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Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Alright for our next song let's go to song number 192 Song number 192 Ring the bells of heaven Song number 192 Ring the bells of heaven There is joy today For a soul returning from the wild See the father meets him loud upon the way Welcoming his very wondering child Glory glory how the angels sing Glory glory how the twelve hearts ring With a ransomed army like a mighty sea Healing forth the anthem of the free Ring the bells of heaven There is joy today For the wandering now the deck in style Yes the soul is rescued from his sinful way And is born into a ransomed child Glory glory how the angels sing Glory glory how the loud hearts ring Tis the ransomed army like a mighty sea Healing forth the anthem of the free Ring the bells of heaven Spread the beast today Angels swell and laugh triumphantly Tell the joyful tidings buried far away For a precious soul is born again Glory glory how the angels sing Glory glory how the loud hearts ring Tis the ransomed army like a mighty sea Healing forth the anthem of the free On the front is our Bible memory passage verse of the week Proverbs 31 verse 8 On the inside we have our service times and our soul winning times The church wide soul winning times meet here at the building and our regional soul winning times meet all throughout the DFW area Please continue to report your numbers to your soul winning tribe If you don't have one you should so if you don't have a soul winning captain Let me know after the service and I can get you helped out with that Please be praying for our expecting ladies there on the top right definitely plenty to be keeping in prayer And then of course the best part of our bulletin is we have The Zermanos had their child Priscilla Zermano And for those that didn't hear this morning she was born on 11-9-23 At 11-26 p.m. weighing 6 pounds 7 ounces And was 19 and a half inches long I believe Mrs. Milstead organized a meal train for them So if you'd like to be a blessing to them and get their family a gift card or bring a meal to them You can go ahead and speak with Mrs. Milstead on that We do have our prayer list please be keeping all of these prayers To the Lord throughout the week and if you'd have any that you'd like to add Don't hesitate to email us we'd be happy to add that for you Other than that we have a few upcoming events coming up Just in a few weeks November 30th through December 2nd is our Mexican Missions trip it's always a great trip every year it's been very fruitful every year We've gone and usually how it works is we just stay on the American side of the border Travel in daily to Mexico get lots of people saved Head back to the United States and you know stay the night in the United States Stay on the American side of the border Stay the night in the United States and it's always a lot of fun getting The good food in Mexico the good soul winning in Mexico great fellowship I know for me when I moved here I had already been learning Spanish for about a decade But I never really applied it that much in real life Because of the fact that when I lived in the Northwest I wasn't using it that much You don't have a lot of opportunities and after I moved to Texas when I went to Mexico For the first time it just helped my Spanish sky rocket Lots of people that are always learning Spanish in our church and if you want your Spanish to go to The next level just go one time to Mexico and it will help you a lot I know brother Marcel your first time to Mexico I feel like your Spanish sky rocketed after that trip And that's how it was for me too so I definitely encourage you if you can make it out to that That is a great thing to go to and there's a sign up sheet for that at the front If you'd like to go December 8th we have our ladies Christmas party From 6pm to 9pm December 11th Is Christmas caroling and like Pastor Shelley always says this is like our one ministry to the rich We love to go soul winning in the poor areas We love to go Christmas caroling in the rich areas. Why? They're the only ones that decorate their houses with lights So we've got to knock on the doors that have the best decorations And that's who we go and sing to so that's always a great time December 16th is our children's Christmas music recital And I remember last time we did that in Watauga that was beautiful I was really impressed by all the children and how much hard work they put into learning Their instruments and they did a great job looking forward to that again December 24th we have our cookie bake off after the evening Service and December 31st we have our New Year's Eve Party and a men's preaching night so there will be more details to come On that and with that that's going to be all our announcements this evening we'll go ahead and sing Psalm 139 Alright Psalm 139 Everybody sing it out together on the first Surely thou wilt slay the wicked Surely thou wilt slay the wicked O God, depart from me therefore ye bloody men Depart from me therefore ye bloody men Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me And am not I green O Lord that hate me For they speak against me wickedly For they speak against me wickedly And thy enemies Take thy name in vain And thy enemies Take thy name in vain Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me And am not I green With those that rise up against me Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me I hate them with perfect hatred I count them my enemies I count them my enemies Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me Do not I hate them And am not I green With those that rise up against me Do not I hate them O Lord that hate me Now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. That's Romans chapter number 2. Now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. That's Romans chapter 2. Now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. That's Romans chapter 2. Now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. That's Romans chapter 2. Now as the offering plates are being passed around, go ahead and turn in your Bibles to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2 Romans chapter 2 The Bible reads Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges For wherein thou judges't another, thou kedemos thyself For thou that judges't do the same things For we are sure that thou art etho, the same things, but we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commits such things. And think of thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and do us the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God, or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasure us up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds. To them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also of the gentile. But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the gentile, for there is no respect of persons with God, for as many as have sinned without the law shall all shall perish without the law, and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law, for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the gentiles which have not the law do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another, and the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Behold, thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God and knowest its will and approvest the things that are more excellent being instructed out of the law, and art confident that thou thyself are a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which has the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teach us another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preaches a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that aborse idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law through breaking the law dishonors thou God? For name of the God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you as it is written. For circumcision verily profiteth if thou keepeth the law, but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcisioned. