["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Alright folks, it is about that time. We're going to go ahead and get started this morning. Welcome back to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you would find a seat, grab a hymnal, and turn to our first hymn this morning,
number 145. It is well with my soul.
145. Now I do have some instruction for this song.
We are going to sing the chorus in parts as it's written, so the top part will be the ladies.
The bottom part will be the men.
Okay, so 145. It is well with my soul. In the chorus, top part for the ladies, bottom for the men,
and a key change on the fourth. Just watch us.
145 on the first.
["Pomp and Circumstance"]
Amen. Let's open with a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for this day, for the ability to gather together freely,
to sing praises out in your name, and to hear preaching from your word.
I just pray that you would be with us for this service, that everything would be done,
decently and in order to your perfect will. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
All right, for our next hymn this morning, turn if you would to number 406.
Who is on the Lord's side?
hymn number 406.
406. Who is on the Lord's side?
If you're on the Lord's side, sing it out.
406.
On the first.
Who is on the Lord's side?
Who will serve the king?
Who will be his helper?
Other thine to bring?
Who will lead the world's side?
Who will face the throne?
Who is on the Lord's side?
Who for him will go?
Hy thine call the mercy.
Hy thine praise divine.
We are on the Lord's side.
Savior, we are thine.
Not for weight of glory.
Not for crown and palm.
Enter we the army.
Praise the warrior's song.
But for love that claimeth.
Christ for whom we die.
Thee whom Jesus named,
and must be on his side.
Hy thine call the mercy.
Hy thine praise divine.
We are on the Lord's side.
Savior, we are thine.
Jesus, thou hast bought us.
Not with gold or gems,
but with thine own blood.
Lord, I die again.
With thine blessing filling,
each who comes to thee.
Thou hast made us willing.
Thou hast made us free.
Hy thine grant redemption.
Hy thine praise divine.
We are on the Lord's side.
Savior, we are thine.
Here's may be the conflict.
Strong may be the foe.
But the king's own army
cannot get overthrown.
Ground is sander ranging.
Victory is secure.
For his truth unchanging
makes the triumph sure.
Joyfully enlisting.
Hy thine praise divine.
We are on the Lord's side.
Savior, we are thine.
Amen.
It is great to be here.
If you need a bulletin and you don't already have one,
you can lift up your hand nice and high.
We've got bulletins back here.
Usher's can come by and we've definitely filled up the space.
Especially if we have a few more people coming in,
I might towards at some point try to get some of the kids to sit up on the stage
just to free up some extra space.
We don't have to do that just yet,
but I may give that instruction just depending
so that more people can fill in and we can fill up the space.
It's kind of interesting to me because this reminds me
of the first service that Steadfast Baptist Church O.K.C. ever had
because I got to actually come out here and preach
for this church on a Friday night.
We weren't here, we were actually just right across the road right here,
the suite right over here.
There was I think over 100 people that came out for that Friday night service
and we look like it's pretty well over 100 people here this morning.
I'm kind of curious, who actually came to that first Friday night service?
Who was there?
Yeah, look at it, there was a lot of people that were actually there
a long time ago, that was what six years ago approximately.
Definitely a lot of things have changed,
but it hasn't changed to the King James Bible.
What hasn't changed is that we're fundamental Baptists
and what hasn't changed is that we emphasize soul winning
and what hasn't emphasized is the great spirit amongst brethren around here
and so it's great, it's great to be here.
The Bible says better is the end of the thing and the beginning thereof
and I told Brother Oz this is way better for me than him.
We're really excited for today because today is going to be an ordination service
so it's a special service for Brother Oz.
He's going to be ordained as pastor today
and I'm going to be doing that after my morning service
and then we do have a luncheon immediately following the service.
Now we're not going to have it in this room.
We've been gracious enough to be afforded another suite that's just down the way.
So it's kind of just down here in the corner
and so after service we would love for all of you to please join us
for some Texas barbecue.
We actually had to import it from Texas
so we had to bring some of that Texas spirit up here with y'all
and I'm still the pastor for a little bit longer.
We're bringing some of that Texas spirit up here
but we really love this church.
We really love the people who have made this church what it is
and it's always been so much fun to come up here.
Me and my family have always greatly enjoyed it.
The people here are very special.
This has always been a very special church
because the camaraderie and the familiar aspect of church
it's very rare and hard to find a church
where the congregation really makes spiritual family feel like family
and that's something that's not normal, not always common
in a lot of churches especially in smaller churches
but it's always been very impressive to see how much fellowship
and how much love and how much support and how much friendship
has existed amongst people in this church
and I hope that that will continue
and again a very very special thing that you have going on here
and also brother Oz has been just such a great blessing
to our church and his family and he's really grown a lot.
That was from the Texas brisket
but also he's grown matured and spiritually
and he's really gone through a lot of difficulty.
You can ask him this but I told him before he ever came to work for me
I said hey you know working for me
there's going to be some intense persecution
there's going to be some opposition
and you're going to go through some hardships and trials
and I don't think he really understood what I was saying
but it really did happen and he really was steadfast through that
and so it's great to see someone that's already gone through
a lot of battles, a lot of testing, a lot of proving.
One thing I knew about brother Oz before bringing him to work for me
was the fact that he was a great preacher
and he's only gotten better since then.
Great preacher, very loyal, great soul winner.
One thing that I love about brother Oz
is he's got to have one of the best attitudes of anybody that I've ever met
and he's just very positive, he's got a lot of positive energy
he's very encouraging and so I just very much love that about brother Oz
and you know he has a great family, great kids
he even has a great father-in-law who's here with us today
and he's going to be preaching this evening
so I've already been replaced, it didn't even take long
but no it'll be great to have Pastor Thompson preaching a sermon this evening as well
and so if you can stay, if you'd like to stay
we'd love to have you for our 430 service
Pastor Aaron Thompson is going to be preaching for us
we also have soul winning of course from 2 to 4
and so it's going to be a pretty normal day as far as the service times
but it's a special day and we want to make sure that it is special
if you are here make sure at some point to congratulate brother Oz
and his family on the ordination service today
on their hard work and even beyond today
make sure that you're still praying for brother Oz
praying for this church
praying for the work that's being done here
it is going to change names
but hopefully they will remain steadfast in their hearts
and I'm very excited about Anchor Baptist Church
I think that's a great name
and you know it's the ABC's that couldn't get simpler than that
and so I'm really excited about the work that's going to be done here
and of course I will always be friends of this church
and Anchor Baptist Church and brother Oz
and we look forward to continue to work together
and doing all kinds of stuff for the Lord
and while we're independent in the sense that I will have no more authority in the future
and I won't necessarily be the overseer
I'm still looking forward to having friendship
and working together and coming alongside
the Bible camaraderie amongst other churches
and the disciples and the apostles
and the pastors and the bishops and the elders
and I think it makes sense to have friends
and it makes sense to continue having a relationship with other brethren
until the Lord Jesus Christ takes us up to heaven
and we're forced to be friends again
so some of us sometimes have a hard time being friends on this side of heaven
but eventually we'll all have to be friends to some degree
and so I'm really excited about this
I want to go through a few of the announcements in our bulletin
and then we'll go ahead and sing our third song for this morning
but working on Hebrews 6 as a Bible memory passage
and so that's a great chapter of the Bible
also on the inside we have our service time, soul winning times
and those are going to stay the same moving forward
so even as you go through this transition
I've talked with brother Oz
for now is continuing to do the service times like this
so Sunday mornings 10 30
Sunday evenings 4 30
Wednesdays at 7
also soul winning times
they have a soul winning time today too
Wednesdays at 5 30
and then a Saturday rally
yesterday we had a good group come out
I think we had what it was
14 salvations for yesterday
and so, you know, Oklahoma is a great place to go soul winning
and there's a lot of good opportunities here
I believe the metro area is about 1.4 million people
and so there's a lot of people here
there's a big map
and, you know, we've done some work
as you can see
but there's still a lot of work to do
a lot of doors that can be knocked
and a lot of people that need to be reached with the gospel
and not just Oklahoma City
but the state of Oklahoma
and not just the state of Oklahoma
but the country of the United States of America
and not just America but yay the whole world
and so we need to take that gospel to every single creature
and preach the gospel to them
there's approximately 8 billion people on this planet
it's a big work
but little as much when God is in it
they also have a nursing home ministry
if you'd like to participate in that
for extra preaching
there's the stats down below
and definitely doing a great work here
several hundred salvation so far
on the right we have some expecting ladies list
if you'd be in prayer for the reads
also if you'd be in prayer
for some of the other upcoming events
this is the holiday season
Christmas and so they have caroling
a Christmas party
also on the 21st
there is a soul winning push
and then New Year's Eve's
party on 7 o'clock
and so lots of different things there
there is a code down below
if you'd like to give and donate to the church
if you have any questions about that
you can also ask Brother Oz
for the future on the back we have a prayer list
and so if you want to help us
and pray for those that are here
you can do that
keep this bulletin with you and just pray through the week
that's a great way to remind yourself
of prayers just stick it in your Bible
wherever you're in your Bible reading
and then maybe that can help you
to pray for the brethren
when you read your Bible in the morning
so that's pretty much
all I have for announcements but
I do want to say again that
it's been a great honor and privilege
to be able to pass through this church
even from afar
and I know that I haven't necessarily
been able to be here for every service
and I haven't been able to preach
as much as maybe I'd even like to be up here
but I definitely have always had
you guys on my heart and mind
this church has been through
a lot of battles of its own
and has had ups and downs
and has had good seasons
and sometimes difficult seasons
and I just want you to remember
where you've come from
and in the future
it's not always going to be ups either
there's going to be difficulties
there's going to be hardships
there's going to be tribulations
but you know what the point of church
is not to just always have fun
and to only enjoy the good times
but also get through the bad times
so that you can celebrate
days like today
and remember days like today
remember the first day so much fun
and remember the day like today
there will be good days
but there will also be difficult days
and to make sure that you are just
continuing to stay steadfast
the only thing that really really matters
at the end of the day is the works
that we've done for Christ
and as a pastor
I believe that my primary goal
is just to help others serve Christ
better wherever that is
wherever life takes them
however they end up
and I hope that brother Oz
and to try to just bless people
where they're at and encourage them
and just to help them to be a little bit better
and draw a little bit closer to Christ
every single service and every single day
and that we all just get a little bit
more steadfast, grow in grace
that we have a little bit more zeal
that we become better husbands
better fathers
better mothers, better brothers and sisters
better soul winners
and ultimately just better Christians in general
and you know
I think sometimes it's hard to recognize this
but something we all need to do
especially as we come to the end of the year
think about where you were
a year ago
think about where you were
two years ago
think about where you were five years ago
and notice and think
have I had any change
and I think a lot of people if they were honest
they say hey I've been in this church for a while
I've actually grown a lot spiritually
I've learned a lot of doctrine
and I became a better soul winner
I actually started making some better decisions in my life
I actually improved
there's this area of sin that I've gotten better in
or maybe even God willing
you've completely eliminated it for now
but really think about that
and say wow
I've noticed the progress that I've made
I must be on the right path
and continue to allow that
memory
and that motivation of saying wow
I've already made these positive changes
continue to make even more positive changes
and continue to grow
and continue to do great works for
the Lord Jesus Christ
so those are my admonitions to you
we're going to sing 81
when we see Christ
and we want to make sure that we've left nothing
in the tank
that we've done all that we could possibly do
so that we can have as much joy
when we see Christ
song 81 in our hymnals
Brother Cameron is going to lead us
alright
hymn number 81
when we see Christ
it will be worth it all
hymn number 81
when we see Christ
song 81 in our hymnals
sing there starting on the first
song 81 in our hymnals
eternal day. It will be worth it all. When we see Jesus, life's trials will seem so
small. When we see Christ, one glimpse of his ear fades, all sorrow will erase. So
bravely run the race till we see Christ.
