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

Alright, so 1 Samuel chapter 9, we're going to be in 1 Samuel most of the time so if you want to just bookmark something there we'll be moving around a little bit, but the text is going to be there in 1 Samuel 9, 10 and maybe even a little bit there in 11. But beginning I want to just, most people are probably very familiar with Saul, the first king of Israel who was anointed king by God, deliberately, that would know who he is. And often when you hear preaching about Saul you hear a lot of the don'ts. We talk about a lot of the negative attributes of King Saul and of course he ended his life very badly but here we're picking it up in the story in Saul's life where he's actually, we see that Saul started out very good, he was a very humble person and I want to just, we're going to look to Saul here in 1 Samuel 10 but I want to look at 1 Samuel 9 and just establish and clarify Saul as a godly example, as somebody that we can look to and we can learn some things from in this scripture. Now first of all in 1 Samuel 9 verse 1 we'll see that Saul was obedient to his father as it says there in verses 1 through 4 that this mighty man had a kish, verse 2 had a son whose name was Saul, a choice young man and a godly and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he from his shoulders and upward he was higher than of the people, than any of the people and the asses of kish, Saul's father were lost and kish said to Saul his son, take now one of the Saul's servants with thee and arise and go seek the asses and of course we just read the story and we know that's exactly what Saul does. He's told to go, hey go find these lost asses of mine and bring them back and Saul doesn't put up a fuss, he doesn't fight, he just does what he's told and he goes and that's probably back then when you think about it very difficult work and it was all done by foot to go out and try and find some wayward wild animal that had wandered off the farm and tried to bring them back in. I'm thinking right now of a time that when I worked on a dairy farm I had one cow get out and it turned into an ordeal trying to get this cow back in the pen so I can't imagine what it would have been like for Saul to go out and try and hunt down these asses for his father but that's exactly what he did, he was given a difficult task and he went out and did it. So we see first of all that he was obedient, we see also that he was thoughtful for his father in verse 5 it says that, and when they were coming to the land of Zoph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, come and let us return lest my father leave caring for the asses and take thought for us. So he didn't want to worry his father, when he was unsuccessful in finding those asses he said hey let's go back before my dad starts to worry so he had the presence of mine to even think about his father's own care for him, he was thoughtful about his father. We see also in verses 7-9 that he had respect for the man of God, he was a respectful person as it says there, it's verses 7-9 we won't take the time to read all of it but he turns aside to see the seer Samuel and he says hey we don't have anything to give him, when we go see this guy what are we going to bring him, what gift? So he was at least thoughtful of the fact that we're going before a man of God maybe we should just go to him trying to get information from him without anything in return that he was thoughtful and respectful of the man of God. But I want to focus in particular for a minute here is humility. We've seen his obedience, we've seen his thoughtfulness, the respect, but he also had some humility about him beginning there in verse 17, when Samuel saw Saul the Lord said unto him behold the man of whom I spake to thee of, this saying shall reign over my people. Then Saul drew near to Samuel in the gate and said tell me I prayed where the seer's house is. And Samuel answered Saul and said I am the seer, go up before me into the high place for ye shall eat with me today and tomorrow I will let thee go and will tell thee all that is in thine heart. And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago set not thine mind on them for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel is not it on thee and all thy father's house. So that's a pretty big deal, he's going aside just to try and find these lost asses looking for some help from this guy and he tells him look, all the desire of Israel is upon me. All of a sudden he's getting this recognition, all of a sudden he's getting the spotlight put on him by this man of God. He's coming to him and he's making a very bold statement and saying is not all the desire of Israel on thee? And Saul answered and said well of course, I'm Saul, that's not his answer at all. He says am not I a Benjamin of the smallest of the tribes of Israel and my family the least of all the families of the tribes of Benjamin? Wherefore then spakest thou thus to me, thou so to me. So we see that Samuel had a degree of humility and we can look also in verses 26, or excuse me verses 20 through 22 and it goes on. But we can also see that he was a humble man, we can also see that he had some leadership. If you flip over to 1 Samuel chapter 10, we'll see that he was a natural leader. So we can see that there's some very good things that we can learn about Saul and about his character. One would be his leadership there in 1 Samuel chapter 10 verse 25. The Bible reads, let me get there myself where it says, then Samuel told the people the manner of the kingdom. This is when they're anointing Saul to be king. He told them the manner of the king and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord and Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house. And Saul also went home to Gibeah and there went with him a band of men whose hearts