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As my guide, and I have an endless supply of things to preach, dear God. So many great truths in the Bible. We can't even scratch the surface tonight with the passages that we're looking at. But Father, I pray that you would speak to everyone that's here through the message. Encourage us. Build us up. And in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Now the part of the chapter that I want to emphasize is verses 7 through 11 there. And I'm going to read another verse for you. But the Bible reads in verses 7 through 11, But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Ye doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him not having mine own righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, and in these words, that I may know him. And the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. And then let me read this famous verse for you from the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5, verse 8. The Bible reads, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. That's the title of the sermon tonight. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now of course today is Easter Sunday. This morning we preached about the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's alluded to a little bit in this chapter when he talks about that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death. Hey, what was the driving force with the Apostle Paul? What was his goal in life? Was it the same goal that many preachers have? Was it the same goal that Christians of today have? The goal was to know Christ. The goal was to know... He said, I've given up all things, and I count them but dung that I may win Christ. He said, I count them but dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. He said, knowing God, knowing Jesus Christ is my ultimate goal in life, and that's why I'm willing to give things up. That's why I'm willing to go to jail. That's why I'm willing to be beaten with rods several times. That's why I'm willing to spend a night and a day in the deep. That's why I'm willing to receive 40 stripes, save one, on five different occasions. He said, my goal is to know Christ. What do I mean by that? Well, look if you would at James chapter 4, and then we'll go from James to the book of Hebrews, which is in close proximity in your Bible there, but look at James chapter 4, verse number 8. People talk a lot about walking with God in churches, pastors, Christians. They use the word, and I don't really use this word because it's a word that's not in the Bible, but they talk about having a relationship with God. I don't really know if I like that word. But the Bible talks about knowing God, walking with God, having fellowship with God, being a friend of God. Hey, isn't that what you want in your life? Isn't that why you come to church? Isn't that why you pick up the Bible and read it? Because you want to know God. But look if you would at James chapter 4, and we'll see the subject again brought up. It says in James chapter 4, verse 8, draw nigh to God. See, the same type of thing. Getting close to God. That's what nigh means. It's talking about geographically close proximity. He's saying, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Now, the closer you get to God, hey, you take one step toward God, he's going to take a step toward you. Do you long for closeness and fellowship with God? Well, look at the latter part of the verse. He says, draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Hey, how do you get close to God? How do you know God? How do you see God? How do you have a fellowship with God? Hey, it's by having a pure heart. That's what God said in Matthew chapter 5. He said, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Now, I don't think it's just saying that you're going to physically lay eyes on God. No man has seen God at any time. What it's talking about is knowing God, seeing God, perceiving God, understanding God, being close to God. He says, would you like to be nigh to God? Would you like to be close to God? Would you like God to look at you as a close friend? Would you like to be a beloved son of God that's right there with him? Would you like to be like the apostle John, who was, not only was he one of the twelve, but he was one of the three, Peter, James, and John, who got to go places with Jesus alone that the other disciples just didn't get to go. And not only that, but he was known as the disciple whom Jesus loved. He was known as the disciple that leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper. I mean, he was so close to God, I mean, he was just right there with Jesus, he actually was leaned up against him physically at the Last Supper. The other eleven disciples just were not leaned up against Jesus in that way. See, John had a closeness with God. That's why he said in 1 John, he said, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. He said, these things rightly under you that your joy may be full. He says, if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. He says, you want to have fellowship with God like I have fellowship with God? He says, well, you've got to walk in the light. God is saying here in James chapter 4, look at the same wording. He says, you want to be nigh to God, purify your hearts. Purify your heart so you can be pure in heart so you can see God, so that you can know God. See, the apostle Paul, to have the close fellowship with God that he had, he had to give up a lot of things. He had to give up his friends. Let's face it. He had to give up all of his titles. He had to give up his degrees and his accolades that he earned in the Jews' religion. He had to give up finances. He had to give up his livelihood. He had to give up his freedom. He had to spend time in jail. He had to give up comfort. He had to give up money. He had to give up everything. But he said, I counted but done that I may win Christ, that I may know him, and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable under his debt, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead, which is what we were talking about this morning, that same idea of a Christian attaining to the resurrection of the dead, living a resurrected life where the old man is put off and you put on the new man, the renewed resurrected spirit that God gave you the moment that you got saved. Now look at Hebrews chapter 12. Go back in your Bible from the book of James to Hebrews chapter 