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

Now, before I get into the part of the chapter I'd like to focus on, I want to just kind of explain the chapter. This is a very important chapter in the Bible, and it's a chapter that's often misunderstood because if you take Romans chapter 2 out of the context of the rest of the book of Romans, it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Because he starts out in chapter 1 basically condemning the Gentiles, and he condemns them and talks about how there are many nations and many people who knew God, they glorified him not as God. God turned many people over to a reprobate mind, and he's referring to all these wicked people. But then in chapter 2, he jumps in and says, okay, but what about the Jews? Just because you're circumcised doesn't make you righteous. He said in order to be righteous, you must keep the law. And then he even explains, and these are the verses that are misunderstood, but they're very simple to understand if you get them in the context of chapter 3. He says in verse number 6, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that do with evil of the Jew first and also of the Gentile, but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. And he's explaining, hey, if you keep the law, if you do all the right things, if you do everything that's good, he's saying, you will be justified, you'll have eternal life. And a lot of people will take that and say, wait a minute, I thought eternal life is by faith. But look at verse 13. He says in verse 13, for not the hearers of the law are just bereft, but the doers of the law shall be justified. Now if you took that statement right there by itself, you'd say, justifications by works. But wait a minute, wait a minute now, look at that last part of verse 13. The doers of the law shall be justified. But if we flip over to chapter 3, go to chapter 3 and you'll see where this makes sense. In chapter 3, he explains in verse number 9, he says, what then? Are we better than they? No and no wise. For we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles that they were all under sin. As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one. There is none that understand it, there is none that seek it after God. He says, they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable, there is none that doeth good, no not one. And then if we see in verse 20, it says, therefore by the deeds of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. He's saying the reason why no one is going to be justified by doing the law is because no one does the law, because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's why if you go down just a few verses after he says in verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, he says down in verse number 28, therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. So you've got to get to the conclusion. You see he's explaining, wait a minute, if you do the right things, if you work that which is good and seek for glory and honor and immortality, patience and continuance and well-doing, he said you'll get eternal life. But he says, wait a minute, just because you're circumcised, have you kept the whole law? Have you kept the whole thing guiltless? Have you done everything perfectly? And this is what's so foolish about people thinking that their good works are going to get them to heaven, that keeping the law is going to get them to heaven. There's none righteous, no, not one. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. You can see how it's easy to take a verse out of context though. In chapter two, pull it out and say, see, it works. But you read a little further, he says, yeah, that'd be great if you could do it. Now let's face it, if a person lived a perfect life, of course they'd go to heaven. Why would they go to hell? You go to hell to be punished for your sins. But the bottom line is every single one of us is a sinner. We've all sinned thousands of times. We're not going on our own good works. If we go, it's only one way, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, we conclude that man is justified by faith, not by the deeds of the law. But Romans chapter two is important for another reason. I want to preach on verse 11, and this is basically the gist of the whole chapter. This is the title of the sermon. There is no respect of persons with God. Very short verse in the Bible, for there is no respect of persons with God. That's the title of the night, no respect of persons with God. You see in verse number 16 of chapter one, and we're going to start out with the aspect of Jew versus Gentile. We're going to see a lot of other scriptures on God not being a respect of persons. Verse 16 says this in chapter one, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that lives a good life. No, to everyone that believeth it says, to the Jew first and also the Greek. Now a lot of people have taken this, and it's funny how sometimes people can take a verse in the Bible and use it to mean exactly the opposite of what it actually says. You see some people will take that and say that salvation is to the Jew first and also to the Greek means that somehow it's preferential toward the Jews. Like somehow we should make a special effort to get the Jews saved first. I've heard that preached. Well if you read chapter two, that's not what it says, because in chapter two he goes on and says basically the same concept, and I heard a missionary say, I'm going to Israel because the Bible says the Jew first and also the Greek. We've got to get to the gospel of the Jews first. That's not what it means, and I'll prove it to you. Look at chapter two, verse number eight, it says, but unto them that are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first and also the Gentile. So it's not just that the gospel is going to save the Jew first and then the Gentile, he says the Jew will first be damned and then the Gentile. It's a two-way street my friend, you're the first to be saved or you're the first to be damned. The truth of the matter is he's not saying one first and then the other second, he's just saying both, both Jew and Gentile. And I'll prove it further, look at verse ten, but glory, honor and peace to every man that worketh good. Here's a positive, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile, the sentence isn't over. Look at verse eleven, for there is no respect of persons with God. So how can you take the statement to the Jew first and also the Gentile and say, oh that means the Jews are preferred, when the next word's out of his mouth is because there's no respect of persons with God. God does not respect the Jew more than the Gentile because there is no respect of persons with God. Those who are saved by believing on Jesus Christ will go to heaven whether Jew or Gentile. And those who do not believe on Jesus Christ will be damned whether they be Jew or Gentile. There is no respect of persons with God. Look down a little further at verse twenty-eight. He says this, for he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. You remember John the Baptist when he came on the scene preaching? When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said to them, oh generation of vipers, who would warn you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits, meat, for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves we have