say this is that you need to make
sure that your kids are saved now don't
get all extreme about it and and you
know force them or something like that
you need to lovingly bring your children
to the knowledge of Jesus Christ can't
force that on them okay lovingly bringing
a you say well how do I do that well
you can do it week in week out just
teaching them about the gospel day in
and day out every opportunity you get
when your child brings up salvation
heaven hell you teach them what the Bible
says about that and you interact with
them what do you think about that what
do you think about that I mean that's how
it was with my son is that for about a
year or so he would just ask questions
about salvation right before bed and my
wife would explain it to him and she
would enforce it on him she was just
waiting for his tender heart to come to
the realization that that's what he
needed you know and you know what the
word of God has power and we're raising
him in a Christian home so it's expected
that we give him the gospel to the point
where he realizes that he needs salvation
and we had faith that that would happen
that's that's what happened he ended up
you know calling upon the name of the
Lord he got saved you can ask him
yourself you know and can he knows you
can't lose your salvation and so you
know that's important for me as a father
to make sure my kids are saved and look
the church is not a babysitting center
for your children it's not a daycare for
your children don't expect me or anybody
else to do the work for you you're to
teach the Bible to your kids I don't know
how to do that yet didn't learn okay
this is not a daycare for your children
you're to take care of your children
you're responsible for their souls
you're responsible to sound that trumpet
for your children and you can't force
them to be saved but you know what don't
just play the part when you come here
okay you need to make sure that you're
living the life that you live here is
the same life you're living back home
don't be a fake too many phonies too many
phony Christians out there just living a
facade just fake and phony just just
trying to save face folks that's not the
way to go you're doing your children a
disservice when you do that and you know
what's gonna happen your kids are gonna
start coming to church only to hear the
lovely song and nothing else they don't
want to apply it they don't want to learn
from it they want nothing to do with it
all they want to do is what's the next
song and that's the danger my friends
when the sermon becomes just a very
lovely song to your kids you know this
is a new call to some parents to say you
know have have a heart-to-heart
conversation with the children about
salvation don't force it on them but just
be sincere tread lightly don't get
frustrated with them don't get mad at
them if they don't understand
incrementally teach them about salvation
until they get it now I have an example
here of what I mean by a very lovely
song okay because I was like how do I
explain this concept in a way that the
church can understand you know because
you're like a very lovely song I mean
how does that what do you mean by that
exactly well I think of one of our hymns
at Calvary that's a pretty nice little
tune right it's very like upbeat and
happy and brings warm feelings right
well I changed the words okay and it has
a different message and I'm gonna ask
Moses not to just burst out in laughter
okay just just restrain yourself please
I have to like say this those of you like
who's Moses don't worry about it just I
know what I'm doing though okay and he
knows what I'm talking about well you
think of like at Calvary right that the
tune is like it's just very happy song
one of the happiest hymns that we have in
our in our hymn book we like singing it
people have memorized it it's really good
right well I changed the words let me
let me sing to you my version for this
particular sermon we're not this is never
gonna be sung again okay we're not gonna
sing this in church like this place is a
cult they sing these weird songs I'm
this illustration okay although I agree
with what I'm gonna sing here so listen
to this years you've listened to God's
Word in church reading every chapter and
its verse knowing you were only getting
worse you reprobate you listen to
preaching in that chair God spoke to but
you didn't but you didn't did not care
now you claim that God's not fair you
reprobate I'm not done hold the clapping
please now your heart is only filled with
hate gone apostate and it's just too late
now you'll never see the Heaven's Gate
you reprobate you listen to preaching in
that chair God spoke to you but you did
not care now you claim that God is just
not fair you reprobate that's funny but
you know what it's not funny you know
why it's funny because of the two and the
song is going to two but you know what
the message is not funny and I wanted to
give you an example of how an unsafe
person listens to a sermon they're like
oh that was funny that's a cool little
song and you know the preacher's like
but you didn't listen to the message
you're not listening to the message
you're about to become apostate you're
about to become a reprobate now obviously
we as God's people who are saved that's
this is we can enjoy this obviously and
laugh at it but you know what an unsafe
person you know what's what's bad is when
an unsafe person laughs at it because it
might be talking about them through the
history of our church we're gonna have
to just come to church and just listen
to the preaching and never get saved and
they'll go down this route and you put
the most unfortunate thing listen to me
is when it's someone's kid is when it's
someone it's a teenager in a church or
something that's the unfortunate thing
and so don't let the Word of God be a
lovely song and to you even if you are
saved you know don't take the Word of
God for granted you know hey let me say
this don't let the Bible don't let the
preaching be like another podcast to you
don't let the preaching be some podcast
to you did you just listen on the you
know take it serious when you're
listening to it listen with the intent
to obey don't just let it be a pleasant
song a pleasant instrument listen to it
and obey it but let me say this if you're
not saved here today and you've never
heard this before get saved today it's
free all you have to do is believe on
Jesus Christ I mean it's not hard to be
saved at all God has offered it to you
as a free gift take the gift all you have
to do is trust in Jesus Christ as your
Savior plus nothing minus nothing
recognize you can never lose your
salvation believe that you're a sinner
that you deserve hell understand that
Jesus Christ died for you on the cross
that he resurrected on the third day and
that all you have to do is believe on his
name for salvation call upon the name of
the Lord amen and be saved I hope you
don't walk away thinking that was a
really good song and that's it let's pray
father we thank you so much for your word
Lord I pray that you'd help us as your
people to now not allow the Word of God
to fall upon deaf ears and may it never
be dull unto us even as your people may
it never be dull and just something that
we enjoy listening to but are not
listening to it with the intent to obey
and Lord help us as your people to
kindly graciously and with fear and
trembling approach people who are not
saved and and tread lightly because we
want them to get saved and explain it
clearly help us to be faithful watchmen
and Lord may you bless us as we go on
our way help us as your people Lord to
give heed in Jesus name amen
please turn your song books of song
number 145 song number 145 it is well
with my soul now on the chorus for this
song as is traditional we'll have the
ladies sing the first it is well and the
men will sing the second one and vice
versa for both of those there and what
that means ladies is you have to sing it
very loud so that you don't get totally
overpowered by all the men okay song
number 145 all together on that first
verse when peace like a river attendeth
my way when sorrows like sea billows
roll whatever my lot thou hast taught me
to say it is well it is well with my soul
it is well with my soul it is well it is
well with my soul though Satan should
buffet though trial should come let this
blessed assurance control that Christ has
regarded my helpless estate and hath
shed his own blood for my soul it is
well with my soul it is well it is well
with my soul my sin oh the bliss of this
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 oh my soul it is well with my
soul it is well it is well with my soul
and Lord hates the day when my faith
shall be sigh the clouds be rolled back
as a scroll the trunk shall resound and
the Lord shall descend even so it is
well with my soul it is well
with my soul it is well it is well with
my soul amen wonderful singing you are
dismissed