The night the sky looks dark, with not a ray of light, we're tossed and driven on. No
human help inside, but there's one in hand who knows our deepest care. Let Jesus song your
promise, just go to him in prayer. It will be worth it all. When we see Jesus, life's trials
will seem so small. When we see Christ, one glimpse of his ear fades, all sorrow will erase. So
bravely run the race till we see Christ. The angels to be o'er, all storms forever pass,
will cross the great divine. To glory, sake, and last, will share the joys of heaven.
Ahar, ahora, crown, the tenor will be vanished, will lay our burden down. It will be worth it all.
When we see Jesus, life's trials will seem so small. When we see Christ, one glimpse of his ear fades,
all sorrow will erase. So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
Amen. As the offering plates are being passed, turn, if you would, to First Timothy, Chapter Number
One, First Timothy, Chapter Number One.
First Timothy, Chapter One. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior
and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope unto Timothy, my own son in the faith, grace, mercy,
and peace, and God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. As I besought thee to abide still at
Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions,
rather than godly edifying, which is in faith, so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out
of a pure heart and of a good conscience and of faith unfaithful, which some having swerved have
turned aside unto vain jangling, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither
what they say nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good if a man
use it lawfully, knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless
and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers
and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for harm poor mongers, for them that defile themselves
with mankind, for men stealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other
thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed
God, which was committed to my trust. And I think Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me,
for that he hath, he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, who was before a
blasphemer, a persecutor, and injurious, but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly
and in unbelief. And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love,
which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all expectation that Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. Albeit for this cause I obtained
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all along suffering for a pattern to them
which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now under the key eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I commit
unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee,
that thou by them might as war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some
having put away concerning the faith of made shipwreck, of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander,
whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. Let's pray. Lord,
we're so thankful for the great weather today for all these people that are gathered here today
to hear your word for each and I pray, Lord, that you just continue to do great works through
this ministry and you edify as Lord strength in it, lift your word, and you can continue to pray now.
I want to look back at verse number three here in first Timothy chapter one. The Bible says,
as I besot thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge
that they teach no other doctrine. And the instructions given from the Apostle Paul is that
the young preacher, the young Timothy should also instruct other pastors and other teachers
to teach nothing else other than the doctrines upon which they have learned. The doctrines of
the Bible, the doctrines of the Word of God, and that they're not teaching something else,
they're not teaching things that are not found in the Bible, but rather they're preaching what the
Bible says. And I have just two simple points from my sermon and it's really coming from the title.
The title of my sermon this morning is this Truth and Grace. Truth and Grace. And most of
my instruction is going to Brother Oz today because he is going to be the primary preacher
of this church as pastor and as pastor. The first thing, the most important thing that you can
possibly do as a pastor is just preach the truth. Preach what is true and preach no other doctrine.
Don't preach anything other than what the truth is and the only thing that we know is true is
this book. Is the Word of God is the King James Bible and you need to be charged to preach
no other doctrine. You preach what the Bible says. Now if we keep reading, he says in verse 4,
neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies which minister questions rather than godly edifying
which is in faith so do. Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart and of a
good conscience and of faith, unfaith. The word end here is meaning goal, saying what is the
goal, what is the end of preaching, what is the point of preaching. It is for people to have charity
out of a pure heart and so the preaching of the truth of God's Word is to help encourage people
to have charity and to have a pure heart and to have faith unfaith and so that's what the
truth will do is it'll purify and it'll draw out the charity of people and that's what we
need in this world is we need the truth. Go to chapter 4 of verse Timothy. Go to chapter 4
of verse Timothy. We already have enough preachers in this world.
We do not need more preachers. We do not need more churches. We do not need more instructors in
Christ. What we need is somebody to tell the truth. What we need is someone to preach the
truth and the problem is why we do need more preachers and why we do need more churches
is because the ones that exist won't preach the truth. But let me tell you something in Texas
and in Oklahoma when you drive the church you will pass dozens and dozens and dozens of churches
and not just all the cults and weirdos and the freaks but there's even Baptist
and evangelical churches and churches that are supposed to be based on the Bible
and the problem is is they just won't preach the truth and you know what we don't need just
another church. We don't just need another preacher. We don't need just another pastor.
We need a man that will preach the truth no matter what the Bible says. We have a
dearth in this country of preachers that will preach the truth today and let me tell you
something there's plenty of churches in this area that will preach the truth in some parts of
the Bible. There are plenty of preachers here that are right on the gospel, that are right on
salvation. There are churches here that are right on which Bible to use but let me tell you something
they won't preach the truth on every single page of the Bible. They won't preach every
single section. They won't preach every uncomfortable truth. They won't stand on the
Word of God unashamedly and so that's why we need a church here that is going to preach
what the Bible says. Someone's got to say the truth. Someone's got to be a messenger for God
and actually tell people what the Bible says and there's so few people that will just say what the
Bible says. They want to say what their opinion is. They want to say what their thoughts are.
They want to say what's popular. They want to say what'll grow a church. They want to say
what people like to hear but they won't preach what the Bible says and you know what
the last thing we need is more people to fill hot air in this country. We need people to say
what the Bible says. It's frustrating. First Timothy chapter four, look at what it says in
verse 12. Let no man despise thy youth. You know what I don't care how old Dylan is.
He's a great man of God. He's mature. He's been living his life separated for years.
He's been studying the Bible well. He knows the Bible well and you know what no one should
despise his youth if he's preaching what the Bible says. Hey, don't let people despise you
for being young because pretty soon you'll be old. You know there's no middle word. You're either
young or you're old and you'll notice you're too young as a preacher and then pretty soon
you'll be too old and you'll be like when was I just right? And it's like Goldilocks Baptist
doesn't exist folks. You're either too young or you're too old but you know what who cares what
your age is. Preach what the Bible says. Hey, if you wouldn't listen to young men you wouldn't
listen to Jesus because he was 30 years old. I mean at this point it's pretty clear. It's
pretty obvious that I've probably eclipsed the age of what Jesus Christ would have been
before he died on the cross yet there's still people today that would say I'm too young
or I can't necessarily preach the Bible or I don't know what I'm saying or I don't have
enough wisdom. But here's the thing you wouldn't have listened to Jesus then because Jesus very
likely was under the age of 35, 36 when he died on the cross so if you wouldn't listen to Jesus
at age 30 don't kid yourself and think well I don't like this guy because he's 30 well you
wouldn't like Jesus then. You know what it's not really about the age. Age is just a number
folks. There's a spiritual age and that's what matters. The Bible talks about not a novice,
not about their age physically but their age spiritually and you know what that's what
matters and if somebody who's humble enough they might recognize hey I may be a lot older than
Dylan physically but you know what he's older than me spiritually and he's matured himself
and he knows what the Bible says and he's only going to get older every single day of
his life anyways and so you know don't let people talk badly about a pastor just because
of his age. You know what if they're making fun of you for your age that tells me you're doing great
because there's nothing else to talk about. Hey if they have to bring up age then that
sounds wonderful because it doesn't sound like there's anything you're saying that's wrong
because when you say things that are wrong they'll point that out. But you know when
you're not saying anything wrong then they have to tack you in every other way. The way you
look, the way you dress, your age, your car, your wife, whatever they want is this. They'll
bring all kinds of accusations out that aren't really tangible because they have nothing really
to say and they're just going to hate anyways. But you know what don't allow people in the
church to disrespect you just because you're young. If they're going to be disrespectful
that needs to be corrected because you know no one should disrespect the pastor just because
of his age. And if you can't handle a pastor being younger than you then you know what you're prideful
because it's not about age it's not about a number and you know what you shouldn't despise
people just because of their age. You know that shows immaturity on your part not immaturity on
their part. The Bible says this as we keep reading but be that an example of the believers in
word. You need to be an example of preaching the truth. The pastor needs to be the example
of preaching what the Bible says and saying what is true. In conversation and charity and
spirit and faith and purity till I come give attendance to readings of exhortation to doctrine
neglect not the gift that is in thee which was given thee by prophecy with the laying on
to the hands of the presbytery meditate upon these things give thyself holy to them that
thy profiting may appear to all take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine continue in them
for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee.
