Alright, we continue this evening with the book of Acts, Acts chapter number four, and
let me just give you a bit of review of what we've gone over the last couple of weeks
from Acts chapter one up to three.
Of course, we know that in Acts chapter one, we see the Great Commission being
given.
Acts chapter two is when the Spirit comes upon the disciples, that they're given
clothing, tongues like as a fire, they were to preach the word of God in different
languages, and it's because of this that they're actually able to reach into different
people groups.
We have the day of Pentecost fully come, and at that point, you have thousands of people
assembling together to worship.
And basically, what the apostles did is take advantage of that.
They took advantage of the fact that there is a large group of people in that specific
area.
They went there to preach the word of God unto them.
They got a bunch of people saved, up to 3,000 were saved and added to the church.
And then in Acts chapter three, we see that Peter and John, basically, they wanted
to use the same tactic to go into the temple at the hour of prayer.
And the reason they want to do this because, obviously, we see later on in chapter four
that 5,000 people got saved.
That means over 5,000 people were meeting at the hour of prayer at the temple during
this time.
So they weren't going to the temple to worship there.
They didn't regard the temple as an epicenter of worship.
They didn't regard it as something that was sanctioned by God to worship.
What they did is they used it as an opportunity to say, well, there's going to be a bunch
of people there.
Let's go there and preach the word of God.
Now the catalyst to that great exploit was what?
The impotent man who was above 40 years of age or so.
And he reached out, he wanted alms, silver and gold to have I none, but such as I
have give I thee.
In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk, the Bible says.
And they did a great miracle at which point they call attention to themselves.
A lot of people begin to observe and see what they're doing.
And they basically just roll in right into the word of God.
They start preaching the word of God against the rulers.
But towards those who are with an open heart, these people get saved.
And this is where we carry on.
We continue in the story in Acts chapter number four.
Now initially, if you remember, as I mentioned, 3,000 people get saved.
Now it's 5,000.
Okay.
This is a lot of people getting saved.
This is a great exploit that's being done here.
Now I want you to remember this is that the Bible tells us that when a great and
effectual door is opened unto us, there are many adversaries there by, right?
There's many adversaries on the other side of the door of opportunity.
And you know what?
The disciples, they go through this door of opportunity where they're able to preach
the word of God, see people saved.
And what do we see on the other side?
The priests, the captains.
We see the Sadducees.
We see the rulers.
We see the Jews.
And the Bible tells us that the Jews are the enemies of the gospel according to Romans
chapter number 11.
And we see that right off the bat in Acts chapter four.
A great work is being done.
It's not like they're breaking the law, they're not breaking the rules, they're not doing
something crazy.
They're literally healing a man, right?
Helping him to straighten him out.
They are helping him to walk again.
I mean a notable work is done.
What do they do?
They get mad and they arrest them.
They throw them into the ward.
Why?
Is it because they healed a man?
Well, no.
Because of the fact that they're preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
And they're using the healing of this man as a means to roll in right into the gospel
to see these people saved.
Now this is where we pick off here now.
But before we get into that, I want you to just remember that.
Any time you do a great exploit, you have a great time out there soul winning, you
see a lot of people saved, we have a soul winning marathon, a great work is done.
Just mark it down.
Satan's coming right around the corner.
He's going to come and persecute.
He's going to come from left field.
He's going to seek to blind side you.
And look, don't ever think that you can basically pre-determine what that trial is going to
be.
How that persecution is going to look like.
We're like, okay, we're going to be ready because he's going to send the sodomites
after us.
Not necessarily.
The sodomites aren't his only weapon.
Sometimes he uses different avenues to seek to persecute and wear out the saints.
And we see here that a notable work is done.
5,000 people are getting saved and here come the Jews seeking to hinder the gospel.
They're mad at them and they throw them into the ward.
Now initially they take it as a good thing.
They're rejoicing, they're happy about it, but then it begins to wear on them.
Even to the point where really they refuse to go out further to reach into the gentiles
and they want to just stick around in Jerusalem, stick around with what they're used to,
what they're accustomed to preaching to.
So just keep that in mind.
The Bible does tell us that a great door and effectual is opened unto me and there
are many adversaries.
Now let's start reading here in verse number one.
Again it's a continuation from the story in chapter three.
It says in verse one, and as they spake unto the people, the priest and the captain
of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them being grieved.
They're sad, they're mad, they're angry.
Why?
Because they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Now problem number one with this group of leaders is this, is that they're grieved
because the word of God is being preached.
That's a huge problem.
It kind of reminds me of old IFP churches of pastors who get mad when we preach the
word of God, we're out there soul winning, or we're just discussing doctrine.
It's like it grieves them at their heart.
You know they're like, oh we're grieved.
Why?
Because you're preaching doctrine, you're discipling other people.
What are you trying to teach them?
What are you showing them?
You know, kind of thing.
Well this is the same spirit.
Verse three says, and they laid hands on them and put them in hold until the next
day, for it was now eventide.
So you know this work that they were doing is from the ninth hour until eventide, which
is about three hours later.
This is the amount of time of where 5,000 people get saved, they're rejoicing, they're
doing a great work.
Verse four says, howbeit many of them which heard the word believed, and the number
of the men was above was about 5,000 the Bible says.
So this is a great group getting saved here, showing us there's probably more than 5,000
people assembling together, because we obviously understand that when you preach the word
of God, obviously narrows the way, a lot of, the vast majority of the population
are not going to accept the gospel, they're not going to want to be saved.
You know, it's often a remnant that gets saved, a few people get saved, in comparison
to how big the population really is.
So it kind of goes to show us that there's a lot of people here because 5,000 people
are getting saved.
The religious leaders were against what was being preached, we see the priests there,
the captains, but I want you to notice that the Sadducees are there as well.
Now who are the Sadducees?
Well the Sadducees are this religious group that we see specifically even through
the gospels, but they're a particular group that rejects, just completely rejects
the resurrection, the bodily resurrection.
Now let me just say this, is that what we see in them is basically the spirit of the
Jehovah's Witnesses.
You know we often think, well the Jehovah's Witnesses came about in the 1800s, and you
know it was, that's when it started, that's a new doctrine, actually it's not a new
doctrine, it's actually a very old doctrine, but it's an old false doctrine, right?
And it's something, because there's no new thing under the sun, we see that Satan always
pulls out the same heresies, he just puts a different title on that religious group.
You know in our day, it's the Jehovah's Witnesses, in their day it's the Sadducees.
You know, and notice that these false groups, these cults as we call them, are
always attacking very essential doctrines dealing with salvation.
And make no mistake about it, the resurrection is part of salvation.
Because the mere fact that we're gonna resurrect is proof that we are gonna live
forever.
Okay?
You know the fact that we have everlasting life is not just referring to our spirit,
it's referring to the bodily resurrection, you know, when this incorruption shall put
on, excuse me, this corruption shall put on incorruption, where we shall be sown
a natural body and be raised a celestial body.
Okay?
This is very important.
