Amen.
All right, I'm going to attempt to set an alarm, no not an alarm,
but just a time there so I can get a little carried away sometimes when I'm preaching and preach for hours.
But it's great to be here,
and I just want to say thank you to Brother Ian and Miss Lisa and the rest of their family for being so hospitable to us.
They're just great, and you guys got a good leader here, and it's a special weekend.
So I'm glad to see all this place basically just packed out. It's great.
Thank you to everybody that traveled from afar. Thank you Pastor Jimenez and Miss Joanne for being here,
and I'm glad my wife came with me. Without her, I just can't do this.
But a lot of people, some people came from the States, so I thank you very much for coming.
I know it's a long way, but just driving through London might be as long as it takes to get here from the plane.
So I really do appreciate the people that, you know, live far away, and they still come here
and came to hear the preaching tonight. So now we got a very special weekend this weekend.
Of course, you all already know that, but as long as Brother Ian plays his cards right for the rest of this weekend,
Sunday morning is going to be the ordination service.
So I'll be preaching a special ordination service just for Brother Ian, but hopefully you can get some spiritual meat out of that also.
But tonight I want to preach something to you guys, the church that's here, and maybe just everybody, because
honestly, I think that the principles I'm going to show tonight are going to be something that's going to help you throughout your whole Christian life.
Paul's writing here this
message, this letter to Timothy, and he's like basically just kind of giving him this last charge before
he kind of—it seems like Paul knows that he's near the end of his ministry, or at least maybe the end of his life.
Not really sure, but look at verse number
six, and it says, 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.
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day, and not to me only,
but unto all them also that love his appearance. The title of my sermon tonight is Finish the Course.
Finish the Course. Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord,
so much for this great gathering of people, all these, the multiple nations that are here tonight, and just all the people,
but you're God's people.
They're God's people, and Lord,
I just pray that you fill me with your spirit as I begin to preach, and Lord, that this place would be filled with your
spirit tonight as the Word of God's preached and the fellowship. I pray you bless the fellowship and the food afterwards. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
So I kind of just was thinking about, you know, when Paul says I've
finished my course, and
you know, there's a lot of different things in life that are our courses. Like you can have courses in school and in college,
but like the first thing, of course, I thought of, maybe I was hungry, but I thought of the five-course meal.
So, but on the, like on the, on the plane on the way over here,
they kind of gave us that kind of five-course meal,
and I was just kind of thinking about that, but the definition of a course is the, so there's lots of different definitions,
but I wanted to kind of just put this on there real quick.
The route or direction followed by a ship, aircraft, road, or river, so the, you know, like a water course or something like that,
but also a dish or a set of dishes served together forming
one of the successive parts of a meal. So like that's what the five-course meal, and of course Paul might have been,
he might have had something else in mind when he was talking about it.
Maybe he wasn't thinking about food,
but I think he was probably a Baptist, so maybe, but a course is, you know,
he's just saying I finished the path that my life was supposed to take when it comes
to the Lord Jesus Christ and the ministry.
So obviously the ministry was very important to the Apostle Paul, and he's just imparting these truths
upon Timothy, a young preacher, that he, I believe that he got, you know, trained in the ministry and all that, but you know,
Paul is saying I've finished my course.
I've kept the faith, and I hope that everybody in this room really takes this to heart tonight.
This isn't like a complicated sermon,
but the things that I'm gonna just impart to you tonight are something that I think that maybe you should just look back and think about
when you're ready to quit, when you're going through a hard time, when you're thinking, well,
I just can't live this Christian life anymore. The Apostle Paul
suffered way more than we're probably ever gonna suffer in this life, and
he finished. And so the whole point of this sermon is that some keys
that can help you finish. So before I get into those main points though,
I just kind of want to cover just, I just was thinking these thoughts and so I wrote them down.
But so in a five-course meal you get, what comes first? Anybody know what comes first? I'm gonna get some interaction here.
What comes first?
Oh, they call it the starter here, but in America we call that the appetizer. But starter, you know, that's good, too.
So yeah, you got that and that's usually some kind of, you know,
just a small dish everybody can kind of munch on when you're starving to death, right? And then the salad is the second one.
So then of course you have soup, you know, you can have soup or salad, and then the main course with, you know,
whatever you get with that, and then of course you have the dessert.
I was kind of thinking about how that would apply to the Christian life.
This isn't my main sermon part, but I just thought, well, if you're thinking about the Christian life and how it begins,
well, the appetizer is salvation. You know, it's the nice little, it's just quick and easy and, you know,
of course, we believe that salvation is by faith alone,
and it's not by repenting of all your sins or making Jesus the Lord of your life or anything like that or following the goal.
You know, all the things you heard tonight when people ask what they had to do to be saved, you know,
it's none of that, right? Because nobody got saved, so they're probably obviously given all the wrong answers, right?
You know, we got to be a good person, you know, you got to treat people right.
That's kind of stuff we heard, but when it comes to like the salad,
I would say that that's kind of like, you know, that's the roughage, right?
And sometimes it can kind of mess with your stomach a little bit.
I think it does for a lot of people, but I would consider that like the baptism, you know,
obviously, baptism is the second thing that we should do, and you baptize that in ranch dressing or whatever,
but not if you're Pastor Shelley, though, but then the church, you know, you got church attendance, sanctification.
It's kind of like the healthy part of the meal, right?
And then you get the soup, which I would say kind of transfers over.
I mean, obviously, it could be something like the milk of the word.
You know, you start reading the Bible and the Bible starts coming to life for you.
And a lot of people in here are in different stages of their Christian life.
So, you know, maybe you haven't even read the Bible cover to cover.
Well, you know, once you read the Bible cover to cover, you're still a baby Christian, you know, in reality.
Maybe you think you're not because I've listened to, you know, after the tribulation, I've watched all the films and stuff.
But like, you know, the way you grow is by the milk of God's word.
And so as a young Christian, you should just begin just reading the Bible.
And so that kind of takes you on to the main course, which is the meat of the word.
So once you've read the Bible a few times, you start to understand, you know, like the time stamps.
When did this happen?
You start to understand the layout of the Bible, which is great.
And then, of course, the dessert, you know, after you've done all your works and you've finished your course, you get the dessert.
That's the sweet treat on top.
And so I would say, like Paul says that in verse eight, henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge shall give me on that day.
And so the rewards are going to be given to us once we, you know, finish that course, once we fought a good fight and kept the faith.
So that's the goal.
That's the goal of my sermon is to try to help you to get through, you know, to fight the good fight, to finish your course
and keep the faith for your whole Christian life.
Because, you know, what good would it be if you just, you know, you serve in this church for a few years and then you just like, oh, well, you know, this just isn't for me.
Well, you're not finishing, are you?
You're not finishing the course.
You're not, you haven't fought the good fight.
Maybe you did for a few years, but this should be, you know, Christianity should be something that you look at as a lifetime goal.
There's no retirement from Christianity.
There's no like, well, you know, I went soloing for 20 years and, you know, I'm just going to retire.
And I'm not saying that you can't, you might not retire because of how you feel, because the older you get, the harder it's going to get to go soloing.
And so we do have a shelf life.
I believe that.
And, you know, it's good preaching that says, hey, we're going to be knocking doors until we're 100 years old or 90 years old or whatever.
It's like, but how many 90 year old people do you see knocking doors?
You don't see any, do you?
Is there any in this church that's not, anybody 90 in this church?
80, 70, 60.
All right, we got one.
Amen.
She's still soul wanting too.
So you see what I mean?
Like this is a young church.
There's a lot of young people in here.
And I'm not saying that older people don't have some kind of purpose in church.
I believe that they do.
