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

Alright, we're here in Psalm chapter 52, and this is a pretty short chapter, probably won't be the longest sermon that we have here, but the name of the sermon is The Wicked God and the Safe. The Wicked God and the Safe. And so, point number one, let's start with the wicked, and the Bible says here in verse number one, Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Now, first thing we need to understand is, what is the saying, why boastest thou thyself in mischief? Now, to boast is to brag. Someone who's my Yahweh would just talk about how great they are, but what are they boasting about? They're boasting in mischief. Well, what is mischief, biblically? Let's just run a couple verses here. Go to Genesis 42, Genesis 42, Genesis chapter 42, and this is something you've got to read over without really thinking about what the Bible's saying, and let's just see what the word mischief means in the Bible, because sometimes words that we have in our modern day, our modern day vernacular, are not quite the same as what they are in the Bible, because I've heard people say things like, well, so-and-so's a mischievous person, and it's just kind of like a laughing or joking sort of thing. They're full of mischief, but biblically speaking, that's not really something to joke about. Notice what it says in Genesis 42, verse 37. And Reuben spake unto his father, saying, Slay my two sons, if I bring him not to thee. Deliver him into my hand, and I will bring him to thee again. And he said, My son shall not go down with you, for his brother is dead, and he is left alone. If mischief befall him by the way in which ye go, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. And he's saying, I don't want to send my other son, because his brother is dead, referring to Joseph, which of course is not actually true, but he's saying that if I send Benjamin, if mischief befall him by the way. What is that saying? If he happens to die along the journey, like he thinks that Joseph died along the journey. So when he's saying mischief, he's saying, if he happens to die along the way. That's what's being referenced here in this verse. Go to Psalm chapter seven, Psalm seven. This word appears many times in the Bible, you can look it up, and every single time it's very strong, it's very dark, it's not really a word that you're used to joke about with someone. It's not a joking word whatsoever. It's a very strong word. The Bible says in Psalm seven verse 11, God judges the righteous and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turned not, he will wet his sword, he hath bent his bow and made it ready. He hath also prepared from the instruments of death, he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity and hath conceived mischief and brought forth falsehood. He made a pit and digged it and has fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pain. The Bible is saying these wicked people, they want to be violent toward other people, and it says his mischief is going to return upon his own head. So basically he's plotting out destruction and death towards others. Think of Haman. Haman planned mischief against Mordecai and against all the Jews, and what took place? It happened to him, just like the Bible is saying right here. So we're seeing mischief, a synonym for mischief in the Bible is death. Another synonym is destruction. Every time you look it up in the Bible, it is a very, very, very strong one. Okay, so go back to Psalm 52 with that in mind. Psalm chapter 52 verse one, and it says in Psalm 52 verse one, why boastest thou thyself and mischief, O mighty man? What is the Bible saying here? It's saying these strong and powerful and mighty people, they are bragging about destroying other people. They're bragging about causing destruction. They're bragging about harming and violence and killing other people. They think it's a joke. That's what the Bible is saying. Now, this is something that's kind of hard to believe because you're getting an inside picture of the mind of a reprobate, someone who doesn't have a conscience, and what they find funny, what they joke about, what they enjoy is the exact opposite of the thing that we would enjoy. The Bible is saying they brag about it. They think it's funny. You know, there's many examples you could have. I know that there's a really old video of Hillary Clinton for my 40 years ago or something, and she was a lawyer when her and Bill Clinton got married, and I guess she had overseen some case where, you know, somebody was wrongfully accused or something like that, and, you know, this woman, some of the involvement in like a rape situation, she was like joking about it like it was no big deal, but see, that's the violent people. That's filled full of mischief, you know, out of their own mouth that kind of shows what's inside their heart. They don't care about other people. They just want to be powerful themselves, and a lot of rich and famous politicians, you'll see them sometimes, and they'll say things that are like really inappropriate and then we should realize, wait a minute, they're not really joking. They just accidentally let it slip what's really inside their hearts, and they literally boast about mischief that they've caused. You know, one great example I have of this is many years ago when my wife and I first got married, I had a friend of mine that recommended a documentary on YouTube, and he half recommended it and half not because he said there's nothing, you know, too graphic in it, and it's really eye-opening, but it's tough to watch, and the documentary was done by this very conservative guy, and I'm not saying I would do what this guy did. This guy doesn't believe exactly like we do about the LGBT, but what he did is he went to gay bars, and he pretended to be gay in order to interview gay people. Now I would not do this. There was nothing in the documentary that was graphic, and I certainly wouldn't do this, but he's interviewing gay people when they're drunk to get what their inside thoughts are because basically off the record, they'll admit things that they would never admit on the record. Now this is something, I watched it once, and my wife also watched it the whole time we're just like, you know, but it was very eye-opening, so, you know, it's kind of, you know, I wouldn't really recommend it, but I'm kind of glad that I saw it just because it really showed what's in their heart, and literally as he's interviewing these gay people, they are bragging about harm that they did to little kids. I mean literally some made jokes like, man, if the police knew this, then I would be arrested, and like to them, it was, you know, the younger the better was like more they were bragging about, and it's like, why boastest thou thyself in mischief, right? I mean boasting about violence, boasting about something that's wicked, that's exactly what they were doing. In fact, in the documentary, the guy went into it thinking lowly of the LGBT, but he was shocked. Like probably through the documentary, he stopped and said, you know, I'm amazed. He's like every single one of these homos has admitted they got molested as a little kid. And he wasn't expecting this. I mean, he came a lot closer to us on the reprobated doctrine, you know, via his own personal experience, but they were boasting in mischief, boasting in