WEBVTT

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Proverbs chapter 4, Proverbs chapter 4.

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Please follow along silently as we read the entire chapter.

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If you do not have a Bible, there should be one in the seat right in front of you.

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Proverbs chapter 4, the Bible reads,

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Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee, love her and she shall keep thee.

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Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.

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Exalt her and she shall promote thee, she shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her.

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She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

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Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings and the years of thy life shall be many.

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I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, I have led thee in right paths.

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When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

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Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for she is thy life.

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Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.

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Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.

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For they sleep not, except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall.

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For they eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence.

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But the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.

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The way of the wicked is as darkness. They know not at what they stumble.

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My son, attend to My words, incline thine ear unto My sayings.

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Let them not depart from thine eyes, keep them in the midst of thine heart,

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for they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

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Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

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Put away from thee a foward mouth and perverse lips, put far from thee.

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Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

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Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

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Turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove thy foot from evil.

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Brother Eli, can you pray for the service?

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It's definitely not a traditional anniversary style sermon, but I do think it's an important one.

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And it's, to me I've found that when people are unbalanced and they start to get their life out of balance,

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that's when they tend to fall off and not go stop going to church.

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And you can be unbalanced.

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Good night.

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Jesus.

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It's the straight and balanced path.

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And basically what I've come to see over eight years in the ministry is sometimes people,

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when they end up just leaving or falling out of, not just falling out of this church, but

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I'm just saying falling out of church in general, that they're unbalanced in their ways, either

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way too far over to the right or way too far over to the left.

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instead of staying on the straight path and keeping their life their

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Christian life imbalanced, they become unbalanced.

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And so that's what I want to preach about this morning,

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because I think it would help.

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our church and I think it helped us to just kind of take a spiritual inventory on where we're at as Christians and

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Where we're where we're at as a church also, I mean it's very important that we stay on that path

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I mean the Bible talks about the path it even said it talked about in this chapter how we should stay on, you know

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right paths

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And when you go out to the woods, you don't go,

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most people don't go off the beaten trail too far

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because a lot of times those aren't very well traveled

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because there's maybe some sort of danger that way

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or whatever.

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Not this year, but last year, I tried to take my truck.

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On a shortcut with you know the actual GPS tried to send me on a shortcut to get to the men's shooting

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Event and I end up going up some old goat trail

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And I should have known when I had to drive through a creek that

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But I thought, was it going to make it through?

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But I thought, OK, well, I made it through the creek

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pretty easily.

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And I had my four-wheel drive and everything.

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But it was just a stupid, new move on my part.

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And I ended up getting up halfway up this mountain.

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And then the road just stopped right there.

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And it was like, I couldn't go to the right hand or the left.

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There was just nowhere for me to go.

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I couldn't even turn around.

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So I had to literally reverse down this mountain in my truck

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and reverse to a point where I could actually

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turn around and then and that was right back where the creek was because I wasn't gonna

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reverse across the creek again.

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That would just be stupid but I mean I'm sure if anybody local around there saw me from

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their house or something they're probably like what is this idiot doing?

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Where is he going?

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So, and when we get off the beaten path, that's when things can get rough in our life.

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That's when things can get rough in our Christian life.

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So let's look down in our Bibles here at Proverbs chapter 4 verse number 23.

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And it says, Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.

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Put away from thee a foward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.

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Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.

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Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.

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Do not turn to the right hand, nor to the left.

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Remove thy foot from evil.

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So this principle that I was talking about is that,

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you know, if you're turning to the right hand

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or to the left, you're getting off the path

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that you're supposed to be on.

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And in our world today, the right-left paradigm

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is a big thing.

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And sometimes people can be really right wing or whatever,

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or really right on their politics or even their religion.

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And they're wrong.

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They're wrong about being that far right.

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And also, on the flip side of that,

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there's people that go to the left hand.

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We would call that the liberal side.

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People that are Christians that say

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that there's many ways to God,

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and they just get way far into these weeds

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where they're just like,

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they're definitely not following biblical Christianity.

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But I would also say that people that go too far to the right

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are not following biblical Christianity.

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So the truth is that the balance is somewhere in the middle.

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I've talked about car tires being, if you're deflated on one part, you're not going to

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get as good a gas mileage if you have one tire that's too low or whatever.

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You've got to take that thing in and fill it up.

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So it's just, your cars have to be maintained.

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Your tires have to be balanced and in a line.

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If not, what happens when you're driving and you let go of the wheel?

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Your car starts to do this, right?

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So you want to keep your hands on the wheel.

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You want to be looking straight ahead and being on the path that you're supposed to

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be on.

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Otherwise you're going to end up in a ditch or in a river or on a goat trail

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out of nowhere with nobody to help, no cell reception. I mean, it can get pretty

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rough. So you know in the independent Baptist movement we talk a lot about

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staying on the narrow path. It's a topic that's talked about quite a bit but

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a lot of Christians dive off this cliff

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and they don't know how to keep the wheel straight.

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And they think that as long as they're not in the ditch in the left,

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that they can run as far out into the weeds as they want to.

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But that's not true, because if you run out to the right,

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you're still out in the weeds, or on the side of the road in a ditch.

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And everybody's seen that car on the side of the road

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that's like, well, what were they thinking?

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You know?

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And their road is, their car is in the ditch.

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I'm sure maybe you've seen some of those YouTube shorts

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where people are driving like absolute idiots

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and then something bad happens to them as a result of that.

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It's like immediate judgment happens to them or something.

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Like kids running to church and then falling down

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when they're not supposed to be running to church,

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that kind of stuff.

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So that's just a side note.

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But anyway.

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Haha

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But, you know, God didn't call us to be fanatics on our own imagination and on rules that we

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make up on our own. And we're not supposed to be on the fringe left or the far right.

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He called us to standard biblical truth.

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And this is the truth, the Bible.

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And, you know, on the right, people also tend to make up standards,

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make up things that are man-made.

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This is what the Pharisees were always doing.

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They're always making up man-made rules,

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putting things in the Bible,

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or putting, you know, things, heavy burdens on men

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that they couldn't even do themselves.

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They wouldn't even lift their little finger to do it, right?

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So, there is a danger on both sides of this paradigm here.

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So proud

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Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5 says,

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trust in the Lord with all thine heart.

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and lean not unto thine own understanding.

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See, a lot of times people lean onto their own understanding

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instead of leaning on God's understanding from the Bible.

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It says, in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

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You want to stay on the right path? Well, why don't you acknowledge God?

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Why don't you... It's not just saying, okay, God, you're real,

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then live your life or something.

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No, it's acknowledge him in all thy ways.

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So, and it says, He will direct thy paths.

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Be not wise in thine own eyes.

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Fear the Lord and depart from evil.

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So you see how if you're not doing, you know, if you're not being wise in your own eyes,

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the opposite of that is saying fear the Lord.

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If you fear the Lord, you're not going to just do whatever you want.

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You're not going to be wise in your own eyes.

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You're going to follow the Lord and depart from evil.

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It says, and for all you natural paths out there, instead of engorging yourself in every

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pill and every essential oil that you can think of, why don't you follow this?

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Because it says, it shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones.

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I mean you want to stay healthy well be on God's side, be in God's perfect will and

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I'm not saying you're never going to get sick, okay, that's not what I'm trying to say.

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I'm just saying that you know that's what the Bible says right?

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It'll be health to you.

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It'll be health to your spiritual life.

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It'll be health to your physical life because God's not going to punish you for the things

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that you do if you're not doing a bunch of bad things right?

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So.

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So, but you know, when we get off that prescribed God's health plan, then we're likely to get

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off that path.

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And what's the health plan?

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To trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.

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Because when we're leaning to our own understanding, we're going to make mistakes.

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If God's never part of your day, God's never part of the end goals of your life, then you're

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going to lean to your own understanding and then you're going to get off into the ditch.

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So, let's look at Proverbs 427 again.

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It says, turn not to the right hand, nor to the left.

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Remove thy foot from evil.

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So again, the middle is the place to be the straight path.

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And you know what?

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Satan doesn't care what side you fall into.

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He doesn't care what side of the ditch you fall into, as long as you crash and burn wherever.

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He wants Christians to not finish the race.

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He wants Christians to fall out of church.

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He wants Christians to backslide.

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This is what he wants.

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And he doesn't care whether you're doing it because you're too far right radical or

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you're too far left.

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But you know, God is saying in this passage, don't turn either way.

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Follow the path that he has chosen for us.

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So again, most of the time, the best place to be is in the middle.

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So and look, on a paved road, isn't it nice to be,

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it's a lot nicer to be on a paved road than a gravel road, isn't it?

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Gravel roads are annoying.

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They get your car dirty.

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They get cotton.

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You're in your, huh?

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Yeah, your tread, they get caught in, you know, you can get them in your brake, you

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know, where the discs are and stuff like that.

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I've had that happen where it's making this squeaking sound, like, what's that squeaking

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sound?

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Oh, it's just a rock that's been stuck in your disc for a while, so it's like, oh, man.

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But they're also not paved, and you can't see, there's no lines painted on them generally.

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But on a paved road, you know, in America at least, if you're on a paved road, you know,

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For the most part, you're going to have paint on the road so you can see.

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see which lane you're supposed to be in.

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You're going to have a fog line on each side.

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So if it's that dark and rainy night,

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you can look and see that fog line.

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It's going to be like, OK, well, as long as I can see that line,

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I'm OK.

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There's reflectors a lot of times on roads.

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So you can see with your headlights,

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we'll pick those reflectors up.

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And those are safety features that have been put into place.

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And sometimes we take those things for granted.

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But think about if there was no like,

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Thanks for watching!

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15 mile an hour turn warnings on the signs.

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There's no warning signs on the road.

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All of a sudden, you're going 55 miles an hour,

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and then all of a sudden, it's like a 15 mile an hour turn.

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You're going to die.

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And so it's good to be on the right path

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where there's clear.

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things, indicators for you to be in what lane, and clear indicators of what's coming next.

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And the Bible is like that.

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It provides us all the things that we need in our life.

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Turn to Proverbs chapter 30 verse number 7.

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Because everything that we need is in this book.

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You're like, well not everything, everything that we need to know for our spiritual life.

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And a lot of things for our just general life purpose and purpose are in here too.

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Proverbs 30 verse 7 says,

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Two things have I required of thee,

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deny me them not before I die.

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Remove far from me vanity and lies,

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give me neither poverty nor riches,

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feed me with food convenient for me.

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lest I be full and deny thee and say, Who is the Lord?

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Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain."

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So what is this verse teaching?

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Well, you know, this passage is teaching that don't labor to be rich, don't ask to be rich

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because you can end up messing up your life because you're seeking after riches.

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that you might not wanna be too pory.

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either because if you're too poor then you might get upset with your situation and curse

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God in some way or blame God for your predicaments that you're in.

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So what's he asking for?

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To just be in the middle, right?

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That's what this verse is teaching, just be in the middle.

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Christians are not called to just labor to be rich all the time.

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Look, if you're rich, you're rich.

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You worked hard to get there, there's no problem with that.

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But, some people labor to be rich instead of being rich with God.

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There is a difference.

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You know, if we put, you know, it says, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness

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and all these things shall be added unto you.

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A lot of times we put the other stuff in front of that.

