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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] All right, everybody, we're going to go ahead and get started this evening. If you would, find a seat and grab a hymnal and turn, if you would, to hymn number 312. Open my eyes that I may see hymn number 312. ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. Open my eyes that I may see Glimpses of truth thou hast for me Place in my hands a wonderful key That shall unclasp and set me free Silently now I wait for thee Ready, my God, thy will to see Open my eyes in heavenly spirit divine Open my ears that I may hear Voices of truth thou sendest clear And while the wave notes fall on my ear Everything false shall disappear Silently now I wait for thee Ready, my God, thy will to see Open my ears, illumine me, spirit divine Open my mouth and let me bear Gladly the warm truth everywhere Open my heart and let me prepare Love with thy children for us to share Silently now I wait for thee Ready, my God, thy will to see Open my heart, illumine me, spirit divine Good singing will open with a word of prayer. Dear Father, thank you for this church and for all the people gathered together here today. I pray that you would bless the song service at this time and the remainder with the preaching service as well, Lord, and give us a ten of ears to hear the message that you've laid on Brother Oz's heart tonight, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray, amen. For our next hymn, if you would, turn in your hymnals to hymn number 323. More about Jesus, hymn number 323. We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. More about Jesus, would I know More of His grace to others show More of His sacred, fullness see More of His love who died for me More, more about Jesus More, more about Jesus More of His saving, fullness see More of His love who died for me More about Jesus, let me learn More of His holy will discern Spirit of God, my teacher be Showing the things of Christ to me More, more about Jesus More, more about Jesus More of His saving, fullness see More of His love who died for me More about Jesus in His Word Holding communion with my Lord Hearing His voice in every line Making each faithful saying mine More, more about Jesus More, more about Jesus More of His saving, fullness see More of His love who died for me More about Jesus on His throne Riches in glory, all His own More of His kingdom sure increase More of His coming, Prince of Peace More, more about Jesus More, more about Jesus More of His saving, fullness see More of His love who died for me On the front is our Bible Memory Passage of the Week. If you are able at the end of this chapter to quote the whole thing by memory to an Adult Non-Family member you will receive a prize. It may even be some Anchor Baptist Church merchandise. Who knows? We will see who is going to be working on that chapter. I definitely encourage everyone to memorize that chapter. At least Verse 19. You have got to at least memorize Verse 19 for sure. We do have our service times listed there as well as our soul winning times Do encourage everyone to go out and preach the gospel That's the way to do that is just choose one time a week that you're committed to and that is a good way to stay Consistent preaching the gospel. We do have our nursing home ministry dates listed there. If you participate in that, please make note of that Also our year-to-date statistics. I know we had at least one earlier today out soul winning So keep up the good work with that and if you do have a salvation make sure to let the soul winning captain Know please also on the front right. There is our expecting ladies list. Please be in prayer for miss Whitney Reed for her pregnancy Also upcoming events October 31st. We are gonna have our chili cook-off Definitely excited to see what you guys are gonna bring and kind of see the difference between Oklahoma and Texas when it comes to the flavors, I'm excited to try things out. I'm not afraid to try new things I like all sorts of different foods. So I'm excited for that We do have enough judges Like I mentioned this morning though If you are not entering a chili into the competition and you'd like to help judges We definitely could use some more but it's not necessary. We have enough. So just keep that in mind November 6 through the 10th is the faith-forward Baptist Church missions conference in Tempe, Arizona and November 24th, like we talked about this morning Lord willing that's gonna be the day where this church becomes independent We go from being steadfast Baptist Church to anchor Baptist Church Lord willing And of course, you know, we're still gonna be friends with pastor Shelley and steadfast Baptist Church We're still gonna be steadfast in our hearts and it's definitely a blessing that our church is still fairly close Geographically to steadfast so, you know, I fully intend to participate with them on Conferences and soul winning and missions trips and everything like that So, you know if you just if you hate pastor Shelley, you're just not gonna like me either So I'm just letting you know I love pastor Shelley and we plan on being friends with him So I'm definitely looking forward to that and thankful for that day that's coming up and not just pastor Shelly is gonna be here but also my father-in-law pastor Aaron Thompson of sure foundation Baptist Church. He's gonna be preaching here as well So we are going to be excited to have him and I think he's bringing his wife and I think your sister's coming as well So, yeah, some sure foundation members gonna be visiting some folks from first works gonna be here So really looking forward to that day and hope you guys can make it out and invite your family and friends On the back is the prayer list for our church Please keep those requests in prayer. And as always if you have any requests, please email the church I'd be happy to add that for you. That's gonna be it for announcements this evening. We'll go ahead and go to our third song All Right for our third song if you would turn in your hymnals to him number 351 Tell it to Jesus him number 351 Number 351 Oh We'll go ahead and start there right on the first. Are you weary? Are you heavy-hearted? Tell it to Jesus Tell it to Jesus Are you grieving? overjoys Departed tell it to Jesus alone Oh Oh Oh Are you Christ coming kingdom are you sighing tell it to Jesus alone? Tell it to Jesus Jesus No Good singing as the offering plates are being passed around turn in your Bibles to Jeremiah chapter number 34 Jeremiah 34 You You You You Good evening, Jeremiah 34 the Bible reads the word which came into Jeremiah from the Lord When Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and all his army and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion and all the people fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities thereof saying Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah and tell him thus saith the Lord behold I give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon and he shall burn it with fire and thou shalt not escape out Of his hand, but shall surely be taken and delivered into his hand and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon and he shall speak with the mouth to mouth and Thou shalt go to Babylon yet hear the word of the Lord of Zedekiah king of Judah thus saith the Lord of thee Thou shalt not die by the sword But thou shalt die in peace and with the burnings of thy fathers the former kings which were before thee So shall they burn odors for thee and they will lament thee saying ah Lord for I have pronounced the word saith the Lord Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem when the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem and against all the cities of Judah that were left against Lachish and against Azekah for these defense cities remained of the cities of Judah This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord after that The king of Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty unto them that every man Should let his manservant and every man his maidservant being in Hebrew or in Hebrew us go free that none should serve Himself of them to wit of a Jew his brother Now when all the princes and all the people which had entered into the Covenant Heard that everyone should let his manservant and everyone his maidservant go free that none should serve themselves of them anymore Then they obeyed and let them go but afterward they turned and caused the servants and the handmaidens and The handmaids whom they had let go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying thus saith the Lord the God of Israel I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt out of the house Of bondmen saying at the end of seven years let ye every man his brother in Hebrew Which hath been sold unto thee and when he hath served these six years Thou shalt let him go free from thee, but your father's heart can not unto me neither incline their ear And you were now turned and have done right in my sight and proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor And he made a covenant before me in the house Which is called by my name But he turned and polluted my name and caused every man his servant and every man his handmaid Whom he had set at liberty at their pleasure to return and brought them into subjection To be unto you for servants and for handmaids therefore thus saith the Lord Ye have not hearkened unto me and proclaiming liberty every one his brother and every man to his neighbor behold I proclaim a