Amen.
Okay, we're in Malachi chapter number two, let me give you a little bit of a review before
we get into the second chapter here.
In chapter one, of course, the reproof is given by God to the leadership of Israel.
And of course, as I mentioned, Malachi is a book that was written approximately 400
years before the birth of Christ, about 100 years after Israel had come back from Babylon,
from the captivity.
So they had already been in the land for quite some time, they've had some time to settle
in and basically establish some godly habits because they're going to the temple, they're
doing their sacrifices.
And Malachi really is considered a post-exilic prophet, in other words, he's someone who
God called after the return of the Israelites from the captivity, and he's facing a whole
slew of new problems, okay?
Because prior to the captivity, of course, the major sin, the major abomination that
was taking place was idolatry.
That's what they were dealing with, that's what the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, that's
what they're preaching about, that's what they're correcting Israel for, and that's
one of the reasons why they went into captivity was because of that abominable sin of idolatry
and covetousness, Israel had become corrupt, or as Jeremiah chapter six puts it, they had
become a reprobate nation, God has rejected them, they went into captivity.
But here in Malachi, they've already returned, they've already established their worship,
so to speak, and they have the temple of the Lord, they're kind of going about their Israeli
business, so to speak, okay?
But the problem that they're facing now is not necessarily idolatry or sin or necessarily
covetousness, the problem that's being addressed is apathy, okay?
And let me say this, apathy is very dangerous, okay?
We obviously preach against all types of sin, we preach against fornication, adultery, drunkenness,
railings, and these are grievous sins in the Bible, but there's also a sin known as apathy.
What is apathy?
It's when you become indifferent towards the things of God.
It's when you kind of start putting the spiritual vehicle on cruise control and you're not really
giving it your all in the Christian life, you say, well, how can that be sin?
Well, because of the fact that the Bible says to love the Lord your God with all your heart,
all your soul, all your mind, and strength, the Bible says, so we're supposed to be zealous
for the things of God, God doesn't want an apathetic people because that's just one step
closer to being lukewarm, and when you're lukewarm, obviously we know what God says
about that in Revelation chapter number three.
And so this is what Malachi is dealing with here, this is what the problem that he's addressing
was their apathy, their apathetic service towards God, and obviously God is very mad
at that, and we saw some of that in chapter number one.
Now we're going to look at chapter number two, the condemnation of the priests.
What is it specifically that they're partaking of?
Now if you remember in chapter one, they're giving some pretty lame offerings, right?
I mean, they're just kind of like, yeah, we'll do offerings, let's go worship the Lord, but
this thing is like missing an eye, so let's just give God the one that is missing the
eye.
This one is sickly or something, this one's not my favorite bullet to keep, so we're going
to offer this one.
So what are they doing?
They're not giving God their best.
And God considers that to be a very disrespectful thing, because he says, hey, why don't you
take that bullet and give it to your governor and see how much he would like that.
Because obviously we understand that God expects for us to give him our best in every area
of life, and of course we're not under these Levitical laws where we're offering sacrifices,
but the Bible says that we're living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, and we ought to
give him that reasonable service of dying daily, taking up our cross, following the
Lord, doing that which is pleasing in his sight and doing our best, you understand?
And so that's the way we can apply it there.
Now look at verse number one of chapter two.
He says in verse number one, and now, O ye priests, now this is the condemnation of the
priest here, this commandment is for you, if you will not hear, and if you will not
lay it to heart to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send
a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings, listen to what he says here, yea, I have cursed
them already.
He's like, if you don't give glory to me, I'm gonna send cursings upon you, and in fact,
it's already done.
I'm so upset that what I'm saying right now, it's actually already done.
Yea, I've cursed them already because you do not lay it to heart.
So he's saying, take serious what I'm telling you, and if you don't take it serious, I'm
gonna curse you, and since I know everything, I know you're not taking it serious, so guess
what?
I've already helped you out and I've already cursed you.
He says in verse three, behold, I will corrupt your seed, and I like what he says here, I
mean this is probably everyone's favorite verse in the book of Malachi, okay, he says
I will corrupt your seed and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feast,
and one shall take you away with it.
Now when you study the Hebrew, just kidding, no, what is dung?
Dung is excrement, it's poop, that's what it is.
Now you know, I'm gonna explain what he's talking about here, but I've never met an
independent fundamental Baptist that has actually really talked about this other than our friends,
or have used this verse to preach from, and keep in mind, this is God speaking here, okay,
God's the one who's speaking, and he's speaking through Malachi, he's telling Malachi, hey,
tell them that I'm gonna put dung on their faces, he's like, dang, dung on their faces,
and he's like, even the dung of your solemn feast, even the dung of your solemn feast,
I mean he's, so it sounds like he's not playing, it's pretty graphic, you know, what he's referring
to, the dung that he's talking about is the dung of the bullocks, the lambs, these animal
sacrifices that they're giving, he said, I'm gonna take that dung and I'm gonna spread
it all over your face.
Now why is he saying that?
Well if you remember in chapter number one, they're over here complaining that the table
of the Lord is like contaminated, it's polluted.
They're complaining about the sacrifices, because you know, the priests have to eat
of the sacrifices, right, and he's saying, well these are contaminated, well yeah you
offered a contaminated sacrifice.
You get what you are, not what you want, okay, and so he's saying, look, I'm gonna take that
dung of the sacrifices that you think is polluted and contaminated, the ones that you don't
want and I'm gonna put it on your face, why, to make them a shame, basically.
Now here's my speculation, this is what I think is going on here, because, go with me
if you would to Exodus 29, go to Exodus 29, hold your place there in Malachi chapter two
and go to Exodus 29 if you would.
I think the reason God is specifically picking the escriment, the dung of the animals to
spread on their faces, was because of the fact that the priests were basically haphazardly
doing these sacrifices.
Because in the Old Testament, when they were to cut these animals and you know, there's
a specific, you know, procedure that they had to follow and they actually had to remove
the dung from the animal and burn it without the camp, you understand?
And you'll see later on in chapter number two, he's saying that they're serving God
partially, so they're kind of haphazardly doing these sacrifices.
