(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

the notes, but I'll try to play it loud just to balance it, to help. All right. So seeing it, you can actually see the. Are you ready? So which one are we doing first? Or what? Start backwards. So 150 would be easy to run. 149 would be easy to run. OK. You can lead into it, right? Like, if you start off at 128 and nobody knows it, the less comes in. Oh. OK. Go backwards. Go backwards. OK. All right, everybody. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Glad you could all make it here this Sunday night. Let's go ahead and take out our white handout. We'll be in that, the entire service this evening. So we won't be in the hymnal tonight. We've got a few psalms we're going to sing. If you don't have a white handout, raise up your hand and usher and try and bring one to you. There should be one in all the seats. So you could probably find one nearby you if you just look under the seat in front of you. We're going to start off in Psalm 150. Make sure I have it here. All right. Here we go. Psalm 150 in your white handout. And if you don't have one, you can always take out your King James Bible. Psalm 150. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance. Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals. Praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath. Praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Praise God the Father. Praise God the Son. Praise God the Holy Ghost. Praise God in three persons. Amen. Great singing. Let's pray our prayer. Heavenly Father, we just thank you again that we would be here to hear the preaching of your word. I just pray you'd speak to us tonight through Brother Ben, that you'd fill him with your Holy Spirit and help him to edify the people here. And just please help us to apply this preaching to our lives so that we can all serve you better and to love each other more. And we love you, fathers. Please continue to bless this church with soul that we could reach our community in this whole world. It's in Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen. Next is going to be Psalm 149 in your white handout. We're going to try to do all our new Psalms tonight. So we've got 150, 149, 148 with our new one. Psalms 149 in your white handout. All together on the first. Praise ye the Lord, sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him. Let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise his name in the dance. Let them sing praises unto him with a temple and harm. For the Lord, taking pleasure in his people, he will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory. Let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth and a two-edged sword in their hand to execute vengeance upon the heathen and punishments upon the people to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron. To execute upon them the judgment written, this honor have all his saints praise ye the Lord. Amen. We're glad you all make it here tonight. I love singing those songs because this is straight and come from the word of God, so it can't get really better than that. So we'll go through our announcements at this time. If you're not already aware, Pastor Shelley, he's up in our church plant in Oklahoma City, so he's been preaching the services there. He preached this morning, and he's preaching there right now. So he's not going to make it tonight, so I'll be doing the announcements. We have Brother Ben somewhere in here. He'll be preaching for us tonight. So we're excited to have him. He knows the Bible really well, so I'm sure he could teach us all a few things here tonight. If you don't have a bulletin, go ahead and raise up your hand, and one of the ushers will try and bring one to you. I want to announce this first, just before I forget it. Sister Emily Hernandez, she's in labor right now, so Alberto just asked the church if we could just pray for her now. So I'd just like to pray together as a church that everything will go well. So let's bow our heads again. Heavenly Father, we just thank you so much for the Hernandez family. They've been such a blessing to so many people in this church, and we just pray you'd strengthen her right now. She goes through labor. You just please just give her strength, help to go quickly and easily for her, and please help that baby to come out healthy and strong and that you would just be with her whole family during this time and just give them a swift recovery. We know you'll take care of them, Lord, and we just love you, and we just ask these things in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So I'm not sure exactly how far along, but I think she's past the midpoint, okay? So I think they're doing well the last time I checked, so just keep praying for them. And then so, yeah, we'll go into the bulletin. We have our Bible memory passage, Psalm 148. We're finishing this up. You have our grace week. Thankfully, Pastor Shelley, he gives us some grace because sometimes we don't quote it on time. So finish this up. If you're working on it and you're not quite done yet, try to get it wrapped up and finished. That way you'll receive your special prize. But even now, you know, the best reward is just having the Word of God memorized. So if you don't get, you know, rewarded by Pastor Shelley, at least you know there may be a blessing from God. And I encourage you next time, after this week is up, when we go to our new chapter, that you can just start over fresh with that one, and that way you'll have a good passage of the Bible memorized. On the inside of our bulletin, you'll see our service time Sunday morning at 10.30. We have our Spanish service every Sunday at 4.30 and Sunday evening at 5.30. Wednesday nights is our Bible study. So right now Pastor Shelley is going through the book of Genesis. And that's great because he's just going line by line to give you more insight on that specific book of the Bible. And then we have our church-wide soul wanting times listed there below. I'll go ahead and get a soul wanting from the last few days. Is there anything to report? I guess it'd be for Thursday. Any salvations for last Thursday? I see one. And how about for Friday? Two. Two for Friday. And then how about for Saturday? Is there any salvations? Okay. Ten for Saturday. I think I got everybody. And then how about for today? I had five for the van. So if you were outside the van today, was there any salvations for today for Sunday? Okay. Okay. So that's 15 for today. So praise the Lord for that. Keep up the good work on soul wanting. And then if you'd like to go out soul wanting, we meet up here at the church Sundays at 2 p.m. Pastor Shelley leads that time. The ladies will go out 10.30 on Tuesday. And Mrs. Shelley leads that one. And then Wednesday 5.15, Pastor Shelley will head that up before the Wednesday service. And then Saturday at 10 with Brother West. And then if you'd like to go other times, we have regional soul wanting. They meet in Weatherford. Steve Malton, he's in Fort Worth. And Brother Suhail, he's in Dallas. So if those are closer for you, more convenient, I'd encourage you to get in touch with them. I think they're all here tonight. So if you'd like to go soul wanting with them, just try and get their number. And then there's a note there. If we give you a soul wanting map, just please make sure you turn that in so we can keep track of all the soul wanting our church does. You can give them to Pastor Shelley or the soul wanting leader. You can just turn them into this bin right here by the map. That way we just properly record everything our church does. And then we have our church stats so far for the year for salvation and baptism. I mean, that's amazing. Look at that. 1,700 people over that have been saved this year. I mean, that's a lot of people. And that's just the people who get saved. I mean, there's probably like over 10,000 people that we attempted to get saved. So that's great. And just keep praying the Lord will bless our church. On the next page, you'll see our expecting ladies, which that list is always nice and strong. So thank God for that. So just keep praying for those ladies throughout their pregnancies that them and the babies will be healthy. And we have our prayer list. If you have anything specific you'd like to ask, you can email that to the church at steadfastbaptistkjvatgmail.com. That way we can know to pray for you. On the back of our bulletin, you'll see we have our yearbook pictures. And so if you'd like to be a part of that, there's a sign-up sheet right here on this front cabinet. And they're doing pictures. They did them today. They're going to do them next week and the 28th. They're going to be before and after the service. And there's a bunch of times listed there below. I mean, it's completely free. So why not get a nice family portrait for you and your family? And then we have a baby shower. That's for Mrs. Megan Wood. And all ladies are invited to come. That's going to be on December 18th from 1230 to 230. And if you'd like to get her a gift, she's registered on Bye Bye Baby. And if you're able, please bring a Gist to share. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of good food, so it's another good reason to show up for the ladies event right there. And then it's nurselings only preferred. It's a preference. Obviously, if nobody can wash your kids, you know, you can bring them. There's no harm in that. We just prefer the nurselings only so the ladies can have a good time, get a little bit of rest. Hopefully, the husband can wash the kids or you can relax or you can get a break for an hour. So you see our upcoming events listed there below. I mentioned the pictures. The Thanksgiving dessert fellowship, you're not going to want to miss that night, okay? There's going to be a lot of good desserts that night. I mean, if there's one service you come for the year, that should be the one on your list, okay? And then we have our Brownsville, Matamora Soul Waning Marathon. That's December 9th through the 11th. Christmas caroling, that's going to be on Tuesday, the 14th at 5.30. And then Pastor Shelley is having pizza for everybody after that. So I encourage you, if you can make that, it was actually a lot of fun going out Christmas caroling and it was a great time for the kids and everybody out there. They just loved it. So if you're able to go, I'd encourage you to make it out for that. December 18th is the baby shower. December 24th, we're having a candlelight service and a cookie bake-off. So that's like your second service for the year. Make sure you come on that one. Got the dessert fellowship and the cookie cook-off. So, captives like to eat, okay? We like good fellowship. We like good food, okay? So we preach hard, but we also feed you good as well. December 31st is our New Year's party. So if you don't want to get drunk and wasted with the world, you can actually have some good Christian fellowship here at the church. It's going to be at seven. And then last announcement there listed below. If you want to donate, you can still give cash here, but if you're writing out a check or online, just do it through Pure Words Baptist because we're having issues with our banking right now. So just go everything, write it out, your check to Pure Words, or you can just do it online at the website there. So I think that's all we have for announcements. All right, let's go ahead and turn to our third song. We'll still be in our white handout there. The song 148. This is the new one. So if you don't know it that well, that's okay. You can learn it together with us tonight. You can just silently sing it to yourself. Psalms 148 in your white handout. You can also turn to your King James Bible. Sing it all together on the first. Praise ye the Lord. All right. We'll get it. Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. From the heavens praise him in the heights. Praise ye him all his days. Praise ye the Lord. From the heavens praise ye him. All his angels praise ye him. All his hosts praise ye him. Sun and moon praise him. All his heart praise he the heavens and his heart. Above the heavens let them praise the name of the Lord. He commanded and they were created he hath also established them forever and ever he hath made a decree which shall not pass praise the Lord from the earth ye dragons and all these fire and hell snow and vapor stormy wind fulfilling his word mountains and all hills fruitful trees and all cedars bees and all cattle creeping things and flying fowl kings of the earth and all people princes and all judges of the earth little young men and maidens old men and children let them praise the name of the Lord. For his name alone is excellent his glory is above the earth and heaven he also exalted the Lord of his people the praise of all his saints even of the children of people near unto him praise ye the Lord. Amen. Thank you for bearing with us for that one. The new Psalms. We'll get the hang of it. As an offering place of being passed around, please turn your Bibles to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2. Philippians chapter 2 the Bible reads If there be therefore any consolation in Christ if any comfort of love if any fellowship of the Spirit if any bowels and mercies fulfill ye my joy that ye be like-minded having the same love being of one accord of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God ought it not robbery to be equal with God but made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow up things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore my beloved as ye have always obeyed not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless to God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain neither labored in vain. Yea and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith I joy and rejoice with you all for the same cause also for ye joy and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timotheus shortly unto you that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state for I have no man like-minded who will naturally care for your state for all seek their own not the things which are Jesus Christ but ye know the proof of him that as a son with the father he hath served with me in the gospel and therefore I hope to send presently so soon as I shall see how it will go with me but I trust in the Lord that I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and companion in labor and fellow soldier but your messenger and he that ministered to my wants for he longed after you all and was full of heaviness because that ye had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death but God had mercy on him not on him only but on me also lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more carefully that when ye see him again ye may rejoice and that I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness and hold such in reputation because for the work of Christ he was nigh unto death not regarding his life to supply your lack of service for me. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for all the souls that were won this weekend. I pray you would fill our brother Ben with your spirit. Allow him to preach boldly. Help us pay attention and apply the message to our lives and in Jesus' name, Amen. Man, you're there in Philippians chapter 2. Let's look at verse number 12 where the Bible read Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings that ye may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Philippi, this Greek city, was not godly. It was wicked. And we see that the Apostle Paul acknowledges that referring to it as what? A crooked and perverse place. That kind of sounds familiar. I think we can relate to that in fact as people who live in the United States of America. He says here that the saints shined as lights in the world even in the midst of depravity. And so the title of my sermon is derived from this portion of scripture. The title of my sermon this evening is Shining in a Crooked and Perverse Nation. Shining in a crooked and perverse nation. I want to thank Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to fill in this evening. I really appreciate it. There's two phases to this message tonight that I want you to pay attention to. Phase number one is this. I'm going to demonstrate, I'm going to help you understand that in fact, yes, America does fit this description right here. It is a crooked and perverse generation. Phase two of the message is going to illuminate for you, no pun intended, what we can do about it. What exactly we can do about it. Head over to Psalm chapter 125 if you would. Psalm chapter 125. Let me go ahead and define some words for you to start things off. The word crooked oftentimes in scripture can be defined as devious or going out of the path of rectitude which is another way to say righteousness. I'm sure you've heard the word rectified before that means to make something right. Well, when you depart from that which is righteous, that's crookedness. Perverse, I believe is synonymous with the word crooked and that can be defined as contrary to the accepted or expected standard or practice. So that's what I mean when I use those two words and I'll be using them a lot over the course of the next hour. Crooked and perverse, that's what I mean by those words. That's how they can be defined. The Bible itself says in Deuteronomy 32 I had you turn to Psalm 125 again that was Psalm 125 but I'll quote to you from Deuteronomy 32 where the Bible read they have corrupted themselves. Their spot is not the spot of his children. They are a perverse and crooked generation. Deuteronomy 20, I should say 32 describes a particular generation as what? Perverse and crooked. Philippi matched that description and our generation right now that we're living in matches that description as well. Psalm 125 says in verse number 4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good and to them that are upright in their hearts ask for such as turn aside under their, notice this, crooked ways. The Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity but peace shall be upon Israel. If you want peace in your life you need to avoid the crooked ways. Don't be known as someone who's crooked and perverse but rather be known as someone who's righteous. Be the exception like Pastor Shelley preached a number of weeks ago. There are certain people they turn aside the crooked ways as if it's part of their DNA. That's just who they are. That's what they do. It's instinctive for them and of course that's the inverse of what? That's the inverse of uprightness. What does it mean to be crooked? Well crookedness in a sense to help you understand it's a deviation from what ought to be. That's what crookedness is. It's a deviation from what is objectively righteous because there's an objective standard of morality in this world today that atheists completely reject and that objective standard is the word of God and anything that departs I don't care how slightly from this is crooked. That's what the Bible says. It's a deviation from the established moral standard that we all follow, that we all appeal to. Even if we don't in action follow it 100% if somebody were to ask you why is killing wrong? Why is abortion wrong? Why is adultery wrong? What we would do is appeal to this in order to give them the answer. But you see our society today is crooked because it's departed, it's deviated from this standard. Look if you would at Proverbs chapter 28. Proverbs chapter 28. As you turn to Proverbs 28 I'll remind you that when the disciples couldn't cast out a devil Jesus said this, he said O faithless and perverse generation how long shall I be with you and suffer you? Bring thy son hither. If that generation was perverse I wonder what Jesus would say about this one. Probably something similar. I would imagine. Proverbs 28 is where I had you turn. Look at verse 6. Proverbs 28 verse 6 the Bible read better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness than he that is perverse in his ways though he be rich. Guess what? The rich and perverse are worse off than those who are poor yet upright. Because money doesn't mean anything. It's all vain anyway. As long as you can provide for your family you're good. You are not defined by the digits in your bank account. What defines you is who you are as a person with respect to your walk with Christ. That's what matters and we see that theme constantly throughout scripture but what you have to understand is this. Again let's get into the first phase of the message. What I need you to realize this evening is that this is a perverse and crooked nation. And this is going to hurt some of the red, white, and blue pride type people. For those of you who you take pride in your country. You wave your American flag. Maybe you would define yourself as someone who's patriotic. This is going to sting a little bit for you but I implore you to listen very carefully to what I'm saying because I'm not saying this because I want to say it. It's unfortunate. I wish America was godly. I wish America was upright. I wish it wasn't a crooked and perverse nation. I wish the opposite was true. But the reason why I'm going to hammer this in right now is for your benefit. Because it's time that people would shake Christians out of their trance a little bit. Go to Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah chapter 1. Again this might hurt your feelings a little bit if you are someone who would describe his or herself as patriotic. If you have the blinders on this is going to hurt. This