liberty for you sayeth the Lord to the sword to the pestilence and to the famine and I will make you To be removed into the kingdoms into all the kingdoms of the earth And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant which have not performed the words of the covenant Which they had made before me when they cut in when they cut the calf and twine and passed between the parts thereof the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem the eunuchs and the priests and all the people of the land which passed between the parts of the calf I Will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the into the hand of them that seek their life and their dead Bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth and Zedekiah king the king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life and into the Hand of the king of Babylon's army which are gone up from you behold I will command saith the Lord and cause Them to return to this city and they shall fight against it and take it and burn it with fire And I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant Let's bow our heads for word of prayer father in heaven. We thank you for this day Amen, all right Well, we are in Jeremiah 34 and let's start reading in verse number 8 Bible says This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord after that The king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all the people which were at Jerusalem to proclaim liberty unto them That every man should let his manservant and every man his maidservant being in Hebrew or Hebrew s go free That none should serve himself of them to wit of a Jew his brother Now when all the princes and all the people which had entered into the Covenant Heard that everyone should let his manservant and everyone has maidservant go free that none should serve themselves of them anymore Then they obeyed and let them go so here Zedekiah is the king of Judah and he's making this proclamation that everyone should let their servants be free Basically, let go of your manservant. Let go of your maidservant and when the people hear this Proclamation from their king Zedekiah notice what they did they obeyed so that's exactly what they did They liquidated their assets if you would and if you look at verse number 12 it says or verse number 11, but afterward they turned and caused the servants and the handmaids whom they had let go free to return and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids So their initial reaction when King Zedekiah gave this command to them was to obey, you know Initially, they did what was right but as soon as they let these people go they immediately turned They immediately repented and decided you know what forget what the king said forget what the commandment was, you know We're gonna go back on our obedience we're gonna actually take them back into captivity and it almost kind of reminds me a little bit of Pharaoh the story of Pharaoh in Exodus where he keeps like what he's keep saying like yeah You can go ahead and serve God you guys can go out into the wilderness and then as soon as they start doing he's like No, never mind come back right and here the people they initially did right, but once they did right they changed their mind They repented to do evil and there's a big consequence for that because it says Verse number 12 it says therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel I made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt out of the house Of bondmen saying at the end of seven years Let you go every man his brother in Hebrew Which hath been sold unto thee and when he hath served these six years thou shalt let him go free from thee But your father's hearkened not unto me neither inclined their ear So God's upset with these people because he's saying like look you guys were in bondage in Egypt Pharaoh was giving you guys hard labor their taskmasters were taking advantage of you You guys were slaves in Egypt and I delivered you from that, you know, I gave you freedom from that but in return I told you that you when you have a servant when you have a bond man or a bond women Every seven years you need to let that person free and they were not doing that Look at verse number 15 it says and he were now turned and had done right in my sight in Proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbor and he had made a covenant before me in the house, which is called by my name But he turned and polluted my name and caused every man his servant and every man is handmade whom he had at liberty at their pleasure to return and brought them into subjection to be unto you for servants and for handmaids So obviously this proclamation that King Zedekiah made was something that God backed up something that God endorsed He endorsed Zedekiah's plan He said hey you did right at first you obeyed the king to do what was right in letting these people free But now I'm seeing that you're turning back on it You've changed your mind and now you're doing wickedly and notice the consequence verse 17 Therefore thus saith the Lord you have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty Everyone to his brother and every man to his neighbor behold I proclaim a liberty for you saith the Lord to the sword to the pestilence and to the famine and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth and I will give the men that have Transgressed my covenant which have not performed the words of the Covenant which they had made before me when they cut the calf in twain and passed between the parts thereof the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem the eunuchs and the priests and all the people of the land which passed between the parts of the calf I will even give them into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that seek their life and their dead bodies Shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth and Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into the hand of their enemies and into the hand of them that Seek their life and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you behold I will command say it the Lord and cause them to return to this city and they shall fight against it and take it and Burn it with fire and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an Inhabitant so get the picture in this story, you know because this story is gonna be the basis of our sermon tonight You know God backed up the authority God backed up the kingship when the king said you need to let all of your servants go You need to let all of your maid servants your man servants Let them be free and the people they immediately did right but notice how quickly it was They changed their mind and you know, why did they change their mind because they're thinking hey this person This servant is bringing me money. This person's helping me with my farming or livestock or anything like that And so they're looking at this situation as a financial loss And so they don't want to obey because they don't want to lose their money But in doing that in wanting to hang on to their money They actually caused the curse of God to be upon them to where God now that he saw them You know go from obeying to not obeying. He's like, okay, you didn't want to proclaim liberty Well, I'm gonna give you liberty to the sword to the famine to the pestilence and he's saying you guys is dead bodies They're just gonna be piled up, you know And so it went from them not wanting to get rid of their their servants because they wanted to hang on to their money They wanted their money so bad now, they're facing a way worse problem than losing their money now They're facing the sword now they're facing Nebuchadnezzar now they're facing pestilence famine and the curse of God on their life and The title my sermon this evening is this obedience is easier than correction Obedience is easier than correction Sometimes in the heart of man, we see a commandment from God or for or from any authority and we think yeah But if I obey that I'm gonna be losing out on something or that's gonna cause something detrimental to my life but oftentimes what we don't see the consequences behind the door if we choose to disobey and And the point of the sermon is that obedience is always easier than being corrected, you know It would have been so much easier for these people to have lost their servants to have lost their money Then to lose their lives Then to lose their their nation and lose the blessing of God on them And I want to go through several applications of this go to Hebrews chapter number 12 Hebrews 12 Number 1 tonight it's easier to obey God than getting corrected by God and you know We saw a good example of that already here in Jeremiah 34 It would have been so much easier just to let go of your men servants than to die by the sword It's always easier to obey than to be corrected Hebrews 12 5 teaches this concept it says and you have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you is unto children my son Despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked of him verse number six for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and Scourgeth every son whom he receiveth So, you know even in the New Testament the Bible teaches this concept that God punishes his children You know in John chapter 1 we learned that when we receive Christ We become the sons of God and the Bible says whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. So God is a God of correction God is a God that is going to look at our actions That's going to judge our life and when he sees disobedience in