wickedness. As a safe person, let's say you did something bad. Let's say you got drunk and you were driving and you crashed into someone and they died. Would you boast about that? And let me tell you about the time I got drunk and accidentally killed somebody. Why was that funny? I mean, I feel ashamed for small things I've done. Isn't that true? When you do something wrong, like you tell a lie to someone or maybe you made a joke that offended someone or you gossip about someone, something small like that and you feel bothered by it, you have a guilty conscience and it's like, but they literally boast in mischief. They boast in destruction. They want to cause harm to people and they enjoy that. They think it's funny. In fact, go to Romans one, it's not in my notes, so let me turn to myself. Romans chapter one. I mean, even on a smaller level, when the Bible says fools make a mock at sin, so look, you know, I wouldn't brag about any sins I've committed. It's not something to be proud of. It's not, it's not something to say, you know, think that it's funny. Like it's no big deal. Like, man, these are the things I did when I was younger. You should be ashamed of it. You should be embarrassed about it. Look, all of us have done things that are wrong, obviously, but we shouldn't be boasting about it. You know, it kind of reminds me of repentance preachers that will stand behind the pulpit and they'll boast about the sins they committed in the past. Why was the worst of sinners? Let me tell you the stories that I got about what I did before I was saved. Yeah, you know, honestly, I wasn't the worst of sinners before I was saved. I don't have any stories about, you know, getting in drunk and going to jail and doing all these stupid things, doing drugs. Man, I almost died of a drug overdose. Why would you brag about that? But I've heard Baptist pastors bragging about the repentance of sin preachers about the sins they committed as if it's something to glorify. But yet, you know, living a holy life is something that you should be happy with. But Romans 1, notice what it says in verse 32. Who knowing the judgment of God, and this is referencing people that are reprobate. It's referencing people in Romans 1 32. It's still the same context. People that are reprobate, people that are done. And the Bible says in Romans 1 verse 32, who knowing the judgment of God. They're aware that this is wrong. They're aware what the Bible says. Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death. Not only do the same, but notice this, but have pleasure in them that do them. Isn't it true the LGBT world wants everybody to become a homo? And be just as filthy and just as sinful and just as wicked as them. They want everybody else to drown in their own misery because they live the worst possible life and they don't enjoy their lives. They can act like they do, but they don't. They hate their lives and they want to bring down other people. They want other people to live miserable and sinful lives just like them because it's going to make them feel better. It's going to make them feel more justified. Look, a homo would want nothing more than people like us to go out and get drunk and live a licentious lifestyle. That's what they want. They don't like it when people are living a godly life because when we live a godly life, it shines on how wicked and evil they actually are. And the Bible says that they take pleasure in them that do them. That's the truth. They want other people to live the same sinful and wicked lives just like they do. Go back to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. Why would somebody boast in mischief? There's only one reason. They're a bad person. Why would you boast about destruction you've caused? If you accidentally killed someone and it's a joke, man, let me tell you about what happened. I accidentally killed this guy. I mean, it's absurd that anyone would find that funny. But they do. They boast about us. They brag about us. It's for people that are bad people. It's like a competition. Who's worse? You did this. Let me tell you what I did. Right. That's what's in their mind. And you know, whenever you talk about reprobates in the book of Psalms talks about it a lot. I'm not just obsessed with this topic. We're going chapter by chapter. And that's the context. But it never fully makes sense because we don't have that mind. Right. I mean, it's hard to understand this. It's hard to get it to make sense because, like, we don't think like that. Because the Bible says these people, their conscience is seared. They don't feel bad about anything they've done. They boast about their destruction or someone who, let's say, and I'm not saying every single scam artist is a reprobate. What do you think about people that steal money from other people? Scam artists? There's probably a good chance a lot of them are bad people. And they might brag about, man, I've got $50,000 from this person. Why have I got $80,000? It's like a competition. Like, who are you scammed or something like that? Why would you brag about something like that unless you're a bad person? But it's interesting in verse one. Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? The goodness of God endureth continually. Now, what does the goodness of God have to do with people boasting about destruction and murder and violence? Now, here's the thing. Is the Bible saying, you know what? Don't tell anybody anymore because God's so good. God's so loving. And just telling people God is loving is going to turn them into loving God. They've got a God-sized hole in the shape of a heart. Whatever they say, right? Only God can fail. They've got a spot of happiness. They're never going to be complete unless God fills their heart with joy. It's just like, you know, quit murdering people because God's good. It's like, quit raping people. God is good. And that's going to turn those people to being saved and loving God. I mean, does that make any sense? I mean, do you really think Jeffrey Dahmer, this is why you should stop killing people because God is good. God is love. God is grace. And at that moment, Jeffrey Dahmer believed on Jesus and became the greatest. I mean, does that make any sense? Because someone who's boasting and bragging about being an evil person, and then you say, but you know, God is good, so you shouldn't do that. That would not cause them to change what they're doing. If somebody's boasting about murder, they don't all of a sudden develop a guilty conscience when you say, but God is good. Oh, man, I would have never killed anybody if I knew God was good. But isn't that the mindset of the non-denominational movement in 2023? Just talk about the good, the good, the good, the good, the good. What does the Bible say? What is the goodness of God according to this chapter? Now, we are still talking about the wicked, so I'm only going to quickly show you this, and we'll talk about this more when we talk about God. But when you say what the goodness of God is, it's found in verse 5. God so likewise destroy thee forever. You say, Brother Stuckey, how is that good if he's destroying someone? It's good to me. If you love God, it's good to you. I mean, if a rapist dies, good. That's great. If a murderer dies, good. I mean, we're talking about violent, wicked, evil people. And look, you know what? This world would be a much, much safer and better place