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you know and that's that's not the right way that is not the straight path so look at ecclesiastes 7

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verse 16 ecclesiastes 7 16 i told you you're going to get an extra long sermon today it's

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going to be like five sermons so because there's no extra service so i'm going to make sure we get

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both service times

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I'm sorry, not sorry.

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Anyway, Ecclesiastes 7.16.

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So this point is the trap of the right hand,

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and holier than thou, and over righteousness.

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And look, I didn't want to put Pharisees in here,

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because Pharisees were unsaved.

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And they were putting man-made commandments to add to salvation.

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And I want to gear this sermon towards people that are saved.

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So obviously, some of these could be applied

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and are talking about Pharisees.

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But because obviously, we could have people in our midst

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that are infiltrators, because it's not

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like it hasn't happened before.

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So.

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So we always have to be on guard about that,

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but not seeking that out necessarily.

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Because if you pull up the tares with the wheat

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before it's time, then that's going

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to cause a lot of problems in the church.

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It's going to cause a lot of problems in your life.

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So when they manifest themselves,

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that's when you know it's time.

18:20.800 --> 18:23.200
Because sometimes people will just give no indication

18:23.200 --> 18:24.280
that there's something wrong with them,

18:24.280 --> 18:28.960
and all of a sudden they just wig out and become these.

18:29.300 --> 18:32.020
suicide bomber, reprobates or whatever.

18:32.020 --> 18:35.180
Not literal suicide bombers, but sleeper cell reprobates

18:35.180 --> 18:36.020
is what I like to call them.

18:36.020 --> 18:41.020
So anyway, so what's it say in Ecclesiastes 7, 16?

18:41.220 --> 18:46.220
Be not righteous over much, neither make thyself over wise.

18:46.900 --> 18:49.900
Why shouldest thou destroy thyself?

18:50.000 --> 18:56.100
And so when people are going around just trying to be, you know, the righteousness and making

18:56.100 --> 19:01.960
everybody be, trying to make everybody do what they do and be like they are, then you're

19:01.960 --> 19:02.840
going too far.

19:03.200 --> 19:07.520
Obviously it's one thing to help people and try to help straighten people out when they're

19:07.520 --> 19:14.120
having a hard time, but it's not your job to just lord over everybody your personal

19:14.120 --> 19:20.220
pet doctrines, your personal opinions on things, and to just drive those things into people

19:20.220 --> 19:21.040
and annoy them.

19:21.900 --> 19:24.900
And sometimes people do that, you know, as Christians.

19:24.900 --> 19:27.900
And a lot of times it's the people that learn things really fast,

19:27.900 --> 19:32.900
and then they get a bunch of knowledge, and what knowledge puffeth up, the Bible says.

19:32.900 --> 19:36.900
And so why does it say, neither make thyself overwise?

19:37.500 --> 19:41.940
You know, you're like, well, what's the problem with having a lot of wisdom?

19:41.940 --> 19:49.220
It's not a problem having wisdom, but it's a problem trying to seek it too much.

19:49.220 --> 19:52.400
And that's, I mean, it says, why should thou destroy thyself?

19:52.400 --> 19:58.100
The Bible says if you're just over wise, if you're righteous over much, then you're going

19:58.100 --> 19:59.100
to destroy yourself.

19:59.700 --> 20:03.640
Ultimately, and what do the people who are puffed up with knowledge do?

20:03.640 --> 20:07.700
They usually say, well, I can't believe that person would ever do those things.

20:07.700 --> 20:09.980
I will never do those things.

20:09.980 --> 20:12.560
Famous last words.

20:12.560 --> 20:14.960
Take heed lest you fall, right?

20:14.960 --> 20:16.300
Because everybody can fall.

20:16.300 --> 20:22.720
Everybody has the ability to dive back into sins that they were previously in or just

20:22.720 --> 20:26.280
you know, diving us in if they're not on the straight path.

20:26.280 --> 20:27.000
So.

20:27.400 --> 20:32.400
Can someone be too holy?

20:32.400 --> 20:34.000
Well I don't think somebody can be too holy.

20:34.000 --> 20:35.880
I don't think there's a problem with that.

20:35.880 --> 20:42.880
But people can be righteous over much when they start inventing laws that God never wrote.

20:42.880 --> 20:46.080
Or making your opinion a fact to everybody else.

20:46.600 --> 20:52.760
I really try not to do that when I'm preaching and sometimes I'll catch myself doing it or whatever

20:52.760 --> 20:57.240
because my personal convictions on things, if they're not in the Bible, then I shouldn't be

20:57.240 --> 21:04.680
preaching them as biblical truth. What I try to say is this is my opinion if it's my opinion.

21:05.600 --> 21:07.760
Like, I mean, just for instance, spanking.

21:07.760 --> 21:10.240
The Bible doesn't say how many times you spank your kids

21:10.240 --> 21:12.480
or how many swats you give them or whatever.

21:12.480 --> 21:16.120
I just give my opinion on what I think is best.

21:16.120 --> 21:19.720
But I mean, people could do what they want as far

21:19.720 --> 21:21.440
as their own child rearing.

21:21.440 --> 21:24.400
But I can't just get up here and say,

21:24.400 --> 21:28.480
three swats is the maximum you should ever do.

21:28.480 --> 21:30.680
Because sometimes they need more.

21:32.000 --> 21:34.320
But three squats for me are like 10 from you.

21:34.320 --> 21:41.040
So especially if you're a woman, it is like 25.

21:41.040 --> 21:42.240
Some women can smack harder.

21:42.240 --> 21:44.280
They just know the right place to get you.

21:44.280 --> 21:46.360
They know the pressure points and the nerve endings

21:46.360 --> 21:47.280
or whatever.

21:47.280 --> 21:49.000
They've studied these things.

21:49.000 --> 21:53.120
They know the master of throwing the shoe at you or whatever.

21:53.120 --> 21:53.960
I'm kidding.

21:53.960 --> 21:54.460
But

21:54.460 --> 21:54.600
Thanks for watching!

21:55.100 --> 21:58.220
Look, I don't want to be righteous over much.

21:58.220 --> 22:02.420
I don't want to put myself into your homes and tell you how to run your homes, dads.

22:02.420 --> 22:07.820
I don't want to put myself and tell you how to run your marriage except for what the Bible

22:07.820 --> 22:08.820
says.

22:08.820 --> 22:12.660
And the Bible doesn't always say every little thing that we should do.

22:13.000 --> 22:19.040
It just tells us how we're supposed to love our wives, like Christ loved the church and

22:19.040 --> 22:20.920
gave himself for it.

22:20.920 --> 22:23.920
Wives are supposed to obey their husbands and be in subjection to them.

22:23.920 --> 22:29.840
I mean, those are the two big umbrellas that really people should get and dwell with their

22:29.840 --> 22:33.400
wives and knowledge.

22:33.400 --> 22:34.000
So.

22:34.100 --> 22:39.700
We should make sure that we're not righteous over much, we're not inventing new things that God didn't write.

22:39.700 --> 22:45.100
And when you start making your personal preferences the standard for everybody else's spirituality,

22:45.100 --> 22:47.100
then you're violating Scripture.

22:47.100 --> 22:49.100
You just are.

22:49.600 --> 22:53.100
It's being holier than now.

22:53.100 --> 22:56.540
It's making yourself righteous over much.

22:56.540 --> 22:59.040
And there's a lot of keyboard warriors out there

22:59.040 --> 23:02.120
that like to just jump on people.

23:02.120 --> 23:04.280
And this is how I would do it.

23:04.280 --> 23:05.740
This is how I would raise my kids.

23:05.740 --> 23:07.660
It's like, you don't even have kids.

23:07.660 --> 23:09.820
What are you talking about?

23:09.820 --> 23:11.820
How can you get up and talk about how to raise kids

23:11.820 --> 23:13.100
when you've never even had one?

23:13.600 --> 23:17.600
How can you get up and tell people how to be in a marriage when you've never even been married?

23:17.600 --> 23:20.400
You know, I mean, some people just...

23:20.600 --> 23:24.740
They just take things and that is being righteous over much.

23:24.740 --> 23:29.560
If you don't have any frame of reference, Donnie, then shut up.

23:29.560 --> 23:32.700
Just shut your mouth about things that you don't know about.

23:32.700 --> 23:35.020
Quit trying to rule everybody else's home.

23:35.020 --> 23:37.380
Quit trying to rule everybody else's child rearing.

23:37.380 --> 23:42.460
Quit trying to rule everybody else's how they should be at this job or that job or what

23:42.460 --> 23:46.280
specific Bible, King James Bible they should be using.

23:46.280 --> 23:48.280
They can get tedious and

23:48.600 --> 23:56.160
to where people just are like sick of you. So it's you know a hard truth is

23:57.200 --> 24:01.200
that people end up going too far in this direction,

24:01.200 --> 24:04.200
which they get trapped on the right hand,

24:04.200 --> 24:06.200
and end up destroying themselves

24:06.200 --> 24:10.200
because nobody can live up to their man-made standards.

24:10.200 --> 24:11.200
And then they're like,

24:11.200 --> 24:13.200
oh, no church is good enough for me,

24:13.200 --> 24:15.200
because, well, this church isn't pretty,

24:15.200 --> 24:17.200
you know, they're not post-Trib,

24:17.200 --> 24:19.200
they love Israel, or whatever, you know.

24:19.200 --> 24:22.200
Well, what, you just don't go to church then?

24:22.200 --> 24:23.700
That's a lot of people's attitude.

24:24.200 --> 24:26.160
is that they just won't go to church.

24:26.160 --> 24:27.080
Well, you don't understand.

24:27.080 --> 24:27.880
There's no good church in my area.

24:27.880 --> 24:29.600
Then move.

24:29.600 --> 24:32.360
Move to a place that does have a good church.

24:32.360 --> 24:35.120
Because if you're just traveling from church to church

24:35.120 --> 24:37.040
and every little thing bothers you,

24:37.040 --> 24:39.920
then maybe you just have some standards that are manmade.

24:39.920 --> 24:42.380
And I'm not talking about those are not manmade standards

24:42.380 --> 24:43.080
about doctrine.

24:43.080 --> 24:48.600
I'm talking about just other things that are just manmade.

24:48.600 --> 24:52.100
So don't get to this trap where you're

24:52.300 --> 24:55.820
holier than thou, and righteous over much.

24:55.820 --> 24:57.140
And if it's not your business,

24:57.140 --> 24:58.700
then you should just stay out of it.

24:59.000 --> 25:01.960
Why do people just feel like they need to ins...

25:01.960 --> 25:07.440
How many times have you heard not to grab a dog by the ears, that proverb that you're

25:07.440 --> 25:08.440
grabbing...

25:08.440 --> 25:12.240
If you're meddling in other people's affairs, if you're not minding your own business, it's

25:12.240 --> 25:13.960
like taking a dog by the ears.

25:13.960 --> 25:14.960
And what's going to happen?

25:14.960 --> 25:16.400
You're going to get bit.

25:16.400 --> 25:19.480
You insert yourself in somebody else's marriage, you're going to get bit.

25:19.480 --> 25:21.960
That's taking a dog by the ears.

25:21.960 --> 25:23.760
So we've got to be careful with stuff like that.