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the law, judge thee who by the letter and circumcision does transgress the law? For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men but of God. Let us pray. Father thank you so much for this great church and we thank you for all the souls that were one to Christ today. We pray that you would fill Brother Oz with your Holy Spirit, help him to preach with power and authority, and lay on his heart the message that he's prepared for us. And we thank you so much for the missions conference, Lord. We just pray that it would continue to create zeal within people to have a heart for missions. And we love you, Jesus, and we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. All right, well we are here this evening in Romans chapter 2, and I want to read a bit of this chapter starting in verse number 3. The Bible says, And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons with God. So notice we see here that those that obey the truth and that follow after righteousness, they're going to have eternal life and they're going to have blessings in heaven. And those that don't obey the truth, those that don't obey the gospel, what do they have to look forward to? Tribulation and wrath and anguish on every soul to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. And throughout this passage we see the Jews and the Gentiles being compared and contrasted, one with another, saying hey, if they believe, whether they're a Jew or Gentile, they're good to go, they're saved. And if they don't believe, whether they're Jew or Gentile, they're going to have the wrath of God. Why? The answer is in verse 11 where it says, for there's no respect of persons with God. And the title of my sermon this evening is Respect of Persons. Respect of Persons. The fact that God does not respect persons is one of the intrinsic characteristics of the Lord. You know, God is love. God is omnipresent. God is omniscient. God is wrathful. God is terrible, the Bible says. And just as much as He is all of those things, God is not a respecter of persons. And so this evening I want to do a study and basically go through this idea of God not being a respecter of persons. I have several thoughts I want to give you tonight about that. But first, I'm going to give you, based on my study of the Bible, what I believe respect of persons is. And by the end of this sermon I think you'll agree with me. This is what I believe the Bible teaches about respect of persons. Respect of persons is when your judgments, thoughts, or actions towards someone are influenced by that person's social status, prestige, familial relationship, or other external characteristics. I'm going to say that one more time. Respect of persons is when your judgments, thoughts, or actions towards someone are influenced by that person's social status, prestige, familial relationship, or other external characteristics. That may seem like a lot at first to hear, but I think once we go through some examples you'll agree with what I'm saying there. But here's what respecting of persons is not. Respecting of persons is not necessarily treating everyone the same at all times. Because we see that clearly God does not treat all people the same at all times. God does treat people differently, but He's not a respecter of persons. So go to James chapter number two, James chapter number two. And my first statement this evening is that God doesn't want us to judge people based on their status, prestige, or other external characteristics. Those are things that God does not want us to judge people by. James chapter number two verse one says this, My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. So here we have a clear command in the Bible saying not to have the faith of Christ with respect of persons. Well what does that mean? Well right in the next verse the Bible gives us an example of what that would look like. Verse number two it says, For if there come unto your assembly, that'd be a church, right? If there come unto your assembly or your church a man with a gold ring in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye, notice, have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place, and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool, are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts? Notice what's going on here. You have two people that come into church. One's rich, one's dressed really nicely, maybe he has a lot of money, a lot of prestige, whatever, and the other person's just poor, and you decide that you're gonna have the rich person sit in a great honorable seat, and you're gonna be really nice and kind to him, but you're just gonna kind of throw the poor guy in the back corner and not treat him well. Is there anything wrong with treating the rich person nice? No, but what's wrong here, what's wrong is treating the rich person nice at the expense of the poor person based on nothing other than their financial status, right? That's wrong. That would be respecting persons and saying, you're rich, therefore I'm gonna treat you better, or you're white, therefore I'm gonna treat you better, or you're a man, therefore I'm gonna treat you better. That is not righteous judgment according to the Bible. That would be being a respecter of persons, and notice verse 4, it says, are you not then partial in yourselves, and have become judges of evil thoughts? So notice, this is a harmful attitude to have. Evil in the Bible just means harm, and it's saying when you judge this way, you're causing harm to people, right? It's not fun to be judged off of something arbitrary like your skin color or your financial status. That's not just according to the Word of God. That is not how God judges people. Now go to 1st Corinthians chapter number 5. This is not saying that you can never judge someone. We talked a little bit about this this morning. Of course, we should judge, and we kind of went through the first part of 1st Corinthians 5. Let's focus on some verses towards the latter end. Look at verse number 11. It says, but now I have written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat. Now notice, all of these sins that are listed that Paul's saying, hey, I don't want you to keep company with this person. Does it say anywhere on here if any man that is rich? Does it say if any man that is poor? Is any man that is Mexican? Is any man that is white? It doesn't say that, right? These are all actions that we are making judgments on, not just arbitrary things like their skin color or their financial status. Look at verse 12. For what have I to do to judge them that are also without? Do you not judge them that are within? But them that are without, God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person. So notice, according to the Bible, some people are not welcome at church. But it's not because one's poor and one's rich. It's because, hey, if a rich man tries to come here, that's an extortioner, he would not be allowed in the house of God. And if a poor man came in here that was righteous, he would. If a poor man came into church and he was an idolater, he was a brother that was saved and he was an idolater, he would not be allowed in church. Why? Because he's poor? No, because he's an idolater, right? Our judgments are based on the person's sins, the person's actions, not just who they intrinsically are. That wouldn't make any sense. Go back to James, chapter number two. James, chapter number two. Look at verse five. It says, harken, my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he had promised to them that love him? But ye have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law, according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect of persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. Notice we have a clear statement in the Bible saying, if you respect persons, that is a sin. And he's even here kind of giving them an admonishment, saying like, hey, be careful not to just think too highly of rich people because that's kind of our human nature as we see someone who's climbed the social ladder and they have a lot of money, they have a lot of wealth, they have a lot of prestige, and our flesh just seems to naturally think that that's a better person and that that is a more godly person than someone who's poor. Now, sometimes that may be the case, but not every time. And so it would be foolish to say this person's rich, therefore they're good or this person's rich, therefore they're bad. No, rather, we should look at the person's actions and look at their character to judge them, not just the external factors of their life. Now turn to Colossians chapter number three and I'll read for you 1 Peter 1 verse 17. The Bible says, and if you call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. So we notice here that God the Father, He judges without respect of persons, and what does He judge? He judges our works, not just external characteristics about us, He judges our work, and what should that motivate us to do? It should motivate us to pass the time of our sojourning here in fear. Why? Because the fact that God is not a respecter of persons is both comforting and fearful, okay? It's comforting in the fact that if I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm going to heaven, it doesn't matter where I was born, doesn't matter how much money I have, doesn't matter what skin color, doesn't matter what your gender is, no matter who you are, when you trust in Christ, you can take it to the bank that you're going to heaven when you die. And praise God for that, and that should comfort us. But you know what? It should also terrify us that God is not going to look at you and think that you're something special because of where you were born, because of your skin color, because of how much money you have, and excuse your sin, but rather He's always going to judge righteously. That's a blessing, and it's also scary at the same time, right? That, hey, praise God I can get saved no matter what, but also, man, I'm not so special that God's going to overlook judging me, and you're not so special that God's going to overlook judging you because you're an American, or because you have a lot of money, or because you're well liked by other people. None of that stuff matters with God. Why? Because He's not a respecter of persons. Let's talk about this some more. 