So I think what's going on here is that the reason the priests are saying, hey these things
are polluted, they're contaminated, they're just not really that good, is because they
themselves are not removing the dung.
They're keeping it there, so God's saying, okay, I'll help you out, I'm going to take
this dung that you're not removing and I'm going to spread it on your face.
Because that's basically what they're doing to God.
Because they're leaving the dung inside the animal, they're not really cutting it, they're
not really following the procedures there.
Look at Exodus 29 verse 12, this is the first time this is actually mentioned and you'll
see this reiterated over and over again in Leviticus when dealing with these animal sacrifices.
Verse number 12, it says, and thou shall take of the blood of the bullock and put it
upon the horns of the altar with thy finger and pour all the blood beside the bottom of
the altar.
And thou shall take all the fat that covereth the inwards and the call that is above the
liver.
The call is basically the membrane that kind of surrounds all the organs of the animal's
body above the liver and the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them and burn them upon
the altar.
So look, make sure that you take the fat, you get the call, the membrane, the two kidneys,
all the fat, and you burn it upon the altar and of course we know that part of that burnt
offering, the priest was supposed to partake of that, he was supposed to eat that, eat
the fat, amen.
And he says, verse 14, but the flesh of the bullock and his skin and his dung shall thou
burn with fire without the camp, it is a sin offering.
Now this is not an isolated commandment and even if it was the only commandment they should
follow it, right?
But this is something that's reiterated throughout the book of Leviticus where he's constantly
telling them, hey, remove the kidneys, the fat, the call above the kidneys and the liver
or whatever and make sure you take the skin, you take the flesh of the bullock in case
you don't know what skin is, take the flesh, you grab the dung and you take that, you collect
it and you burn it outside of the camp because that is considered a sin offering.
It's an unclean thing, you understand?
So the unclean thing is taken outside of the camp and it is burned.
And when you read the Old Testament Levitical law you see that God is very meticulous when
it comes to these ordinances and obviously he wants them to take it serious because he's
constantly saying over and over again, this is what you should do, okay?
Now go to Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews chapter 13.
Now why is it that he is so meticulous about these things?
Well, the reason why is because of the fact that a lot of these Old Testament ordinances,
the carnal ordinances were supposed to represent Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
So it's supposed to have a perfect symbolic representation of Jesus, you understand?
You know, God is very meticulous, he's very orderly and when he gives these commands he's
doing it because it's representing Jesus, you understand?
When you read verse number 10 of Hebrews chapter 13 it says we have an altar whereof they have
no right to eat which serve the tabernacle.
For the bodies of those beasts whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high
priest for sin are burned without the camp.
Wherefore Jesus also that he might sanctify the people with his own blood suffered without
the gate.
Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach.
So exactly what they would do to the animal sacrifices on a daily basis, on a weekly basis,
monthly, yearly basis is actually what Jesus Christ actually did when he was sacrificed.
We obviously understand that Jesus is the lamb of God who should take away the sins
of the world and the Bible tells us that he suffered without the camp.
He was crucified outside of the city, you understand?
Just as the lamb was taken into an unclean place so to speak or that which is unclean
is taken outside of the camp in like manner, Jesus Christ represents what?
Our uncleanness because the Bible tells us he hath made him to be sin who knew no sin
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, okay?
And think about it, you know, they're taking the flesh, they're taking the skin and the
flesh of the animal and they're burning outside of the camp.
What is it that Jesus Christ is paying for?
He's paying for the sins of our flesh, you understand?
So that flesh is being taken outside of the camp, being burned without, etc.
And of course the dung represents the uncleanness of man.
I mean that's literally what it is, literally and figuratively, it represents the uncleanness
that is within man, you understand?
So that's why he told them take that dung and cast it outside of the camp, burn it,
etc.
Let me read to you from Romans chapter 8 verse 2 says, for the law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own
son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condensed sin in the flesh that the righteousness
of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.
So obviously there's a picture of salvation here because of the fact that part of our
salvation is the pardon that we receive for, you know, the sins that we've committed.
God gives us pardon through the sacrificial burnt offering of Jesus Christ, you understand?
He's the one who was burned outside of the camp and literally, he was burned literally
because when he was crucified on the cross, the Bible says that he descended into hell
for three days and three nights but his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh
see corruption, he resurrected on the third day.
We know that he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.
So one of the elements of our salvation was the fact that he had to pay for our sins.
The Bible tells us that he himself bore our own sins on his own body on the tree and the
Bible tells us in Hebrews 13 that the body of those beasts was taken outside of the camp
to be burned, etc.
So we obviously see that this is a picture of salvation.
Now what's funny is that you have people out there who think that they have to basically
go outside of the camp in order to pay for their own sins.
It's called repent of your sins heresy, preachers.
People who believe, oh no, you got to repent of your sin, yeah, you know, you got to accept
Jesus Christ as your savior, you got to trust him, but you also got to do your part too.
And what they're insinuating is this, is that the sacrificial act of Jesus Christ is not
enough.
Him going without the camp, it's just not enough, it's not enough.
You know, we have to do our part, right?
And I mean, these false prophets abound today, they abound, especially with social media
and the internet.
You constantly running into these heretics, constantly running into these fools and these
morons who just want to teach that they have this self-righteous, holier than thou doctrine
that teaches, yeah, you know, they give lip service to Jesus Christ being the savior,
but at the end of the day, when you really look at what they believe, they think they're
their own savior.
They want to be their own savior, they want to atone for their sins, they want to put
away the filth of the flesh, but folks, it's impossible and they think, well, you know,
you got to keep God's commandments in order to know him.
Well, yeah, that's true, but not to be saved.
And guess what?
Knowing God and getting saved are two different things.
You know, knowing God requires for us to read the Bible, requires for us to abide in the
vine, to learn the word of God, to obey God's commandments.
That's what's required of us to know the Lord.
God knows us the moment that we get saved, okay?
And we are known of him, the Bible says in Galatians.
But yet you have people still today, oh, no, you know, you could lose your salvation because
the atonement of Christ is not, we're not saying that it's not enough.
We're just saying it's not enough.
You know, and they constantly want to pull out these scriptures out of context.