if these people didn't exist. Look, when it comes to our church, our church is filled with a lot of families with young kids. Look, young kids are not able to defend themselves. It's a dangerous world. And they don't fully understand this. The other day, my son, Zeph, was with my wife at the grocery store. And one of the workers there was a homosexual, and he was talking to Zeph. My wife was at my wife's side and basically pulled him to say, hey, I don't want to... And my son didn't fully understand, because I've told my son many times, these are bad people. But of course, he's too young to understand this sort of stuff that I'm not even going to explain him at this point, right? So he doesn't fully get it. The young kids, they don't fully get it. The young kids that are in church, they just don't fully get how bad these people are. They cannot understand it. And honestly, I don't think we can fully understand it. We see what the Bible says, but it's hard to believe. Because someone who puts a smile on their face, you assume that they're nice. They act nice, they talk nice, and yet they know these groups of people. And we don't always know, but sometimes it's obvious, and it's like, we've got to just trust what God says. And these people, violence is in their hearts. Violence is in their minds. The Bible says, God shall likewise destroy you forever. So God says he's going to destroy these people. And look, that's part of the goodness of God. Because if God is good to young kids, that means you have to destroy those that are harming them. You can't love the flowers and love the weeds. You love little kids, and you love those that are harming them. And here's the reality. There's people in this world, and they don't understand his doctrine, the reprobate doctrine. And they're in a tough situation because something maybe horrible has happened to them. And they have a feeling that they should forgive. And they're thinking, I know I should forgive. The Bible says, forgive no matter what. And in reality, I mean, with really bad people, it's like, actually, someone like Jeffrey Dahmer is a great example. And if somebody's family was destroyed because of what he did, it's just like, yeah, that guy's an evil person. No, you don't have to forgive that person. He's a bad person. Right? And the Bible says that God's goodness included in that is God's destruction of bad people. There's nothing about, well, God's goodness, so please don't do anything bad because God loves you and he's got a wonderful plan for your life. Jeffrey Dahmer, God loves you and he has a wonderful plan for your life. It's like, step one, you leave on Jesus and then you'll never want to kill anybody ever again. It's just like, that's ridiculous. That's not what the Bible teaches. Verse number two is it talks about these people. We're still with the wicked here in verse two. We're not talking about God yet. Verse two, because basically that phrase was kind of an aside. The goodness of God endured continually. It picks up with God several verses later. But verse two, the tongue deviseth mischief. This is, of course, the wicked person. His tongue deviseth mischief. And so he's coming up with, he's planning out destruction. The tongue deviseth mischief. Then it says like a sharp razor working deceitfully. Now, I intentionally did not shave tonight. Okay? Now sometimes I'm too lazy to shave, but I intentionally did not shave because, you know, some of the notes were talking about a razor, so it just makes it, you know, easier to explain. And you know what? When it comes to people that are men, you know, it depends on who you are. Not everybody grows facial hair. I have to shave at least a few times a week. For me, it's like this is, I think, three days, and then it's like this. I don't like facial hair personally. I wish I never had to shave, but a lot of people wish that they could have a beard. I wish I never grew any facial hair personally. Right? But, you know, it's, I have to shave. Otherwise, it'll get long. It'll get itchy and everything like that. But you have to realize that when the Bible was written, I mean, when the book of Psalms was written, they did have razors. But they didn't have the same razors that we have today that you buy in a grocery store for 50 pesos that easily is going to shave. What they had for razors were actually very sharp and more dangerous objects than what we have today. Nowadays, it's very easy. Now, all of us that are men that have shaved before, you have those times where you accidentally cut yourself. Right? And then you feel this sharp pain, and then all of a sudden, you know, the blood starts coming down. You've got to realize these razors are a lot sharper and a lot bigger than just a small little razor you get at a grocery store that's probably not going to cause you that much harm. And the Bible's saying, and, you know, this is a strong term the Bible's doing, because if you're like me, I don't like the thought of sharp objects. But violent people, it's like they take pleasure in more gruesome forms of destruction. Right? Like, I never understood people that, you know, before I would say, it's like, I've always hated horror movies. I don't understand the appeal of them. A lot of people like them, but it's just like the gruesome violence. I don't understand the entertainment that I've never understood it. Before I say it, I never liked movies like that. But you think of sharp objects, it's just kind of, I just don't like the thought of them. But with evil people, the more destruction, the better. And they said their tongue is like a sharp razor, devising mischief, devising destruction, coming up with and planning out destruction, planning out deceit, planning out harm to other people. I mean, it's like, why would anybody sit around and try to come up with ways to cause harm? Well, that's what the Bible says that many people do. And this is something you've just got to take by faith. This is what the Bible says, and it's true. The Bible says in verse 3, thou loveth evil more than good. Why would you like evil more than good? We sin, but we feel bad about it. Right? If I get to the end of my day and I've had a very clean mind and a clean heart and I've read the Bible and I've prayed to God and I've meditated upon God, man, I go to bed and I feel great. And you wake up the next morning and you feel great. Like, man, I... Because, you know, it's tough. There's days that you go to bed and you don't have a clear conscience. You feel bad, you haven't been thinking about God, you started to get worldly or whatever. But when you go to bed with a clean conscience, there's not a better feeling. You know, if you're living for God, it's going to put you in a good mood and makes you happy. If you know these things, happier you eat if you do them, the Bible says. But there's people that love to do evil more than good. They get to the end of the day and it's like, man, I didn't lie to anybody today. I didn't steal money from anybody. I didn't harm anybody. And they feel bad if they haven't caused harm. They literally... I mean, the Bible speaks about... I don't have it in my notes and I'm going to misquote this, but it says that when they're on their beds, it's like if they haven't done harm, like it bothers them. And it's like, that's what these people are. They want to do harm. The more harm, the better. I mean, it's crazy, but