25:24.300 --> 25:33.420
And so when people become too far to the right, too holier than now, too righteous over much,

25:33.420 --> 25:38.940
they become bitter, they become hypercritical and completely useless for soul winning and

25:38.940 --> 25:44.540
other things because they're too busy just inspecting everybody else with a microscope.

25:44.540 --> 25:45.740
What's everybody else doing?

25:45.740 --> 25:47.380
Oh, this sermon applies to them.

25:47.380 --> 25:48.860
Why don't you make it apply to you?

25:49.200 --> 25:52.200
Because we all need to be fixed in one way shape or form.

25:52.200 --> 25:55.200
You know, and why do I say that?

25:55.200 --> 25:57.200
Because Baptist preachers always say that.

25:57.200 --> 25:59.200
Take it inside for you.

25:59.200 --> 26:02.200
Whatever you can get out of this sermon, take it to you.

26:02.200 --> 26:06.200
Don't just think about somebody else in church that needs to hear this or whatever.

26:06.200 --> 26:11.200
So here's some holier than now hyper spiritual verses.

26:11.200 --> 26:13.200
I'll have you turn to some of them but not all of them.

26:13.200 --> 26:16.200
Alright. Isaiah 65, 5.

26:16.200 --> 26:17.000
Turn to that one.

26:20.400 --> 26:25.840
This is of course where I get the term holier than now because it actually says it right

26:25.840 --> 26:26.840
in the verse.

26:26.840 --> 26:36.100
Isaiah 65, 5 says, which say stand by thyself, come not near me, for I am holier than now.

26:36.100 --> 26:39.920
This is the attitude of some people, they're so holy, don't even be around me, you're

26:39.920 --> 26:41.680
not holy enough.

26:41.680 --> 26:42.680
And it's a weird attitude.

26:42.680 --> 26:43.680
And you know why?

26:43.680 --> 26:46.200
It's a weird attitude because it just is.

26:46.200 --> 26:47.880
If you think you're better than everybody else.

26:48.400 --> 26:50.400
You are not.

26:50.400 --> 26:54.780
You know, we're supposed to esteem others better than ourselves and not just think we're

26:54.780 --> 26:55.780
better than everybody else.

26:55.780 --> 27:04.660
It says, these are a smoke in my nose and a fire that burneth all the day.

27:04.660 --> 27:08.380
And it's like being in a campfire when the smoke is just going in your nose the whole

27:08.380 --> 27:09.380
time.

27:10.100 --> 27:12.540
because you're so beautiful that the smoke just follows you.

27:12.540 --> 27:15.240
Right? Smoke follows beauty, whatever. I know.

27:15.240 --> 27:18.280
But it always seems to follow me. I don't know why.

27:18.280 --> 27:21.180
But God just, you know...

27:21.500 --> 27:23.700
What is he saying?

27:23.700 --> 27:25.540
He's annoyed by people like this.

27:25.540 --> 27:29.940
He's annoyed by people that are holier than everybody else and that look down their nose

27:29.940 --> 27:35.380
at other people and they roll their eyes and they're just always microscopic what other

27:35.380 --> 27:38.740
people are doing instead of paying attention to their own lives.

27:38.740 --> 27:45.100
So Proverbs chapter 30 verse 12, turn to that one real quick, Proverbs 30 verse 12.

27:45.100 --> 27:48.060
So Proverbs 30 verse 12 says,

27:48.600 --> 27:53.600
There's a generation that are pure in their own eyes.

27:53.600 --> 27:56.600
Wouldn't that be someone that's holier than now?

27:56.600 --> 27:58.600
They're pure in their own eyes.

27:58.600 --> 28:01.600
See, but nobody else thinks that, but they think that about themselves.

28:01.600 --> 28:09.600
There's a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

28:09.600 --> 28:15.600
There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up.

28:16.200 --> 28:22.080
They're just lifted up in pride, lifted up in self-angradizement, they're just better

28:22.080 --> 28:23.720
than everybody else.

28:23.720 --> 28:26.520
This is an attitude that God hates.

28:26.520 --> 28:28.160
It's annoying to Him.

28:28.160 --> 28:31.960
It's like smoke in His nose when people think that they're better than everybody else.

28:31.960 --> 28:35.340
Let's look at some New Testament verses on this.

28:35.340 --> 28:39.760
Look at Luke chapter 18 verse 14.

28:40.700 --> 28:46.180
Actually, Luke 18 verse 9.

28:46.180 --> 28:48.140
The Bible says in Luke 18, 9 it says,

28:48.140 --> 28:52.580
And he spake a parable unto a certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous

28:52.580 --> 28:55.000
and despised others.

28:55.000 --> 28:57.060
So this is about a Pharisee here.

28:57.060 --> 28:58.060
It says,

28:58.060 --> 29:03.420
Two men went into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a publican.

29:03.420 --> 29:05.820
The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.

29:06.300 --> 29:14.380
God, I thank thee that I am not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even

29:14.380 --> 29:16.380
as this publican."

29:16.380 --> 29:19.480
So it sounds like he's a little self-righteous, doesn't he?

29:19.480 --> 29:22.060
It sounds like he thinks he's better than this guy.

29:22.060 --> 29:23.840
I fast twice in a week.

29:23.840 --> 29:26.040
I give ties of all that I possess.

29:26.400 --> 29:30.800
And the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven.

29:30.800 --> 29:35.280
See that's the difference between being lofty with your eyes and your eyelids are lifted up.

29:35.280 --> 29:36.800
He wouldn't even look up at all.

29:37.700 --> 29:41.980
It's saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

29:41.980 --> 29:43.420
That's the right attitude to have.

29:43.420 --> 29:49.100
I tell you this man went down to his house justified rather than the other for everyone

29:49.100 --> 29:55.060
that exalted himself shall be abased and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

29:55.500 --> 30:01.140
So, it's bragging and boasting are not going to get you anywhere with God, it's actually

30:01.140 --> 30:03.080
going to get the opposite with you.

30:03.080 --> 30:06.420
It's going to have you lowered in His eyes.

30:06.420 --> 30:10.180
And when you are humble, then you'll be exalted by God.

30:10.180 --> 30:12.780
I mean, that's a great principle.

30:12.780 --> 30:14.780
And this is the attitude that Christians should have.

30:14.780 --> 30:16.020
This is what Jesus...

30:16.500 --> 30:24.900
taught us. And what is he doing? He targets here the core of the hyper spiritual and prideful

30:25.540 --> 30:32.300
attitude, the holier than thou attitude. Look at Luke 16, 14. Luke 16, 14.

30:36.300 --> 30:42.860
Luke 16, 14 the Bible says, and the Pharisees also who were covetous heard all these things

30:42.860 --> 30:49.260
and they derided him and he said unto them, hear they which justify yourself before men,

30:49.260 --> 30:55.340
but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in

30:55.340 --> 31:02.380
the sight of God. So again, they're covetous and God knows, or yeah the Lord Jesus Christ knows this.

31:03.200 --> 31:06.440
And when he hurt, they're just deriding him,

31:06.440 --> 31:08.600
and they're talking smack about him,

31:08.600 --> 31:11.640
but they actually justify themselves before men.

31:11.640 --> 31:14.340
Look, this is not an attitude that Christians should have.

31:14.340 --> 31:18.980
So, you know, just applying these things from Pharisees,

31:18.980 --> 31:20.980
because Christians can be like this too.

31:21.300 --> 31:23.380
And obviously, I don't think that you're

31:23.380 --> 31:25.900
going to be adding works of salvation

31:25.900 --> 31:28.380
if you're actually saved, unless you're

31:28.380 --> 31:31.300
hearing some idiot get up and say this all the time.

31:31.300 --> 31:33.260
If you don't have the works, people

31:33.260 --> 31:35.720
repeat things that they hear their pastor say sometimes,

31:35.720 --> 31:39.780
which is unfortunate when it's what is heresy.

31:39.780 --> 31:43.100
So let's see.

31:43.100 --> 31:44.020
Let's turn to.

31:47.500 --> 31:49.500
Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12.

31:54.200 --> 32:00.520
So when you go too far to the right, this is what's going too far to the right.

32:00.520 --> 32:07.480
Being too hyper spiritual, being a holier than now, nobody's as good and holy as me,

32:07.480 --> 32:10.520
I don't even own a TV, you know, this kind of stuff.

32:11.400 --> 32:14.080
And look, I'm not down on you if you don't own a TV.

32:14.080 --> 32:15.880
I'm just saying that if you're saying

32:15.880 --> 32:18.100
that to get some kind of spiritual brownie points

32:18.100 --> 32:21.760
with me, I don't care if you have a TV or not.

32:21.760 --> 32:24.040
Like I said before, I'm not inside your home.

32:24.040 --> 32:26.800
I'm not going to tell you how to live your life.

32:26.800 --> 32:29.760
So let's see.

32:29.760 --> 32:33.400
It says in Romans 12.3, for I say through the grace given unto

32:33.400 --> 32:36.480
me to every man that is among you,

32:36.480 --> 32:38.440
not to think of himself more highly.

32:39.300 --> 32:46.900
than he ought to think. So this is again the apostle Paul here saying don't think too highly

32:46.900 --> 32:53.700
of yourself. This is going too far over to the right. This is it says but think to think soberly

32:53.700 --> 32:59.620
according as God hath dealt to every man a measure of faith. So it calls for you know the

32:59.620 --> 33:04.020
scripture calls for realistic and a humble assessment of yourself.

33:04.700 --> 33:07.340
rather than just being this arrogant person

33:07.340 --> 33:09.140
that thinks you're better than everybody else.

33:09.140 --> 33:12.140
So don't think too highly of yourself.

33:12.140 --> 33:15.260
You know, that is kind of veering off

33:15.260 --> 33:17.780
into the right side of things,

33:17.780 --> 33:20.180
which there's nothing wrong with being right,

33:20.180 --> 33:22.320
but not too much.

33:22.320 --> 33:23.980
Don't be righteous over too much.

33:23.980 --> 33:25.980
Don't be a holier than now.

33:26.300 --> 33:33.300
because it says, and I'm not going to have you turn back there, go ahead and turn back to Ecclesiastes 7.

33:33.300 --> 33:36.300
So Ecclesiastes 7 verse 16 again says,

33:36.300 --> 33:39.300
Be not righteous over much.

33:39.300 --> 33:41.300
You're not everybody's spiritual boss.

33:42.000 --> 33:45.040
And neither make thyself over wise.

33:45.040 --> 33:50.000
Don't get so smart or consider yourself so smart

33:50.000 --> 33:52.880
like that you are thinking that you're better

33:52.880 --> 33:53.720
than other people.

33:53.720 --> 33:58.160
Because it's just going to make you destroy yourself

33:58.160 --> 33:59.200
eventually.

33:59.200 --> 34:00.480
Because if you're smarter than everybody else,

34:00.480 --> 34:02.900
then a lot of people are smarter than everybody else.

34:04.100 --> 34:06.660
I mean, some people are smarter than, not everybody,

34:06.660 --> 34:08.800
but some people are smarter than other people,

34:08.800 --> 34:12.520
they'll let you know that they feel like you're an idiot.