Well, if we sin willfully, there remain no more sacrifice for sins, Hebrews chapter 10,
you know?
Anybody who tries to use that to teach that you could lose your salvation obviously has
no clue what the animal sacrifices were literally for in the Old Testament.
Because the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, aside from the fact that they represented
and pictured Jesus Christ, they were actually an ordinance that was imposed upon the people
in order to atone for their daily sins, not for the eternal sins, for their daily sins.
That's why they did those sacrifices morning and evening, weekly, monthly, why?
Because it was to atone for their sins.
And people say, well, it says in the Old Testament, it was to atone for their soul.
Yeah, but here's the thing, soul in the Old Testament, and even in the news sometimes,
it's synonymous with just body.
Because it talks about in the Old Testament, the soul touching an unclean thing.
This is not talking about astral projection or something, you know, where your soul comes
out of your body and just starts poltergeisting people or something.
Soul is just referring to the person.
And so these sacrifices were done to atone for the sins of the people on a daily basis.
In the New Testament, that ordinance is removed.
So what God is saying in Hebrews chapter number 10, he's explaining, hey, you know, if you
continue to willfully sin, the ordinance of animal daily animal sacrifices no longer exists.
And by the way, who's the book of Hebrews written to?
Hebrews.
These are people who are familiar with animal sacrifices.
The point of Hebrews chapter number 10 is for the Apostle Paul to tell the Hebrews,
hey, God's going to judge you if you don't get right with God.
Okay.
There's going to be a sore punishment upon your life if you don't get right with God.
And so it's nonsensical to think, well, no, you can still lose your salvation.
Well, you know what, if you teach that and you believe that, I hope you just keep believing
it.
You know, if that's what you believe, you believe you can lose your salvation, you have
to repent of your sins, and that's what you're propagating, I hope you just keep believing
that.
You know, I hope you never come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And in fact, if you are, are constantly teaching that you're probably to reprobate, you understand?
And you're corrected and it's just like, no, you still got to repent of your sins.
No, you can lose your salvation.
All right.
You're just a wicked person.
And there's a reason.
And by the way, folks, don't get frustrated with when you talk to people like that.
Just recognize God gave them that mind already to continuously believe that lie, to be under
that delusion, so they can split hell wide open.
Go back to Malachi, if you would.
So he's telling the priest, I'm going to spread dung on your faces.
You know that dung that you refuse to move, remove from the animal?
How many of you have ever seen an actual animal get butchered in front of you?
It's pretty cool.
It's an experience.
It's quite an experience.
When I was in Guatemala, my aunt, she was very, you know, she hadn't seen us in, well,
she basically hadn't seen me, I don't know, at that point, like 10 years, 15 years or
something.
And so she saved this massive pig for us.
You know, the thing didn't move.
She kept it trapped, you know, just fed it, and it was just nice and fatty and everything.
And when we got there, she was like, we're celebrating.
We're going to celebrate.
We're going to kill this pig.
And we're going to feast.
And I'm like, I want to see it.
I want to see it.
And, you know, she hired these guys, these butchers.
Did I tell this story?
I think I already, did I tell it?
All right, if you're queasy.
So I remember they grabbed the pig, they put a rope around the neck, and, you know, they
were like pulling it.
It's like, and they had an ax, I'm like, dude, they're going to chop that thing's head off.
But what they did is they hit it with the butt of the ax to knock it out, okay.
And then, you know, it kind of stiffened up and it just fell over.
And then this guy, he just pulls out this knife.
I mean, the thing was like long and sharp.
And he just ever so slightly just sticks it in the throat and just cuts it.
And then, you know, they put a base in there and it's just like bleeding out or whatever.
And it's like, you know, and I'm there like, whoa, this is cool, you know.
I thought it was kind of cool.
I mean, it gets a little gruesome thereafter.
The initial part is like, all right, you know, it's just an animal.
And then I remember the guy, he like, he grabs the leg because, you know, it was bleeding
and it was stopped bleeding for a while.
He grabs the leg and then he's like, he's like pumping it and he's like, more blood
is coming out.
This process was very long.
It took a couple of hours.
They hung it.
They cut it.
And he was explaining to me like, this is actually an art.
This is like an art.
This is an art form.
And I was like, what do you mean?
He goes, well, you got to cut it right because if you don't, you can accidentally cut the
intestines where all the escrimon is and then the entire thing is defiled, you know, because
they hang it.
And the guy knew what he was doing really well.
He's cutting the fat, kidneys, he's taking stuff out.
And then he's like, you see this?
We got to cut this out and we got to do it carefully because if not, it'll just contaminate
everything.
You can't eat it no more.
So then he grabbed all the unclean things such as the intestines where the escrimon
is and he just put it somewhere else or whatever.
And then we ate chicharrones that night, you know, it was very good.
And I think my cousins got sick.
I didn't, you know, I was like, I'm only here once.
Just give it to me now, give me those parasites.
So but I remember thinking to myself, you know what, like, obviously in America, in
America, we just go get a pulled pork sandwich, but we don't even see the process, you know,
it's like that it takes to get to that point.
In other parts of the world, they still do what Old Testament priests would do.
It's an art form.
It's very bloody, you understand?
But these gentlemen understood, like, we got to get rid of this.
But what you have is these priests who are not doing that.
And so it's showing a disregard.
It's showing the fact that they don't really care for the commandments of God.
Are they doing the sacrifices?
Yes.
But because they're not doing it properly, God sees it as a partial obedience.
You understand?
And God doesn't want partial obedience from us.
If he says to do it a specific way, that's exactly how we should do it.
Okay.
Look at verse number four.
So he tells them, you know, I'm going to spread dung on your faces.
And you know what?
If the Lord would say that today to a lot of pastors, I guarantee you, they wouldn't
haphazardly do ministry.
You know, they wouldn't haphazardly preach the word of God.
When the Bible says to priest the whole counsel of God, not just like the book of John, not
just the Psalm 23 for 25 weeks, you know what I mean?
Not just the parts that are just very nice and light, because there's some very nice
light things in the Bible.
God tells us to preach the entire counsel of God.
And obviously, it takes a lifetime to do that, right?