they love evil more than good. And lying rather than to speak righteousness, they love it. Look, obviously everybody's lying. God be true with every man a liar. But people lie because they want to cover something up, right? But for bad people, they want to lie because they want to deceive people and harm people. And these people, they love evil more than good and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Go back to Romans 1. Actually, I do have it in my notes. I forgot about that. So we'll go back to Romans 1. Romans 1. Now, I'll give you my opinion as we're turning to Romans 1, because in the book of Psalms, you have a lot of references to violent people and to evil people. And these are references to people that are reprobates, okay? But, you know, throughout the Old Testament, as it often talks about reprobates, there's not really the indication that it's referring to homosexuals. Now, I do believe that homosexuals are reprobates, but I also believe that you can be a reprobate without having done that sort of thing. Now, Romans 1 specifically will talk about homosexuals as it talks about the downward progression of violence. But I think of like false prophets, I think a lot of false prophets, they may have never committed those sorts of sins. They just did evil things in other ways. And the book of Psalms, I think that as well, you know, it doesn't really indicate that these people are just open homeowners, just violent and bad people, right? And so I believe that when you're looking at the LGBT agenda, it's like a modern day plague, right? Because the percentage is skyrocketing. But it's not like no reprobates existed 50 years ago. I mean, there's a lot of people that would have rejected God, but the LGBT agenda specifically. So I think honestly, in most times in human history, the majority of reprobates were not homosexuals. But in today's world, I would not say that's the case, because the LGBT skyrocketing, it's like all of them. Now, of course, here's the thing. If you are a reprobate, if you're a child of the devil, you are filled with unrighteousness. You have no conscience. So anything could be possible. That is certainly true. It doesn't necessarily mean that you're going to go down every single road. I preached before several years ago, I was talking about in the book of Jude, how it talks about three types of reprobates. It talks about Cain, it talks about Balaam, and it talks about Korah. And what Cain represents is the violent psychopath. I mean, he murdered his brethren. But I also don't see an indication of Cain being a homosexual in the Bible, either. But he certainly is a reprobate. I don't think anyone would question that. Same thing with Balaam. It's all about money or Judas Iscariot, but you don't really see any sign that they're homeless. And so that's my opinion. You can agree or disagree, but obviously all reprobates are consciously seared. Romans 1 specifically, though, talks about that downward progression. And it talks about homos in the verses before this. But notice verse 29, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, whispers. And here's the thing. When it says that they're unrighteous, you say, well, Brother Saki, that everybody's unrighteous. There's an unrighteous known all one. Yeah, but they're filled with all unrighteousness. You see, Brother Saki, a lot of people committed fornication, but they are filled with fornication. See, when it says filled with all, it's saying filled with unrighteousness, filled with all of these things that are going to proceed afterwards. Filled with wickedness, filled with covetousness. All of us, I'm sure, have been covetous. But it doesn't mean that we're filled with it. Filled full of maliciousness. It says full of envy. All of us have been envy, but are we full of envy? Murder. I mean, they're full of murder. I mean, anger at someone without a cause. But I doubt and I hope nobody in this room has killed anyone before. They're filled with this. So this is part of their nature of what they can do. They have no problem with killing someone to get something that they want. Full of debate. Debate is not a good thing, right? You know, debating and just arguing back and forth. It's not really a good thing at 45. Deceit, which means lying, malignity, whispers, backfighters, haters of God. They hate God. The God that made them. The God that created them. The God that gave them life. And they were born with an innate belief in God. And they know that God gave them life. But the problem is, earlier on, when this all starts, it really starts with neither were thankful. They were unthankful for what God gave them. And they got bitter and mad against God. And that's why they went down this road. It's not a matter of evidence. Right? Because this really talks about the homeless. But you can apply it to a lot of things. You know, people worshiping idols and vendors of evil things and vendors of stupid things. Professing themselves to be wise. You think of atheists that reject Christianity and God the Creator for evolution. And they're professing themselves to be wise. They became fools. But it's not about the evidence. It's evolutions. No, no, no. It starts with neither were thankful. They weren't thankful toward God. They got mad at God. And then as a result, they became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened. Because if you look at things like evolution, it's the dumbest thing you could ever come up with. The Big Bang Theory, the dumbest thing. It doesn't matter that half the world believes in this. It doesn't mean that it has any sort of merit whatsoever. It's stupid. I mean, literally, the most basic questions you can ask people that believe in evolution and they can't answer them and then they'll claim that we're stupid. I mean, literally, I've asked people that believe in evolution this question. They don't know how to explain it. I said, well, if the world's four and a half million years old, why is the center of the earth still hot? I've never thought about that before. I mean, usually something cools off. Right? I mean, you put something in the oven and after 10 minutes, it's no longer hot. Right? We've all had that happen. If you drink coffee, you make coffee and then you forget about it. And then 10 minutes later, you take a sip. It's like, ah, you're near it. Right? It says when it's mollygum gum, it's just not tasty. I warned that that were cold or hot. Right? I mean, a cold coffee would be okay. A hot coffee, but the lukewarm. Why is the center of the earth still hot? Well, when God's the one keeping it hot. And here's the thing. If I didn't believe in God, it wouldn't make any sense. You can look at answers online. They don't make sense. They'll try to explain, well, there's chemicals and it's just like, no, God's the one who's keeping it hot for people like you. Right? And it says they hate God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things. I mean inventors of evil things. It's like sometimes the thing that always comes to my mind is just the Catholic methods of torture to people that rejected Catholicism. And the inventors of that were bad people. That's not the only thing it's referencing. But they came up with some crazy things. I remember seeing this list of like the 10 biggest Catholic torture methods as they killed people. And like literally eight of the 10 I was shocked. I was like, I