Abraham to our father. For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid under the root of the trees, therefore every tree which bring not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire. He said, it doesn't matter whether Abraham's your father, that's not going to get you anywhere when it comes to salvation. You must believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. The Bible says he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on it. That doesn't matter what color you are. And by the way, God is not a respecter of person when it comes to Jew or Gentile or any other racial difference. God does not respect the white man more than the black man. God does not respect the white man more than the Native American, or the Native American more than the white man. We shouldn't give preferential treatment to one race or the other. We shouldn't say that the black is better, or the Native American is better, or the Chinese is better. Hey, God has made all nations of the earth of one blood, and when we get to heaven in Revelation 5 and Revelation 7, the Bible is clear that there will be people there of all people and tongues and nations and kindreds standing before the Lamb and before the throne clothed with white robes and palms with their hands saying, Salvation to our God. It's not going to be a certain race that's going to be in the front row. The Jews are up front. We're in the back. We're at the back of the bus in heaven for eternity. Listen, call me a spiritual Rosa Parks, but I'm not going to the back of the bus in heaven because I'm not a Jew. I'm going to be right there up front with palms in my hand praising God. It's interesting because John, when he was up there in heaven, when he was caught up to heaven and he saw the Revelation, he saw me because he saw basically every believer who ever lived. If you look at chapter 7, when the multitude appears in heaven, he saw people of all nations, kindreds. I don't know if he saw me specifically, but I hope I was right in the front row. I don't know where I was at in that crowd, but it's a multitude that no man can number in. If you're saved, you were there too. Isn't that amazing? And so God is not a respecter of persons. Don't let race or ethnicity determine how you feel about people, okay? Whether it be a Jew, oh, he's a Jew. That's the foolishness of today's Baptist churches. They become Jew worshippers. And you know what? The Jews rejected Jesus Christ, crucified him, hanged him on the cross, and the Bible said the wrath has come upon them to the other most. Now if individual Jews believe on Jesus Christ, receive Christ as their savior, then we shouldn't look down upon them either. So we shouldn't be against the Jew or for the Jew. He's just like you, and that even rhymes, okay? So the Jew is not better than you. He's not worse than you. You say, oh, you're anti-Semitic, you don't like Jews. No, I just believe that everybody's equal in God's eyes, because he is not a respecter of persons. So if you're Jew, Gentile, white, black, it doesn't matter. You are a child of God if you're saved, and if you're not saved, you're not a child of God. You're not God's people. You're not the elect. You're not God's chosen people. You will not be in heaven. You will not be in the millennial reign of Christ unless you're saved. That's all that matters. That's it. Circumcision neither profited nor uncircumcision, but a new creature, the Bible says. And so God's not a respecter of persons. Turn if you would to Acts 10. Acts 10, verse 34. While you're turning there, I'll read you a few other scriptures. Colossians 3, 24, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance, for ye serve the Lord Christ, but he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done, and there is no respect of persons. You see, God will not give people an exception or a pass into heaven. Only those who believe on Jesus Christ are going. There's no exception. There's no pass for certain people because of who their parents are or who their ethnicity is or what church they go to. Oh, you went to Faithful Word? You know, how can I not let you in? So what if you believed the wrong God? You believed it was my works. So what? No, you do not get a pass in, no matter who you are, because God is not a respecter of persons. Nothing that you can say or do will impress God, unless you're saved, you're not going. First Peter 1.17, I'll just read it for you, and if you call on the Father who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. Acts 10, verse 34. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ, he is Lord of all. That word I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached, how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed to the devil, for God was with him. And we are witnesses of all things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all the people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, even to us, who did eat and drink with him after he rose from the dead. And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead. Here's one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible, verse 43. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all that which heard the word, and they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't believe that God would accept these Gentiles and they'd be filled with the Holy Spirit and that they'd be saved and that they would be preaching the Word. They couldn't believe it because they didn't understand the fact that God is not a respecter of persons. Peter had figured it out. He said, I perceive of the truth that God is not a respecter of persons. The people that were with them were still hung up on this Jew versus Gentile thing. They still didn't get it. And they were astonished, it says in verse 44. I don't think Peter was astonished, because he had already perceived in verse 34 that God was not a respecter of persons. It says in verse 46, for they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. They were not rolling in the aisle, slobbering, barking like a dog. They were speaking in another language, because these men were Italians and they were Jews and so forth. And it says, can any man, I preach other sermons about that, I don't want to take the time right now. Can any man forbid water that these should not be baptized which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord, then pray they him to tarry certain days. So number one, God's not a respecter of persons based on your ethnicity, based on the color of your skin, based on whether you're a Jew or a Gentile. God doesn't impress God. It means nothing to him. But number two, look at James chapter two. God is not a respecter of persons when it comes to your financial status. So number one, God's not impressed by your pedigree and so forth. If you're a dog, then your pedigree matters. If you're a Boston Terrier, you want to be AKC certified, you want to have ears that are pointy on the end, you want to have white markings on the face that come down the front of the nose, both sides of the mouth, you want to have a white collar that goes all the way around the neck. You know, that really matters if you're a dog, but if you're a human being, it doesn't matter. It matters whether you're saved. It matters whether you preach the Bible. It doesn't matter whether you're white or black. Now it matters whether the Boston Terrier's face is white or black, but it doesn't matter whether my face is white or black. It doesn't matter what my teeth look like, okay? I'm not trying to be Joel Osteen and have a perfect set of teeth. God is not impressed by the outward physical appearance. Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart. And so it doesn't matter what your race or your color or the way that you look, and it's not something that impresses God. But not only that, number two, your financial status. This is another thing where people tend to respect one and put down another based upon how much money they have, okay? Is it scriptural? Look at James 2, 1. My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons, for if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and yet respect him that weareth the gay clothing, that's Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt, and say unto him, sit thou here in a good place and say to the poor, stand thou there or sit here under my footstool, are you not then partial in yourselves and are become judges of evil thoughts? Mark and my beloved brethren, had not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him? But you have despised the poor. Do not rich men oppress you and draw you before the judgment seats? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by which ye are called? If you fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, you do well, but if you have respect to persons, you commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. You know, I've got to go back to point one for a second. God said to stay away from genealogies, did he not? He said avoid foolish questions and genealogies, so if your ethnicity mattered, or if the fact that you're a descendant of Abraham mattered, or the fact that you're an Israelite mattered, why would he say, hey, stay away from genealogies? They're unprofitable and vain, they don't matter. But here in James chapter 2, he talks about a man coming into church, the assembly is church, he comes into church with a gold ring, goodly apparel, he's dressed nice, he's a man of means, he has money, he's a powerful leader in the community, he's the mayor, he's a house representative, you know, whatever. And he said if you respect him more than a guy who comes in in vile raiment, I mean that's clothing that's dirty, that's what it means, vile. It would mean clothing that's dirty and messed up, and he comes in and you say, well, you know, why don't you sit there way in the back, why don't you sit on one of these plastic chairs, and then we're going to put Mr. Dignified in the La-Z-Boy, right here, where Leslie is sitting tonight. We should not have respect to persons. We shouldn't say sit here in a good place to the one and stand over there, or sit under my footstool because you're poor, because you're ugly, because you don't have any money, because your clothing's vile. And today as Christians, many of us can get caught up in this, keeping up with the Joneses, conspicuous consumption. We've got to have the fancy car, and the fancy house, and everything fancy just to show everybody how much better we are. God says that he's not impressed by that, and he says if you're impressed by it, you're committing a sin. Even just in your heart, if you have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing. When it says gay clothing, it means the nice, fancy, it doesn't mean you're queer. If you respect somebody for wearing queer clothing, then you're really committing a sin. But anyway, if somebody comes in with nice clothes, and you respect them in your heart, and you secretly think, oh I hope they come back next Sunday, and the poor people, you just assume that they just kind of visit for that one service. That is wrong. Money, it means nothing. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the wealth in every mine. Oh wow, if you could just get a millionaire saved, and just get the offering. But what will we do with it? What will we do with the money? Oh, you could send missionaries all over the world, who will sit on their rear and do nothing. Because that's what most missionaries do. The problem's not money, the problem is that the missionaries that already exist aren't doing anything. That's the problem. Because there are so many thousands and thousands of missionaries in this world, and if they were all preaching the gospel and knocking every door, good night, the whole world would hear the gospel. But the problem is that people are going out and not soul winning. It's not a financial problem, because I doubt that all of God's kingdom is just hanging the balances on somebody's checkbook. I don't believe that for one second. I don't believe for one second that the reason why people aren't hearing the gospel is because some big, wealthy man, his caprice of whether he puts money in the plate or not, or gets saved or not, that's not what matters. What matters is whether you win souls. In this city, you can win people that are fresh off the boat from Africa, that talk on the phone to people in Africa every day. You can win them to Christ less than 10 minutes from here. You can find people of all their ethnicities in this town that talk to people and visit other countries. You can go to other countries and see people say, it's not about money. It's not about getting some rich man saved. We don't need his money. We don't need anybody's money. We don't need your money. What we need is you to win souls. What we need is people, we don't care if they're poor, I'd rather have a poor man in vile raiment that will come soul-willing with me than some rich man who will not go soul-willing but he'll drop $20,000 in the plate. Well, you know what? Your money perish with you. I'd rather have a soul-winner that's dirt poor that will go and serve God and preach to God when God will use him more than he'll ever use the mammon of this world. So don't get sucked into this thing. But literally, many churches, this is what they dream about at night. They go to bed and dream about it at night. Some millionaire coming to their church, but they literally dream about it, my friend. I dream about somebody coming here in dirty clothes and going soul-willing with me. That's what I dream about. It's true. Hey, I don't care about money. And you know, we've got to have money to live and survive. But you know what? God's going to provide our needs if we work hard and sweat by the sweat of our face like he said in Genesis 3, six days a week, like he teaches throughout the Bible. We're going to be able to make it. And so we don't need the rich man. See most of the time when a rich, highfalutin person comes to pay for a Baptist church, I don't get excited because I pretty much just know that it's a revolving door on the front door, especially for rich people. You know what I mean? Because the wall behind me is white. Is this fancy to you? Is there anything fancy about the building you're sitting in? Who cares? God's word has power. That's why this is the soul-winning powerhouse no matter what color the walls are. And so the Bible says here in verse number nine, If ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin. So you're committing the sin right there, just in your heart when you respect them more than the poor. And he says, And are convinced of the law as transgressors, for whosoever shall keep the whole law. And this is kind of back to what he was saying back in