our life, he will correct us Now oftentimes God is very long-suffering God is very merciful and sometimes people can test God for a really long time before he brings the hammer down on them But the Bible promises and the Bible guarantees that God will correct his children Look at verse 7 if ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with sons for what son? Is he whom the father chasteneth not, you know, it's just obvious that fathers chasten their children, right? And if you saw a child that had no chastening that was never corrected that was never spanked you would say where's the dad? You know and unfortunately in our society There's a lot of kids today that live their entire life never being spanked by their physical father Because they don't have one and you know, that's a shame. But just like that's true physically That's also true spiritually of this world where there's people in this world where they haven't received the Lord Jesus Christ And they are you know without a father in a sense spiritually now if they believed in Jesus Christ They would be adopted as a son and you know what happened God would start correcting them like his own son Look at verse number eight But if he be without chastisement where of all our partakers then are ye bastards and not sons Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the fathers of unto the father of spirits and Live now go to Deuteronomy chapter number 28. So, you know, we learn here that God absolutely will Punish his children and some people they live their whole life in Christianity just constantly being punished by God and Those people are the ones that need the sermon tonight that obedience is easier than correction It's not like God is up in heaven just desiring to spank his kids all day Because I don't know about you when my kids do bad I wish that they hadn't obviously right and sometimes it could even be annoying having to spank your children Because it's just a burden. It's something you got to stop what you're doing. You got to correct them You got to spank them. You got to explain to them what they did wrong You know that can be a little bit of a burden and I don't think God is up in heaven Just wanting to punish us all the time but sometimes God just has that rebellious child that child just with a hard neck a stiff neck that just constantly needs lots and Lots of spankings and if you feel like man, I feel like I'm always just being punished by God. Well, just get this Obedience is easier than correction. If you just obeyed God you wouldn't have to be corrected by God all the time Deuteronomy chapter 28 look at verse number one and it shall come to pass that if thou shalt harken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God and Observe and do all his commandments which I command thee this day that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth and all these blessings shall come on thee and overtake thee and Thou shalt harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God Blessed shalt thou be in the city and blessed shalt thou be in the field Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body and the fruit of thy ground and the fruit of thy cattle The increase of thy kind and the flocks of thy sheep blessed shall be thy basket and thy store Blessed shalt thou be when thou comest in and blessed shalt thou be when thou goest out The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face they shall come out against thee one way and flee before thee seven ways, so Deuteronomy 28 this is more of a context of God's promises to a nation as a whole but you know, we could also apply this to our lives as well that if we Diligently observe and follow the commandments of God that we will live blessed lives in general That doesn't mean we're never gonna be punished by God That doesn't mean that we're never gonna go through tribulation or persecution, you know Even godly people will go through tribulation and persecution But in general the person that's obeying God obeying his commandments that person is going to be blessed And notice he lists all these different areas We're gonna be blessed in our body the fruit of our body meaning our children, you know our money our store When you go out when you come in talking about battle, you know God's gonna bless you in all these different areas when you harken to his voice now What if you don't well read the rest of the chapter and it's just all negative Let's look at a couple of it here says but it shall come to pass if thou will not harken unto the voice of the Lord thy God to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes Which I command thee this day that all these curses shall come upon thee and overtake thee Cursed shalt thou be in the city and cursed shalt thou be in the field cursed shall be thy basket and thy store The curse shall be the fruit of thy body And the fruit of thy land the increase of thy kind and the flocks of thy sheep Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out So notice the converse is true that if you decide rather not to listen to God's Word or obey what he has to say You just decide to rebel against him not do what he says then every single aspect of your life will be cursed by God And you know that should cause us to want to fear the Lord right to realize that hey God's not playing games with our life And people today they take life so flippantly and they take their sins so flippantly at times But I don't think people are often thinking about the consequences that can come on their life as a result of that You know, especially how it talks about the fruit of thy body You know, could you imagine your children suffering for the decisions that you make? There's a lot of people today in this world that are suffering as a direct result of the Decisions that their parents made, you know There's a lot of kids that are being raised in the home of a drug addict Right and they're not having parents that are raising them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord They're not like I was talking about this morning learning about the days of creation They're not out looking at the stars thinking about God at night. You know, they're doing they're seeing their dad smoking crack They're seeing their mom being a whore They're seeing their family being cursed by God because their families refusing to obey the Bible Refusing to obey God and literally children are suffering as a result of that You know I met this guy a few weeks ago who because of his family situation because of some of the decisions that his parents made in life He was actually Sold to work for the cartel as a ten-year-old little boy And he started working for the Mexican cartel from age 10 to a few years ago And you know what his entire life has just been a train wreck why because his parents brought him up around such this this terrible environment and That's just a really sobering thought for me to think about that My own children could either be greatly blessed as a result of me actually Diligently following the commandments of God or my children can be completely destroyed because of my decisions and While God is not holding children accountable for the sins of their fathers You know, the truth is is that your sins though could cause consequences that your children very absolutely will experience and feel you know you think about children being raised maybe under the roof of a single mother and Oftentimes single mother will get a boyfriend right and you know We've heard this story way too many times where mom gets a boyfriend and the children are being molested by the boyfriend or by the dad You know did those children do anything wrong? Of course not but their parents sinned by getting a divorce You know their parents sinned by committing adultery and now their life is being hurt. Their life is being Destroyed so, you know, we got to realize that there's actual Serious Consequences on us on our nation on our church on our children and it's just so much easier just to obey God Than to be corrected by God then to deal with the consequences of sin Go if you would to Deuteronomy 30 Deuteronomy chapter number 30 Look at verse number one It says and it shall come to pass when all these things are come upon you the blessing and the curse Which I have set before thee and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whether the Lord thy God hath driven thee and Shout return unto the Lord thy God and shall obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day Thou and thy children with all thine heart with all thy soul that then the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity and have Compassion upon thee and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee. So notice Repentance does lead to compassion and you know That is the good news that if you have screwed up your life if you have been constantly being you know Punished by God because of your sins the truth is that repentance does lead to compassion, you know God's ready to forgive God is ready to restore but you know what that doesn't undo the damage that has been done before that You know You can't go get a tattoo and then pray and get right with God and the tattoo just magically disappears off your body It's not gonna work. You know, if you've lost your virginity, there's no one doing that. You have children out of wedlock There's no one doing that You know just terrible terrible things can happen in our lives to where yes. God can forgive Yes, God can restore. Yes. God can still use you Yes, God still loves you but a lot of those things