God had touched. So we see that even when he's anointed, he hasn't even really done anything yet as a king. He hasn't gone out and fought any battles, he hasn't really gone out and done any great feats like that. But already there are these band of men that are ready to follow him from the time that he's anointed. They go back with him to Gibeah. And I wonder, you know, the scripture doesn't say here, but I wonder, you know, why were they, had they even met Saul before? Was this the first time that they, did they know who this guy was? Or is it possible that they were just moved to follow him? The Bible does say there that God touched their heart. And obviously there must have been something good in Saul for God to touch the hearts of these men to cause them to want to follow Saul. I mean, God wouldn't tempt any man with evil and send them after to follow a man who he knew would, I mean, God, of course, God knew, but with the intent that that man was going to, you know, fall apart and make a mess out of his life like Saul did, it was God's intent that Saul would have done the right thing and gone on and to see his lineage remain on the throne. So these men may have only met Saul and God sends them with him to see that he has a degree of leadership to the point where men are willing to just follow him. And of course, why was it that they were willing to follow him? Well, probably a lot of it had to do with verse 26 where it says that whose heart God had touched, God intended to have those people go after them. And these men must have recognized a godly attribute in Saul. And one of the godly attributes that we could see in Saul, I believe that would inspire others to follow him, would inspire others to go with him into his reign and that would cause God to even touch the hearts of men and cause them to follow him would be the fact that Saul had a burden for God's people. And if you look there in 1 Samuel 11, we'll read 1-6 where the Bible reads, Then Nahash the Ammonite came up and camped against Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us and we will serve thee. And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes and lay it up for an approach upon Israel. And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel, and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. Then came the messengers of Tiggibia of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept. And behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field, and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. So we see that when this tiding of this comes to Saul's town, when these messengers come to bring this evil report, this tiding of what Nahash was going to do to God's people, it grieves Saul. You know, he sees these people weeping, and he asks, you know, what aileth the people? And they tell him, and the Bible says that his wrath or his anger was kindled greatly. You see, Samuel had a burden for God's people, and he heard what it was that the people, the message that they brought to that city. And that's the same message today, if we listen, I believe we will hear people today, even in the world today, God's people, in a sense, are crying out and have the same message that was brought to Samuel in that town. And that message is found there in verse 3, where it says, And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days' respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel, and then, if there be no man to save us. That's the cry that is coming out of these people's mouths, and I believe that is the cry that we hear, even today, from God's people, throughout all the land, in our country, in other countries, in all the world, that God's people are crying out and saying, Is there any man to save us? I'm not speaking specifically about people who want to be saved, of course that could be an application that we could make, but these are people that are of the tribes of Israel. These are people who are considered God's people. And that's the application I want to make today, is that today we hear that same cry from God's people. Is there any man to save us? Today God's people are crying out for a man of God to come and spare them. That's what they need. And I'm sure if we were to go to Pastor Anderson, and he was even expressed in sermons before about how all the emails he gets from people saying, Send a man of God here to this city. Send a man of God here to this city. Send a man to come and save us. They're saying, There is no man to come and save us. And that's the cry that we hear today. Well, what is it that they need to be spared from today? These people. Of course, there's no one threatening to poke out their eyes physically, like literally today, of course. But there are things that people out there, they're crying and asking, Will you send a man to save us and spare us from certain things? And those things can be such things as false doctrine, all the false doctrine that's being preached. You know, in false doctrines, they can be stomached if a church has some zeal for souls. You know, they can be stomached. They can be put up with. A person could go to a church and put up with some mild false doctrine. Of course, if they're preaching heresy about salvation, there are certain things that of course are a deal breaker. If they're not using the King James, you know, but if there's some, you know, if it's just like, you know, the pre-trip rapture, not a deal breaker, it's not a deal breaker. You know, you could go to a church that preaches a pre-trip rapture and if they have some zeal for souls, you could probably stomach that. But people today, they're crying out saying, Will you send a man to spare us from these churches that have no soul wedding. There's churches all across this land that do little to no soul wedding. Or what they're calling soul wedding is just a door hanger. Knocking on