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In 1 Chronicles 16, begin reading verse 15 where it says, Be mindful always of his confidence, the words which he commanded to a thousand generations, even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac, and have confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, saying unto thee will I give the land of Canaan the lot of your inheritance, when you were but few, even a few and strangers in it, and when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people, he suffered no man to do them wrong. Yea, he reproved kings for their sake, saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. And that last phrase there where he says, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. You know it's a very familiar phrase, it's something we'll probably have heard if we've been in Baptist churches, and often when it's cited it's talking about the fact that we are, as God's people, are protected by the Lord. You know because we are the anointed, we'll see that in a minute, and even beyond that you know it says, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. You know the prophet of God, the man of God, is somebody that you don't want to mess with. And it's not because, you know, he's all bad or he's some bad dude or something, it's because of the fact that God protects such people, that God oversees them. And go to Genesis chapter 20 verse 20, and as I was listening to scripture being read, I'm just thinking about how, you know, several times in that passage the Bible is saying, Fear the Lord. You know, fear God, for he is a God to be feared above all gods. And why is that? It's because God is not just this passive observer up in heaven. God cares about his anointed, God cares about his prophets, he looks into them, he watches them, he protects them, and he also avenges them. And we'll see that in a minute as well. And here in this passage, you know, he's specifically talking about several people. One of them, you know, two of them being the patriarchs Abraham and Isaac. And he says there that when they went from nation to nation, from one king to another, he suffered no man to do them wrong. And he reproved kings for their sakes. And if you look at Genesis chapter 21 verse 1, you see what he's referring to. Genesis chapter 20 verse 1, it says, And Abraham journeyed from thence toward the south country and dwelled between Kadesh and Shur, and Sojourner and Gerar. And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister. And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, Behold thou art but a dead man. You know, so here he is, he's messing with, you know, his prophet, his anointed, the man of God. You know, unknowingly, unwittingly, obviously Abraham has a little bit of the blame, but God is still protecting him. And one of the words that he says to him, Thou art a dead man. You know, it's a very, you know, that's not exactly, you know, when the Lord comes and speaks to you, that's not what you want to hear. You know, you want to hear from God, those usually aren't the words that you would expect to hear or want to hear. And it says there, Behold thou art but a dead man, for the woman's thou has taken, for she is a man's wife. But Abimelech had not come near, come near her, and he said, Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation, said he not unto me, she is my sister? And she even herself said, He is my brother, saying, Look, I was fooled, I'm blameless here. In the integrity of my heart and innocence, innocence of my hands have I done this. And God said unto him in a dream, Yea, I know that thou did this, didst this in the integrity of thine heart. For I also withheld thee from sinning against me, therefore I suffered thee not to touch her. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet, and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. So the man of God, you know, Abraham, the prophet here, just by, just by, you know, the nature of being a man of God, you know, he can have a profound effect on somebody's life and the way that he's treated. You know, he's saying, look, you mess with the prophet, you know, Abraham, you're a dead man. But then, you know, once he kind of clears things up and confesses, it becomes obvious that, you know, he's not, the king isn't going to harden his heart and go through with it. He says, hey, go see the prophet, you know, he is a prophet, he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live. And if thou restore her not, know that thou shalt surely die. So however he's going to handle the situation is going to have some pretty severe consequences, you know, in his life, or, you know, the non-existence of it. You know, and the same thing happens, of course, you know, I should have had to keep something in 1 Corinthians 16 if you want to go back there. And then, of course, if you know the story, the same thing happens again with Isaac, he goes into a land, you know, he says, to his wife, say thou art my sister, for, you know, the same reasons. And another king takes her and it's found out, you know, that that is indeed his wife and he gives her back. And what is he doing? He's not touching God's anointed. He's not doing his prophets any harm. So that's what 1 Corinthians 16 