expecting mothers please continue to pray for them and then the important
reminders there at the bottom please make sure that you are supervising your
children in the building no children should be in the mother baby room alone
without their parents and then of course the upcoming church events today is the
first of January so we're gonna go ahead and sing happy birthday to all those who
are in January whose birthday is in January my wife is all right right here
right there anybody else right over here and I miss anybody all right let's sing
happy birthday here we go happy birthday to you happy birthday to you
happy birthday God bless you
happy birthday to you happy birthday to you if you were born in January and so
enjoy those those healthy delicious donuts of course we have the Barstow
zoning resuming tomorrow and we'll meet here at the building at 1130 for lunch
and then we'll head out to Barstow and we'll have dinner in the evening as well
and so if you are interested in participating in the zoning there you
can see brother Ulysses Hernandez I know a couple people are gonna be meeting us
there some people are going earlier but if you want to ride with us we leave
here approximately around 12 12 30 and so hope to see you then be in prayer
that we'd see a lot of people saved in Barstow we're looking to finish that up
this year and then the men's prayer night is on Friday January 6 that'll be
here at the building ladies prayer breakfast is on Saturday February 4th no
food or drink allowed in the main auditorium except for water and coffee
make sure you're not loitering in the four-year fellowship hall during the
preaching service and then of course quiet time is throughout the whole
building this afternoon from 3 p.m. to 4 15 one last announcement if I'm not
mistaken we're gonna be having fun tonight after church and so if you want
to hang out after service tonight we're gonna be having that right after the
service and then we're also gonna be having games we're gonna not Jenga what
do we call it Ganga because it's not necessarily the the legitimate Jenga you
know we got a cut we kind of we got a bootleg version of it and so it's it's
called Ganga but it pretty much does the same thing and then make sure you
silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the
service all right and that is pretty much it let's go to sing our next song
120 Jesus save your pilot me
song number 120 Jesus save your pilot me
all together nice and strong on that first verse Jesus save your pilot me
over life's tempestuous sea unknown waves before me roll hiding rocket
trench with show Jordan calm is come from pain Jesus save your pilot me as a
mother sils her child thou can't search the ocean while boisterous waves obey
thy will when thou say to them be still wondrous sovereign of the sea
Jesus save your pilot me when at last I near the shore and the fearful breakers
roar twixt me and the peaceful rest then while leaning on my breast may I hear
these say to me fear not I will pilot me
amen wonderful singing at this time the ushers will come forth to collect the
offering and you can turn in your Bibles to John chapter number two
you
John chapter number two the Bible reads in the third day there's a marriage in
Cain of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there both Jesus was called and his
disciples to the marriage when they wanted wine the mother of Jesus saith
unto him they have no wine Jesus saith unto her woman what have I to do with
thee mine hours not yet come his mother saith unto the servants
whatsoever he saith unto you do it and they were set there six water pots of
stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews containing two or three
firkins of peace Jesus saith unto them fill the water pots with water and they
filled them up to the brim he saith unto them draw out now and bear it under the
governor of the feast and they bear it when the ruler of the feast had tasted
the wad that was made wine and knew not whence it was but the servants which
drew the water knew the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and saith on
him every man is beginning to set forth good wine when men have well drunk then
that which is worse but thou has kept the good wine until now this beginning
of miracles to Jesus in Cain of Galilee and manifested forth his glory as
disciples believed on him after this he went down to compare him he and his
mother and his brethren and his disciples and they continued there not
many days and Jews Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and found
in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of
money sitting and when he made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of
the temple and the sheep and the oxen and poured out the changers money and
overthrew the tables and said unto them that sold doves take these things hence
make not my father's house and house of merchandise and his disciples remembered
that it was written the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up then answered the
Jews and said unto him what sign showest thou unto us seeing that thou doest
these things Jesus answered unto them destroy this temple and in three days I
will raise it up then said the Jews forty and six years was this temple in
the building and wilt thou reared up in three days but he spake of the temple
of his body when therefore he was risen from the dead his disciples remembered
that he had said this unto them and they believed the scripture and the word
which Jesus had said now when he was at Jerusalem at the Passover in the feast
today many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did but
Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men and needed not
that any should testify of men for he knew what was in man let's pray to
Lord God thank you for this opportunity to assemble here in your house for the
preaching of your word just ask that you would meet with us here now this morning
please bless plasma here with your Holy Spirit and as the preachers who wrote
unto us and please just use it for our edification and and ultimately for your
honor and glory and in Jesus name we pray amen
you
by with that first number 13 it says the juice pass over with that hand and Jesus
went up to Jerusalem and found in the temple those that sold excuse me sold
oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting when he had
made a scourge of small cords he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep
and the oxen and poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables and sent
them to them that sold doves take these things hence that means from here make
not my father's house a house of merchandise and his disciples remember
that it was written the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up now this is a
great story here regarding Jesus Christ cleansing the temple and what I want to
talk about this morning is having a zeal for the house of God being zealous and
passionate enthusiastic about being in God's house and I want to use this
particular story right here because I think it exemplifies greatly what our
Lord what his disposition and his attitude his passion is about the house
of God and how extreme the extreme measures he was willing to go to in
order to kind of show that to his disciples and show that to others that
he loved the house of God and wanted to keep it in order now what's taking place
here in John chapter 2 well we see here that Jesus Christ the Passover is at
hand it's about to take place and he goes into the temple he sees people who
are essentially selling things in a house of God not just selling but people
are going there to buy the Bible tells us there in verse 14 that he solved
people who are selling oxen and sheep and doves and the changes of money and
this infuriates Jesus Christ it makes him very angry makes him very upset to
the point that he makes a scourge of small cords referring to the fact that
he's making essentially a whip and so he's kind of just putting that thing
together and and he's preparing that and he's not using it you know what I mean
to kind of just twirl around or just as a as a object lesson or something he's
using it to whip the people who are in the temple selling and buying in the
house of God okay and so he goes there and he begins to whip everyone kick
everyone out of the temple and he tells them take these things referring to the
animals and the changes of money he says take them hence in other words take them
away from here don't do this in the house of God and he tells them later on
you know my house is supposed to be called the house of prayer but you made
it a house of merchandise and what he's saying is that you know he's condemning
the practice of buying and selling in the house of God because you think to
yourself what's wrong with this picture you know why is it that he's doing this
you know aren't people supposed to do animal sacrifices at the temple isn't
this something that's part of the Levitical law you're supposed to you
know atone for the daily sins and you're supposed to purchase these animals and
sacrifice them in the temple and of course yes you know the Bible teaches us
that and in fact during this time Jesus Christ and everyone else in Israel is
still under that Levitical law okay the difference being is that they're not
supposed to be purchasing the animals in the house of God and that's exactly
what they're doing and in fact Jesus feels so strongly about this that this
isn't the only time he did it okay he did it here in John chapter 2 when the
Passover was at hand and then he does it three and a half years later prior to
his death at his triumphal entry he goes into the temple once again and he cast
out the money changers and he says you know make now my house a house of