And the Jehovah's Witnesses will say, well, you know, no, there is no bodily resurrection
when Jesus Christ resurrected, it was a spiritual resurrection, there was no body,
they just completely negate when Jesus said, you know, touch my hands and feel my side
for spirit hath not flesh and bone as he sieve me to have.
They literally felt him, they touched him, they confirmed the fact that he actually
resurrected bodily, okay?
But this is what the Sadducees are teaching.
And why is that?
Well, because they don't know the scriptures nor the power of God.
And in fact, that's literally what Jesus told the Sadducees, you do greatly err not knowing
the scriptures nor the power of God, because that's really what it comes down to.
The power of the resurrection, they don't believe in the power of God, they don't believe
in the power of resurrection because they don't believe that God can do something like
that.
You know, it's like unsaved people who say, so like, you believe in this resurrection,
so what about people who were like burned?
You know, you ever heard that before?
What about people who were burned or they died at sea, they've been dead for thousands
of years, and their body is decomposed?
You know, do you really think God is gonna just bring that back?
Yes, he is.
He's capable of doing that.
And in fact, the Christians are not the only ones who's gonna do that too.
In fact, he's gonna resurrect the dead as well, the people who are damned.
We see that in Revelation 21.
When the sea gives up, they're dead.
All the people who were eaten by sharks and the people on the Titanic and all the other
pirate ships or whatever ships have gone down who are unsaved, God says he's gonna
resurrect them, but it's a resurrection unto damnation, not unto everlasting life.
He's gonna bring their bodies together, he's capable of doing that.
We have an example of this, even in the Old Testament.
God is able, okay, to do such a thing.
But they deny the bodily resurrection, and because of this, they seek to arrest them.
They don't wanna be tolerant of what they're preaching.
They don't like the fact that they're preaching this, and in fact, I'm sure these Sadducees
and priests, they're associated with those who are persecuting Jesus, okay?
Now this should come as no surprise to the disciples, right, that they're being persecuted.
Why?
Because Jesus constantly foretold of this while he was alive.
Go to Matthew chapter 10, if you would, Matthew chapter 10.
And make no mistake about it, when we get persecuted and when we go through a tribulation,
we should not be surprised.
We should not be taken back by that.
We should not be shocked.
We should not be afraid of sudden fear.
You know, this is something that should be expected, yea, all that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But aside from that, Jesus Christ specifically told his disciples, hey, this is what they're
gonna do to you.
They referring to the Jews, okay?
Look at Matthew 10 verse 16.
He says, Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves.
Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves, but beware of men.
Well, you know what, pastor, it says beware of men, you know, that's just generally speaking.
It says, Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to the councils and they will
scourge you in their synagogues.
It doesn't say in their Catholic church.
It doesn't say in their mosque.
It says in their synagogues.
What does that say?
He's saying the Jews are gonna be the ones doing this to you.
Now during Jesus Christ's ministry, this was not happening.
Jesus Christ was there.
They were walking in the light as he was in the light.
He was protecting them.
They had basically a little over three years of just no persecution where, you know, other
than people just rejecting what they were saying.
But they weren't thrown into prison.
They weren't scourged.
They weren't beaten.
It wasn't until Jesus Christ was taken from the picture and the comforter was given that
at that point, we see persecution ramping up, okay?
Look at Matthew 10, look at verse 18, it says, And ye shall be brought before governors
and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak, for it shall
be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Now apparently, Peter did remember this part, because he's actually the one who's stepping
up and preaching the word of God and just waxing eloquent.
I mean, Acts chapter 4 has some of the best verses in the book of Acts.
I mean, verses that we use out, soul winning, verses that we just quote, you know, just
very popular passages of scripture that we use on a constant basis are found in Acts
chapter 4.
And why is that?
Well, because God used Peter in a great way and Peter obviously remembered this.
You know, when they're bringing them forth to the governors, they're persecuting them,
he is basically yielded to the Holy Spirit, he's filled with the Holy Spirit, and now
he's preaching the word of God with boldness and he preaches against them.
Now go to Luke 21, Luke 21.
Now sometimes Christians are not careful and they read something like Matthew 10 and
think, wow, that was pretty bad back then.
You know, we live in just a better time, you know, we're never gonna like see something
like that.
Wrong.
In fact, persecution is gonna ramp up.
And in fact, the tribulation, the great tribulation, is actually a tribulation greater
than any tribulation in all of history.
According to the Bible.
That's what Jesus said.
So it's actually gonna be greater than what we see here.
Now I don't mean greater as in, you know, they're just gonna basically destroy Christians,
far worse than they did in these days.
I believe when it says just greater, it just means at a bigger scale.
Because all this is taking place in Jerusalem, all this is taking place in a isolated segment
of the world, right?
At this time.
Whereas in the end times, it's gonna be worldwide.
Because there's Christians all over the place.
At which point persecution will be at a greater scale because there's more Christians, more
people persecuting, and you know what?
Satan is gonna rule the world at that time through the Antichrist, okay?
Look at Luke 21.
This is very similar to what we see in Matthew chapter 10.
However, it is basically a prophecy of what's gonna take place in the end times.
It says in verse 8, and he said,
Take heed that ye be not deceived, for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ,
and the time draweth near.
Go ye not therefore after them.
But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified, for these things must
first come to pass, but the end is not by and by.
We obviously understand based upon the wording, this is referring to, you know, the beginning
of sorrows, the great tribulation.
Verse 10 says, Then said he unto them, nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against
kingdom and great earthquakes shall be in diverse places and famines and pestilences
and fearful sights and great signs shall be from heaven.
But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering
you up to the synagogues and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers from
my name's sake, and it shall turn to you for a testimony.
So there is no new thing under the sun.
If they did it to the disciples, they're gonna do it to us.
In fact, take it a step further.
If they did it to Jesus, they're gonna do it to us.
If they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much worse shall they call us, right?
We shall be called Beelzebub, our name shall be cast out as evil and wicked and
cursed in the eyes of the world one day.
Now he is talking about the immediate future, which we see in Acts 4, but this is a foretelling
of what's gonna take place in the end times, showing us that we're gonna suffer
the same exact things.
By the way, I don't think it is a coincidence that it says synagogue still.
You see, the Jews are not just the enemies of the gospel, and these days, they're
still the enemies of the gospel, even today.
Okay, we'll get into that in just a bit.
He says in verse 14, Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate before what
ye shall answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries
shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Oh no, this is a different dispensation.
Wrong, folks.
This is the same Holy Spirit that gave them the ability to speak and to shame the adversaries
and to preach the word of God boldly is the same Holy Spirit we have today.
And in fact, the only difference is that we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit today, whereas
in those days, prior to Christ's crucifixion, prior to his ascension, you know, the Spirit
of God would come upon them, but it wouldn't necessarily indwell them, you understand?
But the power is still there, okay?
So the same boldness that the prophets had of old time is the same boldness you
can have today, because it's not based upon whether you're indwelt with the Holy Spirit
to be bold, it's actually based upon whether the Spirit of God just comes upon you, you understand?