But at 90, you're pretty much going to be a prayer warrior for soul winners instead of knocking the doors.
There's no 90 year olds that are just knocking in the heat of the day.
It just doesn't happen.
But you can still finish your course as a Christian, as a strong Christian.
And you're like, I'm not even close to 90, Pastor Thompson.
Maybe I won't even live that long.
Well, yeah, but you don't know how long you're going to live.
So just plan on serving God your whole life.
And, you know, to serve God your whole life, you're going to have to keep these things in mind.
So I was just kind of thinking about things that like have five in them.
And, you know, five is kind of a number of deaths in the Bible, it seems like.
But it doesn't have to be that way.
Obviously, when we die, that's the end as far as this life is concerned.
But we're going to live on in heaven.
So there's no real death for a Christian, just the death of the body.
But to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
So I was thinking about other things that like have five in it.
And the Pentathlon is a contest featuring five events.
The name is derived from the Greek, combining the words pentae or pent in five and Athalon is completion.
So to complete five courses.
So there's many things in our world that have like these five different things that you have to do.
And then you can put.
So what would that be when you when you finish that Pentathlon, what is it?
You finished the course that you were supposed to do.
Well, what were those courses?
Well, long jump, javelin, discus, stadion, which I think is just like a short race and then wrestling.
So and I kind of was thinking about, well, how would this apply in the Christian life?
Well, how about long jump is Bible reading.
You should never stop reading your Bible.
You should always continue to read your Bible all the days of your life, as long as you have eyeballs to see.
And, you know, sometimes your eyes go dim and you have to get the bigger font Bibles like, you know, I'm getting there.
I'm still in denial.
I have the glasses, but then I just wear them sometimes and I take them off.
It's like I look old, but I don't want to look like that old man with, you know, creeping the glasses down like that.
But it's just it's just the fact that you're going to lose your sight someday and it just slowly happens.
But it's like when you get to be 40, 45, you know, people just start all sudden.
You just have to get these giant font type Bibles or whatever, like this thick.
But anyway, but we need to to go, you know, for the long jump, you know, the long jump in our lives.
We need to we need to have Bible reading as one of those things that we just continue to do all of our lives.
The javelin, I kind of was thinking like soul winning.
You know, you go out with that sword.
It's kind of the most sword like thing that you do on here.
So I was just thinking that.
But, you know, soul winning is, you know, it requires us to use the Bible to actually get people saved, which, you know,
a lot of people just go out with like a card and just say, you know, read these, you know, look at these things
and then and then read the prayer and then pray the prayer at the end or whatever and you're saved.
But obviously, I think that you should go out with your whole Bible in your hand.
You know, if you have a New Testament, you can get people saved.
But I just think it's, you know, what about, you know, questions about the Old Testament when people will have?
I think it's important to have the whole sword.
It's not like just go out with like a third of the sword or a quarter of the sword.
You go out with the whole thing.
Now discus throwing, I would say that kind of relates to prayer.
You know, you're trying to throw something into the heavens and make it go as far as you can.
Well, our prayers obviously go to heaven when we pray in the name of Jesus Christ as believers.
And then the stadion, our short race, you know, obviously would be, I mean, it was just what I was thinking about was church attendance.
So, you know, it's a short race, but you do it three times a week, you know, and that actually might
more translate into the long jump.
But wrestling, I would say it was kind of more like sanctification because we're always wrestling with our own flesh.
You know, that's the biggest enemy that we have, I believe, is that we have to wrestle with our own flesh.
It's not just wrestling with the devil.
Nobody ever really wrestles with the devil, like physically, you know, you're not, you know, what was that guy's name?
Billy, Billy Sunday.
He'd always be like, oh, we're going to wrestle being the devil.
We're going to fight tonight or whatever.
And it's just like, shut up, man.
That is so weird.
But, you know, and you lose.
So it's like, you're not, you know, you're going to lose if you try to fight the devil physically, obviously.
But so then like, so, but wrestling, you know, would be sanctification because it's really hard to live.
You know, it's easy to get saved, but it's hard to live the Christian life day in and day out.
It can become a grind.
Everything we do as Christians could be a grind, but Jesus never said it was going to be easy.
So sometimes it's hard and actually living the Christian life for your whole life and finishing the course is something that's very tough.
I don't think Paul was bragging at all when he said this.
I think that Paul was just stating a fact and just saying, hey, I fought a good fight.
I did the best I could.
But he won, didn't he?
Because if we make it to the end and we've fought the good fight, we finished our course and kept the faith, that's a victory.
You know, and you can be fighting, you know, the biggest, toughest, you know, I kind of relate this to like a boxing match or something like that.
And it's just like Paul, you know, he's taking a lot of big hits and he just keeps getting, he's like, what's that guy's, that the champion's name that you guys have?
It's in Fury, Tyson Fury.
Like when he gets knocked down, was it Anthony Joshua that knocked him down or was it, who's the guy?
Huh?
Wilder, that's right.
OK, sorry.
Wilder knocks him down.
Right.
And it's just like this brutal punch and then like he kind of just like, like just gets up, like out of nowhere and just stands back up.
It's like the undertaker or something.
Right.
Where he just like, just gets up out of no, like he looked like he was out for good and then he just also just rises up.
But like, that's the way the Christian life should be.
You know, we should always just get back up and just not just be disheartened about things, because look, we're going to go through a lot of loss in our life.
Think about the rest of this chapter, how Paul's like, Demas has forsaken me.
And he's just like got this list of people that just kind of left him that were like his main people that he counted on.
And you don't want to be the Demas of this church.
You don't want to be, you know, the, the guys that quit on Paul and weren't with him anymore.
I mean, it's a bad testimony as a Christian, like, oh, yeah, you know, he was great until he just loved this present world and went back.
Because, look, I don't think Demas was unsaved.
You know, a lot of people would say the Demas is unsaved, but I don't think that's true.
He just loved the world more than he loved the Lord.
He loved the world more than he loved being a Christian.
But, you know, I think the Demas probably, you know, got it turned around at some point.
I think he did, just like other people in the Bible, just like John Mark.
You know, John Paul didn't want to have anything to do with John Mark and John Mark quit.
He was knocked out.
He was done.
But then John Mark came back.
He's like, yeah, go ahead and send it back to me.
He's profitable for me, for the ministry.
So this is a great chapter in God's word.
And, you know, there's lots of different things.
Like I said, that there are five things, like a five course thing that would help you in, you know, in your Christian life.
There's also, of course, you know, school, you know, reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, and language.
Those things are profitable to you in this life, of course, not as much as the word of God, of course.
But, you know, there's just, you know, even the five books of Moses, they call it the, what do they call the five books of Moses?
Anybody know?
The Pentateuch, right?
So it's the five books of Moses.
The first is the beginning.
You know, then you have, so you have the beginning that tells us about how this world came to be and like basically how the patriarchs came to be and all that stuff.
And, you know, you know, the sin where Adam and Eve fell in the garden, all that stuff.
But then you have Exodus and it kind of just shows the struggle of God's people and how they left Egypt, left it behind and started marching on towards the promised land.
But it's a picture of the Christian life, too.
I mean, we were slaves to sin and tell, you know, Jesus set us free.
And then you have Leviticus where you have the priesthood established and it just shows us the pictures of the sacrifices of Jesus Christ and many different laws, many different things that God's people are supposed to enact in their lives.
And Deuteronomy the second, or excuse me, Numbers, the detailing of the other stories that are not in Exodus.
And then there's a lot of numbers in it, too.
Pastor Mendez, aren't you doing a series on that?
And I really like the book of Numbers.
I think it's a great book.