the actual actions themselves cannot be undone And so, you know, it's just so much easier than repenting and getting compassion from God is just obeying him in the first place But today people think yeah, God doesn't care. Yeah, God's not watching God's not gonna punish me for my actions and then they wake up and realize that they're wrong go to Proverbs chapter 23 Proverbs chapter 23 Because what you have to understand about sin is that yes, there is a Supernatural side of sin where God sees you sin and he comes down on you personally where he's actively judging your life But there's a lot of sins where God doesn't even have to actively punish you just the act of committing these sins themselves Punishes you in and of themselves. What's an example of that? How about drinking alcohol? You know, if you drink alcohol God does not have to stretch forth his hand upon your life supernaturally to punish you You know, you are just punishing yourself by drinking alcohol look at verse number 21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and Drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags, you know It's so funny today when you see people supposedly in poverty in the United States of America Who am I talking about people that are usually referred to as homeless which really they're not homeless They're just lazy is what they are. They're not homeless. They're just drunks. They're alcoholics They're drug addicts because look what the Bible says for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. Oh Why don't I have any money? Why can't I pay my bills maybe because you're drunk and Guess what? there's a built-in punishment to that sin where God doesn't even have to like put his hand on your life and curse you for drinking just Poverty is the natural result of drinking alcohol Why because you're not gonna be a good worker when you're an alcoholic You're not gonna be skilled at anything when you're drunk all the time I mean you can't do any skilled job while being drunk. You just can't Go to Proverbs 23 verse 29 There's a lot of built-in punishment for sin Verse 29 says who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath contentions who hath babbling who hath wounds without cause who hath redness of eyes They that tarry long at the wine they that go to seek mixed wine. So notice woe sorrow contention Babbling Redness of eyes. This is not God cursing you. This is not God's hand coming upon you and causing you to do these things This is just the result of the poison that you're drinking called alcohol if you just drink poison This is what the result is gonna be in your life with or without God's punishment. Look at verse 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red when it giveth his color in the cup when it moveth itself All right at the last it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder Thine eyes shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things Notice God is not causing you to start lusting after women that are not your wife God's not making you do that. That is just the natural result of drinking. Alcohol is losing your judgment Forgetting about your station in life the fact like I don't know that you're married That's a pretty big detail that your brain forgets about when you're drunk and God's not causing you to behold other women in your eyes God's not causing you to utter perverse things. You know, what's causing you to do that is the poison that you're drinking and So God doesn't even need to punish you when you're drinking alcohol though He can he can go above and beyond and punish you extra for sure but here's the thing even just drinking alcohol in and of itself is a punishment and People think oh drink alcohol to have a good time It's like you're literally punching yourself in the face and telling me you're having a good time It's like you are retarded man You are a stupid person to sit there and punch yourself in the face and say I'm having a great time Hey, isn't it great? Isn't it cool how I just nuked my marriage? Hey, isn't it cool that I've been married to my wife for 30 years and in one night of drinking alcohol I destroyed the whole thing Isn't it just funny that every divorced person that I know to a T drinks alcohol? Weird how that works Maybe because it destroys your judgment Verse 34 yay thou shall be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast they have stricken me shout out say and I was not sick They have beaten me and I felt it not when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again So when you're drunk when you're drinking alcohol, God's not causing you to be dizzy God's not causing you be like a drunken man or on a sailor or on a ship or something like that God's not the one causing you to get into fights and have wounds that you don't even remember where they came from You know God's not causing you to fall over and vomit all over yourself and choke on your own vomit you're doing that to yourself and Let me tell you there's a lot of things in life Where the sin itself punishes you? Where God doesn't even have to put down his hand on you though he can and though he does the sin itself punishes you You know, how about fornication go to Proverbs 5? Proverbs chapter number five You know, it's just so much easier to obey God than to be corrected than to deal with consequences It's so much easier just to never drink alcohol Then have to deal with the consequences of alcohol or of the supernatural consequences of God punishing you for alcohol Same thing with fornication. Look at Proverbs 5 verse 3 says for the lips of a strange woman. That's someone that's not your wife For the lips of a strange woman drop as in honeycomb and her mouth is smoother than oil So notice to the flesh she could appear as something that's good, you know, and when people commit fornication They're thinking this is gonna be good. This is something that I need in my life This is what people think in their minds when they do this, but look at verse number four But her end is bitter as wormwood Sharp as a two-edged sword her feet go down to death Her steps take hold on help lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life Her ways are movable that thou canst not know them hear me now therefore Oh ye children and depart not from the words of my mouth Remove thy way far from her and come not nigh the door of her house Lest thou give thine honor unto others and thy years unto the cruel Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth and thy labors be in the house of a stranger and now mourn at the last When thy flesh and my body are consumed and say how have I hated instruction and my heart? despised reproof You see obedience is easier than correction Because it's so much easier To avoid the whore to avoid the strange woman to not go in unto someone that's not your wife Rather than to wake up and your wealth be filled in another man's house. Like what? How about like alimony? When men they go out they cheat on their wife They think this is something they need and then what do they have to do? Their wealth has to go to a different household because the government's gonna make them pay alimony to their wife or you know they do this and then they get a divorce and the government forces them to pay child support to that mom and Their wealth is just being squandered because of the decision that they made and notice that's not even God punishing you That is just the result of your sin and notice this it says when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, you know STDs this is a natural result of these types of sins Where God doesn't even have to move his hand from heaven to cause you to get these diseases though he can But oftentimes it's just a result of committing these sins And so you know what? It's just so much easier to obey God where the Bible says remove thy foot far from her when you see the strange woman Rather than to play with sin and then realize that you get bit at the end and now you have to deal with the consequences Oftentimes for the rest of your life Look, it's so much easier to just obey God than to be corrected by God go to Exodus chapter number 20 Number two, it's easier to obey your parents than to get corrected by your parents. I Mean sometimes kids they get this feeling maybe especially in their teenage years where they feel like my parents are constantly punishing me My parents are constantly correcting me. My parents are constantly spanking me and have you ever just considered? Maybe your life would be easier if you just obeyed your parents rather than just constantly disobeying them Constantly disrespecting them and then dealing with the consequences of being corrected. Look obedience is easier than correction Look at Exodus 20 verse 12 Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God Giveth thee, you know, it's so much easier just to honor your mom and dad rather than for God to cut your life short Supernaturally because you dishonor your father and your mother and you know what? You should never ever have an attitude where you dishonor your father or mother, you know, it doesn't even matter what they believe It doesn't matter if they're Christians It doesn't matter if they're living a wicked life because at least they brought you into this world You could at least say that you can say hey, I'm here alive today meeting My parents fed me my parents clothed me. My parents gave me a roof over my head my parents sacrificed for me My parents did good for me. And so just for that alone, they deserve honor and respect Doesn't matter if they're