is referring to there. But notice also in this passage that this covenant was not only for, was also to Israel for an everlasting covenant. It says in verse 17, and he has confirmed the same to Jacob for a law and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. So this was a covenant that God has made with Israel. And of course, you know, that's that nation has ceased. And today we are we are the people of God. We are the Israel of God. We are the chosen of God if we have the faith of Abraham. So, you know, this is an everlasting covenant because it applies to us today as well. And what we could take from that is that as long as God's anointed are up on this earth, as long as there is a prophet of God on this earth, they have the promise that God is going to protect them and avenge them against their enemies. You know, this is a promise that God makes here in verse 22, saying, touch not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm. It's a promise that if someone touches the Lord's anointed, if they do his prophets harm, you know, God's going to touch them right back. God's going to harm that same individual right back. And you know, and this is lost today, I think, and a lot of a lot of people, even amongst God's people, you know, we I think, unfortunately, even we lose sight of that, that we as God's anointed have, you know, God on our side, you know, God's got our back, so to speak. And it's unfortunate because, you know, we're robbing ourselves a lot of people from a lot of peace if we don't understand this. And then the temptation is that, you know, when someone, you know, does us harm, and we have some enemy, you know, we were tempted maybe to take things into our own hands. And the great the promise is that, you know, God's got got our back, God's going to protect us is that we don't have to take things into our own hands, we can just go on and live our lives, you know, raise our families, win souls, go to church, live godly in Christ Jesus, and just rest assured that, you know, God is going to take care of those that would do us harm, you know. And often, you know, maybe that's because God doesn't always do it, you know, God doesn't always, you know, maybe we can't see it, you know, God, maybe we don't, it's not a public thing, or we don't, aren't the person that's doing this, you know, is out of our life, we don't know what becomes of them. But rest assured, you know, if you're talking about some unsaved reprobate who wants to do harm to God's people, you know, even if they get away with it, you know, in this life, they have all of an eternal existence and hellfire to look forward to, and God will avenge them there. So again, it's lost on God's people today, and that's kind of unfortunate because of the fact that, of the peace that it brings. But it's even lost on people, you know, quite frankly that should understand this so that they, you know, would not do, they would understand the danger in attacking the man of God, attacking God's anointed. You know, I'm going to refer, you know, to the man of God, you know, but this goes for all of us. This is something we can all apply to our lives, this is something that, you know, we are God's anointed. It's not just reserved just for the preacher or the pastor or whatever, it's for every one of us, you know, we are all God's anointed. And if you would, go over to John chapter 14, keep something in 1 Corinthians 16 and go to John 14. You know, we are all God's anointed through the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Bible says in 1 John 2, that but the anointing which he had received with him abideth in you and you should think not that any man teach you, but it's the same anointing teacheth you of all things and is truth and is no lie, even as he hath taught you, ye also, ye shall abide in him. Right? So it's a hymn, this teaching, or excuse me, this anointing, and this anointing that we have teaches us, right? So what is that? Who is he referring to? John 14 verse 26. But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things. He's the teacher. That is the anointing, that's the spirit that we have. That's what makes us God's anointed. You know, we have the sealing of the Holy Spirit, like it says in Ephesians, that we are sealed on the day of our redemption by the Spirit of God, that we are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. So this is for everybody. Don't think I'm just, you know, up here trying to say, hey, you know, the man of God has just got this special protection, you know, he's got this extra security force in the Lord that's just not available to you. You know, it's available to all of God's people. It's available to all of God's anointing. That's what the promise said. He touched not mine anointed, and it's a promise that he made, yes, to Abraham and Isaac, but it's also one that he made to all of Israel, you know, and today we are that Israel. And again, a lot of people, you start to talk about this, about how God is a God who takes vengeance, about God is a God who will repay it. It's like they don't even get it. It's like have you ever read the Bible? It's such a, it's a biblical concept. God avenging his anointed is biblical. And we could think, you know, we could probably go around the room tonight and everyone could probably think of examples, and I'll just throw out a few. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 27, 1 Samuel chapter 27. We could think of Daniel and the den of lions. You know, the men there had plotted against Daniel, and they found fault in him concerning his God, and he ended up being tossed into the den of lions. Of course, we know the story, the angel came and shut the mouths of the lions and delivered him. It was brought out the next day. And then those guys that plotted against him were thrown in. You know, and it's worth pointing out now that not only were they thrown in, but their families went in with them. You know, and that's what people should need to understand, that when you're attacking God's anointed, when you're doing harm to the prophets of God, you know, your whole family, you're endangering your whole family when you do it. When they were devoured, it says their bones break before they even hit the ground. The lions were already on them, just chewing them up. You know, think of the example of, you know, Achan, you know, in the valley of Acor, you know, a guy who coveted after the babylodious garment and the wedge of silver, took the accursed thing from Jericho. You know, it wasn't just him that suffered because of that. When he went against the commandment, his whole family was burned. And people need to understand this. What about the Amalekites? The Bible says, you're in 1 Samuel chapter 27, it says, remember what Amalek did unto thee by the way? It's talking about when they were coming out of Egypt, right? When he were come forth out of Egypt, how he met thee by the way, and smote the hindmost of thee, even all that were feeble behind thee. You know, that's just what, you know, these heathen reprobates like to do, and that's what the Amalekites were. You know, they did all these wicked sins that only reprobates do, is that they like to smite, you know, the feeble behind them. They go after the weak, those that are lagging behind, can't defend themselves. Well, now it was faint and weary, and he feared not God. We say, man, it's such a biblical concept, it's in scripture, why do people do it? Why do people read that verse, do my prophets no harm, and then go ahead and try to do harm to God's prophets? Because they have no fear of God. He says that he feared not God. Therefore, verse 19, it shall be when the Lord thy God hath given thee rest from all thine enemies round about in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance to possess it, that thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven, saying, I don't even want people to know who this guy is. And you know what, if we didn't have Amalek written about in the scripture, nobody would know. He wants to blot it out from under heaven, and thou shalt not forget it. Now you're in 1 Samuel, chapter 27, and of course you know the story of Saul. That's what he failed to do when he was told to go wipe out the Amalekites for this very reason, you know, and he saves King Agag alive, right, and Samuel has to finish the job for him. But then later, David is on the run. He goes in the land of Philistines to, you know, get refuge from Saul, and he's actually living there in Ziklag. It was a town that was given him by the Philistines, by the king of Gath. And it says in chapter 27, verse 8 of 1 Samuel, and David and his men went up and invaded the Gesherites and the Gerizites and the Amalekites, for those nations were of old the inhabitants of the land as thou goest to sure even the land of Egypt. And David smote the land and left neither man nor woman alive, and took away the sheep and the oxen and the asses and the camels and the apparel and returned and came to Achish. Now I don't know if David knew what he was, like he knew he was kind of fulfilling, you know, Deuteronomy chapter 25. I'm sure he did. I'm sure he understood that Saul was supposed to have done it and he didn't do it. He's like, well, I'll go, you know, I'm in the Philistines, I need something to do, I might as well just go ahead and wipe out these people and take their spoil. And what's interesting is that, you know, he's on the run as a man of God himself who's been harmed. He himself, David, is a prophet. He himself, David, is the anointed of God who's being persecuted by another. And now he's going and, you know, exacting vengeance on people who also anointed or did harm to the anointed of God. I thought that was kind of interesting. But again, this is another example that God avenging his anointed is biblical, it's all throughout scripture. It might, you know, it took a while for the Malachites, but it came around eventually. How about the fiery furnace? You know, you think about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, when, you know, the king of Babylon said, throw them in the fiery furnace, and they went throw them in. What happened to the guys that threw them in? They got burned up, right? How about Herod after he attempted to kill Peter, you know, he killed James, and then he, you know, because it pleased the Jews, he went further, and he arrested Peter and was going to have him killed, and the angel shows up, you know, and it says, it's a funny story whenever I think about it, he shows up in the prison, right, and it