Romans 2. And offend him one point, and yet offend him one point and he's guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So whether or not you've broken all the Ten Commandments, or all the other six hundred commandments, or one of them or two of them, he said, either way you're a transgressor of the law. Either way you've sinned. Now does that verse say that all sin is equal? It's all the same? No. It just says that if you've committed one, you're equally a transgressor of the law. And if you keep the whole law, and yet offend him one point, he's guilty of all. Now is there anybody here that's not offended at any point of the law that you've never sinned? Man, I was talking to this guy today on soul winning. Remember, were you sitting right there, Brett, when I was talking to this guy on soul winning? I said, Have you ever lied? Nope. No. Have you ever stolen? Nope. Have you ever taken God's name in vain? Nope. I was just trying to show him he was a sinner. Usually I don't go through this big list. Usually I just ask one thing, Have you lied? Yes. But it was like, I was going through everything. I mean, how many sins? I listed every sin I could think of. And he was just saying, Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. And then I just said, Are you a sinner? Oh, I know I'm sin. Okay, well that's good. I don't know what you've done. I don't even want to ask. It's nothing that I mentioned. The first thing I said to this guy was, I said, You know, do you know for sure if you died at eight? When you go to heaven, he's like, When I was 15, I shot this guy in the face, but it wasn't my fault. You know, but he's never, you know, he'd never done anything I listed. And I argue murder. He's like, No. Self-defense. Nope. Take God's name in vain. I always respect God's name. You know. He didn't get saved. I gave him the gospel. I got toward the end, and then he got up and just like walked away while I was talking to him. He's like, All right, see you later. Okay. And then I don't know what this has to do with the sermon, but I got to tell you this other thing from soul winning. We're out of soul winning. We're knocking doors today. And me and Brad were talking about the fact that, you know, if you go soul winning, you have so many sermon illustrations because almost every time I preach, it's kind of like, Oh, I was out soul winning yesterday or a couple days or a week ago. There's so many things that you learn and see and so many experiences you have out soul winning. And, you know, a lot of these pastors have a lot more preaching material to get out soul winning. They have a lot more to say. But I walked up to this door. I knocked the door. This lady comes to the door. And this has nothing to do with sermon. But I knocked the door. This lady comes to the door. And I said, Do you know for sure if you die that you're going to be saved? Hell yeah. I was thinking to myself, I asked if you're going to heaven, and you say, Hell yeah. I just didn't understand. That doesn't seem kind of weird. But anyway, nothing to do with the sermon. But turn, if you would, to Deuteronomy chapter one. You see, this is something that's taught throughout the Old Testament. Deuteronomy chapter one. That's just a new one for me. Like, I've never had that answer when I asked that question. I've asked that question to thousands of people. And you can tell when she said it. She felt kind of silly. She realized that what she said was a little bit of an oxymoron. But while you're turning to Deuteronomy, 1 Timothy 6 17 says, Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy. So basically, God told us in James 2 that we're in sin if we respect the rich more than the poor. But then in 1 Timothy 6, he's telling the rich that they're in sin if they're high-minded. So not only should those that are rich not think of themselves higher than they ought, we shouldn't think of them any higher than they ought, because it means nothing to God. When they walk into church, when you walk into church, no matter what color you are, no matter how much money you have, you are on the same footing with me or anyone else. We're all equal here. We're not going to sit here and say, well, this is a black church. And there are churches that are a black church. I talked to a guy, I went and visited a church that my grandmother had gone to, or my ancestors had gone to this church way back when. And I talked to the deacon and he said, we have 300 members at our church, we have about 300 attendants on same mornings, he said, we have one white person who comes. And he's like, they're more than welcome to come, but we only have one. But that's okay, as long as they're welcome. But you know, if it's just like a black only church, or like a Chinese only church, or a white only church, it's not right. Because the Bible says that God's house to be a house of prayer for all nations. And so, Jesus said this, he said, and by the way, the messianic Jews, what's up with that? You know, trying to segregate themselves, like we're Jewish believers. No you need to get in a Baptist church with everybody else. That's what you ought to do, and not try to segregate yourself, well we're messianic Jews. No, you need to be a Baptist, okay, and I don't care what religion you want to claim because it's some racial thing. Now, you need to be in church with other people that are Gentiles, or you're not in a scriptural church. Because if you're in a Jew only church, you're in an unscriptural church. Period. If it's Jew only, it's unscriptural, because the Bible says that Jesus in John 10, he said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also must I bring. Then there will be one fold and one shepherd. You see, we're all baptized into one body whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, whether we be rich or poor. And so we ought not have a different church for a different race. We ought not have a different standard for those who are rich. Let's just run through some Old Testament scriptures on respecting persons. Deuteronomy 1.17. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's and the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it. You see, we shouldn't fear man's face and be afraid of what the rich man thinks. Be afraid of what the mayor thinks or the governor thinks. And thank God the mayor and the governor will never visit our church. Ever. Now I've been to independent fundamental Baptist churches where the mayor visited, the police chief. Can you believe it? Visited. The police chief, the governor, the mayor, the senators, they would never even touch our church with a ten foot pole. But I thank God for that because we're actually a real scriptural church that preaches the Bible so the world doesn't love us. Politicians don't get more popular by coming here. They would be committing a political suicide by even letting our church be named upon their lips. It's true. And so, thank God, but if they did, I don't care what they think. I'm not going to be afraid of what certain people think. Now stop and think about it. I'm preaching right now. Do you think that I'm afraid, do you think I'm scared right now, of what Miriam thinks? You know what I mean? Like my daughter Miriam is two years old. Do you think that I'm right now just worried and I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way? But see, if I'm not going to fear the small, I don't need to fear the