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. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ. Hey, isn't it a blessing that no matter who you are, when you serve the Lord Christ, you receive the reward of the inheritance, right? When you're saved, it doesn't matter what color, what nation, any of that, that is a great blessing that when you serve God, we receive the reward of the inheritance. Look at verse 25, but here's the scary side of the coin, he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. Again, there's two sides of this, the blessing that whoever serves God, there's no entry limit to serving God, anyone can serve God, but the scary part is, is that God is going to judge you, you are going to receive for the wrong that you do, there is no respect of persons with God. There's no white privilege with God, there is no Texas privilege with God, there is no pretty privilege. I've heard of this recently, I saw some video that was giving women interview tips for jobs, and it was telling them that they should try to look as beautiful as possible for job interviews, which is honestly it's a pretty good idea, but he was saying the reason why is because women have pretty privilege, and honestly that's true, that is true, women do, but not before God. God doesn't care how what you look like, God's not gonna excuse a woman's sins because she's beautiful, that doesn't matter to the Lord, he is completely without respect of persons. Go to Ephesians chapter number six, Ephesians chapter number six, and let's look at verse number five, similar passage to what we just read, says, servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ, not with eye service as men pleasers, but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart, with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men, knowing, notice this, that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. Notice it does not matter what your position in this world is, what your status is, whether you're bond, whether you're free, you will receive blessing from God when you do service for him. And that is a great blessing that you can hang your hat on and know for a fact. Verse nine says, any masters do the same things unto them, meaning having goodwill towards them, being the servants here, for bearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is their respect of persons with him. So let's say you're a manager or a boss on a job site. Don't think that just because you are the boss in that situation that God will overlook your sins. Why? Because there's no respect of persons with God. You know, God would have more respect for a servant that obeys his boss and that works really hard than for a boss that was cheating his employees of money, that was threatening them, that was being a wicked person and blaspheming God. Just because that person's the boss doesn't mean that God is going to overlook that person's sins, right? And vice versa. Hey, if you have a really good boss and he's honoring God and he's good to his servants, but the servant is lazy, he back talks his boss, he doesn't do a good job, God's going to be angry with that servant, not because of his position or anything, it's because of his actions, because he's being wicked. That is why God would punish that person. Why? Because God is not a respecter of persons. God is not going to judge someone because of their skin color, their economic status, any of those things. That is not what goes into the account when God is judging. Number two, respecting persons leads to injustice. Go to Leviticus chapter number 19. Respecting persons leads to injustice. Leviticus chapter number 19. Look at verse number 13. Leviticus 19 and 13 says, thou shalt not defraud thy neighbor, neither rob him, the wages of him that is hired, shall not abide with thee all night until the morning. Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shalt fear thy God, I am the Lord. Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. Notice, God is wanting us to judge righteously. He doesn't want us to respect the person of the poor or esteem the person who's rich. Rather, he just wants us to do what's right no matter what. And when you are a respecter of persons, what can we can infer from that? It's that it would cause us to be unjust. It would cause injustice to be brought in that situation. Now, I wonder if this ever happens in our country. I wonder if prosecutors and judges are ever presented criminal evidence against someone that they pursue, they choose not to pursue because the person's in the club. Maybe a guy like Hunter Biden. Okay, that would be someone respecting person saying, Oh, no problem. You have all this filth and disgusting crimes on your laptop and you're breaking gun laws and you're just committing all these crimes. No problem because your last name is Biden. What is that? That's being a respecter of persons. Oh, you're the family of an esteemed family in our country. You're the family member of the President of the United States. Therefore, you get a pass. What is that? That is being a respecter of persons. You know, I wonder if we have this in the workplace where we have affirmative action in many workplaces where people want to hire a certain amount of black people, a certain amount of Asians, a certain amount of women. What is that? That is being a respecter of persons. And as much as the left likes to complain about racism, they're the ones that are truly racist because they're not hiring people based on their skills or their character. They're hiring them based on their skin color. What can be more racist than that? And just because you're hiring a black person doesn't mean that it's not racist. Racism can happen against any race, not just against black people and anyone that would judge that way is a respecter of persons. Now, several weeks ago, the communist senator of California died and went to hell, Dianne Feinstein. Praise God for that. That wicked woman that said that if it was up to her, she would round up every single American's guns if she could. Praise God this witch is dead. But when she died, the governor of California pledged to replace her with a qualified person, a person that cares about the Constitution of the United States, a person that wants to serve their constituents. No, with a black woman. Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, when she died, said I pledge to replace her with a black woman. What is that? That is racism at its finest. That is being a respecter of persons. Let me read this from CBS News. It says earlier this month on NBC's Meet the Press, Gavin Newsom said he would abide by his pledge to appoint a black woman to Feinstein's post while adding that he hoped he'd never have to make that decision. Wow. And I don't know if since then he's gone through that. Does anyone know has she been replaced yet? Who cares, right? It's California senator. No one cares, right? That is being a respecter of persons. That is being a racist. I'll read for you. You can go ahead and turn to Proverbs chapter 24. I'll read for you Deuteronomy 16, 19. It says this, Thou shalt not rest judgment. To rest means to twist or to pervert. Thou shalt not rest judgment. Thou shalt not respect persons. Notice these things are always connected. Being a righteous judge, not respecting persons. Neither take a gift for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. Notice if someone is going to be a judge, if someone is going to be in a position of power or authority, it has to be someone that is not a respecter of persons. Why? Because if they are, they're going to twist judgment. They're going to pervert judgment. They may do things like, oh, I