Now obviously a person who is not saved cannot have the Spirit of God coming upon them
to preach the word of God, to see people saved, that's impossible, but what I'm
saying is this, is that you can have Christians today, I mean, you do have Christians
today that are saved, that are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, but they're as fearful
and cowardice as the day is long.
Why?
Because they're not filled with the Spirit, okay?
Go to Revelation chapter 2, if you would, Revelation chapter 2.
So you know, this is the time that Peter's been waiting for, I mean, he's been trained
for this, he's been, you know, taught this by Jesus Christ, they were going to
persecute him, he knew about this, and you know what?
He passed with flying colors, right?
Look at Revelation 2 verse 8, and unto the angel of the church and Smyrna write, These
things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive.
Now this is a letter that's being written to seven churches, okay, the seven churches
which are in Asia, and there is an immediate application, in other words, these are things
that they actually went through in those days, but it's a foreshadowing of what's
going to take place in the end times during the great tribulation, because there's
no new thing under the sun.
Verse 9 says, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou are rich, rich in
faith is what he's referring to, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they
are Jews, and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.
Now folks, if he's saying there, by the way, this is Jesus.
This is not, you know, if it was Paul, or Peter, or some other person speaking,
you know, just kind of giving their opinion, that would be one thing, but this is not
the case.
The case that we see here is that Jesus Christ himself is saying, hey, these people,
they say they are Jews, but they're not.
Well, who are they, Jesus?
They're the synagogue of Satan.
Now what does that tell us?
Well, you know, some people would say, well, I was referring to you guys, because you
guys claim to be the spiritual Jews.
Yeah, but here's the thing is, I don't go to a synagogue.
I go to a church, a local assembly of believers, believers on Christ, okay?
And look, what do we see at the church of Smyrna?
That these people are suffering tribulation at the hands of those who say they are Jews
and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan.
That's what it's telling us there.
He goes on to say in verse 10, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer, behold
the devil.
Oh, man, ain't that interesting?
The devil shall cast some of you into prison.
Wait, I thought it was the Jews who were going to cast them into prison.
Well, here's the thing.
Well, Jesus, they're kind of synonymous, because he says in John 8 44, ye are of
your father, the devil.
So basically, they are of Satan.
By the way, even Jews of today, the Jews of today who adhere to the Talmud, they
embrace it, they love it, they lick their chops every time they read it and speak about
it, those people are of the devil, folks.
Because the Talmud is not your run-of-the-mill false book.
It's not like the Koran, though the Koran is wicked.
It's not like the Book of Mormon, though the Book of Mormon is wicked and stupid.
It's not like, you know, all these other false versions.
What is it like?
The worst one.
Because it's the only book that actually blasphemes the name of Jesus to the point
where they say that Jesus Christ is in hell, he deserved to die, he's burning in his
own excrement, he is Beelzebub, he is the devil, he practiced black magic, his
mom was a whore.
You know, I want to talk to some of these Christian Zionists and ask them what they
think about that.
And by the way, if they give any credence or any credibility to that, those people
are reprobate too.
You know, the Talmud is a wicked book and any Jew who adheres to the Talmud, I mean
ardently, is reprobate.
If they love the Talmud, they're reprobate.
I'm not talking about people who say, yeah, the Talmud is a great historical book but
they've never read in their whole lives.
They just don't know the contents thereof, they don't know what it says, they just
think it's just the traditions of the elders, they don't know what it says.
But the people who actually know what it says and propagate it, those people are wicked.
Did you just call the Jews the devil?
Jesus actually did that, he said the devil shall cast some of you into prison.
And just newsflash, Satan is now walking around with a pitchfork and a red tail grabbing
Christians and throwing them into prison.
Who's the one who's doing that?
Here.
Well, according to the previous verse, it's those who say there are Jews in the synagogue
of Satan.
So who's the devil's church?
The synagogue's the Jews, according to the Bible.
The devil shall cast some of you into prison that ye may be tried and ye shall have tribulation
ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life.
Go back to Acts chapter four if you would.
Acts chapter four, this isn't anti-Semitic.
I'm not against different colored skinned people.
What am I against?
I'm against people who hate Jesus.
And mark it down, there is no group in this world, no group in this world who hates
Jesus more than the Jews.
Mark it down.
And if that rubs you the wrong way, you're like, man, I don't know about that, sounds
kind of weird.
Because you've been conditioned through textbooks, through the media, through every outlet that
the Jews own, which is all of them, news outlets and all that, to try to cause people
to believe, oh, these people are just innocent people.
No, these people are who the answer Christ is going to use to get into power.
He's going to become great, the Bible says, with a small people.
That is referred, that's prophetic of the Jews.
I mean, how many times do you hear that, oh, there's that little nation over there,
you know, that little people, it's just the apple of God's eye, it's the rotten
apple of God's eye, because they're not bringing forth the fruits thereof.
Let's continue on, I'll get back to that topic in just a bit.
And by the way, you're going to hear that a lot throughout the book of Acts.
You have to.
I mean, you think I talk about it a lot, Peter's been talking about it since Acts chapter
2.
He can't preach a sermon, you think I can't preach a sermon without talking about replacement
theology?
He hasn't preached the gospel without talking about replacement theology.
Think about that.
Every time he's like preaching, he just brings up, by the way, you Jews, you're
the ones who crucify them.
You guys are the ones who delivered them up, Jews.
Yeah, you, you did it.
I mean, he's bringing it up over and over and over again.
Look at verse 5, and it came to pass on the morrow that there are rulers and elders
and scribes and the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and as many as were
of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem.
And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, by what power or by what name
have you done this?
Then Peter filled with the Holy Ghost and said unto them, you rulers of the people.
Well, first of all, look at verse 7, okay.
Why are they arrested?
Why were they put in the Lord for healing a guy, helping him to walk again so that he's
leaping, you know, jumping and leaping and praising God?
You know, a great work was done, and then they just massively put him in jail.
They put him in the Lord, and they bring him out the day after and said, so what
did you use to do that?
You know, because they want to know if they're going to say, well, it's by the power
of Jesus, okay.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, well, you know, you can believe
what you believe, we believe what we believe, you know, there's many roads to heaven.
Is that what he said?
No, filled with the Holy Ghost said unto them, ye rulers of the people and elders
of Israel, you know, if you want me to vote for you this coming November, you better
let me go.
Is that what he says?
So is he like trying to appease the rulers and the elders, these politicians?
And yeah, I'm going there, you know, is he trying to appeal to them and appease
them and try to help, you know, oh, hey, if you want me to vote for you in November,
you better let me go.
No, in fact, he's preaching against them.
If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means
he is made whole, be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom, look what he says, ye crucified by the way.
So he's just like, hey, Jesus, by the way, of Nazareth, because can there any
good thing come out of Nazareth, right?
This is the attitude that they would have, you know, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom
ye crucified, and for you Sadducees out there, whom God raised from the dead.
He could have just said, you know, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, no, he's covering
all the bases.
He's trying to, he's trying to tick everyone off.
He's leaving no stone unturned.
He's very thorough.
He's keeping back nothing, which is profitable unto them, amen?
Even by him, does this man stand here before you whole?