the door, putting on a track, running away, going out to the festivals and the carnivals and the fairs and standing in a corner, handing out tracts and it's going to get turned. You know, the person's going around the corner and throwing on the next trash can and they find, that's soul wedding today. And people are crying out and saying, Is there a man that will come and save us from these churches that do no soul wedding? They're crying out and saying, Is there no man to save us from the watered down preaching? The watered down and weak preaching that's coming out from behind pulpits today. The scared, lily-loved preaching that's going on. The kind of preaching that won't put the fear of God into you. The kind of preaching that's not going to put the fear of God into your children. And this is an important point. This is something that people need to be spared from. This weak preaching. I heard it a while back and I believe this is a very good statement. Your children will be what you are. Your children are going to be what you are. And you will be what your church is. Whatever your church is, that's the way you're going to be. Because that's what a church is. It's the congregation of the believers. So whatever the believers are like, that's what the church is like. And the church is going to be what the pastor is. So if you've got a weak, lily-livered, yellow, just soft preacher who doesn't want to get on anybody's toes, who doesn't want to offend anybody, doesn't want to deal with any persecution, that doesn't want to say anything that might offend somebody, that doesn't want to end up on the 11 o'clock news, who doesn't want to have protesters outside his door, you know he's going to be soft. And then the church is going to be soft. There's going to be no fear of God. Then you're going to be soft. And then your children are going to go to the devil. So it's an important point. So there's people out there today that are crying and saying that they're no man to save us from this watered down preaching. They want to be saved from these dead, dying churches. These churches that are drying up and going away. You know, they've got Pastor Nahash behind the pulpit, you know, he wants to poke out their eye. No Pastor Anderson videos. Don't you find out you've been listening to a guy. Don't be listening to these guys that are preaching all this movement or whatever you want to call it. They've got Pastor Nahash who wants to say, no looking at that, and they'll poke out their eye. And they want to be spared from that. They want to be spared and say, hey, why can't we, you know a lot of people, they don't want to have to go to YouTube and the internet to find good preaching. They're saying is there no man that can come and do it here live and in the flesh for us? People in these dead churches, they're waiting for someone to come and deliver them. Just like these people in Jabesh Gilead were waiting and putting out the call in all land of Israel and asking, is there no man to save us? Will nobody come and spare us from Nahash, the Ammonite? And these people, they need some respite, they need some relief, they need to be delivered before Pastor Nahash kicks them out. And of course I'm being a little humorous, but the sad fact is that a lot of people, there are people that we know of that are associated with us that have been kicked out by Pastor Nahash because they find out that they're a Steven Anderson listener. And of course, they always want to say, make it out like it's just a bunch of misfits that are going to their churches and causing these problems. And you know what? We can't control what people do out there. People that download sermons and listen and they get zealous and they go to some church and maybe they're not what they should be in terms of respect, but you know, by and large, the vast majority of people that have been affected by Pastor Anderson's preaching, the preaching of others that have decided to get into a good church and try to start living for God and they just go to the best church they can find, like they've been exhorted to do. You know, they go there with, you know, some respect. They go there and they behave themselves. They don't go in there to be belligerent. Don't believe these people that are trying to make it out like every person that goes in there is just, you know, making a mess of things. No, they get kicked out, you know, not for being zealous for souls. That's not why they get kicked out. They go to these churches and Pastor Nahash doesn't kick them out because they're zealous for souls. That's not why they kick them out. That they actually have some people coming to their church now that are zealous and want to do big things and want to go do a great work for God. They're not going to kick them out because they're reading their Bible and understanding doctrine. You know, maybe some of them are, maybe some of them that the pastors are intimidated by a person who actually, sitting in the pew, knows the Bible may be even better than them because they actually read it for themselves, you know, read some commentary or see what all the other pastors think or just repeat whatever they were taught in Bible college and they pick up the book daily and get in and see whether these things be so. Maybe they are getting kicked out, but I think by and large that's not why these people are getting kicked out. You know, they're not going to be kicked out by Pastor Nahash for being a blessing and a help to the ministry. They're not going to kick them out because they show up and maybe get a soul-winning time and start reaching in the community and doing some great things. They're not going to kick them out from that. But why do they want these people getting kicked out? Because they don't believe in a preacher of rapture. I mean, talk about the dumbest reason to kick somebody out. They