Music
What is it again, Pastor? What is the acronym? Water, Fire, Food. That's the ticket.
Anyway, thank you, Pastor. That was a great sermon, so I did take notes because I just don't have a photographic memory.
Anyway, so we got to learn how to survive out in the wilderness and how to build a shelter that we needed.
We just got some spiritual principles out of that. It was a really, really great sermon.
Tonight, after the service, we're going to have Tillamook ice cream. That's your reward for having to listen to me for the rest of the evening.
I only have about an hour and 45-minute sermon planned tonight, so the ice cream might melt. I'm just kidding. I'll try not to make it that long.
The songs went so long, so I was just going to have to cut into yours. You're not cutting into my time. I'm going to cut into yours.
Anyway, like Pastor said, you should be used to it by now. Anyway, I'm preaching a standalone sermon tonight, so it won't be in our Exodus book.
We'll come back to that in a couple weeks. Anyway, ice cream right after the service. We have various different kinds.
It's Tillamook ice cream, so you don't want to pass that up.
October 25th, we have our men's leadership class. That's this Tuesday at 7 p.m.
October 28th through 30th, that's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
It's a special service weekend up in Surrey, B.C. at our church in Canada.
We're going to have Pastor Jared Pazarnsky there preaching for us at 10 a.m.
Friday, there's a barbecue at 7 p.m. at the church building. If you need any of the information about that, just see me after the service.
Pastor Pazarnsky will be preaching for us on Saturday, so it is Saturday at 10 o'clock in the morning.
We're going to have a lunch provided by the church, and then I'll be preaching at 1 p.m.
There's a man named Brother Jim Weeb. He's from Sound Doctrine Baptist Fellowship.
He's kind of just leading a soul winning group over in Manitoba, Canada.
I was listening to Brother Win's announcement the other night, and he's saying that technically the town that he's from is called Snowflake.
I won't say he's a Snowflake, but he's actually a Winkler, Manitoba, Canada, I guess.
Brother Win was just joking around, I think. So, anyway, nobody wants to be from Snowflake, right?
So, anyway, he'll be preaching for us there on Sunday morning in the a.m. service, which is at 10 30 a.m.
And then there'll be a men's preaching night that evening.
For anybody that's going to be here, we're having a chili potluck dinner after the morning service.
It's not a competition, but if you could bring a chili dish, I think Miss Julene's put the sign up in the group.
Is there anybody signed up for it yet?
Y'all better get busy and sign up, because otherwise I'm going to have to go to Safeway and get an Allie's or something.
And you're not going to want that or denting more or something.
So, anyway, we'll have that after the morning service.
I will be here to preach next next Sunday morning, and then we'll have a men's preaching night.
So we haven't had one of those in a long time.
So we're going to have that available and we'll have a good time with that.
And let's see, November 6 is daylight savings time, so you'll have to fall back.
Your cell phones automatically do that.
So it's not like the good old days when you had to actually turn the clock in your house.
But some people still have clocks in their house, so that's good.
But anyway, you're going to get an extra hour of sleep if you go to bed on time.
And then November 8, we're going to have a homeschool field trip to Pioneer Farms.
And that's in Eatonville, I believe, right?
Eatonville is about two hours and 15 minutes as the crow flies from here.
So if you live down south, it's going to be a little bit longer of a trip for you.
But anyway, they went six years ago, and now six years later we're going to go back there.
And it's supposed to be really fun and interesting.
So it'll be two one-and-a-half-hour tours and then a sack lunch in between so you get a break and another hour and a half.
So that is November 8 of Tuesday.
OK, November 8 is a Tuesday.
And that is, so what time? Oh, 10 a.m., OK, it's there.
All right, I just got to read.
Anyway, and then I'll be preaching in Spokane, Washington, November 20.
That's a Sunday. I'll be there for the weekend, Saturday, Sunday, coming home Monday.
That's November 20.
And then it's not on there because we just ran out of room, but the Pi Social is going to be on Tuesday the 22nd.
And so we're going to move our service from Thursday to Tuesday.
We're going to have the Pi Social after our evening service.
So that's November 22.
And then all this other stuff you already know, we're a family-integrated church.
Please make sure you're taking your children and infants to the mom-baby room or dad-baby room
if they're really distracting in the service, please.
And no dads are allowed in the mom-baby room and vice versa during the services.
And then please make sure that the rockers and gliders are available for pregnant nursing mothers or elders only.
And let's see, the food for the assembly area thing is kind of out the door today.
Please just try to clean up after yourselves, clean up after your family, and we'd appreciate that.
We have people that clean here on a volunteer basis, so if we could make it easier for them, that would be really nice.
I'm sure they'd appreciate that this week.
And then if you need an escort to your vehicle, one of the ushers, just tap one of the ushers on the shoulder.
The guys that have the badges that say usher on their jackets, and they'd be happy to take you to your vehicle.
And maybe if you're just having some health issues and you just need help in your vehicle or something, they're available for that too.
You can give online or you can text give when it comes to offerings and ties,
and then you can see the number that has come in so far for this month.
And again, if you're not 100% sure that you're saved, then we'd like to make sure that that need is taken care of for you.
If you don't know that you're saved, please see either me or one of the ushers after the service,
and we'd like to just explain to you what the Bible says it takes to go to heaven.
And if you need to be baptized, I'm also available after the service to talk to about that.
We'd be happy to baptize you, and you can either see an usher during the time of the offering
or after the service, or just come see me after the service, or any time, and I'd be happy to schedule a baptism for you.
On the back, we have the birthdays for this month, and we sang to all of them except for somebody that wasn't here.
Anyway, and Jeremy and Molly had their 8th anniversary sang to them,
and then again, congratulations to the Lambert family for the birth of Zadok Rex Lambert.
He was 7 pounds and 17 and a half inches, and he's very cute.
And so make sure that you congratulate brother Eli and Miss Amy on the birth of their new son.
With that, yep?
Brother Sean Conlon has a few things I'd like to share with you.
Oh okay, so brother Sean Conlon's wife is possibly in labor.
We had a false alarm a couple days ago, but let's just remember to pray for her
and the birth of their child too.
So with that, that's all the announcements I have.
Let's sing another song and we'll receive the offering.
Alright, our next song is song number 66, Ferris Lord Jesus.
Our new song again.
Song number 66 near Blue Henbooks, Ferris Lord Jesus.
Song number 66, Ferris Lord Jesus. Let's sing it out together on the first.
Ferris, me will I honor, thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown.
There are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Roping the blooming garb of spring.
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.
There is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry hoes.
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer,
Than all the angels heaven can boast.
Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations,
Son of God and Son of Man.
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore, he thine.
Amen. Good scene.
Brother Ryan, could you bless the offering for us?
Amen.
Now go and open your Bibles to Acts chapter 20.
Acts chapter number 20.
If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand,
and one of the ushers will bring you one.
Acts chapter number 20.
Acts 20, the Bible reads,
And after the uproar was ceased,
Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them,
and departed for to go into Macedonia.
And when he had gone over those parts,
and had given them much exhortation,
he came into Greece, and there abode three months.
And when the Jews laid wait for him,
as he was about to sail into Syria,
he purposed to return through Macedonia,
and there accompanied him into Asia,
Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians,
Aristarchus and Segundus,
and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus,
and of Asia, Tycheus and Trophimus.
These going before tarried for us at Troas.
And we sailed away from Philippi,
after the days of unleavened bread,
and came unto them to Troas in five days,
where we abode seven days.
And upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow,
and continued his speech until midnight.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber,
where they were gathered together.
And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus,
being fallen into a deep sleep.
And as Paul was long preaching,
he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft,
and was taken up dead.
And Paul went down, and fell on him,
and embracing him, said,
Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him,
when he therefore was come up again in a broken bread,
and eaten, and talked a long while,
even till break of day, so he departed.
And they brought the young man alive,
and were not a little comforted.
And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Aesus,
there intending to take in Paul,
for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.
And when he met with us at Aesus,
we took him in, and came to Mytilene.
And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios.
And the next day we arrived at Satmus,
and tarried at Trogillium.
And the next day we came to Miletus,
for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus,
because he would not spend the time in Asia,
for he hasted, if it were possible for him
to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus,
and called the elders of the church,
and when they were come to him,
he said unto them,
Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia,
after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind,
and with many tears and temptations,
which befell me by the line and weight of the Jews,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have shown you, and have taught you publicly,
and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy,
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus
to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
And now behold, I know that ye all,
among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God,
shall see my face no more.
Wherefore I take you to record this day,
that I am pure from the blood of all men,
for I have not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God.
Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock,
over the which the Holy Ghost had made you overseers,
to feed the church of God,
which he had purchased with his own blood.