would have never even thought of something like that. The ones that didn't shock me were the crucifixion because we've heard about that a million times. And then one of the other ones is something that's a common thing you hear. The other eight though, I mean, it's just like, how would you even invent something like that? So inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents without understanding covenant breakers. Covenant breakers, they lie. They break covenants, they agree to self, they break it all the time without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful. And you know, the one that really stands out to me the most is just unmerciful. When you think about these evil people, what that could mean. These people, they don't have a conscience. Is it really surprising the group we saw in Psalm 52, which are also reprobates and have their conscience sincere, that they don't feel bad about anything they do. No, but as we saw earlier in verse 32, they have pleasure in them to do the same thing. So here's the thing, what's the Bible saying? If we wake up tomorrow and I know newspapers don't really exist anymore, but we read in the newspaper on our cell phones about, you know, uh, let's say that, that somebody tragically died, right? Let's say there's a fire and a group of people died. We're going to feel compassion. We are going to feel bad. We're going to feel sad. They're the opposite. Maybe in the newspaper somebody died and he thinks it's unusual. It's the exact opposite of us. I mean, that's what the Bible is saying. I mean, like literally for us, if some tragedy happens, you hear about something horrible, somebody gets murdered, it's going to be like, you feel bad, but they're the opposite. They take enjoyment because they have pleasure when these things take place. That's what the Bible is saying. Go back to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. As I said, I mean, it doesn't fully make sense to us because that's not the way we think, but that is what the Bible clearly says about these people. What I would advise is stay away from people like this. I mean, if you know somebody's bad, you wouldn't be anywhere near them. I said it's going to be a short term. We're already 32 minutes in. We're on the first point, so never mind. Anyways, verse 4, Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. So those are the wicked people. Pretty bad what's said about them. Let's talk about God. Verse 5, God shall likewise destroy thee forever. He shall take thee away and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Say that. God is going to destroy these people. That's what the Bible says. Now, let's look at a few verses. Go to Psalm 55. Psalm 55. Anyway, it's not the most pleasant thing to talk about, but the thing is, with the way the world is going, we're only going to see an increase of people like this as we get closer to the end. There's wicked people everywhere. Right? Me and Brother Dante were just talking about this yesterday at the Soul Waning Marathon about how when you have kids at the park, you've got to be careful. And I wish I could just think innocently of random strangers or whatever, and maybe you could in the past, but that's not the world we live in in 2023. I've heard in the United States of America that like 50 years ago, people never locked their front door. They kept their car unlocked because you might accidentally forget your keys. And so they just always kept things unlocked. They never had to worry about anybody stealing anything. Well, that's not the world that we live in in 2023. I know in case this is kind of funny, but this is a true story. This was when I was maybe 20 years old. I was in Utah a couple of summers, helping with Baptist Church and then talking to Mormons all the time. And there was these other guys that were Baptists as well, staying at the pastor's house. And it was right in front of the church. And my one friend, his name was Ian, he had his car or truck out there, I don't remember. And he had just quickly stopped at the church to get something, and less than a couple minutes later, he came out just in a matter of time, and he kept the keys in the car because he's from Arkansas and that's what you do in Arkansas. He came back outside, he came back outside in Mormon land and the car's gone. It had been stolen in just a couple minutes. And they ended up tracking down the car, the police, and there was a CCM Christian rock music playing. Mexican, because they were Mexican people, but Spanish Christian rock music was playing inside the car. So you steal a car and you're like, our God is an awesome God. He gave us a car. Right? I can't even make that up, right? But anyways, we're in Psalm 55, Psalm 55. It's a funny story because he got back in the car, right? He can't even make that up. Psalm 55, verse 21. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. You think of smoother than butter, you think of somebody very charismatic. We're talking about before the service, people that are bad people, charismatic people, false preachers or politicians, and oftentimes their words are smoother than butter. Right? And you think of a stick of butter and it's just like, it's a very unique type of food. You look at it, you can understand the analogy that God is giving. And smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. And what the Bible's actually showing you is if words are too smooth, it might actually make you be like, you know what I mean? Smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. So why are they smoother than butter, pronounced here in the middle? His words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords. Cast thy burden upon the Lord and he shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. But thou, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men, excuse me, bloody and deceitful men shall not live out after days, but I will trust in thee. And the Bible says, these people that are bad people, they're not gonna live out after days. And of course we understand that there are some bad people that live long lives, right? So don't take this verse and say every single one is gonna die when they're 40 years old. But at the same time, when you look at bad people, they often die at a very young age. I don't have the statistics in front of me, but the average lifespan of someone who is a hobo is about half of the average person. They don't live a long life. And sin itself will destroy your life, but you know, bad people, God might just strike them down, just kill them as a result of their sin. The Bible says, bloody and deceitful men, they're not gonna live out after days. So what we're seeing is, God will destroy these people in the pit of destruction. The pit of destruction. And when I think of hell specifically, the Bible refers to it as the bottomless pit. And kind of the indication of the bottomless pit, in my opinion, it's like you're always falling and you're never standing on firm ground. It's not like those in hell are just standing on the ground. It's like a weightlessness environment inside the center of the earth is what I've heard. I'm not an expert at this stuff. So they get the feeling they're always falling, but they're never really standing on anything. So it's like this endless pit of falling, falling, falling, falling, and they're just forever doing that. Right? But they're still just in the center of the earth. The Bible says they're gonna be going into the pit of destruction because the pit is an object that is just really, really deep. Right? Someone falls into a pit. Right? Go to Psalm 73. Psalm 73. Psalm 73. Psalm 73. Psalm 73 verse 16. And here's another example of the destruction of bad people where God destroys people. And here the Psalmist Asaph is saying that, you know, he gets envious at the wicked and then at the end he says, verse 16, when I thought to know this it was too painful for me. He sees the success of bad people. He sees that they seem to have lost me until I went into the sanctuary of God. And I heard that sermon, Your Best Life Now, by Joseph. Is that what the Bible says? Because here's the thing. If you are bothered by all these wicked people then you come to church and they talk about how God loves you no matter what you do. That's not going to fix that feeling inside your heart of being envious. And what's the purpose of serving God? Right? And he says he understood their end. What's the end of these bad people? Destruction, death. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places. Thou castest them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terror? As a dream would one awake itself, O Lord, when thou awakest thou shalt despise the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Thou art the wicked. Now look, I understand there's unsafe people that do bad things, but someone is just a bad person. There's a violent, evil, wicked person, child of the devil. When we see them, it's like, yeah, you know, it should cause feelings of anger toward that person. Like you don't like that person. Say why? Because they are an enemy of God, the Bible says. We shouldn't feel any sense of, well, you know what, I'll just pray for them to get another chance. Right? Those are bad people that boast about killing people. Those are not people that you should have fuzzy feelings about. And look, I don't think every politician is a bad person, but there's a good chance over half of them are, at least a lot of politicians are, and a lot of politicians you know are bad people. If they die, it's not going to make me feel bad. Right? I can think of lots of names that come to my mind, but it's just like, you know, in the U.S. there's Ted Kennedy. Right? He was a bad guy. He was one of the brothers, I think, of JFK, but the man drove his secretary who he's committing adultery with off into the river when he was drunk and then she drowned and then, you know, he crawled to rescue and he didn't even call for help and he stayed a senator after that. It's like, do I feel bad when he died? Of course not. He's a bad person and there are bad people out there. I'm not going to feel bad if something bad happens in it. The Bible says in Romans 12 verse 18, yeah, you preach like this and people say, why, you know, are you telling people to cause violence? Well, what does the Bible say in Romans 12 verse 18? If it be possible, as much as life, then you live peaceably with all men, dearly beloved, avenged not yourself, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, revenge is mine, I will repay save the Lord. We just saw that God will destroy wicked people and look, if you have people that are inside of your life that are bad people, we have to just trust in God. God does not tell us to take this into our own hands. I mean, the world would be a much better place if countries followed what the Bible said and gave out the punishment for bad people like this. That's just not the world that we live in in 2023. No country in the world is going to follow the Bible perfectly, written close to us. And the Bible says, you know what, vengeance belongs unto God. So as a church, here's the thing. We know that there are evil people and we know that they have no hope of being saved. But at our church, it's like, we don't waste our time bothered about that. What do we do? We spend our time going soloing. I'm sure at Astro Park yesterday, there was a lot of bad people in the park, right? I mean, I met some during my soloing time. What do you do? You just kind of ignore them and just talk to those that aren't bad people. You say why? You say why? Because we were left here with the ministry of reconciliation. We're not left with the ministry of, you know, pouring out vengeance to bad people. That's not our place. It's not our job, right? I would never advise people to do that. You're just going to waste your life on something and just leave it in God's hands. Because God says that, you know what, the terrors are going to be among the weak. Bad people are going to be amongst good people and that is the way that God determined it. Now, of course, we shouldn't just blindly live in this world and assume everybody is good. And as I said earlier, you have to be careful in today's world, but vengeance does not belong unto us. Now, turn to your Bible in Genesis chapter seven. Genesis chapter seven. And I'm not going to turn to both these places because, you know, we're already long in time, but I want to show you that as the Bible says, I am the Lord, I change not. God does not change. God's attitude, God's opinion, God's characteristic, God's nature, who he is, it's the same as 6,000 years ago. It's the same today as it was in the days of Noah. What does the Bible say in the days of Noah? Genesis 7 verse 1, And the Lord said unto Noah, Come now and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous performing in this generation. And by the way, on a side point, Noah's whole family was spared not because of their own righteousness, but because of Noah's. He says for thee, singular, have I seen righteous and other places show that in these chapters, his whole family was spared simply because of Noah, the Bible says. And as an individual, you can take that and say, Hey, I preached a sermon at Verity several years ago of the impact you can have on your own family if you're living a righteous life. The Bible says in verse 2, Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and its female, and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and its female, the fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep sea alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. I mean, everybody knows the story of the flood, and yet somehow they say God is love, love, love. I mean, he killed everybody in the world except eight people, and they were saved people that were killed also. I mean, you can't sit here and say God is love, love, love when he flooded the whole world. Well, maybe he changed. I am the Lord, I changed not, the Bible says. And in Genesis 19, he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. I am the Lord, I changed not. When he pours out natural disasters, the judgment of God, I am the Lord, I changed not. At the very end in the book of Revelation, the wrath of God being poured out, at what point did God change? He hasn't changed. God is the same. And the same God that judged by Genesis 7 and Genesis 19 is going to destroy the world with the wrath of God. It's the same God today. And God can and will pour his vengeance out on bad people. But it's not in our hands. Go in your Bible back to Psalm 52. You know, I think that the song we sing in our hymnal, you know, yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. All may change, but Jesus never glory to his name. God