34:12.520 --> 34:15.580
And what I think is cool is when people are very intelligent

34:15.580 --> 34:17.640
and they don't have that attitude,

34:17.640 --> 34:19.920
because I'm sure that they have to keep

34:19.920 --> 34:21.920
those things in check.

34:21.920 --> 34:24.600
They have to actually focus and not.

34:24.800 --> 34:31.360
focus to not do those things because sometimes when people say dumb things it's hard not to say,

34:31.360 --> 34:36.480
that was really dumb, you know. Sometimes you just have to though. But anyway, the second point here

34:36.480 --> 34:45.360
is that the trap of the left hand. So, and this is like basically spiritual compromise and look at

34:45.360 --> 34:48.480
verse 17 it says, be not over much wicked.

34:49.000 --> 34:53.980
So, you don't want to be over righteous over much, but you also don't want to be over much

34:53.980 --> 34:54.980
wicked.

34:54.980 --> 34:57.080
Neither be thou foolish.

34:57.080 --> 34:58.840
Why shouldst thou die before thy time?

34:58.840 --> 35:00.180
So what's the warning here?

35:00.180 --> 35:04.680
If you're too foolish, if you're too, if you're over wicked, then you're going to die before

35:04.680 --> 35:05.680
your time.

35:05.680 --> 35:09.080
I mean, isn't that what, that's what the Bible says.

35:09.080 --> 35:10.440
I'm not saying that.

35:10.440 --> 35:12.080
The Bible is saying that.

35:12.080 --> 35:15.700
So on the flip side of.

35:15.700 --> 35:19.400
You know, going too far to the right, there's a crowd that is like,

35:19.400 --> 35:22.600
oh, you know, we have freedom in Christ, bro.

35:22.600 --> 35:24.600
We can do whatever we want.

35:24.600 --> 35:26.600
Is that what the Bible said right there?

35:26.600 --> 35:28.300
That you can just do whatever you want?

35:28.300 --> 35:29.800
Now, you can do whatever you want and be saved.

35:29.800 --> 35:31.900
If you're saved, yeah, of course.

35:31.900 --> 35:35.100
But why should a soul die before that time?

35:35.100 --> 35:38.100
What is the Bible trying to tell you here?

35:38.100 --> 35:39.200
Don't be foolish.

35:39.200 --> 35:42.200
Don't be over much wicked because you're going to die early.

35:42.400 --> 35:44.520
I mean, that's what it's saying.

35:44.520 --> 35:53.920
So don't use your liberty to sin and be worldly and have this compromise in your heart.

35:54.500 --> 36:00.580
And a lot of people want to just hold hands and compromise and you know a lot of churches will say well

36:00.580 --> 36:05.900
We should have a meeting where all the pastors in the community come together and talk. I'm not interested

36:06.300 --> 36:13.040
I'm not interested Satan. Okay. I'm not because I'm not a Catholic. I'm not

36:13.600 --> 36:16.360
I'm not a Mormon, I'm none of these other things.

36:16.360 --> 36:17.360
They're false religions.

36:17.360 --> 36:22.720
Why would I want to hold hands with people that in all reality are a detriment to the

36:22.720 --> 36:25.760
gospel and a detriment to Christianity?

36:25.760 --> 36:29.720
And why would I introduce my people to their people?

36:29.720 --> 36:34.660
We shouldn't hold hand in hand with the wicked and just think that's okay.

36:34.660 --> 36:35.660
This is compromise.

36:35.660 --> 36:39.640
People are like, well you Baptists can't get along with anybody, even yourselves.

36:39.640 --> 36:40.840
Well that's true sometimes.

36:41.200 --> 36:46.400
That is true sometimes. But you know sometimes there's a time to fight even against your own

36:46.400 --> 36:52.000
brothers in Christ. I'm not saying over every little thing but there are times when fighting

36:52.000 --> 37:02.400
is necessary. I mean see the tribe of Benjamin in Judges chapter 19 and 20. So anyway.

37:03.100 --> 37:06.980
We don't want, you know, people will look at people that are too far over to the right

37:06.980 --> 37:10.720
and they'll go, I don't want to be that, so then they go way over to the left, which

37:10.720 --> 37:12.700
is also the wrong way.

37:12.700 --> 37:14.620
Just stay on the straight path.

37:14.620 --> 37:15.760
Stay in the book.

37:15.760 --> 37:18.620
The book is going to guide you where you need to go.

37:18.620 --> 37:20.460
You don't need to just jerk the wheel.

37:20.460 --> 37:22.540
You know, oh, I'm going off into the ditch.

37:22.540 --> 37:25.060
Let me just jerk the wheel all the way over here.

37:25.060 --> 37:28.180
That's not a, you know, when people drive like that, you can tell that they're just

37:28.180 --> 37:28.860
rookies.

37:29.300 --> 37:32.300
You know, if a dog jumps out in front of your car, hit that thing.

37:32.300 --> 37:40.220
I almost, I had a squirrel jump out in front of me and I'm telling myself here a little

37:40.220 --> 37:44.060
bit but my wife is like, just ride it over.

37:44.060 --> 37:46.740
I'm telling on her too.

37:46.740 --> 37:48.140
But it just startled me.

37:48.140 --> 37:51.940
So I did kind of go eee, you know, I was like, I kind of froze up a little bit.

37:51.940 --> 37:53.460
I tried to stop on my brakes or whatever.

37:54.100 --> 37:57.140
But I mean, I had time, there's nobody behind me or whatever.

37:57.140 --> 37:58.680
But if you're on a freeway and you got people,

37:58.680 --> 38:00.900
it's a busy freeway and some dog jumps out in front of you,

38:00.900 --> 38:02.400
just hit the gas.

38:04.400 --> 38:06.240
Sorry dog, but you shouldn't have been on the freeway.

38:06.240 --> 38:07.740
I don't know what you were doing.

38:07.740 --> 38:10.440
But it's not worth killing your family and another family

38:10.440 --> 38:12.940
by you swerving and trying not to hit that dog

38:12.940 --> 38:15.740
because human beings are more important than dogs, sorry.

38:15.800 --> 38:19.240
I'm not trying to be mean about the dog. I'm just saying you know if you

38:19.920 --> 38:24.640
Accelerate through it's gonna. You know poor lassie is gonna end up under your wheels or whatever

38:24.840 --> 38:28.860
It's sad, but you know you get over it pretty quickly because it wasn't your dog

38:29.120 --> 38:34.720
so or cat or any other kind of animals in the northwest and

38:35.000 --> 38:38.520
That look animals in the northwest they will jump out in front of your vehicle

38:39.200 --> 38:43.040
And if you're out in the Northwest in the sticks some place and it's after dark,

38:43.040 --> 38:48.240
those dumb deer will be out there just staring at you like an idiot in the middle of the road.

38:49.920 --> 38:53.760
And they are, you know, they're talking about not letting people hunt in Oregon.

38:53.760 --> 38:56.160
Like they're trying to pass, I don't know if they pass that or not, but.

38:59.300 --> 39:01.060
That's wild.

39:01.060 --> 39:02.660
No fishing, no hunting.

39:02.660 --> 39:05.620
This is how crazy they're getting over there.

39:05.620 --> 39:08.260
But I mean, there's already enough deer in the road

39:08.260 --> 39:09.220
already.

39:09.220 --> 39:13.060
Think about how bad it'll be when you can't hunt them.

39:13.060 --> 39:17.020
Me and my wife are on one of our little vacation

39:17.020 --> 39:20.900
things for our anniversary a couple of years ago.

39:20.900 --> 39:24.260
And we're driving from our hotel in Fossil.

39:25.200 --> 39:27.960
or two fossil to go to church.

39:27.960 --> 39:31.600
And it got dark, and there's all these deer.

39:31.600 --> 39:33.960
We had to go like 25, 30 miles an hour

39:33.960 --> 39:36.420
on a 55, 60 mile an hour highway

39:36.420 --> 39:37.880
because there was just so many deer

39:37.880 --> 39:39.440
in the road on the way there.

39:39.440 --> 39:41.160
And they just sit there, you know that term,

39:41.160 --> 39:42.620
deer in the headlights?

39:42.620 --> 39:44.920
It's true, you are like a deer in the headlights.

39:44.920 --> 39:46.340
You're just standing there going, huh?

39:46.340 --> 39:47.180
Because that's what they do,

39:47.180 --> 39:48.720
they just sit there and look at you.

39:48.720 --> 39:50.300
They don't jump out of the way.

39:50.300 --> 39:51.900
But they do love to jump out of ditches

39:51.900 --> 39:53.200
and right in front of your car.

39:53.300 --> 39:57.540
for whatever reason. But they won't jump out of your way if they see you speeding towards them

39:57.540 --> 40:06.580
in the middle of the highway. So anyway, but look, let's look at James chapter four verse four,

40:06.580 --> 40:12.500
turn to James 4, four. Look, we shouldn't be compromising. We shouldn't compromise

40:13.700 --> 40:17.460
with God's word. You know, the moment you drop this sword,

40:18.000 --> 40:22.800
and try to pick up an NIV or an ESV or an NASB,

40:22.800 --> 40:25.400
you're getting off the right path.

40:25.400 --> 40:27.400
And people do this all the time, they're like,

40:27.400 --> 40:28.700
well, it's just so hard for me to understand,

40:28.700 --> 40:30.200
well, get saved then.

40:30.200 --> 40:32.300
Because it's not that hard.

40:32.300 --> 40:34.100
Ye, you, and yours is plural,

40:34.100 --> 40:36.500
thee, thine, and thou is singular.

40:36.500 --> 40:39.200
I mean, that's a basis that'll help you

40:39.200 --> 40:41.100
understand the King James Bible.

40:41.100 --> 40:43.000
But these and thou's aren't really that hard.

40:43.300 --> 40:47.460
Just remember the, all those T words are singular,

40:47.460 --> 40:50.460
and the Y words are plural, okay?

40:51.500 --> 40:52.980
Are there other hard words in there?

40:52.980 --> 40:55.780
Yeah, there's hard words in the books you read too.

40:55.780 --> 40:57.460
In your romance novels that you read at night,

40:57.460 --> 40:59.060
or whatever you're reading.

40:59.060 --> 41:03.380
Your, whatever it is, whatever novels you're reading.

41:03.380 --> 41:05.620
You know, what are those ones where,

41:05.620 --> 41:07.200
they're like an Amish girl that.

41:07.400 --> 41:09.200
It's like a series that she falls in love with.

41:09.200 --> 41:10.640
I don't know.

41:10.640 --> 41:13.240
Charity does this, and Charity does that, or what?

41:13.240 --> 41:15.240
I don't know if that's what it's called.

41:15.240 --> 41:17.320
But anyway, I'm meddling now.

41:17.320 --> 41:21.800
But other books you read have hard words.

41:21.800 --> 41:24.120
Do you like, oh, I'm never going to read this book

41:24.120 --> 41:26.160
because I can't understand it?

41:26.160 --> 41:28.100
It's like, why don't you just open up a dictionary.