great. You know, because God's no respecter of persons anyway. That's what he's saying. And that's an extreme example. But the person in here that has the least clout in this church, the least influence, the least money, if I don't care what they think while I preach, I shouldn't care what the biggest giver thinks, I shouldn't care what the most popular person thinks, I shouldn't fear the face of man because the judgment is God's. I am the messenger of the Lord of hosts and I don't care what man says, whether he be rich or poor or whatever he is, it shouldn't matter. I shouldn't respect persons in judgment. Look at Deuteronomy 16 19. Actually, I should never judge, right? No, there's a lot of persons that tell me to judge and that's one of them. But look at Deuteronomy 16 19, it says, Thou shall not rest judgment. To rest something means to twist something. Thou shall not rest judgment. Thou shalt not respect persons. Isn't that a great... That would be an alternate title for the sermon. Thou shalt not respect persons. Neither take a gift, for a gift to blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of the righteous. You say, what's that about taking a gift? It'd be like if I went to court, and yes, I've been to court and I've been the defendant and I'm going to be the defendant in a couple more weeks, but let's say I walk into court and I say, here judge, I have a gift for you. Now, do you think that that's really the right thing to do for that judge to take the gift? Here's a $200 gift card. You know, I don't want to influence you or anything. That's bribery. And that's what he says when he's talking about taking a gift, giving gifts to senators. And by the way, it goes on every day in our country. Senators and congressmen are wined and dined by rich people, corrupt businessmen, and that's where the corruption our government comes from because the love of money is the root of all evil. And the senators and congressmen are takers of bribes. And they ought to be thrown out of office just for that alone, as well as the other 500 things that I don't like about them. But in 2 Chronicles 19.7, the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 19.7, if you turn there please, right before the book of Psalms, just go back a few pages, you'll find 2 Chronicles 19.7, wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you. Take heed and do it, for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons nor taking of gifts. So God will not take a bribe, God does not respect the persons, God has no iniquity, God has no sin, and it is a sin if you take a bribe, and it is a sin if you have respect of persons. Look at Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24. A few pages to the right in your Bible, Proverbs 24-23. These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment. Proverbs 28.21, to have respect of persons is not good, for for a piece of bread that man will transgress. He's saying somebody who takes bribes, it won't take much to bribe them, just give them a Twinkie. Just a piece of bread, take them out to dinner. Take them out to dinner, buy them a steak dinner, and they'll give you what you want because they have no integrity. You see, I don't get on the phone and call my congressman and tell them I'm going to buy them a gift if they do what I want. You see, my congressman shouldn't even really care what I think, to be honest, they really should just be doing what's right. Like if I call them and say I want babies to be murdered and aborted, they should say I don't care what you think, that's murder and filthy and vile and disgusting, you can drop dead and pick up the phone. That's what they ought to say if I call them and say it. I want a woman's right to choose. They should say you have the right to shut up and keep on going. And every woman with a woman's right to choose has the right to shut up and go home and get married, bear children, guide the house, bake cookies, and shut up! And don't be a whore and you won't have to murder your child because two wrongs don't make a right. But you see, senators and congressmen ought not take the bread of this world, whether it be the metaphorical bread of money, I think nobody said that in about 30-some years, but money used to be called bread. Hey, how much bread you got? Whoever's not in their head is old. But you know, hey, we got some bread. Somebody stay in bed with me. I'm not saying it right. Somebody used the word bread. Is this coming back? This is a 15-year-old saying it. It's coming back. It's coming back! Hey, we're bringing it back, alright? I'm just kidding. But anyway, the point is, to have respect to a person is not good. For a piece of bread, that man will transgress. But we're going to have one last point, one third point. Number one, not race. Number two, not money. Doesn't matter. Number three, the titles and accolades that man will give you. Now, let's look at 2 Corinthians 3. We're going to look at a few passages on this. 2 Corinthians 3, the titles and accolades given to man. Now, thank God, in the United States, it is illegal in the United States for any person to get a title of nobility in the United States. Did you know that? That's an important part of our country. And no one in our country has a title of nobility. We do not live in a two-class society, supposedly. Part of our whole founding was that all men are created equal, are endowed by their creator by certain inalienable rights. But you see, other countries endow people with titles of nobility. This was big in the Middle Ages. Now, I don't know how much history you study, but in the Middle Ages, in France, for example. You know, a great example. France is the quintessential example of where you have a total class society, where you have the clergy on one level, and then you've got the nobility, and all these different titles, like dukes and earls and counts, and all these different titles of nobility. Today, we have the kind of people in England that are given these titles of nobility, because in England, they still have this. They still have a monarchy, and it's a constitutional monarchy. It's a limited monarchy. But they give titles of nobility to people like Elton John. Filthy, sodomite, pervert, disgusting, vile piece of trash, sorry excuse for a human being. Sir Elton John. And by the way, when you go buy your Elton John CD, you know where your money's going? He gives $135 million a year to AIDS funding. Don't discriminate against people with AIDS, you know, and to cure AIDS. I got the cure for AIDS. The Bible has a prescription for the cure for AIDS. Now you don't think the Bible has all the answers, but did you know the Bible can cure AIDS? Here's the cure for AIDS. Let me look at my prescription here. Let me go into my medicine cabinet here, and I'm going to look under L. Leviticus, 2013. Whosoever lieth with a mankind, as he lieth with a woman, even both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be a positive. Now, that's the cure for AIDS. It's found in Leviticus, 2013. The man also lied with mankind, as he lied with a woman. I'm just repeating in case you didn't get it the first time. Even both of them have committed an abomination, they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be a positive. There's your cure for AIDS. AIDS is cured. Elton John, your $135 million is, you know, we don't need it. And that's why you don't need to buy an Elton