safe the Bible doesn't say honor your father if he's a fundamental Baptist Honor your father if he took you to church when you were a child And look if you have parents that did raise you Christian that are saved that did teach you the Bible How much more should you be honoring your father and mother and you know, it is just one of the most Disgusting and shameful things I've ever seen in my life to see children dishonoring their father And you know you saw this many years ago where this like new gentle parenting came into our Country and you see like five and six year olds and punching their mom at the grocery store Mom, you're a bee. I mean we've heard these things haven't we have we seen children like this? And we're thinking like these kids are like demons Like what is wrong with these children? What is wrong with our country that we never taught children to honor their father and mother, you know When I went to the Bahamas everyone there believes the King James Bible everyone there knows the Bible and those people honored authority They honored their teachers They honored the preacher they honored their mom and dad and today we live in such a godless and wicked society that we have children Dishonoring their parents even when their parents raised them as fundamental Baptists Let me say this we live in such a wicked and disgusting Society that we even have pastors that help children that on that dishonor their parents What a sick and disgusting person you are to ever support a child that is dishonoring their parents for any reason Because God literally said that if a child dishonors his parents that he's gonna cut their life short and Someone that would support that it just makes me wonder like do you have any fear of God whatsoever? Or just want to act like you're the most humble godly person in the world when apparently you don't even know one of the Ten Commandments To honor your father and your mother look at verse 8 My son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake You Know what? I think I messed up in my notes here. I'm just gonna read this for you in Proverbs It says my son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck My son if sinners entice thee consent thou not if they say come with us. Let us lay wait for blood Let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause Let us swallow them up alive as the grave and whole as those that go down into the pit We shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with spoil cast in thy lot among us Let us all have one purse my son walk not thou in the way with them Refrain thy foot from their path, you know when it comes to it's easier to obey your parents Than to be corrected by your parents You know some of the things your parents are gonna do for you in life is to give you instructions And the Bible says not to forsake the instruction or the law of your mother and father Why because the instruction that they're giving you is for your own benefit. It's for your own good How about like this when sinners entice thee consent thou not when people are saying hey, let's lurk privily for blood They're literally conspiracy there. They're could spear conspiring my English will work this evening They're conspiring to commit murder and you know, this is pretty good advice from your parents Stay away from people that are conspiring to commit murder Why because there's gonna be serious consequences for being around people like that and being involved with activities like that So, you know, it's so much easier just to obey mom and dad when they say hey son Don't hang out with this person and you know, let me tell you this. It's a good idea as parents to tell your children Hey, don't hang around this person There could be bad people even in church There could be bad children even in church and it's a good idea to tell your kids like hey Don't be friends with that person Why because that person is gonna lead you down a dark path and it's so much easier for children to just obey that instruction Rather than to be drawn away with the error of the wicked and then have to deal with the consequences of that sin Go to Proverbs 13 Proverbs 13 Verse number 20 he that walketh with wise men shall be wise But a companion of fools shall be destroyed You know show me someone's friends and I'll show you that person's future Show me who someone yokes up with and who people endorse and who people like and I will tell you who is a fool And who is wise? Because it is a ironclad Guarantee that if you want to go be friends with fools you will become a fool You want to be friends with wicked people? You will become a wicked person you want to be you want to be a teenager? That's friends with someone that does drugs you'll do drugs You want to be a teenager that rebels against your parents and hang out with all the kids that are committing fornication You'll commit fornication Why because you know what most human beings 99% of human beings are just complete followers and don't think that you're the exception Because you're not okay You are a follower and don't think like oh, I could just hang around all these wicked people All these people that are disobeying authority disrespecting authority, but I'm somehow different No, you are the same. You are the same fool. You are the same wicked person go to Proverbs chapter number 30 Proverbs chapter 30 Proverbs 30 verse 17 the Bible says the eye that mocketh at his father and Despiseth to obey his mother the Ravens of the valley shall pick it out and the young Eagles shall eat it You know the Bible is teaching there the Bible is teaching that when a son or a daughter would literally mock their parents Make fun of Ridicule their parents and despise to obey their parents that God can literally kill you for that That's how serious it is to God, you know, this is this is not a game. This is not a joke Okay, the Bible is literally saying that God can kill people for mocking their parents for disobeying their parents and you know, I I Have zero respect whatsoever For any person that would assist a child that is doing this. I don't care if you're a pastor I don't care how long you've been in the ministry I don't care if people follow you when you have a child that's literally mocking his parents and you support that you endorse that you Click like on Facebook on that. You know what you are wicked person not saying you're not saved Not saying that you can't do things for God in the future but you have serious wickedness in your heart to stand against the Bible's teaching on authority and Decide with rebellion decide with children mocking their fathers decide with people disobeying their parents You have a serious wicked problem in your heart. And you know what? I will not stand with people that do that I don't care who they are go to Ephesians chapter number six Ephesians chapter number six Ephesians Chapter six look at verse number one says children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right Doesn't say obey your parents if you like them obey your parents if you agree with their parenting style Since when have kids been the ones putting a stamp of approval on their parents parenting style. I mean that is insanity How about just thank you dad for bringing me alive to this age Thank you mom for feeding me. Thank you. Mom and dad for sacrificing for me Hey, thanks. Mom and dad for working so hard for me That should be our attitude towards our parents and look I know there's people in here where their parents are not saved I know there's people in here where their parents have done pretty terrible things. Okay, but that does not matter God still wants you to honor them God still wants you to obey them if you are living under their authority and Even if you separate from your parents, even if you have an estranged relationship from them, you should not attack them You should not disparage them. You should not rail or lie against them or disparage them in any way You know if your parents are just so wicked and so evil, you know, let's use an extreme example I don't think anyone in here is like this, but let's say your parents are literally sodomites Your parents are literal god-hating reprobates. Let's say that that's the case. Okay, just separate from them Don't speak of them. Don't speak negatively of them. Just say like hey, my parents brought me alive They fed me and that's about it You know if you don't have anything nice to say about your parents don't say anything at all And you know, that's not true of all people. Okay, but it is true of your parents. It absolutely is true of mom and dad Go to Ephesians chapter 5 flip the page back Let me say this it's easier to obey your husband and to be corrected by your husband say is this Islam You know, is this an al-qaeda church right here? No, that is actually what the Bible teaches Look at Ephesians 5 verse 22 wives Submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord Let's just read that again. Okay wives Submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord Maybe you need to underline that or highlight it or something and realize that this is the King James Bible that we're reading This isn't the Quran. Okay, we're not in Afghanistan. This is the Bible belt. We're in Oklahoma This is the King James Bible and the Bible says that wives are to submit to their husbands why because their husband actually is in authority and It's easier to obey your husband than to be corrected by your husband husbands can correct their wives. Yeah, that's what authority is God can correct us. Can he not? Parents can