When you have problems preach the Bible when things are going good preach the Bible
no matter what's happening just continue in the doctrine don't think like well you know
at the church isn't growing I need to just fish out some new doctrine I need to find some other
doctrine or hey I don't like how people are behaving and the Bible doesn't seem to have
anything to say about this so I'm gonna make up my own opinions and my own ideas and
preach about this subject no no no just continue in the doctrine of the Bible preach no other
doctrine preach what the Bible says in the Bible fix things the Bible will always make sure
that you're good it's sufficient you don't need to add anything to this you don't need to take
away anything from this you don't have to think like man I wish God had addressed this
situation look if God didn't address the situation quit worrying about it
you should worry about the things that are actually in the Bible and stop worrying so
much about things that are never even mentioned or not brought up or vaguely brought up you know
we should be focused in on the clear statements of the Bible not all the stuff that you think is
important because what you think is important I don't care it's not important and if it was
important God would have put in this book and look this book's long there's enough commandments
there's enough instruction Christianity is already hard enough let's not make it harder by adding
the doctrines of men and teaching them as commandments no we want to teach the commandments of
God and say you know what the doctrines of men they're always capable of being changed
they're always subject to being uh it's inspected to see if they're actually right
but you know what we just say the commandments of God are right period
now I want to keep going through some of this pastoral epistles go if you into
second Timothy now and I want to look at chapter three for a moment second Timothy
chapter number three point one of my sermon is preach the truth this is the pillar and ground
of the truth this is the one institution where you're supposed to go and hear the truth and the
worst thing that can happen is when a preacher starts preaching lies when a preacher starts preaching
his opinion when a preacher gets up and just says whatever he wants to say and not what the
Bible says there's so much in this Bible to preach you could never preach it in a lifetime
quit worrying about preaching your opinion and preach what God actually said
trust in the Bible trust in the word of God but you know what you'll notice is that a lot of
preachers are too lazy to read the Bible they're too lazy to memorize scripture they're too lazy
to meditate on the Bible and all they do is just listen to tv and listen to newspapers and
listen to podcasts and then they get up and they have to preach on Sunday morning and so it comes
out of their heart it's a bunch of junk and garbage because they wouldn't study the Bible
and you know what you cannot hide from your preaching you cannot hide from your sermons
whatever you put in your heart will come out and brother Oz you need to be putting
truth in your heart every single day so that the truth will come out of your mouth
and when I listen to a preacher and I just constantly hear lies and deception
and manipulation that tells me he's not eating this on a regular basis
we need preachers to preach the truth and let me tell you something I've learned this
as a hard lesson especially recently is you know you can hide a lot of things but you cannot
hide what's going on in your heart when you get a lot a lot of their words and we need to judge people
based on their sermons we need to judge people based on the quality of what they're preaching
because let me tell you something I've noticed this consistently that quality preaching or quality
people and garbage preaching are garbage people and I've been trying to think of exceptions
and even if I could find one that would be an exception I can't even find one and you
know what the greatest preacher to ever live is Jesus Christ and he's the most quality person you'll
ever meet and the worst person on this earth is a false prophet they are always the scummiest
worst people on this planet and you know what there's something to the spirit of truth and the
spirit of error and we need preachers to preach the truth and we need to listen to
preachers of truth and we need to gravitate towards preachers of truth and we need to
follow preachers of truth because the war in this world is over the truth the war in this
world is the word of truth against the father of lies and we need ministers we need preachers
we need men of God to stand up and preach what the truth is and slice through all the lies in
this world all the deception and all the darkness and all the filth the only way that Christians
can fight is by preaching the truth we don't war against flesh and blood we don't call to arms
we're not waging a physical battle in a physical war what we do is we just simply say what the
truth is and boy that'll get you enough enemies you could you couldn't even count them you could
be so friendly and nice and kind and help people but if you tell them the truth boy they hate you
i am for peace but when i speak they are for war that's what the bible says and that's true
it is true that people hate the truth and they want to destroy the truth they didn't kill
steven because he was a bad guy they killed steven because of what he was preaching
and he was preaching what the bible said and he was filled with the holy spirit and let me tell
you something there's no new thing under the sun the reason why people hate preachers of truth
is because they hate truth and let them hate you for preaching the bible not for other things
second timothy chapter three look at what it says in verse 10 but that was fully known my doctrine
that should be your job brother awes is that everybody knows what you believe
you're not hiding what you believe we're not the Mormons we're not the jovis witnesses
there's not some special ritual there's not some special doctrine that we have for the 10 year
members there's not some special newsletter that you have to pay and get a subscription
there's not curtains in the back where you get married with a secret handshake no no no
you should fully know the doctrine hey what we believe is in our doctrinal statement
and not just core doctrines i have secondary doctrines and then not not secondary doctrines
unpopular doctrines that's what i've always had like pretty much everything you could want
in a bag of chips and leviticus 2013 okay all of it on our doctrinal statement on the website
right out in the clear putting all of our sermons online putting all of our preaching
online telling people what we believe making documentaries trying to give it to people
you know what if you have the truth on your side you should fear no investigation
the the liars are the ones that want to hide the liars are the ones that hide their sermons
don't want people to listen don't want people to know what they're saying
don't want people that's a red flag when a preacher's hiding what he's preaching
second Timothy chapter four it's a red flag when you ask a preacher what he believes
about salvation he won't answer what do you believe about repentance i don't want to talk
about it you should want the one doctrine you should want to talk to everybody about
is how to be saved like if you're hiding what you believe on salvation that's a huge red flag
that just doesn't even make any sense whatsoever i mean that is almost par with somebody that's
selling selling something selling cars selling anything and they say hey tell me about this
product that i can buy it and they're like i don't want to talk about it
i mean you'd be like why isn't your job to literally sell cars or sell whatever
what why wouldn't you want to tell me about it you know that doesn't even make any sense
isn't our job to give the gospel freely if someone's asking about it we should be wanting
to give them the gospel we should be telling them what the bible says we should be making it clear
people should walk away and say well i know everything he believes
not i don't know what he believes i don't know what he thinks about sodomites
you know i don't know it should be the front of the head or the back of head no no we know
he's we fully know his doctrine okay no you may not like that but hey at least you know it
right i mean you know i don't like going to churches and you're trying it out and the
doctrinal statement's vague and then the preacher's vague and then you're just you're like well just
come for six months and then maybe you'll kind of find out like what we believe or what's going on
no no i'd rather just kind of like already know and here's the thing when it's vague you know why
it's vague is because it's always going to be vague it's going to stay vague and i guarantee
if they told you everything they believe there's lots of things you disagree with them on too
that's why they're vague you know you're never going to agree with any preacher any pastor any church
100 but you know what just go to the best church in your area that's always been what i've said
i've always said it i will always believe it i'll always emphasize it and always encourage it
go to the best church in your area period not the church that you think's perfect
because then you'll never go to church go to the best church in your area always do this
second Timothy chapter 4 verse 17 the bible says notwithstanding the lord stood with me and strengthened
me that by me the preaching might be fully known notice that the goal is that the preaching might
be fully known we don't want anybody to not know why do you think we're not going to every single
door because we want everybody to know what steadfast baptist church and what now in the
future anchor baptist church believes about salvation we want people to be warned about
the danger of hell we want people to know the danger of all these cults of all these false
religions of all these works salvation packages that damn people to hell the fact that broad is the way
which leads to the destruction and many there be which go in there at because straight is the gate
and there was the way which lead on the life and few there be that find it few people know how to
get saved and so we want to make sure that the preaching is fully known that's why God even
delivered him he says and that all the Gentiles might hear and I was delivered out of the
mouth of line Paul was delivered so that people could hear the gospel why because there was so few
people willing to make the sacrifices that the apostle Paul did and let me tell you something
it's not the many that are the soul winners of this world it's the few that are the soul
winners of this world that's what Jesus Christ literally says the harvest truly is plenious
but the laborers be few you want to know why because it's laborers it's it's work
and you get no carnal wages you know I've never I'm not handing out $20 bills for every salvation
when you get back because then I'd have a lot more people like Doug Trowbridge you know what I mean
you have a lot of people coming back I got 20 people saved in five minutes
okay but you know what us that are actually caring about getting people saved we realize we'd
rather that spiritual wage than the carnal wage anyways I'd rather get whatever God's
going to give me than 20 bucks in this world anyways look at verse two of the same chapter
preach the word the bible could not be clearer it let me explain this and it's so easy to say
so hard to do knowing what to do is not the hard part it's doing it
you know it's not hard preach the truth you know it is hard preaching the truth
it's not hard to say hey preach the bible you know it's hard to preach the bible
because you know what the bible is a deep book the bible takes a lot of study the bible can be
very dark the bible has a lot of difficulties in it the bible has a lot of different verses that
seem contradictory maybe on the surface or the carnal mind and so it takes time to study
and to develop and to read and to meditate and to pray and to ask this god will you just
please open my eyes that I may behold wonders things out of my law because let me explain
something to you you can study your heart's content and still not understand the bible
in many cases it's just god blessing you with understanding that you understand the bible
and you know what you should be thankful that there's other men who have got on their knees
every day of their life and prayed god give me wisdom there's other men that have read their
bible's scores of times that pray and meditate and memorize scripture so that they can get these
wonderful revelations and then just spoon feed them to you on a sunday morning there's so many people
that understand so much truth of this bible that they didn't even labor for they didn't even work
for they just simply just showed up maybe even disgruntled the church and they were just spoon
fed the wonderful honey and the butter and the manna that's coming from god's word and you
know what don't despise the guy that's giving you all of this wonderful spiritual treasure
you know what is it is it really a big thing if he reaps your carnal things when you're reaping
