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you want to learn the Bible and father I just pray that you would help all of us to take from the message tonight what we need speak to our hearts through the Word of God and father I just pray that you would fill me with your Holy Spirit as I preach tonight dear God it's not something that I can do on my own dear God but I just pray that you would fill me with your power and help me to preach the Word of God in such a way that it would influence your people and that it would stir them up and build them up in the faith dear God in Jesus name I pray Amen now verse number one of chapter number five continuing the theme a little bit of the book of James about the rich versus the poor he's talked a lot about that in this book look at the first verse the Bible says go to now you rich men weep and howl now this is in contrast to the other chapters which began with the phrase usually similar to my brethren remember right at the beginning of chapter 1 verse number 2 says my brethren count it all joy chapter number 2 my brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ and on and on my brethren be not many masters from whence come wars and fightings among you he's talking to the believers these believing Jews that have been scattered abroad is who it's written to and in verse number 1 he addresses a different group he says go to now you rich men weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten your gold and silver is cankered and the rest of them shall be a witness against you and shall eat your flesh as it were fire you have heaped treasure together for the last days and then he goes on to talk about some of the dishonest gain that these people have made to get their money but put your finger in James chapter 5 and flip over if you would to Matthew chapter 6 I'm going to show you a parallel here Matthew chapter number 6 Matthew chapter number 6 and if you would look at verse number 19 of Matthew 6, Matthew 6 19 the Bible says lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth where moth and rust death corrupt and where thieves break through and steal but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust death corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal for where your treasure is there will your heart be also now here's what he's talking about he's talking about the rich man here is the man who's laying up for himself treasures on earth it's the man that cares only about himself as you go down there in verse number 4 it says behold the hirer of the laborers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud crieth and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth you've lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton you've nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter you've condemned and killed the just and he did not resist you so in verses 1 through 6 here he's describing the rich prosperous people of this world who make their money off the backs of other people is what he's talking about that's not right to do so you know I'm a businessman you know I'm a manager in a company and there are people I don't own the company you know there are people above me that own the company and I'm a manager and I have people that work for me also and it's just not right to not pay people a just wage all throughout the Bible the Bible talks about using your neighbor's services and not paying them for it it talks about servants who are maybe used to reap down a field or servants who shred a wine press and he said look if somebody is treading the wine press if somebody is doing the work they should be paid a just wage he said they should get to eat of the fruits the Bible says the husbandmen that laborerth must be first partaker of the fruits he says if you're a rich man and you have a vineyard filled with grapes and so forth and you have a husbandmen that you've hired and of course the Bible talks about just to define the word for you husbandmen and servants these are men who didn't own the vineyard the husbandmen are workers that would till the land and you know their labor is out in the field he said the husbandmen that laborerth must be first partaker of the fruits he's saying give them of the fruit of their labor you should pay people what they're worth you should pay people a just wage you know God is going to bless a person in business who pays their employees well who takes care of the people under them that's who God is going to bless there are employers out there who I've worked for them before you know they just abuse the employees they keep changing their wages they tell them that they're going to give them this and that raise and then it doesn't really pan out and they say they talk about commission it never happens and so forth now my boss that I work for right now is a great boss and he never does he's willing to share the wealth if you perform for him he'll pay you and I have a great boss but I'm talking about some jobs that I've worked at in the past but look at Ephesians chapter number 6 if you would Ephesians chapter number 6 and see what the Bible says in contrast Ephesians chapter number 6 the Bible reads in oops wrong place Ephesians chapter 6 the Bible says in verse 5 servants be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and singleness of your heart as unto Christ now with eye service as men-pleasers that's talking about obeying the boss only when he's looking because you want to please him now with eye service as men-pleasers but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will doing service as to the Lord and not to men and here's the exciting verse look at verse number 8 of Ephesians 6 knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free so who is going to pay you when you go to your job I mean whether your boss is a little bit of a crook or whether your boss is a gracious boss that pays you and he pays you what you're worth and he's fair and he lets you partake of the fruits of your labor who is going to pay you is your boss the one that determines whether you get paid for the good work that you do no God says knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free you say boy I don't really get recognized at my job for the hard work that I do I don't get the raises that I was supposed to get I don't get the commissions that I was promised you say I think I'm just going to go to work clock in at 9 a.m. and just kind of do the minimum and I mean hey they don't appreciate it if I work hard anyway right so I'm just going to clock in at 9 and just do the minimum clock out at 4.59 in 59 seconds and I'm just going to take every break I can and just do the minimum that I get by with because they don't appreciate it anyway let me tell you something everything that you do in life you're supposed to do it heartily as unto the Lord the Bible says I mean you should go to work you should clock in and pretend like your boss is Jesus Christ if you're working and say I'm going to work as hard as I can I'm going to excel I'm going to surpass all those around me I want to be the best worker on the job I want to be like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego where Nebuchadnezzar looked at all the employees that he had all of his rulers, all of his servants in the whole kingdom and he said when I sit down with these three men and also Daniel, so four men he said when I sit down with these four men he says I found them to be ten times better than anyone else in my whole kingdom good night God forbid that somebody on the job who is an unsaved I mean they're just living in the flesh they're not born again they're not reading the wisdom of the Bible that we read every day I mean we pick up this book every day and we're filling our mind with wisdom from God we're building up our spirit with power from God I mean we're going to work knowing that whatsoever good thing we do we're going to receive it from the Lord