41:28.200 --> 41:33.980
And look at the word and see what it says, you know get the meaning or get the meaning from the Bible itself because the Bible

41:34.160 --> 41:36.160
Give you the definition sometimes so

41:36.760 --> 41:38.760
but look, I mean

41:39.080 --> 41:41.080
when you throw out the King James Bible and

41:41.760 --> 41:43.760
You know you accept this

41:43.760 --> 41:45.120
this

41:45.120 --> 41:49.280
NASB this I proved it in a sermon the other night that they're just dishonest

41:50.100 --> 41:52.100
with the way that they translate things.

41:52.100 --> 41:55.260
Translating giants as Nephilim every time

41:55.260 --> 41:57.780
in almost every modern version that we looked at,

41:57.780 --> 42:00.580
except for one, the message, which for some crazy reason,

42:00.580 --> 42:03.580
they got that translation right.

42:03.580 --> 42:06.460
But then when you go to other verses in the Bible

42:06.460 --> 42:09.540
where it talks about giants, it'll call them Rephaim instead.

42:09.540 --> 42:13.020
It's like, and these were the sons of the Rephaim.

42:13.020 --> 42:15.060
It's like, no, the sons of the giants.

42:16.000 --> 42:19.040
I mean, which is easier to understand?

42:19.040 --> 42:21.760
Who knows what refiem is?

42:21.760 --> 42:24.280
I mean, do you even know what that word is?

42:24.280 --> 42:27.800
Well, apparently it's another word for giant.

42:27.800 --> 42:30.040
But they don't translate it on purpose,

42:30.040 --> 42:34.800
so they can seem like, oh, this is the true rendering of it.

42:34.800 --> 42:39.000
How is it true rendering of it if in English

42:39.000 --> 42:40.080
it means something else?

42:40.800 --> 42:43.480
You're leaving something untranslated on purpose

42:43.480 --> 42:47.260
because you want people to think that you're smart or something.

42:47.260 --> 42:48.380
I don't know.

42:48.380 --> 42:53.300
But these are things that people like James White.

42:53.300 --> 42:56.940
And what's that other queer that I was picking on last year?

42:58.300 --> 43:01.100
A queer sounding guy, not the actual queer, but...

43:01.100 --> 43:02.500
Mark Ward, yeah.

43:02.500 --> 43:06.920
I mean, he's just saying, throw out your King James, you know, child abuse to give a child

43:06.920 --> 43:07.920
a King James Bible.

43:07.920 --> 43:12.980
It's like, oh, yeah, but you want us to believe that David didn't kill Goliath?

43:12.980 --> 43:14.980
You looked up the list.

43:14.980 --> 43:15.980
Huh?

43:15.980 --> 43:16.980
You looked up the list.

43:16.980 --> 43:17.980
Yeah, he does have a list.

43:17.980 --> 43:18.980
There's no doubt about that.

43:18.980 --> 43:20.740
I mean, definitely check his internet browser, but...

43:22.600 --> 43:25.300
Yeah, don't do that.

43:25.300 --> 43:27.860
Don't hack his internet browser.

43:27.860 --> 43:30.940
But I mean, they're intentionally misleading you.

43:30.940 --> 43:34.900
And look, people are like, they always are attacking our stance on King James only.

43:34.900 --> 43:36.740
Why do they attack that so much?

43:36.740 --> 43:40.860
They just want people to not be King James only for some reason.

43:40.860 --> 43:41.860
It's a cult.

43:41.860 --> 43:46.780
How is it a cult to believe that there's one Bible that's translated great in the English

43:46.780 --> 43:48.020
language?

43:48.020 --> 43:49.180
They can't all be right.

43:49.700 --> 43:54.580
Obviously if there's a synonym of a different word, you know, and if you translated a Bible

43:54.580 --> 43:59.700
version and it had synonyms of certain words and it wasn't, it didn't say, it said eternal

43:59.700 --> 44:03.400
instead of everlasting, that's not a big difference.

44:03.400 --> 44:09.740
But when you're changing giant for Rephaim or Nephilim just because you want to promote

44:09.740 --> 44:14.740
this weird human fallen angel hybrid.

44:15.200 --> 44:18.480
situation on the earth, that's weird.

44:18.480 --> 44:20.980
And it's wrong and it's misleading.

44:20.980 --> 44:23.920
And it's a way to fall into spiritual compromise.

44:23.920 --> 44:26.720
See, because the Bible doesn't teach that.

44:26.720 --> 44:30.960
The Bible teaches that sons of God saved people,

44:30.960 --> 44:33.220
you know, got together with the daughters of men,

44:33.220 --> 44:36.560
unsaved women, and then there's giants in the earth

44:36.560 --> 44:37.600
in those days.

44:37.600 --> 44:40.160
That's not because there were half demons or something.

44:40.300 --> 44:43.980
Do you think all the NBA stars today are half demons?

44:43.980 --> 44:45.420
Is that what you think?

44:45.420 --> 44:48.780
Somehow they became half demons.

44:48.780 --> 44:52.460
I mean, I'm pretty sure if you looked,

44:52.460 --> 44:53.780
they have human parents.

44:57.780 --> 45:00.620
They weren't born of a jackal or whatever,

45:00.620 --> 45:03.260
like some weird movie or something.

45:03.260 --> 45:03.760
So.

45:04.200 --> 45:10.340
James 4 for says the adulterers and adulteresses know you not that friendship of the world is enmity with God

45:10.540 --> 45:15.200
Who server therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God?

45:15.400 --> 45:21.060
So I mean, can you be an enemy of God and be saved? So the Bible says, you know, we don't want to

45:21.500 --> 45:26.500
Be, have people that are unsaved be our best friends.

45:26.500 --> 45:32.500
Or people, obviously, I'm not saying give all your friendships up from the past or something.

45:32.500 --> 45:38.500
I'm just saying that, it says if you're a friend of the world, then you're at enmity with God.

45:38.500 --> 45:41.500
It doesn't matter whether you're saved or not.

45:41.500 --> 45:47.500
Matthew 6, 24, go ahead and turn to, I won't have you turn to more verses yet, but...

45:48.200 --> 45:51.480
Just work your way to 1 Kings 18.

45:51.480 --> 45:54.240
I'm going to read Matthew chapter 6, 24.

45:54.240 --> 46:00.560
It says, No man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other,

46:00.560 --> 46:04.520
or else he will hold to the one and despise the other.

46:04.520 --> 46:06.840
You cannot serve God and mammon.

46:06.840 --> 46:08.760
So that's compromise also.

46:08.760 --> 46:11.800
Look, these are verses about being a compromiser.

46:11.800 --> 46:14.640
You can't be a friend of the world and a friend of God.

46:14.640 --> 46:16.200
You can't serve

46:16.200 --> 46:20.400
God and money at the same time or God and things at the same time.

46:20.400 --> 46:25.500
And then 2 Corinthians 6 14 says, be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.

46:25.500 --> 46:32.020
For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness, what communion hath light

46:32.020 --> 46:33.520
with darkness.

46:33.520 --> 46:39.520
So we're supposed to have nothing to do with being yoked up with an unbeliever.

46:39.520 --> 46:42.600
marriages, businesses.

46:42.900 --> 46:46.500
And, you know, you're, oh, my best friend is this one person.

46:46.500 --> 46:52.180
Hey, look, you're asking for trouble by compromising what the Bible says.

46:52.180 --> 46:53.780
That's what I'm saying.

46:53.780 --> 47:01.280
First Kings 1821, and Elijah came unto all the people and said, how long halt ye between

47:01.280 --> 47:03.280
two opinions?

47:03.280 --> 47:06.020
If the Lord be God, follow him.

47:06.020 --> 47:07.980
But if Baal, then follow him.

47:08.300 --> 47:10.700
And the people answered him not a word.

47:10.700 --> 47:13.380
And sometimes I think that people just,

47:13.380 --> 47:16.180
they're waiting for someone to prove something to them

47:16.180 --> 47:18.420
or something, and that's what they did with Elijah.

47:18.420 --> 47:21.460
They didn't answer him a word because they had to see

47:21.460 --> 47:23.700
these things happen before they would actually pick

47:23.700 --> 47:25.200
who was actually God.

47:25.500 --> 47:27.100
But God showed them, didn't he?

47:27.100 --> 47:32.220
They're up there cutting themselves and jumping up and down on the altar and, you know, all

47:32.220 --> 47:33.860
this water's been poured on there.

47:33.860 --> 47:40.380
Then Elijah just calls upon God and fire comes and consumes his sacrifice.

47:40.380 --> 47:44.300
But you know, how long halts you between two opinions?

47:44.300 --> 47:47.220
Hey, if the Lord is God, follow Him.

47:47.220 --> 47:48.860
You know, follow Him.

47:49.700 --> 47:51.020
But if Baal, follow him.

47:51.020 --> 47:52.580
So what is he saying?

47:52.580 --> 47:54.340
Don't compromise.

47:54.340 --> 47:57.140
How are you going to have these two same opinions?

47:57.140 --> 48:00.020
This is cognitive dissonance is what he's saying.

48:00.020 --> 48:02.300
This is like the best verse for cognitive dissonance,

48:02.300 --> 48:07.340
I think, where you believe two opposing views at the same time,

48:07.340 --> 48:10.300
which is just not a reality that you can actually have,

48:10.300 --> 48:11.800
because it doesn't make sense.

48:11.900 --> 48:16.980
You can't believe that God, the Lord God of the Bible, is the one supreme God and then

48:16.980 --> 48:19.620
believe that Baal also is.

48:19.620 --> 48:23.500
That's why these people that say, oh well all roads lead to heaven.

48:23.500 --> 48:28.740
No they don't because they teach vastly different things than what the Bible actually says to

48:28.740 --> 48:30.540
be saved.

48:30.540 --> 48:34.520
Christianity is the only religion in the world that teaches that you don't have to do anything

48:34.520 --> 48:37.100
but have faith in God to be saved.

48:37.100 --> 48:38.620
It's the only religion in the world.

48:39.400 --> 48:41.680
All the other religions you have to do things.

48:41.680 --> 48:43.240
You have to be good.

48:43.240 --> 48:45.480
You have to do good deeds.

48:45.480 --> 48:48.520
I mean even the Buddhists say that you have to repent of your sins.

48:48.520 --> 48:49.520
Did you know that?

48:49.520 --> 48:50.520
Yep.

48:50.520 --> 48:51.520
Yep.

48:51.520 --> 48:52.520
That's part of their...

48:52.520 --> 48:53.520
What sins?

48:53.520 --> 48:55.080
I thought they didn't believe in that.

48:55.800 --> 49:00.280
I thought that they don't believe in idols, even though they have fat Buddha and skinny

49:00.280 --> 49:03.520
Buddha that you give these offerings to all the time.

49:03.520 --> 49:07.440
Every Chinese food restaurant I go to or any kind of Asian restaurant I go to, there's

49:07.440 --> 49:11.560
some kind of Buddha there and there's like some rotten orange peels in his hand or something.

49:11.560 --> 49:14.640
It's like, hey, you forgot to change out his offering.

49:14.640 --> 49:18.800
And they think, you know, and this is a dumb God that can't talk because...

49:19.600 --> 49:25.080
Because it's it's just made out of plastic or it's you know to made to look shiny or it's made out of stone

49:25.240 --> 49:28.560
It's a it's an idol. It's a carved image

49:29.240 --> 49:34.480
But they don't believe that that's what it is. We don't we don't worship this image. We don't worship Buddha

49:34.480 --> 49:40.080
Oh, then why do you have statues of them? So I'm pretty sure that's why people make statues of people to worship them like that

49:40.760 --> 49:45.360
Why would you venerate Buddha and give him offerings if you don't think that he's a god?