John CD. Sir Paul McCartney. Is that what you have to be? Just some kind of a communist rock star? Or some kind of a filthy pervert to get these titles of nobility? But thank God in America, we don't give out titles of nobility. Thank God that in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was penned, and when the Constitution was penned in 1787, they said, no titles of nobility. And no government official of the United States is allowed to take any title from another country. No American citizen is allowed to take titles of nobility from another country. You see, we are a sovereign nation of the people, by the people, for the people, and we're all supposed to be, even the president's not supposed to be above the law. That's what separates us from other totalitarian countries. You see, our president, if he lies in court, he should be punished the same way I'd be punished if I lied in court. See, if I lied in court, they'd throw the book at me. But if Bill Clinton lies in court, so what? You know, or whatever. All the other crimes, you know, he's not the only criminal, they're all criminals. But that's a whole other sermon. In fact, I think I'll write that down in a preset sometime. But anyway, 2 Corinthians 3.1, I love what he says here. This is a great start to a chapter. Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Did you hear that? Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Now, isn't it silly when a person commends themselves? Stop and think about this. This is what's wrong with politicians today. Did you know that when our country was founded, people didn't even run for office? George Washington didn't run for president. You didn't even run. When Thomas Jefferson won the presidency, he never even announced that he was a candidate. Literally. Study the history. I mean, it was just, they were chosen. And it was considered dishonorable to go out and toot your own horn and try to say how wonderful you are. Now, people would announce their candidacy in many cases, but they wouldn't go around just telling everybody how great I am. And when I hear a politician tooting their own horn, this is what I think of. Do we begin again to commend ourselves? And the politicians that I like, which are very few, are the ones who get up and say, hey, this is what's right and wrong. These are the issues. This is the right thing. This is what we believe. They don't get up and say, I'm this, and I'm going to do this, I'm this, I'm this, you know. All this stuff. But that's 99% of politicians. They get up and tell you a wonderful letter. But wait a minute. Am I a politician? Why is that a hard question? Am I a politician? No. You see, Baptist pastors should not be politicians. And yet, sometimes we begin to commend ourselves. You know what a commend means? Basically, to lavish myself with titles and to give all my different achievements or whatever, right? Just tell you how wonderful I am. That's what accommodation is. He says, or need we as some others. So there are some people who need this. Or need we as some others be epistles of commendation to you? Or letters of commendation from you? He's basically saying, do I need some piece of paper that somebody wrote some letter to prove that I have the right to preach or that I have the right to be the pastor? Like I need some letter of commendation from you or to you or by you? He's like, I know some people need that. But he's like, I don't need that because he said in verse 2, Ye are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, ministered by us, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to Godward, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God, who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Let me explain something to you guys. You young guys who want to pastor a church someday or be a preacher someday, guess what you don't need? A piece of paper to put on the wall in a frame. What you need is for God to give you the power of God to go out and win souls and those people will be your epistle of commendation. That's what he said right here. He said, God is the one who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament in verse 6. God's the one who made me an able minister of the New Testament, not some man, not some piece of paper. Like for the three years and eleven months and twenty-nine days, until you get that degree in your four-year program or whatever, you're not able. But the moment you walk across that platform, you get this piece of paper. All of a sudden, I can preach now. I don't have to preach now. Now I'm filled with the Spirit of God. I'm a big kid. Look what I can do. I've got a piece of paper on the wall too. It's really more silly than the pull-ups commercial. These people think that some little wimp, some effeminate queer little sissy of a boy goes to a bunch of classes in some Bible college somewhere and gets a piece of paper. All of a sudden, he's ready to just take on the devil and the forces of hell and start a church and preach and preach in power. No, spineless wimps and pansies have no business pastoring a church because let me tell you something. When you pastor a church, there are many adversaries. You're under attack every week. People don't like you. They attack you. They lie about you. They try to pressure you. They try to get you to change. They try to get you to back down. They attack you. They mail you filthy things in the mail. They lie about you. They curse you. They call you on the phone and threaten you. They do horrible things. But let me tell you something. If God has called you to preach, God will enable you to preach and to be a minister of the New Testament. But you know what? Some classroom is not going to enable you to do that. You know, how about this? The local church that Jesus died for and shed his blood for. That's the pillar and ground of the truth. That's where you ought to be trained. And I guarantee you that anybody will get more training sitting in this church and then going out soul winning and actually getting people saved and winning souls to Christ than they'll ever get in some cemetery, seminary, whatever it is. Than they'll ever get from some piece of paper. You know what's hilarious? And here's the thing that's hilarious. I went to Bible college. And in my senior year, I'd already ordered my cap and gown. I'd already sat down with the guy. Okay, you have all the credits. You just have to finish up, you know, these last classes and whatever. You know, you're in your senior year. Here's what you got to do. Blah, blah, blah. You know, I left Bible college and I quit because of the heresy and perversion that was coming across the pulpit. At the time, a lot of people questioned me. And then later they apologized and said, good, I see why you left now that it's coming out, some of the things that were being preached over there. And now it's kind of like I told you so. But the thing that's funny about it is this. I went to Bible college and I was in my senior year, which means that I had done more than three years of the material. You know, I was going full load. Doubling up on summer schools and busting it out. So I was in my senior year. I'd already gone through three some odd years. And people said, well, you just run up a Bible college education. So I guess it was that last part where I was going to learn everything. And you know what the funny thing is? I pretty much don't