12. Let me ask you this. What are you willing to give up for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus your Lord? What are you willing to give up? Think about your life right now. Go down the list of the things that make up your life. What you do on Monday, what you do on Tuesday, what you do on Wednesday, what you spend your time with throughout the day, what you have in your house, what you possess, what are you willing to give up to know God in a greater way? Now I'm not saying you have to give up everything. Hopefully you won't have to give up everything. Hopefully I won't have to give up everything. What are you willing to give up? What are things worth to you? I mean is it so important for you to see that DVD or would you rather see God? Because you must make the choice. You will not, you will not see the filthy DVD and see God. It's not going to happen. You'll see God when you're pure in heart. Okay, this is how things enter into your heart is through your eyes. Mine eye affected my heart it says in the book of Lamentations. Hey, when you hear things in your ears and see things in your eyes it's going into your heart. Okay, and God says you must choose between seeing the filthy DVD and seeing God. Is the DVD that great? You must not know how great it is to see God and to know God. See, is it so important to you to see your favorite TV show or do you want to see God? Do you want to see the inside of that magazine that they're selling at the gas station right now, that they're selling at the grocery store right now? Is it so interesting to see inside of People Magazine, to see Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Hey, to see Britney Spears and to see the actors and to see their personal lives and to see the people that are dressed indecently and wrong? Hey, is it so great to see what the world has to offer? Do you want to see God? Because you must decide one or the other. I mean, you got to pick. Which one do you want to see? You can't see it all. If you could see it all then everybody would see it all. But see, people have to choose what they're going to see and you have to see, when you see God you're seeing the invisible. You've got to cleanse your hands and purify your heart by faith a long time before you start to see God, okay? But when you see the sin and the filth and the wickedness, you see it right away. You push a button, power on the television, you'll see what the devil has to offer. You walk to the gas station, you'll see what he has to offer right away. Turn on the TV, you'll see. I mean, hey, call Cox. They'll probably juice you up over the phone. I mean, call Cox Cable and see if they can't just light you up. I mean, you probably already got the cable jack in your house, right? Just call and say, turn me on. I'm at 2620 Greenway Road. Hey, fire it up! And you'll see it like that. But you know, seeing God is a journey of a lifetime. Seeing God is a pursuit that will cost you everything that you have and that will take you all the way to the end of your life trying to know God. I mean, think about when Paul's writing this. This is toward the end of his life. This is Paul who's in jail. He's already been beaten with rods, okay? He's already gone through all this, and he says, I'm still forgetting those things which are behind. I'm not writing on some past glory. He says, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God. Hey, not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I may apprehend, that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. I count on myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do for getting those things which are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before. He said, I'm pressing on the upward way, new heights I'm gaining everywhere, still praying as I'm onward bound. Lord, plant my feet on higher ground, okay? That was the apostle Paul, and he was already on some pretty high ground. He said, it's not enough. I want to see God. See, the instant gratification that the world has to offer, yes, it's instantly gratifying, but it's junk. It's like you can go to Burger King, and boy, they'll have you in and out of there in what? Well, actually, how about McDonald's, okay? I was thinking about this. A couple of years ago, I'm not ripping on McDonald's at all. I was thinking about this. My wife and I, we lived in Indiana. We used to mystery shop McDonald's, okay? And this is what we would do. We'd drive up there, and we had a little stopwatch, and we'd push the stopwatch, and we'd have a lot of money for this. We'd be like, what did we get one time? Sixty bucks to eat at McDonald's, okay? Usually it was about $6.50, and they would buy the food for us, but sometimes they would really need it done, and we'd get 40 bucks, 60 bucks, and we used to do this all the time. And so what we'd do, we'd have a little stopwatch. We'd pull into the McDonald's drive-through, okay? You know what I'm talking about? And I'd push the stopwatch, and then they'd say, hi, how you doing, you know? May I take your order? And we'd order what we were supposed to order, you know, the chicken sandwich combo. And then we would time it, and we would get out of there. We'd get in and out of there in like 57 seconds sometimes. Is that true? I mean, you would be in and out of McDonald's driving in like 57 seconds, a minute and 25 seconds. And sometimes when they would get a poor score, because we were rating them. You know, they were paying us to do mystery shopping. Sometimes they'd get a poor score, like they'd get like three minutes, and you'd be like, what is taking so long? Three minutes? But think about how short that is. I mean, three minutes to cook a meal? Okay? But you'd be like, fail, you know? It took three minutes. I can't believe it took three minutes and 47 seconds. But then, for the day, he was bragging to me, as he always does. He drives his stinking fancy car, parks it into the church, and, you know, Walt is in telling me I ate lunch at Black Angus today. You know? Get off your high horse, would you? And he's telling me about Black Angus. Hey, brother Dave, would you have been happy at Black Angus to get your food in three minutes and 47 seconds? You would be thrilled. You know, when you eat at Black Angus, it's 25 minutes. You know, it's a half hour before you get your food. Hey, but what are you getting? You're getting something a little bit better, okay? You're getting Black Angus, okay? You're getting a great meal. Hey, it's the same way with God. Hey, the things that are worth something in life, you've got to wait a long time. You've got to put in the time to get what's something of value. Look at Hebrews chapter 12, and look at verse number 1. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. Okay, so we see here God's asking us to lay aside some sin, to get the weight and the sin out of our life, looking unto Jesus. Notice that phrase, and we'll get to that a little bit later in the chapter. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. He says you're not willing to wait. You don't have the patience. You get tired. You get worn out from the waiting. Verse 4, you've not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin, and you've forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou are rebuked of him. For him the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If he endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the Father chastened not? But if he be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? Now watch this verse. For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he, for our prophet, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Okay? That's the goal of God's chastening, is to make us partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble deeds, and make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Now before we read verse 14, what did God say the goal of his chastening and his punishing us in this life as the Father does his Son? What's the goal? Personal holiness on our part. That we could be a partaker of his holiness. That we could be holy as he's holy. Be ye holy for I am his holy. That's the whole goal of why God chastises God. That's why the whole idea that people have that the judgment seat of Christ, God's going to be disciplining you. He's going to be rebuking you for what you did in this life. You're going to have to give an account to God for your sins that you've done in this life, Christian. You're going to stand before God. And I've always wondered, what's God going to do? Is he going to hit you? Is he going to give you a spanking? Is he going to beat you with a stick? Or what's he going to do, send you to hell? What kind of a stupid thing? Because that's the punishment for sin. The way to sin is death. And so if he's going to punish you or chastise you for your sins, now what does God do to us in this life? Well, that's easy. He can do a lot. He can get you in a car accident. He can make you lose your job. He can give you a physical ailment. He can cause you to lose your money. He can do something to get your attention and to show you you're going the wrong way. I want you to be a partaker of my holiness. I want you to shut off the garbage on television. I want you to shut off the rock music. I want you to shut off the world and love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. And I want you to be a partaker of my holiness. There are all kinds of things that he can do to hurt you in this life, to harm you in this life, for your own benefit, for your own good. But what's he going to do when you get to heaven, is what I'm wondering. Is he going to physically assault you at the judgment seat of Christ? Or is he just going to be like these parents who rebuke their children just with their words? Like, what's he going to do, put you on some guilt trip? Hmm? Pastor Anderson, I can't believe that you did say that. You're like, God, I'm sorry. You know, it was a long time ago. That was a couple hundred years ago. You know, let's say people that died several hundred years ago, right? The judgment seat of Christ says that. God, that was 500 years ago. I'm sorry. Why did you do that? Why? I don't know. I'm sorry. I'm mad at you, okay? For the next thousand years, I'm mad. I mean, it's dumb. What's he going to do? Is he going to rebuke you verbally? Is he going to physically assault you? Is he going to beat you up when you get to heaven in your brand new body? You're in your brand new body, Jesus is going to come out and say, you bend over my knee. I mean, that's so ridiculous. It doesn't even make sense. Look, I don't think people have really thought through this. But anyway, the purpose of discipline is holiness. God's trying to bring about holiness on our part. Look at verse 14. Watch how interesting this is. Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. You see the consistency? He says in verse number 2, you're looking unto Jesus. You're trying to see Jesus. You're trying to go through the Christian life and run the race that's set before you. Hey, you're fighting your way through the Christian life. And you're looking to Jesus. But maybe you can't really see him. He's kind of a little far off to you, right? He says you're looking toward him. You're looking unto him. But he says, not until you go through the discipline all throughout the first part of chapter 12, hey, not until you get to 14. Verse number 14 is where you're going to see God. Hey, you start looking in verse number 2. You start striving against sin in verse number 4. In verses 5 through 13, you get chastened by God for your sins, where you sin and God disciplines you. And in verse 14, you end up living a holy life, and then you see God. See, you start looking in verse 2. You see him in verse 14 after the discipline, after you get the sin out of your life, after you cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. After you purify your heart, then you see God. Then you draw an eye to God, and God draws an eye to you. See, verse number 4 is an interesting verse. Sometimes we read over short verses like this in the Bible without really understanding what they mean. He says, you've not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Now, we think about resisting. We think about fighting. But what is God saying that we're really supposed to be fighting and resisting? Well, he says, striving against sin. You know, that means wrestling against sin, fighting against sin. He says, you've not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Hey, when was the last time you shed any blood? Striving against sin. I haven't. I mean, I've had people push me and throw me on the ground before when I was striving against sin. But I've never had anybody actually draw blood on me when I was striving against sin. I've never had anybody beat me with a stick or cane me or whip me. I've never been physically assaulted like in that way, striving against sin. But, you know, there was