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Music Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Stack Pass Baptist Church. Thank you all for coming. We're going to go ahead and get started. If you can grab a hymnal, we're going to start in song number 39, How Beautiful Heaven Must Be. This is probably a newer one for a lot of us. If you know it, sing it out really loud. Song number 39, How Beautiful Heaven Must Be. On the first. We read of a place that's called heaven. It's made for the pure and the free. These truths in God's word he hath given. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. In heaven no drooping nor pining. No wishing for elsewhere to be. God's light is forever shining. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. Song number 39 on the third. Pure waters of life there are flowing. And all who will drink may be free. Where jewels of splendor are glowing. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. On the last. The angels so sweetly are singing. Up there by the beautiful sea. Sweet chords from their gold arms are ringing. How beautiful heaven must be. How beautiful heaven must be. Sweet home of the happy and free. Fair haven of rest for the weary. How beautiful heaven must be. Great singing, everybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for Steadfast Baptist Church and everyone that's gathered here. Lord God, we thank you for all the souls that were won today. We ask that you bless them and help them to get into a good church, if not ours, Lord. And we ask that you bless Brother Ben with your Holy Spirit. Help him to preach an edifying sermon so we can walk out better Christians for your honor and your glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, next up we have song number six, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. Song number six. Song six, Beneath the Cross of Jesus. Beneath the cross of Jesus I fain would take my stand The shadow of a mighty rock Within the weary land A hole within the wilderness A rest upon the way From the burning of the noontime And the burden of the day Upon the cross of Jesus Might I at times can see The very dying form of one Who suffered there for me And from my splintered heart With tears to wonders I confess The wonders of his glorious love And my earthlessness I take across thy shadow For my abiding place I ask no other sunshine Let the sunshine of his face Contend to let the world go by To know no gain nor loss My sinful self My only shame My glory all across Great singing, everybody. How's it going, everyone? Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you need a bulletin, raise your hand and Usher will get one to you. As I said in the morning, Pastor Shelley, he's preaching in Oklahoma City today. So we had Brother Joe filling in for him in the morning, and I'll be filling in for him this evening. And then, of course, he'll be back on Wednesday night for our regularly scheduled Bible study in the book of Ecclesiastes. You'll notice on the front of the bulletin we're working on a Bible memory passage, a Bible memory chapter, Jonah chapter 2. If you can quote this entire chapter, word perfect to a non-family member, then you'll get a special prize. Also, any children who can quote the verse of the week, Jonah 2, verse 6, at the Wednesday night service can get an ice cream. On the inside of the bulletin, we have our service times. You're at the 4.30 evening service, obviously, but there's some other service times listed there. And we have our church-wide soul winning and regional soul winning listed if you want to check any of those soul winning times out. Our church stats be in prayer for our expecting ladies. And some upcoming events. October 20th, it's the fall swap. You can get some free stuff or you can give some stuff away at this event. Just get in contact with Mrs. Naim, Alicia, if you want some more information on that one. October 31st, it's the Texas chili cook-off at 6 p.m. And there's an individual in the room who is on an undefeated streak at this event. In sports, we call this a dynasty, folks. All right, we'll see if that continues this year. November 16th, it's the Miami soul winning marathon. Come join us. We'll win some souls in South Florida. This is going to be a really fun event and many will get saved, I'm sure. On the back, congratulations to Sue Hale and Lori May Afzal on the birth of Lorraine Lamadora, who was born on October 9th at 1.53 a.m., weighing 6 pounds, 9 ounces and measuring 20 inches long. I'm ready for another round of applause for him. Let's do it. I really appreciate brother Sue Hale and, of course, his first child. That's always special. But we're going to move on to our next song. Brother Rich will lead us. Psalm 139. All right, that's Psalm 139, your special handouts. Psalm 139. 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 thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am not I free for those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? For they speak against thee wickedly. For they speak against thee 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 thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am not I free for those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? I hate them with perfect hatred. I hate them with perfect hatred. I count them mine enemies. I count them mine enemies. Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Am not I free for those that rise up against thee? Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? Great singing everybody. As the offering plates are passed around, would you please turn your Bibles to Psalm 106. Psalm 106. Psalm 106. The Bible says, Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? Who can show forth all his praise? Blessed are they that keep judgment, and he that doeth righteousness at all times. Remember me, O Lord, with the favor that thou barest unto thy people. O visit me with thy salvation, that I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance. We have sinned with our fathers, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. Nevertheless he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them, and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies, there was not one of them left. Then believed they his words, they sang his praise. They soon forgot his works, they waited not for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And he gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. They envied Moses also in the camp, and Aaron the saint of the Lord. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan, and covered the company of Abiram. And a fire was kindled in their company, the flame burned up the wicked. They made a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the molten image. Thus they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. They forgot God their Savior, which had done great things in Egypt. Wondrous works in the land of Ham, and terrible things by the Red Sea. Therefore he said that he would destroy them. Had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. Yea, they despised the pleasant land, they believed not his word, but murmured in their tents, and hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord. Therefore he lifted up his hand against them to overthrow them in the wilderness, to overthrow their seed also among the nations, and to scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also unto Belpeor, and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Thus they provoked him to anger with their inventions, and the plague break in upon them. Then stood up Phinehas and executed judgment, and so the plague was stayed. And that was counted unto him for righteousness unto all generations forevermore. They angered him also at the waters of strife, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes. Because they provoked his spirit, so that he spake unadvisedly with his lips. They did not destroy the nations concerning whom the Lord commanded them, but were mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols, which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, and shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Thus were they defiled with their own works, and went ahoring with their own inventions. Therefore was the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance. And he gave them into the hand of the heathen, and they that hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into subjection under their hand. Many times did he deliver them, but they provoked him with their counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity. Nevertheless he regarded their affliction when he heard their cry, and he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. He made them also to be pitied of all those that carried them captives. Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting, and let all the people say Amen. Praise ye the Lord. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I thank you for this day. I want to thank you based on the morning sermon. Thank you for all the pain that you send us, and for making us stronger through it. I ask you to bless Pastor Shelley as he's away, and please bless Brother Ben now. Fill him with your Holy Spirit to preach the word. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen. I want to open by thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to fill the pulpit for this service here. And you'll notice there in Psalm 106, we'll start in verse number seven, Psalm 106 and verse number seven, where the Bible read, Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt. They remembered not the multitude of thy mercies, but provoked him at the sea, even at the Red Sea. So Israel is in view. And what we'll notice about them is they forget what God had done. They don't remember the deliverance that they received. Look at verse number eight. Nevertheless, he saved them for his name's sake, that he might make his mighty power to be known. He rebuked the Red Sea also, and it was dried up. So he led them through the depths, as through the wilderness. And he saved them from the hand of him that hated them and redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. And the waters covered their enemies. There was not one of them left. They believed. I'm sorry, then believed they his words. They sang his praise. Notice verse 13, though, they soon forgot his works. They soon forgot his works. They waited not for his counsel, but lusted exceedingly in the wilderness and tempted God in the desert. Israel forgot what God had done. They forgot his works. They fell into sin. They started murmuring and whining and complaining in spite of the salvation that they had obtained directly from God. They kind of just forget about it after a while. You know, it doesn't end there in verse 21. Let's look at verse 21 together. They forgot God, their savior, which had done great things in Egypt. When you want to talk about a miraculous salvation, I think an example of this obviously would be God rebuking the Red Sea and saving his people out of Egypt. The Exodus was definitely miraculous. And in response, Israel praised God for a time, but then they forgot him. Then they stopped remembering what happened to them. And this is because of their own sinful nature. Their own sinful nature, which has a proclivity to take for granted what God had done for them and to take for granted the blessings that God had bestowed onto them. It's sinful nature that leads to people taking for granted blessings, taking for granted even spiritual or physical salvation. And it's the sinful nature we all have that allows gratitude to fade away after a while. That allows gratitude to slowly but surely die in our lives. The reality is, when certain aspects of our life are no longer new, when the newness wears off and that which was once exciting and unfamiliar becomes familiar. It's our sinful nature that has a propensity to take that thing for granted. And we all struggle with this. We all struggle with this. Go to Exodus 15, if you would. Exodus 15. And I'll demonstrate this further. The reality is. Familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds content. And this is why it's often hardest to get your own family members saved. They're familiar with you. They know who you are. They know about your successes. They know about your failures. And so they take what you have to say for granted. And often they just don't want to listen. I had you turn to Exodus 15, I'll quote for you from James 2, which says, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. I don't want to spend too much time debunking false doctrine on that. I'm just I just want to if you guys don't mind, I just want to preach what James is actually saying. All right. This individual here that it's describing is someone who has a dead faith. They're still going to heaven. All right. There you go. There's your little caveat there. But my point is, is that for something to die, it had to have been alive at some point. And I do believe that's the audience James is is describing. But this can happen when the newness wears off and your faith is no longer exciting and new and and you know. It's familiar now. And so it kind of just slowly but surely dies. And what is it that dies with your faith? Thankfulness, because often when people get saved, when they place their faith in Christ, they have an overabundance of thankfulness for the person who got them saved or thankfulness. Usually, typically they have thankfulness for the person who got them saved or they have thankfulness for just salvation itself. And they have this gratitude about them. That eventually erodes when that faith dies and that faith becomes one that is not profitable to other people. Now, here's someone who even when the newness wore off, they still walked with God. How about Enoch? The Bible says Enoch walked with God for 300 years, three centuries. That's many lifetimes. All right. Now, don't you think the newness wore off at some point in that time period? Wasn't it no longer unfamiliar at some point? Probably, if I had to guess, here's a blatantly obvious statement. By year 300, probably wasn't very new anymore. Walking with God. Yet he had consistency, didn't he? And the reason why people's faith dies and they do no work for God and they sit on their hands for the rest of their life, doing nothing, eating Cheetos all day and accomplishing nothing for the Lord, is because once it becomes familiar and it's no longer new and, quote unquote, exciting anymore, they lose that consistency. They don't have the maturity to stay with the