use anything that I learned in Bible college because I pretty much decided when I left Bible college, I'm not going to do it this way. I'm going to do it the Bible way. And I don't care what they say. Now I did learn a lot of things while I was in Bible college because there were a lot of great people around me, a lot of great people that I went soul winning with that taught me a lot of great things. A lot of friends that I had in that church that taught me a lot of good things. But as far as the classroom, it left something to be desired, my friend. And the bottom line is that the piece of paper does nothing for you. So many people graduate from Bible college, they don't start a church. They sit around. They do nothing. They graduate and then they just do nothing, sit around. They're a pastoral theology major or whatever. It doesn't mean they're going to start a church. It doesn't mean they're ever going to pastor. And they might get that degree and they might dilly-dally and then eventually pastor. That's not going to fill them with the Spirit. That's not going to make them know the Bible. You don't have to know the Bible to graduate from Bible college. Remember this morning? The guy who went to six years of Bible college that I told you about and I knocked the door, he didn't know if he was going to heaven when he died. He wasn't sure if that's what the Bible teaches. It doesn't guarantee that you know the Bible. You see, if you memorize whole books of the Bible, then you might know something. Or maybe if you just, how about this? You say, I don't want to memorize the Bible. How about you just read the Bible cover to cover like 20, 30 times? You'll know a lot. You'll learn a lot doing that. And in fact, the Bible told you to read the Bible. And the Bible told you to memorize the Bible. I guarantee if you put the same effort into actual legitimate reading and memorizing of God's Word, you will know more. That's right. And you know what? That's not even enough. Because if you're not a doer of the Word, you're going to be a forgetful hearer and you'll be deceiving your own self. So you've got to read it, memorize it, love it, do it. That's when you'll know what you're talking about. That's when you can preach. And the only epistle that you need, the only letter of combination that you need on your wall, just put a picture on the wall of the people that you got saved. Wouldn't that be better? I challenge every pastor in America to take down all their degrees because they've got to commend themselves. Put it up on the wall. So everybody, I am the master of theology. Masters of the universe, master of deity, divinity, and theology. I challenge every pastor in America to take the degree off the wall and put pictures of the people that you wanted to award. How's that sound? Put up a picture of the people that got saved. That's the only letter of combination that Paul had. He said, you're my epistle. I want you to Christ. I don't need some piece of paper. It's you. You're the letter of combination that I need. And so we need to get off this commending ourself and, you know, doctor so-and-so. I remember I won this guy to Christ. And I said, here, listen to this sermon. It's by Dr. Jack High. He said, doctor? Doctor? He said, is he a doctor? I said, why are we listening to a doctor preach? Is he working in a hospital? And that's about how silly it is, you know. Oh, doctor so-and-so. You know, well, my fingers hurt. Can you help me? That's what I want to do. Can you help me with my torn tendon in my fingers since you're a doctor? I mean, why are we kidding? Oh, it's a different meaning of the word doctor. Well, so what? Do you want to call yourself doctor or sir? Sir Elton John and doctor? Doctor, you know, wannabe, letter of accommodation, commend myself, master of the universe, bachelor of theology. I'm not a bachelor. I'm married. I always thought a bachelor was somebody who's not married. I thought a bachelor was these bunch of guys who live in Tempe in one apartment. You know, Phoenix, whatever I said that happened. Hey, you guys are bachelors, all right? I'm married, okay? And so I don't need an associate of, you know, I don't know, associate, whatever that is. But turn to Matthew 23, the last place. Matthew 23, he said, Our sufficiency is not of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. You see, Faithful Word Baptist Church is not great because Pastor Steven Anderson is so great because I promise you, if I were to fall over dead right now, do you think that this church would end? Do you think that the soul ending would stop if I fell over dead right now? Do you think that the truth being preached across this pulpit would stop if I fell over dead right now? It's not based on me. It's not about me. None of it's of myself. None of it's like, well, only Pastor Anderson can preach that or do that or say it. We have the Word of God. And the Word of God will be here long after I'm gone. And long after you're gone or anybody's gone, this book will still be here. And anybody, black, white, Chinese, Native American, Jew, Gentile, rich, poor, can pick up this book and do what Pastor Anderson does. Anybody can do it. Anybody, any man who desires the office of a bishop, desires the good work, and he can be blameless and pick up the Bible and preach God's Word, everybody can do it. It's not just for me. It's not about me. It's not about commending me. It's not about a letter of commendation for me. No, this is the commendation right here. God's Word is powerful, quick, sharper than a two-edged sword. It doesn't matter whether I'm preaching it. It doesn't matter whether you're preaching it. It doesn't matter whether you're preaching it. It's the same words and the same Spirit of God. And anybody can preach it and have the same results as when I preach it. If you're saved, if you're filled with the Spirit, you can preach it just like I can preach it and have the same result. You can go out soul-winding and see people saved like I see people saved. Like other people in this church see people saved. God's not a respecter of persons. God didn't do it for one and He won't do it for the other. God won't pour out His Spirit upon one and not on the other. He said, I'll pour out my Spirit upon young and old. He said, your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men, your handmaidens, will preach the Word of God with power. And that's what happened at the Day of Pentecost when men and women went soul-winding and had 3,000 people saved. They spoke 120 different languages. 