don't believe in dispensationalism, ow, you got to go, you know, you must be an Anderson Knight, you got to go. They don't believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, you know, they have the audacity to question the sanctity and the holiness of the Jews in modern history. And probably worst of all, I think on this list of reasons why these people are getting kicked out, and I've heard all these, is because they believe that sodomites are a reprobate concerning the faith. I would rather see somebody get kicked out for not believing the pre-trib rapture than because they believe that sodomites are reprobate. I mean, that is the worst thing. If you're kicking God's man, one of God's children out of the house of God because you're afraid of offending a sodomite, you're not right. That's so wicked. It's evil. And that's what's happening to the people today out in these churches. And they're crying out right now, is there no man to save us? And we can look to Saul because Saul was a man who could save them. So what is it that we can look at Saul's life here, at least in the beginning of Saul's story, and see some attributes and some things that Saul did and how he handled the situation, that we also can be a man, perhaps one day, that can go out and deliver them? Well, first of all, we have to be those that are willing to work. Saul is one who knew how to work. If you look there in verse 4, we'll look where we find Saul here in chapter 11, verse 4. Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept, and behold, Saul was swinging in the hammock, drinking a nice cool drink. No. Saul came after the herd out of the field. Saul was already busy working. Saul already had something going on. He was not an idle man. He was already working out in the field. And that's the kind of person that we need to go out and answer that call of, is there no man to save us? We need somebody who's going to go out who is already working in the field, obeying the command to labor. Jesus said unto them, go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. If we're not doing it here, of course we're not going to do it there. Luke 14, and the Lord said unto them, under the servant, go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house might be filled. So Saul was one who knew how to work. And if we're going to be the type of person that can answer that call one day, you know, there's a lot of young men in this room, and even on the way up here, some of us were discussing how great it is that there's all these young men that want to go out and start churches, and amen to that. Amen. Amen to that. We need it. I remember talking to Pastor Romero before I moved out here four years ago on the phone, you know, and I hadn't even met him person to person. I was just talking on the phone, and his words to me at that time, you know, when he was just a member here at Faithful Word, he said, I believe that God is going to send a great army of young men through these churches that get started, and we're going to see some. And lo and behold, it's happening. It's taking place. But there's certain things, if we're here today and we want to be the kind of man like Saul that can go out and deliver God's people from an enemy, deliver God's people from, you know, having a reproach put upon them, there's certain things that we need to build into our lives. We have to be ones that are willing to labor, you know, not just spiritually speaking, going out into the field and working, you know, winning souls, but we have to be willing to work hard at our jobs and succeed, you know, provide for a family, and that we can take care of a family and rule a house. You have to understand that, you know, there's a promise of a harvest. If we go out into that field like we're supposed to, we work. Bible says in Revelation 22, and behold, I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. So if we go out and we work, you know, we're going to receive a reward. He that goeth forth and weepeth bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again, bringing his sheaves with him. So we should be the type of people that are willing to go out into that field and work. And we ought a soul with tears, as it says there in Psalm 19. They that go forth and weepeth bearing precious seed. We need men with a burden for people. We need men that have a burden, not, you know, for the lost souls, for God's people, that that's their heart's desire, is that people will be helped. We need people with a burden. Bible says in verse 5 there, And behold, Saul came out of the field, and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? When Saul saw the people weeping and hurting and it moved him, he didn't just go, I wonder what that's about, and walk by. He had a burden. He was one that took notice of others. He saw the plight of somebody else. And that's the kind of men that we need. Those that will get a burden for God's people. Not want to go into it for their own vainglory. Not go in it because they want to go out and make a name or run a YouTube channel and have all this hard preaching. I mean, hard preaching, amen, but that ought not be the motive for why we're doing what we're doing. It ought to be because we want to go out and help God's people and bring more people into the kingdom of heaven. That's the type of men that we need if we're going to answer that call that is out there. Is there an old man to save us? If you would, turn over to Romans chapter 15. You see, Saul was one who took notice of others. The Bible says, you're turning over to Romans 15, but in Luke 17 the Bible says, Now when he came nighing the gate of the city, behold, there was a dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And much people of the city was with her, and when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her, and said unto her, Weep not. And he