Obviously, there's some chapters that are tough, you know, where you're just reading names and how many platters they got and all this.
This tribe gave, you know, such and such amount of platters, but all that stuff is good for us.
You know, God put it in the Bible for a reason.
And Deuteronomy is the second law or the retelling of the law and the death of Moses and then the succession of Joshua.
So, you know, you got those five books and then you have the book of Joshua, which Joshua obviously pictures the Lord Jesus Christ.
His name is the same translated, transliterated into English.
Joshua picture, you know, Moses, when he dies, the law, you know, once the law is done away with, you know, once Christ comes, the law is done away with.
We're no longer under the law.
And so that shows that just that new beginning.
So the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.
And, you know, John the Baptist's job was to do what?
To preach the law of Moses unto the people.
And then Jesus Christ comes on the scene.
He's the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And then what happens to John?
John gets his head cut off, doesn't he?
And so that's the picture of the Old Testament, the last Old Testament prophet, you know, the law being cut off and done away with.
But, you know, John, you know, poor John, he's, you know, he's a great, he's this great man of God and he's down in a dungeon wondering, you know, what did I do?
Like, did I do something wrong?
You know, but I really honestly think that the one of the reasons why God allowed him to die is just to show that picture like the law is done away with.
But John did a great job.
He did exactly what God told him to do.
He said to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children's hearts to the father.
To their fathers and, you know, he preached Christ.
Christ is going to come and he basically just preached the law to those people and about Christ coming as savior.
So, you know, then, of course, you know, you have Jesus Christ and this is like you're talking about times 10 here.
But Jesus Christ was on this earth for how long after he resurrected?
Anybody know?
40 years, 40 days, right?
And then when was Pentecost?
Pentecost was on the 50th day, so they had to wait for the power of the Holy Spirit to come from on high.
And so that's the picture of the power that we get from God.
And it's like the Holy Spirit is the comforter.
Jesus said, I will send you a comforter.
I will not leave you alone.
I'm not going to leave you comfortless.
And so even though Jesus went up to heaven, you know, we still have the Holy Spirit of God in us.
And, you know, so that's completed in like a 50 day cycle there where they're just waiting for that power of God.
So lots of cool things with that number, five or 50, 40.
But the key course for perfection for a Christian is that we would just do these five.
I think that doing these five things that I'm going to talk about for the rest of the sermon,
these five things are going to help us to complete, to finish the course, to keep the faith.
And the first thing is prayer.
And I think that prayer is one of the most neglected things that a Christian can do and the things that we should be doing,
but we just don't do enough of.
Turn to Psalm chapter 55 or 17, Psalm chapter 55 or 17.
And I'm just going to kind of get into the rest of the sermon here.
So in prayer, the goal would be how many times to pray a day.
What is like kind of the benchmark that you've seen in the Bible?
It's three times a day.
But how many of us can actually say that we get on our knees and on our face before God three times a day when it says we should do it?
Now, obviously, there's no, it doesn't say you have to do that, but just the example that we see in the Bible with some great men of God like David and Daniel,
we see that this is what they do.
And so like you're like, well, why was David a man after God's own heart?
Well, David loved the Bible.
He wrote Psalm 119.
He wrote many different Psalms that are in the Bible for us today.
It's very obvious that David loved God.
It's very obvious that David loved the Bible, and it's very obvious that David prayed a lot.
I mean, a lot of the Psalms are just David's prayers to God, and a lot of them are when he's having a hard time.
But how many of us, when we have a hard time, do we say, you know, I'm just not going to go to church today because I just had a bad time.
This is, I mean, I've seen this as a Christian multiple times when people have these hard things that happen in their life.
And look, there's gonna be some hard things.
You know, we live in a fallen world where death exists.
In reality, everybody that we know, all of our children, all of our family members are all going to die.
And a lot of that, we have to grow up and watch that stuff happen.
And it's hurtful to people, and it's, you know, it's not a great part of living on this earth, and especially when they die unsaved.
But how many of us actually care enough to pray for those people?
Psalm 55 verse 17 says, evening and morning and at noon will I pray and cry aloud, and he shall hear my voice.
And notice that David, you know, he's not weeping.
David says when he weeps, he does weep when he prays, but he says he'll cry aloud and he shall hear my voice.
Do you believe that God hears your voice?
You know, the Bible says you have not because you ask not, or that you ask amiss.
You're asking for the wrong things.
Maybe you're praying for the wrong things or praying against the wrong people.
I don't know.
But that's what James says is that you have not because you ask not.
And you know what?
When you're lacking things that you need, why don't you just ask God?
But see, I think a lot of us are just too lazy to just pray or you don't think about it.
You start thinking about your own life and you forget about the person we should be communicating with on a daily basis, which is God.
What's it say?
Evening and morning and at noon.
And so I'm not saying that I do this every single day.
And I'm a pastor.
I'm supposed to pray, aren't I?
That's like one of the things that God expects pastors to do is pray for their people.
But I miss my prayer times.
But do you miss your prayer times too?
Because I'm sure that we could all do better in this department.
But and that's why I'm saying is that like prayer is one of the big things that's going to help get us through this life.
It's going to help us finish this course.
Look at Daniel Chapter six, verse 10.
Daniel Chapter six, verse 10.
So how often did David pray?
Three times a day.
He said he's going to do it.
Do you believe David did it?
I mean, again, you know, we all have the off days or maybe you're, you know, I'm kind of one of those people that if I'm not on my
schedule, then it really messes me up.
Who's like that?
Anybody else like that?
You're just kind of like one of those routine type people.
So and so when something changes, then it makes it difficult to do those spiritual things that you normally do.
But, you know, those are the times when we have to make those times and we have to maybe get up earlier or stay up later.
And, you know, if you're a man of character or if you're a woman of character, you're going to do those, make those adjustments
to continue to pray when you're supposed to.
Look what it says in Daniel 6 10.
Now, here's the thing about this, this particular spot here in Daniel is that there's a law been signed that you're not allowed to pray.
You're not allowed to pray to anybody.
You're not allowed to pray to God at all.
But Daniel's been doing this his whole life.
And it says, now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house and his windows being opened in the chamber toward Jerusalem.
He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God because he wanted to piss them off.
Is that what it says?
No, it says as he did a four time.
This isn't just him just like, well, I'll just show them they're going to make a law against me praying.
Well, I'm just going to show them that I'm, you know, I'll do whatever I want.
I'm a Christian.
No, he did it of a four time.
That means he this was his habit.
This is what he did.
And then these people that made this law to try to destroy Daniel and have him thrown in the lion's den, they knew that this was what he did.
And so what does it say in verse 11?
Then these men assembled and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.
You know, we it's it's not even against the law for us to pray, you know, as bad as the world has gotten.
It's not against the law for us to pray, is it?
But Daniel, being the man of character that he was, even though it was against the law, he's like, I don't care what they say, I'm going to do what I got to do.
And then God spared him.
And then who the lions eat?
All them, right?
So, I mean, we have nothing stopped.
When's the last time someone caught you praying?
I mean, maybe it was your wife or something like, oh, sorry, I didn't know you were praying.
But you know what I'm saying?
Like, you know, if it was made against, it was made a law tomorrow that you guys couldn't pray anymore, would someone catch you praying the next day?
Because, you know, when we had the Christian character and the fortitude that we're supposed to have, this is something that we're going to do.
Praying is important.
It's one of the five things that I believe will keep us and give us the ability to finish the course.
Number two would be Bible reading.
And again, these aren't in a specific order, but I think it's very important to obviously not only to pray, but to read your Bible.
And maybe you should pray before you read your Bible so you can understand it.
Or maybe you should pray before you read the Bible so that you can actually retain what you're reading.