For I know this, that after my departing
shall grievous wolves enter in among you,
not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise,
speaking perverse things,
to draw away disciples after them.
Therefore watch and remember,
that by the space of three years
I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears.
And now brethren, I commend you to God,
and to the word of his grace,
which is able to build you up,
and to give you an inheritance among all them
which are sanctified.
I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel.
Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands
have ministered unto my necessities,
and to them that were with me.
I have showed you all things,
how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak,
and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus,
how he said,
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
And when he had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all,
and they all wept sore,
and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,
sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake,
that they should see his face no more,
and they accompanied him unto the ship.
Brother Robert, will you pray for us?
Amen.
Alright, well I just want to direct your attention
to verse number 7,
because I want to just prove to you
that it's biblical to preach long sermons.
Look at verse 7, it says,
And upon the first day of the week,
when the disciples came together to break bread,
Paul preached unto them,
ready to depart on the morrow,
and continue his speech until midnight.
So don't get mad if you're just here until 5.15,
alright?
Put your whining, alright?
And it says,
And there were many lights in the upper chamber,
where they were gathered together,
and there sat in a window a certain young man
named Eutychus,
being fallen asleep in a deep sleep,
and as Paul was long preaching,
he sunk down with sleep,
and fell down from the third law.
So I don't get offended when people fall asleep,
because that's what happens,
but don't be surprised if you drop dead
in the middle of the service,
because you fell asleep, okay?
That's not what I'm preaching about,
but I just kind of want to kick that dog
as I walk past it,
but let's actually focus in on verse number 17,
where the Bible says,
And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus,
and called the elders of the church,
and when they were come to him,
he said unto them,
You know from the first day that I came into Asia,
after what manner I've been with you in all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind,
and with many tears,
and temptations which befell me
by the lying and weight of the Jews,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have showed you,
and have taught you publicly,
and from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews,
and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ,
and now behold I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that shall befall me there,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me,
but none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself,
so that I might finish my course with joy,
and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus,
to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
Let's have a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Lord we thank you so much for the great day we've had in church,
I pray that you just continue to bless it,
Lord I pray you fill me with your spirit as I preach your word,
I pray Lord that we would receive the things that God has,
that you have for us Lord,
and I pray that the people would hear what the spirit says unto the church tonight,
I pray you bless all aspects,
and the manner of our service,
and everything in the fellowship afterwards,
we thank you so much for all the people that showed up as guests today,
and Lord the people traveled long distance,
and thank you for the faithfulness of those that live close,
and Lord we pray that you just bless this service,
in Jesus' name, amen.
The title of my sermon tonight is,
But None of These Things Move Me,
and of course taken from verse number 24,
there's some things in life that if you're a Christian,
there's going to be some things that happen in your life,
and the intent is those things move you out of being in a spiritual walk with Christ,
after following sanctification and living the Christian life,
there's going to be things that happen in your life,
that are going to be things that might attempt to move you from the faith,
might attempt to move you out of church.
Pastor, preach a great sermon about the things that we can do to help our spiritual lives,
and one of the things is that you shouldn't allow anything to move you out of the Christian life,
and you should adopt this motto of saying,
hey I know all this stuff is going wrong in my life,
but you know what, none of these things move me,
none of these things are going to take me out of church,
none of these things are going to take me out of serving the Lord,
I'm going to continue on, I'm going to have the attitude and the mindset,
that nothing is going to take me out of this Christian life,
no matter what happens, come hell or high water,
whatever happens, I'm going to continue to serve the Lord with all my heart,
with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength,
with everything that I have,
and you know what, sometimes there's going to be hard things that happen in our lives,
and things that are going to trip us up and make us want to move,
but you know, if you have that mindset, if you already have it,
you know, purpose in your heart, like Daniel said,
I'm not going to eat, you know, the king's meat or drink of the wine that is of the king's,
because he had purpose in his heart not to do those things,
and sometimes we have to set our hearts to just be of this mindset,
that we're not moving, we're not changing, we're not stopping,
we're not quitting, no matter what happens,
and you know, the apostle Paul says this,
after he just kind of explains some of the things that he's gone through,
now, if you were to go through a list of all the things that the apostle Paul had to endure,
whether it's people stabbing him in the back, which happens,
whether it's, you know, people just forsaking him in the end,
he was like, you know, everybody's forsaken me, no man stands with me,
and you know, basically Paul got to a point where nobody even was,
you know, he was a Christian, there was all kinds of people that he got saved,
but nobody was standing with him, because here's the thing,
no matter what, even if no man stands with you,
you should have the mindset that none of these things are going to move you,
and that's why Paul was so successful,
that's why Paul goes down as one of the greatest Christians of all time,
because of the fact that he did not allow circumstances
or hard things about the ministry to stop him,
no matter what, he got up, he even got stoned,
and everybody thought he was dead, and got up and walked to the next town.
I mean, most people, they're going to be like,
mommy, kiss my boo-boos, I'm going to be out for three weeks, or whatever,
and Paul's like, I'm not even out for three minutes,
I'm just going to get up and walk to the next town.
So, the apostle Paul here, in this story,
is going through his final round of visiting churches,
he doesn't necessarily realize that this is the final round
that he's going to be going and visiting these churches,
because he gets captured a few chapters later,
and he ends up being in prison,
and so, and obviously that didn't move him,
that didn't even stop him, he still kept on serving the Lord,
and he ended up being in jail, a lot of people would quit at that point,
but he, you know, if we try to develop the mindset of the apostle Paul,
and just say, none of these things are going to move me,
our Christian life is going to be a lot better,
because, you know, because you might say,
well, if this happened, then maybe I would stop serving God.
That should not be in your mentality,
because if it is, guess what, that's going to come,
that's going to come,
and there's a lot of people in this life that want you to move,
they want you to move out of the way that you're going.
You've got family members that would try to stop you from coming to a church like this,
or try to shame you out of it,
or try to invite you to stuff on off days,
you know, when you're supposed to be in church,
they go, oh, we've got this party to go to, or whatever,
and like anything that they can do to get you to stop going to church,
or stop serving the Lord as fervently and as on fire as you are,
they're going to try to stop you,
the devil's going to try to stop you,
the devil tried to stop Jesus,
and obviously there was many people trying to move Paul out of what he was doing,
and you know, we might not see the level of persecution,
or the level of things that tried to move Paul in his life,
because we're just playing simply, nobody's going to be the apostle Paul.
I mean, you can serve the Lord with all your might,
and a lot of people still probably won't attain to this,
and so you're probably not going to also get the same amount of flack that he got
that tried to move him out of the way,
but you know what, you might have some of it,
and you might, I mean, the more you serve the Lord,
the more the devil wants to stop you,
the more people are going to try to get in your way
to try to stop you from serving the Lord,
but you know, Paul even says that he had a humble attitude about this,
and he explains these, just some of the things that happened to him along the way,
I'm not even going to go into all the beatings and all the punishments that he went through for this,
but he did receive a lot of just even physical persecution
that none of us have ever even come close to attaining to,
but he was a humble servant of the Lord,
and there's a lot of things that tried to move Paul,
and I just want to go through, you know, seven things really quickly
of things that Paul, that tried to move Paul from this text.
Number one, he was trying to, people tried to move him,
and he had many tears, you know, in the ministry,
there's going to be, like if you're a pastor or if you're a leader,
you're going to see many people leave.
Pastor Mendez asked for a show of hands of who was here from the beginning,
and it kind of, you know, I was glad to see that there was people
that were here from the beginning,
but there's a lot of people that aren't here anymore,
and those are things that upset me,
and I wish that everybody that was good that was here from the beginning
was still here, because we lost some good people too,
but some people just get moved for whatever reason.
Maybe they just literally physically move to a place
where there is no good church,
and after time, that is going to move you away.
If you're going to a red-hot, zealous church,
and then all of a sudden you're just like,
well, I'm going to go for this job,
like Pastor was talking about this morning,
I'm going to go for this job,
and then the only church in the area is some repent of your sins,
you know, lordship, salvation, just teaching false salvation church,
you know, you're not going to be as hot.
You're going to be with a bunch of people
that don't believe the same thing as you do,
and you're going to, you know, you're going to cool off.
You know, if you're in a fire, you're on fire,
you're red-hot, but then if you throw that coal out,
that coal is going to burn out and get cold, isn't it?
But Paul said he had many tears.
It says in verse number 19,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears.
So Paul didn't just say, I cry, I had some tears every once in a while,
it says many tears.
There's many things that probably the Apostle Paul ran across.
He was like, I can't believe that this happened.
I can't believe this person left.
I can't believe this person stabbed me in the back.