It was Jesus who did that.
This is the stone which was said at naught of you builders, which has become the head
of the corner.
Neither is there salvation in any other, for there's none other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved.
Very powerful verse right here.
And he's saying, look, you Pharisees, Sadducees, priests, there's none other name, okay?
Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by him is what he's saying.
Now here, Peter re-emphasizes the fact that the Jews killed Jesus.
You see that in verse 10.
He talks about how they crucified him.
Peter is also re-preaching what Jesus preached in verse 11.
Look what it says in verse 11.
It says, this is the stone which was said at naught of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner.
So he's like, I'll not only tell you who's the one who's responsible for making this
man walk, I'm going to talk about him in relation to you.
He says, the builders said at naught, and he's referring to this precious stone.
Now who are the builders?
The builders are the Jews, right?
But the question is, why does he call them builders?
Well turn with me, if you would, to Matthew 23.
Matthew 23.
I should go to Matthew 21, then we'll go to Matthew 23.
Go to Matthew 21.
You see, if someone tells me, hey man, the Jews, they're God's chosen people, man.
The stuff that you're saying, man, I don't know, they're God's chosen people.
I agree with them halfway, and up to the point where the Old Testament finishes.
That's the half.
Because they were God's chosen people leading up to that point, and any Jew today
who believes on Christ is part of God's chosen people.
But guess what?
They now cease being a Jew, according to the Bible.
So you know, if there's a Jew out there who gets saved, I don't accept this whole,
you know, I'm a Masianic Jew talk.
God doesn't accept that.
That's not biblical.
That's not in the Bible.
We don't have believers and then Masianic Christians over here.
Anybody who believes on Christ is just a Christian.
Okay?
Yeah, but I like to hold on to the Torah, and I like to do these, the old way of
doing it.
I think the old is better, for no man tasting the new, right?
They want to stick to the Old Testament.
They want to stick to the old wine, and anybody who does that and embraces that,
I don't believe they're saved, folks.
Because in order to embrace, you know, this Hebrew roots movement type of a thing,
you have to reject Christ.
Now why are they called builders?
Well again, as I mentioned in the Old Testament, they were God's chosen people in the Old
Testament, and they were in a sense chosen to be the builders of the kingdom, so to
speak.
What does that mean?
Basically, they were chosen to preach the word of God, right?
They were the husband men of the Old Testament.
They were there to build the vineyard.
They were supposed to be a light unto the Gentiles, to preach the word of God unto
all different nations, and be a light to see people saved, but they failed miserably.
Why?
Because they came narcissistic, it was all about themselves, and they completely rejected
the rock, which is the foundation, Jesus Christ.
Now you're in Matthew 21, I'm going to read to you from 1 Corinthians 3, 9, it
says, For we are laborers together with God, ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's
building.
According to the grace of God, which is given unto me as a wise master builder, I
have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon, but let every man take heed how
he buildeth thereupon.
For other foundation can no man lay, than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
What is he saying?
Hey, any of you builders out there who are building the vineyard, you just got
to make sure that the foundation is Jesus Christ.
Hey, when you preach the word of God, you preach Christ, and Him crucified.
We don't preach illustrations, we don't preach, oh, have a relationship with God,
we preach what?
Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.
By the way, we don't preach Yahweh.
We don't preach Yeshua.
We don't preach any other name other than Jesus Christ.
Now I know there's other languages, I get it, that use Yeshua, but guess what?
I'm talking about English.
And look, mark it down, any English speaking person who says we have to use Yeshua,
they're tied into this Hebrew roots movement.
That's the only reason they're even using that word.
Okay?
And we'll get into that in just a bit.
But the foundation has to be Jesus Christ, in order to build there upon.
So they were the builders, because many of them did win a lot of people to the Lord.
They did see a lot of people saved.
They did build the vineyard, but here's the thing, the religious leaders ended up taking
that to a different direction, where basically Jesus Christ came into His own, and
His own received Him not.
Now here's the thing, they stopped building for God.
But that doesn't mean they stopped building, because look what it says in Matthew 21.
Let's read this parable first.
It says in verse 33, here another parable, there was a certain householder, which planted
a vineyard and hedged it round about, and digged the winepress in it, and built
a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country.
Skip down to verse 40.
When the Lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will He do unto those husbandmen, referring
to the husbandmen that killed the prophets, and killed the son, the heir.
Verse 41, they say unto Him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men.
I mean, talk about a self-fulfilling prophecy, because what's being done here?
Jesus is giving a parable to the Pharisees, which are Jews, and He's basically talking
about them.
And He gives this parable of these husbandmen, how they killed the servants, they killed
the son, the servants are symbolic of the prophets, the son obviously is symbolic of
Jesus Christ, and then Jesus says, hey, what do you think the boss is gonna do
when he comes back?
And the Pharisees are like, they're gonna miserably destroy, because they're wicked.
And will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits
in their season.
Look, if the Jews understood that, why can't independent fundamental Baptists understand
that, right?
They taught it.
The Jews taught replacement theology right here, they said, look, He's gonna miserably
destroy them, He's gonna let out their vineyard to other husbandmen, who's gonna
render them, Him, the fruits in their season, because it's logical, right?
I mean, Jesus is, He's good, man, just savage right here.
He says in verse 42, Jesus said unto them, did you never read the scriptures?
The stone which the builders rejected, the same has become the head of the corner,
this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.
Therefore say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to
a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
In other words, it's basically saying, everything you just said is gonna happen to you, because
by thy words thou shall be justified, and by thy words thou shall be condemned.
Verse 44, and whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken, but on whosoever
it shall fall, it will grind him to powder.
So it's like, either you fall on him, you're broken, or he falls on you, you just grind
it to powder.
So there's no winning against Jesus, amen?
And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard his parable, they perceived that he
spake of them.
He's like, you're talking about us, huh?
Now how do they know that he was talking about them?
Because they're wicked, and they know that they're wicked, the idiots.
They know that they're wicked, they know they kill the prophets, they know they
want to kill Jesus, so that's why they're like, he's talking about us.
Verse 46, but when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because
they took him for a profit.
Now go to Matthew 23, Matthew chapter 23, good work Sherlock, I think he's talking
about us, yeah, that's who he's talking about, and you know what, I'm just appalled
at the fact that, you know, even the Jews understood this, but Christians, saved Christians
sometimes can't even understand that, that they've been replaced, even they say, yeah,
they should be replaced, and be destroyed, and that vineyard should be given to someone
else who's gonna bring forth the fruits thereof, but yet you have Christians today,
Zionist Christians, you're like, no, there's still the apple of his eye, and you know,
there's still God's chosen people, and you know, God's not done with them, and
look, I agree with the fact that God's not done with them, I agree with that.
The only difference is, is that what they think God's gonna do to them, and what I
believe God's gonna do to them, are completely polar opposites, okay?
Matthew 23, so he's saying, look, you builders, you rejected the corner, the cornerstone,
you rejected the foundation, which is Jesus Christ, but he didn't necessarily say that
they stopped building, because look what it says in Matthew 23, verse 29, won't
you use scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites?