is going to sting. But I'm about to say what I'm about to say because I love you and I want to ensure that you know the truth. This is the pillar and ground of the truth, is it not? That's what church is supposed to be. And you're going to get the truth. I had you turn to Isaiah 1. I'm going to read for you from Jeremiah 7 where the word of God said, But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction. Truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth. Truth perished in the southern kingdom of Judah. And truth is perished in America. Truth is perished in this nation. You know, regarding Judah, it had turned into a nation that engaged in what? Idolatry and smut and deviancy. The Bible says in Jeremiah chapter 2 that it became a degenerate plant of a strange vine. That's not what God planted but it's what it turned into. It's what it degenerated into. And the same is true for this country that at one point would appeal to the word of God in order to establish its laws, the laws of the land. We talk about it in the Sodomite deception. It's one of my favorite parts of the movie where we go through in the timeline and show how at one point we appeal to Leviticus 2013 and Romans chapter 1 to establish the laws of the land. But it's not that way anymore. Now, the opposite is true. Now you get lambasted for believing in the laws that this nation at one point had in the books. You see, this country is following the same trajectory that you read about in the Old Testament regarding Judah and Israel. It's going down the same path. This is a nation that has lost its mind. This is a nation where men call themselves women. This is a nation that, you know, where a bunch of filthy, disgusting, Sodomite dogs are extolled. They're celebrated. They're lifted up as the model for our society. This is a nation that hates God and ultimately, let me tell you this, it's going to hurt your red, white, and blue pride, but it's the truth. This is a nation that's on an express lane directly to hell. We're on a bobsled to hell. And I don't like to say that. It doesn't bring me joy. But it's the truth. You say, what's so bad about our country, though? Well, we have crooked and perverse leadership. Isaiah says in 1 verse 23, Isaiah chapter 1 verse 23, it says thy princes are rebellious and companions of thieves. Everyone loveth gifts and followeth after rewards. They judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them. Notice it says that everyone loveth gifts. Does that not describe perfectly the politicians of our day on both sides of the political spectrum? You know, they prostitute themselves to corporate lobbyists and special interests. These people are nothing more than prostitutes. When people go out and vote every four years for the president, let me let you in on a little secret, they're voting for a prostitute. They're voting for a whore. They're nothing more than whores and whoremongers. And in the case of Kamala Harris, she literally is a whore. You know, this is what Donald Trump said in 2015. He said, I gave to many people, believe me, before this, before two months ago, I was a businessman. I gave to everybody. When they call, I give. And do you know what? When I need something from them two years later, three years later, I call them, they're there for me. He's bragging about it. He's bragging about the fact that he's sort of the puppet master of these politicians, that when he calls them and bribes them, they do his bidding. Because that's the system. There's no hope in that system. This is what a lobbyist said, quote, I was a lobbyist between 2003 and 2010 in Washington, D.C. I quit in disgust. This is someone with a conscience. Years of legalized bribery had exposed me to the worst elements of our country's political workings. Not even my half million a year salary could outweigh my conscience. Folks, that's hopeless corruption. It's helpless corruption and you know, there's nothing we could ever do to fix it. From a political avenue. Obviously there's a spiritual remedy, but a carnal remedy does not exist. The cycle continues no matter who it is that you vote for. And think about the leadership that we have today in this crooked and perverse nation. Joe Biden, a demented man who could barely string a sentence together who wants to force you to reject yourself with a clot shot in order to keep your job. That's Joe Biden. Kamala Harris who slept with a 60 year old politician to advance her political career that makes her a whore. And people get mad at me when I say that and I get calls the next day she's a whore! Alright here, I'll spell it out for you. W-H-O-R-E Whore! And I'm not going to apologize for that. She's a filthy whore. And you know what else? It doesn't end there. In fact, you could argue it gets even worse. You know who our Secretary of Transportation is? Booty Judge. Pete Booty Judge. This is an open sodomite. Open sodomite! Pete the faggot! He's the secretary of- He just bragged on social media about how he took time off to raise- because he just got a child. He adopted a little baby. He's going to abuse that baby. Sick, disgusting pervert. Who's the assistant secretary of health today? It's a tranny! It's a transvestite! It's a transvestite freak that calls itself Rachel! That's our secretary of health! I feel like I'm going crazy! Secretary of Health is a tranny! Calls itself Rachel! It's an it! I'm just going to call it it! It's the assistant secretary of health! This is who we rely on as our leadership in the area of health? A filthy tranny? A guy that wears a dress? Some freak that wears a dress? And people share this things picture all over Facebook. Listen to me, I don't want to see that. I'll unfriend you. I don't want to see that! It's disgusting! It defiles my eyes! Don't share that photo! I don't care if you're exposing it! I don't want to see it! It's disgusting and perverted and filthy! And that's who we're supposed to look up to. This is our assistant secretary of health. Would Isaiah chapter 59? What else is wrong with this country? How about crooked and perverse justice? Crooked and perverse justice? Again, this is a problem with God's people and it's a problem with us. Isaiah 59 is where I had you turn. Notice verse 14. Isaiah 59 verse 14 where the Bible read, And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off. For truth is fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth, and he that departed from evil but pray, and the Lord saw it, and noticed that it displeased him that there was no judgment. How about that for you judge not? How's that for the judge not crowd? God's displeased that there was no judgment! It's wrong to judge. Never judge anybody. Judge not! Have you finished the verse, buddy? I want to take things out of context. Here we see God upset that there was no justice. This is crooked justice. And let me tell you what I mean when I went to this passage of scripture here. What do I mean by crooked justice? Here's what I mean by that. Let's take a look at what happened in Kenosha, Washington. You had rioting and looting Black Lives Matter domestic terrorists burning buildings down with impunity. And who's the one on trial? Is it those mentally insane freaks burning down the city, attacking innocent people, destroying private property, all based on lies from the corporate media about racism? And yes, I said it with a W on purpose. Who's the one? Who's on trial? Oh yeah, that's right. It's Kyle Rittenhouse. That's the crooked and perverse justice that we have in this nation. Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17 year old boy who defended himself. Look, I'm not advocating. I'm not saying that he should have even been there. I wouldn't have even been there. I wouldn't have even gone there. Just let it burn. Whatever. I'm concerned about that which is spiritual. But you know what? You put me in a situation where some Antifa left hard with a weapon has it pointed at my face and I have an AR-15 with me. You better believe I'm pointing that thing at his face and pulling the trigger every single time. If that makes me a domestic terrorist, you have no idea what that phrase even means. And you know, here's the thing about the Rittenhouse situation. If that's not self defense, there's no such thing as self defense. There is no such thing as self defense. It is the clear it's so clear as day. Look at the video. Clear self defense. And who did he shoot? I want to talk about crooked and perverse justice. Who did he shoot? He shot three men. And two of the three should have been dead anyway. I said it. The first one was a domestic abuser. And I'm just going to leave it at that. The second one, a literal pedophile. You look this up if you don't believe me. I don't want to get into detail for the sake of the children. But you look this up if you don't believe me. A literal pedophile who assaulted boys. I'm leaving it at that. That's who he shot. And we're supposed to sympathize with him. Because Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself. We're supposed to sympathize with a literal pedophile. And the news media is saying he's a domestic terrorist. White supremacist. For defending himself. You know, if we lived in a righteous country, that pedophile, Joseph Rosenbaum or whatever his name is, would have been taken out by the US government lined up against the wall and shot. That's what would have happened if this nation wasn't so crooked, if this nation wasn't so perverse. And notice I said government, by the way. Whenever we preach something like this, people always go crazy. I'm not advocating for Christians to go out and do Grand Theft Auto in real life and go, no. It's the government's job. It is the government's job. Let me repeat it one more time so I'm as clear as possible. It is the government's job to execute those who are guilty of a capital crime. The government's job. It's not our job. And it certainly wasn't... We shouldn't have to rely on Kyle Rittenhouse to do that. But of course when you have no justice, when there's a crooked and perverse justice in this nation, then that's who we have to rely on to do it. And I think it's interesting how God will orchestrate things like that when man fails. How about this? Our sense of morality is crooked and perverse. I don't think I told you to do this yet, but if you would, go to Micah chapter 3. Micah chapter number 3. We're going to look at the first two verses in this chapter. Micah chapter number 3. Our sense of morality is backwards. Of course Isaiah talks about a certain kind of judgment for those who would put sweet for bitter and good for evil, etc. But here we have in Micah chapter 3 communicating the same thing. And what I'm trying to explain to you is that our sense of morality in this crooked and perverse nation is itself