49:46.100 --> 49:48.380
I think they just lie about that or something.

49:48.380 --> 49:51.580
But their religion also is to not go to heaven at all.

49:51.580 --> 49:53.500
Oh, there's many paths to get to heaven.

49:53.500 --> 49:56.580
Oh, but wait, the Buddhists don't even believe that.

49:56.580 --> 49:58.780
They want to just stop existing.

49:58.780 --> 50:01.420
Oh, I hope I can stop existing.

50:01.420 --> 50:06.060
That's like you're trying to get to spiritual suicide.

50:06.060 --> 50:07.900
But, you know, they're going to be really sad

50:07.900 --> 50:09.900
when they wake up in hell realizing

50:09.900 --> 50:11.140
that they're not going to go into

50:11.140 --> 50:13.180
and become a caterpillar in their next life.

50:15.000 --> 50:19.620
They're going to wake up in the flames of hell wondering what happened.

50:19.620 --> 50:21.020
Somebody lied to me.

50:21.020 --> 50:23.420
Yeah, people are being lied to.

50:23.420 --> 50:30.500
And look, compromise always starts out as, people don't just compromise overnight.

50:30.500 --> 50:32.540
They compromise over time.

50:32.540 --> 50:34.960
They get worn down by things.

50:34.960 --> 50:38.100
They start watching things they shouldn't watch or listen to people they shouldn't

50:38.100 --> 50:39.100
listen.

50:39.100 --> 50:42.460
And slowly that starts to undermine and erode your belief system.

50:43.000 --> 50:44.920
And you've got to be careful.

50:44.920 --> 50:50.820
The Bible says, blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall

50:50.820 --> 50:52.620
receive the crown of life.

50:52.620 --> 50:56.960
When the Lord hath promised to them, which the Lord hath promised to them, that love

50:56.960 --> 50:57.960
him.

50:57.960 --> 51:04.440
Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God, for God cannot be tempted with evil,

51:04.440 --> 51:06.000
neither tempteth he any man.

51:06.500 --> 51:11.700
that every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed.

51:12.820 --> 51:17.460
Then when lust hath conceived it bringeth forth sin, and sin when it is finished bringeth forth

51:17.460 --> 51:23.940
death. Do not err, my beloved brethren." So what is James saying? That hey, when you lust,

51:24.800 --> 51:29.920
When this lust has conceived it brings forth, so it's talking about in childbearing, it's basically

51:29.920 --> 51:35.440
bringing it forth as a childbearing situation, that once your lusts have conceived it brings

51:35.440 --> 51:42.160
forth sin and when that's finished it brings forth death. So falling to that side, going to,

51:43.120 --> 51:49.200
you know, being tempted and drawn away. Look, when you're drunk it says, but every man is, when it's

51:49.600 --> 51:54.000
But every man is tempted when he is drawn away from his own lust and enticed.

51:54.000 --> 51:57.440
This is how you fall out on the left side.

51:57.440 --> 52:04.020
You get enticed by sin, you fall into sin, and you get backslidden and then you're off

52:04.020 --> 52:05.640
in the ditch on the other side.

52:06.400 --> 52:10.400
Number three, the danger of falling from your steadfastness.

52:10.400 --> 52:12.640
The danger of falling from your steadfastness.

52:12.640 --> 52:16.240
Look at 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 17.

52:16.240 --> 52:19.920
2 Peter chapter 3 verse 17.

52:25.100 --> 52:30.680
The Bible says, You therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest

52:30.680 --> 52:37.980
ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.

52:37.980 --> 52:42.700
That word steadfastness means that you are anchored, you are not swaying back and forth

52:42.700 --> 52:49.340
based on the latest internet trend, the newest theological fad, or what some keyboard warrior

52:49.340 --> 52:51.140
says online.

52:51.500 --> 52:57.580
So, look, we need to be steadfast in our faith, steadfast in our beliefs, and we get these

52:57.580 --> 52:58.580
things from the Bible.

52:58.580 --> 53:01.220
The Bible says, beware!

53:01.220 --> 53:06.820
So if you're not actively on guard with your doctrine, you will be led away.

53:06.820 --> 53:11.300
And you know, I've preached about this before where, you know, you have to know what you

53:11.300 --> 53:12.300
believe yourself.

53:12.700 --> 53:17.340
I can get up here and teach you about things and teach doctrine, but sometimes I've found

53:17.340 --> 53:22.780
that people that have been teaching these things for years too, then they'll just feel

53:22.780 --> 53:25.640
like, well, what is church really?

53:25.640 --> 53:27.420
How long have you been going to our church?

53:27.420 --> 53:29.420
And you asked me that question.

53:29.420 --> 53:31.140
What is church really?

53:31.140 --> 53:35.580
Well, I mean, I would think after 10 years you would know what church really is.

53:36.100 --> 53:38.500
but you don't really know what church really is.

53:38.500 --> 53:40.540
Or eight years, or seven years, or whatever,

53:40.540 --> 53:43.180
however long you've been going here, two years.

53:43.180 --> 53:46.620
I mean, I'm pretty sure I teach what a church is.

53:46.620 --> 53:49.200
It's not out fishing with your grandpa.

53:49.200 --> 53:51.140
It's not out fishing by yourself.

53:51.140 --> 53:53.700
It's not saying, oh, I'm at church right now,

53:53.700 --> 53:55.680
and you're standing in your house.

53:55.680 --> 53:57.100
That is not church.

53:57.100 --> 53:58.620
It just isn't.

53:58.620 --> 53:59.400
So.

53:59.700 --> 54:05.780
The church is the congregation of the Lord. Church and congregation are synonymous with each other.

54:05.780 --> 54:12.980
So beware, beware lest you also be led away with the error of the wicked fall from your own steadfastness.

54:12.980 --> 54:17.540
Look, that's why people need to be thrown out sometimes because they're bringing forth

54:17.540 --> 54:22.980
wickedness in our sight and look they got to go because what they are doing will rub off on

54:22.980 --> 54:27.460
other people. A little leaven, leaven at the whole lump. So but you're in danger.

54:27.700 --> 54:33.200
if you're led away with these things and that's why it's the pastor's job to make sure that these things are corrected and taken care of.

54:35.340 --> 54:39.380
So and the Bible says in Ecclesiastes 7 verse 18,

54:39.380 --> 54:41.720
It is good that thou shouldest take hold of this,

54:42.060 --> 54:48.460
Yea, also from this would draw not thine hand for he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

54:49.200 --> 54:52.040
So, withdraw not thy hand.

54:52.040 --> 54:54.820
And just think of this as like the spiritual steering wheel.

54:54.820 --> 54:56.960
The Bible is like your spiritual steering wheel.

54:56.960 --> 55:00.120
You know, make sure you have both hands on it, right?

55:00.120 --> 55:02.080
What is the two o'clock and?

55:02.080 --> 55:03.080
Ten and two.

55:03.080 --> 55:04.080
Oh, ten and two, yeah.

55:04.080 --> 55:05.080
So, I forgot.

55:05.080 --> 55:06.080
Ten and two.

55:06.080 --> 55:08.880
You know, keep your hand on the wheel.

55:09.400 --> 55:11.400
Because, you know, it says,

55:11.400 --> 55:16.400
it is good that thou shouldest take hold of this,

55:16.400 --> 55:19.400
yea, also from this withdrawn on thine hand.

55:19.400 --> 55:22.400
For he that feareth God shall come forth of them all.

55:22.400 --> 55:26.400
And look, you need to have the Bible as your steering wheel.

55:26.400 --> 55:29.400
And I know you've probably heard that song, Jesus Take the Wheel.

55:29.400 --> 55:33.400
I mean, but you do really have to have Jesus take the wheel for you sometimes.

55:33.400 --> 55:36.100
You at least have to have Him helping you steer.

55:36.200 --> 55:39.360
If you want to do anything, if you're trying to do everything within your own power and

55:39.360 --> 55:43.980
everything after your own might and Jesus isn't part of that equation, then you do need

55:43.980 --> 55:45.680
Jesus to take the wheel for you sometimes.

55:45.680 --> 55:50.440
You need him to help you at least here because otherwise you're going to veer off the path.

55:50.440 --> 55:56.440
It says, wisdom strengthens the wise more than 10 mighty men which are in the city.

55:56.440 --> 55:59.840
So it's good to be wise, but just not overly wise.

55:59.840 --> 56:03.760
And then the last thing is the standard of the scale.

56:03.900 --> 56:11.960
So, and look, the standard of the scale is absolute honesty and total moderation.

56:11.960 --> 56:16.840
So you're like, well, it sounds like you're getting too far to the right, Pastor.

56:16.840 --> 56:20.660
Well, yeah, but let's look at some scriptures together, okay?

56:20.660 --> 56:24.080
Look at Proverbs chapter 11.

56:24.080 --> 56:26.240
Proverbs chapter 11.

56:26.240 --> 56:28.920
See God is always in balance.

56:28.920 --> 56:29.900
always

56:30.200 --> 56:34.200
has adjust balance, adjust weight, adjust him.

56:34.200 --> 56:36.800
He's always going to do what's right.

56:36.800 --> 56:39.400
Everything that he does is good.

56:39.400 --> 56:41.800
But we get off balance.

56:42.100 --> 56:45.940
And so we need to, God is the standard for the scale.

56:45.940 --> 56:48.140
You know when you zero a scale out or whatever,

56:48.140 --> 56:50.880
and make sure that it's on even ground,

56:50.880 --> 56:54.600
if anybody's used like a scale for weighing like produce

56:54.600 --> 56:56.540
or whatever you're cooking or stuff like that,

56:56.540 --> 56:59.980
or weighing a package that you're sending out or whatever,

56:59.980 --> 57:03.240
then you know that you need to have it zeroed out, right?

57:03.240 --> 57:05.940
But Proverbs 11 verse one says,

57:05.940 --> 57:09.200
a false balance is abomination to the Lord.

57:09.500 --> 57:12.820
But a just wait is his delight.

57:12.820 --> 57:17.980
So he wants us to not be falsely balanced but to have a right balance.

57:17.980 --> 57:25.260
And obviously God likes that when we're balanced in our dealings and balanced obviously if

57:25.260 --> 57:29.460
you want to take a spiritual application for this.

57:29.460 --> 57:34.460
Proverbs 16 verse 11 says,

57:35.600 --> 57:40.000
A just weight and balance are the Lord's.

57:40.000 --> 57:45.320
All the weights of the bag are His work.

57:45.320 --> 57:48.360
Leviticus 19 verse 36.

57:48.360 --> 57:50.400
Leviticus 19 verse 36.

57:54.100 --> 58:01.820
It says, just balances, just weights, adjust ifah, and a just hen shall ye have.

58:01.820 --> 58:06.660
I am the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt.

58:06.660 --> 58:10.140
So look, Bible talks about this multiple times.

58:10.140 --> 58:14.520
Philippians 4-5 says, let your moderation be known unto all men.

58:14.520 --> 58:16.940
The Lord is at hand.