says that he was asleep with the two guards, you sleep on the ground, right, and it says he smote him on the side. Like, the angel's like, get up. It wasn't like, Peter, you know, it wasn't this gentle, like, you know, ascending Tibetan gong, like, it's like, get up, we got to go, right? I always, I just, every time I think about that story, but hey, what happened to Herod, who reached out and touched God's anointed, who was trying to bring harm to the prophet of God, what happened to him? He was eaten of worms, you know, that's a whole other story right there, and again, you know, I've referred to it already, but King Saul persecuting David. Go over to 1 Samuel chapter 9, 1 Samuel chapter 9, you know, it's appropriate in 1 Chronicles chapter 16 that David is the one talking about, you know, not touching God's anointed, doing his prophet's norm, I mean, that was like his life verse when he was being pursued by Saul. Many times in 1 Samuel, you read that, where he has Saul, you know, dead to rights, he could take him out, he says, you know, I'm not going to touch the Lord's anointed, far be it for me, and even after Saul's dead, you know, the guy that claims to have killed him, you know, David thinks, oh, you've touched God's anointed, you're dead. So it's appropriate that David's the one that mouthed that prayer, that mouthed that Psalm, and put that promise out there. What's interesting is that David himself, like I said, was the anointed of God, and somebody that was being persecuted, you know, Saul was trying to bring, you know, was trying to touch the Lord's anointed, because he was going after David, and did God just let Saul get away with it? No, 1 Samuel chapter 19, verse 18, so David fled and escaped, and Saul came to Rhema and told him all that Saul had done to him, and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Nyoth, and was told Saul, saying, behold, David is at Nyoth in Rhema, and Saul sent messengers to take David, and when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, and Samuel standing as appointed over them, the Spirit of God was upon the messengers of Saul, and they also prophesied. So he's trying to get these messengers, you know, he's sending out these people to find out what's going on, they show up where he is, and they start prophesying. And Saul sent messengers again, it goes there, and it was, excuse me, in verse 21, and it was told Saul, and he sent other messengers, and they prophesied likewise, and Saul sent the messengers again the third time, and they prophesied also. Then went he also to Rhema, and came to a great well that is at Siku, and he asked and said, where are Samuel and David, and one said, behold, they be at Nyoth in Rhema, and he went thither into Nyoth in Rhema, and the Spirit of God was upon him also, and he went on and prophesied until he came to Nyoth in Rhema. Now what does he do when he gets there? Say, well, how is he being, you know, judged here by God? Well, verse 24, and he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and laid down naked all that day, and all that night. And he said, this is a weird story. Why is he laying down naked? It's because God is judging him. That's a shameful thing. The Bible teaches it's a shameful thing to be naked. So he gets there, he's like, I'm going to find out where he is, and I'm going to get David, and, you know, he's even at this point, you know, Samuel's saying he's fearing for his life, you know, he's afraid that Saul's going to kill him too. So he's just on this vendetta to kill, you know, two of God's prophets, two of God's anointed, Samuel and David. And when he gets there, he falls down, I don't even think he could help himself. He's just taking off his clothes and just falls down naked, and lays there all day and all night. And really for Saul, that was like a shot across the bow. You know, and sometimes, you know, God does that to people. He's like, I'm warning you, don't do this. And then they persist. It's like, okay, well, now this. You're going to lay down naked and just be embarrassed. It's a shameful thing. How about another example of God avenging his anointed and it being biblical? Think about the fact that, you know, Jesus was the anointed of God, Jesus was a prophet of God, right? And he was persecuted. I mean, he was crucified. And what does it say that's going to happen when he comes back? Revelation chapter one, verse seven, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. I mean, God, he's going to have vengeance on those that pierced him as well. Say, well, I don't know if this is really a biblical thing. Should we really expect that God is going to avenge those that would, you know, take vengeance on those that would touch God's anointed and do his prophets harm? Well, Paul prayed for it. You know, we see many examples in scripture, I'm sure that we could come up with others, but Paul, you know, said, let it be. Second Timothy chapter four, verse 14, Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil. Say there's this guy, Alexander the coppersmith, and he did a lot of evil. And again, Paul is a God's anointed, you know, he's saved. Paul is one of God's prophets. And here's this guy, Alex, and or excuse me, no offense to any Alex's in the room. Alexander or Alexander's, for