crooked and perverse. It's twisted. It's like we live in opposite land. I was wearing a shirt. I think it's from Mark Dice's YouTube channel. I don't know. But it's a long sleeve shirt. It said 2 plus 2 equals 4. And you know, I'm thinking that's a controversial statement to make in 2021 America. I'm waiting for somebody to walk up to me and call me a white supremacist for wearing a shirt that says 2 plus 2 equals 4. But it's 4 whether you like it or not. Look at Micah 3 verse 1. And I said, Here I pray you, O heads of Jacob and ye princes of the house of Israel. Micah 3 verse 1. Is it not for you to know judgment? Now notice this right here. Who hate the good and love the evil. Who pluck off their skin from off them and their flesh from off their bones. Ladies and gentlemen, in the good old USA in 2021, well, our society, this is a nation that hates the good and loves the evil. That's how it is. Hates the good, loves the evil. Sagatry is commemorated in the United States of America, in the good old USA while Bible preaching is censored. That's why we have like 6 YouTube channels now. What do you think happened to the main channel? Censored. Every time you say well the Bible says, Cancelled. Leviticus went cancelled. Romans went cancelled. Romans went cancelled. That's how it works. The second you try and open your mouth to preach the Bible, expect to be cancelled in this crooked and perverse society that we live in, in which its morality is inverted. How about this, rioting on the streets is encouraged while self-defense self-defense is demonized. That's what we're seeing with this Kyle Rittenhouse situation. That rioting is encouraged. In fact, that moron politician AOC who has the IQ of a squirrel put on her she posted this on her Instagram how to riot. She gave people instructions on how to go out and destroy private property and assault innocent people. Feminism is endorsed in this nation while godly women are shamed. Hey ladies, who appeal to the Bible for your morality, you walk outside you walk out in that world guaranteed there's people, whether they say it to you or not, there's ladies, there's feminists out there pink-haired, short-haired, bull-dyed looking feminists that are looking at you with disdain. They hate you. Why? Because you're godly. They think it's something to be shamed. You know what? Abortion is celebrated in this country and big families are ridiculed. You know how many stories I've heard of big families going to the supermarket, going to the store and having people look at them weird and having people give them looks and try and shame them, make them feel embarrassed. No, no, no. They should be embarrassed. The people who celebrate abortion should be shamed and embarrassed, not those who love children and have big families. Now you say, what do you mean by abortion being celebrated? Well, I'll read something for you from Wikipedia. There's this hashtag that's been going around on social media since 2015. It's called Shout Your Abortion. I'm not sure if you guys have heard of this, but Shout Your Abortion is a social media campaign where people share their abortion experiences online without sadness, shame or regret. For the purpose of destigmatization, normalization and putting an end to shame. Tens of thousands of people worldwide have shared their abortion experiences online using the hashtag Shout Your Abortion. Now you say, well that sounds like a global issue, not necessarily emanating from the USA. Well, Shout Your Abortion campaign was started on September 19th, 2015 by American activists, Lindy West, Amelia Bono and Kimberly Morrison. Folks, our sense of morality is so twisted in this culture that it hates the good and it loves the evil. Psalm chapter 106 says in verse 37, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils. That's what God's people did. And that's what's happening here. Folks, you need to wake up. You need to wake up today. It's happening in your backyard. It's happening right now. America is sacrificing its sons and its daughters on the altar of cultural Marxism, on the altar of feminism. It is sacrificing its babies to who? The devil himself ultimately. That's what this nation is doing. Unborn babies are being slaughtered in the womb by the hundreds of thousands in this crooked and perverse nation which has a twisted sense of morality. And you have people on social media bragging about it. You have people on social media encouraging this behavior with their little hashtag shout your abortion trying to destigmatize it. It makes me want to throw up. But that's the nation we find ourselves in today. It's being encouraged. It's being advocated for. With no shame. No conscience. People don't care. No remorse for the most innocent lives among us. You say, well what do we do about it? What do we do about this? Well here's what I think we should do. I think each and every one of you tonight should get on your knees before bed. I think you should put your hands together and close your eyes. And I think this is what you should do. I think you should pray for every single planned parenthood clinic in America to be destroyed. This is what I think you should pray. I think you should pray that God would open up a sinkhole under every single planned parenthood clinic in this nation and that they would all descend quickly into hell. That's what I think you should do and you know some folks might not like that and they might say well that's offensive. That's hateful. That's not very nice Ben. But you know if you're thinking that right now, here's my problem with you. Why don't you get offended over the hundreds of thousands of babies that are being slaughtered in the womb every year in this country? Why do you get offended at a preacher getting up and telling it like it is but you don't get offended about the babies who are being slaughtered in this country? About the babies that are being slaughtered in the womb. Why don't you get offended over things that you ought to get offended about? Instead, oh it's the person who's actually calling it out that you get mad at. Folks, we live in a nation that mocks God. That sheds innocent blood and that brags about it while waving around a rainbow colored flag. And if that doesn't make you angry, you have lost your mind. I'm not the crazy one. You're the crazy one. If that doesn't make you emote Chad Morgan, the guy can't get angry at anything, that's kind of an inside deal. You can ask me after the service what I mean by that. He doesn't get mad at anything, this guy. Anyway, we'll get into that some other time. Folks, if that doesn't make you angry, the problem is with you. Go to Zephaniah 3, if you would. Zephaniah chapter 3. You're in Micah, you just go past Nahum, Habakkuk, and then you get to Zephaniah. Here's the root of the problem. I'm laying the foundation down for you that this is a crooked and perverse nation. Then I'll talk about what we can do about it. But what you have to understand is this. The root of the problem is with what? It's with the churches. The root of the issue is the churches. We have crooked and perverse churches in our nation. Zephaniah 3, where I had you turn, look at verse 4. This is talking about Jerusalem. It says, Zephaniah 3, verse 4, her prophets are light and treacherous persons. Her priests have polluted the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law. You ask the question, why is it so dark out there? And I mean that figuratively. Why is it so dark out there? Here's the reason why. Because the prophets in this country are treacherous persons. And they've done violence to the law, meaning that they've distorted and dismissed God's law. That's what they do. They warp the Bible. They warp the Bible to conform to societal norms, to the whims of society. Whatever they deem to be justifiable and right, they warp the Bible to fit that. And here's what you have to understand. The reason why we preach so hard against these false churches is because the apostate Christian, so-called churches in this country, the false churches preaching a false gospel, the churches that compromise on what the word of God actually says, the watered down churches in this nation are contributing to the destruction of America. That's the truth. That's what's happening. That's the red pill that you need to swallow. That the churches in this nation are contributing to the destruction of this nation. You know, John MacArthur, you're so happy that John MacArthur's church stayed open through COVID, right? Because he's right on COVID. Well, John MacArthur's church with his false gospel is contributing to the destruction of America. Paul Washer's church, the guy who says there's no such thing as a carnal Christian, Paul Washer, he is contributing to the destruction of this country. Ray Comfort, the guy who thinks it's not enough to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation by grace through faith alone. That false prophet devil going out and sharing those damnable heresies with the world. He is contributing to the destruction of America. That's the truth, folks. James White, the guy who brainwashes people into believing that the King James only movement is flawed and that rather they should embrace the modern perversions of the Bible. This guy is contributing to the destruction of America. I don't care what he's right about. He's not even saved. He's a false prophet. He's destroying America. Hey, that limp-wristed, that of the non-denom church, the limp-wristed, skinny-jeans-wearing fake pastor who dresses like he's a 15-year-old boy is destroying America. That's what's happening. That's what's going on. You know, that United Methodist Church down the street, destroying America. You know, queer-bait Baptists are destroying America. Go to Judges chapter 7, if you would. Judges chapter 7. Folks, this nation is crooked and perverse, but the question is, what do we do, right? Because I can get up here and I can yell and I can scream about it until the cows come home, as they say. But the reality is, I want to give you a remedy. I want to make sure you walk out of the service this evening understanding how we should, as Christians, respond. And it's not going to be in the ballot box. It's not going to be through some sort of carnal means. Now here in Judges chapter 7, what are we talking about? Well, we're talking about the nation Israel that is currently being occupied by the Midianites. And I would consider Israel during this particular time period to be, yeah, crooked and perverse. I think they were. The nation of Israel was occupied by the heathen here during this timeline. And the United States is also, obviously, crooked and perverse and occupied by demonic forces today. So I think that's the parallel. But I want you to look at Judges chapter 7 verse 16, if