I can't believe this person wouldn't get saved when I preached them the gospel.
And you know, sometimes those things can also move you.
You can be like, well, you know, I'm tired of serving God
because there's so many tears that are happening.
This is what Paul's mentioning, right?
In verse 2, or excuse me, number 2,
is that, you know, he said it's with many tears and temptations.
So temptations can be trials that you're going through,
but it also could be temptations to sin.
And so, what can move you?
Well, sin can definitely move you away from the place that you need to be,
the path that you need to be on that straight path.
We don't want to just keep walking around in the same circle of sin, right?
Where you're just like, you know, you're not learning your lessons,
so you're just going around the same circle, right,
like Pastor was talking about this morning also.
So temptations can cause us to move you.
You know what?
Paul says, you know, these are one of the things that tried to move him.
And it says in the same verse,
there was basically, number 3, a terrorism of the Jews.
So it says that the temptations which befell me by the line and weight of the Jews.
So every place he went, there was always somebody there,
one of these Jews that were trying,
or groups of Jews that were trying to stop him and kill him.
There was so much, they hated him so much that they made a pact
that they were, they actually put a curse upon themselves saying that,
you know, if Paul's not dead, we're not going to eat any food.
So I don't know, I don't think they starved to death
because, you know, Jews are always liars.
Anyway, so, you know, they probably just broke their truce or whatever,
but they were really serious about killing the Apostle Paul.
They hated him, they hated his message,
and so Paul received a lot of terrorism.
People were always, the Jews were always trying to terrorize him
and not only just the Jews, but other people too.
Number 4, unfiltered teaching can also move you.
Well, how's that?
Well, look what it says in verse 20.
It says, And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you.
So, you know, when you teach the unfiltered truth,
people will also attack you for that.
When you just get up and preach in a regular church service,
and you have maybe visitors that have never been before,
or something like that,
and they hear you preach the unfiltered truth,
they can, you know, try to dismay you,
or give you dirty looks, or anything like that,
but even if you're just doing it with your family.
You know, when you teach the truth to your family,
then that unfiltered truth can also cause them to try to make you be moved.
You're in a cult. You're a Jesus freak.
You're this, you're that.
And the Apostle Paul said,
Hey, I kept back nothing.
And, you know, he taught the whole counsel of God,
it says later on down there.
And number 5, public teaching.
So it's not just, you know,
the fact that the Apostle Paul was keeping back nothing.
He was still preaching everything that God had for them,
but also the fact that he was doing it in public.
You know, and a lot of times we get criticized
for putting our sermons on YouTube,
or one of these other social media sites, or whatever,
but what are we trying to do?
We're trying to get it out to the public.
We want people to hear the truth,
not just people that are in this room,
but people from all over the world,
from all over the country,
and we want them to hear the truth about Jesus Christ,
and all the doctrines that are in the Bible.
We're supposed to teach every word,
and so when you preach publicly,
the things that are in the Word of God,
and especially in 2022,
people are going to get angry with you,
and people are going to try to persecute you for that.
People are going to try to shut down what you've got going on,
and they'll try to move you from preaching the truth,
from preaching publicly.
Number 6, testifying of the truth.
So, look in verse number 21,
it says testifying both to the Jews,
and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God,
and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Apostle Paul was testifying both to the Jews,
and that's what was getting him in trouble with the Jews,
because the ones that wouldn't listen
were totally against him,
and wanting to kill him, of course,
but what was the testifying that he was doing?
That, hey, we need to repent,
and stop believing the garbage that we believed before,
and believe the truth.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved.
It's the message that he was testifying
that got him into trouble,
and people were trying to move him,
and they were trying to move him with rocks,
and they were trying to move him with anything that they could,
and, you know, at first people just get mad,
then people say stuff,
then people persecute you with words,
then people persecute you through the law,
or they'll persecute you through physical means,
or they'll actually physically and violently attack.
So, and then also, of course,
we have threats of affliction, number seven,
and it says in verse number 23,
save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city,
saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
So he just mentions all these things really quickly,
but what did he say after that?
After these afflictions abide in him,
these, number seven, these threats of affliction.
Well, what's the threats of affliction?
If you don't stop preaching that, I'm going to kill you.
If you don't stop preaching that,
I'm going to physically harm you.
I'm going to lay hands on you.
And this is the threat that Paul had
in every place that he walked into,
every city that had not hurt him yet,
every Gentile location,
but where did he go first?
To the synagogues.
So he's already, every place he goes,
he's at risk of his physical life,
and what are they telling him?
Shut up, Paul.
Quit preaching that, Paul.
I'm going to kill you, Paul.
If you don't stop doing that,
we're going to murder you,
we're going to kill you,
and then they tried to do it.
And he had to escape out of a basket
with a garrison chasing him.
I mean, all these things were happening to him.
He was beaten with rods.
He was whipped.
He was stoned.
All these things were happening to him.
Why?
Because people are always going to try to move you.
And especially when you're doing great works for God,
when you're on fire,
when you're fired up,
or even if you're just living the Christian life
and doing what God says,
people are going to try to move you out of your place.
And they're going to use all different manner of techniques
to do those things.
So, you know, these might be things that tried to move, Paul,
but what did Paul say?
But none of these things move me.
And you know what?
Can you say that today?
Can you say, you know,
if all these things that happened to Paul
happened to you,
would you say that those things wouldn't move you?
Or would you cave?
What is it?
I mean, I just want you to kind of get a mental picture
in your mind right now,
but I don't want you to dwell on that.
I'm just saying,
is there something in your mind right now
that you say,
well, if this happened,
I would stop serving God.
If this happened,
this would move me.
And what I want to help you with this evening is,
you know,
is for you to not have that mentality
and for you to have the mentality
that nothing is going to move me.
No matter what happens,
I'm going to stay in church.
I'm going to stay in the fight.
I'm going to stay fired up.
I'm going to stay soul winning.
I'm going to stay reading my Bible.
I'm going to continue to pray.
I'm going to continue to meet at this church,
no matter what people say about it.
I'm going to meet with this church,
even though they're talking bad about my pastor
or my pastor friends, whatever.
What is it that would move you?
Well, I want to help you dispel that tonight
and to have the mentality that,
you know,
no matter what happens,
I'm not going to be moved.
Now,
I want you to turn to
1 Corinthians chapter 15.
So, again,
we're not going to necessarily
endure the things that Paul had to.
I'm not trying to freak you out tonight
because most people
aren't going to go
to all these different places
preaching the gospel.
But, you know, maybe some of us will.
We do go on mission trips.
We do go soul winning.
And, look,
the thing that the devil hates a lot
is soul winning.
The devil hates soul winning.
The devil hates
true biblical preaching
because he knows
that the Word of God has power
to change people's lives,
to change people's hearts,
to change their life,
and he doesn't want you to be fired up.
He doesn't want you out,
you know,
in the highways and hedges
trying to get as many people
saved as possible.
He doesn't want you to do that.
He doesn't want you
to get plugged into this church.
He wants you to stay where you're at
and not get plugged in
and come whenever you feel like it
and, you know,
go out feeling,
you know,
okay or whatever.
You know,
the Word of God should affect you
in some way, shape, or form.
I hope you're not tuned out tonight.
I hope that you tune in
to what I'm trying to help you
with here tonight
because people have left.
People leave all the time.
If Pastor Jimenez did the same thing
in his church,
there'd be a lot of people
that weren't with him in the beginning.
Probably most of the church, right?
There's some that have been there
from the beginning.
There's been some that have been there
for a long time.
But this is what I've learned
in being in the ministry
for a while now
is that people do come and go.
And that is what is very sad is that
and you can see it as a preacher,
as a pastor,
as a leader,
you can see
when people are starting
to lose their zeal.
You can see when people
are starting to detach
and get a little less zealous
and like no matter what you preach,
no matter what you say,
it still seems to keep happening.
But you know what?
If we don't shut our mind off
to the Word of God,
you know,
and don't just start trying to blame
your situation,
your circumstances,
or try,
you know sometimes people
just blame God too.
They're like,
well I can't believe I was serving you Lord
and you allowed this
to happen in my life.
Well how do you know
that that was something,
you know,
obviously God allowed that to happen,
but you know God does test us
and he allows us to be tested.
That's what temptation is.
You know,
we are tempted and tried.
We go through trials and temptations
and we go through hard times
and I'm not saying that
God just wants to hurt your life
to make you bad,
you know,
to make you quit,
but sometimes he wants to know,
is this person really on my side or not?
And a lot of people fail that test
and we don't want to fail that test,
do we?
There's a game called Chicken.
Who's ever heard of that game
called Chicken before?
Alright,
who's ever played it?