Because how many people have gone through like two or three pages and you're like, I don't remember anything I just read.
Who's done that before?
I know I have.
Everybody's done that.
You're like, quit being so spiritual back there.
I just never happened to be.
Everybody's had that happen.
It's like you start thinking about something else.
And that's why it's good to like read the Bible and quiet and just kind of be it, maybe be away from somebody.
Because when you have, you know, and when you have a lot of kids, that's when it's hard to do, isn't it?
Because the kids get up, they get up early.
So sometimes you've got to get up earlier than the kids or just, you know, wait till nap time.
But there's, you know, we should be reading the Bible.
So how many times should you pray a day according to the Bible?
I mean, the benchmark for a great man of God was three times a day.
He did it three times a day.
Daniel did it three times a day.
And then turn to Genesis chapter 24, verse 63.
Genesis chapter 24, verse 63.
I've always loved this scripture because I think it's a picture of Bible reading.
Obviously in Genesis, the Bible wasn't written yet, but I believe that Isaac had, you know, the story that his father had said.
And I believe he knew certain things about God's word.
But Bible reading is the second thing that we need to continue to do for our whole lives.
Look at it says in Genesis 24, verse 63, it says,
And Isaac went out to meditate in the field.
What time was it?
Eventide, right?
And he lifted up his eyes and saw and behold, the camels were coming.
So Isaac is out meditating in the field at the end of the evening.
Eventide's like, you know, when it starts to get dark or whatever.
Now turn to Joshua chapter one, verse eight.
Joshua chapter one, verse eight.
So again, I believe that, you know, Isaac probably didn't have the Old and New Testaments because the Old and New Testaments hadn't been written down yet.
But of course he probably had the stories, like I said, and, you know, his dad was a godly man, of course, and he pictured the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he, you know, went to meditate.
I don't think he was like, you know, holding his fingers like this and crossing his legs or something.
I think he was thinking about the things of God, right?
So look at Joshua chapter one, verse eight.
It says, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night.
So Joshua is saying here what?
Meditate therein day and night.
What?
Think about the things of the scriptures when you read them.
Think about them, apply those things to your life.
It says that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous and then thou shalt have good success.
You want your life to be prosperous?
Well, you know, there's a then there for a reason, because your life's not going to be as prosperous if you're not meditating in God's word day and night.
And you know, are the heathen, sometimes the heathen put us to shame when it comes to this.
You know, have you ever said, well, I read the Bible every night and I pray, what's our problem?
Why can't the real Christians actually do what God is saying?
You know, it's a privilege.
You know, the King James Bible is a privilege for you to read.
Not every country even has or every nation even has the Bible in their own tongue and not a great and perfect one like we have.
And this is the place where the King James kind of came to be, right?
England?
I've heard that, like, they don't even use the King James Bible in this country anymore for the most part.
And then, like, the place where King James is from doesn't even use the churches that are there don't even use the King.
It's where he lives, where he, you know, where he grew up or whatever.
How would you not?
No, I think that that Bible version, you know, wasn't as good as the ones that they dug up in some desert or something.
Look, we got the Word of God here and we neglect it.
Just like we neglect prayer, we neglect the Word of God, but we ought not to neglect the Bible because we're going to have good success.
Our ways are going to be prosperous.
Look, the Bible is filled with wisdom.
The Bible is filled with songs.
The Bible is filled with laws.
The Bible is filled with all these things to make our lives successful and then we don't even read it.
And if you want to finish the course, apply prayer to your life, apply Bible reading to your life, and then you have to actually do it.
But, you know, living the Christian life is hard sometimes.
Oh, it's hard to read the Bible.
Read the Bible anyway.
It's, you know, that's, I didn't say it was easy.
Jesus never said it was easy.
He said, take up your cross daily and fall after me.
And sometimes that Bible reading might be a little tough.
You're like, oh, man, I'm in First Chronicles chapter one.
I'm going to get one through nine today.
Read it anyway.
Learn something out of it.
Get something out of it.
Do some cross referencing with it.
I like genealogies.
Call me a nerd all you want, but I like them.
You know, I learn things from the genealogies that you think God just put it in there for us to be bored with or something?
Find interesting things in God's Word anyway.
Like, I'll just admit the Song of Solomon hasn't always been my favorite book.
You know, a lot of times I just think it's funny, like the Valentine's with the, you know,
it's like you have the hair of a goat or whatever and stuff.
You have dove's eyes.
So it's like that's just not stuff that we would say to women.
It's like those pickup lines are just, you know, probably, you know, old, right?
Like an old meme or something.
But hey, that stuff is, everything in God's Word is profitable for us and we need to read it.
Look at Psalm chapter one, verse one, Psalm chapter one, verse one.
We get a great blessing as Christians for reading the Bible.
We get lots of blessings as Christians from praying to our Lord on a daily basis.
And you're like, well, maybe, you know, maybe you have time to pray three times a day, but I don't.
It doesn't say how long you have to pray for, does it?
You know, it doesn't say that.
It just says that, you know, and I believe that prayer can be done at any time, any place with your eyes open or closed.
I mean, do you think you have to have your eyes closed?
Does the Bible say, close your eyes when you pray?
No, it doesn't say that.
I mean, praying is just, just means asking.
When you're driving, you'd be like, please, Lord, save me from Ian's driving or whatever, you know, he's, I'm just kidding, brother.
I just like to give him, he's a great driver, I think, I'm just kidding.
Save me from Pastor Thompson's driving, my wife probably prays that prayer a lot.
Look at Psalm 1, it says, bless is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
What is the Bible saying?
We should just stay away from people that are going to be a bad influence on our lives.
Why would you walk in the counsel of somebody that's an ungodly person?
We should always get our counsel from the Bible and other people of God that have their act together.
And what do I mean by that?
People that are actually living the Christian life.
I would just say this, and it's nothing against the least spiritual person in the church, but I wouldn't go to the least spiritual person in the church to get my advice about anything.
Just like I wouldn't go to someone that didn't have kids about child rearing.
It's like, well, what do you think about it, brother?
It's like, I was a kid once, so I guess I'll just, you know, I mean, you go to, who do you go to for marriage advice?
The people that have a strong marriage, people that have been married for a long time, not the person that's been divorced four times.
And not that I'm just down on the person that's been divorced four times.
I'm just saying that why would you go to counsel for people, from people that don't have the best counsel to give you?
And the best counsel we can get is from the word of God and not from ungodly people.
So we shouldn't be hanging out with them.
We shouldn't be walking in their counsel or sitting at the seat, you know, just hanging out with them.
Like, who do you hang out with outside of here?
I hope it's other Christians, you know, and your family members, of course.
But it says in verse two, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
So in Joshua chapter one, verse eight, it says, meditate therein day and night.
So, of course, David is also saying the same thing.
So how often should we meditate in God's word?
Day and night.
And I talked to you a little bit about reading the Bible cover to cover.
You know how long it takes to read the Bible cover to cover?
How many reading minutes per day?
It's 15 minutes.
If you're just an average reader, about 15 minutes a day.
So what would be, how many minutes in the morning would you have to read the Bible and then in the evening to get the 15 minutes?
Seven and a half minutes, right?
So if you read seven and a half minutes in the morning, you probably looked at Facebook longer today than you read your Bible.
You know, I mean, people, you can get lost on social media, but can you give God seven and a half minutes in the morning and seven and a half minutes at night?
I mean, I've been harping on this for years, but I just think it's like, that's just the bare minimum, you know, to get you through the Bible in one year.
You're like, well, I'm on the seven year plan.
Well, then you're just like reading the Bible very little.
You're just like, and Jesus said, okay.