I'm trying my best.
You know, I'm in the book of Malachi, and then I'm going to switch over to the New Testament.
I'm going to be trying to preach the entire counsel of God.
And then you also have to reiterate things that have been preached in times past, that
I preached like a year ago or something.
So it's a job to constantly introduce new books, introduce new doctrines that may be
new to you, reiterate things that you already know, but the goal is to preach the entire
counsel of God and not haphazardly approach preaching, not haphazardly approach teaching
God's Word.
Like, well, I just want to talk about, you know, the love of God.
Yeah, but let's talk about the hatred of God too.
Why?
You know, the Bible doesn't really talk a whole lot about that.
Hey, God kills a bunch of people throughout the Bible.
Just use that.
You know, I just want to talk about heaven, not necessarily about hell.
Well, we have to talk about hell, and God talks a lot about hell.
Well, I just kind of want to stay in the New Testament, the Old Testament is so full of
judgment.
Okay, then just go to the book of Revelation then.
There's a bunch of judgment there.
Try to hit everything, and you know what?
If God came down and said, I'm going to spread dung on your faces.
I'm going to spread crap all over your face because you're not fulfilling God's Word 100%
the way I told you to do it.
I'm not even putting in an effort to do that.
I guarantee you there's a lot of pastors out there that say, you know what, let's look
at that Psalm 139.
Did I skip that in my series?
Let's look at Leviticus chapter 20 real quick.
Let's look at that Levitical laws of death penalties and all this.
Maybe we should do that.
It'll motivate them to do that.
You understand?
But obviously the New Testament application is this, is that if an Old Testament priest
were to have dung on his face, they would be what?
Ashamed.
It would be a shameful thing.
They stink.
They look crappy.
They got dung on their face.
Well, in like manner in the New Testament, pastors should be ashamed of themselves for
not preaching to the entire council of God.
You know what?
Some of these pastors are full of crap.
I mean, it's biblical, you understand?
And so look at verse number four, because they're haphazardly doing the work of the
Lord.
The Bible says to make full proof of thy ministry.
Doesn't it say that?
Does it say, you know, that all scriptures given by inspiration of God is profitable
for doctrine, for proof of correction, instruction and righteousness.
Listen, the Bible said to preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
It's constantly telling us to just touch it all.
Things that are popular, things that are not.
And so that's what the priest should be doing.
But I always thought this is an interesting passage that God would say something like
that, because you know what?
A lot of pastors today think that this is like, oh, that's dirty.
That's like, I can't say that behind the pulpit.
As this, this is like, as if this is an unclean thing or something, you know what I mean?
But God is the one who said it.
And typically when you read passages like this, where God is very like, he's very abrasive,
you know, he talks like that, this is the car that people are, well, that's God though.
You're not God.
That's typically what they say, right?
Anytime God or Jesus, you know, he's flipping over tables, well, that's Jesus though.
You're not Jesus.
You know?
Oh, that's so-and-so though.
It's just like, good night.
Where does it say we're to follow God and follow Jesus and follow Paul only when they
do nice things?
When does it ever say that?
That's like a commandment that they impose upon you.
That's like a standard that they impose upon you.
That's their wild card to say, yeah, but that's God though.
Well, here's the thing.
The Bible says to be God-like, godly, which means God-like, right?
Not the fact that, you know, we're not saying that we're going to be divine like God.
We're saying we're partaking of his divine nature.
That's what the Bible says.
So that means we're supposed to love the things that God loves and hate the things that he
hates and have his attitude and his mind, you know, in regards to every aspect of life.
He's given to us everything that pertains to life and godliness and where do we find
that in his word.
And you know what?
If God didn't want us to use that type of language, he didn't want us to use those examples,
then it shouldn't be in the Bible.
But there's a reason it's in the Bible.
There's a reason why God says that children are supposed to read this.
So the kids can see, wow, dung on your faces, wow.
Like, mom, is God mad here?
Yeah, he's really mad because God gets upset.
And you know, he gets, sometimes he gets vulgar, not vulgar the way we would think today, but
just kind of vulgar in the sense of like, dung on your faces.
That's like, whoa, you know what I mean?
Poop on your faces is what he's saying.
And so when we see that, we should appreciate it, amen.
And you know, and recognize that, you know, sometimes, you know, the Lord, he can get
very graphic.
Look at verse number four.
And he shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi,
saith the Lord of hosts.
My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith
he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips.
He walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
So he's condemning the priest right now.
He's saying, look, you deserve dung on your faces, you guys are doing a really bad job,
and you're not keeping the covenant that I made with Levi.
Now this isn't referring to Levi, the individual from the book of Genesis, who was one of the
12 sons of Israel, because the Bible tells us that Levi and Simeon were actually instruments
of cruelty.
If you remember, they're the ones who killed the guys who, you know, the city that housed
the individual who basically slept with his sister.
They went and they were very conniving, they were very deceitful, and Jacob on his deathbed
was just like, you guys are instruments of cruelty, you guys are bad people, man.
What words to say to your son right before you die?
This is actually referring to his descendants, because we obviously understand that the priesthood
is through Aaron, and more specifically, through the tribe of Levi.
So it's the tribe of Levi, the house of Aaron, you understand?
So when he talks about the covenant that he made with Levi, he's not referring to him,
he's referring to his descendants, okay?
And let's see what specific covenant he's referring to, go to Numbers chapter 25, hold
your place there in Malachi again, go to Numbers 25 if you would.
So again he's telling them, he's basically telling them, you guys have breached the covenant,
the agreement, the contract that I made with the tribe of Levi, because there's a covenant
he made with him.
Look at Numbers 25 verse 6.
Now this is when basically the children of Israel, they're in the wilderness, they're
constantly disobeying God, and look at verse 6, and behold, one of the children of Israel
came and brought into his brethren a Midianite-ish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight
of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of
the tabernacle of the congregation.
So what's going on here?
Israel's in sin, and in the midst of all this nonsense that's going on, that God is about
to judge Israel, this fool takes a Midianite-ish woman, which is against what God says, in
the sight of Moses and all the people, and they go into a tent, and let me just say this,
they're not having a Bible study.