merchandise he says my house shall be called a house of prayer but you have
made it a den of thieves okay and he's essentially condemning that there now
when he does this you know it's quite a sight if you think about it it's one man
going into the house of God you know and he's not telling his disciples to come
and do it with him I mean he's like he's basically single-handedly just casting
everyone out and he's releasing all these animals he's kicking out the money
changers but now that you know he's whipping people and then he's taking
tables and he's flipping them over okay and you know people have surmised how
much the tables weigh and you know they always want to think that you know oh
man Jesus Christ he's so strong that he's picking up these 300 pound tables
you know that's irrelevant okay the fact of the matter is is he's going in there
and doing that okay he's flipping tables over he's making a mess of things money
is probably falling all over the place people aren't complete disarray and then
of course you have the Pharisees who are present watching all this watching this
man Jesus Christ just make a complete mockery of their merchandise okay
because I'm sure he's they're the ones who are essentially behind this whole
thing because they're covetous people they're greedy a filthy lucre which is
why he calls it a den of thieves okay and I what I find interesting about this
story is that as he's doing this you know the story basically implies that
the disciples are just standing there watching this you know they're just kind
of watching like he's really going in there doing this you know and in verse
17 the disciples remembered that it was written okay now the reason I believe it
says that they remembered what you know that it was written the zeal of thine
house have eaten me up it's because probably everyone's making a big deal is
my mic not on thanks for telling me 30 minutes into the sermon no just kidding
you know the disciples are remembering that it was written and they're
quoting this and my you know speculation as to why it says this is
because people are probably thinking he's overreacting you know he's making a
big deal about this you know Jesus can't you just go inside and just tell people
not to do this and just kindly tell people to leave you know can't you speak
the truth and love can't you just kindly ask people to go out and not do these
things and be compassionate and patient with them and so I'm sure people are
watching this and they're thinking to themselves whoa he's kind of
overreacting here he's a little he's being a little radical here this is kind
of over the top you know just kind of whipping people and he's throwing the
money out he's flipping tables over he's kind of being kind of angry you know
it's not very Christ like Jesus you know to act this way and then the disciples
are like wait a minute but the Bible does say the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up okay that's a great phrase there it's a great verse because of the
fact that it's essentially saying that the zeal that Jesus had for the house of
God was consuming him to eat someone up means that you're consumed by it right
and this is a quote from Psalm 69 verse number 9 talking about David who was
also consumed with the house of God he was zealous for the house of God to the
point that the reproaches there approached him fell upon himself there
were approached the Lord fell upon him and I'm sure David was criticized in
times past for being overly zealous over the house of God but maybe you know he
overreacted a little bit or acted a little too radical regarding the house
of God but he's saying you know the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up in other
words he is excited he's passionate he is radical about the house of God it's
something that consumes him and essentially determines his behavior
regarding the house of God and so you know I thought that was funny that the
disciples are just kind of standing there watching this and they're just
like well you know Psalm 69 does say this though the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up so it kind of makes sense why he's doing all this okay you know
one of the funniest memes that I've ever seen is obviously I don't agree with
making images of Jesus but it's an image of Jesus and he's whipping people and
people are like hey that's not very Christlike of you you know you know
you're not being like Jesus or you know they're kind of criticizing Jesus but
you know some people are more like Jesus than Jesus himself apparently right some
people have a tendency to be more Christlike than Jesus Christ himself
right they're nicer than God but obviously they have a misconstrued and
perverted view of God they don't know what the Bible actually says about the
Lord so he goes in there and he cleanses the temple he kicks out these people and
the main teaching of John chapter 2 in this particular passage is that we
should never make the house of God a house of merchandise right we should
never buy or sell in the house of God something wrong with buying and selling
but there is something wrong when you do it in the house of God the house of God
should never be a place of merchandise a place of commerce a place where you can
expand your business and and start you know selling things and and bringing
your items to sell and seeing church members as an opportunity to make money
okay at that point the Bible says that it becomes wicked and here's the thing
is that in my personal opinion probably the Pharisees who are behind that house
of merchandise template that we see here in John chapter 2 but you know many
people today have made the house of God a house of merchandise even today right
I mean even within independent fundamental Baptist circles it's not
abnormal to see you know a pastor or church members selling things in the
house of God even to the point where they sell Bibles right I mean I've heard
people even sell invitations tracks if you want to go soul when you got to
purchase a certain amount of tracks or whatever you know if you want certain
books you got to purchase them if you want to be a part of this activity you
got to pay for it if you want to go to this whatever you know endeavor that
activity that the kids or teens have or a church activity you have to pay for
it and that's wrong folks you know the house of God is not a house of
merchandise and it's in my personal opinion according to the Bible that
things should be free in the house of God right you say well you know if it's
free then we can't do it all the time then we can't do it all the time then
right you know if it's if it can't be free if we can't purchase it for
everyone then you know the activities shall be scarce and we shall do them
either once or twice or three times a year or something like that but the
problem is you know a lot of these churches have various activities and
they have all of these fellowships and they charge people five bucks ten
dollars fifteen twenty dollars or whatever but this is wrong my friends
and you know they even have bookstores or whatever and again I'm not against a
bookstore per se I'm not against a church having a place of a library where
you have books maybe for free but when you start using that you know in order
to make money then that becomes a problem you know the Christian school is
another example of that a Christian school is making the house of God a
house of merchandise okay a Bible college the same exact thing I mean
you're charging people to learn the Word of God that's wrong right you know it's
just like they go there and they want to learn about the Bible so if you want to
get some deep truths about the Bible you got to go to Bible you got to pay the
good money to get the deep truths out of the Word of God and what's unfortunate
is that when you actually go to Bible College they don't have any deep truths
there you know they get some book by a guy named David cloud or something like
that or some heretic and they're teaching you what that guy says regarding
the Word of God and you're paying for heresy essentially right you're paying
to learn heresy and it's wrong okay and so you know God is completely against
and by the way that's one of the reasons why many churches listen to this are
501c3 okay I'm not against churches being 501c3 but the reason why many of
them are it's because of the fact that they're buying and selling in the house
of God we're not 501c3 I'm not against churches that are doing that even if
they're not buying and selling in the house of God but let me just say the
vast majority are 501c3 for that exact reason okay because of the fact that
they want to be tax exempt for all the money that they're making you know from
their bookstore their Christian school their Bible College or whatever maybe
and you know a lot of these churches that have those unbiblical institutions
they're always in debt they're always in the red they're always in debt you would
think that because they're making more money you know what I mean that there
would be a surplus of funds but it doesn't work that way you say why is it
that these churches are constantly in the red why are they always in debt even
though they have all these institutions it's because God's not blessing that
that's why God can't bless something that is not biblical and you know it's
wrong obviously that's a sermon for another day but that's an important
point to make and you know just as a reminder you know the things in our
church are free you know don't go all crazy about it start you know taking all
the song books or whatever but if you want a song book take a song book amen
leave the chairs here because we kind of need them you can claim a chair for
yourself if you want to say well this is my chair but if someone's sitting there