I mean, it's not that, it's not like 15 minutes is really not a lot of time.
You probably spend more time putting your shoes on some of you.
So I'm just kidding.
It's a complicated process.
That's why I have slip on so I don't have to tie them.
All right.
Anyway, so, but it says, and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in the season.
His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
It sounds like you have a pretty blessed life when you meditate in God's word day and night.
So what was the first thing that I said?
Well, that we should have a prayer life, you know, in our, obviously if you can't get the three times a day, but can you pray sometimes a day?
Can you pray?
Did you pray at all today or was it, you're just like, you know, oh yeah, it was when we prayed for the offering.
You know, I prayed, that's one.
Well, at least he prayed for that.
Okay.
You know, maybe you could do the prayer, you know, follow, you know, actually pray along with people when we're praying at church.
So Psalm 119 verse, I'm not gonna have you turn there, but Psalm 119 verse 147 says, I prevented the dawning of the morning and cried.
I hoped in thy word, mine eyes prevent the night watches that I might meditate in thy word.
David thought it was really important that he's not even going to let it, you know, he's not going to, he said, I'm going to prevent the dawning of the morning because he hopes in God's word and that, you know, he might prevent the night watches that he might meditate in God's word.
So he's basically saying, I'm not going to bed until I've read God's word.
I'm not going to do anything else before I've read God's word.
And so, look, the Bible says we're supposed to not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, right?
So we're supposed to have every word read, you know, why?
Well, because we need to know what God expects from us.
We need to know what God wants from us.
We need to know how to serve him the right way and the right, in the correct way, how to be a good father, how to be a good mother, how to be a good child growing up in your home, how to be a good worker at your workplace.
The Bible tells us everything that we need to live a successful life in this world and how many people are neglecting it.
You want to finish the course?
Finish your Bible reading every day.
You want to finish the course?
Finish your prayer time every day.
You know, at least just, you know, thank God for the blessings he gave you because that's one of the things that God loves is that he likes to, you know, he likes to be thanked for the things he does because how many people just live a life.
And we pray for stuff in the prayer request.
Brother Ian was talking about the prayer request.
But do you always give glory to God when your prayer requests get answered?
Because that's important.
I think it is.
So turn to Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24.
So the third thing that I think is going to help you finish the course in this life is church attendance.
And of course, everybody's here tonight.
So that's great.
You thought it was important to be here.
And I'm glad.
But are you going to be here on the times when it's not a big Wednesday?
Are you going to be here on the times when it's not a big Sunday?
Are you going to be here week in and week out?
And look, I realize some of you live far away and you just sometimes you just can't make it.
I mean, how long did it take?
It took Brother Ian two and a half hours to get Pastor Jimenez from the airport to South End yesterday, right?
And he did that.
Like he picked us up, drove us, and then like in order to get back in time to get Pastor Jimenez, he had to drop us.
Miss Lisa had to meet us someplace, I don't know, on the side of the road and we had to exchange and then he had to go.
Like he was like, how long were you driving yesterday?
Did you calculate it out?
It felt like that.
But I told him, you know, he's got to keep driving us to every place we want to go or he's not getting ordained.
So I'm kidding, kind of, no, I was kidding.
But our church attendance is important.
And how often should we go to church?
Well, how about whenever the church is open?
How about whenever there's a church activity?
You know, and obviously there's lots of different soul wanting times.
Maybe you can't make them all.
I'll talk about that in a minute, but look at Hebrews 10 24 says, and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works.
Have you ever stopped to think that you being in church is helping somebody else?
Because it is, and it's actually considerate to be here because, you know, maybe that person looks up to you.
Pastor Shelley preached a great sermon about, you know, be a hero for somebody.
And like, you know, maybe we can't be like the Apostle Paul, we can't be the next Moses, but maybe you can be a hero to somebody.
Maybe you can be someone that someone looks up to, because I remember just lots of times thinking about people that I went to church with that, you know, maybe that person was just, you know, they were just there all the time.
And you could always count on that person being there.
And then when they're not there, you miss them.
You're like, so, you know, brother so-and-so, where are they at?
But if you're just, if brother Ian just expects that you're not going to be here, I mean, that's, and you live close enough to make it here on a Wednesday night, you should be here.
And you know why?
So you can consider other people besides yourself, because that's what the Christian life, you know, Jesus cared about others.
You know, he cared about others and we should care about others too.
And part of that is provoking unto love and good works.
How do you do that?
Well, this is not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.
So when you're here, you're doing what?
You're considering one another, you're provoking unto love and the good works.
But it says not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, because the manner of some people is to just avoid going to church.
I mean, how many people did you knock on the door today and say, well, I go to church every once in a while.
They say that kind of stuff all the time.
Oh, yeah, I'm a Christian, but I just don't go to church.
So it's like there's a manner of some people, but that ought not to be our manner, because you know what?
The more you start getting into this, you know, where you're just, oh, you know, it's not important if I miss.
It is important.
The Bible says it's important that you're not forsaking the assembling, it says, but exhorting one another.
What's that?
Encouraging one another.
You're helping one another.
And so much the more as you see the day approaching and the day of Jesus Christ is closer today than it was yesterday.
It's going to be closer tomorrow than it was today.
So every single day that the calendar ticks off, it's more important to go to church.
Isn't that what it's saying?
Yeah.
So, so much the more, not so much the less, but yet the manner of some people is the so much the less.
But I'll tell you what, if you just forsake church and you say, you know, I don't have to go to church to be spiritual, that's a lie.
You're lying to yourself.
You're letting somebody lie to you.
Maybe your spouse is lying to you.
You say, ah, we don't have to go.
Now you're just getting too carried away with this Christian stuff.
Don't let your spouse discourage you.
Say, hey, no.
And this is the thing that the spouses are good about doing when one's thinking about not going to church.
Oh, really?
You're not going to church?
Okay.
And then it's like kind of you guilt trip each other because it's important for us to support each other.
But then when both people just say, well, you know, let's just not go.
And then that can become a norm.
And you don't want that to ever happen in your Christian life.
You know, that you're not praying, you're not reading the Bible.
Now you're just not going to church.
At strike three, you're out.
You know, you're eventually going to quit.
And there's probably there's a lot of people that started when this church started that are no longer with us.
And some of it was for evil reasons and things like that.
But I'm sure they're just people that just kind of, you know, they stopped coming as regular.
It stopped being as exciting.
Look, where did the Bible say that it's got to be a fun center and some kind of exciting like roller coaster or something every single week here in church?
You know, it's exciting going out.
So when you're like, well, nobody got saved.
It's still exciting.
We're still doing what God said to do.
We're still completing the Great Commission.
And once you knock all these doors, then you'll move on to some other ones.
But at least those people knew a prophet was among them, that somebody came to preach to their door.
And, you know, we need to come.
And, you know, when all these people are here today, that's exciting.
It's exciting to see all these people go.
And you know what? Saturday's going to be a lot more receptive.
I'm not going to guarantee it, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be more receptive.
Brother Ian picked a spot.
He's like, it's going to be really nice.
When he says it's going to be nice, that means it's going to be nice, right?
So, but come to church.
Be, you know, excited.
Stay excited.
You're like, well, I'll just, it's just not always possible.
You're right.
It's not.
But encourage your spouse, encourage your kids.
Kids, encourage your parents.
Guilt them.
I'm telling you right now, guilt your parents.
They're like, oh, honey, I just don't feel good tonight.
Or, you know, whatever lame excuse you have.
Sometimes you don't feel good.
I get it.
But I know that my kids used to do this to us.
Like when we first kind of started going to church and really kind of did the deep dive in.