Christian life, even when church has become routine. And here's the thing about this, folks, that you have to understand. Your favorite issue, your pet doctrine will not be preached about every service. So here's the problem is there's this misconception. People, they they get saved. And maybe it was because of some conspiracy. Maybe it was because of some doctrine replacement theology. They don't like Jews very much, whatever. And so they think every service at church has to be now about that topic. And when they quickly realize that they're actually getting eclectic sermon topics from service to service, you're going to hear preaching on the family, you're going to hear preaching on marriage, you're going to hear preaching on being a good worker at your job. And especially when they realize that their toes might get stepped on a little bit from time to time. They don't like it. And so they don't have very much root, as the parable tells us, of the sower. And they fade away. You just you have to accept your toes are going to get stepped on from time to time. And these poor old single men right here, they know what that's about, what that's all about here in the front row. But notice the courage. They sit there anyway. You don't see them slowly moving backward because they're tired of getting their toes. But you know what? My toes get stepped on. Just like all of you and praise God for it. There's some services where I feel like I have to limp out of here because my feet hurt. Because they just got smashed spiritually. But that's great. I want to know where I'm screwing up so I can fix it. Israel did not have Enoch's consistency. They had inconsistency. Look at Exodus, Chapter 15, Exodus, Chapter 15. Then saying Moses and the children of Israel, this song unto the Lord. And this is after their deliverance through the Red Sea and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and song and he has become my salvation. He is my God and I will prepare him and habitation. My father's God and I will exalt him. Moses, the children of Israel, they sing unto the Lord. And this song, it stems from a heart of gratitude and thankfulness. That's why they're praising God, because they had thankfulness and they were gracious for what the Lord had done unto them. But then it slowly went away. And actually, in their case, it quickly went away. Just look over at Exodus, Chapter 16, just one chapter over and verse two, Exodus 16 and verse two. And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Well, hold on a second. Weren't you just singing praises unto God? Weren't you just thankful for what he did for you, for your congregation? Weren't you just celebrating the salvation that you had obtained? But what happened? Quickly, the newness of it, you could argue, wore off. They took it for granted already. And now they're whining. Now they're complaining. Now they're posting on social media about how bad it was. I need to be careful. Stop there. Look at verse three. And the children of Israel said unto them, would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt. When we sat by the flesh pots and when we did eat bread to the full, for you have brought us forth into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger. They go from singing unto the Lord to wishing that they had died in the wilderness, complaining, whining, murmuring. They forgot what God had done. As soon as they faced some adversity, they forgot God's works. They forgot his blessings. Their gratitude melted away. And unfortunately, when the newness wears off, so does the gratitude. So does the thanksgiving. And you begin to murmur and you begin to whine. You begin to find faults that you overlooked in the past. You take for granted what God has given you. You take for granted what God has given you. And I'm speaking to a Sunday evening service people congregation here, which means that there is a lot of experienced Christians in the room. You've been at this for years and there may be someone in this room right now who's been serving God for years and years and years on end. And the newness has faded away. And there are aspects of your life where the newness has faded away and you're no longer thankful for those components of your life, which I'll talk about in a moment here. You're no longer thankful for those things because it's familiar now. It's routine now. And if that's you, I'm talking to you. All right. I am talking to you. Familiarity breeds contempt. What does that mean? I found a few statements online. We value least the things which are most familiar. The experience of someone or something can make one so aware of the faults as to be scornful. You actually get bitter about what you're very familiar with. When things were new, you were thankful. You were grateful. And then it went away. So my hope is to revitalize you this evening. And that's why I have a solution to this problem. I have a solution to this problem. Be grateful again. Be grateful again. And that's the title of my sermon. Be grateful again. When the newness wears off, when that honeymoon period ends, be grateful again, like you used to be. And I think what this will do is it'll enable you to grow an even more passionate zeal or love for that thing. That I'll talk about. Now, again, we have a tendency to do this with practically everything in our life. Some things that are less important than others. Why do you think people are addicted to shopping? I think part of the reason is they purchase something, then it kind of gets old. So they want to go buy something else they don't really need because they saw an advertisement that manipulated their mind. And then the dopamine rush of buying something new. It's like addicting for some people. Right. You purchase something, then it gets old. So you want to go buy something else you don't really need. Some of you are thinking you're against shopping. No, that's not what I'm saying. But the idea is some people get addicted to it because they constantly need more. They constantly need something new. They need something new. It does fire off the dopamine in your mind when you do that unboxing something you purchased online, man. I love doing that. It's probably why I have so many Bibles, but we're going to not focus on that right now. People do this with jobs. Maybe they job hop because it got old. Not because. Look, I get it. Sometimes it's not a good fit. You need to move on for the sake of your career. There's plenty of legitimate reasons to switch jobs. Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. But those who would just hop because they got bored for no other reason. You know, I would advise against that. I think you need a little more consistency when you buy a house. I think there's a tendency to really take good care of it at first. Or when you rent a house, you take good care of it at first. Then it's just kind of like it's just a house, right? You get you get used to it and and people don't necessarily care as much anymore. How about the Christian life itself? You know, when you when you first get saved, it's like super exciting. Everything's new. You're learning new doctrines. You want to tell everybody you know about it. And then months go by and years go by and it becomes routine. Then what are you going to fade away or are you going to be mature enough to keep fighting the spiritual battle? Even though the newness has worn off, even though the honeymoon period, if you will, has dissolved away. People do this all the time and people come and they go. And, you know, I think one of the distinctions between those who stick with it for decades and those who just kind of fade away is that those who stick with it. They're grateful again when they catch themselves losing that attribute, they regain it, they retain it. You know, when the novelty wears off, I believe being grateful again will help you revive. Go, if you would, to Colossians Chapter three. Colossians Chapter three. It was the apostle Paul who said, not that I speak in respect of what I have learned in whatsoever state I am there with to be content. I know both how to be a based and I know how to abound everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth me. The apostle Paul exemplified contentment when he had every excuse not to. And yet he wrote that scripture. He was content and he figured out in whatever stage of life he was in there with to be content. And if you want longevity in your Christian life, you need to learn contentment. Colossians three says in verse 15 and let the peace Colossians three and verse 15 and let the peace of God rule in your hearts to the which also he are called in one body and be ye thankful and be ye thankful. The Bible tells us to be thankful. And I want to define what I mean, by the way, just in case when I use this word grateful, what I mean is a sense of happiness and thankfulness in response to a fortunate happenstance or tangible gift. So that's a definition I found. But thankfulness, gratefulness can be used synonymously. Turn, if you would, to First Thessalonians, Chapter five. First Thessalonians five. The Bible says, be ye thankful. That is a commandment of God. It also tells us, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your requests be made known unto God. Thanksgiving should be a part of our prayer life is thanking God for what we have. First Thessalonians five is where I had you turn. Let's read verse 18, verse 18. It says in everything, give thanks in every thing. Give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. That car you drive, give thanks. That house you live in, give thanks. The church you go to, give thanks. Let me talk about that a little bit later. When the newness wears off, like I said, thankfulness often fades with it. And if you're in that scenario where your thankfulness has faded as the years have gone by, as the newness has worn off, well, I just want to remind you, be grateful again. Be grateful again. Look at Hebrews 13, Hebrews 13. Be grateful again. Be thankful again. Hebrews 13 and verse 15, Hebrews 13 and verse 15. The Bible reads in Hebrews 13, 15. By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is so what is the sacrifice of praise to God here? The fruit of our lips, giving thanks. Notice that right there, giving thanks to his name. You know, we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. And what is our role as a royal priesthood? That's not just a fancy title. The role is that we offer up spiritual sacrifices to God. We offer up spiritual sacrifices to God, acceptable by the Lord Jesus Christ. And one of the spiritual sacrifices we're supposed to offer to God is praise, specifically the fruit of our lips, giving thanks, giving thanks to his name. And what a shame for us who enjoy even just when you boil it down to the very basics, breath running through our lungs. And what a shame if we wake up every morning and we don't say praise God for this day that he's given me. The fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name. Turn, if you would, to Ecclesiastes nine. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter nine. So I kind of already gave a few applications in the message. And what I want to do now is offer a few more applications. But I want to go into a little more detail on these. Now, I don't think I can cover a subject like this without mentioning marriage. So that's what I'm about to do. Ecclesiastes chapter nine. And the first application I want to make is be grateful again for your spouse. Be grateful again for your spouse. Remember, the definition of gratefulness included being thankful for a positive happenstance or a gift or something positive in your life. And let me just explain something to you. You're married to your spouse because that is who you are supposed to be married to and that your spouse is a gift from God. And we should not take our spouse for granted. But here's what happens is people, they first get married. And they go through the vaunted honeymoon period. And we all know what that's like. And I think it's biological or something like that. There literally is this feeling that's biological that you experience when you first get married or you first meet your significant other, if you want to call it that. And you're like lovebirds. Your spouse is perfect. Everything they do is right. Everything they say is right. You love everything about them, the way they laugh, the way they eat. You know, when the husband burps after eating dinner, the wife's just like, that is that's just cute. You know, just loves everything. There's no faults that that you can see in your spouse. You love everything about them. Everything's perfect and wonderful and rainbows and daffodils and everything great. Right. But then what happens? Well, that stage of your relationship fades away and all of a sudden the newness wears off and conflict arises as a result. And that's normal. You're going to have fights. I had a guy come up to me and say, and he'd been married a while. He had said, I never have ever fought with my wife ever. And I smiled and nodded. And in my head I said, liar. You're lying to me. I mean, come on. Give me a break on that. It's going to happen, folks. But here's the thing is you don't want to then go so far in the other direction after the newness wears off to where you take your spouse for granted. And here are some signs that you're doing that. You spend very little time together anymore. And look, as men, we struggle. I get this. We got a job. We got responsibilities. We have things we need to do. And it can be easy to lose track of time and stop spending time with our wife and not putting enough effort into the marriage. Marriage takes work, folks. It takes work. You can't just set it on autopilot and expect it to go great. You don't demonstrate any affection for each other anymore. You're only critical about your spouse. That's a sign that all you're seeing are faults. And there's a time I get it to fix problems and to fix issues. But if you're never, ever providing any kind of encouragement for your wife, she's going to get discouraged. If she cooks you a meal that you like, make sure you let her know that. Every time. Give her some encouragement. Give her some positive reinforcement. You stop taking care of yourself. Here's another sign. You stop taking care of yourself. And this is so funny to me, is you go to the gym. And I remember I met a guy at the gym in a city. I won't give the city. But anyway, I met a guy and this dude was in really good shape. Like the guy looked like Hulk Hogan or something. Got the big muscles and everything like that. And he's like, hey, look