boy, we ought to be going to work and just working as hard as we can trying to excel everyone else at the job when the boss is looking, when the boss isn't looking because the boss is always looking because the boss is Jesus Christ now this verse has given me comfort different times when I wasn't really sure how things were going to work out in business I just said, you know what, I'm just going to work hard I'm going to try to save the company as much as I can I'm going to try to make the company as much money as I can and I just know that I'm going to receive it from the Lord and you know, God has taken care of me and I've seen people, other people with that same attitude and I've watched them excel in the business world why? because when you work hard God will make sure and bless you look at Jacob, look at the story of Jacob and Laban Jacob went to work for his uncle Laban he served him fourteen years for his two daughters as wives and then he worked with them another six years and Laban defrauded him during those six years he kept changing his wages, he kept changing the deal he kept going back on his word but what did the Bible say? that God appeared to Jacob and said, I've seen what your uncle Laban is doing I've seen how he's changing your wages and he says, I'm going to take care of you and what happened? he ended up taking away most of Laban's wealth when he left he ended up with almost all of it because God blessed him look back at James chapter 5 and you'll see this look at James 5 verse number 4 now again, this is a rebuke that James is issuing to these rich men not that it's a sin to be rich but the Bible says, woe unto you rich because unfortunately most rich people do not understand the things of God rich people are a little bit too confident in themselves now not all rich men are like that there are rich men throughout the Bible who God blessed and who loved God but it's just by and large, unfortunately, that's the curse of being rich that's why Agur in Proverbs 30 said, give me neither poverty nor riches lest I be full and deny thee and say, who is the Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain he said, feed me with food convenient for me he said, just keep me right in the middle not where I'm starving to death and not where I'm rich and boy, seems like that's about where he keeps all of us and so look if you would at James chapter 5 verse number 4 the Bible says, behold the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth but look at this, and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth so did God hear the cries of those that were being defrauded those that were being abused and taken advantage of yes, he did and so here's the great message resounding throughout the Bible from one side to the other is vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord, I will recompense and so we don't always have to worry about making everything balance out and why it's just not fair and I'm going to set him straight and so forth God will always set the record straight always you know, somebody lies about you and they tell some dirty story about you and they defame you I got to make sure that everybody knows that I was right no you don't you know what, just turn the other cheek just let it go because God is watching, God hears what's going on and he will make sure the Bible says that the memory of the wicked shall rot and you know, throughout history people who have been wicked and got away with it usually later on their name gets dragged through the mud, doesn't it? because God has a way of setting the record straight if not in this life, certainly in the next life the record is going to be set straight you know, somebody rips you off financially which happens all the time and the parallel that I was showing you and I forgot to show you was in Matthew chapter 6 where it says lay not up yourselves treasures upon earth where moth and rust doth corrupt and where threes break through in steel that's exactly the words it uses here it says your gold and silver is cankered and the rust of them shall be a witness against you so he mentions rust and he says your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten so he's using the exact same terminology and he's saying that if you lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth you know, you're taking advantage of other people he says woe unto you but see, the person who they're taking advantage of God's going to set the record straight God's going to take care of it and God will balance the scales in the end now look if you would at verse number 7 and you'll see what I mean he says be patient therefore brethren unto the coming of the Lord behold the husbandman remember that's the guy who's reaping the field behold the husbandman waited for the precious fruit of the earth and hath long patient for it until he received the early and latter rain be ye also patient establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draw up nigh so he's saying then he says listen brethren the husbandman when he plants the fruit he puts the seed in the ground it takes time for him to reap the increase he says that's the way your life is he says you're sowing right now in life you're giving out you're giving out you're working you're toiling maybe for a laborer maybe for a master maybe for a boss at work and he says you're slaving you're working he says you're working for God you're winning souls you're producing and you might not be seeing all the fruit that you want but he says be patient he says wait because the coming of the Lord is drawing nigh every day he's not saying that it's about to happen or anything but he's saying the coming of the Lord draw up nigh he says that's where you're going to receive the reward that's where you're going to get rewarded that's why Jesus said when he was on this earth in the book of Luke I forget what chapter but in the book of Luke he talks about he says when you make a feast don't invite your friends he says don't invite your family he says invite the poor the blind the lame the halt he says invite them because he says if you invite them and prepare a meal for them there's no way that they can ever repay you they're never going to be able to pay you back and he says therefore you're going to be paid back in the world to come and that's what you want you want to lay up your treasures not upon earth where moth and rust death corrupt and where thieves break through and steal you want to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust death corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal you see throughout the Bible or throughout life people steal your money you say well Pastor Anderson you don't have to be broken into to have people steal your money okay first of all Uncle Sam steals your money every week because he's he steals he's like the opposite of Robin Hood because he steals from you and he he gives to the rich okay this is what this is what this is what Uncle Sam does he takes money from you and he gives it to someone else in the form of a handout now that's stealing that's not taxation taxation is where they take money from you and they use it for the common good right I mean they use it to build a road that I'm going to drive on or they use it for an army that's going to defend me or they use it for a police officer that's supposed to defend me they use it for a fireman that's going to put out my house when it's on fire but see it's stealing when they take money from me and give it to somebody else I don't care who they're giving it to you say well that person's hard on their luck or whatever hey why would it be my money that goes to them though doesn't make any sense I should be able to choose and say hey let me help them out but no they put my arm behind my back like this they put a gun to my head and take the money out of my pocket now you say is it wrong to receive money from the government like government program absolutely