Thank you.
All right. Good evening everyone. Welcome back to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you would,
grab your hymnal to song number 406. 406, who is on the Lord's side. Again, that's song number 406,
who is on the Lord's side.
Who will lead the world's side? Who will face the fall?
Who is on the Lord's side? Who for him will know?
By thy call of mercy, by thy grace divine,
Thou art on the Lord's side, O Savior, we are thine.
Not for weight of glory, not for crown and crown,
Enter be the army, praise the warrior's song,
But for love that plaited, life's for whom he died.
Only Jesus' name, it must be on his side.
By thy love constraining, by thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord's side, O Savior, we are thine.
Jesus, thou hast brought us, not with loath or jail,
But with thine own lifeblood for thy diadem.
With thy blessing failing, each group comes to thee.
Thou hast made us willing, thou hast made us free.
By thy grand redemption, by thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord's side, O Savior, we are thine.
Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe,
But the king's own army none can overthrow.
Round fist and purging, victory is set forth,
For his truth unchanging makes the tribe unsure.
Joyful be this dear, by thy grace divine,
We are on the Lord's side, O Savior, we are thine.
All right, let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father God, thank you for letting us be back here this evening.
Thank you for this church. I just pray that you continue to be with us and continue blessing this church
as we serve you, helping to continue winning more souls and preaching your word,
and help us to always stand on your truth.
And I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley and bless him with the Holy Spirit,
so that you can preach your word and edify us. In Jesus' name, amen.
All right, for the next song, song number 411.
411, hold the fort.
Song number 411, hold the fort.
Oh, my comrades, see the signal waving in the sky.
Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.
Hold the fort, for I am coming, Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven, by thy grace we will.
See the mighty host advancing, saint and leader.
Mighty men around us falling, courage almost gone.
Hold the fort, for I am coming, Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven, by thy grace we will.
See the glorious banner waving, hear the trumpet call.
In our leader's name, we'll triumph over every foe.
Hold the fort, for I am coming, Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven, by thy grace we will.
Years and long the battle rages, but our help is near.
Onward comes our great command, third cheer, my comrades cheer.
Hold the fort, for I am coming, Jesus, signal still.
Wave the answer back to heaven, by thy grace we will.
Good evening.
Thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you need a bulletin, you can lift up your hand nice and high.
And one of our ushers can come by and get you a bulletin.
We have on the inside our service and soul winning times.
Make sure to report your soul winning numbers to your respective captains
or your soul winning team leaders so we can get those numbers in there.
Also on the right hand side we have our expecting ladies.
Continue to pray for all of them.
Also we have our prayer list.
And two things that I tried to put on for you to add from this morning
is if you just pray for the Cogdell family.
Mrs. Cogdell's sister's husband had passed away recently
and so we just want to be in prayer for them and their family.
Also I had another prayer request.
I think it's for Brian Mead.
So I just want to make sure that we get that in there.
Brian Mead is recovering from multiple diagnoses of melanoma and cancer.
And he's had a lot of struggles with health in general.
We're just praying for his health and for salvation.
And so if you'd add him to your list as well.
On the back we have upcoming events.
We have the baby shower on March 12th for Michelle Brooks.
And then also we have the soul winning seminar on March 24th, 25th, 26th.
April 2nd, College Station Soul Winning Marathon.
And a couple of Pure Words people came up with us yesterday
and they were like, so these count for Pure Words or Steadfast?
I said they count for Steadfast.
But I said when we go to College Station those count for Pure Words, all right?
Even if we have a whole bunch of people from Steadfast,
which I'm hoping that we do, and it'll be a lot of fun.
And College Station was a great soul winning too.
Waco went great.
And so it's nice to go to these small town areas.
And for whatever reason sometimes it seems even more receptive in those areas
than these bigger ones here.
So it went really well.
Homeschool field trip.
And then we have in May 21st the Austin, Texas Soul Winning Marathon.
The details for the baby shower are listed there.
And then we also have our soul winning tribes.
Make sure to report your information to your captains
as well as with baptisms we're starting a friendly competition.
So this is to try and encourage people to get baptized
because it's a commandment of the Lord.
The Bible makes it clear that it's the second thing to do after getting saved.
First is getting saved, second is getting baptized.
And while baptism doesn't save anybody, it just illustrates the fact
that you want to serve the Lord and you're grateful for what He's done for you
and it's a public profession that you're trusting as death, burial, and resurrection
for your salvation.
So I've heard a couple tribes are already ready to bring their converts for baptism tonight.
So the competition's already started, right?
But keep up the good work and I'll have to kind of nudge my captain
and be like, hey, where are we at?
You know, I'm just kidding.
But that's pretty much all I had for announcements.
We'll go ahead and go to our third song.
One thing that I do want to make note of, though, is because the tabernacle may move,
you want to make sure you have your email address correct with our team leader
just in case we need to let you know where the cloud and the pillar of fire is moving, all right?
So FYI.
All right, for the third song, song number 392, 392, A Soul Winner for Jesus.
A song number 392.
We just had our Soul Winner marathon yesterday and we won more souls today,
so let's continue singing about being a Soul Winner, shall we?
All right, 392, A Soul Winner for Jesus.
I want to be a soul winner for Jesus every day.
He does so much for me.
I want to make the Lord's energy keep His every way.
Maybe from bondage free.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He'll let me be each day.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He's done so much for me.
I want to be a soul winner and bring the lost to Christ that may His grace may know.
I want to live for Christ ever and do His blessing good because He loves me so.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He'll let me be each day.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He's done so much for me.
I want to be a soul winner till Jesus comes for me.
He'll bury my burdens down.
I want to hear Him say,
Sir, if you've gathered many sheets, receive a starry crown.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He'll let me be each day.
A soul winner for Jesus, a soul winner for Jesus.
He's done so much for me.
As the offering plates are passed around, please turn in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter 20.
Jeremiah chapter 20. We'll read the whole chapter before the sermon.
Jeremiah chapter 20.
The Bible reads in Jeremiah chapter 20.
Now, Pashur, the son of Imur the priest, who was also chief governor in the house of the Lord,
heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were in the high gate of Benjamin,
which was by the house of the Lord.
And it came to pass on the morrow that Pashur brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks.
Then said Jeremiah unto him,
The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, but Magor-misabib.
For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends,
and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it,
and I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labors thereof,
and all the precious things thereof, and all the treasures of the kings of Judah
will I give into the hand of their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them,
and carry them to Babylon.
And thou, Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity,
and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die,
and shalt be buried there, thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
O Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived.
Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed.
I am in derision daily, everyone mocketh me,
for since I spake I cried out, I cried violence and spoil,
because the word of the Lord was made a reproach unto me, and a derision daily.
Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name,
but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones,
and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.
For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side,
report, saith they, and we will report it.
All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure, he will be enticed,
and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one.
Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall not prevail.
They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper.
Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
But, O Lord of hosts, that tryest the righteous and seest the rains and the heart,
let me see thy vengeance on them, for unto thee have I opened my cause.
Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord,
for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of evildoers.
Cursed be the day wherein I was born,
let not the day wherein my mother bear me be blessed.
Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, saying,
A man-child is born unto thee, making him very glad.
And let that man be as the cities which the Lord overthrew, and repented not.
And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shouting at noontide,
because he slew me not from the womb, for that my mother might have been my grave,
and her womb to be always great with me.
Wherefore, came I forth out of the womb to see labor and sorrow,
that my days should be consumed with shame."
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you for the evening service at Steadfast Baptist Church
and for our pastor, and for the brethren that are here
to hear the word of God being preached.
I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit
and just help him to preach his sermon for us boldly,
give him clarity of mind, and soften hearts in the room
so we can listen and apply the message to our Christian lives.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.
The part of the chapter I want to look at real quick is verse 1,
where the Bible reads,
Now, Pashur, son of Emre the priest,
was also chief governor in the house of the Lord,
heard that Jeremiah prophesied these things.
And the word prophesy in the Bible is simply just to preach.
It's a very similar word to just preaching the word of God.
Now, a lot of times people think of the word prophesy
as saying something that's going to happen in the future.
That typically just comes from the fact
that most of the preaching in the Bible
is talking about things that are going to happen in the future.
But prophesying in general just simply means to preach.
In the book of Proverbs chapter number 31,
the Bible talks about the prophecy
which King Lemuel's mother taught him.
And in Proverbs 31 there's nothing future,
it's just simply preaching that she's doing unto him.
But of course most preaching in fact is future or foretelling
because when we go out and preach the gospel,
we're telling people about what is going to happen in the future.
Going to heaven when they may die
or the fact that people that don't are going to go to hell.
None of that's happened yet.
We're preaching about things that will come to pass,
things that are future.
And in the Bible, the way the Bible is laid out,
a lot of the preachers are preaching about impending judgment
or a coming doom a lot of times.
And even us ourselves would preach the same message
in the sense that we're saying Jesus is coming back
and at the time that Jesus comes back
there's going to be a great wrath poured out by the Lord on the entire earth.
So there's really nothing different from Jeremiah or us
or other prophets in the Bible.
We have the same type of messages,
we're supposed to do the same thing as preaching and prophesying.
And if you think about it, the whole goal of us being on this planet
is to prophesy the Word of God.
I mean we're supposed to get saved and then once we get saved
the one thing that God just really wants us to do,
the most important thing we can possibly do,
is just preach the Word of God.
God is using us as His mouthpiece.
And in fact, the Word of the Lord ceases when God's people stop preaching it
and stop testifying and stop witnessing
and that's a real shame and reproach unto an area
when there's no one preaching the Word of God.
And if that's the main goal,
if that's the main purpose is for us to preach,
then of course the enemy's goal is to get us to stop preaching.
They don't like the preaching.
They want to shut down the preaching.
They want to stop the preaching.
And when we have here in this passage Jeremiah chapter number 20
Jeremiah is preaching and this person named Pashor,
he hears it and he doesn't like it.
He doesn't like Jeremiah's preaching.
Look at verse number 2.
Then Pashor smote Jeremiah the prophet.
So as soon as he hears about what Jeremiah is preaching,
he goes and literally hits him.
Now smote is just like to smite or to punch or to hit.
So he's just like, he can't stand his preaching so much
that he just wants to hit him.
And he literally does.
Not only that, it says,
that were in the high gate of Benjamin which is in the house of the Lord.
So they beat him and they put him in prison.
For what reason?
Simply what he was preaching.
Now let's figure out what he was preaching.
Let's back up.
Jeremiah chapter 19.
So look at verse number 7.
Jeremiah chapter number 19.
Look at verse number 7.
And their carcasses will I give to be meat for the fowls of the heaven,
and for the beasts of the earth.
And I will make this city desolate and a hissing.
Everyone that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hissed
because of all the plagues thereof.
And I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons
and the flesh of their daughters,
and they shall eat everyone the flesh of his friend in the siege and straightness,
wherewith their enemies and they that seek their lives shall straighten them.
That's not a very positive message.
He's saying, look, you guys are going to die,
you guys are going to have famine,
and you guys are going to be so hungry
that you're going to literally eat your own sons and daughters.
Now that is a horrible punishment, a horrible plague
that Jeremiah has been commanded by God to preach unto his people.
Now do you think that was fun to tell everybody?
Do you think it would be enjoyable to get up and say,
hey, I just want to let you guys know,
you're so wicked you're going to literally eat your own children.
I mean, that's not a fun message, that's not a fun sermon,
probably not the most positive message they've ever heard.
Let's skip down to verse 14.
Then came Jeremiah from Tophet,
whether the Lord had sent him to prophesy,
and he stood in the court of the Lord's house and said to all the people,
Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I will bring upon this city and upon all our towns
all the evil that I have pronounced against it,
because they have hardened their necks that they might not hear my words.
Notice God saying the reason why I'm going to punish you with so much punishment
is because you just won't hear the word of God being preached.
You just despise the Bible, you despise the word of God.
Do you know what? Jeremiah is supposed to deliver this message,
whether it's popular or not.
You know, it's not Jeremiah's job to decide,
well, I don't think they're going to like this one, so I'm just not going to preach it.
Jeremiah is supposed to preach it, and then it's their problem
if they decide not to listen, not to hear what God has to say for them.
And look, there's a lot of people today, they don't want to go to church
because they just don't want to hear the message.
They just say, I don't want to hear God speak to me.
I don't want to hear what God has to say.
And you know why they typically don't want to hear?
It's because it's negative.
It's because it's going to tell them that they're not doing things right.
It's going to tell them that they're a sinner.
It's going to tell them that they need to clean up their lives.
It's going to tell them that they need to be holy.
And they're not going to get flattered by God.
They're not going to come to church and hear about how great they are and it's all a lie.
No, they're going to actually hear about how they need mercy and they need grace
and how the Lord is angry with the wicked every single day.
And so that's why people forsake the word of God.
That's why they forsake hearing the Bible.
John chapter 3 makes it clear that they don't come to the light unless their deeds should be approved.
Okay, so they don't want to hear about the fact that they've done wrong.
They don't want to hear hard sermons.
And Jeremiah's ministry is one of the most hard preaching ministries in the Bible.
Very unpopular message though.
A lot of people don't want to hear it.
And again, the temptation would be when you have an unpopular message is to not preach it.
Do not get up and say it when people aren't going to like it.
Go to chapter 1 for a moment. We're going to come right back to chapter 20.
Go to chapter number 1.
And before he started his ministry, God gave him a chart.
God gave Jeremiah a particular message and made it something really abundantly clear to him about what he's supposed to do.
And look in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 6.
Then said I, ah, Lord God, behold I cannot speak for I am a child.
Jeremiah's kind of like, I'm just a young guy. No one wants to listen to me.
I can't get up there and preach to everybody.
Verse 7.
But the Lord said unto me, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee.
And whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak.
So God says, just shut up and go do what I said.
Don't say that you're young. Don't say that. Don't say you're a child.
Don't say that. Say what I told you to say.
So then he says this in verse 8, be not afraid of their faces.
And you know why he said that? Because all the messages are going to be really unpopular.
He's not saying that because they're going to like it.