correct us. Can they not guess what husbands can correct their wives to why because they are in authority look at verse 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the Savior of the body Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ so let the wives be to their own husbands in Everything so notice the authority structure between a husband and wife is the exact same Authority structure as the Lord Jesus Christ and the church Now, let me tell you this what if I got up and I said Hey guys, I have the suggestions of Jesus right here But you know, I'm not really gonna follow what it says, I'm just gonna do whatever I want Would you say that our church is in subjection to Jesus Christ? Would you say that our church is obeying him yet today? Feminism is teaching women that well, you have to come to an agreement with your husband Well, you know if you agree with your husband's decision, then you can obey him. That's not what obedience is Obedience is I think something else but I'm gonna go with what you're saying I want to make a different decision, but I'm gonna follow your lead That is what obedience actually is you say well can husbands actually correct their wives Well, let me ask you this can Jesus correct the church Because that's the exact same relationship that God details go to Revelation chapter number three Revelation three You say oh well the Bible says for husbands to love their wives, yeah, what's your point Jesus loves the church. Does that mean that he's not in charge? Does that mean that he can't correct? Of course husbands are to love their wives. But you know what people don't know what love is you know Bible said that love is the fulfilling of the law and People think like Oh love means my husband does everything I want him to do Love means my husband agrees with me all the time Love means I asked something of my husband aka my servants and he do with it. This is what people think love is Okay. Well, let's see what love looks like Revelation 3 verse 19 as many as I love I rebuke and chasten Be zealous therefore and repent You know, I feel like if this world ever saw a husband like rebuke his wife. They would be calling the police They would say like wow, this is abuse. You know, the husband just said what's a rebuke? It's a stern correction Just be like hey stop that we're not doing that. That would be like a rebuke, right? Jesus the Bible says he loves us and he rebukes us and chastens us. What does that mean? That means that Jesus as a loving authority figure is allowed to correct people that are under his authority And guess what husbands are allowed to correct their wives Now we've been raised in this backward world in This feminist nation in the United States of America in 2024 where we don't really see biblical principles being carried out in our daily lives and I guarantee you if all of us think back on our parents marriages It probably didn't look like Ephesians chapter number five describes it Okay But here's the thing when you come to the Bible you need to absolutely flush your worldly influences Flush your experiences down the toilet and just look at what the Bible actually says This is called renewing your mind Saying that hey, I probably believe things that are wrong. I have bad philosophies I have bad ideas and I need to just look at what the Bible says and Actually conform my mind to what the Bible says not just well, I mean, there's no way a husband It can actually correct his wife. That's al-qaeda. That's terrorism. No, you're just an idiot No, you're just carnal. No, you're just a feminist Yes, a husband is in charge of his wife and a good husband should correct his wife Let me prove that go back to Ephesians 5 Ephesians chapter number 5 First number 25. It says husbands love your wives Even as meaning in the same way as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. So what is one way husbands should love their wives? Well, it should be by being selfless right by giving yourself for your wife working hard to provide for her Making decisions that are in her best interest right leading for the benefit of your wife That is loving your wife as Christ loved the church, but that doesn't not mean that you're not in charge That does not mean that you don't have to correct issues. Here's how I know that you have to correct issues. Look at verse 26 that he might sanctify and Cleanse it with the washing of water by the word So notice what Jesus does to the church is he has to cleanse us. He has to wash us By using the Word of God meaning, you know We open up our Bibles in the morning and it's like Jesus getting some soap and he's like Ephesians like clean up your life And just Colossians just clean up all your issues and Psalms and Proverbs and Jesus is just constantly correcting us I mean when I read the Bible Jesus is constantly just fixing problems that I have I read that like I'm not doing that and Jesus tells me the right way to do something. So if we're supposed to love our wives Like Christ loved the church How does that actually look well? It looks like us leading for her betterment looks like us being selfless self less and it also looks like us Correcting problems That's what a leader is. I mean, that's what God does he corrects issues This is what parents do they correct issues. This is what godly husbands should be doing as well Why because God made you the authority in your home men and don't buy this feminist attitude That you're not allowed to correct your wife. You just have to hope and pray that she will obey you No, you make her obey You correct her in the same way that Jesus Christ makes us obey and correct us with the Word of God and notice How does Jesus correct by giving Commandments do this? Don't do that. That's what the Word of God is, right? So it'd be very appropriate for husband to do the same thing Hey wife do this stop doing this honey. I love you. But what you're doing right now is not right This is actually what the Bible says and this is what you need to do. There's nothing unloving about that That's extremely loving. You know, it's only just a wicked feminist attitude that would look at that just simple correction and think like abuse al-qaeda This isn't Christianity. No, what we just read was the Bible Go to Psalm or go to Proverbs chapter number 21 And you know ladies it would just be in your best interest for your marriage to just get this idea into your head Obedience is easier than correction Obedience is easier than correction. You say I don't like being you know, corrected by my husband just obey him then You know and this is what a lot of ladies do Unfortunately is they get corrected by their husband and instead of submitting what do they do they nag? They fight they back talk they complain why because this is just the example ladies have been shown Unfortunately in our country and it's not like this in other countries in the world, but it sure is like this here in America Why because we've been rejecting the Bible But let me tell you why this is not in your best interest ladies to nag your husband to back Talk him to fight against him. Look at Proverbs 21 verse 9 It says it is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide house So notice if you are a brawling woman and you want to you know Rebel against your husband and not take his correction The Bible says that it's better for him than to just go into the corner of a housetop and What's funny about this verse is it doesn't say like well, it'll seem better to him in his carnal mind It'll seem better to him to be separated into the housetop. It just says no it is better It just objectively is better to be in the corner of an attic in a dusty dirty attic Than with a feminist it just objective objectively is better. Look at verse 19 It is better To dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an angry woman Doesn't say like well, he thinks it's better to go to the woods But if he was spiritual, you know, he would want to be around the angry and contentious woman just like objectively it's better to be in the middle of the woods in Idaho and fighting off bears and Wolves and mountain lions than to deal with an angry contentious feminist and you know what it's such a shame today that so many ladies have been brought up and taught to be a Feminist and to be an angry and contentious woman because it's just hurting them You know why because it's turning away godly men from wanting to marry them, you know, there's all these women out there They have so much potential. They're young. They're beautiful. They're virgin They're just waiting for some man to take them and and that's on the table, right? But then they're told Oh be a feminist and the only guys that are attracted to them are guys like Andrew Tate Guys, they just want to abuse them and use them for their body Rather than a godly man that actually wants to marry her and be with her for the rest of his life but you know what the only woman that a godly man wants to be with for the rest of his life is a submissive and Godly wife and you know, thank God I have that because I feel really bad for these guys that get married and All of a sudden they wake up and realize like wow I'm with a brawling and contentious woman and they're thinking like I need to go to the Attic I need to go to the wilderness and they're driven that way by their wife you know, the Bible says life and death is in the power of the tongue and Ladies can build up their marriage by speaking kindly by obeying their husband or they could destroy it by being a brawling and contentious Woman, but I'm telling