doesn't change. God is the same. No, we change. I mean, we go up and down, but you know, God is the same. It's the exact same from the very beginning to today, to the future. Point number one, the wicked. Point number two, God. Point number three, what about the saved? God's going to destroy these people, but what about us? Notice what it says in verse six, the righteous also shall see. See what? See the destruction of the wicked. In fear. Now, not fear being destroyed themselves if they're righteous, but fear that, hey, this is, you know, we ought to have a healthy fear and respect for God. The righteous also shall see and fear and shall laugh at him. Look, if Richard Dawkins dies tonight, it will give me feelings of joy. The guy who is the most outspoken atheist that has mocked pedophilia, that has mocked the Bible. If he dies tonight, I'm not going to have, oh man, I wish, I wish he could have heard the gospel. I wish he could have given the gospel before he died, before he died. I remember there was a many years ago, there was this, this, uh, creation evolution of Satan. As I said earlier, I'm not for debating because the Bible talks about Romans one, but I always find those interesting. And they had, um, was it Bill Nye, the science guy, whatever his name is in real life. Maybe his name is Bill Nye, I'm not sure. Like he had this kid show of science and he's a hardcore evolutionist, doesn't believe in God and everything like that. And he's debating some creationist. And I remember, you know, I went to church the next day and the debate happened. Everybody watched it, you know, pretty much. And then I remember, you know, making like some sort of joke about Bill Nye or whatever. And then people are just, just like, oh, you know, you really ought to pray for him. It's like the guy who mocks God, he's a bad person. Oh, you really ought to pray for him. Pray for Richard Dawkins. Pray for Vice Plumbings. Just pray for these people. It's like, I have a million things to pray for in my life. And you know, if anything, why not pray for someone that's not wicked, but just pray for this evil person. It's like, man, Christians need to read their entire Bible and understand what the Bible says. Because the Bible says, shall laugh at him. Look, if Richard Dawkins in December slips out a piece of ice and falls in the back of his head and dies, I'm going to laugh at it. I'm just being honest. I'll laugh. I'll think it's funny. I'll think it's great. It's going to remind me of Psalm 73. God sent me to slippery places. It's not going to make me feel bad. No, I'm not going to take joy if a random person happens and passed away this abnormal person. I wouldn't take any joy in a normal, unsafe person dying because I do want them to hear the gospel. But if someone's a bad person, it's not going to bother me at all. It's going to make me happy. Why? Because they're evil. They're wicked. If some pedophile ends up dying, great. It's not going to make me feel bad. Wow, you shouldn't say that, should you? I mean, hate the sin, love the sin. Here the Bible says the righteous are going to laugh at them. They're going to think it's funny. They're going to mock that person who died. So, before people get holier than thou, and I'm too loving to have feelings like that, maybe I'll read Psalm 52 and see how God thinks about it, see how we're supposed to think about it. It's not just God destroying them, it says the righteous are going to laugh at that person. In fact, if Richard Dawkins dies, I would probably preach a sermon right afterwards about Richard Dawkins as a memorial for one of the most wicked men who ever lived. Lo, this is the man that made not God a strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness. These are bad people. They're strengthening themselves in their wickedness. And what it said there was he trusted in the abundance of his riches. Now I'm not going to turn here for sake of time. Actually, you know what? I am. First Timothy 6. First Timothy chapter 6. Never trust a preacher when he says give me a short sermon. Right? That's the lesson learned tonight. Never trust a preacher when he says give me a short sermon. Now, I will say this, men, that when you preach, while you're gone, you have back-to-back services in the morning, so you have to cut yourself off when you have back-to-back services. I've learned that lesson, but we don't have back-to-back services tonight, so. But the Bible said trusting in their riches. Notice what it says in First Timothy chapter 6, verse, verse number 6. But godliness with contentment is great gain, for he brought nothing into this world, and certainly can carry nothing out, having coon raiment, let us be there with content. But they that will be rich, trust in riches, they will be rich, they desire to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil. Now, the Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil. And when you stop to think about this, this is hard to believe, but I don't think the Bible is just metaphorically stating this. It says truly the love of money is the root of all evil. And here's the thing, you think about certain people that become like bad people, you know, like people that are serial killers, and you're like, I don't see anything in their life where they seem to love money, so what's the Bible say? Well, obviously the Bible is true. The Bible is never wrong. But I thought about this because I used to wonder that myself, and I thought, but here's the thing, when you read about these people that become really bad people, it's usually because mom and dad never spend any time with them. Because mom and dad love money. Didn't say that their own love of money was the root of all evil. It said the love of money was the root of the evil of all evil. And you know, when you have a mom and dad that never spend time with their kids because they love money, love money, love money. Well, it's the root of all evil. That's what takes place. And so sometimes the people themselves, maybe they didn't go after money, but they act out out of anger of what happened to them. Just not having a mom and dad that actually cared about them. Right? Turn back to Psalm 52. Psalm 52. But these people that are wicked, they trust in the abundance of the richest. Love of money. Right? They will be rich. They fall into temptation and a snare. Psalm 52 verse 8. But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. What's the Bible mean? Like a green olive tree? And you know, I am very curious to study this out more. Maybe try to watch some documentaries, just secular documentaries about, you know, because I've seen this before. When you watch secular documentaries, you can learn extra insight because the green olive tree, I don't know much about olives. It tastes great. I love olives. What does it mean? A green olive tree in the house of God. And I did, I did write down three things that I read online. Just from a normal secular person who makes olives about things about olive trees, because the Bible says you're going to be like a green olive tree in the house of God. And one thing about olive trees is they have longevity. They have longevity. Olive trees can live for thousands of years. There are many trees in the Mediterranean region that are scientifically verified to be as old as 2000 years. There are trees that were around at the time of Jesus. Olive trees, according