you would. Judges chapter number 7 and verse 16. And notice what the Bible says there in Judges 7 verse 16. It says, And he divided the three hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in every man's hand with empty pitchers and lamps within the pitchers. So here we have Gideon's three hundred men and we see what they had with them. Look at verse number 19. It says, So Gideon and the hundred men that were with him came onto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch, and they had but newly set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and break the pitchers that were in their hands. Verse 20, And the three companies blew the trumpets and break the pitchers and held the lamps in their left hands and the trumpets in their right hands to blow withal, and they cried, The sword of the Lord and of Gideon! And they stood every man in his place round about the camp, and all the host ran and cried and fled. Now notice Gideon, what does he do? He surrounds the enemy who are the Midianites. He surrounds them. This is in an effort to liberate Israel, to deliver them from the hands of the Midianites. And what happens with his people? Well, they break the pitchers. They lift up their lamps. This is how they were victorious. Through what? Trumpets and lamps. That's what they had with them. Trumpets and lamps. Gideon's army, again, they achieved victory by blowing the trumpet, breaking the pitcher, and lifting their light up, or using their light, rather, to make the enemy believe that there were millions of them, and then they turned on each other. That's how they won. Again, trumpets and lamps. Well, I'll read this for you. You don't have to turn there. In Isaiah 58, the Bible says, Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. Psalm 119 says, Thy word is a lamp unto my feet. I think we can take these stories here and we can apply them to our situation. We can apply them to what we're going through today. You see, just as Gideon used trumpets and lamps to achieve victory, you know, here's how we achieved victory in the midst of this crooked and perverse nation. In the midst of 2021 America, hey, when preachers lift up their voice like a trumpet and we collectively let our light shine in the darkness, that's how we win. And how do we do it? Not through our own opinions. We do it. We let our lights shine through the words of God, the very words of God that are sitting on your lap this evening. That's how we do it. That's how Gideon did it. Trumpets and lamps. The trumpet being your voice. The lamps being the word of God. You know, the Bible says in Matthew chapter 5, Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick and give it light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. The remedy that we have to adhere to as a spiritual nation in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation is this. Shine. That's why the title of the sermon was what? Shining in a crooked and perverse nation. Let your light so shine before men. Go back to Philippians chapter 2 if you would. Philippians chapter number 2. Don't cover your lamp. Don't put it under a bushel. But shine. Let your light shine. The darker it gets out there, you know what? The brighter you're going to look in comparison. If I were to light a candle in this building, the juxtaposition of it all would be such that you can't really notice it because it's already bright in here. Now it's great that that lamp is lit, don't get me wrong, but it's harder to notice in a vicinity that's already lit up rather than out there. If I stood outside with a candle it would be a lot easier to spot me, wouldn't it? And so that's the good thing we can take from this nation, this train wreck of a country that we live in today, with its train wreck, disgusting leadership. It just offers us an opportunity to shine that much brighter in comparison. Now I had you turn to Philippians 2, let me quote for you from Luke 11 where the Bible read, If thy whole body, this is Jesus talking, therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light. Hey, where light's in the darkness, when you got saved, you became the light in the Lord, the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 5. So let your light shine. Let your light shine. Look at Philippians 2 verse 15. Philippians 2 verse 15. Notice what the Bible says in Philippians 2 verse 15, that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, meaning that you're acting like sons of God, without rebuke. Nobody can rebuke you for anything that you do and all they have is just how you worship your God like the Bible says about Daniel. In the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, we already covered that, I can go on all night if I want to about that but I'm going to move on. I should say, among whom ye what? Shine as lights in the world. How do we survive in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation? Well, let's look to the word of God for the answer shine. The darker it gets, the brighter you look in comparison. Folks, it's time to shine. Time to shine. Now you might be wondering how exactly do we do that? Well, again, Philippians 2 I believe will give us the answer. I'm going to derive the next four points from Philippians chapter 2. How do we shine? Be specific, you might be thinking. Well, how about this? Fear God. That's my first point. Fear God. Look at Philippians 2 verse 12. It says, Wherefore, my beloved, as he have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with what? Fear and trembling. Now this is a tough verse for some people because they would twist it, a lot of false prophets would twist it to teach a workspace salvation. If you want a whole sermon about this topic, Pastor Shelley's preaching about that right now, so you can go check it out when you get home or after the service sometime, but I'll just give you my interpretation if you want to call it that. Basically what it's describing here is working out that which God has worked in. It has nothing to do with heaven or hell salvation, but rather working out what God has worked in you. Letting your light shine before men. That's why it says to work out outwardly your salvation and it says with fear and trembling. What you ought to do is outwardly display good works. What's this basically communicating to us? Outwardly display good works in order to potentially avoid your flesh being afflicted on this earth. Whether it's through God's chastisement or the devil. If you want to be delivered from these people who want to hurt you then outwardly display good works. Let your light shine as somebody who's a child of the light. If you want to potentially survive threats that are being aimed at your flesh whether it's by God or the devil work out your salvation. Work outwardly what God has worked inwardly. Spiritual salvation is inward. But you know what? It doesn't end there. We ought to, we should, work outwardly that which God has worked inwardly. We ought to let our lights shine like I've been saying. Go to Deuteronomy chapter 6. Deuteronomy chapter 6. But again the focus that I wanted to really touch on here in Philippians chapter 2 it's talking about doing this, working outwardly with fear and trembling. Another thing also you have to understand is that word salvation doesn't always have to be spiritual. It describes doing this with fear and with trembling because a healthy fear of God goes a long way. And if you want to shine in this crooked and perverse generation then fear God. You know the Bible says in Proverbs chapter 14, He that walketh in his uprightness feareth the Lord. But he that is perverse in his ways despiseth him. You know a healthy fear of God is oftentimes related to keeping the commandments. That's what you'll notice. That's the pattern that we see in scripture. In fact in Ecclesiastes chapter 12 the Bible says that fearing God and keeping his commandments is the whole duty of man. That's why we're on this earth. To fear God. To keep his commandments. But check out Deuteronomy 6. Look at verse 1. Let's read Deuteronomy 6 verse 1. It says, Now these are the commandments, the statutes and the judgments which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it. That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God. Why? To keep all his statutes and his commandments which I command thee, thou and thy son and thy son, son, all the days of thy life and that thy days may be prolonged. The Bible says in Hebrews chapter 10 that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. You know we ought to be afraid of the fiery indignation that could follow someone who decides to backslide and live a wicked life and turn away from the commandments of the Lord. And we see in Deuteronomy chapter 6, what's the formula? If you're afraid of the Lord, if you have a healthy fear of God, that'll enable you to follow his commandments. That'll enable you to clean up your life, toss away those pet sins that are responsible for placing an opaque covering on that light that you ought to be shining. Go to Proverbs chapter 8 if you would. Proverbs chapter number 8. Let's look at another way in which you can fear God. Because again, I could get up here and I could regurgitate some platitudes but what good does that do for you? You need specifics and here's specifically what the Bible says that you can do in order to fear God, in order to fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear the Lord? Well we see that defined here in Proverbs chapter 8 verse 13. You guys have probably heard this verse before. Look what it says in Proverbs chapter 8 verse 13. It says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the froward mouth do I hate. When I see that a preacher is being designated a hate preacher and he's being accused of preaching hate, you know what that says to me? Hey, that preacher fears God. Because the Bible says what? That the fear of the Lord is to hate evil. The fear of the Lord is to hate pride, to hate arrogance, the evil way. How is it possible for a preacher not to hate these things and then get up and preach against it? That's going to be a real lame, weak, watered down, limp-wristed sermon, isn't it? They ought to hate these things, but it's not just preachers, it's you as well. You know what will help you turn away from these sins in your life? Hating them with everything you've got, every fiber of your being. And you know what else? That constitutes fearing God. Say, I fear God. Well, let me ask you this question. Do you hate evil? Do you hate evil? I think that's a relevant question to ask you. And we see that's what fearing God is defined as in Proverbs chapter number 8. And again, we find ourselves in the midst of what? A godly nation? No. It's a crooked, it's a perverse nation where people have no