There was times on Sunday nights where it's just like, oh man, I got work early in the morning.
You know, I'm just tired.
You know, this is my only day off.
We all think that sometimes.
But then our kids would be like, aren't we going to church?
Like, yes.
And then you go.
So, kids, if you still want to go to church, like just be like, why aren't we going to church?
Don't you care about Jesus or something?
We all need to be able to help each other, right?
To get to church.
And then, like, you know, if you do that sad face around your parents, well, OK, we'll go.
Get ready.
You know, that's what I do anyway.
So, but look at what it says.
It says, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.
Look at verse 26.
It says, for if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth,
there remaineth no sacrifice, no more sacrifice for sins.
So, what is the Bible saying right there?
That if you don't go to church, you're sinning willfully, right?
I mean, is the context going to church?
Is the context not forsaking the assembly?
Because the next verse it says if we sin willfully.
So, and then verse 27 says, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses.
Like, how is this being applied to Christians?
Because Christians get punished when they don't do what they're supposed to do.
So, when we're not, you know, going to church, I think it's, I think it's trying to tell us
here that there could be a punishment.
You're like, well, I just don't understand why all this stuff keeps happening to me.
Are you going to church?
Well, you don't understand.
I'm just sick.
Are you sick because you weren't going to church?
I don't know.
You're like, no, I got sick because I came to church.
Suck it up, buttercup.
This isn't the tribulation.
You just got a cold, quit your whining.
Stay home for a service, but you better be back.
Put a mask on.
Look at verse 29, it says, oh, how much sore punishments suppose you that he that
thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God and counted the blood of the
covenant, whereas, wherewith he was sanctified and an unholy thing, hath done
despite under the spirit of grace.
For we know him that has said, then just belongeth unto me.
I will recompense, saith the Lord.
And again, the Lord shall judge other people, what does it say?
His people.
So when you just willfully are not going to church because you just don't feel like
it, you're just tired.
You know, when you get to church, you're going to feel more energized.
When you decide to do what's right and just keep coming to church, just be here as
much as you possibly can, God's going to bless you for that.
You're like, well, I don't feel very blessed.
Well, do you feel saved?
Is that how you know you're saved?
Because you feel saved?
No, it's because the Bible says you're saved and that's how you know you're saved.
It's not your feeling or a burning in your bosom or whatever else.
Because Satan can put that burning in your bosom there, right?
But that's what a lot of Christians believe.
Well, I know I'm saved because I just feel it.
Well, that's not that's not what the Bible says.
We know we're saved because the Bible says we are.
And, you know, we know we're going to be blessed because we're doing what God said.
It doesn't matter how you feel.
Are you blessed or not?
Because I believe that if you do come to church, if you make God's word a priority
in your life, if you make prayer time a priority in your life,
these three things will make you blessed in your life.
Am I saying that no tribulation is ever going to happen to you?
You're never going to get sick?
I'm not preaching like a wellness, prosperity gospel here.
Yeah, those things are still going to happen because we live in a fallen world
and because they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
That's what the Bible says.
So don't mistake tribulation with being cursed by God.
You're like, well, Christians can't be cursed.
Really, they can't?
Well, you know, it sounds to me like, you know, when it says in verse 31 is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of living God and he's talking about judging
his people, you know, there's a lot of people think about Ananias and Sapphira.
Did they did they get killed?
Why did they get killed?
For lying to the Holy Ghost.
God can still kill Christians.
God can still smoke your life.
God can still make it uncomfortable for you.
And then what?
Like people just be like, I don't really know.
You know, I don't understand why all this bad stuff's happened to me.
Why don't you just start going to church again?
Maybe you'd feel better.
Why don't you just start reading your Bible again?
Maybe things that get better for you.
Maybe you'd actually learn some wisdom and apply it to your life and then know what
God wants from you.
And then maybe when you're going through a hard time, like, God, please help me.
You know, David cried to the Lord and he said, Hey, I need help.
My enemies are surrounding me.
I feel doomed.
I'm going to cry.
I'm going to weep.
And then God blesses his people because God's not going to let the enemy win.
You know, many times people have come up against our church and us and they always
lose every single time, even if it looks like they got us on the ropes.
It was like, you know, the apostle Paul's like, I finished the course.
I've, I fought a good fight.
And like, we're just like, oh, you know, he's just getting all these attacks.
And then just like, you know, tithes and fairy were just like, you know, just knock
them out or whatever.
It happens.
God, look, just read the promises of God.
He said his enemy, the enemies of us are going to lose.
And yeah, John got his head cut off, but you know, he didn't lose.
He went straight to heaven and called, you know, the greatest born among women or
born among, yeah, born of women.
Excuse me.
Yeah.
All right.
Not born among women.
That'd be weird.
Okay.
Turn to Acts chapter two, Acts chapter two verse 41.
Oh, one minute away from past four minutes is going to sleep time.
All right.
I got to hurry up.
He said, I got 55 minutes.
He falls asleep.
Everybody just like make a big noise or do something.
All right.
I'm just kidding.
All right.
Acts two 41 says, then they, they gladly received his word were baptized and the
same day they were added unto them about 3000 souls and they continued steadfastly
in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers
and fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the
apostles and all the believer together and had all things common.
Now that ought to be the way this church is right here.
That we have all things in common.
We're when one purpose in one focus, trying to bring the gospel to this
country and you know what a great church is in this place right now and people are
just outside of these walls and they don't know about it and our job is to get
people to know the Lord, to get people to be saved and to start churches in other
cities in England and to start churches in other places in mainland Europe.
And to just, I think that, you know, God is doing a great work in this world.
You like think, well, it's just like a hundred people here or whatever.
It doesn't matter because God has always used small numbers to do great things.
Look at verse 45 and they sold their possessions and good and parted them to
all men as every man had need.
This is the people, this is the part, the verse people don't want to take right
there.
But anyway, it says they are continuing daily and one accord in the temple and
breaking bread from house to house did eat their meat with gladness, what does
it say, and singleness of heart.
They all had the same mission and they continued, what does it say, daily.
You don't have it that bad.
You just got three times a week and then some other sowing times.
It's like, but they gladly did this.
They loved it and they went out and you know, I'm sure that the Jews weren't
exactly the most.
I mean, you've been around this area a little bit, right?
They're not exactly the most receptive people, are they?
But it says praising God, verse 47, having favor with all people and the Lord
added to the church daily, such as should be saved.
Now people always say, I want to have a church like the book of Acts.
Are people getting saved every day?
I mean, pretty much every day in this area.
I mean, brother Ian started a soul wanting group down in south, I was going
to say South America, South Africa, and they've gotten, what, like how many
people saved down there?
Yeah, like 80 people.
And that's just from what, May?
And it's just a small group of people, but they're still just daily going,
soul wanting.
And what's the area that you have brother Neil in?
Exeter.
Okay, there's a lot of X's.
Essex, Wessex, no, I'm just kidding.
But God's just going to keep doing things.
But you need to be on the same team with this church.
If you want to come to this church, be on the team, have a singleness of heart and
love going to church.
And you know what?
God's going to bless your life and you're not going to, you're never going to regret
the days that you serve the Lord with all your might.
Know what you're going to regret?
The days you didn't.
That's what you're going to regret someday.
Don't look back on your life and go, you know what?
I wish I wouldn't have been a Demas.
I wish I wouldn't have, you know, just left my leader when he needed me the most.
Turn to Psalm chapter 92, Psalm chapter 92.
You know what David also liked to do?
He liked to go to the house of the Lord.
And if we want to be believers after God's own heart, we're gonna have to love the
house of God.
Is it perfect?
No, no church is perfect.
You're like, well, I don't like this.