58:16.940 --> 58:18.340
So what does moderation mean?

58:18.340 --> 58:21.860
Well, in this context it means avoiding extremes.

58:22.200 --> 58:25.640
Staying within the reasonable limits managing and supervising

58:26.400 --> 58:28.960
content or discussions so

58:29.680 --> 58:35.960
Look, we want to avoid extremes and so when it says let your moderation be known unto all men

58:36.000 --> 58:40.120
That's what it's talking about don't get too extreme one way or the other so

58:40.800 --> 58:42.500
and and then

58:42.600 --> 58:49.380
James verse 1 or chapter 1 verse 19 says wherefore my beloved brethren let every man be

58:50.040 --> 58:51.840
swift to hear

58:51.840 --> 58:53.720
slow to speak

58:53.720 --> 59:00.920
Slow to wrath. I mean isn't that balanced because if you're swift to to listen

59:01.240 --> 59:03.880
you're ready to listen first and

59:04.560 --> 59:06.240
then if you're

59:06.240 --> 59:08.240
slow to speak that means

59:08.900 --> 59:13.300
that you don't just run your mouth all the time about things you don't know,

59:13.300 --> 59:17.900
but it also could mean thinking about the things that you're going to say

59:17.900 --> 59:20.900
before you say it and being mindful of the things that you say.

59:21.100 --> 59:25.220
Because sometimes we can just spit out things because we just want to not have any dead

59:25.220 --> 59:28.860
air in the conversation or whatever because it's awkward.

59:28.860 --> 59:30.580
Awkward silences or whatever.

59:30.580 --> 59:35.380
But maybe we should stop and think about what we're going to say before we say it.

59:35.380 --> 59:41.580
And slow to wrath, don't just blow up over every little thing.

59:41.580 --> 59:44.460
And this verse basically captures moderation.

59:45.000 --> 59:46.600
Not being too extreme.

59:46.600 --> 59:49.000
Do you just blow up every time something happens,

59:49.000 --> 59:52.240
or does it take a while for you to get to nuclear?

59:52.240 --> 59:53.920
It should take you a while to get to nuclear

59:53.920 --> 59:56.200
if you're a Christian and you're saved.

59:56.200 --> 59:58.880
But obviously there's some things that will just instantly

59:58.880 --> 01:00:00.200
go zero to pissed off.

01:00:00.200 --> 01:00:01.720
I understand that.

01:00:01.720 --> 01:00:03.920
There are certain things that are wicked in this world

01:00:03.920 --> 01:00:05.760
that can really upset you.

01:00:06.100 --> 01:00:10.660
And I get that, but we should have moderation in our life.

01:00:10.660 --> 01:00:13.540
And God demands a just way.

01:00:13.540 --> 01:00:16.860
He demands a balanced presentation of truth

01:00:16.860 --> 01:00:18.940
in every single area of life.

01:00:18.940 --> 01:00:21.300
And whether that's your business, your home,

01:00:21.300 --> 01:00:24.940
your daily life, your personal life, your teaching,

01:00:24.940 --> 01:00:26.800
and also preaching.

01:00:27.000 --> 01:00:31.140
As a preacher, you shouldn't just preach about the same thing all the time and beat

01:00:31.140 --> 01:00:34.180
a dead horse to deadly death all the time.

01:00:34.180 --> 01:00:39.300
There are other subjects in the Bible besides the reprobate doctrine, besides the Jews.

01:00:39.300 --> 01:00:40.620
I know you like those ones.

01:00:40.620 --> 01:00:45.100
Those are the ones of the most viewed ones or ones like that.

01:00:45.700 --> 01:00:50.500
But you'll see that when something's about grace that like it's not as viewed as much or whatever

01:00:50.660 --> 01:00:56.220
Because people like to hear those types of sermons I get it, but that's not all there is you know a preacher

01:00:56.620 --> 01:01:02.980
Should be balanced and what they bring forth thinking you know having their congregation in mind how you can help them

01:01:03.180 --> 01:01:10.180
You know it says you know well well here an ifa if you don't know what that is and a hand those are measurements

01:01:10.380 --> 01:01:11.600
but they're like

01:01:11.700 --> 01:01:17.300
measurements that God cares about your everyday dealings.

01:01:17.300 --> 01:01:22.100
If during the week you're just doing unbalanced things in your life

01:01:22.400 --> 01:01:27.680
you're unbalanced in your work life, you're unbalanced in your home life, you're unbalanced

01:01:27.680 --> 01:01:32.400
in all these different areas of your life, and then you come to Sunday, I mean, and then act like

01:01:32.400 --> 01:01:37.360
everything's all put together, that doesn't make it so. Obviously, you still come to church. I'm

01:01:37.360 --> 01:01:42.480
not saying don't go to church, but I'm just saying that God wants us to have balance in our life.

01:01:43.100 --> 01:01:45.700
And he's the one that is the weights,

01:01:45.700 --> 01:01:48.620
and he's the one that's the just one.

01:01:48.620 --> 01:01:52.220
We measure everything that we do by his scales.

01:01:52.220 --> 01:01:54.540
These are the scales.

01:01:54.540 --> 01:01:56.500
This is the balance and the scales

01:01:56.500 --> 01:01:59.100
and what we get from him.

01:01:59.100 --> 01:02:01.780
And so this is what we have to weigh everything by.

01:02:01.780 --> 01:02:04.580
This is what we have to get our measurements from,

01:02:04.580 --> 01:02:05.700
this book.

01:02:05.700 --> 01:02:08.620
So if you, you know.

01:02:09.600 --> 01:02:13.840
If you cheat people Monday through Saturday and you come to church on Sunday, then you're

01:02:13.840 --> 01:02:15.560
off balance big time.

01:02:15.560 --> 01:02:18.840
It's just, you know, it is not the way to live your life.

01:02:18.840 --> 01:02:23.520
So if you preach judgment but never preach mercy, grace, long-suffering, gentleness,

01:02:23.520 --> 01:02:28.280
goodness, meekness, or salvation, your scale is broken.

01:02:28.280 --> 01:02:34.360
You know, if you're just only preaching hobby horse topics, your scale is broken.

01:02:34.360 --> 01:02:35.800
You won't just like to hear.

01:02:36.100 --> 01:02:38.860
the same sermons over and over again.

01:02:38.860 --> 01:02:42.400
But if you preach standards also,

01:02:42.400 --> 01:02:44.040
and you never preach charity,

01:02:44.040 --> 01:02:46.000
your scale is an abomination.

01:02:46.000 --> 01:02:48.200
You can't just, and look, standards,

01:02:48.200 --> 01:02:50.500
a lot of times are man-made standards.

01:02:50.500 --> 01:02:52.600
There are standards in the Bible, though,

01:02:52.600 --> 01:02:53.760
that we should follow.

01:02:53.760 --> 01:02:56.760
And obviously God has standards for, you know...

01:02:56.900 --> 01:03:01.780
your hair length, how long your clothes should be in certain areas, and all those things.

01:03:01.780 --> 01:03:05.620
But I'm not getting into that. But you know, if you're always just preaching that and you're

01:03:05.620 --> 01:03:10.580
never preaching anything about the goodness of God, the charity of God, if you go overboard in

01:03:10.580 --> 01:03:16.500
your doctrine, by going past what the Bible says, your scale is off. Your scale is unbalanced.

01:03:17.860 --> 01:03:21.620
And I'm just saying this about preachers in general. You know, if you get up to preach here,

01:03:21.620 --> 01:03:23.700
it shouldn't just be the same sermon every time.

01:03:24.300 --> 01:03:26.460
And I don't think that our guys do that.

01:03:26.460 --> 01:03:29.260
But every time you get up and preach,

01:03:29.260 --> 01:03:31.500
it shouldn't be some hobby horse thing

01:03:31.500 --> 01:03:34.220
that only you care about.

01:03:34.220 --> 01:03:39.300
It should be, yeah, preach the Reparated Doctrine.

01:03:39.300 --> 01:03:42.660
But also preach about baptism, or preach

01:03:42.660 --> 01:03:45.380
about something else that's edifying to the church.

01:03:45.380 --> 01:03:47.460
I mean, I think we got the Reparated Doctrine down pretty

01:03:47.460 --> 01:03:48.020
down pat.

01:03:49.000 --> 01:03:50.840
We've heard a lot of sermons about that,

01:03:50.840 --> 01:03:53.440
and I've preached a lot of them.

01:03:53.440 --> 01:03:55.720
But I mean, I don't preach about it every Sunday.

01:03:55.720 --> 01:03:56.400
So why?

01:03:56.400 --> 01:03:58.640
Because it's just you need to hear more than that.

01:03:58.640 --> 01:04:00.600
I don't think anybody in here is going

01:04:00.600 --> 01:04:03.760
to turn into a sodomite, hopefully.

01:04:03.760 --> 01:04:05.760
If you're saved, you're definitely not going to.

01:04:05.760 --> 01:04:06.840
So get saved.

01:04:09.680 --> 01:04:15.400
And look, I mean, you should not go past

01:04:15.700 --> 01:04:22.700
what the Bible says about certain subjects just because your favorite pastor says it,

01:04:22.700 --> 01:04:27.260
and you're like, oh, well, such or such pastor says this, well, that's what I'm going to

01:04:27.260 --> 01:04:28.260
do.

01:04:28.260 --> 01:04:32.060
And if anybody does anything different, then I'm going to just rub their nose in it, or

01:04:32.060 --> 01:04:34.540
I'm going to find out if they're really a reprobate or not or something.

01:04:34.540 --> 01:04:36.660
It's just like, it's so weird.

01:04:36.660 --> 01:04:39.460
There are some loonies that attach themselves to our churches.

01:04:39.900 --> 01:04:45.380
And then they just flatter people, they're sycophants, and then later on you find that

01:04:45.380 --> 01:04:46.380
out.

01:04:46.380 --> 01:04:50.780
But they're a lot easier to spot for me now, the sycophants.

01:04:50.780 --> 01:04:54.460
It's pretty obvious when they're just, you know, and obviously sometimes people are just

01:04:54.460 --> 01:04:57.160
righteous over much because they have too much knowledge and all that.

01:04:57.160 --> 01:04:58.880
That doesn't make them a reprobate.

01:04:58.880 --> 01:05:04.260
But when they're just constantly just attacking other churches because it's not their pastor

01:05:04.260 --> 01:05:05.460
or something, that's just bizarre.

01:05:06.000 --> 01:05:11.800
And I hope that the pastors can actually see that that's happening, you know, and just take note in their mind about that at least.

01:05:11.800 --> 01:05:15.000
But, you know, pastors shouldn't be attacking...

01:05:15.000 --> 01:05:20.000
Look, as a pastor, it's hard enough to just manage the people that I have,

01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:24.400
let alone trying to manage other people's church members and other churches' doctrines.

01:05:24.400 --> 01:05:29.600
I'm not going to sit there and go after some other church's doctrine when it's not in the Bible!

01:05:30.800 --> 01:05:34.160
If it's not in the Bible, I'm not going to preach about it.

01:05:34.160 --> 01:05:36.520
I mean, it's just real simple.

01:05:36.520 --> 01:05:42.320
And I'm not going to go past what the Scriptures say and say something that's not in there.