came and touched the briar, and they that bare him stood still, and he said, Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up and began to speak, and he delivered him to his mother. So here we see Jesus, you know, he's bringing a family back together. Why? Because he had compassion on this widow. And the point I'm trying to make here is that we need people that are going to be burdened, and that people are going to have compassion. You know, we're not going to go out and of course raise the dead, but you know, we could bring families back together. If we go out in the spirit of God, in the power of God with his word, and we preach with power and boldness and in his might, you know, the strong preaching works, hard preaching works. And we can go to these distant cities and see families that are broken, brought back together. We could deliver, you know, sons back to their mothers, to their fathers. So we see that not only was Saul selfless and took notice, but so was Jesus. Now you're there in Romans chapter 15, look at verse 1. We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak. You know, if God has brought you to a place in your life where you're strong in the Lord, where you know the Bible, where you're filled with the Holy Spirit, where you've got some experience, where you know how to go soul winning, you know how to preach the sermons, you know how to lead the songs, you know how to do all these things. You know, if you're strong, there's a purpose behind it. There's a reason why God has allowed you to get to that point. And it's not so that you can stand up and like flex for everybody. And so you can just try and impress everyone with your muscles, spiritually speaking, of course. But it's so that you can bear the infirmities of the weak. It's so that you can go out and bear a burden, so that you can do works for God, for God's people. It says they ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. You see, I believe this is one reason why a lot of men, young men, even in churches like ours, our church and others, that would be perfectly capable of going out and answering that call and saving and delivering God's people, will never do it. Because they want to please themselves. Because they're going to be choked out by the cares and the pleasures of this life. And they're not going to do it. Because, I mean, we're living in a society today, I mean, you name the hobby you want and you can go do it. You want to get into bow hunting? Oh man. You can spend hours. You can spend the rest of your life. You can make that your life's passion. Name whatever you want, you know, whatever the hobby. All the cares of this life, the making money, being comfortable, whatever it is, those things are going to, I believe, are going to prevent some men who could do a perfectly fine job of pastoring and leading a church from not doing it. They'd rather please themselves. Though they're strong enough, you know, they're not going to bear the infirmities of the weak because they're too busy pleasing themselves. Verse 2, let every one of us please his neighbor for his good edification, for even Christ pleased not himself. You want to talk about someone who's strong, bearing the infirmities of the weak, Jesus Christ, that's exactly what he did. He pleased not himself, but as it is written, the approaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. You see, those that are busy pleasing, there are those that could help, but they're just too busy pleasing themselves. Turn over to Mark chapter 4, we'll take a look at that real quick. Mark chapter 4, the parable of the sower, if you're familiar with it, and the different types of ground that a seed fell on, beginning in verse 18, Mark 4-18, and these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. It's interesting in this parable, this particular seed, this particular soil, the problem is not with the seed, it sprung up, it grew, it took root, it was starting to grow, so there's no problem with the seed, in fact there was no problem with the soil either. The soil was able to help the seed grow, in fact it was so good that it even helped the weeds to grow up with it, and that's what choked it. The problem was that nobody bothered to weed the garden, and if we're going to be the types that are going to grow up and bear fruit, if we're going to grow strong in the Lord and go out and bear the infirmities of others and help others, we're going to have to weed the garden of our life, we're going to have to get those thorns out, the thistles, the cares of this world that are going to rise up and choke that godly desire out of our life. And it can happen. So we see first of all that Saul knew how to work, we see that Saul was a man with a burden, a man that had compassion for God's people, and he was strong, and he was able to go out and do the work, and he was willing to go out and do the work. And so when Saul went out, Saul was one who knew where the battle was to be fought. He was not one that, as Paul said, one that beateth at the air. He knew where he was to land the blow, where he was to strike, he knew where the battle was to be fought. If you flip back to 1 Samuel chapter 10, hopefully you've got something there, just keep something in 1 Samuel 10, we're going to be there, and Samuel said in verse 24, and Samuel said to all the people, see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And the people shouted and said, God save the king! Then Samuel told the people the matter of the kingdom and wrote in a book and laid it up before the Lord, and Samuel sent all the people away, every man, to his house. And Saul also went home to Gibeah, and there went with him a band of men whose heart God had touched. But the children of Belial said, how shall this man save us? And they despised him, and they brought him no presence, but he held his peace. So here