not because they're stealing it from you so much on every side hey if you can get a piece of it back get the biggest piece that you can my friend because I guarantee you you're never going to get as much back as you put in I mean good night every time you go get gas it's going to the government half the money every time you you buy anything at the store it's going to the government every time you pay your utility bill there's all these little hidden taxes if people in America had to just write a check for all the taxes you know it wasn't all the little hidden taxes that they do but it was just all together and you just had to write a check people would go nuts I mean if they realized how much it really is because it's so much more than they think because they tax it on the way into your bank and then when you spend it they tax it again you know and then you and then you die and then they tax it again and then you hand it to somebody as a gift and then they tax that and then you buy a house and they tax that and then you pay taxes upon taxes and taxes you get on the road and they try to charge you a toll road I was driving to Los Angeles there's all these toll roads couldn't believe it I thought I was back in Chicago or something and I'm they want like a dollar twenty-five in change why would you who carries a dollar twenty-five in change exact change only I had to like back up on the on ramp and it says if you drive through this the violation gives you like ninety-five bucks I'm like forget it I got on the shoulder and I'm driving backwards on the shoulder I'm gonna pay ninety-five bucks I've been there, done that that's another story for another sermon where I have been nailed many times for that but the point is what was the point the point is laying up for yourselves treasures on earth is pointless because when you lay up for yourselves treasures on earth thieves are gonna break through and steal I mean companies try to rip you off I mean you know you rent somewhere and you don't get the security deposit back you left the place looking like a museum it's so immaculate you know the taxes that come and steal your money and on and on constantly people thieves break through and steal this world is a crooked place people will rip you off people will do you dirty he says don't lay up treasures on the earth lay them up in hell lay them up in heaven where nothing can take away your reward boy I take great comfort in the fact to know that you know if I lost everything if I lost everything I own if I was out in the street if my business collapsed if this church collapsed if everything failed if I lost everything I own the bible says no man taketh thy reward from me who can take away the people that I've won to Christ who can ever take it away from me nobody can take it away from me nothing that I do nothing that anybody else does I'm still going to walk on the golden streets and present those souls to Jesus Christ hey I've got it made you want to talk about a 401k? you want to talk about security? huh? you want to talk about retirement? I'm going to retire someday I'm just retiring maybe what? five years later than other people are retiring they retire at 65? maybe I'll die when I'm 70 and retire five years later and that's why I'm in arrest when I'm with Jesus Christ and my 401k is building every day it never goes down it doesn't matter what the stock market does my assets are appreciating in value because my treasures are in heaven because I win souls to Christ and that's how you lay up treasures you say, Pastor Anderson when it says lay up treasures for yourselves in heaven does that mean that I'm supposed to put a lot of money in the offering plate? and that's going to translate into treasures in heaven right? you put a hundred bucks in the offering plate ten thousand dollars as soon as you get to heaven but no sooner it's kind of like those retirement plans you can't cash them out until you're 65 this one you can't cash out until you're dead but the thing is when you get to heaven it's not going to be based on how much money you put in the offering plate and that's what I've heard people say about come on where your treasure is there where your heart be put your treasure in the offering plate your heart will be in the offering plate your heart will be in this church your heart will be in the things of God hey if you want to lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth don't lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven he's saying win souls to Christ he said when you win souls to Christ it's like jewels for your crown is what the Bible teaches I believe in the book of Malachi talks about that I don't know the verse off hand but on and on throughout the Bible the Bible says the rewards are going to be based on soul winning the rewards are going to be based on soul winning and the rewards are going to be based on James 1 12 if you're in James flip over and look at that there's going to be rewards based on soul winning there's going to be rewards based on verse number 12 of chapter number 1 blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord had promised to them that love him the two primary things that I see in the Bible there are many rewards that God's going to give I'm sure for various things but the main rewards that I see God giving a lot throughout the Bible he talks a lot about being rewarded for soul winning and also he groups in with that not only winning people to Christ but also taking somebody who's already saved and turning them back on the right track of the things of God because you've accomplished almost as much I mean if you can take somebody who's already saved and teach them how to win souls you know if you win one person of Christ you might have just won one person of Christ but if you can teach somebody to be a soul winner even if they're already saved you might have won a thousand people to Christ when you did that because they're going to be a soul winner so God says that you're going to get great rewards he talks about this in Daniel chapter 12 he says you're going to get great rewards based on if you win souls to Christ and if you turn people to righteousness if you convert somebody as it says at the end of chapter 5 and get them off the path of sin and get them on a life lived of righteousness and serving God and winning souls but here's the second thing that God rewards you for blessed is the man that endureth temptation for when he's tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to them to love him he says when you endure suffering for the cause of Jesus Christ he says you are earning treasures in heaven think about in Acts chapter 4 when Peter and John are beaten this is one of the first times that this occurs in the Bible after the resurrection where they actually endure some physical persecution for preaching the gospel and they take Peter and John the Sanhedrin and they beat them and the Bible says they went away from that beating and I don't think it was a mild beating I think they beat them pretty good they beat them with whips and everything they scourged them when they beat them they walked out of there rejoicing thrilled that they were counted worthy to suffer reproach for the kingdom of God they said what a pleasure that is for us to earn these kind of rewards inestimable rewards by taking a beating for Jesus Christ what a blessing it is and he'd say well didn't it hurt? wasn't it bad? but look if you would and this will lead me to my next point look if you would in James chapter 5 at verse number 10 take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord for an example of suffering, affliction and of patience and then look at the next words behold we count them happy which endure you have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy so here we see through this chapter he starts out rebuking these rich men for abusing and taking advantage of somebody he says those that are