fear of God. Why do you think those freaks stand outside the sidewalk there? Stand on the sidewalk. No fear of God whatsoever. Why do people afflict this church? No fear of God whatsoever. Whether they fear him or not, he's going to come down on them pretty harshly. Even if it's not in this life, it'll be in the next. And you know, in this nation that has no fear of God, that blasphemes the Lord Jesus Christ, that's rejected the truths of God's word, in the midst of a nation that's getting darker and darker by the day. Folks, shine. Shine your light. Before men, shine your light by fearing God and keeping his commandments. Shine your light by fearing God and deciding in your heart, I am going to hate evil. That's how we shine. In a nation that doesn't have a single ounce of fear for the Lord whatsoever. You want to be different? You want to be the exception like Pastor Shelley preached? I'm about to just re-preach his sermon. You want to be the exception like he talked about? You be the one person in your neighborhood, the one person in your city, the one person in your state, the one person in your entire country if it has to be that way. And it is in some European nations with no good church. You be that one person that fears the Lord while everyone else mocks him. Be the one person who decides I'm not going to follow a multitude to do evil. And you know what? Be more afraid of chastisement and punishment. Be more afraid of what God might do to you as punishment on this earth. Be more afraid of divine chastisement than whatever man may say. Why is it that pastors in this movement never compromise? They never apologize for what the Bible says. They never compromise on what the Bible says. Why is that? Because they're more afraid of God than the potential ramifications for preaching the Word of God from the world. That's why. Because they're more afraid of what God might do to them if they compromise than the response they may get from the media or from freaks waving signs outside. Go back to Philippians chapter 2, if you would, Philippians chapter 2. My second point is this. Apply the preaching. I said, first of all, fear God. My second point is this. You want to shine in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation? Time for you to apply the preaching. We don't just come here to be entertained by Pastor Shelley's sermon. He's a good speaker. He's a dynamic preacher. There's no doubt about that. But you know what? You can come here, you can be entertained all you want. If you're not applying anything he preaches, he thunders forth behind this pulpit, then what's the point? What's the point? Philippians chapter 2, look what it says in verse 13. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and pay attention to this, to do of his good pleasure. You want to shine? Apply the preaching in your life. You want to shine? Don't be a do-nothing Christian who walks up to the pastor after the service and says, oh, good sermon, pastor, and then adheres to none of it. And then adheres to nothing. Nothing at all that he said. Nothing at all that he'd been admonishing you about. Hey, don't be a do-nothing Christian. And folks, if you find yourself in a situation where you lack the desire to do the works of God, let's say you lack that desire. Let's say you just spend too much time playing video games. You're too busy playing Call of Duty, trying to get your ranking a little bit higher on the online leaderboards. Maybe you're too busy playing Madden. Maybe you're too busy watching NFL football on Sundays to come to church. Maybe you just lack that desire because of those carnal things that have taken over your life. Well, why don't you pray to God to give you that desire? To be a doer of the word. Get down on your knees and pray that God would give you that desire to serve him. And Philippians 2 says, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And you pray and you ask God to give you that inward desire, that desire in your heart to serve him, and then it's up to you to actually work out that which God has worked in, like I said earlier. Now look if you would at Matthew 7, Matthew chapter 7. As you turn to Matthew 7, I'll read from James 1 where it says, but be he doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own self. Obviously this would apply to an individual who's just reading the word of God on their own, right? And that they should be a doer of what the Bible is commanding them to do, whether that's soul winning or studying the word of God, whatever the case may be. But it also applies to preaching because when you come to a church like this, you get a lot of Bible. What I noticed about Brother Duncan's sermon is that Brother Duncan's sermon as a layman of this church had more preaching in it than most pastors will include in their sermon in these dead as a doornail churches that are out there in the world today. And that's why I'm thankful for this movement. That's why I'm thankful for the new IFB. But you hear the word of God preached behind this pulpit, actually do it. Matthew 7 says in verse 24, this is where I had you turn, Matthew chapter 7, look at verse 24 where the Bible read, Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, Jesus talking here, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. Just to take something from the morning a little bit here. I'm gonna go ahead and steal something. Borrow a little bit from what was said in the morning. What did he talk about? Your faith being tried. How could you possibly survive that if you're not built upon a strong foundation which is the rock, which is Jesus Christ, not Dwayne Johnson. Jesus is the real rock. Matthew 7, look at verse 26, And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house and it fell and notice great was the fall of it. What's the difference between a Christian who's tried, who's tempted, who goes through hardship, who goes through depression and sorrow and things just not working out the way they'd like it to but they stick with it and they still come to church, they're built upon the rock. What's the difference between that person and those who quit? Well that individual, that quitter built upon the sand, not a doer of the word, not a doer of the word. If you hear and do, you're built upon a rock and you're capable of withstanding the adversities, the many adversities that life throws at us. If you're built upon the rock, you can withstand that abuse but if you're built upon the sand, well the second things don't go exactly the way you want them to, well, you collapse like a deck of cards that collapses. You hear the word of God behind this pulpit, I'm imploring you. Do it. Take action. Think of all the sermons you'll hear that you've already heard in the past that you're going to hear in the future. How about a sermon on tithing? Let's say you come here to church and you hear a sermon on tithing and you're the kind of person that unfortunately you keep that 10%. You're saving up for a gold boat and so you're not tithing. But you come here, you hear a sermon on tithing. You know what it's time to do? Time to tithe. Time to get that right. It's time to be a doer, not a hearer only. You hear a sermon on Bible reading and you never do it? Time to crack that thing open, especially today. Time to crack that, it might be dusty, maybe you dust that thing off a little bit. Dust that thing off and start reading. Hey, that's how we fight back. That's how we shine in this crooked and perverse nation. You hear a sermon about loving your spouse and you've been neglecting your marriage. I think it's time for you to maybe start demonstrating more love for your spouse. Take her out on a date. Try and impress her like you did when you were dating her. You hear a sermon against alcohol and in your mind you have you've been warped by this world, you've been warped by the beer commercials, you've been warped by the false preachers out there telling you it's okay and you think that drinking alcohol is permissible. But you hear a face ripping sermon against alcohol from behind this pulpit. It's time for you to go home. It's time for you to grab every single alcoholic beverage you own and throw it in the trash where it belongs. Actually, you know, do something about the preaching. Take action, be a doer of the word. That's how you shine. That's how you lift your light up so that men would glorify your Father in heaven if you hear a sermon against being unevenly yoked with unbelievers and every single one of your friends are unsaved and it's time to either get them saved or it's time to get some new friends. And I'll tell you this, if that's you, if that's you this evening, I'll be your friend. Hey, I'll be the first one, I'll be your friend. You come to me after the service, you say, I don't have any friends and they're all unsaved. I'll be your friend. As long as you're not a weirdo, we could be friends. Look, if you believe the earth is a sphere and you're just normal, just be normal. My bar isn't high. You normal? Great, we can be friends. Hey, if you hear a sermon against rock and roll music, it's time to maybe replace that Metallica CD with a CD filled with hymns. If you hear a sermon against rap music, it's time to replace that Lil Wayne CD, Lil Wayne, and it's time to replace that nonsensical garbage with maybe a CD that's filled with psalms instead. And you can rock that down the street with your chrome rims or whatever. You could turn the volume up high on that one and we can hear the bass of Psalm 150 instead of Lil Wayne. Instead of these idiot rappers. These morons who dumb society down. Hey, you hear a sermon about loving the brotherhood? And in your heart you have some malice against a brother or sister in Christ? It's time to let that go. Time to take action. It's time to apply that sermon to your life and say, you know what? You know, I love so-and-so. I'm going to go make it right with so-and-so. I'm going to make it right. I'm going to forgive them for what they did to me, even if they didn't necessarily come to me and actually repent. I'm just going to forgive them anyway. I'm going to let it go. I'm going to love my brothers and sisters in Christ like the Bible says when it proclaims that we should love the brotherhood. And you hear a sermon about that and you have some anger or vitriol against someone who's saved and it's time to let that go. It's time to take action. The Bible says, now is the accepted time. Don't wait to make the change. Don't wait to apply the preaching till next week, next month, next year. If you procrastinate, you'll never do it. Do it now. Shine. How? By applying the preaching. Go to Numbers 11 if you would. Numbers chapter 11. You say, when's he going to stop preaching? Eventually, alright? Calm down. I'm almost done. Just chill