his spiritual things so it says in verse Corinthians chapter number nine
you know if brother Oz gets paid by this church you should be thankful that he's willing to
return the favor spiritually because that's so much more valuable anyways
go if you went to first Peter chapter five go to first Peter chapter five
people that hate pastors are bad people
people that want pastors to suffer more than they already do are bad people
and i can say this and you'll never understand it but here's the reality
pastors suffer way more than you'll ever understand
way more hardships and difficulties and afflictions and and problems and lies and struggles than
you'll ever understand you don't need to add to it you don't need to try and make it a little
bit extra hard on them you know what you should be praying for them and encouraging them and
helping them and and realizing you know think about it this way as a single guy you had no
idea how hard it was to be married and then throw kids in there and you should realize wow
i didn't realize you know having kids was this hard because otherwise i wouldn't done it
think about god doesn't tell you how that works god's just like hey get married
this is the greatest thing this is one of the most fun things you'll ever do
and you're like i want to do that but you don't realize what comes at the end of that
you know why do you think he makes that one thing so enjoyable
so that after you have a couple kids you'll keep having kids because otherwise i mean if it was
like eating broccoli like you know what produces kids eating broccoli like i'm not having kids ever
again but you know what god hardwired us to want to do the thing that causes children
so that we'd have children because having children is hard it's a thankless job in many ways
and a lot of us also don't understand that the hard part is the early part
once they grow up and they get older it's over you know we have to go through the hard parts now
we have to go through the difficulty in the labor now but you just don't really understand things
until you go through them and having kids one of the hardest things you'll ever do but it's
always worth it having having a wife can be very difficult but it can also be a great blessing
and she can be she can be the person that can hurt you the most and also give you the most joy
because when you let people get close to you they have the ability to hurt you
and when you let people get close to you you also have the ability to grow and have
a great deep relationship and here's the thing being a pastor you're going to have a lot of
wounds but it's also worth it it's also worth it so we have to realize you know if you're
going to do something great if you're going to do something difficult hey you have to
be willing to accept the difficulties the hard parts with the good parts hey having kids yeah you
got to clean up diapers not only have to clean up diapers you have to clean up the vomit when
they vomit on themselves in the car and you don't have anything there you're like where's the wipes
we're out I mean there was a day I was seriously thinking like I want to just run away from my
family I mean we were like driving back home and the kids are throwing up on themselves and and my
wife has the strong gagric flex she's just like and I'm over here like I'm like I could just run
I kept thinking like I don't even know how we're going to escape this
we're here today all right I don't know how to happen God is gracious that was a rough day
that was a brutal day and you know what but I saw my kids I still love them and you know you have
good days you have the days where they just come out of nowhere and they say I love you and you're
just like wow this is awesome or the first time they say dad or mom or they learn how to tie their
shoes wow they learn how to read wow okay there's some amazing days out there ahead of you but
there's also difficult days and you know Christianity is the same way and we need preachers
that are going to preach the truth and let me tell you something when you preach the truth you're
going to have hard days you're going to have days where you make people in this room upset
you're going to have days when you make the people out there upset that's almost every time
you're going to have days when you make yourself upset you're going to have days when you
make your family upset but you know what you have to just preach the truth we need somebody
that'll say you know what when I get behind this the only thing that I care about is saying
what's true. And you know, let's just be honest. I always say this. People that come
up to me like, hey, was that sermon about me? And I'm always saying yes. You know what
that sermon is about me too. Hey, the sermons edify me. The sermons rebuke me. The sermons
correct me too. And you know what? It's my job to get up here and just preach the
truth and let the chips fall where they may. And we need to encourage, if you have
a preacher, if you have a pastor that'll tell you things that you didn't want
to hear, but were true, you should love that man. You should encourage that man.
You should come back to church. You should say thank you. May I have another? Hey, if
the brethren smite me, it's a kindness is what the Bible says. The Bible doesn't
say being smitten is evil. In some cases, the Bible is saying being smitten is
good. Being smitten by your parents, that's love. Parents that spare the
rod hate their son. The Bible says, whom I love, I chasing. I rebuke and chasing.
Be zealous therefore and repent. God wants, I mean, why do you think God is
telling the Apostle Paul its heart for thee to kick against the pricks? Do you
think it was fun? Do you think it was fun to be pricked by the Lord Jesus
Christ? And you know, you guys in Oklahoma, you probably forgot what a
cowboy is, but cowboy has spurs. And those spurs dig into the hide of the
animal. There's another word I could use, but I already get accused of that too
much. So they get into the hide or the rear end, the behind of that animal and
it hurts. And it's the cause that animal go in the right direction. And God
is saying, Hey, sometimes I got to do that to you. I got to kick your hide
with a spur to get you in the right direction. And you know what? Sometimes
we need men of God to take the word of God as a goad and to provoke people
to do the right thing. And sometimes it hurts. No chastening for the
present seem it to be joyous, but grievous is what the Bible says. If it
wasn't grievous, it wasn't chastening. And so we have to recognize that we
need people to preach the Bible. First Peter chapter five verse one says
this, the elders which are among you I exhort, whom also an elder and a
witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory
that should be revealed, feed the flock of God which is among you taking
the oversight there of not by constraint, but willingly, not for Philly
Leuker, but of a ready mind, either as being Lord's or God's heritage, but
being in samples to the flock. Notice again, the main application, the
main admonition, the primary thing is to feed the flock of God. As a pastor,
as a preacher, you need to feed the flock. You need to make sure you're
taking the truth that you know, and you're preaching it, not holding
back, not being deceitful, telling people what they need to hear, not what
they want to hear. Go to Ezekiel chapter three, go to Ezekiel chapter three.
As a pastor, you will say things that no one else will say, say them. As a
pastor, you will have to say things that no one else, there's not another
institution, there's not another group, there's not another person. There
are things that the pastor and the preacher have to say that no one else
is gonna say, and if he doesn't say it, no one's gonna say it. Someone has to
say it. Someone has to say what the Bible says. Somebody has to offend
people with the word of God, and make sure that the most offensive things
you say are what the Bible says. Whatever you're gonna say that's
gonna offend people, make sure the most offensive things you say is what
the Bible's clearly saying. We don't need to be offensive just to be offensive.
We don't want to hurt people's feelings just to hurt people's feelings, but we
need to say what the Bible says even when it is going to. And let me say
something. Brother Oz is fun to be around. Brother Oz has a great
personality. Brother Oz is friendly. Brother Oz is cool. So you know what?
It's gonna be really hard because he's gonna be friends with a lot of
people in this room. And a lot of people are gonna want to be his friend, but
you have to be their pastor first and their friend second. And when he's
your pastor first, don't stop being his friend. And you know what? Just
because you disagree with him doesn't mean that you can't stop being
his friend. And what I've noticed, a lot of people when they disagree
with you, it's because they're wrong, okay? But even if you're
right, you can still give your pastor some grace. Hey, I've had people come up
to me and say things to me and say that I was wrong and they were right, but
it's rare. I also have people come up to me after every sermon and tell me
that in heaven we're gonna have eternal fornication. Argue me every
single, I'm just like, what in the world? And that's just the tip of
the iceberg of doctrines that I was being taught after every sermon. And it's
so funny to me because then people accuse our churches and they'll say about
steadfast or anchor or whatever they say. You know what? Whenever there's
these controversies, all the weirdos stay and the normal people leave. And
I'm thinking like, hmm, y'all are the weirdos. The guy that believes in
eternal fornication was the normal guy that left. Yeah, okay. It's so,
it's so interesting how that really works. But you know what? As a pastor,
sometimes you'll have people come up to you and say, hey, this, you're like,
no, you're wrong. Nope. That's not what the Bible says. Here's what the Bible
says. Here's, here's what's going on. You have to tell people that they're
wrong. They don't need more friends. They need a pastor. People in this
room don't need more friends. They need a preacher. People in this room
don't need more friends. They need a prophet. And you know, you shouldn't
be afraid of offending people with the truth or what the Word of God says
because ultimately it's not your truth. The dispense, it's God's truth. And
we should not be ashamed of what the Bible says. You should not be
embarrassed of what God says. We should not, we should not withhold
what the Bible says. And the Bible gives us warning here in Ezekiel
chapter number three. I'm not going to read all of it. I would like
to, but for sake of time, I'm just going to read a little bit. It says in
verse one, Moreover, he said to me, Son of man, eat that they'll find us, eat
this role and go speak into the house of Israel. So I opened my mouth and
he caused me to eat that role. Let's talk about the Bible. Eat the
Bible. Not literally, don't eat this. Read it. That's what he's
saying. Get this inside of you metaphorically, spiritually. Eat the
Bible. Eat the Bible. Study the Bible so that you can speak the
Bible verse three. And he said to me, Son of man, cause thy
belly to eat and fill thy bowels with this role that I give thee.
Then did I eat? And it was in my mouth as honey for sweetness.
Notice the Bible is compared and likened unto honey and it's
sweet. The Bible is very sweet. But, but here's the problem.
He said in verse 40, He said unto me, Son of man, go get the
end of the house of Israel and speak with my words unto them.
Tell them what I'm going to say.
And he says in verse number, let's just skip down to verse eight.
Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces and thy
forehead strong against their foreheads as an adamant harder
than Flint. Have I made thy forehead? Fear them not.
Neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a
rebellious house. Let me tell you something. When you preach
uncomfortable things, you get some weird looks in the
congregation. And at first you're thinking like maybe
she's just having a bad day today.
And then you're like, wow, it's a bad night too. And it's a
bad Wednesday. And it's a bad next week. Then you start
realizing she's not just having a bad day. She's got a bad
attitude. He's got a bad attitude. You know what? Just
preach the truth anyways. And you know, I mean, I look
around. I try I try to look at people the same no matter
what. If you have a bad face at me, I'll just look at
you anyways. If you don't, I won't too. You know, and in a
smaller church, it's just that much more awkward. So, so
here's my advice. Just look at everybody. Just make them all
uncomfortable. Okay, don't. And even even reverse
psychology, people people would play every game. They'll
think like, well, he wasn't looking at me because he was
talking about me. And there's like he was looking at
me because he's talking about me. It's just because
people think everything's about them. And let me tie. Here's
a little secret, buddy. 90% of the time when people tell me
you're preaching about me, I wasn't. I wasn't. Now, here's
the thing. When you asked me, I'll just say yes anyways,
though. Because I didn't know, but it obviously was for you.