don't know, accept bribes. Here's another story I'd like to read. Texas judge who accepted bribe money in beer boxes is headed to prison. A former state district judge in South Texas has been sentenced to five years in federal prison after being found guilty of accepting cash bribes in exchange for favorable court rulings. Between 2008 and 2016, he conspired with an attorney to accept bribes in exchange for favorable judicial consideration on criminal cases in his courtroom, said the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida. So think about this. For eight years, this judge was sitting in a courtroom judging criminal cases where people's future is at stake. I mean, didn't we learn this morning that people are falsely accused of things all the time, right? So people are sitting in a courtroom where their future is at stake. They could go to jail for 10, 20, 30 life for whatever crimes they're being accused of. And this judge was accepting cash bribes from the attorneys to give them a favorable verdict. Talk about wickedness. How sick is that? That you're willing to just destroy people's lives. But we have to realize this is what people are like, that are respectors of persons. And when you see someone that is a respecter of persons, that is a dangerous person. That is a person you have to know and realize, man, this person could be capable of some pretty wicked stuff. I mean, to be willing to send people to prison who may or may not have even been guilty just for money. That's incredibly wicked to me. Second Chronicles 19, you could say there in Proverbs 24, Second Chronicles 19, seven says, Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it. For there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. Hey, praise God for that. When God judges, there's no iniquity with him. There's no respect of persons with him. And he's not taking any bribes. He doesn't need your stupid money. He doesn't need your accolades or anything like that. God is always going to judge righteously. And when you're on the Lord's side, that can give you a lot of comfort saying, Hey, you know what? God knows I'm right in this situation. And the righteous judge is on my side. That's exactly how it was with steadfast going through all of our evictions and lawsuits. You know, I never once had a doubt of who was right in that situation. And the righteous judge never had a doubt of who was right in that situation. And we were able to take comfort and stand on that fact. Now, Proverbs 24 23 Proverbs 24 23 says this. These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. Flip over to Proverbs 28 21. Proverbs 28 21 says to have respect of persons is not good. Notice this for for a piece of bread. That man will transgressed again. Like I said, when you notice someone that is a respecter of persons, the Bible says, Hey, that guy's ready to send that guy's ready to transgress for a piece of bread. And so realize that's the type of person that would turn on you that would turn on your pastor turn on your church, someone that's a respecter of persons. You know, being a respecter of persons causes a lot of harm in this world. You know, sometimes you'll see this even in church where a pastor will just ordain his son who's not even qualified just because he's the son. And what that happens is that ends up destroying the work of God. And here's the thing. As a father, you can't really abstract yourself enough in judgment in that situation towards your own child. You're always going to be respecter of persons towards your own child. That's why it's really just, in my opinion, not a good idea for sons to be ordained by their fathers, because it's just a dangerous situation. And the house of God is too important to just be giving it into the hands of someone that was just only approved by dad or only approved by mom. I think that's dangerous. I don't think that's wise at all. You know, and to avoid being a respecter of persons, you know, these are some questions that you should ask yourself to help you realize, are you being a respecter of persons? So think about this. You know, let's say that someone said something wrong. Let's not even give a specific example. Someone said something wrong. Think this. If my best friend had said that, how would I feel about that? If the person that I don't really like that much said that, how would I feel about that? The answer should be the same for both. And if it's not, then you're being a respecter of persons. Well, if my best friend had done that, if my best friend had gone there, if my best friend had drank that, had smoked that, had done that, how would I feel? Okay, if someone that I'm not really close to had said that, done that, gone there, how would I feel? And if those answers aren't the same, then you need to check your heart and realize that you're probably not judging righteously. If you're saying, well, if my friend said that, I might just let it go. Okay, well then maybe you should let it go for the other person too. If you're gonna show mercy to your friend, maybe you should show mercy to someone who's not really your friend. Or if you say, hey, my friend said that and that was wrong and it needs to be called out, well then, you could apply that to the person who's not necessarily your best friend too, and that wouldn't be being a respecter of persons. That would be judging righteously. And think about this, when situations happen, think, if I had done that, how would I expect to be treated? That also would help you. If you could honestly look at yourself and say, you know what, if I had made that mistake, if I had done that, I should be called out. Well, then it's okay to call that person out because you're not being a respecter of persons. But if you're saying, well, if I said that, I would want people to show me mercy. Well, then maybe you should show mercy to the person that said something dumb to you, right? These are good questions to ask yourself to check your heart to see, are you being a respecter of persons? You know, Nathan did this to King David. Nathan kind of checked David's heart. Go to 2 Samuel, chapter number 12. We all know the great sin that David committed, committing adultery with Bathsheba, having Uriah the Hittite murdered in battle, terrible sin. Look at 2 Samuel, chapter number 12, verse 1. And the Lord sent Nathan unto David, and he came unto him and said unto him, he's going to give him a parable now, there were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and it grew up together with him and with his children, it did eat of his own meat and drank of his own cup and lay in his bosom and was unto him as a daughter. And there came a traveler under the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him, but took the poor man's lamb and dressed it for the man that was come to him. And notice this, and David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die. So when David is judging other people here, notice you have the rich man and the poor man. Who's the rich man? King David. Who's the poor man? Uriah the Hittite. Uriah the Hittite has one wife that he loves and cherishes, Bath Sheba. David has tons of wives. And what does he do? He doesn't take his own wives that he already has. He takes the one wife that Uriah the Hittite had and took her from Uriah, then had Uriah killed. Okay, that's who, that's what this parable represents. But when David's not applying it to himself, how does he feel? He's wrathful. He says, Whoa, this person needs to be put to death. And he's talking about animals here. How much more adultery, how much more someone's actual wife, right? But, you know, David does have a good heart because notice this in verse seven. And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. Man, that's got to be tough to hear for David right there. That's got to be, that's got to hit him in the gut. That's got to be humbling to him. He says, Whoa, I was just getting angry. I was saying this person should be killed. And that person's meat, Nathan the prophet said. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul. But notice David's reaction. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die. You know, even though David did something extremely wicked here, once he applied the situation to himself, he said, You know what? You're right. I have sinned. I messed up, right? He didn't try to excuse it. He didn't try to justify it. He said that he had sin, and he truly was repentant here, right? And so that is a good test. Think about this story. When you're dealing with sin or just different situations in your life and you're judging other people, put yourself in that position, right? Have you been guilty of something that this person is doing before? You know, maybe right now you're currently guilty of something that you're judging other people for. You know, that's what Matthew chapter seven in essence is talking about of not judging hypocritically. So that's some good tests you can do to check your heart on that. Let's go to Acts chapter number 20, Acts chapter number 20. My third statement tonight is this. God can use you mightily, regardless of your status, prestige or other external characteristics. Why is that? Because God is not a respecter of persons, and that is a great blessing for us. Look at Acts chapter number 20 verse 34. The Bible says, Then Peter opened his mouth and said of a truth. I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in notice every nation he that fear with him and work with righteousness is accepted with him. So notice again, what makes you accepted with God here is your actions when you work righteousness, when you fear him, not just arbitrarily what nation you live in. And today, so many Baptists are so carnally minded and are such respectors of persons that they think that God to is a respecter of persons. And they want to say that a bunch of people that hate the Lord Jesus Christ that reject Christianity are somehow special and are somehow except accepted with God for the sole purpose of that. They live in Israel. What is that? That's being a respecter of persons. And sorry, you're not going to blaspheme God by making God a respecter of persons. That is blasphemy. You're accusing God of being a respecter of persons by preaching all this zionistic nonsense. It's garbage. It's not what the Bible teaches. And it is the exact opposite of what God truly is. God has always never been a respecter of persons and he never will be good. A first Samuel chapter number 17. Let's think of some examples of men that were greatly used of God. And let's think about how different these men were. Were they all rich? Were they all a certain skin color? Were they all of a certain nation? Well, let's see, let's think about King David here. This guy was a child who was a keeper of sheep that was used by God to kill the meanest, biggest, baddest Philistine that there was, Goliath. Was it because of something special about David, something about his, his hairstyle or how much money he had? No, let's look at what the Bible says here. First Samuel 17 verse 41. And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David. And the man that bear the shield went before him. And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance. And the Philistine said unto David, am I a dog that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine said to David, come to me and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field. Then said David to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield. But I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand and I will smite thee and take thine head from thee. And I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. Was it that that God used David because there was something special about him? Or did God use David because he was giving the glory, honor and praise to God? Did God use David because of the nation he was born in? Or did God use David because David's heart was this, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel? You know, I take comfort in the fact that me personally, if I make my life's mission and if you make your life's mission, that all the earth may know the name of the Lord, if you make it your goal in life, that all of the earth knows God, I promise you God wants to use you regardless of your skin color, regardless of how much money you make, regardless of your position, regardless of if you're a stay at home mom or a day laborer or an accountant or a preacher. If that is your goal in life, if that is your true heart's desire, God is ready to use you. God is ready to use you. That's why God has used the, think about the great men of our day, right? Think about, I think about the man that got me saved, Pastor Roger Jimenez, a guy whose family came from Venezuela with no money, with no accolades, with no prestige, but yet look at the great work that has been done through Verity Baptist Church through Pastor Roger Jimenez, because there's anything special about him? Is it because he's six foot four? No, it's not. But you want to know what it is? It's because Pastor Jimenez has a desire that all the earth may know the name of God. And because of that, you know, there's churches started in Vancouver and Boise and they, Pastor Thompson started just about every other church that exists right now. You know, we got Verity Manila and they just started a church in Poland and Europe. And there's all this great work being done. And I could, I could say the same thing about Steadfast Baptist Church. I could say the same thing about Faithful Word Baptist Church, about all these churches that are being used by God. They're being used because the men that are leading those churches have a desire for the name of God to be glorified, not for their own pleasure, not for their own wealth, not for their own glory. No, they're doing it for the glory of God. And because of that, you could see God's blessing on it. You could see God, God's hand on those men and on the churches that they're leading because it's their true desire. They're men after God's own heart, just like King David. There's nothing necessarily special about servants of God in the flesh. What's special is that their desire is sincere. That's one of the true marks of a real man of God is that their desire is for God to be glorified, not for their own selfish reasons. Think about another man. Go to Amos chapter number seven, Amos chapter number seven. You know what that encourages me because that makes me think, hey, if my desire is sincere, God can use me too. Hey, and if your desire is sincere, God can use you too, no matter what. Amos chapter number seven. Was there anything special about this guy in the flesh? Look at verse fourteen. Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son, but I was in Herdman and a gather of sycamore fruit. This guy was a cattle rancher and a farmer. And God used him and inspired him of the Holy Spirit to pen down one of the words, one of the books of the Bible. I mean, that's a pretty amazing work, right? And why did God do it? Because there's something special about him. No, he was just a farmer. He was just a cattleman. But you know what? He had a sincere heart of wanting to serve God. And that is why God used Amos. Think about the disciples of Christ. Go to Matthew chapter number four, Matthew chapter number four. You know, the disciples of Christ were just blue collar men. We're just men working normal day jobs, going about their life, working hard, just being normal people. They weren't rich. There's nothing special about them. Look at verse number 18 of Matthew chapter four and Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren. Simon called Peter and Andrew, his brother casting a net into the sea for they were fishers, just simple fishermen, simple fishermen, verse 19. And he says unto them, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. And they straight way left their nets and followed him. Notice they didn't ask, Hey, Jesus, what's the compensation plan like? How much are you going to pay me? Where am I going to live? What are all the tasks that I'm going to be doing? No, you could tell that their heart was sincere because Jesus gave them a command and straight way they followed it. They said, yes, Lord, whatever you want. You want me to drop my nets right now? You want me to quit my job right now? You want me to close up my business right now in the service of you? No problem. Yes, sir. It's already done. That's the type of men that the disciples were. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. Verse 21 and going on from this, he saw two other two brethren, James, the son of Zebedee and John, his brother in a ship with Zebedee, their father mending their nets. And he called them and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. Notice they did the same thing. No questions asked. It says straight way about the first two. It says immediately about the second two. I mean, these men got the command from Jesus and they just immediately did it. Why? Because their heart's desire was sincere. Their heart's desire was sincere. And Jesus and his foreknowledge knew that about these men. That's why he chose them. He didn't choose them because he'd choose them because they were Israelites. He didn't choose them because there's anything special about them. No, Jesus Christ is not a respecter of persons. Rather, he knew their hearts and he knew that their hearts were sincere. And that is why he chose them. And so think about this. It doesn't matter what your station in life. If you have a desire to serve God, God can use you. You know, you say I'm a stay at home mom. Can you raise the next generation of soul winners? God can still use you. You say, hey, I've got tons of health problems. I can't really go out soul winning. Can you pray for those that are out soul winning? Can you pray for more churches to be started? Can you pray for more pastors to be raised up? Can you pray for more missions trips? Hey, you know, you can't go out physically soul winning. Can you give money to the local New Testament church and give us the power and the tools and the equipment to go out and preach the gospel to a lost and dying world? Yes, you can. You say, hey, I'm a young man. I'm just starting in life. I don't have much skills. Hey, you got two you got a pair of legs that work. Can you get over here and go soul winning with us? Can you come knock some doors with us? Can you be a silent partner? Yes, you can. You don't even have to know how to preach the gospel. You could be a silent partner and you just come with someone that knows how to preach the gospel and you could double our efforts. God can use you greatly no matter what situation you're in. You know, you say, hey, I'm old. I'm old. I don't have much time left in this life. I don't have a lot of energy. I don't have the ability to go out soul winning all the time. Hey, you know what you do have? You have a lot of wisdom. You have a lot of wisdom. You could teach and train the next generation in the ways of God. You could be an encouragement to us younger people and you could still do all those other things we talked about prayer, giving financially to the church. You know, if you have a sincere heart, you don't have to be a pastor to serve God. You don't have to be a missionary to serve God. Look, praise God for those people. We need a lot more of them, but don't think that just because you're sitting in the pew tonight that you're not essential and important to God's plan because you are. And so don't ever get just a lackadaisical attitude where your heart's not really in it. No, keep your heart on fire for God because God can use you no matter where you are. Number four, God is not a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of positions. God's not a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of positions. You know, some people get the wrong mentality where I kind of caveated at the beginning of the sermon where I said being a respecter of persons does not mean that you treat all people the same all the time. Okay. And God does not treat all people the same all the time. God is not a respecter of persons, but he is a respecter of positions. Now go ahead and go to Galatians chapter number six, Galatians chapter number six. You know, I've even heard bad preaching of guys calling out pastors saying things like, I don't care if this person is a pastor and I don't care if they've done great things for God and I don't care if they're saved and then they just preach against that pastor. But let me tell you something. I care about all three of those things and so does God. God does care if someone's saved. God does care if someone does great things for God and God does care if someone's a pastor and we should not just flippantly disrespect positions authority that God has ordained. Now here's the first position that I respect and that is the position of a Christian, the position of a saved believer. I do not believe that I should treat the unsaved world on the same level as my brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe that brothers and sisters in Christ should be treated better, should be esteemed higher, should be more highly respected. You say, I don't know if this sounds right. I'll prove it to you. Galatians chapter number six, look at verse 10. As we there, as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. But notice this, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Notice God says, hey, if you have the opportunity to do good unto someone, great, do that. But especially for your brothers and sisters in Christ. So what does that mean? It means you should treat your brothers and sisters in Christ better, respect them more, esteem them higher in your heart than just some random unsaved person. Now, does that mean that we hate unsaved people? No, we dedicate our life to getting them saved, to preaching them the gospel. But here's the thing, if it comes down to I have either have enough time, money and energy to help Joe unsaved or any of my brothers in Christ, I'm choosing my brother in Christ a hundred times out of a hundred. That's not being a respecter of persons. That's being a respecter of positions. And that's what God said. Go to Exodus chapter number two, Exodus chapter number two. Now, as we read this, keep in mind that in the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was God's chosen nation. This was God's people at the time of the Old Testament. Now, notice Exodus chapter number two, verse 23, and it came to pass in process of time that the King of Egypt died and the children of Israel, God's people, sighed by reason of the bondage. And they cried and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage. Verse 24, and God heard their groaning and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, with Isaac and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel. Don't miss this. And God had respect unto them. Now, how many times have we seen throughout the Bible that God's not a respected persons, not a respected persons? There's no respected persons with God. It's been a lot, right? It's not just one or two verses. It's several verses. But yet here in the Old Testament, when God's people cried unto him, it says that he had respect unto them. What does that mean? It means that God has a respect for the position of a believer in Christ. God has respect for us as his children, right? Just how my kids, I esteem in a higher regard than your kids. No offense. Doesn't mean I don't like your kids. Doesn't mean that I don't want the best for your children. It means that if it comes down to me loving, helping and supporting my kids or yours, I'm going to pick mine a hundred times out of a hundred. And God, the Bible clearly says, had respect unto the children of Israel. God is a respecter of position. Go to First Timothy, chapter number five, First Timothy, chapter number five. And if it was that way in the Old Testament, you better believe it's that way in the New Testament. You better believe that God has respect for Christians. We are his children. God loves us. God, esteem's us higher than the world, not because of our skin color, not because of our nation, but because we've put our faith in his son, Jesus Christ. That's why that's the only reason here's another position that I have respect for. And that is the position of a pastor, an elder, a Bishop. This is a position that we should have respect for. We shouldn't flippantly say, I don't care if this person's a pastor. You should care if someone's a pastor, especially if they're a good pastor, especially if they're saved and doing great things for God. Of course you should. Look at First Timothy 5, 1. It says, rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father. And Pastor Shelley just preached great about this. This is very clear that an elder is to be treated differently than everyone else. You're not supposed to just rebuke an elder. You're supposed to entreat him like you would talk to your father, which also implies what? You should treat your father differently than everyone else. Why? Because God's not a respected person, but is a respecter of positions. And God does respect the office of a Bishop. Look at verse 17. Let the elders that rule well. So here's even this is an exclusive class within an exclusive class. You have elders. Then there's those that rule well. I mean, this is even more exclusive right here. It says, let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine. Notice again, why are these people being preferred? Why are they being esteemed? Is it because of their external characteristics? Is it because they're white? Is it because they're Americans? Because they're Texans? No, it's because that they're pastors and it's because they're ruling well. And it's because they're laboring in the word and it's because they're laboring in doctrine. Because of all those things, God has respect for that office. And so should we. If we have a pastor, and we do, thank God, who is ruling the church well, who is studying the word of God, who's laboring in the word, who's laboring in doctrine, who's leading us in soul winning missions