They're committing wickedness.
So number one, it's wicked what they're doing, but number two, it's blatant.
It's like, in your face, Moses.
In your face, Israel.
In your face, God.
You just do it in front of everyone.
So by the way, it's like, all of Israel's there.
You know, a band of men should have just gone in there and taken care of that, right?
Look at verse 7, it says, and when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
saw it, he rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand.
He looks and he's just like, I'll be right back.
Grabs his javelin, okay, and you gotta think about it, this is one guy out of like millions
of people.
Millions of people, and this one guy stands up, and by the way, that's typically how it
is.
Sometimes it's just a few churches that are really leading the spear, you understand?
Sometimes it takes one person to really make a difference, because everyone else is scared.
So it says that when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw
it, he rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand.
He's like, you know, I knew I'd been practicing for a reason, you know?
And he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man
of Israel and the woman through her belly.
Now I'm not trying to get graphic here, but there's a reason it says that.
He's basically taking care of business right when they're in the act.
He's just like, all right, shish kebab, two for the price of one.
Now notice that Phinehas wasn't like, hey guys, I understand you guys like each other
and, you know, it's great and everything, and I'm just wondering, can you guys, you
know, you know, I don't think God is really pleased with this.
You know?
Can you guys stop?
Can you guys just at least wait until afterwards or something?
Is that what he did?
He's like, I'm just going to take him out right now.
Now, you know, I'm sure people in those days, but especially people today were like, oh,
that wasn't politically correct.
Who does Phinehas think he is?
I think he could have gone about that a little differently.
I think he was just a little, I think he went a little overboard, you know?
He couldn't, he didn't have to use a javelin.
He could have just stopped him or something.
He could have discipled him for like five years.
He could have just brought him along, you know, just patiently and just, you know, we're
all sinners.
We all make mistakes.
And verse eight, and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of
them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly.
So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
So God takes notice of this and is like, all right, no more plague.
And those that died in the plague were 20 and 4,000.
And the Lord's speaking to Moses saying, Phinehas, ain't that cool to have God say your name?
I mean, the thunderous proclamation of that name, Phinehas, the son of Eliezer, the son
of Aaron, you know, Aaron was just like, that's my son, that's my boy, hath turned my wrath
away from the children of Israel.
While he was politically incorrect, no, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that
I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy.
So he's basically telling them what Phinehas did was right, and in fact, it saved your
entire family's life.
It saved, anybody who's alive, go thank Phinehas right now.
It's because of him that the plague is stayed.
But I'll tell you this, you know, Phinehas would not be welcome in any church today other
than churches of like faith with our church, you know, because he's just, that's just not
the way to do it.
But you know what, if you had Phinehas in church, I guarantee you the fornication statistics
would drop.
He just comes into church, sits down, he's like, ding.
But what did God say?
He says he was zealous for my sake.
He showed zeal, he showed passion.
What was he zealous for?
For killing?
No, he was zealous because of God, because he wanted to please God, he hated the fact
that these people were dishonoring God, he hated the fact that they were committing such
blatant sin before Moses, the congregation, and God.
He hated that, and because he loved the Lord, he took matters into his own hands and did
it.
And by the way, I don't think he had to pray about it.
I don't think he prayed about it.
He was like, Lord, should I do this?
He just kind of acted out of zeal, like, just go take these guys out, out of zeal.
And you know what I've learned over the past 15 years of my salvation?
Since I've been saved, what I've learned is this, is that sometimes young men are zealous.
Christians are zealous.
And that's a good thing.
And you know what, I think God appreciates the zeal of a young Christian.
And sometimes there's fire extinguishers out there who try to condemn the one who's on
fire because he's just a little too crazy.
And they want to extinguish the fire of these young people, hey folks, we need to be zealous
for the things of God.
Now obviously, there's a thin line between zealousness and recklessness, you understand?
We don't want to be reckless, we want to use discretion, we want to use wisdom, we don't
want to sin when we are zealous for God.
But you know what, we need zeal in our lives.
And you know what, one of the reasons why the Independent Fundamental Baptists of today
are becoming so sissified is because young men get saved, they rise up, they become zealous,
and then the older generation comes and tries to douse that flame.
New Christians get excited about reading the Bible, about the things of God, about soul
winning, and I've seen this even in my personal life.
Folks, when I first got saved, I mean I'm still excited now, but I was very excited
when I first got saved.
I was, man, I basically just like jumped in head first, and you know, in my church I learned
how to go soul winning, I learned about the Bible, and I just, you know, I just wanted
to kind of just be in church and just be at every service, and I wanted to learn the things
of God, and I wanted to learn doctrine, I wanted to learn how to preach, I just wanted
to be, just live the Christian life.
And I literally remember older, you know, people in the Lord trying to discourage me
from that.
Like, yeah, yeah, you're excited now, but just wait about a year from now or something.
Yeah, you're excited now, but just wait five years from now.
It's been 15 years, and I'm still on fire.
So what now?
You know?
Oh yeah, this is just a phase, you know, we all go through that little phase of just being
on fire for God.
Really, so how did you get turned off?
How did you, what happened to you?
Now again, obviously we need to have discretion, and we need to be tempered and have self control,
but folks, hey guys, never lose your zeal for God.
Never lose your zeal for the Lord.
And no matter how many people try to discourage you, and thank God we're in a church where
that doesn't happen.
We're not in a church, we're in a church where the leader encourages that zeal, right?
Brother John would say it's a high energy church.
It's a high energy church, a lot of testosterone in this church.
I think it's great.
I think it's a good thing.
I think people get excited when they're in a church like this, you understand?
And you know, I like it when we, after service, we talk about the Bible, we hate sin, and
we raise our voice, we get a little crazy, I prefer that over some dead church who talks
about football after church, or baseball, or basketball, or Lakers, or whatever.
Who cares about that stuff?
Right?
Rather than talk about, well, you know, I don't know, whatever it is that they talk
about.
All that boring stuff.
That's boring.
Talk about the things of God, amen?
And you know what?
You know, in those days, I remember if you were to bring the Bible and you just talked
to someone in church about the Bible, it was just like, whoa, are you trying to be like
spiritual or something?