before you you know if you're late to church then that's on you you know but
things are essentially free at our church Bibles are for sure free at our
church you know invites will always be free and in fact I remember one time
some some friends and I wanted to go soloing at this church and this one guy
who ended up being a false prophet who's a really wicked person he would give us
like a really small stack you know and we would say can we have a little more
and then he's just like okay and he'd bring another little stack we're like
can we get like five stacks and he's just like it's like oh I'm so sorry you
know to make you work to bring me invite so I can invite people to our church you
know and that you know which would result in people getting saved result in
people getting baptized becoming members of the church and yeah even become
tithers to pay your salary or something you know really sorry about that but you
know that's how a lot of churches are right and it's wrong it's wicked you
know we should a church should be generous with what we have now obviously
the Bible tells us that to do good to all men but especially of those of the
household of faith but that's besides the point the point that I'm trying to
make here is the fact that this is obviously something that bothered the
Lord to the point where he was willing to physically grab people and throw them
out of the house of God and you know whip them and obviously it was viewed as
him being very zealous but this isn't the only time in the Bible where Jesus
Christ exemplified this type of zeal that would be considered a little
extreme I mean think about this you know there's there's times in the Bible where
specifically Luke chapter 14 where he specifically says if any man come to me
and hate not his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and
sisters yeah his own life also he cannot be my disciple you know you have
a lot of churches today to say you know follow Jesus be a disciple of Jesus okay
but does your love for the Lord look like a hatred for your family though
because according to Jesus himself if you're gonna come after Jesus if you're
gonna be a disciple of the Lord you should love the Lord to the point where
people would think man you're not even hanging with me anymore you're not
spending time with me anymore you're always at church you're always reading
your Bible you're going soloing in it's almost as if you hate me right but this
is what Jesus said he says the verse 27 whosoever does not bear his cross and
come after me cannot be my disciples not enough that you call yourself a Christian
the Bible says if you're gonna be a disciple you have to carry your cross
daily right but how about this you know he told people during his ministry let
the dead bury their dead I mean that's pretty extreme he says in Matthew 8 19
and a certain scribe came and said unto master I will follow thee whither so
ever thou goest this seems like a legitimate person right this guy's all
in he was like wherever you go I will go he's a scribe meaning that he writes out
the Word of God meaning that he probably knows the Bible this guy can be an asset
to Jesus ministry someone who's all in verse 20 Jesus says unto him the foxes
have holes and the birds of the air have nests but the son of man hath not where
to lay his head so he's like he's basically telling him if you're gonna
come with me we're not staying at a five-star hotel and we know that Jesus
is not a big fan of hotels in the first place right I mean there was no room for
him in the inn when he was born okay he's basically saying look the animals
that Jesus created even they have homes to sleep in he goes I don't even have a
place I don't even know where I'm gonna sleep verse 21 and another of his
disciples said unto him Lord suffer me first to go and bury my father now this
seems like a pretty legitimate request his dad just passed away and he's like
I'm gonna follow you but just let me go you know give my dad a proper burial and
you would think you know maybe the Lord would be like you know what honor your
father go do that and then come and follow me no he says but Jesus said unto
him follow me and let the dead bury their dead ouch I mean that seems kind
of extreme right but you know what this is the kind of a zeal that Jesus Christ
had to the point where he said you know the dead are not as important as the
living the dead are not important as the way the truth and the life right
compelling people to walk an extra go an extra mile you know think about the
Great Commission that's an extreme request because he says to them go ye
into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature think about this this
is during a time when they didn't have airplanes vehicles you know very quick
transportation and he didn't say you know hey I'll provide horses for you
I'll provide chariots I'll provide ways of transportation he's probably like you
know I gave you two feet to walk on go okay very extreme and would require
someone who's very zealous to actually fulfill that right but let's talk about
the house of God because this same zeal and passion that he had for his
commandments that he has for sowing and preaching and all these things he has
for the house of God now I'm preaching to the choir this morning I understand
that because well you're gonna be thankful you came to church this morning
and man you're like man I'm glad I was here because this you know the sermons
about being in church and I'm in church
but you know what it's good that you start off your year in the house of God
you know it's obviously good that you spend your life in the house of God but
why not kick off 2023 in the house of God listening to the preaching of God's
word going soul winning you know fellowshipping one with another doing
those things that are pleasing unto the Lord better to start off January 1st of
2023 in God's house and express some zeal about me man now go to Acts chapter
20 if you would actually up to 20 Jesus was zealous for the house of God he's
still zealous for God's house he's zealous for his own house we're gonna
talk about why he's so zealous about it by the way the word zealous simply means
you know fervor someone who has passion and in fact is very closely related to
the word jealous you know you can see that right zealous jealous and in fact
in Spanish it's practically the same word you have cellos okay which means
jealous it can mean zeal and they both can essentially mean the same thing
because someone who is jealous is someone who is fervent about another
person okay obviously there's there's an ungodly type of a jealousy where it's
it's it's not right but you know to a certain extent all of us should be a
little jealous especially for our spouses amen and in fact get this the
Bible says that God's name is jealous you know I remember when I was when I
was when I was dating my wife before she was my wife you know I'm still jealous
for her but I was really jealous for her back then I mean because she wasn't like
100% mine yet you know I mean so it's just like I didn't want to no one else
trying to move in all my future territory amen and and you know I
remember people getting on me like hey you know you're a little extreme about
that you know you're a little too jealous and I said you know God's name
is jealous and you know he this person said what every person says when any
time you quote the Bible and they don't like it you're taking that out of
context but you know what the Bible tells us in Exodus 34 verse 14 for thou
shalt worship no other God for the Lord whose name is jealous is a jealous God
now this means obviously that he doesn't want us to have any other God besides
him but it also means that he's very much zealous for his people because if
he's jealous over the fact that he doesn't want us to have another God
another deity it's essentially saying that he is zealous to have us as his own
people okay he's fervent over God's people look at Acts chapter 20 verse 28
so why is Jesus zealous for the house of God look at verse 28 take heed therefore
unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which that Holy Ghost have made
you overseers to feed the Church of God listen to this which he have purchased
with his own blood you know why Jesus Christ is so zealous for God's house
it's because of his investment which is his own blood my friends you know and we
live in a day and age where Christians don't really take going to the house of
God very seriously it's like a flipping thing is this like we might go we might
not go it really depends on what we what we have going on that day it really
depends on what's on the calendar what's on the schedule if you got something
more important to do we might do that instead folks be zealous for the house
of God and recognize that Jesus Christ purchased it with his own blood he died
for the church he died for us as individuals which make up collectively
the local New Testament Church and the Bible is telling us here hey feed the
Church of God preach the Bible to the congregants because God purchased this
church with his blood don't take it lightly Ephesians chapter 5 go with me
to Ephesians chapter 5 if you would Ephesians chapter number 5 take the
house of God serious my friends be zealous over God's house you say well
you know in John chapter 2 he's casting people out of the temple though you know
well but we're a part of a church so maybe that doesn't apply to us you know
well here's the thing let me explain to you you know why he's doing that why the
temple still existed the temple was essentially the place where God's people
met in the Old Testament and Jesus Christ was still in the Old Testament
during his ministry up until his death okay now when you look in your physical