trips, that man is worthy of double honor. And don't ever think that is acceptable to disrespect Pastor Shelley or any man of God. You know, and let me just help some of you that are newer to Christianity. You're supposed to call the pastor Pastor Shelley. Don't refer to him as Shelley. Don't refer to him as John. Don't refer to him as Brother Jonathan. You call him Pastor Shelley. Okay. And obviously, when people are babes in Christ and they first come into church, you don't have to just rip someone's head off that calls them that. But eventually you should be like, Hey, brother, just so you know, this is an important position in the church. This is someone worthy of respect and you should call him pastor. Don't just flippantly call Pastor Shelley any names you want. No, he's the pastor of the church. You call him Pastor Shelley. You know, you go to Verdi Baptist Church. It's Deacon Oliver. It's Deacon Gonzalez. It's Evangelist Urbanic. It's Evangelist Fur. You know, give these men the respect that they're due, not because there's anything special just about them intrinsically. It's because it's special because of the work that they're doing in the office that they hold. Look at verse number 18. It says for the scripture, say it thou shalt not muzzle the ox treadeth out the corn. The laborer is worthy of his reward against an elder. Receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses. So again, we're seeing more instruction of how to treat elders for sake of time. Let's go ahead and talk about another position that I respect for. And then I believe God has respect for go to Ephesians chapter number five. That is the position of a husband, the position of a husband. Now it's not that ladies, whoever your husband is, is some super special guy. Although you better say he is okay. Whether or not he is, you better tell everyone he's the most special guy that's ever existed. All right. But regardless of if you truly feel that way, he deserves respect because he's your husband. Let me show you that. Look at Ephesians chapter five verse 22. Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. This is something the world really, really hates. This is one of those verses in the Bible that makes liberals head spin. Feminist face starts turning red. They start squealing inside. But what does the Bible say? That women are to submit to your own husbands as unto the Lord. The same amount of authority as the Lord Jesus Christ has over us is the same amount of authority that a husband has over his wife. And you are not being a respecter of persons by respecting your husband. You're being a respecter of position. And God wants you to be. God wants you to respect your husband. Ladies, God wants you to obey your husband. And the Bible even goes farther of how much he wants you to obey. In Ephesians chapter five, it goes on to say in all things. In all things. It's not just a position of authority that's limited in scope. You know, like that of a pastor, his authority is limited in scope. It's limited to the house of God. The pastor is not going to come to your house and rule over your house, right? But a husband, his authority is not limited. His authority is all authority. Everything as unto the Lord. It's getting quiet in here, but I'm telling you, this is what the Bible says. Ephesians chapter number six, Ephesians chapter number six. Here's another position that I respect and that God respects. That is the position of a parent. The position of a parent. Ephesians six verse one says this, children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. So notice again, parents, just by virtue of their position over their children, they have a certain amount of respect and authority given to them. Why? Because they're mom and dad. That's why. And you know what? The Bible doesn't teach this communistic doctrine that children belong to communities, that children belong to the government. No, they belong to mom and dad and mom and dad are the ones that you have to listen to. You don't have to listen to other people's moms and dads kids. You know, in the house of God, obviously there's rules set in place and you need to obey those rules. But when it comes down to who you're really under, it's mom and dad. And you should respect mom and dad for the simple reason that they are your parents. They brought you into this world. They pay your bills, they feed you, they clothe you, they pray for you. They love you. And you ought never, ever to disrespect your parents. It's wicked as hell. And parents, you are doing your children a disservice if you allow them to disrespect you. You're doing them a disservice. It's unloving to them because you're hardening their hearts. They're just thriving in their rebellion to you. You know what that's going to carry over? It's going to carry over to their rebellion to God, right? When you discipline your children, when you make them respect you, when you make them obey you, they're much more likely to respect and obey God Almighty God. And so don't ever let these feminists, these liberals, these communists tell you that spanking your kids is child abuse, that correcting your kids is wrong. No, not correcting your kids is wrong. Sparing the rod according to the Bible is hating your son. The most loving thing you could do for them is to force them, force them to obey and respect you. Don't let them mouth off to you. Don't let them disrespect you. Here's another position that I respect, and this one might be a little more unpopular, but I respect the position of the government. Why? Because this is a God instituted organization. Doesn't mean everyone's good in it. Doesn't mean that the things that they're doing is good, but it does mean that they have legitimate authority and God is not a libertarian. Sorry. God is not a communist. God is not an anarchist. God has instituted government in our planet and we need government. Okay, let's go to 1 Peter, chapter number 2, 1 Peter chapter number 2. This isn't just my opinion. We'll see right here what the Bible says. 1 Peter 2 verse 13 says this, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. Notice the Bible calls us to submit ourselves to the ordinance of man, to the governing authorities. Now, of course, there are limits to this and this isn't what the sermon's about, but really quickly, of course, you know, if the government asks us to sin, we wouldn't have to obey that, right? If the government is outside of their realm of authority in something, we don't have to obey that. And I believe if the government is asking you to sin against your conscience, I don't believe you have to obey that either. So there, of course, is limitations to this, but don't just get this stupid mentality where you just hate government, where you despise dominion, like the Bible describes reprobates as being people that despise dominion. Don't despise the government. Don't disrespect the police officers when you encounter them. Be respectful, you know, if there's any way you can to live peaceably with all men. I'm not saying there's never a time to rebuke those guys, but look, I've dealt a lot, a lot with police officers because of Steadfast Baptist Church. Okay. I feel like I've dealt more with police officers than probably anyone who's not a cop. Okay. I've dealt with them a ton and I never felt the need to be disrespectful to them. Even when they've done wrong, even when I disagree to the things that you're doing, it's not beneficial to us. We want to live quiet and peaceable lives and as much as possible, as much as life in us, we should live peaceably with all men. And guess what? I respect their position. I respect their authority. And we have a problem today in America of people, they don't respect God's authority. They don't respect the office of a Christian. They don't respect the office of a pastor. They don't respect mom and dad. Women don't respect their husbands. And so guess what? They don't respect the police either. And they just flippantly want to pull guns out on police officers, try to grab police officers guns, try to assault them. You know, they never learned as a youth to respect authority. And so you have tons of these idiots, these morons getting killed by police officers when it's just so easy to avoid. I mean, if police officers were so dangerous and they're just on a hair trigger to kill everyone, why is it that I've had so many interactions with them and never once has anything got heated? You want to know why? It's because I keep my hands visible. It's because I don't, I don't make any sudden movements. I don't flip them off. I don't come off as adversarial or aggressive. I don't have a body posture that I look like I'm about to attack them. I don't have tattoos on my