Because ye build, what?
The tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, if
we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them
in the blood of the prophets.
So you know what they started, they stopped actually working for God, and they started
working for Satan.
It takes a very wicked person to kill prophets and build their sepulchres.
Think about that.
I mean, you say, well, I mean, I don't know if these kind of people really exist.
Look, folks, they paid the soldiers off to lie about the resurrection of Jesus.
And they're like, hey, if anything come to the years of the governor, the war will
secure you, you know, basically saying that they're gonna lie about it, but who is the
liar?
But he that denied that Jesus is the Christ, he is antichrist, okay?
So it's not that they stopped building for, excuse me, it's not that they stopped building,
they just stopped building for God, and started building the tombs of the prophets.
They completely turned against God, and you know what, they became the enemies of the
cross of Christ.
That's what they became, okay?
We are now the builders today in the New Testament.
Let's see here.
Go with me, if you would, to Ephesians, or go to 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter
2.
Now, look, you say, why is Peter bringing this up?
Can he just like preach, just only about Jesus?
But this is, it's kind of funny, but it's actually really, really interesting,
and I believe there's a lot of weight to this, is, you know, this topic of replacement
theology, it actually opens a lot of hearts.
I mean, we see it here, right?
How about just today?
Aren't there a lot of people who've just gotten saved because they recognize who the
Jews really were?
And I'm talking about like atheists, people who are just not religious at all, but you
know, they start looking into certain things, and they start looking into, who are the
Jews?
Or who are the enemies?
Who are these wicked people?
And they're like, oh, it's the Jews.
Well, who are the Jews?
And ultimately, it helps them to delve into the spiritual realm, because then they wonder,
like, why are they so wicked?
Why are they so bad?
And the source, or where you can find the end or the answer to that question is the
Bible.
Now, obviously, you can look through history and see all that, but if you go further back
than that, this is where it stems from, these stories that we find here.
So what happens is that people who are not religious, they're agnostic, or whatever
it may be, they're atheists, but they have a desire to know the truth.
Once they find out who the Jews really are, it ultimately leads them to recognize there
is a real devil, and if there's a real devil, there has to be a real God.
So they have to figure out, this is how a lot of people come to Christ, they look
at the narrative of the Jews.
They see the narrative of the Jews and say, well, if they're saying that Jesus
is wicked, he must be the right one.
They look into Jesus, they look into the Word of God, and look, I've heard testimonies
of scores of people who have said, I got saved because of March into Zion.
I got saved because I was researching about the Jews, I found out who they really were,
and then it came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Oh, no, you can just talk about truthers.
Well, yeah, anybody who gets saved is a truther, because they go to the source of
all truth.
But, folks, let me just say this, this is not something in 2020 or from 2012 to
2020, this is something that Peter was doing even back then.
Because, look, think about this.
People out there when they hear preaching against the Jews, because there's a lot
of people out there who are not saved, but they know about the Jews.
They know the evil, about the evil that they commit.
They know about their agendas.
They know that they rule Hollywood, the pedophilia rings.
They know that they rule most of the world.
They know about the Rothschilds.
They know about all these things, right?
And so when they look at what the Bible says about that, it opens their heart.
It helps them to realize, man, the Bible is true.
The Word of God is true, because this is actually foretold in the Bible.
And look, in these days, you know why there's about 5,000 people who got saved?
Okay?
Because I guarantee you, folks, remember, there's no new thing under the sun.
I guarantee you, those 5,000 already saw the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the Jews
of those days.
They knew the hypocrisy of them.
They knew about Matthew 23.
They knew that, you know, they sat in Moses' seat, but they never did what they told
other people to do.
They knew the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of that day, but you know what?
They knew no other way until these guys came along and preached against them and said,
hey, these guys actually have the truth.
Because look, these 5,000 people, they're sincere people.
If they weren't sincere, they wouldn't have gotten saved.
But they were proselytes of the Jews.
But here's the thing.
You know, they probably saw the hypocrisy of the Pharisees, of the Sadducees, of the
priests, of these religious leaders, and in light of that, it opened up their heart to
get saved.
Okay?
It's a great thing.
And look, folks, that's why I love replacement theology.
It's actually one of my favorite, I'll be honest with you, okay?
It's one of my favorite doctrines.
Because of the fact that it's throughout the Bible, there's so much that's said
about it, and it's a doctrine that proves, what is the replacement theology?
It's just the doctrine that God uses to teach us, hey, He loves us.
We're not secondary.
We're not second-class citizens.
We're not foreigners to Jesus.
We're accepted and beloved.
And it's not like, well, yeah, you guys are saved, but you're not God's chosen
people.
No, we are God's chosen people.
Because there is no God's chosen people in hell, folks, which is exactly where the
Jews are going if they choose to reject Jesus Christ.
They're going to split hell wide open.
Many of them have already.
Ephesians 2, you're in 1 Peter chapter 2, Ephesians 2 verse 19 says, Now therefore you
are no more strangers than foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints.
Fellow citizens with the Jews?
No, fellow citizens with the saints.
So he's not saying, hey, your fellow, now you can be grafted into the Jews.
No, you're grafted into Jesus.
Not grafted into the Jews.
And look, if there's a Jew out there who believes on Jesus Christ, that's my brother.
Amen?
And I am a fellow citizen with him and of the household of God and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone
in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord.
Now people look at us today and think that they say, man, you guys are so like anti-Semitic
and the things you say about the Jews.
Look folks, let me just be real honest with you.
If you really want to take it there.
Jews actually preach harder against Jews than we do because Paul was a Jew.
Peter was a Jew, right?
These guys were Jews.
And you know what?
They wrote some of the most hard stuff against them, harder than the Jews and their lives.
How about just of the synagogue of Satan?
I mean, they riffed on Jews.
I have to try to keep up, but it's just like, I'm just repeating what they're saying
because what they say is so savage.
I can't come up with anything greater, amen?
1 Peter 2 says, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not
be confounded unto you, therefore, which believe he is precious, but unto them which
be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner.
By the way, I just want you to notice that Peter, again, misquoted some verses here.
He said not instead of disallowed, he's just not getting it.
Go back to Acts chapter 4, if you would, Acts chapter 4.
By the way, when it says, but unto them which be disobedient, it's not referring
to disobedient to God's law.
It's referring to being disobedient to the gospel, okay?
Disobedient to the command to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved.
Verse 12 says, Neither is there any salvation in any other, for there is none other name
under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.
Now, notice that it says that there's no other name.
What name is he referring to?
He's referring to Jesus, not Yahweh, not Yeshua, not Muhammad, not, you know, whatever
other name you can come up with.
Jesus is the name that you have to believe on in order to be saved.
In the English-speaking language, okay?
And I see this a lot on Instagram, Yeshua, you know, Yeshua, Yeshua, and it's just
like, where are you getting that from?
You don't know Hebrew.
You're like a white dude.
Not you, Adam.
You're like a white dude, and you're using the name Yeshua as if you're familiar
with it.
And this is where it stems from.