somebody who was assaulted to the point of bloodshed, and that's Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus Christ died on the cross to, well, think about this. You don't have to turn there, but 1 John chapter 3 is what I was thinking of, verse number 5. The Bible says, and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. That's what salvation is, by the way. Salvation is from your sins. He shall save his people from their sins. And so he was manifested to take away our sins. Gone, gone, gone. Yes, my sins are gone. That's why I never have to answer to them again. But in verse number 8, the Bible talks about, as a Christian, you know, it goes on, and 1 John chapter 3 is a very deep chapter. I can't wait until on Wednesday nights, one of these days, we'll go through the book of 1 John. Fantastic book in the Bible. I love chapter 3. Such great doctrine. And the Bible talks about the new man versus the old man, the new man being born of God that never sins. And the Bible says in verse number 8, he that committed sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Okay, so there's a two-fold purpose, and I'm sure there's much more purpose. I mean, we can't understand everything about the plan of salvation and the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. But in verse number 5, we see him saving us from our sins. Yes, that was his purpose when he died on the cross. But he had another purpose when he died on the cross, to destroy the works of the devil. He that committed sin is of the devil. He said he wanted to destroy the devil's reign of sin on this earth. See, God, Jesus Christ died on the cross, not only to save us from our sins, but also to redeem us from all iniquity, it says in Titus chapter 2, and purify unto himself. Purify, remember pure in heart? Purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. Part of his purpose was to purify us. Part of his purpose was to strive against sin. Look down in your Bible, Hebrews 12.4. Hey, you've not yet resisted on the blood striving against sin, in contrast with Jesus Christ, who did resist on the blood striving against sin. That's verse 3. Now, there's a price to be paid to win people the Christ. Jesus paid a great price. He gave his life on the cross. He shed his blood on the cross to save people. And there's a price to be paid to build a church. I mean, to start a church, to see this church grow. Hey, we're all going to have to pay a price for that to happen. You know, there's a price to be paid to help people. You know, these are very positive things, winning people to Christ, getting somebody saved, right, building a church, right, getting people saved, helping people, you know, finding someone that's in need and helping them, teaching people the Bible. Hey, there's a price that we're willing to pay to pay that. But you know what? There's another price that we need to pay. Hey, there's a price to be paid to strive against sin, to fight against sin. What am I talking about? Well, you think about Ephesians chapter 6. Don't turn there, but just think about it, okay? Just think about it. Think with me, would you? Ephesians chapter 6. You know what that's about right now. Ephesians chapter 6 verse 12, famous verse, For we wrestle not against flesh and blood. Don't let the not throw you off, because the whole rest of the verse is what we do wrestle against. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against power. So what he's saying is, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but we do wrestle, okay? For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. So in Hebrews chapter 12, he talks about striving against sin. In Ephesians chapter 6, he talks about wrestling against spiritual wickedness. 1 Timothy 6, he talks about fighting the good fight of faith, okay? There's another fight that we should be involved in. In verse number 32 of Hebrews chapter 10, he says, We're to endure a great fight of afflictions. Talking about tribulation, persecution that's going to come upon us. 1 Corinthians 9, 26, I therefore shall run, not as uncertainly. So fight I, Paul is saying, not as one that beateth the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means what I preach to others, I myself should be a castaway. He's saying, I have a fight where I'm fighting against the sin that's in my own body. He says, I'm going to keep under my body. I'm going to bring my body into subjection. That's part of the fight that I'm fighting against sin. Striving against sin is what he's talking about. Now think about how sin is just taking over in the country that we live in. Think about how sin, like a cancerous disease, like leprosy in the Bible is what it's referred to, is just creeping through our churches, creeping into families of our loved ones, creeping into the United States of America, creeping into the state of America. Hey, let's not let sin take over America. Let's fight against sin, okay? You say, well, our goal in this church is to win people to Christ. Yes it is. Glory to God. We were out winning people to Christ yesterday. We were out soul winning and knocking doors, but that is not the only purpose of this church. This church has a purpose of winning people to Christ. It has a purpose of fighting against sin. It's a whole other purpose of this church. If this church becomes all about just get people saved, get people saved, get people saved, hey, this whole Bible's not about getting people saved. And this is coming from somebody who is very much aggressively into soul winning. I mean, I win people to the Lord every week of my life. I'm preaching the Gospel every week of my life. So I have the right to say that. You know, I'm not one of these people that never preach to the God, doesn't knock doors, doesn't, you know, lifestyle evangelism. Hey, I have the right to get up and tell you right now, this whole book is not about soul winning from cover to cover every page. Look, there's more to it than that. Would you get the whole program of this church? Would you get the whole picture? Would you become a perfect and entire man having need of nothing as it says in James chapter 1? Hey, will you understand that yes, it's about winning people to Christ. Yes, it's about getting new converts into church here. Yes, it's about getting people baptized. Yes, it's about reaching out and taking the sinner and getting him saved and born again and then discipling him and getting him in church. But hey, there's something else that we're doing