Because if you feel like the preaching is for you, it's
because it was for you. I would sure hope that
preaching is for me. And we all need to make changes. We
all need to grow. And you know what? People are going to be
rebellious. That's not your fault. That's their fault. That's
their problem. Hey, they don't want to hear. Okay. But let's
keep reading because this is important verse 17. Son of
man, I've made the watchman in the house of Israel,
therefore hear the word in my mouth and give them
warning for me. When I say unto the wicked thou so
surely die, and thou givest him not warning, nor
speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way to
save his life, the same wicked man shall die in his
iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand. Hey,
you better preach to uncomfortable truths because
God will hold you responsible if you don't tell
people. We as God's preachers must tell people
that they're wicked. We must tell people when
they're wicked that they're wicked and that the
iniquity that they're doing is iniquity and that
they're sinning and that God is mad at them. How
dare you say that God's mad at me? No, how
dare I not tell you that God's mad at you? The
Bible is not saying, hey, you know what? How dare
you speak for God? It's how dare you not speak for
God? You are the preacher of God's word. Preach
what the Bible says no matter who it affects, no
matter who it applies to and say, hey, if you're
wicked, you're wicked. Get right with God. Quit
doing quit being rebellious. Quit having a bad
face on your or quit a bad look on your face. Quit
being bitter. That's your problem. Why? Verse 19,
yet if thou warned the wicked and he turned not
from his wickedness nor from his wicked way, he
shall die in his iniquity. But thou hast delivered
thy soul. Hey, why warn people because God is
not someone to be messed with. God is not
someone to play around with. You reap what
you sow. Verse 20, this is important too. Again,
when a righteous man, the turn from his
righteousness and commit iniquity. Let me explain
this. It's called being backslidden. Backslidden.
People that are in a good church, going soul
winning, knowing what the Bible says, and then
they turn from that. They stop going to a good
church. They stop reading their Bible. They
stop going soul winning. Whatever sin they
were struggling with, they go back to their
sin. They go back to the bottle. They go back
to weed. They go back to marijuana. They go
back to their bad friends. They go back to
the people that you shouldn't be around. They
go back to some bad church. They go back to
some whore that they were hanging out with.
They go back to some ex-boyfriend. They go
back to that evil person in their family.
They go back to the reprobates of their
family. You know what? That person is
in danger. What does he say? When he turns
from his righteousness and commits
an equity, I will lay a stumbling block
before him. He shall die. This is crazy.
Think about it. He's saying when you get
backslidden, God is then going to put
something in front of you to make you
trip and fall. God will. God will
purposely try to trip you up and
destroy you because of your rebellion.
And what should the preacher say? Don't
go over there. There's stumbling
blocks set by God himself. Don't go down
the road of booze. There's a stumbling
block called a DUI. There's a stumbling
block called killing somebody while
drunk and driving. There's a stumbling
block of something laced in that
marijuana and it rotting your brain.
There's a stumbling block with this
whore that doesn't really love you
and will destroy your marriage and
destroy your family and destroy your
brain. Hey, you go to that church.
There's a heresy there just waiting to
trap you and for you to start giving
money to build the third temple for
the Antichrist. That would be really
frustrating. You get up to heaven and
you're waiting for your rewards. God,
I gave half a million dollars to that
church. No, you gave it to the
Antichrist. Wow, that would be
disappointing. That would be disappointing.
Hey, you know what's cool about
Steadbabs Baptist Church? We take some
of our money and we give it to
Brother Duncan or Bannock and the
Philippines who's doing soul winning
all the time. Who's literally
getting hundreds of people saved every
month. What an awesome. He's helping
churches. He's trying to plant more
churches. He's trying to reach
people in an area that sucks to
live in. Like if you think going to
the Philippines is fun as a
Silver Spooned American, you are
mistaken. We're about to have
Texas brisket today. You are going
to be spoiled. And let me tell you
something about Oklahoma. It may
not have anything fun to do. It may
be pretty boring and dry. It's
really windy, but you have some
good food here. And when you go
to the Philippines, you're going
to be like, wow, I missed that
Oklahoma food. I missed the
delicacies of American life. I
missed how amazing Oklahoma was
because it is literally living like
a king over here in comparison. And
you know what? It makes sense for us
to be sending people out there to
these places where they're living a
major sacrificial life, a major
detriment to what their personal
well-being had been in the prior
time, to reach people for Christ
because that's the only thing that
matters. And think about all the
people that he got saved, that you're
going to go up into heaven and they're
going to say, oh wow, I got saved
because you were giving money to
this church and you were sending an
evangelist and they preached me the
gospel and I got saved and you're
going to rejoice with the guy
because you planted another watered
and God gave the increase. But let
me tell you something. Building a
physical temple in Israel is
meaningless. It is wood, hay and
stubble. And God, you think God's
pleased with all these churches today
that have all these building funds
for a temple in Israel? They're drying
up, they're sucking all the money out
of their congregation, and they're not
even getting the people saved here,
let alone across this world. Hey, you
want to go believe those heresies?
Go have fun. But you know what?
This church won't preach that
heresy. The pastor will tell you
the uncomfortable truths that Jews
own everything and they're the
synagogue of Satan.
But you might get some opposition, sure.
But you know what? We should be more
afraid of God
than lies and demons in the synagogue
of Satan. Because God can put a
stumbling block in your life. Because
God can destroy you.
Hey, we need to deliver the righteous,
not just the wicked.
What is he saying? Verse 21, nevertheless,
if thou warned the righteous man
that the righteous sin not, and he
doth not sin, he shall surely live
because he is warned. Also, that's
delivered thysoul.
Hey, sometimes people do listen. I've
noticed hard preaching works.
Not only does hard preaching upset
people and make people mad and cause
you problems, it changes people's
lives for the better, too.
Notice there's well over 100 people
here today. How did that happen?
It wasn't the fancy building.
It wasn't the programs. It wasn't the fact
that they had coffee. I could even find
coffee. I don't even know where the...
It wasn't the chairs.
You know what? It was hard preaching. They
were saying, I don't know.
I'm having a hard time finding a place
that's just going to preach it hard
and encourage me to go soul-winning.
And you know what? It's hard to find
people that all have
a really great spirit about them.
And let me tell you something special
about the people in this room.
You find other churches. You're not going
to find people that love the Lord
like this,
that want to talk about the Bible,
that want to encourage you to get
sin out of your life,
that want to encourage you to go
soul-winning,
that want to encourage you to have a
family,
that want to encourage you to do the
right thing even when it's not fun.
You know what? It just doesn't
really exist that much anymore. There's
very few churches, very few people.
And this is something special, folks.
You need to appreciate what you have.
Some people are very spoiled.
Some people maybe have never gone to
church
that much in the past,
and they don't know what they have
here.
Go over to Joshua chapter one.
You know, I grew up in church my whole life.
You know how many times the pastor
took the church out for lunch
when I was growing up?
Zero.
You know how many times they had a
conference and an event
that I didn't have to pay to go to?
Zero times.
You know how many times they offered
me free invites
and and tracks to go out and hand out
soul winning?
Never.
You know how many times they offered
me to go out and do a free soul
winning trip
or go on a small town soul winning
and bought me lunch and other?
Never.
You know how many times they took
me to a movie theater to watch a
movie that they made for me?
Never.
You know how many times I could
call the pastor and just ask him
a question?
Never.
But then everybody wants to go to
light church, don't they?
Where you can go pay for everything
and never talk to the pastor ever,
not have any relationship with him
and just be spoon fed some garbage
that's coming out of their mouth.
You know what?
This is a different kind of church,
folks.
I've never seen a church
like these kind of churches
spend so much money back on the
congregation.
You go, you go find me.
I mean, I've been to other
old IB churches
and they had meals and stuff,
but you'd have to pay for them.
You had,
you had to do all kinds of extra
stuff for it.
People literally,
there's churches that pay,
they make you pay for the tracks.
I mean, that's weird.
I don't, I don't get it.
Okay.
I don't like that, Malo.
I like our Malo.
I like where we're just giving
stuff away
and some other stuff.
But then you do all that
and people hate you anyways.
Jesus fed all these people
and then as soon as he stopped
feeding them,
just they just leave in droves.
You know,
I don't even know if people
are here for me or Dylan
or for the food.
You know, I don't know.
I guess we'll find out tonight,
won't we?
Hey, preach the truth anyways.
Preach what the Bible says.
You know, and Jesus wasn't
afraid of calling people out
and saying like,
you're just here for the food
anyways.
But hey, I'm glad you're here.
Right?
So I could,
I could rip on you a little bit.
Joshua chapter one,
look at verse six.
Be strong and of good courage
for under this people shall
thou divide for inheritance
the land which I swear
unto their fathers to give them.
Only be thou strong
and very courageous.
Thou mayest observe to do
according to all the law,
which Moses my servant commanded
thee, turn not from it
to the right hand or the left,
that thou mayest prosper
with this or thou goest.
This book of the law
shall not depart out of thy
mouth,
but that's what I'm going to
meditate there in day and night
that thou mayest observe to do
according to all
that it's written therein
for then that shall make
thy way prosperous
and then that shall have good success.
Hey, you want to be prosperous?
Meditate on the Bible
and do it and just be strong.
Just do what the Bible says.
You know, it's,
you say like,
I want to be successful
like other pastors.
You know why they're
successful?
Because they did whatever this said.
You see a transition
from Moses to Joshua
and there was success.
Only because
Joshua also did what the Bible
said.
Yeah.
We see other successions
are not successful.