that matter, I think we got one of those two, the coppersmith, and he does much evil to one of God's anointed, one of his prophets. And what's Paul's reaction? The Lord will reward him according to his works. Meaning this, that, you know, Paul had the right understanding that when somebody is going to do harm to God's anointed, when they're going to do harm to God's prophets, they got what's coming. The Lord reward them according to their works. They deserve it. Because here's the thing, you say, oh, is it because of the man? No, it's because of what the man stands for, the word of God, the preaching of the gospel, you know, it's because when you're speaking out and lashing out against somebody that's taking a stand for Christ and trying to do a work for God, you're trying to actually bring the hindrance, you know, not just to that man, but to the very work of God. And God's not just going to stand by and let people, you know, try to bring his work to a halt. And if there's...and he'll make examples out of people. He'll make it a perfect example out of them as a warning to other people, don't get in my way, because this is what happens. You know, and it's unfortunate, a lot of those people that have these type of things happen to them that get judged by God for this, if they just would know the scripture, if they just understood this concept because it's biblical. Paul prayed for it. You know, we need to get a hold of this, you know, not probably because any of us is going to fall into the category of one who's going to bring harm to the prophet of God or touch God's anointed, but because of the fact that, you know, it gives us peace. We are told to trust that the Lord will avenge us. That's how I know it's biblical. It's something that we...it's a promise that's given unto us. Go over to Hebrews Chapter 10, Hebrews Chapter 10, because look, all they that live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, shall. You know, that's going to happen. You know, evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. You know, there are many Antichrists that are gone out into the world. We are going to have...if we're going to live for God, if we're going to do a work for God, we have been attacked in the past, our friends are being attacked, and we'll have been attacked in the past. We'll all be attacked. It's just going to be a battle after battle after battle after battle. You know, unless we just want to compromise, and back out, and give up. Otherwise, it's a fight to the very end. You have to understand, and because of that, because of the fight, you know, the temptation sometimes is that maybe we'll try to take matters into our own hands, which we have never promoted because it's not biblical, and we don't need to because God is the avenger of us because we are God's anointed. Romans chapter 12 verse 19 says, "'Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay sayeth the Lord.'" You know, I don't know what you could do...who's going to take vengeance on God's enemies better, you or God? I mean, God will. God's going to do it way better than any of us. What are you going to do, slash a tire? Write some nasty comment somewhere on social media, and God will take people right out. "'Dearly beloved, avenge not yourself. I will repay sayeth the Lord. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirsts, give him drink, for in so doing, thou shalt keep coals of fire on his head.'" It doesn't say, oh, if you do that, then if you give him food and drink, and he fires a coal on his head, that he's going to stop and be your buddy. It means that you're doing good. God's seeing that. He says, well, if he's not going to take things into his own hand, if he's not going to avenge himself against his enemy, I will. Vengeance is mine. "'Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.'" The Bible says in Deuteronomy 32, "'To me belongeth vengeance and recompense. Their foot shall slide in due time, for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.'" Hebrews chapter 10, verse 30, "'For we know him that hath said," you know, referring back to Deuteronomy, "'Vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense,' saith the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." You know, when you see people attacking a man of God, attacking God's anointed, you know, maybe not even a preacher, maybe just some godly church member, and they start to attack that person, I just sit back and that person should be afraid. Of course, they won't because they have no fear. And I think, man, if I were in that person's shoes, I would be so afraid right now what God would do to me. It's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. And it keeps us, you know, we understand this promise and we understand that we could trust God to avenge us as his anointed, as his prophets. It keeps us from taking matters into our hands. Go over to 2 Corinthians chapter 10, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. And of course, you know, I'm not advocating, you know, complete 100% pacifism. If you need to defend yourself physically, we understand that that's okay to do. But even then, you know, you got to kind of learn where to draw a line as well. That's another sermon. But when we see people who are just, you