He's saying that because people will give you a bad face when you preach certain messages.
And look, it happens.
You get up and you start ripping on certain sins and people will be kind of like,
what are you talking about?
And especially people that aren't in church.
And I can't even imagine what their face, their faces might have exploded
when they listened to some of these messages.
They're coming from the Bible.
But you're not supposed to care what they think.
And you know, it's funny when you get a little snippet of your preaching
and like normal, just non-church people, they have to listen to it.
And you look at their face.
They're just like, did he just say that?
They're horrified by what the Bible really says.
They're horrified by what a preacher would actually get up and say.
And you know what? The Bible says you're not supposed to be afraid of their faces.
You're not supposed to be afraid.
You know, when you open up your mouth and you say what the Bible says,
you're not supposed to be afraid of what other people say.
God says this,
For I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.
Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth,
and the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.
So in Jeremiah chapter number one, he's telling them,
I'm giving you the words.
I'm telling you what to say.
Don't be afraid of their faces.
And he's making it really clear because if Jeremiah decides not to preach the word of God,
then God's going to end up punishing him.
God is not going to tolerate it if Jeremiah decides to go back or to hold his tongue.
The Bible makes it clear that God's going to confound him
and God's not going to deliver him
if he decides to just not preach what the Bible has to say.
Now go back to Jeremiah chapter number 20.
Go back to Jeremiah chapter number 20.
That's why he's commanding them very clearly,
Hey, you need to make sure that you're not afraid of their faces.
And if he does not decide to preach it,
I'm just reading for you, but he says this.
He says, Be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them.
So the punishment for a preacher, if he decides not to preach, is he becomes a flat earther.
He becomes an idiot.
He becomes a moron.
He's confounded.
What does that mean?
It's a punishment from God to be an idiot.
Being an idiot or regressing back in knowledge,
God's like, I'm going to punish you with this stupidity and this nonsense
and I'm going to make you look like a complete moron
if you decide not to preach the Bible.
So when you've been told, hey, preach the word of God, preach it unashamedly,
and you decide, you know what, I'm not going to preach it,
then God will make you say stupid things instead.
So what do you want?
Do you want people to look horrified at you because you're an idiot
or because you said the word of God?
I would rather say the word of God.
I would rather be faithful unto the Lord and not look like a complete moron
and not teach stupid doctrines and not say,
hey, I've got to level out and put it on the ground and realize it was flat.
Okay, no, okay, wow.
I mean, look, I want to expound Jeremiah.
I want to expound the actual word of God, Isaiah 40, the circle of the earth.
I want to teach that type of truth in the Bible
and let me make it abundantly clear what everybody needs to keep doing.
We need to keep preaching.
Title of the sermon this evening is this, keep preaching.
Jeremiah, don't be afraid of their faces, keep preaching.
Hey, the words that I gave you, Jeremiah, keep preaching.
Hey, when you have an unpopular message, keep preaching.
Hey, when they don't like the message, keep preaching.
Hey, when persecution comes, keep preaching.
It's not our job to decide when we preach.
It's our job to just preach.
Be instant, end season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
The Bible just says preach the word and you know what?
The job of a pastor is just to preach.
And I'll tell you something, whenever I was going to go start a church,
my sending pastor, he sat me down and you know what he told me?
He said, you cannot quit.
You know what he meant? Keep preaching.
Just keep preaching.
He said, we've had a bunch of quitters before you.
He's like, I'm not about to send out another quitter.
And he's just like, I'm giving you a charge.
And you know what?
When my sending pastor is telling me that, you know he's also telling me that? The Lord.
It's God saying to me, hey, don't quit preaching.
It doesn't matter what happens.
Rain, hail, snow, fire, you know, it doesn't matter.
You just keep preaching and just keep preaching no matter what they threaten,
no matter what they do to you.
And you know what? Jeremiah had an unpopular message
and the pastor gets up, punches him, puts him in prison,
puts him in the stocks essentially, locks him up.
Let's see what Jeremiah does, okay?
Verse 3.
He came to pass on the morrow, and the pastor brought forth Jeremiah out of the stocks.
Now if you just got beaten and put in prison or locked up,
you probably don't want to keep preaching.
Right?
Then said Jeremiah unto him,
Lord, if not, call thy name Pashor, but may Gormisabib.
I don't know what that means, but he's about to tell us.
But thus saith the Lord, behold,
I will make thee a terror to thyself and to all thy friends,
and they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes shall behold it.
And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon,
and he shall carry them captive into Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword.
Moreover, I will deliver all the strength of this city,
and all the labors thereof, and all the precious things thereof,
and all the treasures of the kings of Judah,
will I give unto the hand of their enemies,
which shall spoil them, and take them, and carry them to Babylon.
And thou, Pashor, and all that dwell in thine house shall go into captivity,
and thou shalt come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die,
and shalt be buried there.
Thou and all thy friends, to whom thou hast prophesied lies.
You know what Jeremiah did?
He just kept preaching.
Oh, you interrupted the sermon?
Well, I'll go ahead and finish that one for you, buddy.
Hey, you want to hit me and put me in prison?
Well, guess what? I'm not going to stop preaching, though.
As soon as you let me out, I'm preaching again.
And then I'm just going to keep preaching and just keep preaching and just keep preaching.
He doesn't back down.
He doesn't get intimidated.
He doesn't quit.
He doesn't let someone stop him.
He says, as long as I've got air in my breath and my lungs,
and I've got a tongue in my mouth, guess what?
I'm going to preach.
I'm going to preach the word of God if no one wants to listen.
And you know what? Jeremiah's ministry is not a ministry of getting a bunch of people saved.
Let's face it.
You know what? He's still preaching the word of God.
And sometimes ministries, they're maybe not going to be as fruitful as others.
You know, it's not our job to decide how successful the word of the Lord is going to be.
It's our job just to preach it.
And to say, hey, you're a liar.
I mean, that's bold.
That's bold to take the guy that just punched you and put you in prison
and just look him right in the eyes and just say, you're a liar.
You're preaching lies, and you're going to die.
God's going to kill you in Babylon.
Look at verse 7.
Oh, Lord, thou has deceived me.
Now, here's the thing you have to understand about the Bible.
It'll just change the context real quick, and you have to kind of pick up.
Jeremiah is just like super bold.
Now, all of a sudden, it's like his private communication with God.
So, like, in front of everybody, he's just like, yeah!
He's just taking passion to death.
And then he's like, oh, Lord, thou has deceived me.
And I was deceived.
Thou art stronger than I.
And as prevailed, I am in derision daily.
Everyone mocketh me.
For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil,
because the word of the Lord was made her approach unto me and a derision daily.
So, he's saying, I don't get it, Lord.
I keep preaching what you want, but then everyone just is mad at me.
Everyone's making fun of me.
I'm constantly just, everybody hates me because of it.
I'm just like, I'm just tired of this.
Like, I don't get it.
Like, you told me to preach this, and I'm preaching it,
but the only thing that happens is everyone makes fun of me.
And that could be something that we could see today,
where you get up and you say, hey, the Lord said this is how we're supposed to behave.
The Lord said he's going to destroy his enemies.