Well,
it can be multiple different things,
but you know,
usually it's someone driving
and then,
yeah,
at each other
and then whoever swerves
out of the way first
is the chicken.
But I would say
that's the smart person
in all honesty,
but you know,
but what I'm trying to get you
to understand is that
God doesn't want you to move.
You know,
no matter what's coming at you,
it might seem like
it's going to kill you,
it might seem like
it's going to destroy you,
it might seem like it's going to
you know,
do all these things,
but you know,
God doesn't want you to move
when it comes to the Christian life.
When the things are coming at you,
the semi-trucks coming at you
or whatever it is
that you're going through
in your life,
God does not want you to move.
When you move,
that's when you lose.
There's another game
called the staring game.
Who's ever played that game before?
Brother Chris,
have you played that game?
Okay.
Well,
it's where you stare
into each other's eyes
and the first person
to blink or move
or look away loses, right?
But God doesn't want you,
you know,
in that game,
it's fun to win or whatever,
I'm not very good at it,
but what I'm trying to explain
is it's something
to help you understand
that God doesn't want you to blink.
God doesn't want you to look away.
He wants you to keep looking
straight ahead
and don't move.
1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 says,
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast.
What does steadfast mean?
Resolutely or dutifully firm
and unwavering.
If someone is steadfast
in something that they're doing,
they're convinced
that what they're doing is right
and they refuse to change
or give up.
That's what steadfast is.
So here's the Apostle Paul
writing to the Corinthians.
He said,
Therefore, my beloved brethren,
be steadfast,
unmovable.
What does unmovable mean?
Well, this is pretty simple,
unable to be moved.
That's what it means.
Unmovable.
Always abounding
in the work of the Lord.
You'll notice when the Apostle Paul
tells us to be steadfast
or to hold fast
or be unmovable
and all these things,
he always connects it
with working for the Lord.
You'll notice in a lot
of the scriptures
that we go through,
it's always concerning,
hey, you know,
if you're working
for the Lord,
you're not going
to be able to be moved.
Don't allow things
to move you.
Have the mindset
of being steadfast.
Have the mindset
of being unmovable.
I'm not moving.
I'm not changing.
I'm not quitting.
I'm not turning this way
or that way.
I'm going straight ahead.
I'm steadfast.
I'm unmovable.
Always abounding
in the work of the Lord.
That means you're increasing.
So you shouldn't go back
on how much work you were doing.
You should always go forward.
You should always
try to get better
at working for the Lord
and not say,
well, you know what,
I'm going to downsize
my working for the Lord.
That's a mistake.
That's moving.
So if you're doing
nothing for God
and you just start
doing something, that's good.
But if you go back
and doing nothing again,
that's bad.
That's being movable
and you don't want
to be movable.
You want to be unmovable.
Always abounding
in the work of the Lord
for as much as you know
that your labor is not
in vain in the Lord.
And you might think,
well, you know,
I've only gotten like
a few people saved this year
or maybe I haven't got
to open up my Bible as much.
Well, you know,
we have more than
one soul winning time.
You know, we have more,
we have several
soul winning times.
If you really want to increase
getting more people saved,
well, spend more time
soul winning.
If you want to,
you know, increase your
learning in the word of God,
come to church,
all three services,
instead of just coming to one.
Instead of just staying home.
I mean, to me,
I just don't understand
what people are doing
when they're not here.
Like, you know,
your church, your,
I'm new IFB,
I'm sold out,
I'm Baptist born,
Baptist bred.
When I die,
I'm going to be Baptist dead.
Well, how come
you weren't at church then?
How about that?
Why don't you
explain that to me?
What were you doing
that was so important
that you couldn't
come to church?
Oh, well, you know,
my brother's sister's cousin
was in town from Minneapolis
or whatever.
It's like, well,
bring him to church then.
Why are you allowing
a family member
or something else
to drag you out of church?
I brought up this
the other night
where Jesus' mother
and his sisters
and his brethren
were outside going,
Jesus, your family's outside.
They want to talk to you.
And he's like,
who is my mother?
Who are my brethren?
You know,
they pointed to them
that they were his brethren.
That person was his mother.
Why?
Because they were outside.
Why were they outside?
Have you ever
asked yourself that question?
Why were they outside?
Why weren't they inside
listening to the sermon?
You know, they're like,
hey, Jesus,
let me interrupt you real quick.
Mommy's outside.
She wants to talk to you.
It's like,
you're my mommy.
You know,
you're my mother.
You're my dad.
You're my brother.
You're my sister.
It's the people
that are serving the Lord
that are your family.
And if your family's
trying to drag you out
of a church service
or saying,
hey, I'm in town.
This is only Sunday night only.
Well, I go to church
on Sunday nights.
You know,
that should be
the immovable thing
that you have in your mind
that hey,
I'm going to go to church
no matter what happens.
And you know what?
I don't care
who's asking for me outside.
I don't care
if it is my mom.
Right?
Because you should be
unmovable in those things
if you already
have the mindset.
Me and Pastor Mendez
were talking about this
and you're like,
it's not even a question
in my mind.
Am I going to church?
No, I am going to church.
It's just automatic.
You're like,
well, you're the pastor.
You have to be.
Well, you should be too.
He didn't say
only the pastor
has to go to service
three times a week.
Just the pastor.
No, it's everybody.
You're like,
well, where does it
say that in the Bible?
So much the more
as you see
the day approaching.
Why don't we just
incorporate
seven days a week church?
You're like,
oh, that's what
they did in Acts.
They're always at church.
They're always
going soul winning.
We just need to
attain to that level
someday.
But we'll just
stick with three
because you can't
even come to that many.
Anyway,
so what does it mean to,
so there's all these
terms that Paul uses.
He uses a lot of
different things
to kind of mean
similar things.
But I already told you
what steadfast means,
what unmovable means.
What about standfast?
He uses that word too
and that means to firmly
remain in the same position
or keep the same opinion.
Don't change.
Don't,
don't go off into
liberalism, whatever,
but just stand fast.
Don't change on
what you believe.
Remain firm.
Hold fast.
That means
remain tightly secured.
Continue to believe in
or adhere to an idea
or principle.
A lot of these are similar
but they're not
exactly the same
but they,
they do have
the same principle in mind
which is,
you know,
stand fast,
don't move,
hold fast,
hang on tight
to what you believe in
and don't give it up
for anybody.
So,
firm foundation.
I mean,
there's that song
How Firm a Foundation
You Saints of the Lord.
But there's also
the name of our church
is Sure Foundation.
There's a reason
why we called it that
because it's something
that's unmovable.
You know,
when it comes to
the Lord Jesus Christ,
he's unmovable.
If we build our life
upon that rock,
we're gonna be fine.
We're gonna do well,
you know,
because he's not
gonna be moved.
Well, if we just
piggyback on
to his foundation,
then we're gonna
be good also.
Isaiah 28 verse 16.
Go ahead and turn
to Isaiah 28 verse 16.
Isaiah 28 16,
it's our,
our verse for our church.
It says,
Therefore thus saith
the Lord God,
Behold,
a man for a foundation,
a stone,
a tried stone,
a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation,
he that believeth
shall not make haste.
See,
if you place everything
on the foundation stone
of the Lord Jesus Christ,
you're not gonna be moved.
You know why?
Because he's not
gonna be moved.
And if we tap
into that power,
then we have a lot of power
on our side,
don't we?
But see,
when you move away
from that,
when you maybe
build a foundation
on the sinking sand,
or build a,
build in a swamp
or something,
you know,
the Bible teaches
that principle
that we should build
everything that we have
on the foundation
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Look at Matthew chapter 7
verse 24.
Turn to Matthew chapter 7
verse 24.
Matthew's obviously
the first book
of the New Testament.
Matthew chapter 7
verse 24 says,
Whoever heareth
these saints of mine,
and doeth them,
I will liken him
unto a wise man,
which build his house
upon a rock.
And the rain descended,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house,
and it fell not,
for it was founded
upon a rock.
What is he trying
to teach us here?
He's saying build
your foundation,
everything that you have,
build that upon
the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the rock.
Amen?
And when the rain comes,
the floods come,
the winds blow,
and beat upon the house,
it's not gonna fall.
Have you ever been
in your house,
obviously you live
in the Pacific Northwest,
so you've probably
been through some storms
where it's really windy
or raining,
and sometimes you can
hear stuff beating
against the house,
and you're like,
oh, that didn't sound good.
You know?
But when you have
your foundation
upon that precious cornerstone,
the Lord Jesus Christ,
you don't have to worry
about whether the wind
is gonna blow your house
down, because it's
not gonna happen.
And so when you
put everything and say,
I'm gonna build
everything on that rock,
it says that it was
founded on a rock,
so it fell not.