Bibles you'll see that your Bible is broken up into two parts right old the
New Testament and the New Testament begins with the book of Matthew you know
you got Matthew Mark Luke and John then you have the book of Acts but here's the
thing is that the events in Matthew Mark Luke and John have both New Testament
events but also Old Testament events because the Old Testament also known as
the Old Covenant is essentially anything prior to the death of Jesus Christ so
the reason the Gospels are placed in the physical New Testament in our Bibles is
because it's that transitional period between Old Covenant and New Covenant
prior to his death and after his death once he died which the Bible refers to
as the death of the testator at that point now you have the New Testament in
place the New Covenant is in place and so the Old Testament where people
congregated in the house of God was known as the temple but now that the New
Testament is in place the Bible tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Ghost
which you have of God and ye are not your own so he's purchased us so now the
transition is that that physical old temple has now become the spiritual
temple which is us okay he said well that still doesn't explain are we the
house of God no but when we collectively come together and congregate we make up
what's known as a church which he purchased with his own blood okay look
at what the Bible says in Ephesians 5 verse 25 this is every husband's life
verse here verse 25 says husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself for it the Bible says so the Bible tells us here that
Jesus loves the church he gave himself for it look at verse 26 that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word verse 27 that he
might present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any
such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish the Bible tells us
so here's the thing is that you know when someone gets saved they're
justified they're gonna go to heaven they have eternal life you know God
wants to kind of cleanse you though even thereafter once you make he wants to
make you holy and acceptable unto him but how does that happen well according
to the Bible it happens by the washing of the water of the word so how does
that happen well if the Bible is telling us here in Ephesians chapter 5 that he
washes us by the word and it's in context of a church that means when you
come to church you get the preaching of God's Word that washes you and the
longer you're in church the more faithful you are you apply the
preaching of God's Word you can be a person who the Bible deems as being
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing holy and without blemish that's
what God wants from us okay look what the go with me if you went to 1st
Timothy chapter number 3 1st Timothy chapter number 3 so you can see why
Jesus Christ is so zealous over the house of God it's something that he
purchased with his own blood but it's also something that he's trying to
present to himself as being holy and without blemish and the point that I'm
trying to make here is that don't undermine the importance of God's house
you know in the day and age in which we live it's kind of easy for Christians to
do that because of that stupid thing right over there which is called a
camera which is called the live stream you say what are you saying it's really
stupid you know I appreciate the live stream but the truth is that gives so
many people an excuse to just stay home and just say well you know my my the
strands of my hair hurt a little bit you know I got a little headache on the
left a parcel of my head here or my my I stubbed my toe or whatever you know I
just don't feel really good or I just you know I got other thing we got a
barbecue this afternoon but hey we can kind of still be a part of church
because we got the live stream now look folks I'm the one who you know started
the live stream so obviously I'm thankful for it and you know if you're
projectile vomiting watch the live stream okay you know if you know for
example my kids are sick today okay and so they can't come to church because
they got fevers and all that and so I don't want them infecting none of your
kids and whatnot because you know in our church once someone gets a it's just
it's just like a plague it's like the black plague just like just goes over
ever and then I'm here on a Thursday preaching to like five people or
something you know the five people who don't typically come to church for five
months and then they come they're like hey where's everybody you know but they
weren't in contact with all the sick people so now they're here you know I'm
just joking I'm exaggerating here but I'm being zealous okay but you know that
thing right there these can it's a blessing to have technology it's a
blessing to be able to live stream to people who maybe don't even have a
church because there's people who watch the live stream who don't have a church
to go to you know they live in some ungodly part of the world where they
hate Christianity or something or they don't there's not an independent
fundamental Baptist Church there and you know what we provide that service for
them so they can still get you know biblical preaching that could be edified
they could be helped but folks for those of you who do have a church to go to
make it to church 2023 you know that we always talk about these New Year's
resolutions be resolved to just be in church and stop making excuses why not
to be in church let me say this every excuse you can come up with they're
probably really good excuses okay you know the excuses you got are probably
really good you know it's funny the other day was kind of not funny but you
know a couple weeks ago I was preaching on trials and difficulties and I was
talking about how you know things are gonna happen to you and and and you're
gonna go through trials and difficulties and you're gonna have a really good
reason not to come to church and not to be in God's will but forget that you
know just be in church anyways even if you go through this and literally right
after the service two of our church members vehicles were broken into one of
them was a brand new church member you know he's I think I'm pretty sure I just
saw him right now he's somewhere in here he's probably in the four-year Adrian
you know he's he got his car broken into and it's just like you know that's a
really good reason not to come to church right it's just like you know I'm not
gonna go to church cuz I don't want my car to be get broken into he is here by
the way and just let me know I just don't see him right now but I saw him
walk in where that's those those are not Adrian's back there brother Moses he's
pointed that's for sure not Adrian right there there he is he's right there get
in here get in here
okay the dude's gonna come all the way from home to come to church to just sit
in the foyer sit down yeah he's watching his car well you know it happens
to him and you know what that's a really good reason not to it's just like why
don't I'm not gonna come sitting nights because then my car might get broken
into you know that's probably a good reason but you know what be zealous for
the house of God and be there anyways you know put it in God's hands and you
know we got people patrolling or whatever now but the truth is is that
you know all of us can come up with a really except for me all of us can come
up with a really good reason why not to come to church but you don't want to be
zealous anyways and come anyways and here's what I tell everyone as good as
you are come up with excuses why not to come to church why don't you come up
with good reasons why you should come to church you know once you start coming
with all these reasons why you can't be in the house of God why don't you go
ahead and flip that around and say you know what let's come up with a list of
reasons why we should be in church and that'll motivate you to get your butt in
church look at first Timothy 3 14 says these things right unto you hoping to
come unto thee shortly but if I tarry long that thou mayest know how the
honest to behave thyself in the house of God now people have said you know oh we
shouldn't call it the house of God this is church not necessarily the house of
God was something that in the Old Testament but the Apostle Paul is
talking about Church being the house of God so there you have it in first
Timothy 3 15 he says which is the church of the living God the pillar and
ground of truth the Bible says so why is Jesus so zealous for the church I'll
tell you why because it's the centerpiece of truth in our society
that's why okay the centerpiece of truth for us is the Word of God but for the
world for our society it's Church when people want to know what God's view is
on a particular subject that's going on in our world today they come to church
they come to church to know what God has to say about that particular subject and
you know what we need this more than ever today because again the internet
social media Christians get tossed to and fro pretty much on a weekly basis
okay they they become Republican they become libertarian they become you know
they start getting involved in all these conspiracy theories and they
become flat earth and they become you know now they're rooting for Andrew
Tate's free top G or whatever even though that guy's just a godless piece
of trash who hates the Lord you know yeah of course he said a couple things
right a broken clock is right twice a day man and yeah he you know he said a
couple things right but you know what that doesn't excuse him for mocking
Christianity you know the Christianity you believe in the one that you're a
part of you know the the Christianity that you that your life revolves around