in this church. We're fighting against sin. We're fighting against the sin that is destroying America. And we're fighting against the sin that's taking over in the state of Arizona where we live. Hey, we're fighting against the sin that runs rampant in the city of Tempe where we live. Hey, we're fighting against the sin that's taking over churches and creeping into churches across America. We're fighting against the sin that's in our own life, as Paul said. He said, I'm fighting against the sin that's in my own body. He said, my fight is against sin. You see, when the queers try to take over this country and take over our government, which they've already done, they've already infiltrated the government, they're there. They're in Congress, they're in the Senate, they're in all the offices. I'm talking about open homosexuals, open sodomites. When they've infiltrated the media, they've infiltrated Hollywood, they've infiltrated the music industry, they've infiltrated the NFL, they've infiltrated the NBA. And when are we just going to stand up and say, hey, enough is enough? If nobody else is going to fight it, hey, I'm going to fight it. Will you fight it with me? Will you fight the onslaught of sin in this country? Hey, will you fight it with me, the abortion holocaust that marches forward like a great army, like a great army of machine gun soldiers slaughtering 3,000 to 4,000 babies per day? You say, well, it's not like that. Hey, that's what it's like, though. If you could really see it with spiritual eyesight, you'd see an army of doctors. You'd see an army of nurses. You'd see an army of bloodthirsty monsters who destroy the lives of unborn children in the womb. Hey, that's the way I see it. I think that's the way God sees it. It's murder, my friend. That's what it is. Hey, when are we going to stand up and say, no, when are the Christians in America? Hey, when are Bible-believing Christians in America? I'm not talking about the unsaved. I'm talking about Bible-believing born-again Christians going to stand up and say, no, no more. Stop. It's enough. You can't do that. Hey, when's somebody going to stand up to them and fight for what they believe is what I want to know. Hey, when are we going to strive against sin like Jesus Christ strove against sin? When are we going to open our mouth and cry aloud and spare not, especially as a preacher, but, hey, every born-again Christian stand up and say, no, it's wrong. It's a sin. Well, I just try not to get involved. Hey, I'll get involved. I'm not going to just look the other way. I don't want to get involved. You know, when the liberals come into this church, and they'll come. They'll come someday. They'll come to infiltrate this church. We've done a pretty good job of keeping them away so far. They'll be here one day. Mark my word, they'll be here one day, and they'll bring in their music, and they'll want to force on us their music. Hey, they'll want to be singing up here the special music, wiggling and jiving and wailing. Hey, so-and-so's little sweet little granddaughter is going to come up here, and she's going to sing like Britney Spears, but we don't want to say anything. Hey, somebody's got to stand up to the people who try to bring in this worldly music and this liberal music, this southern gospel I'm talking about. You know what I'm talking about, this worldly feel-good, this sensual sound, these women who get up and sing a sensual solo that's obscene. Hey, when they come into my church, I'm going to say, you're not going to bring that music into my church. You're going to bring it into this church over my dead body. Are you going to stand with me and say, no, no, we won't have it here, have it down there, have it over there, have it anywhere else? Not going to have it here. Here we're going to have the old time hymn of the baby. We're going to have spiritual songs, not sensual, earthly, devilish songs. I'm going to tell you something. Drums are not the only wrong music. You know, these independent phono babbas. You know, drums, don't have the drums. We don't have rock and roll music. No drums, no drums. Hey, listen, parrot boy. You know that there's other kinds of wrong music, like a woman who gets up and sings in a bedroom voice, like a woman who has to hold the microphone so close to her mouth because she's singing so softly, because she's just trying to get right into your comfort zone. She just wants to get right close to you and just sing right in the microphone, but she's singing about Jesus. Hey, that's obscene. I've been in churches where the music was obscene. That's the only word for it. The music was perverted. The music was disgusting. A man getting up and singing about Jesus in a sensual bedroom type voice, like he's serenading his wife, is sick. And that's what the men and women, the soloists in our country and churches do. I don't care. Turn on the drums, for crying out loud, and shut that sensual touchy-feely boyfriend-girlfriend sensual, sick, perverted, worldly sound off. Hey, I wish the drumbeat would drown out your perverted voice right now, is what I felt like saying. And I'm not for the drums. I mean, good night. I'm not for all the rock music and the voodoo music and the pounding drums and everything like that, but I'm dead sure against that kind of sensual voice. Elvis Presley, when he came on the scene, now he's considered mild. That's like the good old days or something. But Elvis Presley was considered obscene. He was not even allowed on television because of the way he moved his body and because of the way that he used his voice while he sang. Did you know that his first TV debut was on the Ed Sullivan Show? And it was a great big deal when Elvis Presley debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show because he had not been allowed up onto TV until that point because he was censored from TV because of the way that he used his voice and the way that he used his voice and the way that he moved his body is mild compared to the way church singers use their voice. And I don't understand how it's gotten that way. I'll tell you how it got that way. Nobody's fighting it. Nobody has the guts to stand up to somebody and tell them that they're wrong. Hey, listen, sir, stand up to somebody and have the guts to tell somebody that they're wrong. I mean, we live in a day where you don't want to tell anybody they're wrong. You might offend them. No, that's called being a coward. That's what it is. Hey, there have been times in my