out, alright? You guys can go to the buffet later. Numbers chapter 11. Here's the third thing, and again I derived this from Philippians 3. Avoid murmurings and disputings. If you're a whiner, if you're a complainer, that's a pretty good way to put a bushel on your light. You're not going to shine as bright as you could. My question for you is this, as we turn to Numbers 11, my question is, are you satisfied with God's manna? Are you satisfied with God's manna? Look at verse 4. Numbers 11 verse 4. It says, in the mixed multitude that was among them, talking about the children of Israel, fell a-lusting. And the children of Israel also wept again and said, who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish which we did eat in Egypt freely, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic. They're lusting after what? The Egyptian delicacies. They want to go right back into Egypt again. Look at verse 6, but now our soul is dried away. There was nothing at all beside this manna before our eyes. And the manna was a coriander seed and the color thereof is the color of Delium. And the people went about and gathered it and ground it in mills or beat it in a mortar and baked it in pans and made cakes of it. And the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil. Now Jesus, what did he say in John chapter 6? Well, he made it pretty clear that this symbolizes him. That he is that manna that came down from heaven that God used in order to feed the children of Israel in the wilderness. And if you're paying attention notice that in Numbers chapter 11 God's manna isn't enough for them. They're whining. They're complaining. They want to go right back into Egypt and there are Christians, unfortunately, it pains me to say this, that are saved and yet they're not satisfied with God's manna. They're right in the world. They're right back in Egypt, just gorging themselves on the Egyptian delicacies, the melons, the leeks, etc. that it talks about in Numbers chapter number 11. Christians today not satisfied with God's manna. They're not satisfied with God's manna. They're looking to the world to satisfy their fleshly lusts. Now turn to Numbers chapter 14. This was a problem Let me go there with you. Numbers chapter 14. This was a problem with the children of Israel in the wilderness. And remember, what did the Bible say about this manna? I forgot to mention this. What did the Bible say about the manna? Jesus was beaten. Well, Jesus Christ was beaten. He was battered for you. Manna was baked. Jesus went to hell to pay the penalty for your sins. What a shame for you not to be satisfied with his word after he accomplished that for your salvation. Numbers 14 says in verse 4, here the same problem pops up again. It says in verse 4, and they said one to another, let us make a captain and let us return into Egypt. So they're not satisfied with God's manna. They're not satisfied with God's leadership. They want to go back into Egypt again. And this reminds me of the Jews. You know, Jesus said, I mean, obviously they derived from the tribe of Judah, but Jesus said in John chapter 5, I am coming in my father's name and you receive me not. If another should come in his own name, him ye will receive. They wanted, not the captain that God gave them, they wanted someone else. This assures the Jews didn't want Jesus Christ. They want a different captain. The captain they're going to get is the Antichrist, by the way. I believe that's who he's referring to in John chapter 5. So we see that the children of Israel rejected God's manna. They rejected God's leadership. You know, Christians are doing the same thing today when they stay at home and watch football all day. When they stay at home and eat Cheetos off their chest and play World of Warcraft instead of going to church. Get your rear-end in church. This country's burning around us. What are you doing sitting on your hands doing nothing? But they'd rather be in Egypt. They'd rather eat the melons. They'd rather eat those Egyptian, like I've been saying, those Egyptian delicacies. Head over back to Philippians chapter 2. Here's what I'm trying to explain, folks. What was the purpose of the nation of Israel at this time? To be a light to lighten the Gentiles. And why did God get so angry with them murmuring? Because if they were a bunch of complainers and whiners and murmurers, then how could they be a light to the Gentiles? It would dim their light. The same is true for the spiritual Israel today. Be satisfied with the words of God in your life, even if you don't have an impressive bank account. Even if you don't have the toys that you'd like. That Ferrari, you can just Google a picture of it that's the closest you'll get. Even if you don't have the giant home, six, seven, eight bedrooms with the mansion, you can get a mansion in heaven. You might not have those materialistic things in your life but be satisfied with what God has given you. Be satisfied with this, with God's manna. There are countries on this earth where this is illegal and yet it collects dust on the night stands of some Christian home. What a shame. Philippians 2, we're back there, look at verse 14. Again, I'm deriving my points from this chapter. It says, do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless, meaning above reproach, and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom ye shine as lights in the world. How do we shine? Avoid whining, avoid complaining, avoid disputings, murmurings and instead be grateful for what God has given you. Be thankful. Thankfulness in America, I believe, is a rarity. Say, what do you mean by that? Well, people celebrate Thanksgiving. What did they do the very next day? They go trample over themselves at Best Buy to go get a half-price TV set. People die on Black Friday, folks. Literally. They die. The next day after Thanksgiving. Anyway, I don't want to go down that rabbit hole. Folks, be thankful. Have gratitude in your life. Be thankful for your home. You say, well, you know, it's kind of broken down. Hey, be thankful you have a roof over your head. Be thankful for your job. Be thankful for your health. You have good health. Be thankful for your meals, the food that you put on the table every night for your family. Be thankful that you have something to eat. There are nations where skipping a meal is normal. That's just a way of life. That's how it is there. Be thankful for your friends. Be thankful for your children. Be thankful for your family. Be thankful for your spouse. And ultimately, how about this? Be thankful for your salvation. Be thankful that you're saved while the majority of this entire world is going to hell. Let me just get something off my chest real quickly. You know who are the most annoying church members? As a layman, you know, I've gone to several churches, you know, in my life. Not too many. Mostly steadfast. But some of the most annoying church members I've gone to church with are who? The murmurers. The whiners. Nothing's ever good enough for them. They just got to nitpick every little thing about the church. Nitpick every little thing that the church does. Instead of just getting on board, being a team player, just got to complain about everything. And there are people who every single church they go to is not good enough for them. I mean, if the church disagrees with them on who the two witnesses are, all bets are off. They're not going. Doesn't matter how minute the doctrine is. If they disagree with even 1% of the doctrine, they'll badmouth the church. They won't be a team player. They won't get on board. And those are the worst kind of church members to be around. Thankfully, that's not an issue here, but this is more preventative. But my point still remains the same. Don't be a murmurer. Don't be a whiner. Be thankful for your church. Don't be the guy that's going around complaining behind the pastors. Pastor preaches too long. Why does he go over an hour every week? He preaches too long. Why does he mention Manley Perry again? I think Manley Perry's staying. He's a brother in Christ. Go ask brother Camery about Manley Perry. He can educate you a little bit on that fake church that doesn't even post their sermons online. People say, how come I'm not preaching? I want to preach. I've got to listen to Duncan and Ben. Why are the laymen preaching today? I don't like it. Look, don't let the door hit you where the Lord split you. Look, this is how it is. This is a steadfast Baptist church. Don't be somebody who just nitpicks the church. Where else are you going to go? And look, there's old IFB. I'm not saying there isn't... Let me just be clear. You can serve God at old IFB churches in Texas in the DFW area. There are good churches in this city. Don't take what I'm saying out of context. But my point is, think of what... We basically agree on everything. Look, you might have a different view on a particular chapter in the Bible or whatever and you might argue with me about it and I might beat you in that argument and that's fine. Okay, that's no problem, right? I'm just kidding, by the way. Sometimes I'm wrong. Just not all the time. But here's the point. Folks, we agree with... Okay, let's say this. At worst, you probably agree with what? 95% of the doctrine at steadfast Baptist church. Why be a murmurer and a whiner and a complainer and focus so heavily on the 5% that you disagree with? Probably, you know, it's secondary doctrine anyway. How about you be thankful that you go to a church that's sound on doctrine, that hates sin? How about you go to a church with strong leadership? Think of everything that we've gone through as a church and we've had strong leadership as the backbone of this church from the very first day that he became the pastor. Be grateful for the fellowship. Be grateful for the soul-winning program. Be grateful for the Bible preaching. Be grateful for the strong leadership. Be grateful for the sound doctrine. Hey, be grateful that you go to a church that is hated by the scum of the earth. Be thankful for that. Hey, why don't you leap for joy? Why don't you rejoice that this place is hated? It means we're doing something right like Duncan said. You know, we ought to be coming into church, you know, we walk into church every Sunday morning, we ought to be going, woohoo! This is great! They hate us! I love it! Bring it on! Hate me some more. I know you can. Alright, here's my last point. My fourth point is this. Go back to Philippians 2 if you're not there. Philippians 2 verse 16 is what we're going to look at. My final point is this and then I'll wrap it up. Broadcast the truth. Broadcast the truth. Obviously when people hear this word, they're thinking of what, like a radio broadcast or a television broadcast or something to that effect. But what I'm talking about is