suffering that are being afflicted their cries are heard by God he says be patient therefore brethren under the coming of the Lord he says Jesus Christ is going to come back someday he's going to set the record straight he's going to balance it out he says hang in there be patient wait Jesus is coming and he says we count them happy which endure now think about this for a moment think about a man like the Apostle Paul okay probably one of the greatest Christians that ever lived probably one of the greatest men who's ever walked on the face of the earth was the Apostle Paul who was used by God to write I believe 13 books or no I'm sorry 14 books of the New Testament were written by the Apostle Paul now let me ask you a question would you like to be like the Apostle Paul would you like to be a modern day Apostle Paul who would like to be like the Apostle Paul put up your hand if you want to be like Apostle Paul I do well I want to be a great man like that you don't want to be a soul winning Christian you don't want to be somebody who loves God and gives God everything look we count them happy which endure I mean do you think that Paul is happy right now I mean he's up in heaven can you even imagine how many people he won to Christ and how much he did for God it's unimaginable it's unimaginable unthinkable and we say what a blessed man Paul was what a happy man I mean what an exciting life what an exciting eternity when he gets to heaven and walks through the doors I mean this is the way I picture it this is the way I picture when we get to heaven and maybe I'm being silly on this but I picture like somebody like the Apostle Paul just walking to heaven and just cheering just crowds cheering for him like of all the people who've gone on the forum I mean that's the way I think it's going to be I mean I think he's going to walk in and there's going to be rejoicing and there's going to be gladness and excitement WOW! you made it you hung in there all the way to the end you finished your course you kept the faith you fought the good fight glory to God and I think it's going to be a great thrilling time when we get to heaven and when we meet our loved ones and those that have gone on before us and other great Christians that have gone on before us I mean that's the happy life I'll guarantee you and you can see what Paul went through he was beaten with rods you know five times he was stoned, shipwrecked three times he's constantly in jail he's constantly sick and hungry and in pain and I guarantee you though I'll guarantee you that just from day to day he was happier than you or myself literally I mean I believe that I believe that on any given Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday he was probably happier in that jail cell than sometimes we are in our life because the people that are happy in life are the ones who endure and that's why he says here happy we count them happy which endure and in chapter 1 verse 12 he said blessed is the man that endureth temptation he says the blessing is when you endure trials and afflictions for God he says you're going to be much happier than the guy who just floats through life the rich man who's got everything he wants you think Donald Trump is happy today? do you really think he's happy? oh boy, what was in the news today? James Brown, the godfather of soul died what, yesterday? something like that? James Brown, the godfather of soul he died yesterday and you know they're talking in the newspaper just about his life okay he was what, 73 years old he's married to some woman who's like 35 okay but she was already married when they got married so now she's married to two different men at the same time which makes by law the second marriage void so he's married to her, he has a child with her he died, she comes home that day, the day that he dies and there's a lawyer outside the mansion saying sorry, you don't live here anymore guess what? James Brown did not put you in his will at all and you're not even really his wife like you think you are and so you have nothing your clothes, your money, everything you have sorry, it's in this house and this is not your house and so you just have to think about these people you think James Brown was happy when he died? all the money, all the fame, all the popularity, all the excitement? I mean, look at his weird life he's married to some woman that's married to somebody else he loves her so much that he's not even giving her her own stuff back I mean, he locks her out of his own house boy, wouldn't you love to be James Brown? wouldn't you love to live the life that James Brown... and then boy, when James Brown breathed his last breath he didn't feel good he's burning in hell right now see, that's the man who the world envies you know, oh, I want to be the big star you know, I want to have all the money I want to be Donald Trump I want to be like these Hollywood stars hey, you don't want to be like them they're not happy, they're cursed, they're damned they're in hell they're in the depths of hell right now and you know what, if they're not there already, they're on their way there and they do not have a happy life I guarantee you that they're not happy that's why they go from spouse to spouse every two years that's why they're on dope that's why they're anorexic or something that's why they're in this clinic, they're in the Betty Ford clinic they're on some talk show talking about it and stuff they don't have a stupid, miserable, ridiculous life but God says, what I think is happiness is endurance people who endure boy, do you know that there's a certain pleasure in enduring hard times knowing that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh boy, there's a happiness there there's a happiness, I'm sure that it hurt when Paul was beaten with rods I'm sure that there was a lot of pain involved well, stoned practically to death and they thought he was dead, and they left and then he got up and walked back into town but I'll guarantee you that even though he endured a lot of pain I'll guarantee you that he was happy going through that affliction just because he knew that he was earning rewards in heaven I think he was happy even about the abuse that he was taking because there's a certain happiness in going on through the hard times going through the trials enduring the afflictions that God puts in our way that's what happiness is happiness is not having life handed to you on a silver platter boy, you think, if just this and this and this would change about my life, I'd be so happy if I could just pay off this bill or if I could just straighten this out everything would be great no, it won't because your whole life is going to be a life of enduring afflictions for God and when you get through that affliction another one is right behind it Paul said, he said I always have a thorn in my flesh all the time he says he said I just finally just decided to just let God's grace be enough and I was just going to not ask him again to take it away from me and I said I'm going to glory in my afflictions because when I'm weak then am I strong because God's power can rest upon me and so life is not about seeing how much money you can get together how much security you can build for yourself how much you can make your life so picture perfect and exactly where everybody envies your special little life life is about being faithful to God and enduring affliction and going through the suffering that God has for each and every one of us in life he says be happy and if you're not happy think about these people that have gone on before you that suffered and think about the end that they reached like Job, he says Job at the end of his life was given double what he had before and he's been immortalized in the Bible you can read about him thousands of years later as a great man in the book of Job boy you think about Ezekiel you say well would you love to be a great man of God like Ezekiel he's got a book in