him he's mocked that my friends and he's elevated Islam he's elevated the
Orthodox Church which is not Christianity okay and and you know
recently he was just there's allegations or whatever you know about him being
involved in human sex trafficking you know what just astounds me is when Bible
believing Christians defend that nonsense and like oh they're lying
about him first of all you know here's the thing folks the love of money is the
root of all evil so you know they might see him as innocent later on but I
guarantee you he's involved in a lot of other wicked stuff though and it
wouldn't surprise me if he was involved in human sex trafficking because he's
such a godless wicked person who loves money he's a covetous person he is a
fornicator he's an adulterer he encourages others to do the same he's
prideful he's arrogant the list goes on and on and on he's not a Bible believing
Christian stop supporting him you know this is what happens when Christians get
out of God's Word they get out of church their mind gets all messed up and don't
don't get me wrong you can be in church and still get your mind all messed up if
you're not paying attention to the preaching you're not reading the Word of
God you know if you spend more time on YouTube listening to these fools they
do on YouTube listening to preaching or in church paying attention to what's
being said yeah you can have your mind just trashed right but you'd be
surprised how many people support the ungodly my friends you know this is the
pillar and ground of truth and you know sorry you know top G is not the top G
okay he's not the top G he is a wicked vile person who wants to promote having
lots of money lots of women and oh yeah but I think you know it's okay to have
one wife yeah you know if she's loyal to you she's a woman of value you know have
her there but then you can have all kinds of other chicks as well it's
nonsense folks and you know what if you're listening to top G and you
support that wicked person get right with God stop supporting wicked people
stop seeing them as heroes and martyrs for the faith or something like that
free top G that guy's wicked you know go but you know they're coming after him
though let them go after him maybe that's God's judgment on his life for
mocking Jesus may he get the worst possible outcome on that situation
because of his mockery of Jesus well he only said it once once is all we need my
friend you know I'm not with top G I'm with the Lord I'm with Jesus Christ I'm
with Christianity and I don't care how many Sigmas there are out there who
claim to believe what we believe and they support you know top godless over
there the top of the godless I don't care I'm with the Bible on this and you
cannot tell me that that guy's some righteous person or something that you
know oh yeah but he's bringing masculinity back that's fake
masculinity my friends well cause a guy that's not Christianity you think you
call that Christianity what colors your Bugatti I don't even know what a Bugatti
looks like I got a van with car seats who cares what color the Bugatti is
nonsense my friends but you know what this is what happens when people replace
the Church of the Living God which is the pillar and ground of truth and they
get their definition of what masculinity is by some godless person who glorifies
himself and it's you know he's a schemer he's a he's a con artist you know
because he's promoting his little college and how to be just like him you
know and people pay for that and like part of it is just like you have to
promote his stuff it's like he's making money off of you he's greedy a filthy
lucre but you know being that's why being Church don't be fooled don't be
carried about with every wind of doctrine be in the house of God stop
idolizing wicked people stop looking up to the godless politicians of this world
stop thinking that the godless unsafe politicians of this world can change
anything you know we need the Bible my friends you know so many people out
there you know on social media they're so they like to pride themselves and
going into 2023 on VAX but yet they're still unsaved I mean think about that my
friends look I'm not VAX I'm not for the vaccine but I'm not gonna say it's like
the it's like the mark of the beast I just don't want to put that nonsense
into my body but here's the thing is like yeah people like oh going into 2023
on VAX yeah but you're still on save though you're gonna split hell wide open
if you die today but you know what Christians get involved in that type of
talk they get involved in those type of groups because they're not in the Bible
okay getting God's Word get in the house of God go with me if you would to 1st
Corinthians chapter 12 1st Corinthians chapter 12 God wants us to be zealous
he wants us to be enthusiastic about the things of God be passionate about the
things of God what does that mean it means you're not supposed to be
apathetic indifferent towards the things of God coming to church to not be
a boring thing and I get it there's churches out there that are probably
really boring I understand that completely there's probably people
behind the pulpit of different churches that don't take the things of God
seriously they don't take preaching seriously they're not excited about the
things of God they're just kind of doing their job they just want to preach their
15-minute motivational speech or whatever and get it over with but folks
get yourself into a church that actually moves you and exhorts you to
be a Christian to be a disciple of Jesus Christ to actually go out and do so to
change right that's what 2023 should be about changing one change right and I'm
sure many of you have 2023 goals and resolutions and you want to exercise you
want to lose weight that's like the biggest one often I'll see you at the
end of January okay for that one you know lose weight you want to start this
new hobby you want to read books you know you want to better yourself and
that those are all great because I think we should have those goals amen
however the greatest goals that you should have as a Christian is how to be
a better Christian you know I need to I need to read more Bible and you know day
to day or I need to you know I go to church Sunday morning Sunday night I
should be in church Thursday as well it's gonna be a little uncomfortable for
me because I'm not really typically used to that but you know what I need to do
that because that should be a goal that I have in 2023 to better myself and one
of the ways to better yourself is to be in church more often you know I need to
pray more I need to go soul winning more I need to pick a soul winning time I
kind of got off the I fell off the wagon in a little bit regarding you know
following or following the Lord and preaching the gospel I need to get on
one of these teams and you know you're like well I can't go on Sunday
afternoon well we got a bunch of other so many times you can go to so you know
you can go at one point do it get zealous for the things of God and as
much time and effort as you put into your your life goals or whatever you
know the things that you got going on put some effort into coming up with some
spiritual goals as well one of them just might be this you know I need to like
know people's names in our church I need you just like like meet people at church
that could be a goal of yours in fact that's probably a goal for a lot of
introverts in our church in fact I'm gonna make that goal for you as an
introvert in our church you know you know the introverts they hate meeting
people you know they're just they're not that's not that's not their thing you
know they just it's it's it's it's very um they're gonna have like an anxiety
attack or something if they go out and meet someone new you know it might be
your goal to just go meet at one person one service every service just walk up
you say okay I will meet new people if they come to me you know if they walk up
to me if they come to me then I'll do no no you get out of your seat and just go
talk to someone and you say yeah but I've seen them so many times and I
still don't know their name well you know they're new to you go up to them
and introduce yourself go talk to them that could be a goal that you have as a
Christian for 2023 but what I have you turn first Corinthians 12 let me give
you some marks that you are zealous over the house of God okay that you're
consumed we should be consumed with God's Word we should be consumed with
his work but we should also be consumed with the house of God well first of all
here's the mark number one you're bothered about the things that bother
God in other words you want to have Church the right way that's really what
what happened with Jesus he goes to the temple he's like this is not my template
this is not my structure this is not what I've commanded and it bothered him
to the point we actually did something about it now it would seem kind of
extreme maybe even to the disciples and to the people who were there but you
know what he was bothered by it he was bothered by the things that bothered his
Heavenly Father and he actually did something about it now do things bother
you if church is not done correctly if you see overall churches in America that
it's not done correctly you're just like oh man why do they do this church
should be in this manner okay then do something about and get yourself into a
church where they actually do that then you know don't be the person that
complains about other churches while you're not in church right there oh
there's no good church and I'm preaching the choir because you guys are church
members here but it's just like you know you go on vacation go to church and find
a fundamental Baptist Church and you know if they're pre-trib and Zionists