120 different people spoke at least 17 different languages and got multitudes saved because God is not a respecter of persons. It's not Pastor Anderson that is the issue. It's not me getting a title in front of my name. I want to be Dr. Anderson. I want to be Master Anderson. I want to be Sir Stephen Anderson. No. I want to preach God's Word. And you know what? Anybody can do it. It's not just me. It's anybody. Oh man, Pastor Anderson. You know what? It's just that these other pastors, many of them aren't preaching the Word of God. Because the ones that are preaching the Word of God are having the same results that I'm having. It doesn't matter. God's not a respecter of persons. If God will do it for me, he'll do it for you. And if he'll do it for you, he'll do it for me. Because God's not a respecter of persons. Look at Matthew 23, verse number... Let's just start at verse number 1. We'll close with this. Then spake Jesus to the multitude and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do. But do not ye after their works, for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. Look at verse 5. This is the key. But all their works they do, for to be seen of men, they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, and love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. Now this is the wrong kind of people, who want to be called by a special title, a rabbi. Now the Bible uses titles like bishop, deacon, pastor, elder. Okay, but he doesn't use titles like rabbi, because rabbi means master. And you ought to call no one master, because he says in verse number 8, But be not ye called rabbi, for one is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. And call no man your father upon the earth, for one is your father. Don't call me father. Don't call me master. Don't call me rabbi. You see, those titles are too lofty to give to a man. Don't even call me reverend, because the Bible says reverend is his name. And so you ought to call me, you can call me pastor Anderson. You can call me Stephen Anderson. You can call me brother Anderson. That's why I'm brother Anderson. But you know what? Don't call me rabbi, father, master. And don't call me doctor. You see, we need to get off this kick of trying to impress man. And if you're a guy who just needs to impress man, you don't belong to the pulpit anyway. Because Paul said this in Galatians 1, Do I now please men or God? For if I yet pleased men, then I should not be the servant of Christ. So if you're the type that says, well I need that piece of paper to show people. I need nice fancy clothes, so I can make sure people know that I'm not poor. So I've got to wear the name brain. You know, I bought this suit at the thrift store. Actually my wife bought it for me. Thank God I don't buy any of my own clothes. My wife buys all of them. Thank God for that. I don't like to shop for clothes. But what, ten bucks for the suit? I think that one was only five. This one was only five. This sermon's getting better and better. And so all of my suits, five, ten dollars, from a second hand store, you say, oh how could you say that? It's so embarrassing. I'm not trying to please man. I'm not trying to impress. I'm not trying to dress to impress for less. You know, I'm trying to stand up here and preach God's word. If I have no jacket on, you know, it's God's word. I'm not trying to impress you with how fancy my clothing can be or the labels or the brand of my shoes. And you know, my wife bought me a pair of pants at the thrift store. It was from some posh brand structure. You know, at some store in the mall. And when you put the belt on, literally the belt loop, the belt goes behind the label. Do you know what I'm saying? And I wore these yesterday. And I said, honey, look, you know, structure. You know, because I had the belt behind the label. And the reason they do that is because they don't want the belt to cover up the label because then no one will know that your pants are from structure. So I put the belt behind the label and I was like, hey, honey, look. Look at these pants, huh? I typed. I'm cool. You know, I don't need structure to be cool. I don't even care if I'm cool. This isn't the cool church. This isn't Pastor McCool. This isn't how cool we can be and how hip we can be and how young we can be. You know, I'm already young enough. I don't have to prove how young I am. But anyway, I'm not trying to be cool. It's not about being cool. It's about being righteous in the sight of God. And it's not about how spiritual I can seem to others. And you get around people who put on this spiritual front where they want to prove to you how spiritual. And every word out of their mouth is hallelujah and praise the Lord. They can't even talk in a normal vernacular of a United States citizen. Everything's just, well, hallelujah, brother. Praise the Lord. Bless God. Talk like a normal person. You have to prove how spiritual you are. And I don't have to prove how spiritual I am and neither do you. I don't have to prove how rich I am and neither do you, because we're not. I don't have to prove how white I am if I go to some genealogical Mormon library in Salt Lake City to prove how white I am. You know, however white I am is how white I am. It doesn't really matter. The point is that God's not a respecter of persons and we not ought to respect persons. I don't think I'm saying that right, but we ought not to respect persons. And we ought to just decide that we are going to go out and preach God's word and be humble and be a servant to others, okay? To serve, to go out into the poor neighborhood, to roll up our sleeves where nobody's going to be impressed with us and go out and give the gospel to the poor. You know, we're not going to be on TV for that. We're not going to be in the newspaper for that. People aren't going to praise us for that. No one's going to be impressed by our church. No one's impressed by Faith Ward Baptist Church. They're not impressed by Pastor Anst. But God's impressed. I believe God's impressed when he looks at our soul-winning. I believe God's impressed when he hears the word of God thundering across the wall. I believe God's impressed when you go out and put in the long hours out soul-winning. That's what impresses God. Because God will judge you according to your works, he said, because he's not a respecter of persons. So you say, well, if God doesn't respect the color of my skin, what does he respect? If God doesn't respect the money in my wallet, what does he respect? If God doesn't respect the degree and titles that I've been given by man, what does he respect? Your work. That's what he said. He said, every man according as his work shall be, for there's no respect to persons with God. He respects your soul-winning. He doesn't respect your person. He doesn't respect you personally. He just respects your work. He said, oh, you preach God's word? I respect that. You win souls? I respect that. You brought your convert to church? I respect that. God respects your work. He doesn't respect things that he's the one who gave you anyway. He's the one who made you whatever color you are. He's the one who gave you the money that you have, and he did not give you these titles of men because they don't even matter to anyone, least of all to me or to God. But let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we love you and thank you for our church, dear God, and we thank you that you're not a respecter of persons because I thank you that I was born with the same opportunity as anyone else. I was born with the same opportunity to preach, to win souls, to have a family, whatever. Dear God, just thank you for giving me the same opportunities that you gave everyone else. Thank you that you're not a respecter of persons. I'm glad that just because I was born a Gentile doesn't mean I have to be a second-class citizen for all eternity. Thank you so much that the ground is level at the foot of the cross, and I pray that you would help that to sink down into our ears and that we would put this into practice in our lives and not to respect those who have letters of accommodation from man or who have money or who have a certain ethnicity more than others. And we love you, and in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.