the Bible 48 chapters written about his life and his preaching what an honor, what a thrill but you think about some of the things that Ezekiel had to do did you know that he had to lay on his side now I would turn there but I don't want to take too much time but did you know that in Ezekiel chapter 4 Ezekiel laid on his side he laid on one side for 360 days without getting up 360 days he laid on one side and you know what he ate? Dung on his bread and I mean if you've read the Bible cover to cover you know that but he baked bread with dung on it from a cow the Bible says and he ate it every day for 360 days and it was a sign, it was a point that God was trying to make to the nation of Israel then after he'd done that for 360 days God told him turn over on your other side and now you can spend 40 days on that side and he spent 40 days on that side and he ate the bread with the dung on it and he had to prepare it in advance and have it ready because he couldn't get up off his side that's what the Bible says and he had a certain amount of water that he was supposed to drink every day I mean good night what kind of a torturous torment is that? but we're talking about a man that was a powerful preacher who then after that went around the entire world and preached all over to great kings and great men and preached with the power of God and we see, we read his book every day we open the Bible and we may be in the book of Ezekiel reading the great book that God used him to deliver to us I mean he endured great suffering and God used him in a great way I mean we read that and we can't even understand you know why in the world is God doing this to him? give the guy a break good night but when you read it just understand that God knows what he's doing and God has a reason why he had him do that and God has a reason why he has you go through the things that you go through in your life I guarantee you it's not as bad as eating dung on a daily basis and so next time you don't have just the right food that you like in the house my wife's pregnant so she has certain cravings but next time just the right meal just isn't exactly the way you want it think about what Ezekiel was eating for 400 days on end and boy that meal is going to taste a lot better that top ramen is going to taste great and so we count them happy which endure be somebody who endures who stays with us think about a race what's the endurance from? it's the long race, right? it's the 26 miles the 100 foot dash or the 100 meter dash is not an endurance run and so the happy Christian is going to be the Christian who endures that means it's the Christian that's in church 10 years from now still soul winning still reading the Bible still three to thrive Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night this is an endurance run the Christian life is not the 400 meter dash it's the 26 mile marathon and in the Christian life your success will not be measured in days and weeks and months and years it'll be measured in decades it'll be measured in a decade of service for God a decade of soul winning a decade of preaching that's how God will measure your success it's not some overnight it's where you plant and you wait and you have long patience for it till the heavens give the early and latter rain as the Bible says and you can reap the increase of what you've done for God but it takes decades you say, Pastor Anderson I feel like I'm a great Christian well how long have you been the great Christian that you think you are? you say, well I've been the great Christian for three years that's nothing you know, you say, Pastor Anderson I just feel like God's gonna just really reward me when I get to heaven you know, because of how great of a wonderful Christian I am but how long have you been that way? you know, seven months? you know, seven years? two years? two months? God's looking for somebody who's in it for the long haul the long run because I'll guarantee you the person who's in it for the lifetime is gonna do ten times as much for God think about this somebody who reads the Bible twenty times cover to cover, right? maybe they read it like five times a year I mean, just really read a lot of Bible five times a year would be about an hour and fifteen, an hour and twenty minutes a day that they're reading consistently reading it if they're a fast reader you know, maybe otherwise it might take longer than that but reading the Bible five times a year cover to cover and they do that for only four years well, they've only read the Bible twenty times and that's a lot but think about the person who maybe just reads it once a year but they do it for a lifetime now they do it for fifty years well, they've read the Bible fifty times you see what I'm saying? or if they read it just twice a year but they do it for fifty years they've read the Bible a hundred times which most preachers have not read the Bible a hundred times I mean, even like great men of the past very few have read the Bible a hundred times cover to cover you say a hundred times cover to cover, what's the big deal? just read it two or three times a year yeah, but try doing it for fifty years can you stay in this church for fifty years? can you stay a soul winner for fifty years? can you stay with Jesus Christ enduring the affliction for fifty years? can you stay with it through the good times when it's fun and exciting? and through the bad times when it's not so fun and it's not so exciting and it's a drudgery? can you stay with it? that's why when you see somebody who's been a Christian and lived for God for like twenty, thirty years you just have great respect for them because you don't know how hard that is I don't even know how hard that is because it doesn't it's not something that's easy to maintain if you know what I mean for really long periods of time so, stay with it, decide I want to be the happy Christian I want to be the blessed Christian I am going to endure, which means I have to not just look at the few weeks in front of me I want to look at my whole life in front of me and say, twenty years from now I want to be soul winning thirty years from now I'm going to be living for God and see the big picture you say, well I got into this later in life that's okay, God still has a long time for you to use you can use it for the glory of God and you can endure whatever time there is left and run the race to the finish line but see, this sprint Christianity it doesn't do much I mean, if I win one person to the Lord a week just one person to the Lord per week but see, if I do that for fifty years I've won twenty five hundred people to the Lord that's huge and then who knows how many people those people won to the Lord but if I'm just in it for five years it's going to be pretty hard for me in five years to the Lord I'd be winning five hundred people a year ten people a week you know, I don't know of anybody who does that and so, not that it would be impossible but that would be a pretty unbelievable number I mean, it could happen but see, the way that you succeed in the Christian life is by being in it for the long haul and there's only one way to fail he says we count them happy which endure wait for the end there's one way to fail in the Christian life it's quitting I mean, will Faithful Word Baptist Church succeed? if we don't quit, it will succeed I mean, guaranteed, literally I mean, if we don't quit, it will succeed it will succeed wildly if we stay in it the only way to fail is by quitting I remember just in my Christian life you know, when I was a teenager, when I was a young adult just being discouraged you know, sometimes I was moving backwards in my Christianity you know, you ever get to a point where you're growing, you're reading the Bible more you're doing more for God you're understanding more, you're in church more you're getting rid of sin constantly and you're moving closer to God and then you get in a phase where you start moving backwards