Yeah.
Can you help me out here or what?
Hey, I'm thankful Albert was not one of those people, because he's older.
He never doused my flame.
He was never, now I will say that, you know, he kind of helped mold me a little bit.
I remember when I preached my first sermon, I preached a sermon called, Get Your Walk
On.
That was the name of the sermon.
It's called, Get Your Walk On.
It was about Enoch walking with God, and it was not for God took him.
And I had just come out of the world, and I learned that story, and they gave me like
five minutes to preach, and I remember, there's no mic here, I remember I was preaching like
this.
I was like, get your walk on, and I'm like, you should say in scripture, but I'm holding
like this, like this.
And then, you know, my father-in-law, afterwards, he was like, that was a really good sermon.
He's like, I see something in you that I can't really pinpoint, you know, and he's just like,
but you know, you're really excited, and that's good, you got zeal, and he was just very complimentary.
He was explaining some things that I could work on, but I remember Albert was just like,
hey, that was a really good sermon.
He goes, but one thing I do recommend, he's like, just, you know, just bring it down right
here.
Just put it like right here.
I'm like, what do you mean?
He's like, you know, the mic, you're kind of like, you know, you're kind of like this,
you know what I mean?
He's like, I don't know if I'm looking at a Mobb Deep concert, or what, you know.
He's like, you're like this.
He goes, just, you know, just kind of tilt it, bring it right here, that's pretty cool,
you know.
I was like, all right, cool, you know.
I didn't really, I was like, whatever, you know, I guessed.
But then I understood afterwards, yeah, I probably should hold the mic there, you know.
But look, he wasn't dousing my friend, he was just like, hey, you're taking this a little
too far.
Get your walk on.
What do you think you're doing, you know?
No, he was just like, great sermon, you're going to preach again.
I mean, I'm thankful I was surrounded with people who did that.
And I remember being in Bible college, for example, and we would go on activities on
a bus, and I was still new.
And then I remember one of the leaders, they told me, they said, hey, after the activity
when we come back, because it's like two hour drive or something, he goes, all the men are
going to get up and preach, and we're just going to call on people to preach.
I was like, oh, man, because I was like really nervous, you know.
And he's just like, so they might call you up, so you better be ready to preach.
And I was, and what I did is I just always had a sermon ready in my Bible.
So anything that I was learning in the Bible, I just make a sermon out of it.
So I just read Romans 8 and how the Bible says that we're killed all the day long, very
prophetic, right?
You know, I was just like, we're like sheep for the slaughter and how we're killed all
the day long.
And I remember like being really nervous on the bus, and I was kind of like putting my
head down.
I'm like, oh, man.
Because all these guys were like waxing eloquent.
And I literally remember, you know, they're like, all right, Bruce, come up.
And I got up, and I was really nervous.
And I was, and I started preaching, I think I was preaching like, you know, we're persecuted
all the day long for the Lord, if we're serving the Lord.
People are not going to like what we do, they're not going to like what we say, we're supposed
to be like a living sacrifice.
That's why we're killed all the day long.
And I said, you know, we're like sheep for the slaughter.
We're killed all the day long.
And I say some more things, and I go, we're killed all the day long.
Everyone laughed, everyone laughed.
And I remember for like a year straight, people would see me in college and be like, we're
killed all the day long, we're killed all the day long.
And they're just like trying to douse my flame.
And I remember thinking, like, it discouraged me initially.
And I was thinking to myself, man, was it really that bad of a sermon?
But then I went to Romans 8, and I'm like, no, my doctrine's right.
Forget them fools.
I was like, did I misinterpret it?
Is it out of context?
Like what am I not doing right?
And literally, they would say, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
And they would just mock me all the time.
They would mock me for preaching that sermon.
And I remember thinking to myself, like, this can be very discouraging, because I was
kind of like, man, what am I going to preach next?
Are they going to mock me again?
But you know what?
I was just like, well, you know what?
I did it for God anyways.
It's in the Bible.
And you know what?
I'm still going to preach with that much fervency even thereafter.
And if they mock me, then so be it.
And you know what?
I just kept preaching, and kept preaching, and kept preaching.
And I still preach like that today.
And yeah, we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter.
And it's still biblical.
So there's people that will be on both sides.
There's people who will try to discourage you, and mock you, and say, oh, you're going
to church all the time?
Oh, you're going again?
Oh, you're going to the, oh, you're reading your Bible?
Oh, look at you, how you're dressing now?
Oh, ladies, you're wearing a dress now?
Oh, look at you.
Oh, you're wearing a shirt and tie?
Oh, now you're combing your hair to go to church?
Oh, look at you, now you're trying to be all preppy now?
You just be like, yup.
See, at 9 o'clock, when I get back home or whatever, I'll see you later.
I'm still going to do this.
And there's people like that who try to douse your flame.
Hey, we need a finejas, amen?
And you know what?
I guarantee you there's a bunch of people who were in the congregation and be like,
well, I would have done that too.
So special about finejas.
I would have done it.
I was about to do it.
Yeah, but you know what?
There's only one who actually did.
And so he made a covenant with him.
He says in verse 12, wherefore say behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace.
And he shall have it and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting
priesthood, because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the
children of Israel.
Go back to Malachi.
So he's saying, look, I'm going to keep a covenant with you because you're zealous
for my sake.
This is someone who goes above and beyond to execute the commandments of God.
And now he's looking at the priest in the book of Malachi saying,
what happened to you guys?
You guys used to be cool.
You used to be cool.
You're part of the finejas' descendants.
Your great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather,
phinehas, was zealous for the things of God.
He was casting javelins and stopping plagues.
You got escrimon on your face.
You can't even do a sacrifice right.
Kind of reminds me.
It's just like, what happened to you, Baptist?
I remember Jack Hyles being on the news and being persecuted.
That guy had a bulletproof pulpit because people were threatening his life
all the time.
You know, he even had an escape route below his pulpit,
like a little escape thing where he could, like, hit or open up,
and he could drop if someone tried to, like, shoot him.
On the news, it's just like, what happened to you, Baptist?
Why are you so Paul Chapel?