And then the enemies, like, win a victory.
And you're like, oh, yeah, really?
Where's that Lord that you were talking about?
And then the enemies win another victory or something,
and you're like, where's that message?
And sometimes you could look at the Bible and say, like, I don't get it.
Like, I feel like I'm believing what the Bible says, I'm saying what the Bible says,
but there's, like, I don't see it in reality.
There's, like, some kind of a mix-up or something.
And he's, like, saying, Lord, I filled the seed.
I felt like you told me they're going to be destroyed, but it hasn't happened yet.
And there could be this impatience where we feel like,
I mean, I know that the Bible says that, and, hey, I'm going to get up and preach it,
but just internally you're struggling a little bit.
Internally you're saying, I don't get it.
I don't know what's happening.
Why is this taking so long?
And it's really easy for us, having the whole Bible, to know, like, hey, it's coming.
Like, we know it's coming, and it's real bad.
You know, for Jeremiah, he's living in the moment.
And in the moment, nothing bad is happening to any of these people.
They're just living it up and having fun and just, like, we hate you, Jeremiah.
Get out of here. Quit preaching this.
Let's hit him some more, and let's put him back in prison.
And, like, nobody likes this message.
One star Google review, okay?
We're going to send you a voicemail, buddy.
We're going to send you back thousands of voicemails, right?
But we have to realize is God allows us to go through this for a very specific reason, okay?
And we're going to come back to Jeremiah 20, because I kind of want to read more of this,
but I want to take a break for a second.
Go to Romans chapter number 2. Go to Romans chapter number 2.
And the thing that's real interesting about the Bible is thinking about how God deals with people.
And if you truly understand how God deals with people, it's all love.
Because let's first take a Christian.
The Bible says someone that's saved has become a child of God.
And the Bible says, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth and scourgeth every son in whom he receiveth.
So when we disobey God as children of God, how does God deal with us?
God will lovingly chasten us, meaning that he's going to try and punish us in a way
that would cause our attitudes, behaviors, or actions to change in the right direction.
You know, you're lying. God will try to punish you for some lies to cause you to stop lying.
You're stealing. God may punish you for that stealing somehow to cause you to stop stealing, right?
The Lord is going to try and punish us, but he's not out to destroy us.
You know, he's not out to just cause evil to us just because.
No, all of his punishments are in an effort to try and curb our sin, to try and bring us back to the Lord,
to cause us to do that which is right.
And really, you know, a lot of times he'll even just smoke your heart.
And it hurts, and you feel bad, you feel that shame, you feel that guilt, you know, you feel that weight of your sin.
And God will do that to us to try and motivate us to do the right thing, to turn back to the Lord, to repent, and to trust him.
And praise God that we don't actually get what we deserve when we sin most of the time.
I mean, we never really get punished exactly how we deserve.
The Lord is a very gracious Lord, he's very merciful, and he gives us that opportunity to constantly get right with him.
But think about the unsaved now for a moment.
The unsaved, they're not a child of God.
And what's the absolute most important thing that could happen to them?
Getting saved, becoming a child of God, right?
So if the most important thing is them becoming a child of God, what would be the worst thing you could do to that person in regards to that?
Send them straight to hell, because now they've lost that opportunity, right?
Or destroy them in some kind of way.
Because if I destroy this person, now they don't have the opportunity to end up getting saved.
So what does the Lord often do with these people? Nothing.
Unsaved people can literally do all kinds of evil things and they really don't even receive a punishment, many times.
Not always. There's going to be consequences of sin, I don't want you to hear me wrong.
But they're probably going to get a way more lenient punishment, a lot less harsh consequences. Why?
Because God wants them to get saved.
And if you think about it from a real basic, simple approach, let's say you're a small child and you're five and you commit one sin.
What if God just then sent all of those kids straight into hell?
Well, that wasn't a very quick opportunity, right?
Maybe he says, okay, the little sins, I'll let those go to give you a little more time to get saved.
And then they still reject it, and then he sends them to hell.
Or what if he's like, no, some of the bigger sins too.
And then maybe some of the really big sins.
And then maybe not just to five, how about to ten, or to twenty, or to thirty, or to fifty, or to seventy.
I mean, there are people that literally live seventy years, eighty years, ninety years on this planet,
committing sin after sin every single day, and God hasn't punished them.
And it's in one goal, so that they'll decide to get saved one of those days.
They'll finally just call upon the name of the Lord.
And the fact that he's giving them all these opportunities, all of these options to get saved, is because of his love.
Not because he's not just, he is just.
But he doesn't want to give people what they deserve.
He wants to give them grace.
And so he's just kind of giving them, like, every opportunity, just, hey, please believe in me.
Please hear my word. Please finally call upon the name of the Lord.
I mean, just every single day he's just giving them opportunity, after opportunity, after opportunity.
That's why we see some of the most wicked people on this earth seemingly getting no punishment.
Why? Because when God flips the switch, it's all punishment forever.
So he's letting them get away.
Now we often get more punishment because we're already saved.
So he's trying to just guide us in the right direction.
You know, a little bit of punishment, a little bit of whatever is not going to change the fact that we're saved.
And the Bible describes this in Romans chapter 2. Look at what it says in verse 3.
And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and do as the same,
that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?
Or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
So the Bible says the fact that you don't get what you deserve and God keeps doing good things unto you
could cause you to eventually get saved someday.
The fact that it's like, man, I've really done a lot of bad stuff and I don't seem to be suffering the way I should
could illustrate how God still loves you and God wants you to get saved and have that opportunity to believe on him.
But what happens if you don't? Verse 5, But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds.
So according to the Bible, when you're not accepting the word of God, when you're not getting saved,
it's kind of also making things worse for you because you're just treasuring up more and more wrath,
more and more anger for the fact that you never did get saved, you never did believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the Bible says this, that God is going to render to every single man according to his deeds.
Now this is true, because everything in the Bible is true, but what does that mean?
Well if you're unsaved, you're going to stand before God and he's going to show you every work that you had
and now you're wicked and evil and he's going to throw you straight into hell.
Because the Bible says there's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sineth not.
But if you're saved, all of your sins won't be mentioned, but your works will be evaluated by the Lord
and then he's going to reward you according to those works.
So every single one of your works matters.
If you're saved or unsaved, your entire life matters.
The only thing is, none of that has to do with if you get into heaven or not.
It was the shed blood of Jesus Christ applied to your heart when you believed in him that gets you into heaven.
But don't be deceived today, every work that you do will be evaluated by God.
Now those that are saved, what are they thinking about?
To them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality eternal life.
So those of us that are saved, we're all excited about the fact that we're not just going to get eternal life,
but we're also going to get what? Glory and honor for the works that we do.
We're going to get rewards according to our life.
It says in verse 8,
But to them that are contentious, and notice this reason, do not obey the truth.
So these are the saved people? No, they didn't get saved.
What are they doing?
But obey unto righteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish,
upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile.
But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also the Gentile,
for there is no respect for the persons of God.
So what he's trying to illustrate in Romans is he's trying to say,
it's not like Jews are going to heaven and Gentiles are going to hell.