we have these sons of Belial piping up and saying, how can Saul do anything for us? He's just a Benjamite, mocking Saul, scoffing at Saul. And Saul, who had just been annoying the king, like, oh, you want some proof of God and me? Behead those men. He didn't do that. He didn't fight those men, because that's not where the battle was to be fought. He didn't bother with the scoffers and the mockers. He held his peace, it says there in verse 27. You see, in verse 27 it says the children of Belial said, there will always be those who are going to vocalize their disapproval of God's work. When God starts to move in people's hearts, when God starts to do something with a group of people, there are always going to be those who need to pipe up and criticize and mock and ridicule. We're living in a day of technological advancements. And social media has granted this ability to mock and scoff at the work of God to many an idiot. There's a lot of people out there who can just get on YouTube and make their half-wit comments and their stupid, you know, just mockery and scoffing and scouring publicly on YouTube. And it's just amazing to me that I've seen it. I've only been here four years, but how many times have I seen people move out to this church and just praise, lauding Pastor Anderson's praises, and then just in a short time, they're on YouTube mocking, scoffing, ridiculing, just running their mouth. It's amazing to me. But you know what, you know who's conspicuously silent in that whole thing is Pastor Anderson. You don't see him on YouTube going, yeah, well let me tell you. You know why? Because he's a man like Saul who knew where the battle is to be fought. And that's the type of people that we need. If you're going to go out and do this battle, if we're going to go out and be one that can deliver people, then we have to understand where the battle is to be fought. The Bible says in verse 27 that the sons of Belial, they despised him. You see, there are going to be people that are going to make it personal for themselves. You know, their contention is going to go beyond just doctrine. They're not going to just disagree with them about doctrine. They're not going to just be upset with you because you don't believe certain doctrines that they do. It actually becomes personal, they despise you. They go out of their way to cause you harm. And you know, one way that they try to do this today is that they throw around these terms that they're using now. And I want to address one of them because I think it's kind of funny that they use it. Today the term Andersonite, Andersonite, who's ever heard Andersonite, hands all over. See the term Andersonite is just one that's getting bandied about now, you know, just like, oh yeah, you're an Andersonite, you're a Stevie, you're a Stevie, you're a Stevie. It's funny. But they try to do that as a way to just like, cut us down, oh you're an Andersonite. Well you know, Andersonite is a term, they're trying to lump us together. But here's the thing, you know, people often try to put a term or a label on you, and what they're trying to do is like lump you into a category, and you know Andersonite, that's just another one that I'm going to embrace. So you're one of these easy believes in them guys, yep, you better believe it all. I am. You know, you're a, whatever it is, you know, you believe in replacement theology, yes I do. I do. You're an Andersonite. Yes I am. I'm not ashamed to be associated with that man. I'm not ashamed of, you know, if you want to just take his last name and put an ite at the end of it, and put me in it and try to lump me in with a group of people that have been influenced by Pastor Anderson, that's fine with me. I gladly, I embrace that. Because you know what the term Andersonite is, the people that understand and know what we're about, when they, when I say the word Andersonite in this room, you know what people probably think about? They probably think about a group of people who are zealous for solity. Right. They're thinking about people who want to go out and do great works for God. I mean they think about people that want to, you know, we're driving on the way up here and I'm listening to these guys talk in my car and they're like, oh man a soul winning marathon, that's going to be so great. Yeah man, I've got to remember to take the day off to get to work to do that. Amen. I mean how many young guys are out there in some of these other churches that say that? How many other young guys would be like, man I've got to get the time off so I can get to spring break and get drunk and do whatever? You know the Andersonites got a bunch of young guys who want to go soul winning. Amen. So when someone calls you an Andersonite, you know, that's a compliment. We're zealous for soul winning. And you know we can talk about how we ought to be zealous for soul winning, there's a lot of verses. We're zealous, you know, an Andersonite is someone who's zealous for starting churches. Who wants to see, you know, churches that go out and do great soul winning all across the world. You know, an Andersonite is someone who's zealous for hard preaching. That's how they like their preaching, they don't like this limp, weak, soft preaching. They like hard, rip your face off, step on my toes, and you know, help me get right with God kind of preaching. That's right. A preaching that takes a strong stand for the truth, that preaches hard against sin, that's what an Andersonite is. So I embrace that term, please label me an Andersonite. You know, it's the people that throw it out there, are of course, you know, it's these bunch of Ruckmanites. They weren't Andersonites, but they're a bunch of Ruckmanites. And if anybody who knows anything about Peter Ruckman, I would much rather be associated with Steven Anderson than Peter Ruckman. You know, being an Andersonite, you know, coming