Why?
Because they didn't do
what the Bible said.
And you just read through
the Kings,
you read through the Chronicles,
you read through all these
passages of the Bible,
first and second Samuel,
first and second Kings,
you read through first
and second Chronicles
and it's like,
this guy was successful
because he did that
which was right in the eyes
of the Lord.
He obeyed God's commandments.
This guy didn't
because he didn't obey
God's commandments.
And it's just case closed
every single king.
Hey, you obey the commandments,
success,
prosperous,
good things,
you don't,
bad things,
not success.
Now all of them got attacked.
All of them had wars.
All of them had enemies
come and try to destroy them.
But the ones that were right
with God,
God delivered every single time
and the ones that were not
right with God
got carried to Babylon.
Got their children
to become eunuchs.
Got their wives ravished
in front of their eyes.
Talk about one of the
worst things imaginable.
Some of them
got their children
slaughtered in front of them
like Zedekiah
and then their eyes
poked out right after.
The last thing you've ever seen
is your children
destroyed in front of your eyes.
Why? Because you didn't do
what the Bible said.
Do what the Bible says.
It does not matter
how unpopular it is.
Jeremiah has to be like,
let's go to Jeremiah chapter one,
go to Jeremiah chapter one.
Preach the truth.
Say like, man,
I thought you're going to
go to another point.
This point is what matters, folks.
And it seems simple.
It seems so simple,
but it's so hard.
It's difficult.
Preach what the Bible says.
Jeremiah chapter one, verse four.
Then the word of the Lord
came unto me saying,
before I formed thee in the belly,
I knew thee.
And before that came
as for that of the womb,
I sanctified thee and ordained
the prophets under the nations.
Then said I,
oh, Lord God,
behold, I cannot speak,
for I'm a child.
Jeremiah thought he was too
young to preach the word of God.
But you know what?
Don't have that attitude.
You're going to be a pastor.
You preach the Bible.
Don't say you're a child.
Don't say, I'm not a pastor.
I'm not a pastor.
Don't say, I'm not ready to preach this.
Preach the Bible.
Preach the truth.
He says,
but unto 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.
Be not afraid of their faces,
for I am with thee to deliver thee,
say it to the Lord.
Hey, don't be afraid of these people.
Preach the Bible.
Preach the truth.
Preach what God said.
Don't be afraid of their faces.
Why?
Verse 16.
And I'll utter my judgments against them,
touching all their wickedness,
who have forsaken me,
and have burned incense unto other gods,
and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Thou, therefore, gird up thy loins,
and arise and speak unto them all
that I command thee.
Be not dismayed at their faces,
lest I confound thee before them.
Hey, you stop preaching what the Bible says,
and God will make your sermons turn into junk.
I wonder how many pastors that's happened to.
Go to Deuteronomy chapter 4.
I wonder how many pastors started out hot,
were ready to preach the Bible,
and then they started getting scared.
They stopped preaching what the Bible said,
they stopped saying what they need to say,
and now they're preaching weird stuff.
Now they're preaching born that way.
And it's like, now you just look like an idiot.
Now you just look like a weirdo.
People repeating lies of Sam Gipp
and the heresies of all kinds of false prophets
of Scofield and all kinds of strange
and winds of doctrine that creep in.
Look, if you won't preach what the Bible says,
then God will say,
okay, I'll bring you something to preach,
and it'll just make you look like an idiot.
Preach what the Bible says.
You won't look like an idiot preaching the Bible to God,
but you know what?
You'll look like an idiot to everybody when you stop.
He'll make you look so dumb.
Don't stop preaching the Bible.
It's not like Joel Osteen's winning people over.
I mean, somebody out there, but frankly speaking,
he's kind of a laughing stock too.
Do it on any chapter four, verse two, the Bible says,
you should not add under the word which I command you,
neither shall you diminish off from it,
that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God
which I command you.
Hey, don't add to the Bible and don't take away.
Preach whatever it says.
Go to chapter 12 and look at verse 32.
How many, how many verses do you need?
You should only need one.
How about dozens?
Preach the truth.
Don't add, don't take away.
Preach what the Bible says.
We use that in context of modern Bibles,
but you know it's also in context of preaching
that you don't take away from what God said in your preaching
and you don't add to what God said in your preaching either.
You preach what the Bible says.
And if you have to express your opinion,
tell people that it's your opinion.
There's nothing wrong with expressing your opinion,
expounding on things, trying to give application,
but you know what?
Make a clear distinction when it's thus say the Lord.
Just like the Apostle Paul does in 1 Corinthians chapter number seven.
Hey, now what I'm saying is not what I'm saying is what God said.
And then he says, now let me give you my opinion.
It's okay.
And he says, I think I have the spirit of God.
I'm not saying this just because I wanted to say something random.
I'm saying this because I think this is right,
but you know what?
Trust God's word over what I'm saying anyways.
You know, as a pastor, as a preacher,
sometimes we have to elaborate, expand on, and clarify things,
and give people practical example.
But at the end of the day,
make sure you're thundering forth what the Bible says,
and that you're not making your ideas and your opinions God's word.
Hey, here's my opinion on how you should do this,
but ultimately if God's word contradicts, let's do what God said.
Period.
Do you know what I mean?
Chapter 12, look at verse 32.
What's everything I command you observed to do it?
Thou so not add there to nor diminish from it.
It's like God as a counselor, repeat himself because we're thick-headed.
You have to go to Proverbs 30, you go to Proverbs 30.
You need to preach the truth.
I don't care, I don't care what it is.
And you know what?
I'll always, I'll always be pleased with this church
as long as you're preaching the truth.
You can do so many things that I don't agree with,
and I'll still support you and love you and help you,
as long as you're preaching the truth.
I mean, if you're preaching the truth, I'm on your team and God's on your team.
And you're going to make mistakes, you're going to have problems,
things aren't going to go perfectly, but just preach the truth.
You know, God uses imperfect people, but what he wants is the truth
to be preached and to be proclaimed.
Proverbs chapter 30, look at verse number five.
Every word of God is pure.
He is a shield to them that put their trust in him,
add that not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and they'll be found a liar.
When you don't preach the Bible, you're in dangerous territory
where you can be exposed for lying.
Go to Ecclesiastes chapter 12.
Point one, preach the truth.
Point two, you also need to have grace.
The law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
And here's the thing, you can still preach the truth and it be gracious.
And the smart pastor preaches the truth.
The wise pastor preaches it with grace.
The good pastor preaches the truth.
The wise and understanding pastor preaches it with grace.
And sometimes you have to recognize, you know,
this message might be hard for someone to hear.
So I want to make sure to present it where I'm not compromising the truth,
but I'm extending and giving grace to people that are wrong,
that have this issue, that have this problem.
You know, hey, preach that whoredom is wicked,
but don't preach that they're reprobates because they're whore.
That's not gracious. That's lying.
You can preach the truth and yet not necessarily be harsh in every way.
Now, sometimes the truth's harsh and you can't really hide the truth.
You can't really hide the harshness.
You can't hide the difficulty.
Jesus Christ said, all men cannot receive this saying.
Jesus Christ said, some sayings are hard sayings.
Sometimes what Jesus said rebuked and offended the Pharisees.
You got to do it.
But the Bible is not saying that Jesus wasn't gracious because he was.
He talked to a lot of evil people, a lot of sinful people,
a lot of people with problems,
and he was gracious unto them and tried to give them opportunity to change.
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 9,
and moreover because the preacher was wise,
he still taught the people knowledge.
Yeah, he gave good heat and sought out and said in order of many proverbs.
Verse 10, the preacher sought to find out acceptable words
and that which was written was upright even words of truth.
Hey, you need to figure out what's the best words to use.
Words that are true but gracious, the right words.
The words of the wise are as goes and nails fastened
by the masses as assemblies which are given from one shepherd.
Make sure what you're saying is right,
but also when you can, bring in grace.
Go over to 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2.
What's the truth?
People deserve hell.
What's the grace?
You can be saved.
You need to preach that fornication is wicked,
but what's the grace?
You can get married and fix it.
You can stop fornicating and fix it.
Drunkenness is wicked, but the grace is you can be sober.
Hey, when you fall from church and you get backslidden in your sin,
that's the truth and you're in danger,
but you know what?
The grace is you can be restored.
The grace is that, hey, you're not doomed.
The women at the well, the women at the well,
what was the truth?
She was a whore.
What was the grace?
She could get saved and she gave other people saved
and that Jesus loved her.
Matthew is the receipt of custom.
Hey, tax collectors are bad people, but he can still be used of God.
And here's the reality.
God always wants to use us.
And so God mixes truth with grace.
Some people don't understand these words.
The truth will tell you what you're like.
Grace will allow you to change.
Grace will give you opportunity to be a better version of yourself.
And grace is not tolerating sin.
Grace is not covering sin.
Grace is not necessarily not exposing sin,
but it's giving you a chance to restore.
Now, of course, God's grace covers our sin in the sense of salvation,
but at the same time,
but at the same time, it's not covering it automatically.
We have to enter into that grace, don't we?
We have to receive that grace.
God's grace isn't just,
hey, everybody's a sinner, but you're still going to heaven.
God's grace is, hey, if you accept the gift of my son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, you can get saved.
So grace gives you the opportunity to change.
You're a sinner on your way to hell.
Grace gives you the opportunity to get saved and go to heaven.
But grace isn't just an automatic just,
hey, it doesn't matter that you're a sinner.
It doesn't matter that you've done wrong.
It doesn't matter that you deserve hell.
We don't even need to talk about that.
God's not mad at you.
No, no, no.
God is mad at you.
But grace gives you opportunity to be right with God and be blessed by God.
So we need to make sure when we're preaching the Bible,
hey, we're going to tell you what you're like
and where you're at with God and what your status is.
But the grace is you have a chance to change.
You have a chance to get right with God.
You have a chance to clean up.
You have a chance to be used by God.
And we want to make sure people are being used by God.