Jews and Gentiles that believe the gospel and get saved and then continue in good works,
they're going to get eternal life and glory and honor.
And Jew and Gentile alike that don't obey the truth, they don't get saved,
but they're just a wicked sinner,
they're going to receive all kinds of tribulation and anguish
and they're just treasuring up unto themselves wrath unto the end of time.
So it's really important that you realize we have to respond to the word of God, saved or unsaved.
There is no respect of persons with the word.
Go back if you would to Jeremiah chapter number 20.
And it's our job to keep preaching it.
Just keep preaching the Bible. Why?
Because it affects saved and unsaved.
Notice that the word of God, it's not like it didn't have any effect.
Either you get rewards or wrath.
And notice God's a God of extremes.
Because there was no like, well, I just didn't understand it or, you know, I wasn't there to hear it.
No, he's mad at you for not wanting to hear it.
And then if you do hear it, you better obey it.
And if you decide not to obey it, he's going to give you punishment or chastisement or wrath,
depending on if you're saved or not.
Now for Jeremiah preaching, he's really confused.
He's just like, man, I've been saying this and nobody believes me.
And I think it's similar today because if you think about it, the Bible warns in 2 Peter
that those who don't believe the Bible, they're going to be like, where is the promise of his coming?
And there should be mockers in the last days, scoffers.
You know, basically saying like, you keep saying Jesus is coming back, but it never happened.
And couldn't there be a group of people that are just kind of like, I'm just kind of like,
I feel like we've been saying this for a while.
You know, I grew up in a church where the pastor basically taught that Jesus is going to come back that year.
Like every year.
So, and you know, they would always have cute little sayings and some ladies came to the church on Friday
and they were like, they were really mad that we're being evicted because they hate faggots.
And so do I.
But this one was like, I wish I could remember it now.
There's something like Jesus will do in 2022 or something.
I was like, I don't know what that meant.
But she's like, he's coming back in 2022.
And I'm like, he's not.
I didn't say that, but I was thinking it.
But I'm just like, yeah, of course.
I'm sure there'll be someone saying he's coming back this year and next year and the year after that
and the year after that and the year after that and the year after that and the year after that.
And then finally, they'll all be like, we don't think he's ever coming.
And it'll come that day, okay?
When you think not, that's when he'll finally come.
But there's going to be this just kind of like, just man, we've just been saying this forever and ever.
And people get sick and tired and they're like, you keep acting like we're going to get punished.
It's going to happen.
Don't get discouraged, okay?
But Jeremiah, unfortunately, he gets a little discouraged here, but I like it because it shows the humanity
because we too can get discouraged at times.
None of us are perfect.
It says in verse 9, then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name.
But his word was in my heart as a burning fire shut of my bones.
Jeremiah's saying, you know what, I'm so sick and tired of preaching the Bible because nobody likes it.
Fine, I won't preach it then.
I won't even mention the name of the Lord anymore.
That's a pretty sad day for a preacher.
And you don't want to come to church, you don't want to hear the message, fine, I'll just stop.
But then he's like, but it's just kind of like burning in me a little bit.
Kind of, it's kind of hurting not to preach.
He's just like, and he's like, and I was weary with forbearing.
Meaning what?
You know, even if you just kind of stop preaching for a while, or if you kind of shut your mouth,
you kind of start seeing the world and you're just like, you're kind of looking at stuff and you're just like,
yeah, I've got to say something.
That's just terrible.
And he's just like, you know what, I'm kind of getting sick and tired of not saying anything about how evil and wicked you guys are.
And he's like, and I could not stay, for I heard the defaming of many.
Fear on every side.
Report, say they, and we will report it.
All my familiars watch for my halting, saying, fair adventure, he will be enticed and we shall prevail against him.
We shall take our revenge on him.
But notice, everybody in this life wants them to stop preaching.
And you know what, there's going to be times when everyone in your life just wants you to just stop.
Stop asking me about going to heaven.
Can there be a family member in your life that's like, why do you always ask me what I have to do to be saved?
Why do you always bring up the Bible?
When are you going to stop trying to get me on a King James Bible?
When are you going to stop trying to get me? You've got Saul winning.
When are you going to stop trying to get me to watch that movie Sodomite Deception?
Well, just watch it.
When are you going to stop preaching against Calvinists? Never.
When are you going to stop preaching against false prophets? Never.
When are you going to stop preaching?
They're like, hey, maybe if we punch him, maybe if we put him in prison,
maybe we make fun of him, maybe we take away his money, maybe, I mean, whatever they do.
All they want to do, though, is get you to stop preaching.
And they're saying, what do we have to do to you?
What has to happen to you to stop preaching?
And Jeremiah's just thinking like, I tried myself and I couldn't.
Because there was just a fire burning in my bones and I'm weary for bearing.
And you know what, Jeremiah's saying, I'm going to keep preaching.
Verse 11, but the Lord is with me as a mighty, terrible one.
Therefore, my persecutors shall stumble and they shall not prevail.
They shall be greatly ashamed, for they shall not prosper.
Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten.
But, O Lord of hosts, that tries the righteous and sees the rains in the heart,
let me see thy vengeance on them.
For unto thee have I opened my cause.
You know, it says like, look, Lord, all right, I'm going to keep preaching.
Okay? And I believe it and I know it's going to happen.
Please let me see it.
Don't you get that?
You're just kind of like, okay, I'm going to keep believing it
and I'm going to keep preaching it, but I really want to see it.
Can I see the vengeance? Can I see the deliverance?
Can I see them finally get what they deserve?
Man, I just want to see it.
And I know that we'll never forget about it, but I just want to see it.
I just want to be there when it happens.
He says in verse number 13, sing unto the Lord, praise you the Lord,
for he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand of the elder.
Look, the Lord's going to do it.
And of course, we don't know if we'll see it, but that's a good prayer.
Pray that you see it.
But here's the most important thing, just keep preaching.
Keep preaching.
Go to Psalms chapter number 40 for a moment. Go to Psalms.
Now, if we're going to talk about something that you need to keep preaching,
it's going to be kind of emphasis on something that's negative
because it's easy to preach things that are positive.
You know, that's the easy part.
The hard part is preaching stuff that people don't want to hear,
stuff that people don't like.
And there's a lot of good messages in the Bible.
The Bible talks about grace and peace and love and joy,
and the Bible has a lot of uplifting messages,
but it also has a lot of negative messages.
And some people would be really shocked and horrified by what the Bible says,
but you know what?
As the people of God, we should never shy away from the Bible.
We should just keep preaching it.
Now, in Psalms 40, look at verse 9, the Bible says this.
I have preached righteousness in the great congregation.
Lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord, thou knowest.
Notice, we're not allowed to stop preaching righteousness.
And what is righteousness?
Everything that's right in the Bible.
I'm not supposed to stop.
When am I supposed to stop? When I'm dead.
Go to chapter 58.
Just flip the page to the right.
What are some really negative messages in the Bible?
Well, let's see what the Bible has to say.
Psalms 58, verse 3.
And when I read the Bible, I'll just be honest with you,
I've never said anything as harsh as the Bible.
I don't care what snippet you pull out of my preaching.
The Bible is way harder than I can preach.