at the progress I've made. And I looked at a photo of him from just a couple of years before and he was fat. Right? And here's the thing about that. Here's what he said. He said, yeah, I got divorced. So I figured, you know what? Might as well hit the gym again. You know? And take care of myself and go get a good job. He was kind of talking about how he's now successful in the workplace and things like that. And I just couldn't help but think in my head, man, if you had done that when you were already married, maybe you wouldn't have gotten divorced. How about you put that effort in when you're married? How about you go clanging and banging at the gym when you're married and not wait until afterward to attract some floozy that you're probably going to get sick of after a few months anyway because you don't have the maturity to stick with it even after the honeymoon period ends? Give me a break. Put the effort in now. Don't wait until the relationship is dead to all of a sudden care about yourself. So that's my rant for that. But here's the thing. Allow God to remind you of this. Ecclesiastes 9, 9. Ecclesiastes 9, 9. It says live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the light of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion in this life and in thy labor, which thou takest under the sun. Be joyful about your spouse. And if you have gratefulness for her or for him, out of that gratefulness comes joy. It comes joy. And here's the thing. There's a reason you got married, OK? There's a reason. I get there was a sermon about this from the man's perspective about the reason men get married. I'm not going to get into that here. But other than that, I mean, there's other reasons. All right. There's reasons you two came together. There's something you liked about each other. Why don't you focus on those things when the going gets tough? But here's the problem is that for a lot of people, when the going gets tough, they get going, they leave, they're done, they're finished, they give up so easily. And that shouldn't be us as Christians. This is what should separate us from the world is we stick with it even when it gets difficult, even when the conflicts arise, even when the newness has worn off. We say, you know what? I don't care how bad it gets. You are my wife and you always will be until this heart stops beating. That's the attitude we should have as Christians. And you know what? Work on it. Don't just set it on autopilot and expect it to be perfect. Live joyfully with the wife that God has given you. Look at Song of Solomon, Chapter four, Song of Solomon, Chapter four. You know, the Bible says, as you turn to Song of Songs, Chapter four, the Bible says, let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant robe. Let her breast satisfy thee at all times and be thou ravished all ways, all ways with her love. The Bible says to be ravished always with her love. And you know what? That includes when the newness has worn off. So if you're someone who you're not taking this seriously and you're now taking your spouse for granted, I implore you be grateful again for your spouse. Be grateful again for your wife. Be grateful again for your husband. And understand there is a satanic attack going on right now against marriage. There was a satanic attack on wives. There was a satanic attack on husbands. There are entire websites designed to help husbands and to help wives commit adultery against each other. It's wicked as hell. It's disgusting. And, you know, one of the reasons why the wrath of God abides on America today is because of the adultery that is permitted in this country, in the land. Adultery that has gone crazy in our society today that's being committed on a daily basis without any consequences whatsoever. It is running rampant and Christians are silent instead of getting up and proclaiming from the hilltops Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 10. They should be put to death. All right, let's get back to our regular schedule programming here. Song of Solomon chapter 4. Song of Solomon chapter 4, friends. It says in verse number 1. But I get angry because that's reprehensible. And it disgusts me. Song of Solomon chapter 4. It says, Behold, thou art fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair. Thou has dove's eyes within thy locks. Thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead. We see compliments being given to the wife. And my question for the husbands in the room is when's the last time you complimented your wife? Women need to hear things like this. They get insecure on a regular basis. And we need to remind them of how beautiful they are to us. We need to remind them of how beautiful they are. When's the last time you wrote her a card, bought her some flowers, never stopped dating your wife, gave her a gift. Hey, be grateful again for your wife. Shower her with compliments like you used to do when it was new. Look at chapter 5. It says in verse 10, chapter 5 and verse 10. It says, My beloved is white and ruddy, white because of the bright, vibrant look. Ruddy, meaning reddish, kind of has like a healthy complexion. The chiefest among ten thousands. There's a lot of shining husbands in the room. That are serving God and they're shining in a dark world. Wives, encourage your husbands for the fact that they want to serve God with their life. Verse 15. His legs are as pillars of marble set upon sockets of fine gold. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the cedars, the cedars of Lebanon. The cedars of Lebanon, they represent longevity. They represent stability. They represent strength, stability because they're evergreen trees. They're they're strong, very difficult to knock down. They give off a nice smell. Everything about them is positive. And this is why in the 50s, I believe the president of Lebanon. Actually sent cedars to mayors across the country as a gift across the United States. He sent cedar parts of cedar trees to mayors across the United States as a gift because of how valuable of a commodity they are. And, you know, we see here the compliment. Your countenance is as Lebanon. My wife says this to me when I get home from work. I'm just kidding. But hey, it's a great if you're listening, honey. It's great to compliment there if you want to give it to me at any point. Countenance is as Lebanon. That just sounds great. I can't even expound on that because it just sounds awesome. Wives, be grateful again for your husband. Compliment them, reverence them, cherish them like you did when the relationship was still new. You say, yeah, but the honeymoon period is over. OK, pretend it isn't. Just pretend fake it till you make it. Pretend it isn't. Let's go to John 16. I got to keep going here. John chapter 16. Here's another application. Be grateful again for your children. Be grateful again for your children. John chapter 16. We'll look at verse 21. John chapter 16. We'll look at verse 21. It says a woman when she is in travail hath sorrow because her hour has come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembers no more the anguish. Notice for joy that a man is born into the world. There's different ways to look at this. What I want to focus on is the fact that it says that a woman who delivers a baby has joy. And I don't believe the joy is