life, many times when somebody said to me, well, this is the way it is, right? Right? Right? And I said, wrong. Wrong. What are you going to do about it? You know? Hey, be a man. Wrong. You're wrong. No, that's not what the Bible teaches. No, that's not what the Bible says. No, that's not right music. No, I didn't like that song. You know, somebody comes up to you, oh, wasn't that special music great? People come up to me after church before, when I was in these churches where they have this kind of music. Well, wasn't that music great? No. Oh, Pastor Anderson, I can't believe you did that. You're so divisive. Hey, somebody's got to break the silence, my friend, or else it's like the emperor's new clothes. Everybody just goes along with it, everybody goes along with it. No, somebody's got to say, no, I didn't like it. No, it didn't bless my heart. No, it didn't bring me so close to Jesus, listening to this filthy music. No, it made me angry. No, it actually made me sick. Why are you turning different colors right now? Why are you looking at me like I have two heads? Hey, I'm sorry, did somebody tell you the truth? Hey, did somebody not let you push them around? People will push you around, because they'll come to you. People at your work will push you around. This is how they'll push you around. They'll start telling you some liberal thing and saying, right, right? Trying to force you, because they don't think you have the guts to tell them, well, no, that's not right. And so they'll try to push you around. I've had people push me around like that. Hey, they'll try to push you around. They'll try to force their garbage on you. Hey, just tell them no. Well, no, that's wrong. You don't have to be mean about it, but just say no. We're back to the war on drugs. Nancy Reagan was right, just say no. Listen in your Bible to Daniel chapter 1. Daniel chapter 1, talk about striving against sin, fighting sin. Yes, in your personal life. Yes, purifying your own heart. Yes, cleansing your own hands. But how about nationwide a fight against sin? How about in this church a war against sin? How about in our area here? Let's fight sin. Now, in Daniel chapter 1, we see a man named Daniel who, he was not a compromiser at all. I mean, this is a great man. He drew the line in the sand and he just said, that's the way it is. I'm not going to change. Great man. Look in Daniel chapter 1 at verse number 8. The Bible says, But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank. He said, I'm not going to do it. It doesn't matter what they say. It doesn't matter what they do. It doesn't matter how they intimidate me. It doesn't matter if they kill me. I will not drink an alcoholic beverage. I will not eat meat that's been sacrificed to idols. He said, it's a sin. I refuse to do it. And he purposed in his heart, but look at this. It says, Therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. Now, there's a fine line. I'm not saying that you should go to your job and just start screaming and yelling, turning the tables over like Jesus at the temple, saying, this place is so ungodly. Yeah. Hey, you can't do that. Okay, did Daniel do that? No. I mean, Daniel, he purposed in his heart. He said, I will not move. I will not change. Why? Because he's in prison, okay? He has no authority. He's a prisoner. This guy's the boss. He has no say about what's going on, but he says, you know what? Personally, I will not do it. I don't care what anybody says. Now, did he approach the master of the eunuchs in that way? No, he approached him in a kind way. He said, listen, is there any way that I could please not participate in this? You don't have to be mean about it. You don't have to be abrasive or rude about it. But, hey, take a stand, okay? And just if somebody tries to get you to participate in something ungodly, kindly and politely tell them no. I won't, you know, can I please just be excused from whatever it is, okay? There's a way to do that, but I'm going to tell you something. You say, oh, good. Whew, I never have to take a stand again. Hey, look, did you know that there are other environments, though, where you were on the show, right? Okay? I mean, you don't spend your life just in environments where everybody's telling you what to do. Like in my house, for example. Hey, I run the show around here. I run the show at 2620 Greenway Road. I run the show, okay? Yeah, I know. Sometimes I feel like my six-week-old baby runs the show. But anyway, hey, I run the show around here, and so this is where I take the ultimate stand right here. I mean, I yell and scream and stand on anything here. And you know what? There are so many times when I'm out at work and I'm the foreman on the job site. Hey, I'm not in the show. Hey, take a stand for what you believe. Hey, and then what about when you're on an even playing field with people? You know, you're out and about. People try to force their garbage on you. Hey, you're in a group of friends, right? Just friends. I mean, you're a friend, they're a friend. It's not a situation like Daniel. Hey, take a stand and stand up and say, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Huh? Don't just sit there in some corner while all your friends go on and on about all the sin and the wickedness. Say, hey, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. When your friends are sitting around and talking about all the faggots that they watch on television and the shows that they love, hey, why don't you say, you know what? I hate that show. I hate that garbage. I hate these homosexuals that are taking over America. Makes me sick. Hey, it makes me sick every time that show comes on. You like it? It makes me sick. Hey, you know what? If everybody would, and again, I'm not telling you to be a jerk or be rude, but a little bit, be a jerk. Hey, don't be a jerk and don't be rude, but you know what? Maybe if everybody who is a saved, born-again child of God who believed the Bible would strive against sin and voice their opinion a little bit, then maybe this country would be a lot better place if somebody would fight the sin. But what you have is a bunch of wimp, and maybe I'm talking more to men tonight, you know, but you have a bunch of wimp pansies who just sit around with their tail between their legs while everybody else mouths off about all the liberalism and mouths off about the homos and mouths off around the water cooler about what they believe. Hey, why don't you stand up and tell somebody what you believed