I mean, I try, but it's hard.
Look at verse 3.
They go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent.
They are like the death adder, the stop of their ear,
which will not hearken to the voice of charmers,
charming never so wisely.
You know what that means? They won't hear the word of God.
Nothing. It's just they're tone deaf.
They can't hear it.
They're just deaf in the sense that it's like nothing to them.
This is what the message is.
Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth.
That's a pretty nice message, isn't it?
Break out the great teeth of the young lions, O Lord.
Let them melt away as waters which run continually.
When he bendeth his bow to shoot his arrows,
let them be as cut in pieces, as a snail which melteth.
Let every one of them pass away like the untimely birth of a woman,
that they may not see the sun.
Before your pots can feel the thorns,
he shall take them away as with a whirlwind,
both living and in his wrath.
That says they're not going to just be punished in hell, also on earth.
Verse 10, the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth a vengeance.
Now, that's a verse that will really piss people off,
is when you say, hey, I'm really excited when God destroys certain people.
Hey, when you get your mouth punched out by God,
I'm going to think it's great.
I'm just reading what the Bible says.
He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
Think about how horrified the world would be
if some sodomite just ran over and blood was everywhere
and I went out there and started washing my feet off.
I'm just telling you what the Bible said.
I would be horrified, too, because I don't want AIDS.
It says in verse 11, so that a man shall say,
verily, there is a reward for the righteous.
Verily, he is a God that judges in the earth.
So God actually judges here on the earth.
Go to Psalm 109 for a moment.
Go to Psalm 109.
And you know what?
When God hands you Psalm 40, or he hands you Psalm 58,
like you're reading, you're like preaching Psalm 57
and now it's turning to Psalm 58.
And you know what you should do?
Keep preaching.
And then you're like, well, that was kind of rough.
Then you get to Psalm 109 and you know what you should do?
Keep preaching.
Look at verse number four.
For my love, they are my adversaries,
but I give myself unto prayer.
Notice why people hate the preacher for his love.
Verse five, and they have rewarded me evil for good
and hatred for my love.
Now, of course, this is obviously talking
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why did they hate Jesus?
Because he loved them.
Isn't that bizarre?
He healed them, he fed them, he preached them the truth
and they hated him for it.
Verse six, set thou a wicked man over him
and let Satan stand at his right hand.
When he shall be judged, let him be condemned
and let his prayer become sin.
Let his days be few and let another take his office.
Let his children be fatherless and his wife a widow.
Now, can you imagine if I just said to this particular person
like, I hope your children are fatherless
and your wife is a widow?
I'm just reading the Bible for you, though.
He says in verse 10, let his children be continually
vagabonds and beg.
Let them seek their bread also out of their desolate places.
Let the extortioner catch all that he hath
and let the stranger spoil his labor.
Let there be none to extend mercy unto him.
Neither let there be any favor to his fatherless children.
Saying, hey, if I come to your door
and you have one of these disgusting
sodomite filthy flags on the door,
I'm not even going to preach to your family.
I'm just telling you what the Bible said.
Saying, hey, you want to destroy your family?
Go ahead, Aiken.
Go ahead and destroy you and your whole family.
Just drive it off a cliff.
Let none extend...
He's not even saying I'm not going to do it.
He's saying I don't want anyone to do it.
No one to do it.
And you know what, so many people get mad at us
that we put out documentaries like The Sodomite Deception
and they say, how dare you not want to preach
the gospel to some people?
And I'm thinking like, you don't preach to anyone.
The people that criticize us the harshest
about not preaching to sodomites
don't preach to anyone.
It's like, what are you talking about?
And then beyond that, it's like, we still do on accident.
I guarantee I've preached to more faggots
than virtually any of these other preachers in this area,
trying to get them saved, offering them the gospel.
And look, I've gone all the way through the entire gospel
with people and made it abundantly clear.
I spent 30 minutes, 40 minutes with these people
for them to later just tell me like,
actually I'm a sodomite.
And I'm just like, I guess that's why you weren't getting it.
Because I couldn't understand it.
And I give people the benefit of the doubt.
I try to offer them the gospel.
But you know what, once you figure it out,
let nobody extend mercy to this guy.
Verse 13, let his posterity be cut off
and then his generation following.
Let their name be blotted out.
Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the Lord
and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out.
Let them be before the Lord continually
that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth
because that he remembered not to show mercy
but persecuted the poor and needy man,
that he might even slay the broken in heart.
As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him.
As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him.
As he clothed himself with cursing,
like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels
like water and like oil into his bones.
You know what, all these people that just curse us
and curse our church and hate our church and hate God,
let it all be returned unto them.
Hey, let the Lord reward them according to their works.
Oh, it's not New Testament.
Oh yeah, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil.
The Lord reward him according to his works.
Oh, I can't believe that you'd preach the Bible.
Welcome to a church.
He said, what's the sign of the sermon?
He's preaching.
Let's keep going.
Verse 19.
Let it be unto him as the garment which covered them
and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually.
Let this be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord
and of them that speak evil against my soul.
But do thou for me, O God the Lord,
for thy namesake because thy mercy is good
to live without me.
So he's saying, hey, this guy just needs to be wiped off
the planet.
And look, we're not talking about your average person.
We're talking about a person that hates God,
is a child molesting pedophile, that's rejected the Lord,
will never believe in him.
The Bible's saying, why would I extend mercy to this guy?
Why is God extending mercy to the wicked
so they can get saved?
So when the guy can't get saved,
why does the Lord need to continually offer him more mercy?
At that point, there's no need for mercy.
There is no more grace.
There is no more long suffering with the Lord.
Okay, once you've sealed your fate,
once you become twice dead, as the Bible says,
once you're a reprobate, there's no more mercy.
There's no more kindness.
There's no more love.
It's just wrath.
Wrath on this earth, wrath in hell,
that's all they get.
They're just treasuring up more wrath.
Go to Amos, chapter number seven.
And you know what?
I'm just gonna keep going.
I'm just gonna keep preaching no matter how popular or unpopular.
We could go to Psalm after Psalm after Psalm.
Let's go to another example here of a certain guy
who has the temptation to stop preaching,
who everybody wants him to stop preaching,
who has an unpopular message,
but praise God that Amos just kept preaching.
Amos, chapter seven, look at verse 12.
Also, Amos-Ziah said unto Amos,
Go thou seer, go thou seer,
Go thou seer, go thou seer, go thou seer,
go, flee thee away into the land of Judah,
and there eat bread, and prophesy there.
Just saying, hey, don't preach here.
Go to another town and preach.
Go somewhere else and preach, buddy.
You're not wanted here.
We're evicting you, okay?
But prophesy not again anymore at Bethel,
for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court.
Then answered Amos, and said unto Amos-Ziah,
I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son,
but I was a herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit.
And the Lord took me as I followed the flock,
and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel.
And I say, look, this isn't my job.
This isn't my occupation.
I just do other stuff.
You know what?
God said go, and I'm like, okay,
because if God says go, you go.
If God says preach, you preach.
And at this point, he's trying to shut him down,
but you know what?
You also need to keep preaching.
He says this, now therefore hear thou the word of the Lord.