They say, well, Yeshua, that is the name of God in the New Testament, because the
New Testament was written in Hebrew, false.
What are you talking about?
The New Testament was written in Hebrew.
Folks, we have the books like the book of Galatians, the Ephesians, Thessalonians.
We have Peter writing to Cappadocia and Bithynia, Asia, all these areas that are
non-Hebrew-speaking areas.
They spoke Greek.
I mean, even in the book of Revelation, when Apollyon is being mentioned, it's using
a Greek name.
Why?
Because there are speakers who are receiving this letter, and they're not going to know
necessarily what Abaddon is.
So they use Apollyon, which is the Greek rendition of Abaddon.
Now tell me, if the New Testament is written in Hebrew, why did John have to do that?
I'll tell you why.
Because he wrote to the seven churches which are in Asia, and these seven churches in
Asia are not speaking Hebrew.
Okay?
It's nonsense to say that, you know, the New Testament, it was written in Hebrew,
and what it is, it's an agenda to basically try to Judaize churches and Christians, try
to bring them back under the law.
This is not just a problem that we see in the New Testament, this is a problem that
we see today in 2020, okay, where they're seeking to just completely get rid of
the name of Jesus.
No, the Bible says that if thou shalt confess the Lord Jesus, you know, and believe in
thine heart that God has raised them from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
You have to believe on Jesus Christ in order to be saved.
Not some other name, not some cryptic, you know, enigmatic name that you can't pronounce.
Oh, but Yeshua just sounds so mystical.
Yeah, but it's not biblical.
Get as mystical as you want.
It's not biblical.
It's wicked.
And look, the name in Greek is Issus.
And no, I'm not teaching you Greek.
I mean, you could literally open up the Greek New Testament, and someone who just knows
little to nothing about Greek can read that and say, oh, yeah, that says Issus, because
the characters are somewhat the same.
It says Issus.
That's why, you know, in Spanish, you have Jesus, these are just simply renditions
of that Greek New Testament name there.
But no, it doesn't say Yeshua, okay?
And again, I know there's languages out there that use that, but you know what?
Not English, not English.
And the reason I'm against people using that is because there's an agenda behind
using that name in order to basically Judaize Christians and bring people back under the
Torah.
We need to be Torah observers, you know, it's nonsense.
He says in verse number 15, but when they had commanded them to go aside out of the
council, they conferred among themselves saying, what shall we do to these men?
For that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all them
that dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it, amen.
They're like, man, you know, a great miracle was done, and we just can't refute it.
We can't pay anybody enough, that's what they're saying, right?
We can't pay enough money to try to lie about it because there's 5,000 people that got
saved.
We can't deny it.
Verse 17, but that has spread no further among the people.
Let us straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
Folks, this is evil.
It's evil.
They're literally saying, it's not like, well, you know, we disagree, but they're
not harming anybody.
What they're mad about is the fact that they're preaching in Jesus' name.
And they're like, we don't want them to mention Jesus anymore, let's threaten them.
Let's threaten them, straightly threaten them that they speak henceforth no more in
this name.
And look, anybody who seeks to impede the preaching of Jesus Christ or the gospel
is a reprobate in my opinion.
I'm not talking about some ignorant person who's just like, well, you guys are just
too radical.
I'm talking about someone who knows who Jesus is and they say, I don't want you
to preach in that name.
And I'm going to threaten you, I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop you.
And look, I'm talking about people too who try to misconstrue who Jesus is, you know,
who preach a different Jesus.
But these guys are actually saying, don't preach anymore in that name or else we're
going to do this to you.
And they end up doing that to them, by the way.
They end up beating them and scourging them and so on and so forth.
Verse 18, they called him and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the
name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered and said unto them, whether it be right in the sight of
God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye, for we cannot but speak the
things which ye have seen and heard.
Man, that's bold.
He's like, well, do you think it's right or wrong?
You can judge that.
But I'm just going to say what I've seen.
I'm going to say what I've heard.
In other words, what is he saying?
I'm going to keep preaching Jesus.
And let me say this.
This is a hill that I want to die on right here.
And it hasn't gotten to this point.
This is not a political battle.
This is literally a hill worth dying on here.
You know, I've said this before and I'm going to keep saying it.
And if you don't like it, it's okay because you can't do anything about it.
We're not supposed to fight these political battles.
And look, I'm not against someone who does.
I'm definitely not against someone who stands up for their freedoms or for their rights
or whatever, but when they start grandstanding and criticizing those who don't take their
same position, then I've got a problem with that.
I've got a problem with that.
When you start criticizing people, calling them stupid and foolish and all these other
words, people who just choose not to, then at that point there's a problem.
It's wrong, folks.
And I know 2020 just sucks, man.
It's been a crappy year.
It's brought out the worst in people, to be honest with you.
It's brought out the worst in a lot of people.
But I feel like it's taken people off track spiritually.
From people just getting out of church to just fighting the wrong battles.
And again, I'm against the masks.
I am against the masks.
I hate the masks.
Go watch Dr. Rita's video on the masks.
She gives a very clear, concise, balanced definition or explanation of the masks, whether
they work or not.
I was going to say newsflash.
Spoiler alert.
They're not good.
Okay?
And I agree with people.
Yeah, they're not good.
Obviously, they're not good.
But am I going to attack other Christians because they're afraid and they want to wear
them?
Am I going to just mock them and criticize them?
I'm not going to do that, folks.
Like, oh, this is kind of awkward, pastor.
Are you really saying this is your YouTube live?
This is my church, though.
I'm just telling you where I stand on this, okay?
I'm not going to criticize people like that because, look, there's people who have to
work, and they're forced to wear those masks, okay?
And they're nonsense.
I believe it.
Like, I don't wear a mask at all unless I literally have to, and when I do wear
it, it's just very—I wear it like a gangster.
I just sag.
I sag my mask.
Because I don't like wearing it.
I hate wearing it, you know?
Now you think to yourself, yeah, but—and here's the argument is—and to a certain
extent, they have a point.
They'll say, yeah, but that's the step right there, you know?
Once they begin to take that freedom, they'll take other freedoms, and then we just can't
preach the gospel.
But hold on a second.
That law of wearing the mask is for everyone.
It's not like they're just, like, centralizing on Christians and saying, well, only Christians
have to wear the mask.
You understand?
And sometimes I think there's, like, a misconception of the government where people think—like,
people try to, like, determine how the government's going to work, how are they going to implement
the mark of the beast, you know, how are they going to do it, you know?
Is it a mask?
You know, a mask just sounds like Mark.
They're making you take it.
Folks, read Revelation 13.
They don't force the mark on anybody.
People willingly take the mark, and they're not just like, this stupid mark, I can't
believe I have to put this on, and don't you know how bad this is?
They want the mark.
The only people who don't want it is Christians, and the only reason the mark is being implemented
in Revelation 13 is to weed out the Christians.
That's why.
And look, the vast majority of people in the United States hate the mask.
So that's not the mark.
The mark goes in your forehead, not over your mouth.
It goes in your forehead or in your right hand, not over your mouth.
Whoa, but it's the concept, though.