you know, I've been in a phase like that where I felt like goodnight it seems like I'm failing more than I ever have I mean, it's like I'm reading less Bible it's like I'm getting less people saved I mean, I just feel like I'm moving backwards and there are times like that there are times when you're going to move backwards and you don't want to, but sometimes you're going to move backwards and I've been through great phases where I was moving backwards a little bit but you know, I told myself I said as long as I don't quit as long as I stay with it as long as I don't just say goodnight, I'm moving backwards nuts to it if I can just stay with it you know what, pretty soon I'm going to start moving forward again and that's the truth the Bible says a just man falls seven times and rises up again and I've fallen many times in my life and I've made mistakes and I've moved backwards where I was reading less Bible I was wanting less people to Lord all of us are going to go through a phase like that, unfortunately of being a little bit backslidden but the only way to let it defeat you is when you quit just decide right now I'm not going to quit no matter what if I don't feel like going to church if I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of the Bible if I don't feel like I'm moving forward if I feel like I've reached a point in my Christianity where I've kind of plateaued and I can't seem to push it any further and in fact I feel like I'm slipping backwards just decide right now that when that happens when that affliction happens when that failure happens you just decide I'm not going to quit because the only way to fail is to quit if you stay with it you'll come out of it if you stay with it, you'll continue to grow if you stay with it and if you feel like you were moving backwards while you're moving backwards you might win a few people to the Lord while you're moving backwards you might get something done for God and you'll find that over a long period of time you say, boy, I just was not anywhere near what I wanted to be but see, even if you were just winning people to the Lord here and there even if you were just reading your Bible a little bit every day you look at that over a long period of time and you say, well, you know what? I really have accomplished a lot for God and so let that encourage you the only way to fail is to quit in the Christian life, in this church me as a pastor, the only way I can fail this church is if I quit if I get discouraged and say, you know what? forget it I'm through with it that's how I'll fail but if I stay with it, it'll succeed I believe that and that's the truth but look at you and let's hurry up and finish the chapter here the Bible reads in verse 11 I want them happy which endure you've heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy but above all things, my brethren, swear not neither by heaven neither by the earth neither by any other oath but let your yea be yea and your nay nay lest ye fall into condemnation quickly turn to Matthew chapter number 5, just quickly I'm going to show you this and I'll explain it to you look at Matthew chapter number 5 the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus the first sermon by Jesus in the New Testament that we read Matthew chapter number 5 and look if you would at verse number 33 again you've heard that it had been said by them of old time Matthew 5, 33 thou shalt not forswear thyself but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths but I say unto you, swear not at all neither by heaven for it is God's throne neither by the earth for it is his footstool neither by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great king neither shalt thou swear by thy head because thou canst not make one hair white or black but let your communication be yea, yea, nay, nay for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil now, you've seen the similarity between that and what we just read about not swearing by these different things but see, understand something about Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 is not changing the law ok, Jesus says in this chapter in verse number 17 think not that I'm come to destroy the law of the prophets I'm not come to destroy but to fulfill ok, he's not changing the law God doesn't change the Bible doesn't change he's not changing here these rules the first one he says, you know you've heard that it was said by them of old time thou shalt not kill he's not saying that now it's right to kill just don't be angry with your brother without a cause ok, kill him, just don't get mad at him without a cause no, he's adding something to that, can you see that he's adding on a further restriction when he gets the one about adultery he's not saying, commit adultery is fine just don't lust after women, please no, he's saying don't commit adultery and also in the New Testament, I'm getting even stricter it was always a rule you know, obviously it was never right to lust that's from the Old Testament, thou shalt not covet but he says, now I'm laying it out for you, I'm fulfilling it and saying, look, don't even look at a woman wrong, he's making it more strict he gets to the next one in verse 33, it's the same thing, he says you've heard that it was said, thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform it to the Lord thine oaths, but I say unto you swear not at all neither by heaven, for it is God's throne basically what he's saying here is that you shouldn't say things like you know what, I swear to God that this is the way it was ok, he's saying don't invoke my name as your, you know way of giving an oath of saying, this is the way it is like if somebody says, you're lying, and you say, no I swear upon God I swear on the Bible he says, you know what, you're pretty much blaspheming the Bible is what he's saying, you're dragging it down to another level, now I've heard people read these verses in James 5 and Matthew 5 and say that it is wrong to make a vow, now that is not true now I've heard somebody say I talked to somebody one time and he said, you know what he said, I don't make any promises and I don't make any vows because the Bible says not to and I said, well, are you married? and he said, yeah and I said, well, I think you've made a vow uh oh, you're in trouble you made a vow and I think that God even tells you to make that vow, doesn't he in the Bible? and if you read the Old Testament law there are many vows that God talks about making a vow is not wrong, making a vow and swearing are two different things swearing is when you're trying to prove that what you're saying is true somebody's accusing you of not and you swear upon God, you swear by Jerusalem, you swear by heaven that it's this way, you swear on the Bible that this is the way it is, it's not wrong to make a vow vows are good now this is probably a whole other sermon just about vows, but the Bible talks about many different vows, there are vows that I've made there are times when I've vowed something to God before now quickly, look if you would at Ecclesiastes, right toward the middle of your Bible look at Ecclesiastes and I'll show you this look at Ecclesiastes chapter number, see I've written it down chapter number 5, verse number 4 Ecclesiastes, chapter number 5, verse number 4 and the Bible reads in Ecclesiastes 5, 4 he says when thou vowest a vow unto God now it sounds like vowing a vow to God is something that you're going to do from time to time, because he doesn't say if you vow a vow to God, he says when thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fools pay that which thou hast vowed better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay so he's saying here, when you vow to God you better make dead sure that you pay what you vow, I mean very important, God's saying and he says, if you're not sure if you can do it he says, just don't vow at all because he says, it's better to just never vow, it's better to