Why are you so treborish?
Whatever happened to, like, the J. Frank Norrisses, the Jack Hyles,
the John R. Rises, these men of God who preached hard and thundered forth
and were a little zealous, you know, the ones you like to talk about,
the ones you say you're like, but not really.
That's what he's telling them.
He said, you can't even do a sacrifice right.
But the man who brought you forth, Phinehas, he did great works.
You've become lukewarm.
You've become apathetic.
It says in verse 7, for the priest's lips should keep knowledge,
and they should seek the law at his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord.
He's reiterating to them what their responsibility was.
He's like, look, you're supposed to be like the man of God.
You're the priest.
You're the one who's supposed to have knowledge in your mouth.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth.
That's what he's referring to.
He said they should seek the law out of his mouth.
People should go to you to know what the Bible says, okay?
Because you're the messenger of the Lord.
Now, the way we would apply that today, obviously, we don't have a priesthood
from the tribe of Levi in the house of Aaron.
Now, the priesthood is made up of all believers.
The priesthood is a spiritual house, no longer the house of Levi,
and it is a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,
that we should show forth the praises of him who have called us out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
The priesthood is made up of all believers, but you know what?
The responsibility is still the same.
The only difference is, is we're the living sacrifice.
You know, we're teaching God's word.
Whether you're the pastor or not, whether you're the evangelist or not,
whether you're a deacon or not, whether you hold a position in the church
or not, you are a priest who is supposed to be teaching God's word to someone.
Men teaching their wives, wives teaching their children, you know,
families giving the gospel, teaching all nations, right, getting people saved.
That's our responsibility.
We're kings and priests unto the Lord.
The Bible tells us, if any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God.
Look at verse number eight.
He says, but ye are departed out of the way.
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law.
By the way, this is a good principle here.
When you depart out of the way, you never go along.
Anytime you backslide, anytime you get out of God's will, anytime you decide,
well, I'm not going to do this Christian thing now, you think you're only
affecting yourself, but you actually affect other people.
So when you depart out of the way, you will cause many to stumble at the law.
Why?
Because someone's always watching you.
You say, well, I'm not the pastor.
Yeah, but you have influence over someone's life.
There's someone who looks to you as an example.
So when you decide to draw back, you decide to get out of God's will,
just know this, you're not going alone.
You know, when Peter said, I go fishing, what do the other disciples say too?
We go also.
Peter was a leader.
What was Peter saying when he says, I go fishing?
He's basically saying, I'm not going to serve the Lord right now.
He was reverting back to something that he did prior to getting involved
in the ministry because he was a fisherman.
He's like, I go fishing, and everyone else is like, well, we go also.
And that's not the first time, you know, Peter, when he was committed,
he told the Lord that he would die for him, right?
And if you read the accounts, the disciples said likewise.
They also said, yeah, we'll die with you.
Why?
Because he had influence over them.
So it shows us that, you know, we influence someone.
Maybe you influence a group of people, maybe it's just your family,
but hey, even if it's your family, it's the most important influence
you could ever have.
If I lose my influence over the church, if for some reason I'm no longer
the pastor, I will still have influence over my wife and my children,
which is the most important to me.
It says, but ye are departed out of the way.
Ye have caused many to stumble at the law.
Ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
Man, this seems very like them, huh?
So it's not God who's breaking the covenant.
It's the priest who broke it.
They're the ones who corrupted the covenant.
They're the ones who corrupted the agreement.
Verse 9, therefore have I also made you contemptible and based before all
the people, according as you have not kept my ways, but have been partial
in the law.
What is he saying?
The reason he's spreading dung on their faces is because he's trying to show
the public how contemptible, polluted they've become, okay?
Why?
Because they become partial in the law.
This reminds me of Matthew 23.
Go to Matthew 23, if you would.
Matthew chapter 23.
Actually, you know what?
Skip that.
Skip that because we've got to finish up the chapter.
So that was the condemnation of the priests, and now we're going to look
at the condemnation of the people.
I'm just going to briefly go over this.
Look at verse number 10.
Have we not all one father?
Hath not one God created us?
Why do we deal treacherously ever man against his brother by profaning
the covenant of our fathers?
Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed
in Israel and in Jerusalem.
For Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord, which he loved,
and hath married the daughter of a strange God.
The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar
out of the tabernacle of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering
unto the Lord of hosts.
So just know this.
When the leadership gets off kilter, the people will get off kilter too.
What I do in moderation, you will do in excess.
Only for the bad, though, sometimes.
Like if I live righteously in moderation, you're not going to live
righteously in excess.
But you know what, if I compromise in moderation,
you will compromise in excess.
If I'm involved in sin in moderation, you will be involved in sin and excess
because that's just how it works.
And so because the priests, the leadership, they're
apathetic towards the things of God, well, now the people are marrying
into other nations that are not believers.
They're becoming unequally yoked with unbelievers.
And this is what he's condemning them for.
He's like, you guys are taking daughters of strange gods.
You're getting married to people who are not believers.
Which, by the way, is something that God commands Old and New Testament
not to do.
People should not marry an unbeliever.
And that's why you say, well, man, it's just so hard.
And there's just not much to choose from.
Or people don't really like me or whatever.
Folks, you better pray and fast.
You better pray and fast because you might make a bad decision that you're
stuck with for the rest of your life.
And you know what?
Here's my advice to, I'm probably going to preach on dating on Sunday night.
And I want to steal my thunder for Sunday night.
But here's my advice to young men and young ladies.
Obviously, you want to marry a saved person.
I mean, that's pretty obvious.
You should know that right off the bat.
But just to be saved, why don't you stay in Baptist circles?
And to be safer than that, why not independent fundamental Baptist circles?
And to be safer than that, why not new independent fundamental Baptist circles?
Look, people have had success in finding a spouse on these Christian dating
websites, which is good, amen?
Pastor Jimenez has a dating site for new IFB singles.
That's a good thing, you understand?
But there's some that are outside of that.
Like where it's just like you can meet people from different denominations.
And you may think, well, but they're saved.
Yeah, but you just never know, though, what may happen, though.
Because saved is like, that's great.