As long as you've got breath in your lungs, you can be used by God.
Second Timothy chapter number two, verse 24.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive but be gentle on all men.
Hey, be gentle when you can.
App to teach patient and meekness,
instructing those that oppose themselves.
Hey, if someone comes in here and they're not King James only,
what a reprobate.
What an evil worker.
You know you're carrying heresy around your hand.
That's not very gracious.
That's not enough very gentle.
That's not very meek, is it?
Because a lot of us probably use the bad version.
Who in here read a bad version prior to the King James?
Oh, yeah.
So maybe we should be gracious to people that didn't know that truth already.
And lovingly show them, hey, here's some differences.
Here's why we use the King James.
Here's what's going on with us.
Not just crucifying people for their mistake,
that you had to make a change too.
Why?
If God eventually will give their repentance and acknowledge you in the truth.
And that they may recover themselves as the snare of the devil,
or taken captive by him at his will.
Of course salvation is a great application here,
but we could extend that.
We always want to be meek and instruct those that oppose themselves
and try to help them.
I just want to give a few more just admonitions.
I'm not going to go to a ton of verses here, but
go view to Matthew 5.
You know the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 we have charity
and the Bible says charity never faileth.
But it says, hey, prophecies are going to fail.
Here's the thing.
Brother Oz, your preaching is going to fail.
People aren't going to remember it.
People are going to ask you questions about your sermon
that you explain in your sermon right after your sermon.
It always happens.
And they're going to forget and they're going to get confused.
And you'll preach it.
I preach this five times and they still don't get it.
But your charity will stick with them more.
Your preaching won't necessarily stick with them as much as your charity will.
And charity never faileth.
Love on people, do good unto people, help people, and they'll stick with you.
Focus on the people that you have, not on the people you don't have.
Hey, that's for all of us.
Hey, focus on the wife you have, not on the wife you don't have.
Focus on the children you have, not on the children you don't have.
You know, if you want to have a big flock,
to me it's more important to become a great shepherd
than to try and drag people in.
Because I believe if you become a great shepherd, God will bring a flock to you.
Give yourself time to grow and to learn how to pastor and to learn how to preach the Bible
and just become a great shepherd of the people that you do have.
God will bring you more flock.
God cares about his sheep more than you do and more than I do.
And he wants to put his sheep with the right type of shepherds.
And when you're not a good shepherd,
God will try to take those sheep away from you and give them to the right kind of shepherd.
Give people clear instruction from your preaching.
Don't let people guess, let them know.
Jacob had a small flock for a long time, but then God gave him all of Laban's.
David had those few sheep in the wilderness, but then he had all of Israel.
Joseph was thrown in prison and had nothing, but then he became ruler of all of Egypt.
Focus on having character, focus on having integrity,
focus on being someone that knows what the Bible says and having the truth,
and then God will give you the people that you need.
Jesus washed the disciples' feet.
He fed them, he taught them, he loved them, he died for them.
Let his example be the example for a pastor.
And whenever you're in controversy, whenever you have difficult decisions to make,
when you don't know what to do, always make the spiritual decision.
Whatever is the most spiritual decision, always make that.
It doesn't matter who's with you, you know what's right, you make the right decision.
Beware of flatterers. Beware of flatterers. Beware of flatterers.
You're a young pastor. You are very talented. You're a good preacher.
Beware of the person that comes up to you and says,
this is the greatest sermon I've ever heard, every sermon.
Do not allow yourself to be eaten up with the pride of flatterers.
They want to destroy you. Stay humble. Stay humble. Stay humble.
You're young. If there's anything in the Bible that warns about young preachers
being lifted up with pride, stay humble. Stay meek.
Look to the example of others that have gone before you. Trust in other people.
Pride will destroy you. Pastor Oz, you will be lied about.
You will be hated. You'll be called names and you'll be despised.
That's what the Bible says. Don't think that you won't be hated.
I remember when I was being sent out by Pastor Anderson and he said,
everybody's going to hate you. And I said, nobody even knows who I am.
Nobody cares that I exist. And he says, just give them time to hate you.
They just need time. Matthew chapter five, look at verse 11.
Blessed are you and men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say,
oh man, our evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad
for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets would be before
you. Look, they're going to hate you. Look at chapter 10, verse 24. Chapter 10, verse 24.
The disciple is not above his master nor the servant above his Lord. It is enough
for the disciple that he be as his master. Oh, you're just like Pastor Shelley.
It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master. Oh, you're like Pastor Anderson.
It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master. Oh, you're like Jesus Christ.
It is enough for the disciple to be as his master. Hey, I sure hope that no one ever says,
man, Pastor Shelley, he's just like Joel Osteen. You know who he reminds me of? Kenneth Copeland.
You know what he's like? John MacArthur. You know, I'm so glad that they compare,
when I get these comparisons, it's somebody that's actually a godly, God fearing good
preacher. And they can say, well, he's not as good as him. That's fine. As long as I'm just
kind of like him, you know, that's good for me. I'm so glad that I'm not like these weirdos and
these heretics and these freaks. You're not supposed to preach another doctrine anyways.
Ah, man, he preached it just like them. Good. I hope that is your accusation forever. I hope
it's like he always preaches like Pastor Shelley. I hope so. I hope it's not like,
what is this weird stuff he's preaching? It says it is enough for the disciple that he
be as his master and the servant as his Lord. If they have called the master of the house,
Beelzebub, how much more? So they call them of his household. Hey, if they call Jesus a devil
and a demon, he's saying they're going to call us worse names. You're going to be called
everything you could ever think of and things you couldn't think of. All of it.
Go to Luke 21. Go to Luke 21.
Say, this is a long sermon. Well, you know what? Ministry is going to be a long time.
Dylan's got a long ministry ahead of him. Luke 21 verse 15. It's the last time I get to preach
here. So, you know, for sure. Just trying to soak it in. Luke 21 verse 15. I will give you
a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries shall not be able to gain, say, nor resist.
Hey, you want to preach good sermons? Ask God to help you do that. And you shall be betrayed
both by parents and brethren and kinsfolks and friends. And some of you shall they cause
me to put the death and you shall be hated of all men for my namesake. Hey, don't be surprised
when your parents hate you. Don't be surprised when your brothers and sisters hate you.
Don't be surprised when your kids hate you. Don't be surprised when your friends hate you.
That's what the Bible says. I didn't say it. Jesus Christ said it. This is red letters. People
are going to hate you. People are going to despise you. People are going to lie about you.
People are going to separate you from your company. Why? For Christ's sake, but blessed
are you. Don't get discouraged. Say, you know what? I'm on the right path.
Hey, you're just adding to your mansion in heaven. And you know what? Let it always be
them that hate you and them that separate and them that do the bad. But you know what? You love
them back. We love our enemies. We love our parents and we love our brothers and we love
our children and we love our friends. But you know what? They will stab you in the back.
They will stab you in the back. It happens. It hurts. It hurts. Go to Philippians.
There's been people I thought were my best friend. They were not.
There are people that you think are going to go the distance with you and they will not.
There will be people that will do good unto you and that you will only do good unto them
and they will stab you in the back. I'm telling you now because it hurts.
Just be ready. Just know that it can happen and never ever trust people with things you can't lose.
Philippians chapter 1 verse 27, the Bible says only let your conversation be as it
become at the gospel of Christ that whether I come and see you or else be absent,
I may hear of your fares that you stand fast in one spirit with the one mind
striving together for the faith of the gospel and in nothing terrified by your adversaries.
You're going to have enemies. Don't allow them to scare you. Don't allow them to intimidate you.
It says in nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is them an evident token of their petition
but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ,
not only to believe on him but also to suffer his first sake. Pastor Oz,
it's not enough for you to just believe you need to suffer and if you preach the truth
and you only do good, you will suffer. Don't think, hey, I must be doing something wrong.
We all do things that are wrong but you know why you suffer because you did things that were right.
Be afraid if you never suffer. Be afraid if you're without chastisement.
Don't be afraid of the sufferings. Embrace the sufferings. I have two
verses left that I want to give for the congregation. Go to 1st Thessalonians
chapter 5. Here's to you to the congregation and we'll go eat brisket, all right?
So that's the only reason I'm here. Well, then this applies to you, okay?
1st Thessalonians chapter 5, look at verse 12, the Bible says,
And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labor among you and are
over you and the Lord and amonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love
for their works sake. Hey, you need to esteem your pastors and your evangelists
and your deacons and your leaders very highly, very highly in love. Why? Because of the work
that they're doing, because of their soul winning, because of their example,
because of their preaching, love them for that and esteem them very highly for that.
Oh, you guys lift up pastors and you look up the pastors. What does the Bible say?
Hey, sorry you don't like the Bible. I love the Bible and you know what? I love men of God
and I love church and I love pastors and I love evangelists and I love deacons and you know what?
I love soul winning captains and I love people that are just soul winners
and I love God's people and you know what? We should esteem them very highly in love
for their works sake.
You know who usually hates is the people that are lazy because they're just mad at their own laziness.
Verse 14, now we exhort your brethren, warn them that are unruly,
comfort the feeble mind and support the weak, be patient toward all men. See that none render
evil for evil in any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves and all men.
Hey, you as a congregation love your pastor, help your pastor, respect your pastor and love
the brethren and you know what? When someone's upset with the pastor, warn them that are unruly
and the people that get weak and get back slidden, what does it say? Comfort the feeble
minded and support the weak and be patient. Come alongside them.
Now the evil wicked, you know, haters have nothing to do with them.
Go to Hebrews 13 and you know what? Sometimes you got to kick people out of church.
Give them tough love, support your pastor, back up your pastor. Don't call the hater
and hate on your pastor with them. Now here's the thing, I don't throw people out of church
for talking to people that they shouldn't, but don't do it. Please don't do it. When people
get poisoned against your church and poisoned against your pastor, when they're sinning,
when they're doing wrong, you know what? You don't go and hang out with them.