just in general disseminating the truth. Information. Promulgating information. Look at Philippians 2 verse 16. It says, holding forth the word of life that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain. You know what would make Paul rejoice? When it comes to the Philippians, the saints at Philippi would make him rejoice when he sees them serving God. And the same is true for your pastor. You know what makes him happy? You know what makes him rejoice? You know what makes him feel like he's not doing all this in vain when he sees you serving God? And when he sees you broadcasting the truth? And you know when I see that phrase here in verse 16, holding forth the word of life, this is what I'm thinking. Holding forth the word of life as we go soul winning. Holding forth the very words of God in this King James Bible. Holding forth the word of life and knocking doors and explaining to people how to be saved, that it's by grace through faith alone. Sharing the love of God with the community out there, the darkness out there, being lights in the community of Hearst, Texas by holding forth the word of God and knocking on doors trying to make sure people understand what it takes to get to heaven. Let's look at 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Every time you knock a door with your King James Bible in hand, you're holding forth the words of life and you're helping someone understand what it takes to be saved. The Bible says, and we're about to read it, that the devil has blinded the minds of them which believe not. We're going to read that scripture. I want you to see it. You know, the Bible says, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 verse 3, it says, But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You know, the devil, what has he done? He's blinded the minds of them which believe not, which is why when you go out soul-winning, you notice everyone gives the exact same answer, don't they? Pretty much the same thing. They're just like NPC, and I don't try to make fun of them. You know, the Bible says that for we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived. Okay, we used to be in that state. But again, you know, they all give the same answer that it's by works, you've got to be a good person to get to heaven, and they're relying on a faithful soul-winner, knocking on their door and giving them the light of what? The gospel. To help brighten some of this darkness that we're surrounded by. The darkness of this world, folks, it bounds them in hopelessness. You know, when I was really into politics, I felt hopeless. When all I had was the Alex Jones show, I felt absolutely hopeless. I felt completely hopeless. I felt like there was nothing, there's no remedy. I just lost all hope until I got saved, and then everything changed. See, the light of the gospel, it breaks people free from that bondage of hopelessness. It breaks people free from that bondage of understanding that, you know, they're going to hell when they die. But it breaks people free from that bondage, that fear of the second death. You know, we can let our lights shine by sharing the gospel with anybody who's willing to hear it, and that's what we do at every single soul-winning time. You want to shine, show up at the soul-winning time. You want to shine, open your mouth boldly and preach the gospel. You want to shine, you want to be a light to this dark area, this dark world that we live in. Go preach the gospel. But it's not just the gospel. I'll read for you this in Matthew chapter 10, it says, What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what you hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Folks, it's not just the gospel that we ought to be broadcasting. How about this? All of the truths of God's word from Genesis to Revelation in season, out of season. And how do we do it? Well, we take advantage of the technologies that we have at our disposal in 2021, the technologies that can be used for evil, but we use them for good. What am I talking about? I'm talking about YouTube. I'm talking about social media. I'm talking about the internet. You know, some people ask this question, Why do you guys upload your sermon? You guys got to post your sermons online, huh? Why don't you just preach it only to the congregation? Well, here, let me answer that question for you. Maybe you misunderstood Matthew 10, 27. Let's read it again. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light, and what you hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. Jesus said to preach on the housetops. So we ought to find every available medium that we can to brainwash people with what? The word of God. And I mean that literally, to wash their mind, to wash their brain, which has been filled with the filth of this world and the smut of this world. Let's wash them with what? The words of God, with Bible preaching coming from men of God all over this nation, from Pastor Anderson to Pastor Mejia to Pastor Jimenez and others, who are utilizing the internet to preach from the housetops. And I endorse that 100%. You know, to those who say, Well, why do you guys upload your sermons? What's the point of that? Again, preach from the housetops. Paul said this, Thou hast fully known my doctrine. Thou hast fully known my doctrine. We ought to use every available medium. Paul would have been on the internet if it was available at that time. I believe it. He would have used that platform. And folks, we use the internet as a platform to reach the masses. How many of you got saved from online? That's a pretty sizable portion of the congregation. And by the way, myself included. We use that platform for what? To reach the masses, to get people saved, to change people's lives. One YouTube video which featured the gospel, you know, one sermon even, it might have been one sermon that changed someone's life and got them outdoor knocking and got them serving the Lord with their life. You know, leftists are using social media platforms to defile the minds of young children in America and to defile the minds of those people who are living in this country, who are around the world. They're using social media, leftists are to defile. They're using social media to indoctrinate people with their doctrine, their false religion of libtardism which emanates from the devil himself. They're using that platform themselves. I say we jump into that warfare. I say that we jump right in and we shine in that darkness and we red pill as many people as possible in the process. I love it. I love that we're online. Think of the documentaries, the sodomite deception. You know what Pastor Anderson said? I'll go ahead and reveal it. I don't know if he wants to, but I'll say it anyway. He said it made him hate sodomites even more. This is Stephen L. Anderson. What do you think it did to your average Joe who watched that documentary? Think of New World Order Bible versions which got people to switch over to the right Bible. Think of Marching to Zion which got people to understand that the Jews are not God's chosen people. Think of all these documentaries that have gone viral and we're working on a King James Bible documentary which I'm really excited about. Think of the podcast, the Rod of Iron podcast and how that brings in a whole new segment that has been largely untouched and we're working on a podcast for this church as well, The Baptist Bias which I'm really excited about and we're going to use that as a mechanism to bring in people who otherwise would have never listened to our preaching. We ought to use these platforms that we have to shout from the house tops the truth of God's word. Go to Ephesians 5 and we'll be done. Ephesians 5 is the last place I'm going to have you turn. You want to shine in that darkness, support the ministries that are actually shining, that are using the mediums that they have at their disposal to shine the light. Ephesians 5 says this, we'll be done right here, I'm done. Ephesians 5 says in verse 6, Hey, you were sometimes darkness when you were unsaved. You were sometimes darkness when you didn't understand what the gospel of Jesus Christ really was, but now you're light in the Lord. The Bible says you have been designated as light in the Lord. Don't take that and just sort of dismiss it. Excuse the pun, but don't take that lightly. So here's what I want from you. I want you to fear God. I want you to fear God. You want to shine, you fear God. I want you to avoid murmurings and disputings. In addition to that, let me find it here. I want you to be a doer of the word. And again, avoid murmurings and disputings, but in addition to that, I want you to broadcast the truth. That's how you shine in a crooked and perverse nation. Folks, it's going to get darker and darker. It's going to continue to just go, we're going down the wrong path. We're going down the wrong trajectory and I implore you, if you're going down the wrong path, if you're going down the wrong trajectory and I implore you as we live in 2021 America to the best of our ability, I implore you to do this simply. It's just one word. That's all I want you to take from this sermon. If you haven't been paying attention for the entire sermon, just pay attention to this right now. John, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this church that we have and I pray that you would help us to shine, Lord, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation. I pray, Lord, that even though it's getting darker out there, that you would enable us to shine brighter than we've ever shined before by doing the things that are described in Philippians chapter 2. And Lord, I just pray that you bless this church and protect it from its enemies. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for the sermon. Brother Ben, let's go ahead and take out our white handout again. You should have one out in your seat in front of you. We're going to sing a holy, holy, holy. Again, that's holy, holy, holy. It should be in your white handout. Sing it all together on the first. Holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, early in the morning, our song shall rise to thee. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints adore thee, casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea. Jerubim and Seraphim, falling bound before thee, which word and art and evermore shall be. Holy, holy, holy, though the darkness hide thee, though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see, only thou art holy, there is none beside thee. Perfect and love and purity. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea. Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty, God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Amen. Thank you all for being here tonight. God bless. You are dismissed.