It's just the concept that they're trying to enforce this.
They're not enforcing the mark of the beast.
I promise you they're not going to enforce it.
They that worship him.
The only people who can take it are those who worship him.
If you're worshiping it, if you're worshiping the Antichrist, you want the mark.
They're like, sign me up.
I get 5G on this thing, and wireless service, and you know, detect all kinds of sicknesses
in my body, all these things.
You know, I think, here's my opinion, I could be wrong, and I'm chasing a rabbit here, okay?
But let me chase this, skin it, make stew, and then we'll get back on track.
This is what I think.
You know, things like the mask, okay, sometimes I feel it is an agenda of the government
to just make Christians look really stupid, to kind of put in society the population
to give them a bad taste of Christians.
So when the mark of the beast is implemented, yeah, they're going to be like, oh, these
are the same people, these are the same people who didn't want to take, who didn't
want the mask, you know, to kind of weed them out.
But here's the thing, the mask and the mark, two different things.
Two different things.
And if you're not careful, if you begin to blend those, this is why you have people
who believe Christians can take the mark.
Have you heard that before?
Christians saying, yeah, that's why you can't take the mark.
It's like, if you're saved, you're not going to take it.
You can't take it.
It's impossible for you to take it.
But in their minds, they think they will take it, or it's a possibility that they
will, because if they compromise in this area, they're going to compromise with the
mark.
No, folks, there is no compromising with the mark.
It's a completely different concept, okay?
And again, I'm against the mask, okay?
I'm against the mask.
It's annoying.
It's irritating.
I know they're trying to make it fashionable now, acceptable to the point where it's
just, oh, you can look good wearing it and all this stuff.
I'm completely against it.
And I'm not saying there's some, there's not some sort of agenda behind it, but every
time we have some sort of crisis going on, people always want to relate it to what's
taking place, and they say, this is the tribulation.
This is the mark of the beast.
No, it's not.
Look, a vaccine is not going to be the mark of the beast.
It's not.
Obviously, it's conditioning people, but it's not going to be the mark of the beast,
okay?
I don't even know how I got off on that.
Oh, I know how, because I can not but speak to things which I have seen and heard.
That's a good application right there.
And look, if you don't agree with me, that's fine, and I'm not going to call
you stupid or foolish or an idiot, you know, if you disagree with me on that, okay?
I'll think your comments are stupid.
I'll think your opinion is foolish, but I'm not going to tell you that you're
stupid.
It's wrong, folks.
It's just, I'll just be honest with you.
This Fox News Baptist thing just pisses me off.
This is the stuff that I used to see in the old IFP all the time, and it was one
of the factors that made people so shallow in their Bible reading, shallow in their
doctrine.
They just, because right now it's all about Trump.
It's all about making sure he stays in office.
It's mind boggling.
The Christians would be for Trump.
Oh, yeah, but, you know, he's the lesser of two evils.
Of two evils.
Evil.
I mean, Trump is one of the biggest promoters and propagators of the Third
Temple, which is exactly where the anti-crisis is going to be ruling from.
Yeah, but he's going to make sure we don't wear masks.
Foolish nonsense, folks.
You know, I want to be like Peter, you know, and I don't want to get, you know,
the cares of this life can choke the word out of someone sometimes.
And wouldn't you say that today there's a lot of cares with the news,
with coronavirus, the masks, you know, all these things that they're doing,
the social distancing.
These are the cares of this life.
But you know what the cares of this life can do if you're not careful?
It can choke the word and you become unfruitful.
Yeah, you may succeed in, you know, the affairs of this life,
but I thought the Bible says be not entangled with the affairs of this life.
You know, that we should be a good soldier of Jesus Christ,
not to be entangled with the affairs of this life.
And you know what, he that strived for the mastery is not crowned,
except he strived lawfully.
Not Americanly.
Not constitutionally.
Lawfully, according to the Bible.
Don't you care about our freedom?
Yes, of course I do.
But I care about the Christians' freedom who are in Arabia,
in Guatemala, in South America.
They all have freedom as well if they're saved.
This is the freedom that I care is to preach the gospel,
to preach the word of God.
And here's the thing, people have this weird view,
it's just like, well, are you just gonna let the New World order happen?
There's an entire book called Revelation
that says it's gonna happen no matter what.
And nowhere in the Bible does it say we are to impede the New World order.
Show me a verse in the Bible that says we need to impede
and try to slow down the New World order.
No, we're to preach the gospel, preach the word of God.
Expose it through preaching, through godly living,
but not go protest in front of, you know, at the state capitol.
It's nonsense, folks.
And look, these are the same people who,
on the other side, they're all for Black Lives Matter.
They want to fight all these other battles
that have nothing to do with the Christian battle.
Leave that for the birds.
Right, Brother Jacob?
You guys want to know what that phrase means?
See, Brother Jacob, after the service,
it's actually pretty savage, I didn't know it.
I've been using it this whole time and I didn't even know that's what it meant.
Because the birds eat crap is what it is, right?
So anything that was left over was just crap would be given to the birds.
Well, you know what? Leave that for the birds.
I'm not done yet.
I'm done with Acts 4, but I need to get this off my chest.
And look, I don't want to make enemies with any of the pastors in our movement.
I love the pastors in our movement.
Pastors in our movement, you know, and I'm talking about the godly ones, okay?
I know there's some idiots out there who teach ruckmanism.
I don't agree with them at all.
I think they're fools, okay?
But those who are godly, you know, I don't want to beef with anybody.
I don't want bad blood with any of the pastors.
Look, folks, I need as many friends as I can get.
I don't have a whole lot of friends as far as pastors are concerned.
The closest friend that I have in California lives eight hours away from me.
Pastor Jimenez, and I can only see him once a year at the Red Hot Preaching Conference
if he invites me to come back next year.
That's the closest friend I have in California.
The one after that is in Arizona.
The one after that is in, where's Pastor Thompson, Vancouver?
I mean, I don't have a whole lot of friends.
I don't have friends in this, I don't have pastor friends in this city.
Some people are like, yeah, we could tell a lie.
Well, I mean, the truth is the truth.
I don't want to beef with anybody.
I don't want to have bad blood with anybody.
But here's the thing is, you know,
when people publicly get up and say something,
you guys hear about it.
Because you guys are on Facebook,
you guys are on YouTube,
and you know what, if I keep my mouth shut
but don't agree with it
and allow you guys to be carried about
with those winds of doctrine,
I'm not being a responsible shepherd.
Because that's not the direction where our church is going in.
You know, there's a thing called loyalty, folks.
I learned very early on in my Christian life,
loyalty is very important.
I'm not talking about loyalty to your pastor,
be loyal to your pastor.
You should be loyal to me,
as I'm loyal to you.
And by the way, I was loyal to my pastor,
I was loyal to every boss and pastor that I had,
because that was right to do.
I don't, you know, if I had a different opinion
than my pastor, I would never criticize him
behind his back, I would never go
to an enemy of my father-in-law
or my pastor and agree with them.
That's wrong, folks.
I mean, come on.
How can I be a friend
to an enemy of my friend?