from a Ruckmanite, it's a compliment. It really is. When you consider the source, it's a compliment. Being an Andersonite beats being a Ruckmanite any day of the week, because a Ruckmanite is someone who follows the teachings of Peter Ruckman. And let me tell you something, Peter Ruckman taught some weird stuff. That guy had some weird stuff. I mean, I did a little, I've always heard of some of the strange things, I said, let me make sure some of this is true. Sure enough. You know, and this warrants a whole sermon. This warrants a documentary. This warrants a full, like, feature film on Peter Ruckman, just the oddities that that guy preached. Wow. Like, one that I found very quickly, and this is kind of going off the point of the sermon, but he was a man who taught that Eve committed adultery with Satan and fought with things. He taught that. He quoted right out of his books, his own commentaries on Genesis. So a Ruckmanite is someone who's associating themselves with somebody who taught that Eve committed adultery with Satan, and that's how Cain was conceived. And not only that, Peter Ruckman took it a step further and said that Cain committed incest with Eve. What? What kind of a perverted mind sits around and interjects things like that into the scripture? Yeah, I'm kidding. Where do you even come up with that? You've got to be some kind of a pervert. That's Peter Ruckman. That's who these Ruckmanites are associated with. So please, Andersonite, I'll take it all day long. And you know, today people are going to label us by calling us a cult. Oh, you guys are in a cult. But here's the thing, and specifically, Pastor talked about it this morning when there was this guy, Andrew Sluder, and I get Pastor Anderson, a lot of times I wonder why he doesn't mention names more from the pulpit, but you know, Andrew Sluder has a lot to be thankful for for the Andersonites because, you know, without us, we wouldn't have got his record breaking views on his latest broadcast, these backwards Baptist broadcasts that he had the other day. He's like, we got these record numbers. It's like, yeah, because all the Andersonites were tuning in, trying to set you straight because you had Grady on there. And he attacked us by saying, well, you guys are a cult. Y'all is a cult out there in here, so here's the thing. You know, he's sitting here making this video, just slandering us, you know, and saying all these things about us. And he's got, like, literally sitting in his office and he's just got literal portraits of different pictures, like on his wall. And one of them was Peter Ruckman. I mean, we're in a cult, like, who here has like a picture of Pastor Anderson? A nice 8x11 of Pastor Anderson, you know, first thing you brush your teeth, there he is, you know, or wherever you put it in the room. Calm children in the living room, it's all gazing into his eyes. That's what they think. It's like, no, man, I don't have pictures of creatures hanging around my office or my wall. I see enough of the guy. But here's the thing. The point I'm trying to make is that Saul was one who was able to know where the battle was to be fought. He was not one. He held his peace. When these people piped up these sons of Belial and they tried to make a stink and like, oh, who is this guy and who is he to save anybody? He held his peace. You know, we don't need to go out and try and vindicate ourselves to these fools. To these fools that want to just get on, you know, on their Facebook page and call us Andersonites and like make it out like it's just the worst thing in the world. You know what it is? It's a distraction. And I've even fallen prey to it too is that if we're not careful, it'll take our attention off the battle that needs to be fought, which is delivering God's people, which is delivering souls. If we allow ourselves to get too far, you know, caught up in trying to answer these heretics and answer these fools and straighten them out, you know, they're not even saved. They don't even have the Holy Spirit. How can we even understand truth? The Bible says in 1 Peter 2 21, for even here unto you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judged us righteously. And Jesus said, you know, blessed are ye when men shall revile and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven. He said, ye are the salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its saber, wherewith shall it be salted? Henceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden underfoot of men. He said, ye are the light of the world, the city of the seven hills cannot be hid, neither do men light a candle and put under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and giveth light unto all the house. So it's just interesting that he lumped those verses together, he says, you know, rejoice when people persecute you, it says you're salt, you're light. You know, and that's a lesson we need to take from that, is that we ought to be salt, we ought to preach the word, you know. We ought to be light, we ought to reach people with the gospel, we ought to let our good works do the talking for us, we don't need to revile again, we just let our good works do it. The mockers will mock, the scoffers will scoff, and the ruckmanites will ruckus. But the point I'm trying to make here is that Saul knew what to get fired up about. Saul knew where the battle was, and it's not on the internet, it's not trying to answer all these stupid YouTubers and all these heretics that want to get on and just rail on Pastor Anderson or other pastors in our movement. Bible says you're there in 1 Samuel, chapter 11, look at verse 5, Saul knew what to get fired up about. Bible says in verse 5, and behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field, and Saul said what ails the people that they weep, and they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. Verse 