just not vow anything than to vow and not perform it, now isn't that saying that it's wrong to vow, no, God is assuming that you're going to make vows, I mean when I got married I made a vow to my wife and I made a vow, where I swear and promise to keep me only unto her so long as we both shall live and so that's a vow, should you break that vow no well my husband cheated on me, did you say for better or for worse then don't break that vow, say well God makes an exception here, look God doesn't make an exception he says, God has no pleasure in fools pay that thou hast vowed, he says no exceptions, my friend well the Bible says that if I if a man divorces his wife except it be by fornication he calls the third to commit adultery well then I guess if you want to interpret it that way, which that's not the right way to interpret it, that's not what the fornication means that's referring to Deuteronomy chapter 24 and that's a whole other sermon that I preached in Matthew 1, but even if that's true, even if you say well my wife cheats on me and I marry somebody else it's not adultery because the Bible says now I don't believe that but even if that were true, well then that means you're not guilty of adultery but you're still guilty of breaking a vow to God because if I promised my wife and say I, you know I'm trying to remember how these vows even go I had to memorize them I had to memorize them when I was in college you know, I take thee to be my lawfully wedded wife to have and to hold for richer for poorer, for better, for worse from this day forward and keep me only unto thee from this day forward I'm messing it up, but do you so promise? I do well look, I said for better, for worse worse is when your wife commits adultery worse is when your husband slaps and punches you, OK? I'm telling the truth you say, you don't actually believe that, Pastor Anderson yes, I do believe that when you vow a vow to God, you're supposed to pay the vow to God at all costs, and you can see that all throughout the Bible, look at the story of Jephthah he killed his own daughter to keep a vow and God God said, there's a man of faith OK, because he was it wrong for him to kill his daughter? no, it was wrong for him to make the vow but once he made the vow, he said I've opened my mouth unto the Lord and I cannot go back and so there's a difference between being guilty of committing adultery but you can still be guilty of breaking a vow to God because if you promise until death us to part and there's a parting of the ways before death you've broken a vow to God you say, well I've done that, I've broken a vow to God well, obviously there's forgiveness with God, move on, you know forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before, God forgives and everything like that, and it's over but if you haven't made that mistake honey, OK? endure, stay with it, OK? no, if you haven't made the mistake, don't break that vow if you vow to be married to me for the rest of your life you're stuck with me for better or for worse, OK? deal with it and so that's what God is saying here, he's not saying it's wrong to make a vow look, when you buy a car, you're making a vow you sign on the dog line and say I'm going to pay such and such dollars per month for five years when you buy a house, you're making a vow you're promising, you're under oath to do it that's not what God's saying here it's OK to make a promise to somebody and if you're not sure if you can keep a vow that you make to God or a vow that you make to someone else just don't make that vow but God says that your word what he says, let your yay be yay and your nay be nay he says if you say yay about something then it better be yay I mean, if you tell somebody you're going to do something, do it if you say something, he's saying your word should be so good that if they ask you something you should be able to say yes and they know that that's as good as taking it to the bank or if they say no, you know it's going to be no that's the kind of word you should have, not like the people that we read about earlier in the chapter who were defrauding their laborers and telling them one thing and then changing it and so forth he says let your yay be yay and your nay be nay he says you don't have to invoke God's name when you're telling somebody how honest you are I swear to God he's saying, you know, you're blasphemous, don't throw my name around don't ever throw God's name around don't say, oh my God oh my God that's blasphemy, my friend that's taking God's name in vain don't say, oh my gosh you know, it's pretty much the same thing don't use those kind of words and don't swear by God's name he says never swear by my name even if you're going to do what you say you're going to do don't swear by my name but don't let that make you think that you can't make a vow to God or make a vow to somebody else as long as you're going to pay there are vows that I've made to God just about my own life, where I promised God I said, you know what God, I'm never going to do thus and so again and I've never done it since and I don't plan on doing it you know, and there are things that I've sworn to God in the past and said, God, I promise you I will do thus and so many times but you know what, I paid what I vowed and I was scared to death to even think about not paying what I vowed because I just didn't know what God was going to do you know, if I told God, you know, I'm going to do this it's like, goodnight, I better do it but was it good that I made those vows? I think it was if I made a vow to do something I was pretty much locking myself in because now I have to do it because I told God I was going to do it you see what I'm saying, so couldn't that be a good thing? if that's forcing me to do something that's right that maybe I wasn't going to do but then I make a vow to God but see, I only did it if I knew that I could perform it because I didn't want to mess with God I didn't want to not pay what I vowed but let me hurry up and just finish the chapter quickly above all thinking, my brethren, swear not but then look at verse 13 that's what we were talking about earlier all the afflictions and the trials and the testings that we're going to go through all the pain and suffering he says, any among you afflicted, let them pray that's the time to pray is any married, let them sing songs let them listen to songs on his headphones no, it says, let them sing songs and then the next one, is any sick among you? let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord and the prayer of faith shall save the sick and if you have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him now this is the proof text that the Catholic Church uses for last rites who's ever heard of last rites? put up your hand last rites is where the priest comes when you're on your deathbed he anoints you with oil and he prays for you and that's going to forgive you of more sins so that you don't have to spend as much time in purgatory now that's not what this means he's talking about here, a person being healed of their sickness I mean, it's pretty clear to see that, isn't it? he says, any sick among you, let them call for the elders of the church not because you're about to die and because you need your sins forgiven but because you want to be healed that's why it says in verse 16 pray for one another confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much so when it says any sick among you let them call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord that's saying if you're sick and you're in a very dangerous sickness and you need some healing he says you can call for the elders of the church anoint you with oil and pray for you because God can still heal people in 2006 if people pray for them but he says here and the Lord shall raise him up it's not talking about he's going to resurrect them that's what the Catholic church says when they die, they're going to be part of the resurrection