01:05:42.320 --> 01:05:48.680
I mean, or just try to, you know, if it's your, again, if it's your opinion, then say

01:05:48.680 --> 01:05:51.680
it's your opinion, but don't sit there and make man-made rules.

01:05:52.000 --> 01:05:56.400
And then, you know, look, some people will follow,

01:05:56.400 --> 01:05:59.400
will take a teaching that we teach,

01:05:59.400 --> 01:06:01.800
and then they'll just run super far to the right with it,

01:06:01.800 --> 01:06:03.560
and it's not even what we ended up,

01:06:03.560 --> 01:06:07.040
it ends up something that we didn't even teach.

01:06:07.040 --> 01:06:09.080
A lot of times when people just crap out,

01:06:09.080 --> 01:06:13.120
and they leave, they're just like, they taught this.

01:06:13.120 --> 01:06:16.440
And it's like, what?

01:06:16.440 --> 01:06:19.800
It becomes like this telephone game, or whatever, where.

01:06:19.900 --> 01:06:22.900
You know, I say that you shouldn't preach the gospel to children.

01:06:22.900 --> 01:06:28.900
That was an accusation I got from some bozo in Hawaii or whatever that came to one of our church services one time.

01:06:28.900 --> 01:06:34.900
And he's like, he said on some Facebook post that I saw, he said,

01:06:34.900 --> 01:06:37.900
Pastor Thompson said that you shouldn't preach to kids.

01:06:37.900 --> 01:06:40.900
And it's like, I never said that.

01:06:44.300 --> 01:06:48.980
I mean, have I ever told you guys not to preach to kids?

01:06:48.980 --> 01:06:52.220
I mean, I'm just like, what are you talking about?

01:06:52.220 --> 01:06:53.220
Why would I say that?

01:06:53.220 --> 01:06:55.180
Kids are the easiest people to get saved.

01:06:55.180 --> 01:06:56.740
Why would I say that?

01:06:56.740 --> 01:06:57.740
You liar.

01:06:57.740 --> 01:07:02.100
It's just like, you know, but people will take, that's just an example of people will

01:07:02.100 --> 01:07:05.620
take things you say and they'll make it into something that you didn't say.

01:07:06.000 --> 01:07:13.200
They do that enough, but there's also people taking something that's taught and taking it to the extreme.

01:07:13.200 --> 01:07:15.600
Well, I think my wife's a reprobate now.

01:07:15.600 --> 01:07:17.200
What?

01:07:17.200 --> 01:07:23.600
I mean, look, not everybody's a reprobate just because they sin.

01:07:23.600 --> 01:07:27.300
So we got to be careful with that kind of stuff.

01:07:27.300 --> 01:07:29.500
And look, God's not a respecter of persons.

01:07:29.500 --> 01:07:32.400
He judges everybody by...

01:07:32.600 --> 01:07:35.800
a certain standard and I'll tell you what that standard is.

01:07:35.800 --> 01:07:38.440
Gotta hurry up here.

01:07:45.200 --> 01:07:49.840
Well, in Galatians 6,4 it says, but let every man prove his own work and then let him have

01:07:49.840 --> 01:07:54.480
rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for every man shall bear his own burden.

01:07:54.480 --> 01:07:59.720
Look, God is, at the end of the day we're responsible for ourselves and what we do.

01:07:59.720 --> 01:08:06.640
Obviously we can't be responsible for other things, I understand that, but we are responsible

01:08:06.640 --> 01:08:09.080
for the things that we do.

01:08:09.080 --> 01:08:10.720
So, and look.

01:08:12.200 --> 01:08:15.800
Galatians, let's see, I'm going to have you turn somewhere.

01:08:19.300 --> 01:08:21.000
I thought I put it in my notes.

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Sorry, bear with me here.

01:08:39.400 --> 01:08:42.100
Well, I mean, yeah, there's several verses.

01:08:42.100 --> 01:08:47.100
So one man esteemeth one day above another, another man esteemeth every day alike, let

01:08:47.100 --> 01:08:49.100
every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.

01:08:49.100 --> 01:08:53.720
Like that verse is talking about individual soul liberty, where we have the right to believe

01:08:53.720 --> 01:08:55.980
whether we should celebrate Christmas or not.

01:08:55.980 --> 01:09:01.980
There's things that are gray areas, and God's not going to judge us over things like that.

01:09:01.980 --> 01:09:04.420
But you shouldn't judge people over things like that.

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I mean, who cares whether someone has a Christmas tree or not?

01:09:09.000 --> 01:09:14.000
We're not supposed to be judging people based upon things that aren't really necessarily found in Scripture.

01:09:14.000 --> 01:09:17.000
But we're supposed to...

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You know, the Bible says, so everyone shall give an account of himself to God.

01:09:21.200 --> 01:09:23.920
And so this kind of goes back to being out of,

01:09:23.920 --> 01:09:25.280
if you're out of balance,

01:09:25.280 --> 01:09:27.600
if you're just focused on everything else

01:09:27.600 --> 01:09:29.040
that everybody else believes,

01:09:29.040 --> 01:09:30.900
and then your life is a wreck

01:09:30.900 --> 01:09:34.160
because all you care about is just getting in

01:09:34.160 --> 01:09:37.180
and destroying other people's walks

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because you got problems or whatever.

01:09:39.760 --> 01:09:43.340
But, man, I'm trying to find that verse.

01:09:51.000 --> 01:09:52.240
I guess I didn't put it in here.

01:09:52.240 --> 01:09:58.360
So anyway, to wrap it up, let's just turn to Galatians chapter 5 verse 13.

01:10:03.300 --> 01:10:07.740
Actually, sorry, turn to Proverbs 4.26.

01:10:07.740 --> 01:10:11.620
I'm just going to read Galatians 5.

01:10:11.620 --> 01:10:14.120
Verse 15 says, but if you bite and devour one another,

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take heed that you be not consumed one of another.

01:10:17.940 --> 01:10:21.060
Look, our job is to sit there and just devour and cannibalize

01:10:21.060 --> 01:10:22.820
each other as Christians.

01:10:22.820 --> 01:10:24.740
We're supposed to love our neighbor as ourself.

01:10:25.300 --> 01:10:31.220
And if you're just going, you know, if you're just finding it your personal duty to just

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attack other Christians and bring other Christians low and I'm going to expose this person, I'm

01:10:35.740 --> 01:10:36.860
going to expose that person.

01:10:36.860 --> 01:10:39.820
Look, there's nothing wrong with exposing people that truly are wicked and evil.

01:10:39.820 --> 01:10:41.320
I'm not saying that.

01:10:41.320 --> 01:10:46.220
But there are some people that just make it their life's mission to try to interfere with

01:10:46.220 --> 01:10:51.380
other people's churches and try to destroy other people's churches because it's not

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their pastor's church or whatever.

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And we shouldn't be like that.

01:10:55.200 --> 01:10:56.860
I'm glad our church isn't like that.

01:10:56.860 --> 01:10:59.300
I don't see our church on there, you know,

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talking crap to other pastors,

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talking crap to other evangelists,

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and so on and so forth.

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But I see other people's church members doing it.

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And it's like, master, rebuke your disciple, you know?

01:11:12.840 --> 01:11:15.600
But I know that a Pharisee said that, but it's important.

01:11:15.900 --> 01:11:19.480
that we obviously get a hold on people

01:11:19.480 --> 01:11:21.540
that are just going too far with stuff.

01:11:21.540 --> 01:11:23.740
And I don't want my people acting like that.

01:11:23.740 --> 01:11:25.760
I don't want my people just going on witch hunt

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after witch hunt to see what doctrine

01:11:28.420 --> 01:11:30.780
does this pastor believe that we don't believe.

01:11:30.780 --> 01:11:32.700
It's like, that's just stupid.

01:11:32.700 --> 01:11:35.960
It's like, mind your own business, mind your own affairs.

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God is not a respecter of persons,

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and he's gonna judge you based upon the things that you do.

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So, we've got to be careful.

01:11:46.500 --> 01:12:00.000
The Bible says that in Proverbs 16, 11, it tells us that weights are His work.

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And we don't get to calibrate the scale ourselves.

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God already calibrated it in the pages of our Bible.

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So the scale and the balances, all these things are of God.

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And so we just need to make sure that we're in moderation,

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that we don't have an abominable scale that's weighing things out of balance,

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and that we don't have some weird extreme in our life either to the left hand or to the right.

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And we need to look at our paths today and ponder them and muse upon these things and

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stop coasting through your Christian life.

01:12:36.700 --> 01:12:43.180
If you're just on cruise control and you're just kind of maybe even just stuck in a rut,

01:12:43.180 --> 01:12:47.700
hey, maybe you're kind of on those bumpy things on the side of the road and you're just about

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to go off.

01:12:48.700 --> 01:12:56.300
You know what I'm talking about? Those strips that they put for truck drivers that are about to fall asleep or anybody that's about to fall asleep on the road, you hit those, you're like, brrrr, you know, it's like it wakes you up really fast.

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And maybe you need a wake up call. Maybe you need a rumble strip in your life to wake you up. But, you know, are you leaning to the left? Have you started to allow compromise into your life? I hope not. And I would hope that you actually search out a matter instead of just wanting to believe something because you want to be done.

01:13:17.100 --> 01:13:21.860
I found that most people when they quit they find a reason why it's the pastor's fault

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Why it's the church's fault and it's ridiculous. Just say I want to quit

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But nobody ever does that

01:13:29.400 --> 01:13:33.400
They never do. It's always my fault. It's always somebody in the church's fault.

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Well that church is this or that church is that and it's just really they're just they can't handle

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the the grind of being a Christian and if it's if it's become a grind to you hey you know just ease

01:13:44.440 --> 01:13:50.440
back a little bit or something but don't allow yourself to be a compromiser and don't get so

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far to the right that you become an arrogant unteachable and you're consumed with man-made rules.

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that aren't in the Bible.

01:14:00.300 --> 01:14:02.300
You know, nothing makes me more...

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You know, the pastors in our movement will preach,

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hey, you know, we want to believe

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what the Bible says, not what it doesn't say.

01:14:08.300 --> 01:14:12.300
So, we also should be preaching

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those things that aren't in the Bible

01:14:14.300 --> 01:14:18.300
and calling that biblical truth.

01:14:18.300 --> 01:14:21.300
And it's just, that's unbalanced.

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And it's not good.

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So.

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We need to get back to the center, which is the book, and stand flat-footed on God's Word.

01:14:31.100 --> 01:14:32.100
Let's pray.

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Lord, thank you so much for this church.

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I pray, Lord, that there be many more years to come.

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It's your foundation Baptist Church.

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I pray you bless our church in every single way that you can.

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And Lord, help us to stay on the straight path.

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and have balance in our life as Christians, Lord.

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Pray that you just bless the rest of our day together

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as we fellowship and partake in food.

01:14:53.440 --> 01:14:55.780
We ask that you bless the food, Lord,

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and we thank you for providing for us

01:14:58.020 --> 01:15:01.580
and providing for all of our needs for this church

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and all the people in it.

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And pray that you just put a special blessing

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on each and every person that came to church today.

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And then we'll give you the praise and honor for that.

01:15:09.300 --> 01:15:10.700
In Jesus' name we pray, amen.