6, and the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. Verse 6, it says that the Spirit of God came upon Saul. See he knew what to get fired up about. When he heard the right thing, when he heard something that was worth getting fired up about, the Bible says that the Spirit of God came upon Saul. You'll know when you're fighting the right battle when you're doing it in God's power. God's going to make us strong and give us the power to fight His battles. Not to go out and answer those that would be vile to us. Because that's not where the battle needs to be. We need to be like Saul and know what to get fired up about. We need to get fired up about what the battles that God wants us to fight. That His Spirit can come upon us. Bible says, I'll read it to you in Ephesians chapter 6, finally my brethren be strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Put on the whole arm of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We ought to be strong in the Lord and His power. We ought to make sure we're doing it to fight His battles and not in our own flesh and not trying to vindicate ourselves or make ourselves feel like, justify ourselves to others. We ought to do it to deliver God's people. Bible says in verse 6, when he heard those tidings, when he heard the tidings of the men, the messengers from Jabesh Gilead, that's when the Spirit of God came upon him. He saw it was moved that the people of God were afflicted and there was none to save them. That's what he was fired up about. It wasn't because somebody came up with a cute little term and tried to pin it on him or try to slander him on the internet. It was because he was moved that the people of God were being afflicted. And that's the cry that we need to answer. There's people out there that are crying out, is there no man to save us? Is there no one that will rise up and go out and come to our town, to our city, and save us from these weak, watered down preachers, from these no soul winning Baptist churches? That's what we need to get fired up about. See Saul, he took action. It wasn't just that. He got fired up and, man I'm really fired up and ready to go. You know, he took action. He did something about it. You know, there's men in this room today in our church that I believe that they could be used. Maybe it's a long way off, maybe it's years out there, but they ought to take action now. So when that day comes, they're ready to go. There's nothing worse than the feeling of an opportunity coming and not being ready for it. Coming short and having to see it go to somebody else. Just missing out on an opportunity to go out and do a great work for God. There's men out there that start taking action right now. That's what Saul did. He rallied the troops, if you look there in verse 7, and he took a yoke of oxen and hewed them in pieces and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers saying, whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell on the people and they came out with one consent. You see, he rallied the troops and they got behind him. And that's what we see going on in our churches. You know, we Andersonites, we've rallied behind a man who's heard that cry, like Saul heard. You know, is there no man to save us? That's who we've rallied behind. A man who's stirred up, who's fired up about the things that matter, and is saying, we need to answer this cry, we need to go out and deliver God's people. You know, and it's not that we've rallied behind a man, the man who he is. It's what he stands for. It's the cause. It's the soul winning. It's the hard preaching. It's the starting churches. You know, so let the ruckmanites rage. We have a mission. Let the sons of Belial scoff and mop. You know, we're going to go out and do what God wants, and when we do that, the spirit of God will come upon us when we're fighting in His battle. And my only question is, who else is going to go out and answer that call? Who else is going to rise up? Who else is going to get prepared and make themselves ready to go out and answer that call? Is there no man to save us? In 1st Daniel chapter 11 verse 15, So after he goes out and he delivers Jabesh and fights that battle, the Bible says that they rejoiced greatly. You know, we ought to do the work that we need to do. We ought to go out and fight that battle, because one day our king is going to come. And if we've been fighting his battles, you know, we'll be like those people. We will rejoice greatly. We won't have to hang our heads. We'll be able to rejoice greatly in the day that we're able to accomplish the mission that we're going to do. And how are we going to do it? By knowing where the battle needs to be fought, by being fired up about the right things and doing it in the power and the spirit of God. Then we can go out and answer that call. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, again, thank you for the Bible, thank you for the lessons that we can learn from it. I pray that you would continue to raise up men out of our churches, men that have like mind and faith, Lord, that they would hear the call that is crying out all across this land and in countries, Lord, that people who would desire to go out and do great works for God, desire to just win souls and be around those of a like-minded faith and raise their children in a godly, God-fearing atmosphere, Lord, that those men would answer that call that they would raise up and, Lord, those of us that are here in such a church, Lord, that we would count our blessing that we have such a man that preaches hard, that is fired up about the things of God, the things that matter, and help us to not be distracted by the sons of Belial, by the scoffers and the mockers, Lord, who just have some personal beef. And Father, that we would fight your battles, help us to do it in your power, for your glory, in Jesus' name, amen.