So now he's really going to get it.
Thou sayest prophesy not against Israel,
and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord,
Thy wife shall be in harlot in the city,
and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword,
and thy land shall be divided by line,
and thou shalt die in a polluted land,
and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land.
Wow.
Can you imagine some guys like, hey, stop preaching.
Hey, your wife's going to be a whore, and you're going to die.
That would be rough.
That would kind of be brutal.
You know what?
If that's what the Bible says, that's what the Bible says.
Go to Acts, chapter number four.
Let's go to the New Testament for a moment.
The Bible says, so then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the word of God.
If we stop preaching, you know what stops?
Faith.
People don't just stop getting saved.
They stop believing in the promises of God.
They stop putting faith in the Lord for their family,
for their finances, for their health,
or any area of their life,
because we have to preach the Bible for faith to increase.
We have to preach the word of God
so that people can even have faith in the things of God.
You know, if you never hear about any of the things
that the Lord wants you to do,
you can't have faith in those areas.
Faith is the right response to hearing the Bible.
You hear the Bible, and you say, you know what?
I believe that.
That's what faith is.
Faith is not arbitrary.
Faith is not, you know what?
I think I'm going to get a red Corvette tomorrow.
Well, why do you think that?
I just believe by faith, brother.
It's like, well, when did God tell you that?
He didn't.
So then it's not faith.
Faith is not just some random thing here.
Faith is not what you make up.
Faith is when you hear the Bible and you say, I believe that.
Faith is when you hear John 3.16 that says,
you know, whosoever believeth, and you say, I believe that.
That's faith.
Right?
It's any part of the Bible that you just say,
I'm going to believe that part of the Bible, too.
And then some people, they really like John 3.16.
They just didn't really like Psalm 58.
They didn't really like Psalm 109.
They didn't really like Amos chapter number 7.
But you know what?
You're supposed to believe all of it.
Not just the popular parts.
Not just the parts that you like.
But again, that's y'all's response.
That's the hearer's response.
The preacher, all he does is just preach it.
Just say it.
Just keep preaching it.
Never stop preaching it.
And there's going to be a huge opposition.
There's going to be a huge push to get you to quit preaching.
Acts chapter 4, look at verse 13.
Now when they saw the boldest of Peter and John
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men,
they marveled.
They took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.
And beholding the man which was healed standing with them,
they could say nothing against it.
When they had commanded them to go aside out of the council,
they conferred among themselves, saying,
what shall we do to these men?
For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them
is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem,
and we cannot deny it.
That it spread no further among the people,
let us straightly threaten them,
that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.
Who knows, what's the one thing that you want to do?
Just stop preaching.
We can't stop them from doing miracles,
but we can stop them from preaching.
And you know what?
What good are miracles if you never preach the gospel?
These churches that are signs and wonders.
But if they have the wrong gospel,
what does that benefit anybody?
If you temporarily heal a man,
if you heal a man of his cancer and he dies and goes to hell,
what did that profit him?
If you give a guy all the world and riches,
what if you lay your hands on the guy
and he goes out and wins the lottery?
But then he dies and goes to hell.
What did that profit him?
The signs and the wonders are only there
to help encourage people to believe the word
that's being preached.
That's the important part.
Notice they didn't say stop healing people,
stop doing good,
stop going to the temple,
stop following the commandments.
What did they say?
Stop preaching!
Don't preach in Jesus' name!
That's what they're saying.
And they're threatening them.
They're saying, hey, we're going to straighten these guys out.
You better stop preaching this.
Verse 18,
Hey, let me tell you something.
I'm going to keep preaching!
Hey, whether you think it's right for me to obey you or not,
I don't really care because I'm just going to keep preaching.
Whether you can figure it out or not,
that I shall obey God over you,
guess what?
Guess what?
I'm going to keep preaching.
Even if you never figure that one out.
Even if you never realize the stupidity of me disobeying God to obey you.
And I'm just going to keep preaching.
And you know what they did?
They kept preaching.
Look at verse 29.
So they're saying, hey, notice how they're threatening us, God.
Give us boldness to just keep preaching anyways.
Just keep delivering the message of God.
Just keep saying it.
That was in verse 31.
Notice what happens when you're filled with the Spirit of God.
You preach the Bible with boldness.
It doesn't say you were...
That's not what happened.
The Pentecostal nonsense.
No, when they were filled with the Spirit of God,
what did they do?
They preached the Bible with boldness.
Oh, you're not filled with the Spirit, Pastor.
Where's the fruit?
You're not kind.
It doesn't say kind.
It says I just preached the Bible unashamedly with boldness.
That's what really being filled with the Spirit is.
Not being a coward.
Saying, you know what?
I'm going to preach this.
Look at chapter 5 verse 16.
And they were healed every one.
So they're going around.
They're still healing people.
They're still preaching the gospel.
And they get really mad about it,
so they finally throw them in prison.
They threatened them, but now they're coming through.
And it says in verse number 19.
Go!
Stand and speak in the temple to the people,
all the words of this life.
You know what he's saying?
Keep preaching!
Hey, you went to prison?
I'm going to pull you out.
And when you get out, this is what you need to do.
Keep preaching.
Just speak again.
Just keep preaching and keep preaching.
Don't let them shut you down.
Don't let them stop you.
Don't let them discourage you.
You get out there and you keep preaching the Bible.
Keep preaching in Jesus' name.
Look, what's the one thing the devil wants to get you to do
is to quit preaching.
Quit being a soul winner.
You know, some people do that themselves.
Some people just quit on themselves.
They're just like, you know what, I'm tired of this.
I'm tired of all the drama.
I hate all this drama.
Oh, you guys, you always have all these problems.
How about me throwing in prison?
You think that was a problem?
I mean, what happened to Jeremiah?
He got punched in the face and he got locked up.
What happened to Amos?
He's getting threatened.
What's happening to these guys?
They're getting threatened, thrown into prison.
Why?
Because the only thing that's going to stop these guys
is killing them.
That's it.
Because you know what?
The real men of God are just going to keep preaching.
They're just going to keep preaching and keep preaching.
What happens if they get threatened a second time?
Well, let's see.
Verse 26.
Then went the captain with the officers
and brought them without violence,
for they feared the people.
That would be a nice society to live in.
Lest they should have been stoned,
and when they had brought them,
they set them before the council,
and the high priest asked them, saying,
Did we not straightly command you
that you should not teach in his name?
And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine
and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said,
We ought to obey God rather than men.
Say, you know what?
Guess what?
We're going to keep preaching.
Hey, we filled up the whole city.
Let's do it again.
Hey, we knocked every door.
Let's knock them again.
Hey, you're not going to shut us up.
You're not going to shut us down.
We're just going to keep preaching
and keep preaching and keep preaching.
Look at verse 42.
And daily in the temple and in every house,
they cease not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Hey, we need to not stop preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ
and teaching all things whatsoever he commanded.
Not just the gospel, all of it.
You know what the one thing they want to get you to do?
Quit preaching.
Go to Revelation chapter 1.
2 Timothy chapter 4 says,
Preach the word.
Look, you know what the message is
over and over in the Bible?