know, attacking churches, attacking church members, attacking pastors, and, you know, spreading lies and rumors and just, you know, doxing people, you know, a lot of people, I had to look that up. You know, what is it to dox somebody? You know, taking people's private information, people's personal information, private conversations, and just throwing it out there for the world to see and trying to smear people. You know, the temptation might be, well, we're going to get them back. We're going to do something. We're going to do something about it. But that's not what we're to do. In that instance, you know, we trust God that he will avenge us. And he does. And that's the great thing about it. That's why I'm smiling today. And every time I see God do it, it puts a big grin on my face. I might even make a meme about it. You know, and then you know I'm happy. Take the time to do that. Ephesians 6, it says in verse 12, we wrestle out against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked in high places. You know what? We as God's people, as his anointed, as his prophets, we've got much bigger battles to fight than some railer online, some false accuser online. You know, we don't have to worry about, oh, they're trying to right every wrong, trying to correct every lie. You know, just leave such in the hands of God, and he'll take care of them. And he does, and he has, and he will. Well, let's continue fighting the spiritual fight. Let's fight against spiritual wickedness in high places and fight this spiritual battle that we're in. Look at 2 Corinthians 10, verse 3. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. We don't war after the flesh. We don't have to get involved in these carnal fights, as tempting as it is. When we see somebody just being slandered, bullied, lied about, doxxed. There's that word again. We don't have to take matters into our own hands. We don't have to get in the flesh and fight. We just understand that God's going to take care of it. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds, casting down the nations in every high thing that exalt itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. We don't need to take matters into our own hands. And I'll preach this, and you'll say things like this, and you'll tell people, hey, God's going to judge that person. And then they do. Then sometimes you can watch people. You can watch people who are just these railers, these liars, these people who attack our church, attack our pastor, attack his family, attack other godly members in this church, attack other pastors in other churches. And you can just sit back and it's like, next time I want to just start timing it. You say, OK, when's God just going to come down on this person? And you say things like that, and then something happens. Say, hey, this is what's going to happen, and then it happens. So they wind up dead in some alley with their skull caved in from homicide. And if you don't know what I'm talking about, spare yourself. Some guy goes online and just starts lying, starts YouTube channels to attack us, attack our church members, and then he's found dead. That's the rumor anyway. I mean, it's a homicide, so it's still under investigation. The guy's dead. You see other people that were members of this church and infiltrate, try to split the church. Then they cause some big, try to cause some big rift, and they're gone. And then some horrible thing happens to their child. Look, and I don't, I'm sorry for that, when that happens to these kids. But it's like, they have the Bible. Maybe God's letting that happen so they can wake up and say, hey, your parents are idiots for attacking the man of God. Well, and then that happens, and the people are like, oh, it's a coincidence. Oh, it's a coincidence. Look, these people are not victims of circumstance. God uses human instruments all the time. Oh, you know, drug deals go bad all the time. That's who killed him, some drug dealer selling shoes or whatever. But God uses human instruments to judge people all the time. Anybody who's read the Bible knows that. I mean, how many nations did God use to judge Old Testament Israel when it got backslidden? None more so than the Assyrians and the Babylonians. I mean, just over and over again, it's like God's gonna judge his nation. And how did he do it? Through people. You know, how did God destroy Jerusalem 70 years after they crucified Christ? Did he reach down and just do it himself? No, he allowed the Romans to come in and to just burn that city. This isn't far-fetched. And when you see it happen, there's a way to react to it. You know, and God is gonna avenge all the blood upon this earth. You know, we won't go there for the sake of time, but in Revelation chapter 6, you know, they cry out, the saints that have been crucified, or not crucified, but martyred in the tribulation, they cry out and they say, how long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou now judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And God turned to them and said, that's a very un-Christian attitude. You're in heaven now, you can't talk like that. You should, you know, you should love them, pray for them. You know, well, I'm gonna send you back and we're all gonna have a prayer breakfast together. And