for a while, huh? That's what I'm talking about. Hey, I'm talking about being a man that's not afraid, that doesn't let people push you around when you're in a situation where you have the right, the freedom of speech to stand up and say, this is what I believe. No, I don't like that show. No, I don't like this half-naked magazine. No, I don't like any of it. It's sin. It's an abomination. It's dishonoring to Jesus Christ. I'm not saying to be rude or unwise, but you know what? Why don't you match force with them? They're trying to shove it down your throat. Why don't you shove it down their throat for a while? Yes, amen. Glory to God. You know, I was thinking about this. I was in L.A. When was this? I think it was Tuesday night. I was in Los Angeles, California, and I walked into a gas station, okay, and I'm buying something to drink, buying a candy bar or whatever, and I turn around, and behind me is this lesbian standing behind me, okay, and she's got this ring, and they're everywhere in California. I mean, they're everywhere around here, but you go to California, and, you know, California gets a bad rap, though, I'll be honest with you, because it's really not that much worse than here these days, and in reality, it's really just Los Angeles and San Francisco is where it's really bad. The rest of California is a pretty nice place, but I'm in the city of Los Angeles, and this lesbian standing behind me, she's got a rainbow belt on, okay, and she's got a heather gray tank top on with a rainbow across the front, and you know what it said across under the rainbow? We are everywhere. That's what it said. We are everywhere. Now, there's somebody who's standing up for what they believe. There's somebody who's striving all right. There's somebody who's fighting against God. There's somebody who's fighting against righteousness. There's somebody that's fighting to recruit your child. There's somebody who's fighting loudly, vocally, voicing. We're everywhere, everywhere, and we're going to show you what we are. We're going to wear a rainbow belt, and we're going to wear a T-shirt that says who we are. Hey, this is who we are. Now, am I suggesting that you go down to the Christian bookstore and get one of these stupid corny T-shirts? No, I'm not. Those are so stupid. Those are so ridiculous. I mean, you know what I mean. If you've ever been to the Christian bookstore, you know these corny little... I'm not saying to wear your little real men love Jesus T-shirt and your wise men still seek him, and you know what I'm talking about. I saw this, and some of them are just... I find some of them blasphemous, to be honest with you. This blood's for you, a play off of a Budweiser ad, as a T-shirt for Jesus Christ. Hey, why don't you get some reverence for the Lord Jesus Christ? I know you've been reading the NIV, which just calls him Christ and Jesus, but you know in the King James Bible, he's called hundreds of times the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you get a little reverence for the Son of God? Why don't you get a little reverence for God in the flesh and not refer him with a Budweiser ad? Hey, try Jesus, or what was it like? So Jesus Christ, he'll scare the hell out of you. Jesus Christ, this blood's for you. That's blasphemy, my friend, that's ridiculous. I'm not saying to go to the job with your hard hat covered in a bunch of stupid corny stickers and Jesus fishes. No, see, God has a different method for getting his message out. It's not the lesbian who wears a T-shirt that says, we are everywhere. I'm not saying to wear your Jesus Christ T-shirt, we're everywhere. First of all, it wouldn't be true. The people that are really standing for Jesus Christ are not everywhere. That's a sad thing. But you know, this is God's modus operandi. The Bible says in Romans 10.18, you'll have to turn there. I'll read you a few verses. But I say, have they not heard? Yes, verily their sound went into all the earth and their words unto the ends of the world. Matthew 10.27, what I tell you in darkness, Jesus said, that speak ye in light. And what I tell you in the ear, what you hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops, he said. Hey, what you've heard from me in your ear, whispered in your ear, he said, get up and preach that on the housetops. Hey, let your voice go into the whole world. Let your words go into the ends of the world. Stand up and preach the truth. See, what is your goal, Pastor Anderson, with Faithful Word Baptist Church? Hey, my goal is to be like a modern-day Noah in a wicked, ungodly world, to stand up and be a preacher of righteousness, as he was called. Hey, I want to be a modern-day John the Baptist, to be a voice that's crying in a wilderness of a lack of fighting against sin, a lack of preaching against sin. Hey, I want to stand up and cry aloud and spare not and fight the sin that's in this country. But when you turn on your TV and watch all the sin and the filth, when you turn on your TV to all these cute little shows and That 70s Show and Seinfeld and Friends, I don't know, I need to learn the new shows. I'm probably preaching against shows that have gone off the air a long time ago. But when you get on and watch your little TV shows and your little American Idol, and when you get on TV and you watch these wicked haters of God, and then you go down to the music store and you buy the CDs of the Rolling Stones, who Mick Jagger's a homosexual. Yes, he is a homosexual. You can get that from the world. Even the world will tell you that. It doesn't come from a Baptist church. Hey, you get your CDs of all the rock and roll, the U2. You get all the different Jennifer Lopez. You get all these CDs and you bring them home and listen to it. Then you go to the theater and you watch the same perverts up on the screen at the theater on the silver screen. And then you dress like the world, and you dress just like whatever Madison Avenue is putting out right now and whatever Hollywood's putting out right now, whatever the stars are promoting, whatever the magazines are promoting. You know what I want to know? I want to know whose side you're on in the fight against sin. Why are you wearing the enemy's uniform? Why are you wearing the enemy's uniform if you're fighting against sin? You say, well, my goal is just to win people to Christ. Hey, my goal is to win people to Christ, too. But I'm going to wear the right uniform. I'm going to fight on the right side. Why are you pouring all your money