forehead that says F the police. I don't, I don't sag my pants down and he can see my gun falling out on the floor. Okay. That's why I've never been shot by the police. And if you do those things, you will never be shot by the police. Okay, let's move on. Last office here that I have respect for and that God has respect for go to Matthew chapter 18. And is the office of the local new Testament church. You know, God has respect for that institution. God has respect for that position. I'll show that to you in Matthew 18 verse 18. And this kind of relates to the pastor as well. It says verily, this is Jesus speaking verily. I say unto you whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever you shall lose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Notice the decisions that the local new Testament Church makes when it binds something on earth. Jesus Christ backs that up in heaven and he binds it in heaven. And when you lose something on earth, the Lord Jesus Christ backs that up in heaven and he loses that in heaven. He has respect for the church. And so us as Christians, we also should have respect for the church when the church makes a decision. When pastor Shelley has to, you know, use church discipline in the future and he decides, Hey, this person's in violation of whatever name the scripture, name the sin in First Corinthians five. And he says, this person's cut off from fellowship from our church. This person's cast out of our church. We should back him up on that. Why? Because the church has spoken the church that God has respect for in heaven. We should have respect for as well. And of course, you know, this is referring to a biblical church that's acting biblically. This isn't saying when some insecure pastor kicked someone out for being a pastor Anderson listener that Jesus in heaven backs that up. Okay. Obviously this is within the realm of a Christ honoring church acting biblically, but when a Christ honoring church is acting biblically, we should back that person up, whether it's our church, whether it's a friend church of ours, when that happens, we should have respect for that church. So, you know, what are we talking about tonight? God's not a respecter of persons. And that's a great blessing, right? Because it doesn't, it means that no matter where you are financially, no matter where you were born, no matter what language you speak, no matter what color your skin is, no matter what your experience in life has been, if you want to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you'll be saved. And not only that, if you have a desire, a sincere desire and longing to magnify the name of God and to serve him with your life, he's ready to use you no matter what. And on the flip side of that, God's not a respecter of persons that should cause us to fear him greatly and say, you know what, just because I'm saved, just because I live in America or just because I've done good in the past or just because my skin color, whatever, that God's just going to overlook my sins. No, God's going to judge us for our works. Why? Because God's not a respecter of persons. And we too, we should internalize this and apply it to our lives that, hey, we shouldn't be respecters of persons either. Someone comes into this church, one in the gay clothing, not the faggot clothing, the happy clothing. Okay. That's, that's what gay really means. Someone comes in here and they're, they're rich, they're well off. Hey, be nice to that person. Be hospitable to that person. Welcome them. And guess what? If someone comes in here and they have nothing, they have no money, they're poor, they're not dressed nice, they've got marriage problems, they've got problems with their children, they've got problems with their finances. Hey, let's take those people in too. And let's disciple them and let's teach them the Bible and let's love on them and let's show them the love of Christ so that their life can get better. Let's not treat them different based on their status. No, we're not going to be respecters of persons. Let's not go out into the community and want to be friends with one group of people because of their skin color and another because of their skin color, right? Hey, when we go out and preach the gospel, we don't care what skin color you have. We just see you as a soul that needs to go to heaven. That's all we see. You know, people accuse us all the time of being racist. It's funny how we get accused of being racist when we literally spend of our time, money, effort, energy to go to a country called the Bahamas, which is 95% black to preach them the gospel. It's funny how last time I checked our church is located in the South Dallas area, which last time I checked is a very African-American place of the world. And when we go out soul winning in Cedar Hill, we got soul winning in South Dallas. Who do we often run into? Black people. And that's not a problem. That's a great thing because they're actually receptive to the gospel anyways. And you know who else I get? Lots of people saved Hispanics. I probably get people saved more in Spanish than in English. I'm not even joking. You know, our, our sowing time that I really like to go to is the Arlington soul winning time on Saturdays. And we're constantly running into Spanish speakers and they're very receptive to the gospel. When we're knocking on people's doors, we're not thinking like, Oh man, what skin color are you? No, we just see you as a soul that's lost that we want to make sure goes to heaven someday. You know, we need, want to make sure that we internalize this and make this part of who we are as Christians, that we're not going to be respecters of people, just like God's not a respecter of persons. But once we internalize that, let's not go too far and then just say, Oh, that means never have respect for anyone. No, of course we should have respect for God's people. And as we have therefore opportunity, let's do good unto all men, but especially under those that are the household of faith. Amen. And Hey, let's respect our pastor. Let's respect our church. Ladies, respect your husbands, children, respect your parents. You know, citizens of America respect the positions of authority that God has put in our country. And don't just be some sort of weird anarchists. No, let's not be a respecter of persons, but it is okay to be a respecter of positions without let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day. And thank you for the wisdom in your word. Lord, I just pray that you would help all of us to be Christians that are not a respecter of persons pray that every single person group in our country, black, yellow, red, and white would feel welcome within the house of God and that we would welcome them in with open arms. We'd preach them the gospel and get them saved. And I just pray that you would raise up a generation that has a heart that desires to magnify your name. And I pray that you would use every single person in this room. I pray that you would use steadfast Baptist church mightily in the future, Lord, for your honor and glory. Thank you for all that you do for us. Jesus name we pray. Amen. Okay. In closing, let's go to song number 136, song number 136 master. The tempest is raging song number 136 first master. The tempest is raging, the billows are crossing high. The sky is your shadow, no shelter or help is done. Here is the one that we perish. How fits now lie asleep. When each moment so badly is threatening, the grave in the game we meet. The winds in the waves shall obey my will. Please be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please be still. Please be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please be still. Master in language of spirit, I bow in my three today. The depths of my sad heart are double. Awaken and save my brain. Towards the synod of anguish, sweet for my sinking soul. And I perish, I perish, dear master. Oh, hasten and take control. The winds in the waves shall obey my will. Please be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please be still. Please be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please be still. Master, the terror is over. The elements sweetly rest. The time is near and heaven's within my grasp. Linger, oh blessed redeemer. Leave me alone, no more. And with joy I shall make the West Harbor and rest on the blissful shore. The winds in the waves shall obey my will. Please be still. Whether the wrath of the storm tossing or demons or men or whatever it be, no water can swallow the ship where lies the master of ocean and earth and skies. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please be still. Please be still. They all shall sweetly obey my will. Please please be still. Thank you.