you obedience is easier than correction in every area of life Go to Proverbs 15 verse 17 It says better is a dinner of herbs Where love is than a stalled ox and hatred therewith To me, that's a really powerful Bible verse because in my house I have a rule that every dinner must have meat. I am NOT a vegetarian I don't know if you remember my sermon on vegetarianism. I don't like it at all I am anti vegetarian but the Bible saying like it's so important to have a godly and just a home with love and peace in it that you would rather literally eat a vegetarian meal than the best Texas barbecue spread spread out before you but there's hatred in the home That's saying a lot Because I think God knows how much we love meat Okay, that is saying a lot to say like I just rather eat, you know salad and just nothing else to have peace But that actually is true because any man that is actually with This type of a woman they would tell you like I'll become a vegetarian today for my wife to chill out Right, that is just a true statement go to first Peter chapter number two first Peter to You know again, I love this quote the pastor Shelley told me he said life is all about obedience But the question is to who? Life is all about obedience, but the question is to who every single person in here must obey someone So it's funny. Everyone's with me. Yeah, I obey God. It's easier to obey God than to be corrected by God Yeah, obey your parents. It's easier to obey your parents and be corrected by your parents. Like hey, obey your husband's everyone's like, oh This is al-qaeda. It's just like no just renew your mind Know that God wants what's best for you God's not giving his commandments to harm you to keep you in chains to make you a poor little house slave No, it's actually gonna make your life great when you follow his commandments Number four It's easier to obey your boss than to be corrected by your boss. Look at first Peter chapter 2 verse 18 Servants be subject to your masters with all fear not only to the good and gentle but also to the frontward So notice if you're in the workplace and you have someone that's placed an authority over you you are to obey that person Not if they're nice not if they're talented at their job Not if you know more than them or if they know more than you it just it doesn't matter if they're good It doesn't matter if they're froward or gentle you must obey your boss and it's easier to obey your boss Than to be corrected by your boss. No one likes being corrected by their boss It's not fun. If you're a man if you've had a job, you've been corrected by your boss and you know what? That's not fun. But you know what obey your boss You won't be corrected by him as much be a good worker show up on time. You know, if you just do this If you just make it your mission at work to make your boss money You will not be corrected by him at least not very often if you make it your mission at work to say All right I'm gonna do this work not the way that I would like it not the way that I would do things but the way that Would please my boss you're gonna be golden You're gonna be corrected much less at work when that is your attitude look at Colossians chapter number three Colossians chapter three Colossians 3 verse 22 says servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing God so notice when you're at work who you should really be searching seeking to please beyond anything else is God and By pleasing your boss You're going to be pleasing God because God is the one that told you to be subject to him God is the one that told you to submit to what your boss says it says not with eye Service meaning when you're at work You shouldn't be thinking like well I'm gonna slack off and do nothing until the boss is in the room then now that his eyes are on me I'm gonna make sure it looks like I'm working hard and producing for the company No rather you should just be fearing God and saying you know what? I'm gonna obey my boss I'm gonna do what my boss says I'm gonna seek to please my boss not because I like him or I agree with him But because I like God and I want God to like me And let me tell you it's easier to just obey your boss than to be corrected by your boss go to Romans 13 Let me say this number five It's easier to obey the government than to be corrected by the government and oftentimes if you're corrected by the government It's the final correction. You're going the long sleep after that one oftentimes look at Romans 13 says in verse 1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, but there is no power But of God the powers that be are ordained of God So notice God is the one that ordained authority and the fact that we have human government the fact that we have Husbands in authority the fact that we have bosses in authority that authority was ordained of God God set that in place verse 2 whosoever therefore resisteth the power Resisteth the ordinance of God and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation So when we resist any form of legitimate authority who you are resisting at the end of the day is actually God himself Because God is the one that instituted that authority And so our attitude when it comes to government should be that if the government is not you know Encroaching into our spiritual lives and stopping us from doing the things that God commanded us. We should obey the government and Man, that's hard to say because we have a really stupid government. Let's be honest We have a government full of people that don't like God that aren't following the commandments, but if they make a law It's not a sin. It's not harming our conscience in any way or anything like that We should obey that law for God's sake the fact that God is the one that instituted the authority and notice There's consequences if we don't Romans 13 verse 3 verse 3 for rulers are not a terror to good works But to the evil and you know even even now in 2024 though. Our government is wicked in General our government is not going around everyday terrorizing good things. I mean, I don't know about you I've been soul winning for about 10 years and I could count on the number the number of times like the police have stopped me I'm like one hand and it was in Washington State where it's a lot more of a godless place But like in Texas in Oklahoma, the police is not really out there being a terror to good works you know, in fact one time I was in Texas in Bedford and Some you know god-hating freak called the police on us and this big old dude of the cowboy hat Gets out of his patrol vehicle and he's like, yeah, what's going on or whatever just oh, you know, we're out soul-winning He goes well sounds like somebody doesn't like the Bible. He's like have a good day It's just like okay cool, you know, the cops are not exactly out there terrorizing us here in Texas and Oklahoma You know what they're doing? Let's be honest. They're usually terrorizing the evil. Oh, yeah, you're back the blue You know, you're a government worshiper bootlegger No, let's just be honest police in Texas and Oklahoma are not out there terrorizing soul winners. It's just not happening folks Okay, get real wake up. Look what it says Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power do that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the same For he is the minister of God to thee for good But if thou do that, which is evil be afraid For he beareth not the sword in vain For he is the minister of God a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil You know what? I've just noticed throughout my life is the people that are really afraid of cops or that really hate police officers are the ones doing Evil, you know, they're so afraid and they just hate the police. Yeah, cuz you've got drugs in your car You should be afraid or you know, you've got a bunch of illegal stuff that you're doing. You're doing all these crimes It's like yeah, I've never been afraid of the police because I'm not breaking the law now I'm not saying that we shouldn't you know check authority using our Constitution making sure that we have limited government and limiting the powers of police, you know They shouldn't be out being authoritarians, but at the end of the day if an officer gives me a command I'm just gonna obey the higher powers If they say show me your hands gonna show them my hands if they say hey put your hands Excuse me on the steering wheel. I'm just gonna do that Because let's be honest. The police are not out terrorizing me. They're not out terrorizing you you know who they're out terrorizing People that are shooting other people people that are out slinging drugs, you know, I'll tell you an example Right before I moved from Texas. I was with brother Jacob plant and brother Evan and we were out soul-winning And all of a sudden right across the street. I hear gunfire Just you know We're in a Cedar Hill neighborhood in South Dallas and all of a sudden I hear gunfire going off and I'm kind of like in The easement of a home and I kind of just look over at the easement and there's these two young black teenagers With their pistol just firing their pistol down the road Those kids should be afraid Those kids should be terrified. Those kids have a reason to be scared Why because if the police showed up and they have a gun and they're pointing down the road and they're firing It the police are gonna put bullets in their brain. They're gonna be dead why because he doesn't bear the sword in vain and by the way, that's a good thing because I don't want to live in a society where I'm in a Neighborhood