and all that go anyways because they're probably right on 95% of other things
okay but here's the thing is that we should be bothered about the things that
bother God and be zealous about those things now you have access to a church
that to a certain extent does things the right way we're not perfect but at least
we got some things in line in order okay you see people today choose churches
based upon what the church can do for them ask not where your church can do
for you but what you can do for your church it's like well what kind of
programs do you guys have what do you have for the children you know what kind
of a praise and worship team do you have that I can participate in this is the
whole praise and worship team right here but we don't like to call it that
because it sounds weird we're not a worship team where church it worships
the Lord well you know a lot of people is just like well it really depends on
how the lighting is in there what the pulpit looks like and is this the kind
of preaching that suits me you know oh you know what kind of music do you guys
see I've heard this you know I like everything about your church except for
the hymns and what they're saying is that they want that CCM stuff they want
that contemporary Christian movement type music that makes their bottom move
and and you know gets them all in the mood or whatever that's nonsense that's
fleshly that's carnal that's devilish and you know what we shouldn't go to a
church based upon what kind of music they have but rather based upon what
kind of preaching they have amen now let me just say this is that you're probably
not gonna find a church that has the wrong kind of music and the right kind
of preaching I'm just saying okay if you have a church that has the wrong kind of
music where you know the the woman is it sounds like she's making love to the
mic or something like that they're probably not gonna be preaching hellfire
brimstone you know behind the pulpit the guy who comes up and preaches after that
is probably super wicked he probably has torn jeans skinny torn jeans sorry
sorry skinny torn jeans you know he's probably in his 50s or 60s with a polo
shirt I'm a faux hawk or something you know and you're probably not gonna get
much out of that preaching because often the preaching in the music goes hand in
hand you give me conservative music you'll get some biblical preaching more
often than not that's how it is okay now you have churches that are kind of like
in that transitional stage where they still have biblical preaching but
they're trying to you know they're trying to change the music a little bit
you know I mean they sing the hymns but they'll but they'll they'll put a little
flavor to it where they you know they throw a little drums in there or
whatever a little syncopation here because they're trying to transition
their congregation to becoming like that okay and then eventually they'll switch
their Bibles from a King James to a New King James to a ESV to an NIV and then
you have apostasy amen you know we should be bothered by those things be
bothered with the things that bothers God now look at 1st Corinthians 12 verse
4 because I don't want people to misunderstand me here look at verse 4 it
says now there are diversities of gifts but the same spirit there are
differences of administration but the same Lord there are diversities of
operations but it is the same God which worketh all and all so obviously not
every church has to do things the way we do them exactly and in fact there are
churches of like faith that we fellowship with that we agree with on
ninety percent ninety five percent of what they preach and teach but they have
their church services differently okay some of them have choirs they have you
know just things that we wouldn't necessarily do but that's okay because
they have a different operation they have a different administration there's
nothing wrong with that we're talking about when you just veer off way off
course okay well now you have you don't even have one song leader you have like
an entire team up here leading the music or whatever women and men included with
women with pants on or whatever men with skinny jeans or whatever you know and so
that should bother us or you know when then when when the pastor's preaching
and he's not preaching on doctrine he's kind of slipping heresy here and there
and people are just like whatever about you know that should bother us we should
be zealous over those things to have clear concise biblical preaching what is
the Bible say my friends okay and look when you come to our church you're not
gonna feel all fluffy inside I'll just be honest with you you know there's
gonna be times you're not gonna leave and you'll be like you probably after
this sermon you'll probably be bothered a little bit okay but you don't church
should rub you the wrong way every once in a while it should because it's meant
to renew your mind and as long as we could back it up with the Bible then you
should follow it because at that point you're not mad at the messenger you're
mad at the message which ultimately you're mad at the maker okay who who
brought you this message and wants you to hear this message and so it's
important that we understand that we should be bothered by the things that
bother God this is a clear mark that you are zealous for the house of God you
want things to be done decently and in order okay you know we're not gonna have
one half a psalm one half you know a prophecy one half a tongue or the where
the service is in complete disarray like most Pentecostal churches that are just
like that it was just foaming out the mouth people speaking in tongues you
know women speaking in the church that's wicked that's not what God wants we can
prove that clearly from 1st Corinthians chapter 14 okay we want peace in our
church we want things to be done decently and in order be zealous for
those things look at Psalm 84 if you would go to Psalm 84 what's another
clear mark that you're zealous for the for the house of God you're not ashamed
of the house of God I go to first works Baptist Church you know what church you
go to oh you don't really like Baptist first works church no first works
Baptist Church what kind of church do you go to oh it's a Christian Church
what kind of Christian Church oh you know just like any other Christian
church no it's a Baptist Church now obviously you know every door that I
knock on I'm not gonna be like I'm an independent fundamental hell raising
fire damnation leather lung Baptist new IV you know they just take too long but
I have to say you know we go to a Christian Church and if they say what
kind of church I'll say it's a Baptist Church and sometimes people know that
there are differences with Baptists and I'll say we're a independent fundamental
Baptist Church is what we are and if they want to dig a little deeper than
that which rarely that ever if ever has ever happened then you add that new into
that amen but most people don't even go get that far but they do know what an
independent fundamental Baptist is I mean I remember one time I was so
wondering with my father-in-law this is years ago when we when we started a
church in Los Angeles and we ran into this lady and he's giving her the gospel
and she just stopped him she's this she was a Chinese lady but she had been in
America for like a really long time and and she's like what kind of Christian
are you and he's like we're Baptist he's like what type of Baptist and he's like
oh I'm a I'm a funnel independent fundamental Baptist she's like oh you
are a fundamentalist oh I know your kind you know she's and it wasn't like she
was impressed either she was she didn't like the fundamentalist okay but you
know don't be ashamed of what kind of church you go to it should be that we
take you know we're grateful we take pride in the fact that we go to a church
but more specifically a Baptist Church and more specifically than that First
Works Baptist Church you know when you talk to your family your friends you
know we have look folks we have enough Christians out there that are ashamed of
Christianity we don't need any more people being all weenie about it and
not willing to declare what kind of church they actually go to okay you know
when someone asks you what kind of church you go to I go to a Baptist
Church called First Works Baptist Church it's like who's your pastor oh man we
call him pastor you know it's just like say who I am they probably won't know
who I am you know but say who I am anyways okay don't be ashamed of your
pastor don't be ashamed of your church don't be ashamed of the Bible do you
carry when you're surrounded at the coffee shop by these liberal Christians
you know they're just like oh you know I use the ESV I use it be like I use the
King James Bible that's what I use oh that's the version you use yeah I used
to use that too until until what you went apostate or something this is the
only Bible you know cuz and given you know a lot of these Christians they view
fundamental Baptist as idiots they view them as just like they don't know what
they're talking about they're like you know they're they're just kind of like
hick Christians basically and you know what we don't want to be characterized
as that we better know why we use the King James Bible go listen to the
superiority of the King James Bible go watch New World Order Bible versions go
do your homework and know why we use the King James Bible so that when someone
actually approaches and confronts you about that you know what the answer is
okay we believe it's like oh you use it because that's the best version to use
no I use it because it's the inspired and preserved Word of God for the
English-speaking people that's why I use it and all these other versions are