Just keep preaching.
You keep preaching.
And there's always this threat.
There's always this danger of preaching.
You know what?
You do it anyways.
You think Moses liked walking back up to Pharaoh
and preaching to him again and again?
Let my people go.
Let my people...
I mean, I don't understand
how in the world Pharaoh didn't kill Moses.
Right?
I mean, if you think about all the things
that were happening to him,
he's just like,
why didn't you kill Moses or try?
Obviously, the Lord protected him, though, didn't he?
But the Lord put him in that situation
so that he could just keep preaching,
just going back.
And I mean, think about that message
just over and over and over.
It's just like, come on.
I don't think he's going to get it.
Let my people go.
No.
Let my people go.
No.
Let my people go.
No.
I mean, that'd be annoying to do
just 10 times in a row.
Can you imagine 10 full...
Like, 10 full...
You're just going back,
and you're like,
we've got to go back and say that again?
Once you kind of get to the point,
you're like, Lord,
I don't think he's going to do it.
Why am I preaching to this reprobate?
Like this guy is just hard as hardened.
He just doesn't want to hear.
Revelation chapter number one, look at verse nine.
The Bible says,
I, John, who also am your brother
and companion in tribulation,
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
So John is exiled for preaching the Bible.
And it's like,
at this point, it's just kind of like,
well, nobody wants to hear what I have to say.
I'm literally locked up for having preached the Bible.
Let's skip to chapter 10.
And what is God's message to John?
Chapter 10, look at verse 10.
And I took the little book out of the angel's hand,
and I ate it up.
And it was in my mouth sweet as honey,
and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
You know what he's saying?
I love the word of God,
but man, was it a negative message.
And he said unto me,
Thou must prophesy again
before many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.
You know what he said?
Keep preaching.
Hey, you know how you're in exile?
Keep preaching.
And then just keep preaching and just keep preaching
and just keep preaching and just,
you're never gonna stop.
Don't stop preaching.
What does the devil want to get you to do?
Stop preaching.
And you know what we need to do?
We need to just keep preaching.
It doesn't matter if it's good, bad, ugly.
It doesn't matter if people like it.
It doesn't matter what their faces look like.
It doesn't matter,
even the Bible says with stammering lips,
you know, and I've been with people who literally,
and I mean this in the most literal sense,
they literally stammer when they give the gospel.
But you know what?
They show up and they get people saved,
and they're just like,
if you die today, would you die?
Would you go to heaven?
You got the message out.
And you know what?
Even if you stammer through it,
just have the boldness to get up there
and you just preach the gospel.
I don't care.
Boy, woman, boy, child, you keep preaching
and you don't let anybody shut you down.
You don't let anybody discourage you.
You don't let anybody intimidate you.
You don't let any persecution or evil
stop you from preaching the Bible.
Why?
Because we want people to get saved and go to heaven.
God's extending all this long suffering and grace
unto these people so they'll get saved.
That's why we have to go through the evil.
That's why we have to go through the frustration.
That's why we have to go through all these problems
and everything like that.
So they'll finally have the opportunity
for you to open your mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel.
And if we stop preaching, it's all in vain.
What a sad day when God's people decide
to stop preaching the Bible.
They're ashamed of the Bible.
And look, you know, there's been societies
where you could get up and preach a lot of the Bible
and people would love it.
People would fill up the church and people would be excited.
But you know, in Jeremiah, it wasn't like that.
Jeremiah wasn't running thousands.
He was running one.
And everybody hated that church.
He had a bunch of trolls, you know,
following him around and just mocking him
and making fun of him and, you know, ridiculing him.
I believe in Jeremiah, if I'm not mistaken,
it's like kids are coming by while he's in the stocks
and stuff like that.
You know, Job talks about kids mocking him in the Bible
when he's going through a hard time.
You know, the children in the market,
these people are like children in the marketplace mocking
John the Baptist and Jesus.
You know, look, all the prophets were made fun of.
They had their trolls.
They had their troll accounts.
They had their mockers and their scoffers and whatever,
people blowing their trumpets and drawing people astray.
But you know what?
It doesn't matter because you just keep preaching the Bible.
No matter what evil befalls us,
and we haven't gone through very much difficulty,
I just want those words to just keep ringing in your ear.
And I like the phrase in Revelation.
You've got to prophesy again.
Because there's never a time when you're like,
well, I'm done now.
That was the last one.
No, just prophesy again.
Just every time you have an opportunity,
every time you get around somebody, prophesy again.
Just keep preaching.
Let's close in prayer.
Thank you, Heavenly Father, for the Word of God.
Thank you for the popular and unpopular messages.
Thank you for just giving us the truth.
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to be servants for you.
I pray that we would not be ashamed of the Bible,
but rather we would just preach the Bible regardless of how people view it,
realizing that there's a punishment to those that shut their mouth,
that are ashamed of the Bible, that stop preaching.
You may confound them.
And I pray that you wouldn't confound us, but you'd make us wise,
give us the wisdom to go out and preach the Bible with power, with boldness.
And no matter what threats come against us, no matter what evil befalls us,
that we wouldn't get discouraged.
We would just keep preaching.
And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Alright, for the final song,
Song number 410.
Faith is to victory.
Song number 410.
Faith is to victory.
In camp, along the hills of light,
You Christian soldiers rise.
Impress the battle there,
The night shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the sea,
Out of there,
The night shall veil the glowing skies.
Against the bow and bales below,
Let all our strength be heard.
Faith is to victory,
We know,
That overcomes the world.
Faith is to victory.
All glorious victory,
That overcomes the world.
This banner over us is love,
Our sword, the word of God.
We tread the road, the saints above,
With shouts of triumph trod.
By faith they like a whirlwind's breast,
With honor over every field.
The faith by which they conquered death,
Is still our shining shoe.
Faith is to victory.
All glorious victory,
That overcomes the world.
On every hand the foe we find,
Drawn up in dread array.
Let tents of east be left behind,
And onward to the fray.
Salvation's filming on each head,
With truth all gird about.
The earth shall tremble,
Neath our tread,
And echo with our shout.
Faith is to victory.
All glorious victory,
That overcomes the world.
To him that overcomes the foe,
White rain shall begin,
Before the angels he shall know.
His name confessed and have,
Then onward from the hills of life.
Our hearts will love a flame,
We'll vanquish all the hosts of night,
In Jesus' concrete name.
Faith is to victory.
All glorious victory,
That overcomes the world.
We have a couple baptisms this evening.
We have brother Michael coming for baptism.
Michael, have you trusted Christ as your Savior?
Then I baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Married in the likeness of his death,
Raised to walk in newness of life.
Congratulations.
Hey, let's do one more song.
All right, for one more song, we'll do song number 30,
Nothing But the Blood.
Song number 30, Nothing But the Blood.
Song number 30.
What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my part in this I see.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
For my cleansing this my plea.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Nothing can force an atone.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Not of good that I have done.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my hope and peace.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
This is all my righteousness.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Oh, precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
No other fount I know.
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
No other fount I know.
Can I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?
Buried in the likeness of His death,
Praised to walk in newness and light.
You are dismissed.