when it says the Lord will raise him up it's talking about raise him up from the sick bed where they are they're down on their back they're sick, they're laid up in bed and he says pray for them that they'll be healed and the Lord will raise them up and he says, and if he have committed sins they shall be forgiven him now look, this is not talking about getting your sins forgiven for salvation, or else it wouldn't say if if he's committed sins good night, which one do you want to start talking about? which one today that I've committed do you want to talk about? God is saying here, if he has committed sins they shall be forgiven him the problem here is that when a person is sick sometimes not all the time, because there's an if there sometimes it's because they are in sin now we're not like the Pentecostals where if somebody's sick you say, well it's because they're not right with God and if they would just get right with God they'd be healed I've actually known people where their relatives were Pentecostals and came to them in the hospital and told them, you know what? just claim healing just get right whatever sin is in your life that's caused you to be here and you'll be out of this bed in no time I mean, can you imagine being sick in the hospital suffering and somebody come tell you that it's your fault? that's horrible, and so you should never think that but God does teach throughout the Bible that there are some people who are sick because God is punishing them I mean, that's just a fact of the Bible now that's not usually the case usually God's just testing you or trying you but sometimes it could be because you did something and God's chastening you, that's a method that God uses so he says, if he shall commit sins, he shall be forgiven you know, if he looks to God, the elder of the church comes and prays for him, anoints him with oil he says, look, God's going to see that and God's going to forgive him, and God will heal him and then it says if they have committed sins they shall be forgiven him confess your faults one to another and pray for one another that you may be healed the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much and I don't have time to show you that in the Bible I can show you in the Bible, a different place where the Bible talks about people being sick because of sin that's in their life and so forth then the Bible says in verse 17 Elias was a man, subject to the light of passion and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months well that's power he prayed that it wouldn't rain, it didn't rain for three and a half years and he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit Elias is Elijah, of course Elijah from the Old Testament, you can read about that story in 1 Kings 17-19 and he says brethren, he prayed again and the heaven gave rain and the earth brought forth her fruit brethren so he's talking to the saved, born again Christians that he's writing this to brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him now this is not talking about unsaved people because unsaved people don't err from the truth unsaved people never knew the truth unsaved people never had the truth unsaved people were never our brethren and so he's saying brethren, if any of you do err from the truth and one convert him let him know that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins here's what it's saying when you see somebody, because he's saying confess your faults one to another, pray one for another that you may be healed when you see another brother, another Christian go off into sin which happens all the time if you've been around, you'll see a person who's living for God a Christian, go off the right path and go into sin get that person and convert them and get them back on the right track because conversion does not mean salvation that's a word that people use for salvation that's not what it means anywhere in the Bible in fact but if you can convert him from the way he's going and get him on the right path he says that you're going to save a soul from death and hide a multitude of sins now when it says save a soul from death it's not talking about going to hell it's talking about physical death and if I had time I could show you all the times in the Bible that God talks about people getting sick and God even killing people even if they're believers because they just push things too far they go too far into sin and God says that's it, your life is pointless at this point, you're gone just come on home, buddy think about Ananias and Sapphira Ananias and Sapphira were killed by God because they lied to God they made a vow to God they were going to give so much money they were going to sell land and give all the money to God they said they were going to do it they didn't do it they lied to the Holy Ghost and God struck them dead right then and there think about Onan in the Old Testament that God struck dead I don't know if he was a believer and I don't know if he was saved or not but God killed him and the Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 about people that were in sin he says to a saved person who is God it's a euphemism for death and so he's saying that if you can convert the sinner from the error of his way you're going to save the soul from death you're going to hide a multitude of sins he's saying not only be in the business of soul winning but be in the business of restoring people you know, if somebody falls into sin don't say, I always knew that they were a phony when we were growing up that's what we would say sometimes you see somebody, you see them falling into sin I always knew they were a phony I always knew that they were just liberal you know, here they are now they're off in sin now they're riding a Harley and they got hair down to their shoulders and they got some biker chick and they left their wife and kids and boy, I could tell you stories about that from real life, from independent fundamental Baptist searches and now it's all just totally different and now they're not living for God he says instead of just saying another one bites the dust he's saying, you know, go to that person and try to help them, you know, try to restore them if any of you be taken to the fault neither are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness consider yourselves also and so he's saying if somebody goes off the right path and goes into sin restore that person you might even save their life, he's saying and I've known people who were killed by God I've known people who went off into sin and they died shortly thereafter in a horrible accident you know, car accident, motorcycle accident they got a disease and died because they went away from God I knew a man not too long ago got out of church, he was dead within months God sometimes has a way of just stopping people who are not doing his will when they're saved Christians, people who just go completely off the deep end, he says you're not going to drag my name in the mud and he kills them, and it's best for him to get to go on to heaven, but when they get to heaven they're going to realize that they wasted their life and that it was a miserable waste and that God had to end their life prematurely before they could do the work that God had them to do and all throughout eternity, they're probably going to wish that they could be back on earth and do that work that they were supposed to do and so God is saying here, not only be in the soul winning business but be in the business of restoring people who've gotten away from God try and get them back in church try and get them fired up again try and get the Bible back in their hand love them and restore them because that's almost as great as winning somebody to the Lord because they can be used by God in a great way later on in life but let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Father, thank you so much for this great chapter, dear God and I thank you for the promises of God