only stemming from the fact that the delivery process is over. They're happy. They're joyful because they just gave birth to a baby. And that is a moment to rejoice. That is exciting. That is, in many cases, surreal, miraculous. I know I felt that way when my first child was born. But here's the problem is they grow and then the newness wears off. And then they start pissing you off. And they have faults and it can get easy to start taking them for granted. Now, of course, you're always going to have that natural affection inside for your children. And that's not what I'm preaching about. But what I'm saying is when that newness wears off and you start to lose your gratitude for your children, what that looks like is you just stop giving them attention. You kind of you stop caring about them, maybe like you used to. You don't have that joy that you used to have about your kids. You kind of just set them in front of a TV all day and allow the television to raise them. I'm not against screen time. I get that there's a place for that. But the problem is, especially in the world, screen time is all the time in and out of the house. And I don't recommend that at all, not disciplining them like maybe you used to, not putting in the effort as a parent, kind of just being apathetic about it, being apathetic about it. But I want you to allow God to remind you of something. Look at Psalm 127, Psalm 127. That joy that you felt when you looked into the eyes of your newborn baby should also be one that evolves into a commitment to them that says, I'm going to raise you right. I'm going to raise you in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And I'm not going to become a lazy parent and take you for granted. Psalm 127, verse three, if that's you and you're honest with yourself this evening, then I would hope you really look at this verse and let it meditate in your mind. Verse three, low children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward. Children are a reward. They are a blessing. They are a blessing to us, a reward from God. Who are we to take that for granted? Who are we to take our kids for granted? Hey, be grateful again for your children. Be grateful again for your children and nuts to anyone who would mock you for the size of your family. Nuts to them. You love your family. You spend time with your family. And this is something that I'm scared of is I don't want to grow old and think I wish I spent a little more time with my son, with my daughters, rather than scrolling YouTube or wasting my time doing something else. I think about this often. And especially when they're little and they believe everything you say and they're kind of like sponges. You want to take advantage of that time spent. This is my point. Spend time with your children. Do not take them for granted. Do not neglect what they need to grow old and serve the Lord with their life. Psalm 113 says he make it the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise the Lord. A God can turn a barren womb into one that produces fruit. And what a shame for us, this church is filled with families who've been blessed with many kids who've been blessed with large families, lots of children. God has rewarded so many of you. What a shame to take them for granted when there's women out there who are hoping and praying and begging God for just one baby, for just one. Dealing with infertility or or dealing with this horrible pain of not being able to conceive. That is very difficult to go through emotionally for both the man and the woman. And I know what that's like. And the thing is, who are who are we to take our children for granted, knowing there are people out there who would do so much for just one? Just something to think about. Hannah was so grateful for her child, Samuel, in First Samuel, chapter number two, the the prayer of Hannah is so powerful. She was so grateful to God for that child. It was a reward. It was a blessing. She had been waiting. She had been bullied by wife number two, Peninnah, Elkanah's other wife. And God heard her prayers and she was so grateful for her child. A lot of us, we felt that same feeling when we had our first kid and when our child was first born. Don't let that fade away and neglect them. Be grateful again. If you're in that situation, be grateful again for your children. Hey, take the time to train them. Take the time to discipline them, to raise them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord so that one day you can pass the torch to them and they could do even greater works for God than any of us could ever imagine. But we've got to put the effort in. And there's no guarantees here. Of course, there are no guarantees for this, but we might as well try as hard as possible. Turn to Acts 20. Acts Chapter 20. Be grateful again for your children. Do not fall for the temptation to be apathetic parents. This will be my last app. I had a few more things, but for sake of time, I'll have this be my last application here. Be grateful again for your church. Be grateful again for your church. Acts 20. Look at verse 28. Acts 20 and verse 28. Speaking to elders, take heed, therefore, unto yourselves and to all the flock over the which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood. Jesus Christ purchased the church with his own blood, the Bible says. And not only is this church supposed to be fed by leadership, but I believe since it's so precious, since it's so priceless, since it's so valuable, we ought to make sure that we never take it for granted. And some people realize it was purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ, and some people recognize that, which is why they're willing to move very, very far distances to go to a like-minded church. They're willing to move across the country. Some of them are even willing to move across the world. People will pick up, pack up everything they've got, put it in a truck, and move someplace to go to a church, recognizing how valuable church truly is, that it was purchased with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and praise God for that. Then they leave. It's like this isn't computing here. What? And look, I have to caveat this. People always take things and screw it up in their mind and misunderstand me. This isn't the only place to serve God. And people who leave and they go to another old IFB church, they go to another place to serve the Lord and go soul winning that has good doctrine, praise God for that. I'm not speaking against that. Steadfast is not the only place to serve God. All right? Everybody get that? But here's the problem is people, they leave a church like this or some of our other friends' churches, and they go nowhere. And that's what I'm preaching against. What happened to that love? What happened to that zeal? What happened to that passion? It faded away when the newness wore off. The thanksgiving went away with it. And the reality is when you move to a church, when you go to especially a new IFB church, what happens? It's new. It's exciting. There's a, quote, honeymoon period associated with that. And it's awesome, and everything is just so great, and you see no faults, and you're so thankful to be here. I remember for me when I first moved here, I was kind of like almost fanboying about it, and I'm not proud of that. But