with my family and kids are just shooting randomly down the street. I say to the police Yeah, go take those little stupid kids out You know again, where's the fathers in America? Where's the homes in America? But you know what? I have never ever ever been afraid that the police are gonna shoot me Because I've never pointed a gun at a police officer. I've never brought a knife out at a police officer. I've never gone here Let me show you my ID Here you go. You know, I've never done anything like that. I've never resisted a police officers order I've never done anything stupid like that He's like, oh man, the cops just hate black people Cops are just ready to kill black people. Maybe if black people are shooting down the street, maybe But I guarantee you if the black people weren't doing that those little black kids weren't doing that they'd have no issue And guess what if a little white kid was down the street with an ar-15 shooting randomly into people's houses You know the police would do they put a bullet in his brain And what what's the sermon about? It's easier to obey than to be corrected Isn't it easier just to obey a police officer then for him to throw you under the ground and make you obey Isn't it easier to obey the police officer then for him to shoot you and kill you? Again back to our first story. Oh, man. I just don't want to give up my money I just don't want to give up these servants. Okay death is your other option. Which one would you have rather had? It's like oh man. I don't want to obey this police officer cuz he's mean he's racist It's like okay. Do you want your face smashed into the ground though? Do you want to get shot? No, okay then just obey and you know what the attitude we should have as Christians when it comes to government is that if they're not asking us to sin we should obey them Now if the police officer says hey you guys aren't allowed to preach the Bible anymore You guys aren't allowed to go soul in anymore that would be the time that we obey or disobey but let's be honest We are nowhere near that right now. We're just not you know There's other countries in the world like Germany where they literally had at the church plant there they had a first-time visitor and the police literally followed this woman to her house and started asking her questions about why she went to church and Then people want to tell me about how bad American police officers are like you have no idea what the rest of the world's like No here we actually have a lot of liberty and a lot of freedom and the police in general are not out to get us Here in America. It's easier to obey the government than to be corrected by the government Lastly here go to Hebrews 13. We'll make this quick Number six, it's easier to obey your pastor than to be corrected by your pastor Hebrews 13 verse 17 obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves For they watch for your souls as they that must give an account that they may do it with joy and not with grief For that is unprofitable for you. So notice the people that are ruling and in charge your pastor He doesn't want to do his job with grief He wants to do it with joy and contrary to what some people might think about pastors Pastors are not wanting to go around and just correct issues and problems all day What they really want to do is just preach the Word of God Leave the house of God do soul-winning win people to Christ get them baptized, you know change people's lives for the better It's not like pastors are just wanting to deal with all these drama and problems all the time But the reality is is that the pastor is to be ruling is to be over people and you know What that looks like is that there's gonna be issues constantly that the pastor has to deal with I don't know where people get this weird idea from that pastors, you know can never preach against individuals When it's literally the pastor's job to correct bad doctrines bad ideas bad behaviors Just bad things going on in church. It's the pastor's job to fix and say oh, I don't want to be corrected by my pastor Well, it's easier to obey than to be corrected just like in every other area of life go to Acts chapter 20 While you're turning there, let me read first Timothy 5 17 the Bible says let the elders that rule well So notice they're ruling be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine So the elders the pastor they are to be ruling they are to be exercising authority. Look at acts 20 28 Says take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost have made you overseers To feed the Church of God Which he hath purchased with his own blood for I know this that after my departing grievous wolves shall enter in among you not Sparing the flock also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them Therefore watch and remember that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears go to 2nd Timothy 4 So there we saw that the pastor is supposed to be the ruler he's supposed to be the overseer he's supposed to feed the flock of God and One of the things he's supposed to be doing is watching out for false prophets or false brethren That are gonna come and creep in among them bringing in damnable heresy and think about it. How would a pastor? Correct false brethren or false prophets or damnable heresy being brought into the church You'd have to correct that issue by preaching against it, right? So don't get this weird idea like pastors can ever preach against individuals or anything like that 2nd Timothy 4 verse 2 says preach the word be instant in season out of season and notice the instruction to the pastor reprove rebuke Exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. So it is the pastor's job to Reprove to tell people that they're wrong to rebuke to sternly tell someone that they're wrong to exhort them That is part of a pastor's job and it's I'm sure not the most fun part of his job But if you don't want to be that person that's getting corrected It's easier just to obey than to be corrected and look I've been corrected by the pastor before I'll be honest I have it's not fun I don't enjoy it but it was because I was doing something dumb or I wasn't listening to him or wasn't doing the things that he wanted me to And I deserved every bit of it I've had a pastor tell me this before come to church this Sunday because the sermon is about you Okay, I've literally had a pastor tell me that oh, how dare you preach against me? I'm quitting Christianity I'm deconstructing from the faith. I've been abused by a church by a pastor. It's a cult No, the pastor literally said this sermon is about you. So don't skip church this Sunday There's like yes, sir And I just sat there and I took it and I followed in the Bible and I took notes and I fixed the problem And you know what? That wasn't fun. That wasn't a great time. I've experienced many other sermons I enjoyed more than that one But you know what? That was a necessary sermon for my life and you know, what I just learned is that hey It's just easier to obey than to be corrected. Oh, man. I don't like being corrected Just obey then and you don't have to be corrected go to Proverbs 13. We're almost done Obedience is easier than Correction Proverbs 13 15 says good understanding giveth favor, but the way of transgressors is hard Your life will be hard when you rebel against authority You know you want to rebel against God he says hey sell your servants, okay I'll do that. Never mind. You go back on it Your life's about to be really hard when you get the sword the pestilence and the famine, you know, you say oh, man I'm gonna disobey my parents. Okay. Well, it's gonna be really hard when you're getting spanked all the time Well, you know, I just want to disobey my husband. You're about to have a hard marriage It's about to be a hard time for you. If you want to rebel against your husband Oh, I want to just disobey the cops f the police Cops can't tell me what to do man. It's about to be really hard when you get your face shoved in the concrete Oh, you know who care? I'm gonna point my gun at the police. No, no worries. Who cares? It's about to be really hard when you're about to get shot and killed You know or if we had God's law, oh, you know who cares what the Bible says I'm gonna go commit adultery man. Your life is about to be hard when you're stoned to death. Oh You know, I'm gonna blast theme the name of God Well, that's gonna be hard for you when you're put to death or how about this Oh, I'm gonna go make a video cursing my father or mother Well, that's gonna be hard for you when you're literally stoned to death when you're literally killed You know the message that we need tonight is that obedience is easier than correction Obey the authority in your life and you will have a better life. You will have a more happy and prosperous life. Let's pray Lord Thank you for this day. Thank you for our fam families here and for our church family I just pray that you would uh Bless our church that you would help us to hold authority Highly esteemed in our mind and that we would truly submit ourselves to the rightful authority in our lives Not just go along with what we agree with but even when we're challenged and we disagree that we would submit ourselves To you to our pastor and to other authorities in our lives. We love you in Jesus name we pray. Amen You Turning your hymnals to him number 149 Trusting Jesus him number 149 Him number 149 We'll go ahead and start there right on the first simply trusting every day Oh Oh My Ah Oh Ah Moment's fly Trusting and today's go by Trusting him Oh