I don't like the way, you know, the bathrooms are.
I don't like the chairs.
I want spongier chairs.
Quit being so, people like the color of the carpet.
I like it actually.
It's gray.
It's nice.
If it was pink.
Yeah.
Okay.
We might have a fight, but people split churches over colors of carpet.
I mean, this is not what the fight is about.
We're supposed to be in the fight.
We're supposed to be finishing the course.
Look what it says.
Psalm 92 verse 12 says, the righteous shall flourish like the palm tree.
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our
God.
So when you plant yourself in church, you're going to be blessed.
You're going to flourish.
And it says they shall still bring forth fruit in old age.
They shall be fat and flourishing.
So, you know, that's the picture of being blessed, right?
You just plant yourself in the house of the Lord.
Plants don't move, do they?
Generally, they don't walk around.
Have you ever seen a plant walk around?
No, you plant yourself in the house of the Lord and you're going to be fat and flourishing.
That's not talking about necessarily body weight.
It's just talking about the fatness of the land.
You're going to, your life's going to be blessed.
Number four, solvening.
Solvening.
And there's no scripture that says how often you should go solvening because I think that you
should go solvening as much as you want.
But I think that you should be on a regular schedule, at least going like once a week.
You know, I think you can simply write with God.
And obviously, if you're sick or something like that, or you're injured, there's times when it's
not our season, right?
But the Bible says in Proverbs, go ahead and turn to Matthew chapter 28, the Bible says in
Proverbs 11 30, it says, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win his
souls is wise.
You want to be wise today?
Go win some souls.
And no, this is not talking about money.
You know, it's so funny that these preachers, that these pastors that don't believe in
solvening, they'll go, that's not what it's talking about.
It is what it's talking about.
The tree of life, it says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.
We're supposed to be these trees that replicate other trees and that those people would win
souls.
You know, how many times have I showed you verses where it's talking about us being like a
tree flourishing, like a plant flourishing.
God looks at us and he talks a lot about trees and he applies it to the Christian.
But it says, behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.
That means we're going to get what we got coming to us.
God's going to make sure that we're going to get the blessings.
We're going to get the rewards that we have coming to us.
When what?
When we win souls and it makes us wise.
Look at Matthew chapter 28 verse 18.
Literally the last thing that Jesus said before he went to heaven, what did he say?
And Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and earth.
Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Ghost.
Who's got the power?
Jesus has the power.
And he said for us to go and people are going to get saved.
People are going to get baptized and people, you know, we're going to baptize people in the
name of the Father, Son, the Holy Ghost, not, you know, in some oneness God.
This is the Father, the Son, the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I've commanded you.
Is it important to teach doctrine?
Absolutely it is.
You know, there's a lot of churches out there that might be independent Baptist, but they
don't really teach the doctrine.
They don't tell you why you should be wearing skirts and dresses only.
Ladies, they don't tell you why men should dress up and be presentable in the house of the
Lord.
They don't, people, you know, they don't understand because you're getting like one
scripture and then they're extrapolating a whole sermon off of one scripture.
You know, we as God's people, as the preachers also should be telling people why we do the
things that we do.
Why are we doing this?
Why go to church to encourage each other?
Why pray so you get the blessings you have not because you ask not, you know, why do we go
to church because God's going to bless us and bless our life.
Why do we go solely because it makes us wise and he's going to recompense the righteous in
the earth.
That's why look at that.
So it says in verse 20, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I've commanded you.
And lo, I'm with you some of the times.
Is that what it says?
No, it says all way, even onto the end of the world.
We have the power of Jesus until the end of the world.
It's not just for a short time.
It's the end of the world.
You know what?
If you're living till the end of the world, that's you.
But if you don't live to the end of the world, that's also you.
We have that power.
God's given us the power.
He sent the comforter to us so that we'd have the power of God in our lives.
So we'd have the power of the Holy Spirit.
And you know what?
What is it?
What is the sermon about?
It's finishing the course.
You just add these things to your daily life and you're going to finish strong.
You're going to be like the apostle Paul.
Maybe you're not going to be exactly like all of his works, but you know what?
You're going to finish the course.
You're going to fight a good fight and you're going to keep the faith.
The last thing I have is sanctification.
So, and how often should we be sanctified?
Well, I would say all the time, all the time.
Look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.
And obviously we fail, we sin, we have bodies of death, we fight our flesh on a
daily basis from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we pillow our
head at night.
But you know what I found my most spiritual times are, is when I'm with
God's people doing things that God's people are supposed to be doing and
thinking about the things of God.
And then it's like you don't really think about sin.
Like if you're just busy for the Lord and you're like, we're just always so busy.
We don't have time to do that.
You know what?
Idleness is the devil's workshop.
And the more idle you are, the more free time that you have, the more you're
going to fail.
The more you're going to get in the flesh.
It's just a fact.
You know, we're fighting that flesh.
And when you feed the spirit instead of the flesh, you're going to live a
victorious Christian life.
Look at what it says in verse number one.
Furthermore, we beseech you brethren and exhort you by the Lord Jesus that you
have as you have received of us how that you ought to walk and to please God.
Does God want us to please him and walk with him?
Yes.
So you would abound more and more.
What's he saying?
Bless more and more.
He would just bless your life.
For you know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
For this is the will of God, even your sanctification that you should abstain
from fornication.
So God wants us to what?
Be sanctified.
What does that mean?
Well, it's separated unto God.
You're different from other people.
People like, you know, they're like, I just can't handle going to church because
of all the hypocrites.
And that is probably true.
There's a lot of churches where there's a lot of hypocrites.
We're all hypocrites at some point in our lives.
We're all, we all, you know, fail and say we believe something and do something
different.
It's true, but that's not the will of God.
And so God does want us to be sanctified.
He wants us to be separated.
And those things are virtually pretty much the same thing that you should abstain
for fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honor.
You know, the duty of a Christian is to live a sanctified and holy life.
He said, be holy for I am holy.
And you're like, well, that's easy for you to say, Pastor Thompson.
But you know what?
All the other things I've already showed you before, if we're doing all that stuff,
you don't really have a lot of time to get into sin.
You don't have time to have some kind of adulterous relationship with somebody
else when, you know, all the time you're spending is with your spouse, with your
kids and your church.
You're like, well, that just sounds boring.
Well, you know, take a holiday, go someplace with your family, you know, but
you know what?
Don't go on vacation and forget about church.
When we go on vacation, we just try to go find a church we can go to.
So that we can realize how blessed we are for having the church that we're already in.
Just go to your average old IFB church and that's the, you know, the escape plan
from the new IFB.
Well, guess what?
You're going to realize really fast why you are new IFB.
Because the first altar call that they just want to sing 15 stanzas, you're going
to be like, ugh.
No, I'm not saying anybody should kill themselves, okay?
But anyway, you know what I'm saying?
Like, that's all it takes.
It's just, you know, Jesus, he can come at any moment.
He can come right before the sermon's over, you know, but Pastor Thompson's not
as long as Pastor Thompson's is, he couldn't come.
No, but.
But you know what I'm saying?
Like that you're going to hear all this garbage that you really forgot that you
had to deal with because once you've been in a new IFB church like this for a while,
you start to forget how special this church is.
So maybe on another night, you know, don't tell Brother Ian you're going to an old
IFB church, but maybe you just need to remember where you came from because the
gold can lose its luster, the newness can wear off, the callous can go over the
heart, the hard preaching can go over your head because you're just like, oh,
yeah, I know.
He just keeps saying this stuff over and over again.
Well, then just go to an old IFB church every once in a while just to, just to
remember what you came from because, you know, it's just like, well, I'm going to
have a, you know, a 28 week series on grace.