really bad let me show you a couple of verses in your Bible okay oh wait
they're not there but don't be ashamed of the house of God look at Psalm 84
verse 10 look what David said he's the king he says for a day in thy courts is
better than a thousand I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than
to dwell in the tents of wickedness we're talking about King David King
David said look I would much rather be the the usher at the door holding the
door for everyone to come in than to ever be out there in the world in the
tents of wickedness it sounds like he's someone who's not ashamed of God's house
sounds like someone who is themes the house of the Lord is being somewhere
that's important to be okay and so you know we as God's people should esteem
God's house not be ashamed of it you know when your aunts and uncles and
cousins start inviting you to their birthday party that they just so happen
to have on Sunday they're like oh you know we got something else for doing we
got what are you guys doing oh we're going to church oh we got church in fact
we're always in church on Sunday you know this is what my family does this
is what we do and don't you know beat around the bush either you look them
straight in the eyes and say I go to church on Sundays that's what I do let
your eyes water that much eye contact for that long amount of time or
something say I go to church on Sundays me and my whole family we do church on
Sundays that's what we do we go to First Works Baptist Church you should come
with us you know don't beat around the bush don't say yeah oh and definitely
don't do this we've got a church on Sundays well we got carne asada is like
well we could just go Sunday night huh because then what are you doing you're
showing your family the church is not that important yeah you know hey folks
my meat is to do the will of him that sent me in to finish his work so the
Bible says okay and so you know we need to make sure that we're not ashamed of
God's house we speak about it in ways that we exalt the house of God because
it's the house that Jesus Christ purchased with his own blood okay turn
with if you would to go to Acts chapter 2 Acts chapter 2 what's a mark that you
are zealous for the house of God you're bothered by the things that bother God
you want things to be done decently in an order you're not ashamed of the house
of God look Jesus went into the temple no shame he did that with zero shame he
didn't ask for permission he didn't ask for his disciples to follow him but he
was obviously taking them to the house of God what he was ashamed of is what
they're doing in the house of God number three make God's priorities for the
church our priority and what that means is this you know when Jesus Christ cast
all these people out of the house of God he says my house shall be called a house
of prayer what is he saying this is what church is about okay he's making it a
priority look at Acts chapter 2 verse 46 and they continuing daily with one
accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house did eat their bread
or excuse me did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart
praising God and have in favor with all men all the people and the Lord added to
the church daily such as should be safe so we see in verse 46 that they continue
daily with one accord in the temple what does that mean they made the house of
God a priority and let me just give you a piece of advice that you don't have to
follow because this is not something that's found explicitly in the Word of
God although I can extrapolate principles that can back this up and
that is you should be in God's house whenever God's house is open and you
know what like in the old IFB they're open a lot I mean they had all types of
things like Sunday school then Sunday service then Sunday night service then
midweek service I mean we have three to thrive they had four to flourish don't
let the old I old IP outdo you on that one yeah we have one up on a lot of old
IP as far as like the doctrine is concerned sometimes but you know one
thing they had down pack they knew church was important they were always
there and you know what anytime the church doors were open they were there
and they always promoted four to flourish that means they would go to
Sunday school I mean Sunday school we do it we make it easy for you we didn't
have Sunday school and get this Sunday school was like earlier it was like
earlier and then if you had a wife and kids you have to show up extra early
because all the kids went to different Sunday school classes and then you had
to go to Sunday school class you understand to get you know 20 minutes of
the most shallow teaching you ever hear in your life you know to hear that David
killed Goliath it's just like well thank you for explaining that to me that
that's what he did and I'll take my candy now you know I think about it's
not even 20 minutes it's like it's like 15 minutes of singing these these funny
songs then candy and then you'd get the 10 minutes of teaching or whatever but
folks we don't even have that for you there's no Sunday school here but you
know you should treat this as though you would as the old IFP would treat Sunday
school class because they're willing to even to go to a Sunday school class you
should be willing to just be in church as much as possible too many times
Christians make the excuse of well where in the Bible does it say that I have to
be in church that it doesn't say you're absolutely right but why are you asking
that though I mean think about that why are you asking for verses so that you
can do the bare minimum we should now in order for us to advance in any area of
life but especially Christianity you can never advance only doing the bare
minimum never happened you always have to do more like when it comes to like
gaining weight for example which I'm very good at but you know I'm talking
about like for powerlifting and all that or you know or people want to like just
gain weight gain more muscle they have to eat way more protein than they're
typically accustomed to like a lot more like if you only if you only eat your
your you know one gram protein per pound you're not necessarily gonna gain more
muscle weight you have to eat more protein than your actual weight to gain
more muscle weight because that's the only way you're gonna advance physically
understand and you know it's a little uncomfortable when you're just you're
just consuming all that protein it's like 11 o'clock and you're just like I
need like four more eggs or something like that but you know what in the long
run you get to see the results and you know what yeah it's a little
uncomfortable to come Sunday night for sure because you could be doing
something else I mean I don't know what you could be doing but you could do a
lot of things you can you know it's uncomfortable to come on a Thursday
especially with the traffic and it's darker later or sooner and and you know
you're tired and you know the list but you know what it's the only way you're
gonna advance spiritually or you can be the same exact person in 2023 that you
were in 2022 that you were in 2021 that you were in 2020 or you can say you know
what it's time to add some more weight it's time to consume a little more
protein it's time to add a little more weight to the bar it's time to just do a
little more so I can grow a little more as a Christian okay
may God's house a priority in 2023 and I'm talking to people who are obviously
made it a priority today amen and so good for you amen but you know what may
this carry through the year though okay go to Hebrews chapter 10 talk about
marks they will label you as a zealous Christian for the house of God number
one we said being bothered about the things that bother God not being
ashamed of the house of God making God's house a priority but also provoking
others to love and good works you see sometimes people see church as just a
place where they go they listen and they roll out nothing wrong with that because
you can't do that however the Bible actually explicitly tells us that we
should be provoking others unto love and to good works what does that mean you
should be investing in others you should encourage others you should fellowship
with others look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 23 says let us hold fast the
profession of our faith without wavering for he is faithful that promised and let
us consider one another to provoke and to love and to good works well how do I
do that verse 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together here's
the kicker as the manner of some is now that's Paul's like little you know he
just kind of throws that in there you know like some people you know how some
people forsake the assembly he's like as the manner of some is you don't be like
those people that forsake the assembly you come to church and provoke others
into love and to good works how does that look look folks it doesn't require
for you to be a super talented gifted person to just go out of your way go
talk to people and encourage them throughout you know talk to them and
encourage them to continue in the Lord you know tell me about your week because
the reality is this every single one of us has experienced some sort of trial
that someone else in their church has not and will or you've experienced a
trial and you've passed that trial with flying colors and now someone in the
church is experiencing that same trial you could be a blessing to that person
and encourage them through that that's how you provoke them unto love and to
good works or you know there might be someone in our church who's kind of
straddling the fence whether they should go sowing or not like they hear about it