to finance the devil and his team? Hey, why are you promoting the devil's army and not God's army? Hey, whose side are you on anyway is what I'd like to know. You say, well, I'm on the Lord's side. I'm on the side of soul winning and Jesus Christ and the Bible. You could have fooled me is what I want to say to some people. You could have fooled me because it seems like you just really enjoy fellowshipping with the enemy. It seems like you really like hanging around with the enemy when you turn it on and you watch it and you think it's so funny and you think it's so cool. Hey, there's nothing cool about it. There's nothing cool about sin. There's nothing fun about things that are wrong. It's not a joke. Fools make a mock at sin, the Bible says. Fools make a mock at sin. I just like to turn it on and just kind of laugh at it because it's so stupid. I like to turn on these worldly TV shows and I know they're wrong. It's just so dumb. I just like to laugh about it. Hey, you're a fool. The Bible says fools make a mock at sin. But see, if you want to be like a Noah, like a modern day Noah, which there's a great role model, 120 years preacher of righteousness in a wicked area. If you want to be like a modern age John the Baptist, a voice that cries alone out in the wilderness, hello, is anybody out there? I still think, I still think that so and so is wrong. Yes, you thought we were all gone, didn't you? Somebody still thinks that the King James Bible is God's word. Hello, is anybody out there though? Anybody with me? Hey, is anybody going to stand with me against the television? Anybody at all? I'm feeling kind of lonely right now. Hey, will anybody stand up against the world? Will anybody stand against the sin? Will anybody stand against the homosexual? Will anybody stand against the worldly clothing? Is there anybody in the world that still believes that pants on women is a sin? Yes, there is. One, Steven L. Anderson. There's one left, and I'm not saying I'm the only one. But are you willing to be that voice that cries in the wilderness and says, Hello? Hello? Hey, stand up for what's right. Hey, you're going to be like a modern day Abraham is what it really comes down to. Are you going to be the friend of God? That's what it comes down to. You say, why are you preaching hard against sin? Hey, I'm preaching hard against sin because I want you to have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things write, we undo you that your joy may be full. This then is the message that we have heard of him and declare unto you that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. These things write, we undo you that your sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the writer. He's the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but even for the sins of the whole world. And hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. 1 John 2-3. Hey, hereby we do know that we know him if we keep his commandments. Hey, you want to see God? Purify your heart. You want to draw an eye to God? Cleanse your hands you sinners and purify your hearts you double-minded. Hey, you want to be near to God? Clean up your life. Hey, do you want to see God? Purify your heart. Do you want to know that you know him? Now it's one thing to know him, it's another thing to know that you know him. And you know that you know him when you keep his commandments. That's what the Bible says. Hey, fellowship with God is what we're talking about tonight. This is not a sermon preaching against sin. This is not a sermon about fighting sin. It's a sermon about you personally having fellowship with God. It's a sermon about you getting up on Monday and God being right there with you, your friend close to you, fellowshipping with you. It's a sermon about Tuesday throughout the day having God right there. I've set the Lord always at my right hand, David said in Psalm 16, so that I won't be moved. I keep Jesus Christ right with me, he said, because I don't want to be moved. I don't want to be like these churches that change. I don't want to be like these Christians who change. They used to believe one thing, now they don't believe it anymore. They used to live a certain way, now they live like the world. He said, I've set the Lord always at my right hand so that I'll not be moved. See, that's the landmark. That's the point of reference. That's how you calibrate your spiritual life is by having Jesus Christ so close that you can reach out and touch him like the apostle John. And I can reach out and touch Jesus and say, you know what, Jesus is still at my right hand. I must not have changed. I must still be right where I'm supposed to be. Hey, I still have fellowship with God. But can two walk together, and should they be agreed? It says in Amos 3-3. Jesus said he wants to be in the yoke with us. He said, I want to work with you. I don't want you to labor through life without me. Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon me and learn of me. For I am meek and lowly of heart, and you shall find rest unto your soul. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Hey, get in the yoke with me, get side by side with me, Jesus, saying, work with me. But if you're going to be with me, you've got to be in the light, because I'm in the light, and you've got to be going the same direction I'm going, and I was manifested to destroy the works of the devil. Oh, wait, Jesus, I thought that you were manifested to take away our sins, 1 John 3.5, and then you is no sin. He said, keep on reading to verse 8, because I was also manifested to destroy the works of the devil. So we're in the business of getting people saved, yes, and we're in the business of destroying the works of the devil. We're in the business of fighting sin. We're in the business of fighting the sin in our own lives, because we want to be with Jesus Christ, have fellowship with Jesus Christ, know Jesus Christ. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. God, I pray that you would please just put a burning desire in the heart of every person that's in this room. Think about Luke chapter 24 that we read this morning. Didn't our hearts burn within us, is what the two disciples said on the road to Emmaus with Jesus Christ. But I wish you'd put a burning desire, a burning passion in the heart of every single person that's here to know God. I mean a thirst to know God. I mean, I opened my mouth and panted, David said, about the word of God, about knowing the Bible and Psalm.