sit down and see if we can just talk it out. You know, you need to get your heart right. That's not what God, they're in heaven asking for this. Are you gonna avenge us or not? How long until you take vengeance on these people that have done us harm? No, God gives them new clothes. The white robes were given unto every one of them and it said to them that they should rest for a little season. Hey, take it easy, I'll get to it. You know, and then they had, because more people had to die, you know, they had to wait for their brethren, who should be killed as well. But what happens after that? The sixth seal opens. And what happens after that? The tribulation, that's another sermon. But what happens after that, right? God just starts to pour out his wrath on this earth. And it's just bloodshed, fire, earthquakes, just locusts from hell. And what is God doing when he's doing that? He's avenging the blood of the righteous on the earth, and all the innocent blood that's been shed and so on and so forth. And people, you know, you teach this, you point it out when it happens, say that, that, so and so, you know, they, they were, and I'm not saying any names. Because one, you know, it's not worth saying. And two, because I don't want any, any more notoriety for them. I want their, I want their remembrance to be blotted out. The sooner I can forget about people like this, the better. And you, and you point it out and say, look, this is what happened to so and so. They attacked the man of God, they lie, they slander, they attack church members, they try to stop this, they lie about multiple pastors, so and so forth, and now look what happened. You know, more than one example of that. And, and they're the first ones to scoff at that. Whatever. Ain't gonna happen. Here's the thing, the people that scoff at that are usually the ones that are deserving of that judgment. Of course they're not gonna admit that's true. Because they'll be saying, yeah, we deserve to be judged. Think about it. If, if they, if they were to say, yeah, you're probably right about that. They're saying, I deserve for God to judge me, is what they're saying. You know, and what they'll say, oh, it's just a coincidence. Well, you can go ahead and call it a coincidence, but I'm gonna continue to call it what it is. It's God fulfilling his promise to judge those that touch and try to bring harm to God's anointed. That's what it is when things like this happen. You know, and, and, and, and I'm not gonna call it a coincidence because of the fact that, you know, a guy dies that happens to be on the imprecatory prayer list of several pastors, men of God, and maybe several other church members. Pastors come on and say, yeah, I'm actually praying for certain people to die. Oh, I can't believe you'd say that. I mean, there's like 22 Psalms where David's praying like that. Where he's just praying for God to break their teeth, that they would melt like snails, that they would, you know, wouldn't live out half their days. That even their children, you know, would, would be wiped out. I mean, it's, David prayed some hardcore prayer. He, he said things that I've, you know, would have, would have to try to be that hardcore preacher. You know, and we should pray that God avenges us. I mean, it's therapeutic. It's therapeutic to preach this. I'm not going to lie. I'll get it off my chest once and for all, right? Tell the next time. But we should pray that God avenges us, and judges, though, that seek us, that seek to do us harm. We should pray that. Take that, you know, someone's attacking us, someone's lying about us, someone's slandering us, someone's trying to, you know, hold something over our head. Go pray about it. And how should you pray? God, take him out. Lord, I'm your anointed. Lord, I'm your prophet. They're doing me harm. I haven't done anything wrong. Lord, you know the facts. And if they're going to persist, Lord, break their teeth in their mouth. Open up the, the, the very, open up earth underneath their feet and let them go alive down into the pit, because that's where they're headed anyway. The sooner, the better. He said, I don't know about that. Well, Psalms 109. Go to Psalms 58. Psalms 109 verse 17, as he loved cursing, so let it come unto him. Reminds me of Paul's, you know, little statement there about Alexander the coppersmith, who did him much evil. The Lord will reward him according to his works. As he loved cursing, so let it come unto him. Let him be cursed. As he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. As he clothed himself with cursing, like as with his garment, so let it come into his bowels like water and like oil in his bones. Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, as for a girdle, wherewith he is girded continually. Let this be his reward, be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord. And he said, mine adversaries, the man of God, God's anointed, let this be their reward, that seeks, and of them that speak evil against my soul. That's a good prayer to pray, my friend. You know, all, you know, every word of God is pure. You know, all scripture is given for, is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works. It's a good prayer to pray. And if we ever find ourselves in that position, you know, fortunately I, you know, fortunately or unfortunately, whatever, I haven't really had to go through that. And I'm sure there's people out there that try to dig up dirt on me and, you know, whatever. And maybe they'll all get my share of it somewhere down the road. Maybe some, you know, if I get a, get the, you know, Lord willing to become a pastor one day, and a bunch of fags show up to blow up my church, you know what I'm not going to do? Take it in my own hands. I'll pray a prayer like that though. And if I see somebody attacking my friends, attacking fellow church members, attacking my pastor, attacking his family, and speaking evil of them, and trying to bring them harm, I'm going to pray this prayer for him. And look, God answers prayer. Amen? And when you see so, when you see this happen and carry out in real life, when people who have been, that have been, people who other people have been praying for them to be judged by God, and it happens, that's a reason to rejoice. It's answered prayer. Psalms chapter five, you're 58, I'll read from Psalms five, you know, just in case you doubt me that this isn't, this is not a good way to be, a good way to pray. Destroy them, thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out the multitude of their transgressions for they rebelled against thee. But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice. Let them ever shout for joy because thou defendest them. Look, when God stands up for his people and judges somebody that's been attacking God's people when he defends them, that's a reason to shout for joy. That's a reason to rejoice. Let also them that love thy name be joyful in thee. Look, when God avenges people that have been attacking God's anointed, I'm going to rejoice. I'm going to be happy about it. You know, when I heard the news that this internet bozo who's been attacking our church and our church members and other churches was found dead, murdered under some very strange circumstances. Whether it turns out to be true or not, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't smiling. I got the text in the rain out and I started singing. And you know what I sang? I sang Psalm 68. That's our new Bible memory verse, right? You wonder where I come up with these verses, these passages. Well, let me tell you where I came up with Psalm 68, why I chose that one. Cuz I was driving down to Tucson to go serve God down there, preach and lead some soul winning. And I got the news that this reprobate got killed and I started singing Psalm 68 with a smile at the top of my lungs. You know how it goes? Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. Let God arise and his enemies be scattered. Let God, let God arise. Next verse. Let them also that hate him, flee before him. And I sang that for a while, all the way down there. It's a good song, biblical. The Bible says in Psalm 58, where you are in verse 10, let the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. Not, well, that's too bad. No, it's not. It's good. It's good that one more person who just wants to attack and bring harm and try to embarrass people and attack our church and split our church. It's good when God takes vengeance on them. It makes me happy. It makes me want to rejoice. He says there, he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked. Say, well, you know, it's okay that you rejoice, but you should keep that to yourself. Are the means necessary? Yes, they are. I was a little disappointed to see more. And you say, well, what do you mean? You know, well, I mean, washing his feet in the blood of the wicked, that, are you going to take some blood home and go do it by yourself? I mean, get the picture. He's like, God's going to slam and you're just going to trample right through that blood. I'm dancing it. I like that. It's even better. I'm not going to dance, though. Nice try. All right. It's public. Do it in front of everybody. So that a man shall say, verily, there is a reward for the righteous. And somebody else is going to see that and go, that guy's washing his feet in the blood of the wicked. Say, wow, there really is a reward for the righteous. Verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth. Which goes back to what I was saying at the beginning. We need to understand this concept that God is one who will avenge his anointed. That God is one who will avenge his prophets. He is a God that judges in the earth. You know, as I pointed out to people in Tucson, you know, God is not as Bette Midler describes him. Have I written Bette Midler or anybody? No? Come on. You know who Bette Midler was. Some of you know. I can see those hands. It's all right. God is watching us from a distance. No, he's not, you blast femur. God's right up in my grill. God's not off somewhere, just kind of not aware of what's going on, watching from a distance. No, God gets involved. God mixes it up, and I like it. He gets in there and he gets his hands dirty on the behalf of his anointed. And you know, that should make us rejoice and have peace and not feel like we need to take things into our hands. Psalm 68, I just sang it for you, verse one. Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee before him. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yea, let them exceedingly rejoice.