But they might come with a bunch of other baggage of things
that you two might not agree on.
And it's cause for trouble, you understand?
And so it's important that you're not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers.
But you should marry someone who has the same core values as you.
That's why I'm thankful that the church is continuously growing.
And people are having children.
Because I'll be honest, I want some of my kids
to marry some of your kids.
Why not?
Because they grow up in church.
Both parents can observe them, and they're here.
I mean, that's like my goal, but who knows if that'll happen.
I don't know if that'll happen.
That didn't happen to my wife.
I got saved later on in life.
That didn't happen to my brother-in-law either.
God brought some communist Chinese person.
She was a communist.
Her parents, they're like, we're the people of the republic.
They're still communists.
Not her, I mean her parents.
But she came to the United States.
She got saved.
She got plugged into a Baptist church
and got all the right beliefs and everything.
And then they started dating.
They got married.
And man, she's a fundamental Chinese Baptist.
But what I'm saying is that it's good to meet people in church.
It's good to meet people in your church.
Or it's good to meet people in churches that are like-minded.
Right?
You know, we got Alex over here.
Rarity in First Works.
We're cool like that.
He's marrying someone from over there.
He's bringing her over here, though.
Amen?
All right.
Just checking, all right?
You didn't sound confident there.
You didn't give me that.
No, I'm just kidding.
What I'm saying is this.
Is that what he's telling them, he's
like, you're marrying strange daughters who have other gods.
You've got to be careful.
It goes against God's will.
You understand?
And we see what the result of that
is because how about Solomon?
Started marrying all these women that had false gods.
And then his heart was carried away.
He backslid.
And of course, that's how he ended up finishing his life.
Verse 13 says, and this have you done again,
covering the altar of the Lord with tears,
and with weeping, and with crying out,
and so much that he regardeth not the offering anymore,
or receive it with good will at your hand.
He's like, oh, yeah, you're crying at the altar,
but you're not changing anything.
It reminds me of like these Pentecostal churches
where they weep, and wail, and gnash their teeth
over the things of God, but they're still living sinfully.
They're still disobeying the Lord.
Verse 14, yet ye say, wherefore, because the Lord
hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth,
against whom thou has dealt treacherously,
yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
And did not he make one?
Yet had he the residue of the Spirit,
and wherefore won, that he might seek a godly seed.
Therefore, take heed to your spirit,
and let none deal treacherously
against the wife of his youth.
For the Lord, the God of Israel,
saith that he hateth putting away.
For one covereth violence with his garment,
saith the Lord of hosts.
Therefore, take heed to your spirit,
that ye deal not treacherously.
So we have another issue here,
and that is men were divorcing their wives,
and marrying others.
So it's just like this,
like it's become like a den of iniquity, understand?
And you know what, unfortunately,
I hate keep bringing up
independent, phenomenal Baptist churches,
but this is exactly what's going on even today.
Where the leadership has gone so far away
from what the Bible says,
that now pastors are accepting divorce.
They don't preach against it,
because people are getting divorced in their church,
they don't want to lose to people,
so they're just like,
oh, you know, maybe I didn't really understand
what the Bible really says about that.
Folks, there's enough in the Bible
about divorce for us to know what the Bible says
about divorce, and remarriage.
Read first Corinthians seven,
you know, it'll clearly tell you,
read Romans chapter number seven.
I mean, read Malachi chapter two,
where God says he hates it.
It's not much to it, folks.
He hates putting away.
Verse 17 says,
he have wearied the Lord with your words.
Says, I'm tired of you.
So what are you saying?
I'm tired of you.
Yea ye say, wherein have we wearied thee?
When ye say, everyone that doeth evil
is good in the sight of the Lord,
and he delighteth in them,
or where is the God of judgment?
What is he saying?
You know why I'm tired of you?
It's because you're praising the wicked.
Oh, you're involved in fornication?
That's fine, God loves you, you're fine.
Just work things out, you know.
Oh, you're a pedophile?
That's fine, you could be restored.
We just won't put you in children's ministry
or something like that.
You know, oh, oh, you're involved in this wickedness?
That's fine, God is not mad at you.
You know what God says?
I'm sick and tired of you.
Because you should know better.
Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.
The Bible says they that forsake the law
praise the wicked,
but said just keep the law, contend with them,
the Bible says.
So when you, just mark it down,
when you see a pastor praising the wicked,
praising the sodomites,
praising the faggots of this world,
praising, you know, all this filth and nonsense out there,
this is the indication, oh, they forsook the law.
Oh, pastor, you must be one who forsook the law.
Once the pastor says all sodomites and pedophiles
and all this debauchery nonsense can come into the church,
oh, so you forsook the law.
That's what it means.
Oh, you guys are so contentious,
you just want to fight everyone,
but such as keep the law, contend with them.
It's part of our responsibility.
It's to fight.
Yeah, but we don't have to fight all the time.
Such as keep the law, contend with them.
So when I decide to stop fighting,
it means I'm not keeping the law.
Because the natural byproduct of keeping God's word
is that you're going to fight.
You're going to earnestly contend for the faith
once delivered unto the saints.
And you're not going to praise the wicked, okay?
So anyways, Israel's in bad shape here.
They're in bad shape.
They're saying the Lord doesn't see, you know,
where is the judgment of the Lord?
So basically what the leader said in Ezekiel's day
in chapter eight and nine, you know, the Lord seeth not.
Yeah, God's not going to judge you for that.
You're fine.
You'll be fine about, no, God's really mad.
And he is condemning the priests as well as the people alike
and that's pretty much it.
We'll get into chapter three next week.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
Thank you for these instructions, these warnings.
And although this is a sin that people were committing
thousands of years ago, things don't change sometimes.
There's churches, there's pastors, there's Christians today
that are guilty of these things.
Being apathetic towards the things of God.
Help us to always remain zealous.
And even if we are overly zealous,
I'd rather be overly zealous and do right
than become apathetic and lukewarm
and fool myself into thinking that I'm doing right.
Lord, I pray, God, that you'd help us as a church
to remain zealous for the things of God,
to remain excited and to provoke unto love
and to good works our church members.
And may you bless our evening in Jesus' name, amen.