So we don't wanna fall
in our life and build
our lives in Christianity
upon something
that's not firm.
If it's on anything
other than Jesus Christ,
then it's not
the right foundation,
is it?
Look what it says
in verse 26.
Everyone that heareth
these sayings of mine,
and doeth them not,
shall be likened
unto a foolish man,
which built his house
upon the sand.
So a fool builds his house
upon the sand,
isn't that what it's saying?
And the rain descended,
and the floods came,
and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house,
and it fell,
and great was the fall of it.
When you live
your Christian life,
and you're building it
upon something that's not
the Lord Jesus Christ,
then it is able to fall.
It's able to be destroyed.
And you can't just say,
well, I just wanted
to try Jesus.
No, you don't just
try Jesus.
You believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ,
and the Bible says,
thou shalt be saved,
and you trust in his words.
You trust in this book
right here,
and God's never gonna
let you down.
His word is never
gonna let you down.
You can count on everything
he says is gonna happen,
but you can't trust
in anything else, can you?
Nope.
You can't really put
your faith in anything else.
You can't even put
your faith in other people.
You can't even put
your faith in yourself,
because you fail
every day, too.
But you know who
never fails?
The Lord Jesus Christ
never fails.
He'll never leave thee,
nor forsake thee,
so no matter what's
going on in your life,
whether the storms of life
are beating you down,
and everything's going wrong,
you know who
you can always count on,
you know who you can
always look to?
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Hebrews chapter 12.
Turn to Hebrews
chapter number 12.
I've always thought that
this is an interesting
set of verses here,
and hopefully
I do it justice here,
but Hebrews chapter 12,
verse 26.
What's the point
of the sermon, you know,
that we would not be moved?
But none of these
things move me.
When you build your house
upon the rock,
when you build your life
upon the foundation
of Jesus Christ,
none of it,
didn't it say
it didn't fall?
When all these
things happened,
all the storms came,
all the wind's blowing,
the rain's hitting it,
and it fell not.
But when you build
your life on sinking sand,
when you build
your life on yourself,
your own works,
other people,
you put your trust in a man,
you put your trust
in anything else
besides Christ,
those things will fail you.
You know,
nobody can live up
to the standard
of perfection
that Jesus Christ has.
Look at Hebrews 12,
verse 26, it says,
whose voice
then shook the earth.
It's talking about
back in the time
of Exodus,
the time of Moses,
when God's voice
was so loud
that the children of Israel
said,
we don't want to hear
from him anymore,
we'll just do whatever
you say,
we're scared, right?
It says,
whose voice then
shook the earth,
but now he hath promising,
yet one more,
once more,
excuse me,
I shall shake not
the earth only,
but also heaven.
There's coming a time
when everything's
going to shake.
It's going to be
a huge earthquake,
the biggest earthquake
that's ever happened.
It says,
Yet once more
signify at the removing
of those things
that are shaken,
as of things
that are made,
that those things
which cannot be shaken
may remain.
So, what are the things
that can't be shaken?
See, there's things
that can be shaken.
We're talking about
earthquakes here.
I think earthquake
preparedness week
was last week or something,
and they want to train you
what to do in an earthquake,
and obviously,
there's some things
that might be helpful,
but you know,
some earthquakes,
you've got to think
about it.
You know,
you're just,
things shake.
What happens
when the earth shakes?
Things move,
don't they?
Things fall apart,
don't they?
Well, but there's
some things
that can't be shaken.
See, it says
that those things
which cannot be shaken
may remain.
Well,
what are those things?
Well, look at verse 28.
Wherefore are we
receiving a kingdom
which cannot be moved?
Someday,
there's going to be
a kingdom here on,
it's the kingdom of heaven
that cannot be moved.
It says,
let us have grace,
whereby we may,
what did I say
that Paul always
attaches things to?
Service, right?
That we may serve
God acceptably
with reverence
and godly fear,
for our God
is a consuming fire.
You know,
don't worry about
all these things
from without these things
that can be shaken,
because you know
what can't be shaken?
The kingdom of God.
And you know what?
When we serve God,
we should serve Him
because what?
and have godly fear
towards Him
because He's
a consuming fire.
You know,
don't fear those things,
you know,
don't fear those
that can't send you
to hell.
You'd fear those things,
you'd fear God
who can't send you
to hell, obviously.
But obviously,
He's not going to
send a Christian to hell,
so don't get me wrong
on that.
But God is
a consuming fire
and you know what?
We want to get
lit by His fire,
don't we?
We want that fire,
His zealousness,
His zeal
to be upon us
and so we need
to serve God
acceptably,
it says.
You know,
and the kingdom
that we have
coming to us
cannot be shaken,
it cannot be moved.
So don't you want
to get on that train
instead of a train
that can be moved?
Something that can be moved?
Turn to 2 Peter 3 verse 15.
It's really interesting
that Paul and Peter
kind of had a fight
where Paul tells
in the book of Galatians
how he had to
get in Peter's face
and kind of tell him
he was wrong.
But sometimes,
you know,
Christians can get in fights
and things like that
but you know what?
We've got to remember
that we're brethren,
alright?
But Paul,
it's very interesting
that Peter talks about Paul
and he doesn't just say
hey Paul,
you know,
he doesn't say anything bad
about him
even though the Bible says
that he,
that Peter was wrong
and Paul was right
and Paul got into his face
basically and told him
he was wrong.
But look how Peter
writes about him.
Look at what it says.
An account that the long
suffering of our Lord
is salvation
even as our
beloved brother Paul.
Peter talks nice
about him, doesn't he?
He says he's our
beloved brother.
Also,
according to the wisdom
given unto him
hath written unto you
as also in all his epistles
speaking in them
of these things
in which are some things
hard to be understood
which they that are
unlearned
and unstable rest
as they do also
the other scriptures
unto their own destruction.
See,
there's a lot of people
that take the word of God
and they like to twist it
and they like to lead
other Christians astray
with it, don't they?
But what's the,
what's Peter saying
about Paul?
He's saying,
hey,
he's kind of giving him
a stamp of approval,
isn't he?
Because the apostle Paul
was often accused
of not being
a real apostle.
He was,
you know,
even though he started
all these churches
and got all these
people saved,
what's Peter doing?
He's saying,
hey,
he's an apostle, right?
Look at verse 16 again,
as also in all his epistles,
and it's talking about
beloved brother Paul
speaking in them
these things
which are some things
hard to be understood.
So Paul does have
some doctrines that,
or some way,
a way of speaking sometimes
is a little hard for us
to understand.
But, you know,
and that's why people
that are unlearned,
like they don't know
the Bible,
or they're just unstable.
They rest the scriptures
and this they do
with also the other scriptures
unto their own destruction.
You know,
don't follow people
that don't know
what they're talking about.
You want to follow people
that do know
what they're talking about
that are grounded
in the word of God.
You shouldn't just jump ship
to every single person
that you hear on YouTube.
A lot of these people
are teaching a lot
of stupid things,
aren't they?
Don't jump off the cliff
in your doctrine,
hey, be grounded
in the word of God,
have a firm foundation
of what you believe
if you've never read
the Bible cover to cover,
you shouldn't be reading books
about the Bible.
Why don't you read
the Bible first
and then maybe you could judge
whether the people
are writing about the Bible
or even write
because a lot of commentaries
you see and I'm not,
you know,
sometimes people can,
I'm sure, you know,
we're kind of commentating
as preachers sometimes.
But, you know,
there's a lot of commentaries
that survive the ages
because they're just garbage
because the devil wants
to promote those
types of things.
But we should count on people
that we know are knowledgeable
in the Scriptures
and the Bible says that,
you know,
Peter's basically giving Paul
the stamp of approval
about his writing of Scripture,
about his understanding
of the Scriptures,
and it says,
you therefore, beloved,
seeing you know
these things before,
beware lest you also,
being led away
with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own what?
Steadfastness.
See, Peter's assuming that
we're just already steadfast,
but you know what,
you can fall from your
steadfastness
and how do you do that?
Well, you get led away
by the error of the wicked.
And when bad people,
and what I mean by bad people
is people that are wicked,
you know,
probably infiltrators
will come to a church like ours,
what are they,
what's their goal?
They want to lead people away.
They, you know,
and when they're discovered
that they're wicked,
then they want to work
on those people
who are still there
and try to pull them
out of church also.
That's how predators operate.
They, they encompass
about the saints.
David talks about,
multiple times in the Psalms,
how that they,
the power of the dog
and these predators
are always surrounding him,
and what do they want to do?
They want to come in
and take a sheep,
and what do they,
do they always get
the most strongest one
with the biggest horns?