from the pulpit they know we're sowing Church they know they should be doing it
it sounds like fun it sounds exciting but they just can't seem to motivate
themselves to actually do it or they're like alright today I'm gonna go and then
once the church is over everyone's like you know cuz our church gets crazy
afterwards everyone's just moving all over the place and they're like I'm
gonna go next week I'll just go next week right but you know what they need
they need someone to provoke them and say no just come this week just go with
me be my sowing partner let's go sowing that's someone who provokes you unto
love and good you know we often think of someone provoking someone else as like a
negative thing right like someone gets knocked out or something like that is
like well that person provoked that another individual but we're supposed to
provoke each other unto good works like do it come on let's go let's go sowing
let's go to church stay till Sunday night let's hang out let's do God's work
together that's provoking someone to do that and a lot of people in church
they're motivated to do those things they just need someone to kind of push
them over the edge to actually accomplish it that is zeal for the house
of God my friends when you come to God's house with the mentality I want to
provoke someone unto love and to good works and lastly the last mark is this
go with me if you went to Psalms Psalm 27 extreme measures you take into getting
to God's house extreme measures Jesus made a scourge of small cord that's
extreme I mean he's making he's looking at everyone he's just making that cord
he didn't ask anybody he didn't kindly politely asked him to leave he took an
extreme measure to get everyone out of the house of God because they were
making it a house of merchandise and obviously you know we don't have to take
that measure right now I will say this is that when it comes to casting people
out of church we will take extreme measures for that you know if someone
merits excommunication if someone is a pedophile if we find someone to be some
wicked criminal or they're trying to infiltrate you know we have a rule in
our church I have a rule that anybody who gets thrown out or something because
they're being disruptive or you know they're doing something that's out of
order I'll ask that person to leave three times okay now I'm not necessarily
gonna say what decibels I use to ask that person because it varies okay like
when I got sued a couple months ago or whatever some guy like came into the
church building and and and like served me papers right he like walked all the
way up and he just threw the papers that person I didn't ask that person can you
please leave can you please not do that you know I had some words to say to him
and I yelled at him all the way until he left because he's such a wicked person
for doing that but we typically have three warnings and if a person decides
not to leave after the third warning then the church turns into like a club
I'm just kidding you know where the bouncer comes and just grabs them and
then throws them out okay and you know sometimes you got to take extreme
measures now that's never really happened you know in our church but you
know sometimes it's necessary okay well let me but you know let me say this is
that what kind of extreme measures are you doing to get into the house of God
though there's some people in our church that take some extreme measures they
drive like a really long distance to come here I mean like two hours we have
a couple in our church that used to drive all the way from Utah to come to
our church now they only did it for so long and then they have to just move out
here instead of just like living in Utah like that's extreme right like you're
driving from Utah it blows my mind right and it kind of is just kind of like and
by the way they would stay into Sunday night for sure no like no we're getting
the full experience you know when they come whatever some people drive two
hours some people drive long distances some people go through these extreme
measures to be in the house of God and you know what you might not have to
drive two hours you might not even have to drive 45 minutes but you know you
showing up when the house doors are open by any means necessary is an extreme
measure and what I'm saying is this you know take any measure you can to be in
God's house you know it's just like well that would mean that you know and look
okay here's another extreme measure that people take sometimes to get to Sunday
night church they stay here all day that's extreme that's not something the
old IFP would do that's one that we do have on the old IFP because old IFP once
church was over on Sunday morning it was just like boom they're out of there like
if you open your eyes after prayer on the old IFP Church is like dust clouds
of the forms of the people's bodies would be there they're just out they
just can't wait to leave the house of God you know even when people are
praying you can just hear like everyone's just like and then like if
you didn't make it out the door fast enough and they said amen you better
you just stand by the door just like I mean they were there they just wanted to
get out there as soon as possible you know which is bad in my opinion you know
why do you want to leave so fast what do you have to it's Sunday what do you have
to do and but you know those people in our church that they literally stay all
day they go to church Sunday night and then they stay longer than that like to
like 10 p.m. okay and then like you know there there's like groups here there's
people will be in this building and I won't see people for hours I'll walk in
here I'm like you guys are still here like you know these are extreme measures
right and look I'm not saying that's how extreme you have to be and in fact if
we could scale back that extreme you know a little bit I'd appreciate it
but at least is probably appreciated but here's the thing though is that if
people could do that so can you and I get you know sometimes we have little
ones that need to go take a nap you know I got little ones that need to go take a
nap we take extreme I take extreme measures with that too my kids sleep in
my office you know one day when it's nap time my wife and my kids were in my
office and they're in there and they go to sleep and that's what we have to do
because we're here all day you know I'm just saying you know a mark of zeal is
like what am I gonna do to make sure that I'm in the house of God because you
take extreme measures in other places in your life though so don't say well
that's not my personality no yeah it is let's go ahead and talk about the World
Cup for example right how extreme are you during the World Cup I mean I
remember in times past I mean what time was the World Cup this year like 6 a.m.
how do you guys know that I'm just kidding I'm just kidding yeah 4 a.m. 6
a.m. oh I'm sure a lot of people got up at 4 a.m. 6 a.m. to go watch the World
Cup that's kind of extreme you like but it's the World Cup right and me once the
World Cup was over is like Lord let this World Cup pass from me it's like I saw
you here about well you know people in our church you'll go extreme on other
areas of your life though everyone does don't say you don't because everyone
does what it's time to do is transfer that extreme behavior into the things of
God you know if you're willing to get up at 6 a.m. to watch the World Cup get up
at 6 a.m. to get ready for church right if you're willing to get up at 4 a.m. 6
a.m. do all these extreme things you know we should transfer that over to the
things of God that zeal for the house of God okay what's the sermon this morning
the sermon is simply this the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up and it
should be said of us as Christians that it eats us up to it consumes us it's
what our life revolves around it revolves around and obviously there's
other things that we do in our life I'm not saying that this is all we do but
you know what the vast majority of our time throughout the week three days two
days out of the week at least should be designated for church you know what the
more you're in church the more you're faithful the more you get involved the
more you will see the benefits of it in the long run may 2023 be the year that
you can say you know I became zealous about the house of God in 22 I was
really serious about it before I wasn't really serious about sowing I wasn't
really serious about just making friends at church and doing that but now I am
and I see the benefits of it let's pray father we thank you so much for your
word and Lord help us to be a people a peculiar people zealous of good works I
pray that your hand be upon us as a church Lord so thankful for everyone
that showed up today Lord may you bless us as we begin this new year and that we
may endeavor to be in the house of God all the days of our life Lord we love
you we thank you pray these things in Jesus name amen
please turn your songbooks to song number 261
song number 261 is our last song this morning turn your eyes upon Jesus
song number 261 all together nice and strong Oh soul are you weary and trouble
no light in the darkness you see
there's life for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free
turn your eyes upon Jesus look fall in his wonderful face and the things of
earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace through
death into life everlasting he passed and we follow over us in no more half
dominion for more than
sir your eyes
Oh
in the light of his glory and grace
his word shall not fail you he promised
and all will be well then go to a world that is dying
salvation
turn your eyes upon Jesus look fall in his wonderful face
and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace
amen