It's the same as leprosy. You're not going to go hang out with someone that's physical leprosy
because you don't want to get sick, but sometimes people have spiritual leprosy and you need to
say like, hey, I'll talk to you from afar. Hey, buddy, get well. Stop. Quit drinking.
Quit lying. Quit railing. Quit extorting. Quit doing all these things. Just get right with God.
You know? And it hurts. You know what? I have to separate from people that I love.
You know, the point is to keep this pure, is to keep this on the right path.
Some people are going to destroy this. Some people are going to try and derail this. Some
people are going to put stumbling blocks. As the pastor, a good pastor will occasionally
remove trash. I mean, what if we, what if you came to this church today and it's like,
we haven't taken the trash out of this building in 15 weeks? It would stink.
It would be rotten. You know what? You like a place because if you go to a restaurant,
you want it to be clean. If it was dirty, you wouldn't like it. You wouldn't like the cockroaches
and all this stuff. You know what? Churches can have cockroaches and trash and all kinds of stuff
come in and it's nice when the pastor just keeps it clean. You know what? I show up at a restaurant
and it's seating is 200 capacity and there's 15 or 20 people there. I still love eating at that
restaurant and if it's full, I still like eating at that restaurant, but I hate it when it's dirty
and it doesn't matter how many people are there. And you know what? I'd rather eat spiritually at
a church that's running 15 people and clean than the one that's 200 and it's dirty.
It's 200 and there's cockroaches. It's 200 and there's a tranny sitting over there right next
to me and they get a rabbi to come up and bless the congregation. It's so funny. People
like, I'm going to leave this church because they're friends with somebody I don't like,
but then they'll go to a church that has literal pedophiles that they support.
False prophets and heretics and all kinds of people that support, you know, the synagogue of
Satan, they'll bring them in, they'll bring the mayor, they'll bring whoever. And it's just
like, what are you trading here? What is the Bible saying? Hebrews 13 verse 17,
obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for your souls.
Did you remember Ezekiel? He was watching for their souls.
Obey the guy that's in charge. Obey the pastors. Obey them that have the rule over you. Oh,
you think some people are in charge? Yes, I do. Obey the ruler. Obey the pastor.
And I scream this because I'm not going to be a pastor anymore. So you're like,
oh, you're just saying that for yourself. Obey your new pastor. Do what he says.
And if you don't like it, quietly disagree and then change your mind and realize he was right.
It sounds like a cop. Well, then leave already. We don't want you.
Hey, what is the Bible? I'm telling you what the Bible says. Obey them that have the rule over
you and submit yourself. You know what submitting is when you disagree. Well, I can't do this.
I don't agree. Do it anyways. Now, if he's telling you to sin, never do it. Obviously,
there's clear boundaries. You always do what's right for you and your family. You always do
what's right according to the Bible and the word of God. But if your pastor is telling you to
do something and it's not a sin in the Bible, you do it every time. You just submit. Why?
For they watch your souls as they, that must give an account. Give account that they may do
it with joy and not with grief or that has been profitable for you.
You know, you're going to have to stand before God, Dylan. And you're going to have to give an
account of what those people, what these people did. And you can say, I told them,
and they didn't listen. And he's like, you're right. But you know what I don't want?
And I don't want for you. It's for God to say, you didn't tell that guy.
You didn't tell that lady. You didn't tell that family. You didn't warn that person.
I'm going to require their blood at your hand.
Hey, you have to realize he has an important job. He has a lot of pressure.
God is watching what he's doing. And some people have this idea, I need to hold my
pastor accountable. Why don't you just let God do it?
Like, I think God's got it. You know, people that think that they need to hold their pastor
accountable for everything, they don't have a big God. They don't have faith in God,
because you know what? I'm way more afraid of God than you guys anyways.
And he knows everything that's going on that you don't know anyways.
We need to just trust the Lord. And you know what? As a pastor, as a preacher,
you better preach the truth. And you know what? Do it with as much grace as you can.
That's what the wise pastor will do. And as the congregation, just say in your heart,
I want truth. Whatever, if it hurts me, if I don't like it, and whatever I'm told,
I'm just going to do it, as long as it's what the Bible is saying. And if my pastor gives
me grace, great. If he doesn't, if it was true, here's the thing. I would love for the
pastor to always give me grace, but sometimes I just need truth. And here's the thing. If you're
offended, always ask yourself this question. But is it true? Because if it's true, don't be mad at him.
Only be mad if he's lying to you. Only be mad if he's not preaching the Bible. And you know
what? If he starts preaching lies, say, what about this? Hey pastor, this is what the
Bible is saying. Hey pastor, this, when he's not, when he's in his lane, he's preaching the truth,
just take it. Take it like a man. Gird up your loins like a man and just take the hard truths of
the Bible and then be thankful when he gives you a little bit of grace too. And you know what?
Pray that this church will be a great success because there's too many people dying going to
hell and we need more soul winners, not less. We need more people to preach the gospel,
not less. We need more good churches, not less. And the only way for good churches to exist
is for you to support people that are going to preach the truth. If you get offended by everything,
then it's just going to be Jeremiah over here. You know what? Ask for me in my house,
wheels are the Lord. I'm going to preach the truth whether you like it or not.
Whether the church grows or it doesn't. Whether I get to have friends with church
plants or not, I'm going to keep preaching the truth. I don't care if everybody stops
being my friend, I'm going to still preach what the Bible says. And you know what? We
need people to support those people. That's the only way to have good churches in this world again
is you guys. All right, let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for the truth.
Thank you for giving us this bright and shining light in such a dark world.
I pray that you would just bless this upcoming church, Anchor Baptist Church,
so you bless Brother Oz and that you would use him greatly, that you would encourage
him to preach the truth, that you would allow him to be used mightily, that you would protect him in
his family. And I pray that you would just knit the hearts of the people of this church to him
and allow them to be used greatly by their new pastor and by the word of God and reach many
people for the cause of Christ. I pray that this church would just be such a bright and
shining light that you get so many people saved and more people be turned to righteousness
and that you could build this church over time. I pray that you would help all the people here
to just continue to live and serve Christ better. In Jesus' name we pray amen.
Now at this time I want Brother Oz to still come up here.
Will you help me just unpack these things real quick? Come up right here.
So I'm going to be laying hands on Brother Oz and I'm going to be praying for him and
ordaining him as the pastor of this church this afternoon. And I want you guys to also be praying
with me and essentially asking the Lord to bless him and his family and to encourage him after
this. After this service he'll no longer just be Brother Oz, he'll be Pastor Dylan Oz.
And whether he likes that title or not, you like that title and you call him Pastor Oz,
okay? And congratulate him and his family and make sure to congratulate Anchor Baptist Church
and support them as well. So I'm going to pray with him. I'm going to pray over him and I want
you guys to pray with me this afternoon, okay? Thank you Heavenly Father so much for Brother
Oz and his family. I pray that you would just fill him with your Holy Spirit right now,
that you would give him a special gift as a pastor of this new church, Anchor Baptist Church.
I pray that you would just fill him with so much wisdom and understanding, that you would just open
his mind and you would show him all the wondrous things in the Bible. I pray that you would just
strengthen him right now, that you'd give him wisdom beyond his years, that you'd help him
to mature spiritually and to be able to lead this congregation. I pray that you would just
use him mightily to preach the Word of God, to preach against all the spiritual wickedness
in high places. I pray that you would just protect him and his family, that you would
encourage his wife and his children, and that you would just help them to be a blessing and an
encouragement to Pastor Oz. I pray that you would just help this congregation to be knit under
their pastor and to love their pastor and respect their pastor. And I pray that you would just
create an unbreakable bond between many of the people in this room. I pray that you would use
Brother Oz's voice to reach the world with the gospel. I pray that you would hear not
only the gospel but all the parts of the Bible. I pray that his doctrine be fully known because we
know it's the Word of God that is being delivered. I pray that you would also protect him from all
the evil people that want to destroy him and I pray that you would destroy his enemies. I pray
that you would just go before him and that you would just open a great door, that you would
pour out a blessing from heaven upon him in this church, that you'd bless them financially,
that you'd bless Brother Oz financially, that you would help him in his work and his
endeavors. I pray that you would bring him people that could be used mightily of God
and I pray that you would use the people that are here to be a great blessing and to come alongside
him and lift up his hands as he goes to battle. I pray that you would continue to allow Brother
Oz to be a great friend but also a great pastor and I pray that you would just bless them in
every way possible. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Congratulations. So we have a couple
gifts for you. We have your ordination certificate here. Let's go ahead and give a round of applause.
And we have, we have a nice anchor Baptist church sign for you here right here. Let's give
him another round of applause. All right. So we're going to go ahead and sing our last song
and then make sure to congratulate them but you're free to go to lunch. It's over here in this,
this suite. It's 836A? Yes, 836A all the way down in the corner. There's free brisket
and lunch and everything provided. Make sure to go down there and have lunch
and stick around. We'll have soul-winning meat here at 2. Thank you so much everybody for coming.
Thank you for letting me be your pastor and thank you. I love you guys so much. Even though I may
not be your direct pastor, I'll still always be your friend. I'll still always help you
and if you ever need anything, please, please talk to me. I'd love to help you but also
give your pastor the preeminence. Talk to him first. Help him and encourage him
but of course I'll still always be your friend. I love you guys very much.
We have an anger that keeps our soul.
Stand fast and sure while the billows roll.
Fasting to the rock which cannot move.
Round it firm and deep in the Savior's blood.
On the third.
Where our eyes behold through the gathering night.
The city of Lord our harbour bright.
We shall anger that's by the head we short.
With the storms all pass forevermore.
We have anger that keeps our soul.
Stand fast and sure while the billows roll.
Fasting to the rock which cannot move.
Round it firm and deep in the Savior's blood.
Amen. With that, any orders, mutes? All right.
I was just going to say we had 153 people in service today and so thank you so much for
your time.
Thanks for your time.
Go get some lunch.