No, they get the small ones,
they get the babies,
they, you know,
and if you're a babing Christ,
you're an easy target,
and so if you, you know,
one way you,
you don't want to get moved,
you don't want to be moved away
by some false teacher,
by some false prophet,
teaching lies,
and leading you astray
and taking the Scriptures
and twisting them
and saying things
that aren't true,
or just generally,
I mean, you,
one pastor talked about
this morning about how,
you know, you, you know,
it's okay to be a baby, right?
But babies
got to grow up sometime.
You know,
when you feed a baby,
they're going to naturally
grow,
but unless you're feeding
on the Word of God,
you're not going to grow,
and he was talking about
how if you're not in church,
you're not going to,
you're not going to read
the Word of God,
you're not getting
admonished to do right.
You're just kind of
out on your own.
We don't want to fall
from our own steadfastness
by listening to
The Air of the Wicked,
and you're in danger
if you're just
going to YouTube
only for all your doctrine.
You know, don't fall
from your own steadfastness.
Look at 2 Timothy 4 verse 5,
and the Apostle Paul,
I mean, he,
there's just so much
about this topic,
but, you know,
I don't want to be here
till midnight, literally,
so I was only joking about that,
but anyway,
2 Timothy 4 verse 5,
the Apostle Paul said this,
he said,
But watch thou in all things
endure afflictions,
do the work of an evangelist,
make full proof
of thy ministry.
Now, I understand this
is written to pastors,
but can you apply this
to each individual
Christian too?
Watch in all things?
Endure afflictions?
Should you endure afflictions?
Can you do the work
of an evangelist?
What's an evangelist do?
Give the gospel.
Can you all do that?
Make full proof
of thy ministry,
for I am now ready
to be offered,
and the time of my departure
is at hand.
I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course.
I have kept the faith.
This is the Apostle Paul.
He's fought.
He did it.
He got there.
He finished,
and he finished the course,
and he kept the faith,
and so why?
Because none of those things
moved him.
That's why.
Because all the things
that came at him,
all the multitudes of things
that he endured,
all the multitudes of things
he suffered,
the Apostle Paul
endured all those things,
endured all those afflictions,
and still came out on top,
and still finished his course.
He still kept the faith.
He's a great example
for us to look at,
someone that has done
the right thing
and made their ministry count.
Look at what it says
in verse eight.
Henceforth there is laid up
for me a crown of righteousness,
which the Lord,
the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day.
Who's talking here?
The Apostle Paul.
What's he saying
he's going to get?
What's he going to get?
He's going to get
a crown of righteousness,
but he's not just trying,
he's not trying
to just promote himself.
Look what he says also.
And not to me only.
See, every one of us
can also get
a crown of righteousness.
It says not to me only,
but unto all them also
that love his appearing.
So we can all,
that's y'all.
That's everybody in this room,
you know,
but what did he say first?
He finished his course.
He kept the faith.
He wore to good warfare.
He, you know,
Paul completed his mission.
And even though
it might not have ended
the way he thought
it was going to end,
he still,
none of these things
moved him.
Nothing,
he never counted anything
his life even dear
to himself.
That's how you can
have the boldness
to walk into a city
full of heathen
that want to kill you
and preach the word
of God only,
still, right?
Turn to Mark chapter 4.
Mark chapter 4.
What's it going
to take to move you?
Well, some people,
are pretty easy
to move them.
Mark chapter 4 verse 14,
it's the parable
of the sower kind
of explained here.
I'm just going to read
from verse 14.
It says,
the sower soweth the word,
and these are they which,
excuse me,
these are they
by the wayside
where the word is sown,
but when they have heard,
Satan cometh immediately
and taketh away
the word
that was sown
in their hearts.
And these are they,
likewise,
which are sown
on stony ground,
who when they have heard
the word,
immediately receive it
with gladness,
and have no root
in themselves,
and so endure for a time,
afterward,
when affliction
or persecution
arises for the word's sake,
immediately,
they are offended.
See, some people get saved,
and then the first time
someone makes fun of them
for being a Christian,
the first time someone
persecutes them
in any way, shape, or form,
what happens?
They're offended.
They fall away.
They don't want to have
anything to do with it.
Why?
Why does this happen?
Well, some people
are just weak.
Maybe they just
didn't get into church.
Maybe they got into a church,
and they didn't know
what to expect.
They thought that everybody
wanted to hear about Jesus,
but not everybody
does want to hear
about Jesus, do they?
So sometimes people
get on fire for God,
and they're trying
to share it with everybody,
and then the first person
that says something
negative about them,
and they realize that
this is going to happen,
I'm done.
What's going to move you, though?
Everybody in this room
has probably endured
something like that,
but that could be ramped up
for your level.
So don't let anything move you.
Don't let persecution move you.
If someone makes fun
of you at the door
the first time you go
sowing or someone
cusses you out, who cares?
I mean, does that
really hurt you that much?
What if someone
smacks you at the door?
Is that going to stop you?
Should it stop you?
It shouldn't stop you.
It didn't stop Paul.
None of these things
moved him.
But the Bible's saying here,
you know, let's be warned
about these things,
these little things
that people can be moved on.
We don't want to be moved
by these things.
Look what it says in verse 18.
And these are they
which are sown among thorns,
such as hear the word,
and what?
The cares of this world,
and the deceitfulness
of riches,
and the lusts of other things
entering in choked the word,
and it becometh unfruitful.
See, some people,
the persecution isn't
what bothers them,
but it's the cares
of this world.
You know, who's winning
the Seahawks game?
Who cares?
I mean, who cares?
I mean, I might check
every once in a while
about like, do I really
care that much?
Am I going to,
you know what,
I'm going to stay home
and watch the Seahawks game
or whatever.
Look, who cares?
It's the cares of this world,
the things that
don't really matter.
These things that are
in the world,
they don't matter.
And we shouldn't allow
those things to move us.
How about the deceitfulness
of riches?
The pastor was talking
about that this morning,
how people are like,
oh, I'm going to move
for this job,
but I can't come to church.
It's like, that's stupid.
Do you hear yourself?
But you know,
I'm still going to read
my Bible and all that.
Yeah, right.
You're not.
You might do it for a week.
You might do it for a few days.
But you know what's going to,
you know,
when people get involved
about the deceitfulness
of riches,
that's just one way
to move you.
The devil puts things
in your path
to help you move.
You're like,
this was of God.
You know,
it's of God for you
to just never go to church.
It's of God for you
to stop reading your Bible.
It's of God to stop
spending time with your family.
I mean,
those things aren't of God
if it's something that
you're,
if you're enticed by riches,
you're like,
hey,
you know,
we're not supposed
to seek to be rich.
Who cares?
Get enough money
to live in this life
and get along.
But you know
what the most important
thing is?
It's for you
to serve the Lord
and to raise your family
in the nurture
and the admonition
of the Lord,
to have a great relationship
with your wife
or your spouse.
And you know,
these other things
mean nothing.
It says the lust
of other things
entering that in.
That's just
everything else.
Nobody in here
is going to get you.
Look,
nobody in here
is unaffected from lust.
Nobody in this room
is unaffected from desiring
things that they
shouldn't want to have.
But none of these
things move me.
Don't allow these
types of things
to move you
out of the Christian life
because once they
get a hold on you,
they, you know,
they sink their
claws into you
and before you know it,
you're out of church
and you don't care.
These are things
you should care about.
So,
and Satan is going
to do his best
to move you.
When people always say,
well, I'm going to
start coming
to this church,
I always think
I need to pray
for them extra.
You know why?
Because the devil's
going to throw
everything in his
toolbox at you.
Oh, I, my,
I got a flat tire
on the way to church.
You know how many
times that's happened?
I mean,
the devil is going
to throw everything
at you
and allow you
to use any excuse
that he,
he can muster up
for you
so that you can say,
oh man,
I just,
I was going to come,
but you know what
I slept in
and it was daylight
savings time.
You know,
just whatever it is,
whatever excuse you have,
he's going to allow
you to use it
and he's going to,
he's going to put
things in your way
to try to do what?
To move you,
to stop you
from serving him,
from serving the Lord
and, you know,
bringing your family
to church
or bringing yourself
to church.
Do you know Christ?
Is Christ the most
important thing
in your life?
Are you a soul winner?
Then he's going
to come at you.
He's going to come at you
and you have to be
prepared for that.
See,
at this church,
we try to prepare you
for the harder things
that you might
have to go through
because this church
is not like any
other church.
Pastor brought that up
again this morning.
He was like,
this is the best church
in the area.
I agree 100%.
And I'm very thankful
that we have
people in this area.
I might as well
just move away
because, you know,
most churches
aren't training people
to be soul winners.
I'm not saying
there's none.