it was kind of like, wow, this is so cool. I'm here. This is great. This is awesome. And that's natural when something's new. Yeah, it's exciting. But then it's not so new anymore. And you start potentially to take it for granted. And the zeal wanes, and your Christian life deflates. What are the signs of this? You go from consistent attendance to barely showing up. That's the first sign. I've been at this long enough to realize when someone's on the downturn, all right? You go from soul winning to not soul winning. You go from singing the hymns with fervor to singing like you'd rather be anywhere else. You go from applying the preaching to getting offended about the preaching and ignoring the preaching. And then you begin to nitpick every aspect of your church, things that you overlooked in the past, little minuscule little problems and little small things that didn't matter to you before. Now, all of a sudden, it's a massive issue. Now, all of a sudden, you want to leave over it. I don't like the building, some might say. You know, it's too hot in here or it's too cold in here or it's not cold enough or whatever. The pastor screamed about my sin and I don't like that. I thought you liked hard preaching, though. There's too much drama. You know, the pastor won't change his doctrine to match mine 100 percent. His teachings don't cross my T's or dot my I's and I can't make him change. So I'm going to complain now. Hey, when the novelty wears away, when the novelty wears away, Christians who are saved, children of God have a propensity to go from a team player. They go from a team player to someone who sees nothing but faults. And I'm here to remind you, hey, be grateful again for your church like you used to be. Be grateful again for your church like you used to be. Go to Psalm 100, Psalm 100. And I'm almost done. You know, my Bible says in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity. Doctrine should be without corruption, and that is what you get here. Like it or not, this is a very doctrinally sound church. And the problem is often people, after it's been a while and the novelty has worn away, overlook that. And it drives me crazy. Hey, this is the pillar and ground of the truth. I'm talking about salvation by faith, by grace through faith alone. I'm talking about replacement theology. I'm talking about a vibrant and on fire, soul winning program. I'm talking about hard preaching. I'm talking about dynamic preaching. That's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about free stuff that everyone loves so much until they suddenly decide this place is bad. I'm talking about free stuff. I'm talking about missions. I'm talking about, hey, standards, charity. Yeah, this is a charitable group of people no matter what anyone says. Now, I've never met a nicer group of people. Yeah, we can always improve. There's things we could do to get better. We're far from perfect. But this place does not lack, in my mind, charity. We could always get better, but this is a charitable group of people. Psalm 100, verse 4, it says, enter into his gates with thanksgiving. Psalm 100 and verse 4, enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful unto him and bless his name. So many Christians enter into church, churches like ours, with thanksgiving at first. Thanksgiving for the preaching, for the doctrine, for the soul winning, for the missions, for the standards, for everything our movement stands for. They're thankful for it. They have gratitude for it. But then the novelty wears away, and all they see are little minuscule faults, and they allow themselves to fester inside bitterness and anger and hatred, and then they're gone. And they're out. And if you're someone who's in danger of that happening to you, and you're someone who's starting to take this place for granted, I just want to remind you, be grateful again for your church. And you, hey, you talk to some folks here who came to us from out of town from a church where the pastor was replaced with a damnable heretic. A damnable heretic. Why don't you go, if this place is so bad all of a sudden, why don't you go and talk to people who cannot for the life of them find a church that even has salvation right? Praise God, that is not something we'll ever have to worry about here. No matter what happens, we know salvation will be thundered forth from this pulpit and it'll be right. It'll be on point. It'll be clear. And here's the problem is people, they have the novelty, the newness at first, and so they go to church with thanksgiving. They're on fire for God. They're all out. They're fully plugged in. Then it becomes familiar. Then they start to whine. Then they start to complain. And all of a sudden they're gone. Well, look, if you're starting to take this place for granted, be grateful again. Be grateful again for your church like you used to be. Look at Ephesians chapter four, Ephesians chapter four. And I'll begin to wind this thing down here. Ephesians chapter four, it says in verse 11, Ephesians chapter four and verse 11. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ. We see that apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors, teachers, they're given for our benefit. We benefit from the work they do. And here's the thing. The ministry is a selfless service. They're sacrificing their time. They're sacrificing their own reputation. Just do a quick Google search to figure out what I'm talking about of your own pastor even. To perfect the saints, to edify the body. It is a selfless service that we are benefiting from. And at one point, you recognize that. But the newness wore away. You appreciated that. You were grateful for that. But the newness wore away, didn't it? Be grateful again for your pastor. Be grateful again. You say, I don't always agree with him, though. You know, there's times where I don't 100% agree with our pastor. So what? So what? Why is that such a huge deal? Oh, no, you don't agree with 100% of what happens or what is said. I have an idea. I know this might sound like I'm being mean. Get over it. Just get over it. It's not that big of a deal. How about the 95% you agree with? How about you focus on that? How about the 99% you agree with? Why don't you focus on that? No, let's just make the 1%, this giant issue. This 1%, this .5%, this giant issue. Now I'm just going to quit church over it completely. I'm just going to stop serving God now because of a 1% disagreement with leadership. You're not always going to agree. Put two human, I don't care who they are, two human beings together in a room. No matter who they are, they will find something they disagree with each other about. That's just how it is. And here's a newsflash for you. You say, well, I don't always agree with what pastor says or does. Okay, he doesn't always agree with what you do. And why is it that it's okay for us as church members to hold him to this impossible standard of complete and total ideological alignment when he doesn't do that to us? He doesn't do that to us. And if you think that you never do something he disagrees with, you've lost your mind. It happens all the time. It happens every time I find myself in a McDonald's drive-through, folks. And how do you think it would be? Think about how odd this would be if every time I'm in the drive-through at McDonald's, every