Think about that.
I'm not saying, you know,
my enemies need to become your enemies,
but what I'm saying is this,
you probably shouldn't be really buddy buddies
with my enemies, though.
You know, if there is some pastor
who didn't like me around here
and you were just like
liking his post
and commenting on his stuff
and just like, this is great
and all that, it's just like,
it kind of makes you wonder.
Are you in the boat but not on board?
And again, I'm not saying no one can have different opinions,
but you know, there's a difference,
there's a difference between having a different opinion
and being public about it.
You know, propagating it through Facebook
or other social media platforms
is showing you're just a disloyal church man.
By the way, I don't think people do that here.
If you think I'm talking about you,
then yes, I am talking about you.
Take down that post and erase that comment.
No, I'm just kidding. Dislike that one.
I'm not talking about anybody here.
What I'm saying is this, is that I've seen that a lot.
And that's wrong, folks.
In my opinion, this is not the Lord speaking.
I'm not speaking by commandment.
I'm giving my opinion here.
I think that's bad.
I don't think that's good.
I don't think that's right.
You know, I don't think you're showing a lot of love
to your pastor by doing stuff like that.
You know, that's just my opinion.
And I know there's lone rangers out there
like, well, I don't care what anybody says.
I go to church because I'm commanded to.
I don't need to make friends with anybody.
I can have my own opinion and all this stuff.
Do whatever you want then.
I don't care.
But as a whole, this is the direction
that our church should go.
Because we're a church family.
And look, I'm thankful that in our church,
it's almost like the opposite extreme.
Where I think people in our church kind of like,
they just, you know,
I cap the enemy and they just
take a Gatling gun
to that person.
Just completely destroy them and stuff, you know.
They just take an AK-47
and just spray them all up or whatever, you know.
But I prefer that over the other one.
For sure.
Okay.
I'm done with Acts chapter 4.
There's a lot more that could be said.
But I'm just, you know,
I just been thinking about that a lot.
You know, I think it's important for you
to be loyal to your church, to your pastor.
And look, I don't force loyalty
upon anybody.
I don't say, hey Michael, you need to be loyal to me.
Okay. You need to make sure that
you love me and only me
and don't be liking anybody else's post.
You know.
I'm watching you on Facebook, man.
I see the comments that you're putting.
I see you liking, you know,
Patrick Boyle's stuff and all that, you know.
You know.
I see your secret account.
I'm not gonna do that.
But I will say this.
When I see that,
this is what I do, I go,
you know that meme, like,
with all the question marks, like,
seriously?
You like this Ruckmanite stuff?
And then I kind of hide it away.
I filed it away.
And I was like, I gotta remember that.
That's not a good sign.
Or how about this?
If you are an enemy of my friends,
that's also bad.
And let me just tell you who some of my closest friends are.
How about that?
Right? Pastor Anderson is my friend.
He is my brother from another mother.
He is my friend.
I respect him. I respect his friendship.
I admire him.
Pastor Jimenez is my friend.
Hey, Pastor Shelley's my friend.
So when I see you
going on the comments section on YouTube,
calling Pastor Shelley a wicked person,
he's probably not even saved,
and all this stuff,
you know what I think to myself?
And you're a member of our church?
I think to myself, I think you might be wicked.
Because as far as I know,
looking at Pastor Shelley's reputation,
there's nothing that he has done
that may cause me even to think
for a second that he's a wicked person.
There's never been a sermon
or anything that he said that made me think,
oh man, this guy might be an infiltrator.
But for you to get on YouTube
on the comments section
and say, at best,
this guy is just a wicked person
disqualified,
and you're from our church?
Oh, best believe
I'm filing that away.
That's a wicked thing to do.
And yes, that did happen.
I think that's wicked.
I think that's bad.
I think that's evil to do something like that.
Well, you said that Adam Fan is not saved.
Well, yeah, because he's not.
I mean, where do you want to start?
That's easy.
That's a cakewalk.
I can show you all kinds of things
that he's done.
And look, if it's getting late, you need to leave.
I'm not going to be offended.
I'll call you out on your way out.
I'm just kidding.
I can give you a bunch of examples of that.
But when you begin to criticize
my friends,
and I'm not just saying,
well, I don't agree with them in this area.
I'm talking about just flat out saying they're evil,
they're wicked, they're not qualified.
That's evil, and that's wicked.
I don't agree with that at all.
And you don't have to be best friends with my friends,
but you don't have to talk crap about them either.
Go on a public forum
on Bo Ballard's channel,
who's criticizing Pastor Shelley,
and get on there and just say,
yeah, I agree with you 100%.
I don't.
And look, sometimes I'm just like,
this close.
You ever make a comment and you just erase it?
I write a comment,
I'm just like,
should I do it?
Should I hit post?
Do it.
And I'm just like, I'm just going to leave it alone.
I'm just going to leave it alone.
Social media's been very bad to me.
I've just been shocked since the last couple of weeks.
Because you see the worst in people.
And again, if someone's tired in here
and you can't like,
can you just move on?
I encourage you to move on.
You can take off if you want, I'm not offended.
No one will look, we'll all close our eyes,
it'll be like heads up, seven up.
I'll be finished when I'm finished.
And again, you don't have to be best friends
with my friends, but you don't have to
talk trash about them, and
throw them under the bus, and say all manner of
evil against them just because you don't like them.
When you have zero proof.
And I find it interesting that
these same people have a tendency
to like the wrong side.
The Adam Fannins,
the Patrick Boyles,
the Tim DeLaylows,
I don't know if anybody likes that guy.
You shouldn't call these people,
I can do whatever I want, this is my church.
But don't you know this is going on YouTube?
Yes, I'm the one who set all this up.
You know, we gotta make sure
we stay loyal, but just be
a person of integrity.
Look, I learned that
just before I was even saved.
I learned to just be loyal
and be a friend
even before I was saved.
And how important loyalty is.
Some people don't
understand that.
And they need to wise up,
and by the way, I believe a godly person
is loyal.
That's just how it works.
Anyways, I'm done.
So, Acts chapter 4 is a great chapter.
Has nothing to do with what I just talked about
in the last 20 minutes, but it's a great chapter.
And we'll get into
Acts chapter 5 in two weeks, because next week I'll be preaching
at the Red Hot.
And I might have a topic or two for the Red Hot.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Lord, help us
to be at peace with all men,
but sometimes we're for peace,
but they are for war.
And sometimes it's just difficult,
Lord, especially in the age in which we live
where we can see everyone's comments and opinions.
They voice them.
They show what's really in their heart.
Lord, I don't want people in my church
who are backbiters like that,
other godly men
who throw them under the bus.
I'm not interested in that.
If they're tearing down wicked people and false prophets,
great.
But someone who's innocent, who has done nothing wrong,
but just has been a godly man,
I don't really like that.
Because at the end of the day,
that person can turn on me
and come up with some excuse
for a reason why they're against me, Lord.
And so I pray that you'd help us
as a church, Lord, to learn loyalty,
to exercise it,
and to die on the right hill.
And in Jesus' name, amen.