I'm just saying
that it's just
a very rare thing.
And what they mean
by soul winning
is bus ministry.
And what they mean
by soul winning
is you coming up
to the altar
after the pastor
preaches the
1100th salvation sermon
in the Sunday
morning service.
And after 10 stanzas
of Have Thine Own Way,
Lord,
and then you can
come up
and lead someone
to Christ.
And I'm not saying
those things don't work
and they're not
good necessarily,
but what's the Bible say?
The Bible says,
go ye therefore
into all the world
and preach the gospel.
He's gonna come at you.
What are we supposed
to do about that?
Well, turn to
Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 13.
Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 13.
Ephesians chapter 6,
verse 13.
We're supposed to
put on the whole
armor of God,
aren't we?
Is that an
armor of God?
Is that an armor
that you can see?
Or is that an armor
you can't see?
It's an armor
you can't see.
You know why?
Because it's
spiritual armor.
It's armor that
God equips you with,
but you do
have to put it on.
It says,
wherefore take
unto you the
whole armor of God.
It doesn't say
everything but the shoes.
It doesn't say
everything but the shield.
It doesn't say
everything about the sword.
It says the
whole armor,
doesn't it?
Having the evil day
and having done
all to stand,
stand,
therefore,
having your
loins girt about
with truth,
and having on
the breastplate
of righteousness,
and your feet
shod with the
preparation of
the gospel of peace.
Why is the
devil going to
come at you?
Well, if you're
putting on the
whole armor of God,
he's like,
well, he's ready
to battle.
Let's go.
And sometimes
all we can do
is stand.
But what's the,
what are we
talking about tonight?
But none of
these things
move me.
So what's
he saying to do?
Stand.
Just stand there.
Can you stand?
Can you put
on the whole
armor of God?
Can you stand?
Well, none of
these things
should move you.
And look what
it says in verse 15,
and your feet
shod with the
preparation of
the gospel of peace.
People that
aren't going
soul winning
are not
putting on
the whole armor
of God.
How many churches
in this area
are there?
How many
churches in
this area
have a
soul winning
program?
Well, what
does that
tell you about
them?
That they
don't have
the whole
armor of
God on.
So how
are they
going to
stand?
And your
shoes are
a pretty
important piece
of armor.
You know, that
was a big
thing back
when there was
knights and
all that stuff.
And they
put on armor
because they're
fighting with
swords, right?
And if
you accidentally
get hit,
it's not
going to hurt
as bad or
maybe not going
to kill you,
obviously.
It's there
for your
protection.
Well, imagine
going out to
battle with
your full armor
on except
it's not
just part of
the armor.
Well, what's
it saying?
Stand.
Can you
stand there?
Can you just
put your armor
on and stand
there?
I'm not
expecting
anything else,
but you just
stand when
you're being
attacked because
what's coming
at you, the
fiery darts of
the wicked.
You know what?
If you have
the shield of
faith, then
you're able to
quench those
tempted of the
devil, wasn't
he?
And what did
he do?
He fasted for
40 days and
40 nights
before the
temptation.
And the
devil offered
him everything
he could.
He took
him to all
these places
in a moment
of time to
see all the
kingdoms of
the world.
And he said,
all these
things could
be yours if
you just bow
down and
worship me.
And tempted him
with the pride
of just jumping
off and the
angels will
come and pick
you up,
lest you dash
your foot
upon a stone.
But what did
he do?
Listen, the
devil does
have things
to offer.
That's why
he offered
him to Jesus.
He said,
these things
have been
given to me.
He can
offer them.
Why?
Because he
does have
that power.
In most
situations.
And so,
can he come
at you?
Oh yeah,
he can come
at you.
He came at
Job.
He had to
ask for
permission,
but he came
at Job.
So,
can he
come after
you?
He absolutely
can come
after you.
And you
know what,
he will.
But what
is it going
to take to
move you?
Job was the
greatest man
in the world
at that time.
The best man.
The most
complete Christian.
He hated
evil.
He shoot
evil.
And,
you know,
he was a
great man.
But we're
not all Job.
But can you
at least
just say
today,
I'm not
going to be
moved no
matter what
the devil
throws at me.
Because,
you know,
the worst
things might
happen.
But again,
it just might
depend on what
you're doing
for God.
If you're not
doing anything
for God,
why is he
going to attack
you?
It's like,
why would he
infiltrate a
church that's
already taken
over by him?
Who's he
going to
focus all of
his ire,
and all of
his wrath,
and all of
his hatred
on?
Is God
to defeat us?
Well,
he's going
to focus
his ire on
those churches
that are
actually doing
what God
wants him to
do.
And then he's
going to focus
on individuals
inside those
churches to
try to divide
them.
That's why
we're supposed
to be one
in spirit,
one in mind,
striving for
the gospel.
So,
what's he
going to do
now?
Are you
going to
finish your
course?
Are you
going to
keep the faith
like the
apostle Paul
said?
Have you
counted the
cost of
serving Christ?
Because
you have
to actually
do that.
You have
to actually
say,
what is it
going to
cost me
to serve
Christ?
Am I
willing to
come?
What if
it's
going to
have all
of your
extended
family
hate you
and call
you a cult
member?
Are you
still
going to
stick with
this church
and stick
with the
things of
God?
Or are you
going to
just say,
you know
what,
I never
really
realized
because
you're not
supposed to.
But see,
a lot of
people,
you know,
they have
that blood
is thicker
than water
thing,
but you
know what,
Jesus paid
his blood
for me.
So,
yeah,
his blood
is thicker
than water.
But I'll
take that.
I'll take
the blood
of Christ
instead of
family blood
and we'll
spend some time
together,
mom,
or brother,
or sister,
or whoever
it is,
but I'm dang
sure not
going to
skip out
on church.
I'm not
going to
skip out
on my
responsibilities
for anybody.
It doesn't
matter if
they're in
my house
or not
in my house.
I'm not
going to
skip out
for anybody.
Well,
I guarantee you
that something's
going to come
and try to
move you
out of your
steadfastness.
It's going to
try to move
you out of
you serving
Christ.
Are you
ready for
the challenge?
Because
the challenge
is going to
come.
The devil's
going to say
challenge
accepted.
And then
you're going
to have
to go
through that
problem
and they're
going to
quit.
You know,
Peter denied
Christ.
Why?
Because
some little
maid
told him
or just
accused him
of being
one of
Jesus'
disciples.
And he
was afraid.
He was
scared.
He was
afraid of
what was
going to
happen if
he said,
yes,
because it
does move
some people.
Well everybody
says your
church is a
cult.
So what?
Everybody
hated Jesus.
They
nailed him
to the
cross.
Everybody
hated his
disciples.
Everybody
hated them
and cast
out their
name as
wicked and
they beat
them and
they said
these people
of this way
and in
Christ.
Who cares
what they
think?
Why do you
care?
You know
who I care
what they
think?
I care
what God
thinks.
And that's
what we
should actually
care about
and none of
these other
things should
move us.
Who cares
what they
oh the ADL
says that
your church
is a hate
group and
so what?
Who cares
what they
think?
I don't
care.
If they
want to
send me the
award I'll
put the
plaque on
the wall.
So go
ahead and
send it.
What about
the public
opinion of
your church?
What about
the public
opinion of
your pastor?
You know
are you
going to
stand with
your pastor
and all
that stuff?
They're not
coming to you
they're
coming to me.
They're
coming to
Pastor Jimenez.
They're
coming to
other pastor
friends of ours
and you
know what
I signed up
for this job
I understand
that but I'm
just telling
you that
there's things
that we have
to deal with
that you
don't even
know about
that you've
never even
known about
or saying
what God
already told
us to say.
We're like
you said
this this
and that and
it's like
yeah but
that's in
the Bible.
Like what
is there a
problem with
that?
Like I thought
it was okay
for Christians
to believe
the Bible.
Well not
that part.
Not
Leviticus
2013.
You know
we don't
care what
the public
thinks.
None of
these things
should move
you.
You know
what should
move you?
Your motivation
to serve God.
Move in
that direction.
Whether
you're being
sued or
I'm being sued
or whoever's
being sued
who cares?
You know
what God's
got my back
and you know
what the
Bible says
vengeance is
mine sayeth
and
whatever happens
to me
you know
what I know
for sure
that God
has my back
and he's
going to
repay every
single thing
that's ever
been done
to me
wickedly.
And none
of these
things are
going to
move me.
Turn to
Luke chapter
14 verse
25.
Luke chapter
14 verse
25.
I'm getting
milkshake
with it.
All right
Luke
14
25.
So when
you're at
Luke 14
verse 25
hold your
finger there
and I want
you to go
to Isaiah
chapter 50.