Like, I'm saved, I've been saved the whole time I've been coming to this church.
Good night.
Turn to second Corinthians chapter six.
So God wants us to live a sanctified and separated life.
And you know what, when you come to a church like this, that's what's going to
be thundered for from the pulpit.
You know what?
If it smashes your little baby toe, just quit being a whiner and, you know, like,
he's talking about me.
If the verses apply to something that you're not doing right in your life, it
is going to feel like he's talking about you.
Maybe he is talking about you.
If it is, if you feel like it's talking about you, then just say, yeah, it is
talking about me.
And then just get that right.
You're like, well, yeah, we all do wrong stuff.
We all get our toes stepped on sometimes.
You know, when I'm listening to my friends preach, my pastor friends preach, I get
my toes stepped on too.
When I hear anybody, you know, it can just be just anybody on a men's preaching
night.
I'm like, oh, but that's how you should just apply it, suck it up and quit being
weak and just change it, fix it.
That's what God's word is supposed to do.
It's supposed to show you.
It's like the law of liberty, the perfect law of liberty.
You look at that and it's going to reflect back on you what you really are.
And it's going to show you the inconsistencies in your life and the
places in your life that you're failing as a Christian.
And then make the change.
Don't be double minded, like, well, I'm just so tired of being preaching it.
What'd you think was going to happen if you came to a new IFB church, you're
never going to get preached against.
Oh, you walk on water.
No, you never sin.
You never do anything wrong.
Just take it, apply it like that.
Isn't that what you did when you watched it online?
And then all of a sudden you come to a church, you're like,
they're always preaching against me.
Fix it.
Second Corinthians 6, 4, be not ye unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
What communion hath light with darkness?
What concord hath Christ with Belial?
What part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
What is the answer to those questions?
Nothing. There's nothing in common.
So what am I talking about?
I'm talking about separation.
So sanctification and separation are really closely tied together.
Why?
Because when you get sin out of your life and you get sinful people out of your life,
then that sets you apart.
Right. It makes you, you know, you're God wants us to be holy and separated from
these things in this life.
It's not hang out with Belial.
It's not go to Belial's house.
It's not hanging out with unbelievers.
Your best friend should not be an unbeliever.
Your best friend shouldn't be an infidel.
You know, the advice that you get from people shouldn't be from someone.
You know, the advice that you get from people shouldn't be from some unbeliever.
You're like, you don't go to marriage advice from your unsaved parents unless
they just have that, like, dialed in on their marriage or something.
But look, I'm not saying that they don't
have some kind of wisdom or knowledge in marriage.
I'm just saying, get your advice,
get your teachings from the word of God and from godly people.
Like, well, what should I do?
Just not hang around my unsaved friends anymore?
Well, do you want to keep sitting?
Do you want to not be separated?
And then when you hear preaching like this, you're like, well,
I'm just going to keep still having them be my best friend and come over and give
all the advice. Well, and what are they going to do when,
you know, you as a wife or you as a spouse tell some kind of problem,
what you shouldn't be doing anyway to somebody else, some unsaved person.
What do they always say? Oh, girl, you better leave that guy.
You know, he's wrong.
You know, he's treating you wrong.
And that's what guys will do, too.
He's treating you wrong. Come get with me.
It's like, don't get your advice from unsaved people because they're not going to,
they don't have the morals that we have.
They don't have the morals that the Bible has.
Look what it says in verse 16.
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
For you're the temple of the living God.
As God hath said, I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God
and they shall be my people. You want God to be pleased with you?
Get sanctified, get set apart.
It says, Wherefore, come out from among them and be separate, saith the Lord,
and touch not the unclean thing and I'll receive you.
See, God wants you to be separate.
And in order to finish the course, in order to keep the faith,
you're going to have to apply these things in your life in some way, shape or form.
And I believe that this is the five pillars, basically, of living the Christian
life and not the five pillars of Islam, OK?
The five pillars of living a victorious Christian life.
And look, there's more to the Bible than that.
I understand that.
But when you apply these principles in your life, your life is going to get better.
You're going to be able to stay in the fight.
Last last scripture I'll have you turn to is Proverbs chapter three, verse five.
Then I got a whole bunch of other sub points.
Just kidding, pastor.
I got to be done, though.
It's my church, I'll preach as long as I want.
It is until Sunday.
Then he's like, Ouch!
Americans, out! No, I'm just kidding.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths.
Look at Paul finish the course.
You want God to direct your path?
You want God to help you finish the course?
Well, why don't you just start acknowledging him in prayer?
Why don't you acknowledge his word in Bible reading?
Why don't you acknowledge his word and go
to church as much as you can for the rest of your life?
Why don't you continue and commit to being a soul winner?
If you're not talking yet, get on that path.
You've been a silent partner for a while.
Get on the path to talking and then you know what God's going to do?
He's going to bring a whole bunch of more silent partners to this church.
But as long as you remain a silent partner,
I mean, it's like we need talkers with non talkers.
I mean, when we started our church in Vancouver,
it seemed like every time we'd get someone, we'd get a big group of people
that were talking and being able to preach the gospel.
Then God would just bring more people to our church.
And so, you know, then obviously work on being sanctified,
work on setting yourself apart and separating from the world,
because the world is, they have nothing good for you.
There's nothing redeeming about the world.
We're supposed to leave Egypt behind and never look back.
You know, we put our hands to the plow and don't look back,
because what to say when you look back, you're not worthy of the Lord.
He wants us to keep going forward.
He wants us to finish the course, you know, to, you know,
to go after the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
So the Christian life should be viewed as a lifetime thing.
It's not something you retire from.
And, you know, I kind of liken things to a five course meal or different five
things that you do five times or whatever.
But, you know, you're like,
Pastor Thompson, the Christian life isn't a five course meal.
Well, it is because it's something you do daily.
So you do eat food every day.
If you eat food every day, then you should do all these other
things that I mentioned tonight every day, too.
It's not just you'll eat one meal for the rest of your life.
No, you keep eating food.
You keep applying these principles to your life.
And are we going to have tough weeks?
Yeah. Are we going to have tough days?
Yeah, we're going to have tough years.
Yeah.
But, you know, God is still going to be with us.
He's still going to bless us.
Don't ever give up hope because he said he'll never leave us nor forsake us.
Christianity is not something you quit.
It's not something you retire from.
Serve all the days.
Serve the Lord all the days of your life with fear and trembling.
And serve this church all the days of your life.
So you got a special church here.
It's the only one of its kind in England,
and it's starting to hit the mainland in different places.
You guys are on the cusp of something really great here.
It's already a great church,
but I think that there's other great things to come.
And just watch and see how the Lord does things.
Watch how he does things in South End.
Watch how he does things in London and all of England and Scotland and Ireland
and Wales and Europe and Africa and beyond.
I mean, there's no limit to what we can do with the power.
God, didn't Jesus say, I give you all powers given unto me?
He's going to give that power to us.
You've got the same Holy Spirit that we have in America.
And, you know, he's not, you know, a respecter of persons.
If you're willing to put in the work and do what, you know,
follow these principles, then God's going to do great things in your life
and great things in this church.
And you'll be able to say, just like the Apostle Paul,
I have finished the course.
I have kept the faith.
Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for the scriptures.
We thank you so much for this great church here in South End, Lord.
And it might just be a blip on some other people's radar.
But we know that you're doing great things here, Lord.
I pray, Lord, for the future of this church.
And I pray, Lord, that that we wouldn't lose one or that everybody,
you know, would apply these things and apply the principles of God's word,
your word, Lord, to their lives so that they can finish the course also.
Lord, we thank you so much for your mercy and blessing.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.