time I go to India's greatest fast food restaurant or whatever, to the buffet to go have some chicken tikka masala or some samosas or whatever the case may be, every time I find myself in one of those establishments, my phone starts buzzing. Pastor Shelley, the hell are you doing there? That'd be a little odd, right? Guess what? Because he doesn't nitpick you. That's why that doesn't happen. He's not nitpicking every little tiny thing you do that you disagree with. And so how hypocritical of us, if we don't want him to do that to us, if we don't want him to do that to you and you and you, to all of us, why in the world would we do that to him? Topocracy, folks. Topocracy. I disagree with something. Okay. Pray about it and go about your business. What happened to that? Just pray about it and go about your business and be a blessing and serve God. And don't be a whiner and a complainer. Hey, how about you remember why you even came here to begin with? How about that? Before getting bitter and angry about steadfast or about like-minded churches, remember why you came here to begin with. Remember what it was about for you, the good doctrine, the soul winning, the fellowship. And be grateful again. Be grateful again. Remember the battles that we've won as a church. How about the battles that we've been through? Battle after battle after battle after battle. And God delivered us just like he did with the children of Israel, getting them through the Red Sea, getting them through the wilderness, feeding them with manna, feeding them with water out of a rock, never leaving their side. Hey, we've been through battle after battle and God never left our side either. So don't murmur like Israel did. Remember all the battles we've been through, the battles against. How about the Sodomites? Hey, there was a time where I wasn't sure where we would meet. I wasn't sure if we would get a building. And look where we are. You want to know why? Because God's people always win. God's people always win. And this building that we're all sitting in, I'm standing, everything we're in right now is proof of that. God's people win. How about you remember the battles that God has gotten us through and has enabled us to win and to be victorious about and be grateful again? How about you remember the Lord Jesus Christ? Because guess what? It's all about Jesus. And that ought to be the motivation that you have to come to church, not for pastor, not for your spouse, not for me, not for you, not for anyone, for Jesus first, for Jesus first. Folks, it's all about Jesus. And when you get all offended about some little tiny point, you're losing sight of the fact that it's all about Jesus. So remember that and be grateful again for your church. Be grateful again for your pastor. Be grateful again for this congregation who love you, who pray for you, who do nice things for you. And your pastor who's working day and night to bless you, working hours and hours to prepare sermons for himself. You tell me, is he preaching for himself, you think? Or is he preaching to glorify God and to feed his flock? I think he's preaching to feed his flock. We're going to end in Daniel six and I'll be done. Sorry for going a little bit long here. Daniel, chapter six. I'm going to wrap up right here and then I'm finished. I will stop talking. All right. Daniel six. It says in verse 10, Daniel, chapter six and verse 10. Now, when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, Daniel six, 10, he went into his house and his windows being opened in his chamber toward Jerusalem. He kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he did a four time. What did he do after there was a law enacted that prohibited prayer in Babylon? Prayed three times anyway. And notice what he did, though. He gave thanks. He gave thanks. And you can you can be grateful again and follow the example of Daniel. And you can kneel on your knees three times a day and you can give thanks for all the things that only, you know, you've taken for granted over the last few years, whether it's your spouse, your children, your church, maybe it's something only, you know, that I didn't mention. You can be grateful again, starting tonight when you get home and you get on your knees and you thank God, you thank God. When it was all new, you can you can revitalize that feeling when it was all new. But this time it'll be a stronger zeal, a stronger, more mature love for your spouse, for your children, for your church. And ultimately, you know, for the things of God, for the things of God. And that's what separates a mature Christian from one who falls away. When it's no longer exciting anymore. But you've got to stop taking things for granted, folks. You need to be grateful again, like you used to be. You say, well, what should I do when the honeymoon period ends? You know, the novelty is worn off. That which is new has become ordinary. Right. What do I do when that which was new has become ordinary or familiar or routine? I think I gave the answer. Be grateful again, like you used to be. Because that's what faded with that newness is your Thanksgiving. Be grateful again. Let's buy our heads for a word of prayer. Father and God, we thank you so much, Lord, for this church. And I just pray, Lord, that for those of us who are taking things for granted now, because they're no longer new, I just pray, Lord, that you would help us to be grateful again for those things and to really just, you know, be thankful and have contentment in our life. And Lord, I pray also, Lord, that if there's anybody in this room that is struggling in this area or with this issue, whether it's in their marriage or their child rearing or their views on this church, I just pray, Lord, that you would help them to get over it and to realize what actually matters. And God, also, that you would just help us to apply this to our lives. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. All right. For our last song, we're going to do song number 52. Zion's Hill. Song number 52. Five, two, Zion's Hill. Sing it out. Waits for me a glad tomorrow Where gates of pearl swing open wide And when I've passed this veil of sorrow I'll dwell upon the other side Someday beyond the reach of more token Someday God only knows just where and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And I shall go to dwell on Zion's Hill Someday I'll hear the angels singing Beyond the shadows of the spool And all the bells of heaven ringing While saints are singing, home sweet home Someday beyond the reach of mortal kin Someday God only knows just where and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And I shall go to dwell on Zion's Hill Someday my labors will be in debt And all my wanderings will be old And all those broken ties we've been through And I shall sigh and weep no more Someday beyond the reach of mortal kin Someday God only knows just where and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And I shall go to dwell on Zion's Hill Someday the dark clouds will be lifted And all the night of glory blest And all life's burdens will be lifted The day of rest shall dawn at last Someday beyond the reach of mortal kin Someday God only knows just where and when The wheels of mortal life shall all stand still And I shall go to dwell on Zion's Hill Thank you for watching!