to this, that are still around today. I mean, that's pretty remarkable, right? I mean, 2000 years. So that's a really, really long time. And you know, the Bible says, and what the Psalm is saying, I'm going to be like, I'm like a green olive tree in the house of God. And if you stick in the house of God, you're going to have longevity. I think that's one thing the Bible is trying to tell us with, you know, there's reasons the Bible is so poetic and every word is so important. And I believe that's one thing he's trying to tell us. Another thing it says about olive trees, olive trees are prolific from this website that I read. The olive tree starts bearing fruit at around five years of age. So an olive tree, the first five years, it does not bear fruit and then it starts bearing fruit. And it says a tree in Croatia that is radiocarbon dated to be 1600 years old still produces abundant fruit today. Now, of course, as a soul winner, it's like, okay, I understand what God's trying to say, right? He said, if you stick in the house of God, you're going to have longevity and you're going to bear fruit, not for 1600 years, for a long time, right? As long as you stay in church. And it also says this about the olive tree. It is indestructible. It says the root system of the olive tree is so robust that it's capable of regenerating itself even when the above ground structure of the tree is destroyed by frost, fire or disease. What I'm saying is there's a massive fire that destroys the olive tree. It's like six months later that olive tree is coming back. That's pretty remarkable. It's amazing the things that God has created in the symbolism. And it says in Tuscany in 1985, a severe frost destroyed many productive and aged olive trees, ruining the livelihoods of many farmers. However, when new shoots appeared in the spring and the dead wood was removed, they soon became new fruit producing trees. So basically it got destroyed by a bad frost and then all of a sudden the olive tree came back, right? Indestructible. Go to Psalm 92. Psalm 92. And look, I'm actually very curious. This phrase really stuck out to me to really study out olive trees more because there's probably a lot of information. I'd love to preach a sermon on it one day, but that's pretty interesting. Just what I read from that one website, just the symbolism there. And what the Bible is saying is that, you know what, if you consider the house of God an important part of your life, indestructible. So when you go through the storms of life, you're going to stick through it. Everything's being destroyed in your life, but you're going to last through it if you make the house of God an important part of your life. Indestructible. Right? The Bible speaks about being planted, you know, on firm ground. It speaks about, you know, at the end of Matthew 7, it's like on the rock or the sand where you're setting your foundation. Indestructible. Prolific. I mean, I want to bear fruit until I'm an old person. And the Bible, I believe, is saying that about the green olive tree that you can still bear fruit at an old age. In longevity, you're going to last and serve God your entire life. You've got to consider the house of God important. And Psalm 92 says basically all these things here. That's what it says in Psalm 92 verse 12. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree. And so I don't know a lot about palm trees either. That's another thing to study. But the palm tree, you know, it's amazing the things that God created, you know, probably with a specific purpose to teach us lessons here today. It's just amazing the way that God created this world. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. And you know what? I think it's a verse that, you know, all of us, you know, should put inside of our minds because the thing is, you know, none of us are, you know, what the Bible would say in old age. None of us are anywhere near that. The Bible's saying, and this is encouraging, because here's the thing, as someone who's a soul winner, let's say that you were no longer able to preach the gospel ever again. Man, the rest of my life would be pretty depressing. Of course, if you have a family, you can encourage them, but it's like they don't see you as somebody and they're probably not, you know, going to themselves. I mean, it would be depressing. Right? It's not a burden that we have to preach the gospel. It's a blessing. It's a joy. If you were not able to do that ever again, it's like, well, once you reach the age of 40, you can never preach the gospel ever again. Then it's like, why would I want to live past that point? Because the greatest joy that you can have in life is getting other people saved. Right? Because yeah, I mean, we're involved in church, we hear preaching, we do the songs and all these things, but it's really centered around this idea of producing through, getting people saved. So what are churches about? And the Bible's promising, if you stay in the house of God, you can be like an olive tree, palm tree, a seer in Lebanon. We can still produce through an old age. Go to Psalm 52, we'll close off Psalm 52. Psalm 52. In Psalm 52 verse nine, the last verse, I will praise thee forever because thou hast done us. He asked them what? He's destroyed the wicked people. That's what the Bible's saying. He's destroyed the wicked people. And I will wait on thy name for it is good before thy saints. You know, God's name is good to those that are saints. Right? A saint is someone who's a believer and his name is good to those that are, I mean, nothing in this chapter to me. I mean, his name is good. It's like, but, but he says he's going to destroy people. Yeah. When I read that, I say, man, God is good. He destroys the wicked. Good. There's, there's no part of this book as a believer that we should say, oh, I don't like that part. You know, a lot of people, you know, reject Christianity in 2023 because they don't like who God is. It's not evidence. They just don't like the God of the Bible. Well, my God is too loving to do that. Your God's a figment of your imagination, my friend, and it becomes vain in your imaginations. Your God doesn't exist. The God of the Bible, it says is goodness and is linked with the destruction. And for us that are saved, we understand what the wicked are, so it gives us joy. It is the goodness of God. And that's why we can praise God continually because you know what? The goodness of God endures continually, not just destruction of the wicked. There's many parts of the goodness of God, but that's part of it. And also the goodness of God that you know what? If we follow what God says and read the Bible, God can help us stay planted in the house of God as a green olive tree, and I can praise God that I can bear fruit the rest of my life according to the word of God. Many great things that we can thank God and praise God for. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today and to help us to apply this sermon to our lives in just this great chapter, a lot of information, God. And we believe that you are a good God, that everything that you say is correct, and everything in the Bible is good, God. Thank you for your destruction of the wicked people and for protection for us, God, your love for the saints, and just help us to be more zealous, to obey you and do right, God. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.