I'm pulling
to Pastor
Luke 14
25 because
we're going
to come right
back there
in just a
second.
At least
I'm trying
to practice
the past.
Anyway
Luke 14
or excuse
me
Isaiah 50
verse 6.
See Jesus
had a lot
of things
that came
to him
that they
tried to
move him
also.
They're
always trying
to kill
people.
You know
the religious
leaders
are there
you know
staring him
down
giving him
dirty looks
you know
just waiting
to ask
some stupid
question that
he already
knew the
answer to.
Thinking
wicked thoughts
about him.
I mean
you want to
talk about
having a
tough crowd.
You know
he had
some that
he wanted
to live
a perfect
life for us
to endure
all the
things
that we
might
endure
also.
For what?
So he could
save us.
So he could
save our
souls.
And he had
a mission
and you know
what his
mission was
to go to
that cross.
And when he
finally set
his heart
to go to
that cross
to the smiters
of my cheeks
to them
that plucked
off the hair
I hid not
my face
from shame
and spitting.
For the
Lord God
will help
me.
Therefore
shall I
not be
confounded.
Therefore
have I
set my
face
like a
flint.
And I
know
that I
shall not
be ashamed.
When Jesus
said I'm
not stopping
for anything
else.
We're going.
This is where
we're going.
And you know
the Samaritans
were upset
about that
or whatever.
The disciples
were like
let's barbecue
these guys.
But Jesus
Christ was
like you know
what I
got a mission
to do.
I'm heading
to Jerusalem.
And I'm
setting my
face like a
flint.
I will not
accept my
face like a
flint.
And I'm not
going to be
moved.
Look at verse
25 in Luke
chapter 14.
Excuse me.
Go back to
Luke 14 where
I had you
turn originally
there.
And it says
and there went
great multitudes
with him.
And he
turned and
said unto
them if
any man
come to me
and hate
not his
father and
mother and
he cannot
be my
disciple.
That's a
hard saying
isn't it?
But he's
not like
saying hate
them.
Don't have
anything to do
with them.
He's just
saying like
in comparison
to what
how you
should love
God it
should appear
as hatred
to everybody
else including
even your own
parents and
children and
your wife
and your own
family and
follow after
him.
That's what
he's talking
about he's
saying and
whosoever
does not
bear his
cross and
come after
me cannot
be my
disciple.
For which of
you intending
to build a
tower sitteth
not down and
first counteth
the cost
whether he
has sufficient
to finish it.
So when I
say count
the cost
what I'm
saying is
I'm not
turning back
from this.
I remember
when I asked
my wife I
was like this
is what I'm
thinking about
I'm actually
thinking about
possibly leading
this church and
becoming the
pastor.
And she always
says I remember
where we were
when you asked
me are you
willing to
follow me no
matter what
happens.
Cause that's
what I asked
her I said
because we
today I'm
committing to
leading a
church and
becoming a
pastor.
Nothing is
going to be
able to move
us from that
and I need
your commitment
to me right
now as my
wife that
you're going
to follow me
every step of
the way.
And she said
we were in
the Dairy Queen
drive through.
And I don't
know great
things happen
to Dairy Queen
apparently but
she said I
will.
She thought
about it for
a second.
She looked
at me.
She said I
will.
I will follow
you.
If I
wouldn't have
my wife with
me to do
this though I
couldn't do it
without her.
I couldn't
be a pastor
and minister
to all these
people by
myself.
I need my
wife.
And so when
I asked her
that she
said that she
would follow
me no matter
what.
And she's
still here.
And I'm
still here
because of her
more importantly
because of
Jesus Christ
and because
of a pastor
that would
take a chance
on a church
clear up in
Vancouver
Washington
that he's
probably never
been before
have you?
Had you
before you
came?
No.
So he took
a chance
on us and
you know what
pastor counted
the cost of
what it was
going to cost
to start this
church and
it was probably
a lot.
But you know
he paid that
cost and then
you know
all I'm saying
is that when
you're setting
out to do
something you
need to count
the cost and
when it comes
to serving
God with
your life and
being like a
full time
you know servant
of God.
I'm just saying
full time as in
you're all in.
I'm an
all in Christian.
I'm not a
half way out.
I'm not a
one time a
weaker.
And look if
you're only
coming one time
a week you
know I'm not
trying to beat
you up but
I am trying
to motivate you.
You know because
we should
count the cost
of what it's
going to cost
and if it's
anything that's
going to knock
you off that's
you know but I
don't want you
to do that.
I want you to
be the best
Christian that
you possibly
can be and
you know how
you do that?
Well first you
got to count
the cost of
what it's
going to take
to serve in
a church like
this and if
you're like well
you know I'm
just going to go
to a regular
Baptist Church
that doesn't
have soul wanting.
Okay well you
know you're
never going to
have any adversity.
You're not cut
out for this
type of church
and there's
been a lot of
people that
have been cut
out for it.
A lot of people
that have and
people like to
make excuses
as to why
they quit and
that's the most
that's one of
the most frustrating
things as a
pastor.
I'm just going
to talk to you.
We're just all
you know alone
here anyway so
but a very
frustrating thing
that happens
is that when
people leave
church they
go to church
and they
start this
counseling and
help them
and taught
them and
try to bring
them along
and teach
them all the
things you
could teach
them and
then they
had a great
life here
and then
whenever they
just like
they want
to find some
excuse to leave.
They want to
find some
excuse to move
let something
move them
unless he
actually did do
something but
don't blame
the pastor for
you being
weak.
Don't quit
because you
didn't like
something the
pastor said
that's garbage.
I'm going to
say something
stupid from
time to time
and probably
every week
but I'm going
to try my
best to not
do that.
Which one of
you could get
up here and
preach a perfect
sermon every
single time
and let
your excuse to
be moved be
something in
leadership or
something that
some other
person in the
church did.
Quit being
weak and make
an excuse if
you just want
to quit because
you don't
have what it
takes because
you didn't
count the
cost because
you didn't
realize your
mom was
going to call
you a cult member
or because
you didn't
realize that
we're going
to fire.
I'm on fire.
I'm going to do
all this stuff
and then where
are they now?
They're gone
because they
never counted
the cost
whether they
had sufficient
to finish it.
And verse 29
says,
less happily after
they had laid
the foundation
and is not
able to
finish it and
all that
behold began
to mock him.
I guarantee
you if you're
all sold out
and acting
like you're
really are
going to mock
you.
They're going to
go,
I thought you
believe in all
this Jesus
stuff.
I'm like,
oh yeah,
yeah,
I did.
But now,
I mean,
they're just
a cult.
No,
you're just
weak.
Verse 30,
saying this man
began to build
and was not
able to
finish or
what king
going to make
war against
him with 20,000.
Or else,
while the other
is yet a great
way off,
he sendeth
an embassage
and desireth
conditions of peace.
So likewise,
whosoever
he be of you
that forsaketh
not all that
he hath,
he cannot
be
my disciple.
What's the
cost of
serving Christ?
It's everything.
It's going to
cost you
everything.
It's going to
cost you
everything.
It says,
what if the salt
had lost its
saber?
Wherewith
shall it be
seasoned?
It is neither
fit for the
land, or
yet to be
for the
dung hill.
But men
cast it out.
He that hath
ears to hear
let him hear.
Listen,
don't lose
your saber.
Don't move
from your
steadfastness.
But none of
these things
moved me.
You don't
want to be
thrown out
of your
face like
a flint.
Here's what
I'm going
to do.
I want to
serve God
for the
rest of my
life.
And I'm
going to be
the best
church member
I can.
I'm going
to be the
best soul
winner I
can.
I'm going
to be the
best prayer
warrior I
can.
I'm going
to be the
best church
member.
I'm going
to be the
best soul
winner.
I'm going
to be the
best
groomer I
can.
Amen.
Bye.
Alright, sorry about that, Karina was sleeping.
This song will be song number 343, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, in your blue hymnbook.
It's 393, excuse me, 393 in your blue hymnbook, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.
Let me get there as well.
Song number 393, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, let's sing it out together on the first.
A mighty fortress is our God Of all work never failing
Our helper he amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe Does seek to work us wrong
Its craft and power are great And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal
Did we in our own strength confide Our striving would be losing
We're not the right man on our side The man of God's own choosing
Does ask who that may be Christ Jesus it is he
Wards survey of his name From age to age the same
And he must win the battle And know this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us We will not fear for God hath will
His truth to triumph through us The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him His rage we can endure
For lo his doom is sure One little word shall fail him
That word above all earthly powers No thanks to them abiding
The spirit and the gifts are ours Through him who with the signeth
Let goods and kindreds go This mortal life also
The body they may kill God's truth abided still
His kingdom is forever
You