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

Now, Psalm 131 is just a short little psalm. He's just pretty much giving us one basic thought here in this psalm. And it's what I want to preach about tonight. He says in verse number 1, Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty. Neither do I exercise myself in great matters or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother. My soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel help in the Lord from henceforth and forever. And what I want to preach about tonight is being puffed up. And that's a term that the Bible uses a lot in the New Testament, being puffed up. And I think this psalm is a great psalm for addressing that issue of people whose eyes are a little too lofty or we would probably call it being a little bit too big for your britches. Now, I've seen a lot of you know, that seems to be the style these days. A lot of people are way too big for their favorites. They call these little skinny jeans or what do they call those things? Is that what they call them? Where do they call them? I see all these guys walking around with little bird-like jeans that are really tight on their teeth. But that's not what I mean when I say too big for your britches. Although those guys are too big for their britches. Okay, they need some bigger britches. But when I say being too big for your britches, I mean people are just puffed up. They have a little bit too big of a view of themselves. They're prideful. They're arrogant. The Bible talks about the fact that King Saul, when he was selected to be king, that he was little in his own sight. And God saw that as a good thing, that he was little in his own sight. He didn't think of himself as being greater than what he really was. And here, this is written by David in the book of Psalms, who was a great man. But he was little in his own sight. He said, I'm not haughty. Haughty means prideful, arrogant. He said, mine eyes aren't too lofty. I don't want to exercise myself in things that are too great for me or in high matters. And he said, surely I've behaved and quieted myself as a child that is weaned of his mother. My soul is even as a weaned child. What is a weaned child? Well, weaning is when the child stops breastfeeding. That's what it means to be weaned. And the Bible talks about how as newborn babes, those who get saved, those who are babes in Christ, as newborn babes, they should desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby. And then the Bible talks about those that are of full age, they graduate to the strong meat of God's Word. Just as a child, when it's weaned, it goes to eating solid foods. David is looking at himself, and he knows he's been saved for a long time. He's not a babe in Christ. He didn't just get saved yesterday. But he says, you know what, I still have a lot to learn. I'm like a weaned child. No, I'm not a newborn babe, but I still have a long way to go. And I guarantee that everybody in this room still has a long way to go spiritually, and they still have a long way to go when it comes to learning the Word of God. There are 1189 chapters in this book. You do not know everything. I do not know everything. There is so much more for us always to learn. But many people, in turn to the New Testament, 1 Corinthians 3, actually go to Luke 14. We'll go to 1 Corinthians 3 in just a moment. Go to Luke 14 first. But the more you learn, the more you realize how much you don't know. And often the people that are the most puffed up and they feel like they know everything, in fact, they know the least, or they know very little. But they think they know everything. Now we need to be careful that that's not us. And I'm going to show you some scripture on that tonight. But go to Luke chapter 14. This is a great passage on being humble. And that's what we're talking about, not being puffed up, but being humble. Look at Luke 14, verse 7. The Bible reads, And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief room, saying unto them, When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, he's saying, when you're invited to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room, lest a more honorable man than thou be bidden of him. And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place, and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room, that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher. Then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meet with thee. For whosoever exalted themselves shall be abased, and he that humbled themselves shall be exalted. What is this talking about? He's saying, you know, you go to a wedding. And in those days, maybe things were laid out a little differently at a wedding. But really, it's kind of similar to what we have today. When we have a wedding, there's always that main table of honor where the bride and the groom are seated. And then only the most important people to the wedding and the most senior people in the wedding will sit at that table. If there are only a couple of seats, it's usually the parents of the bride and the parents of the groom. Maybe if there are a few more seats, it might include the best man and the maid of honor. Maybe some of the other groomsmen and bridesmaids. But it's a table and a seat of honor for those that are the most senior at that wedding. And then maybe there will be other tables close to it where people sit based upon seniority or rank or closeness to the bride and groom or importance in the family. Now, can you imagine if you went to a wedding? And this is what Jesus has explained to them. And you just get your plate of food and just plop down right next to the groom. Hey, you know, Richard and Veronica just got married. Hey, Richard, how's it going? And you plop down. You know, wouldn't it be embarrassing when somebody has to tell you, hey, excuse me, this table is reserved for certain guests of honor. You don't just, you know, you're not that important. Sorry. And you end up taking the worst seat in the whole place because all the other seats are occupied. He said, if you were wise, you'd start out by taking the worst seat right away. Okay? And then he says, someone will come to you and say, friend, come up higher. It's better to have somebody come to you and say, don't sit all the way back there. Come on up here and sit in the front. Then to have somebody say, you're a little too close to the front. You need to go to the back. And Jesus is using this illustration and he's saying that that's how we need to be. He said, whosoever, here's the moral of his story here, verse 11, whosoever exalted himself or lifts himself up shall be abased or brought down. And he that humbled himself shall be exalted. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. We need to be careful that we do not become pumped up and prideful and arrogant when we think we're so cool and we think that we're the bomb and everything like that, as people would say today. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3. Now, when you look at this term pumped up, it seems like most of the time it's always mentioned in the book of 1 Corinthians. Over and over and over again, more than any other place in the Bible, it's all just concentrated. I looked up every time the word pumped up is used and it's just concentrated in the book of 1 Corinthians. Because these are people that were pumped up and so he was correcting them on that. Look at 1 Corinthians 3 verse 1. And I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. So are these people mature believers? No, they're immature. He said, you're like a spiritual baby. He's not complimenting them. Now these are the most pumped up people in the whole Bible because he keeps telling them in chapter 3 and chapter 4 and chapter 5 and chapter 8. He said, you're pumped up, you're pumped up, you're pumped up, you're pumped up. What's the first thing we see about them? They're babes in Christ. They're ignorant. They're not even a weaned child. They're less than a weaned child. And he said, I have fed you with milk, in verse 2, and not with meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither are yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal. Carnal means fleshly, like the Spanish word carna is like meat. For whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men? For while one sayeth, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So the first thing he brings up about how they're carnal is how they're glorying and finding their self-worth in the fact that they follow Paul versus they follow Apollos. And they're dividing based on personalities. Now Paul and Apollos both preach the same doctrines. But they're lining up with Paul versus lining up with Apollos when really they need to just get more concerned with following Christ. And the Lord is the one who gave the increase. He said, what is Paul? Who's Apollos? Why are you making such a big deal about personalities and following man? You're carnal when you're following man to that extent where it's just all about, you know, if you're not, you know, for example, and obviously I'm not the apostle Paul, but like, you know, if you're not following Pastor Anderson, well, you know, you're not much or something, you know. Well, I didn't invent any of this stuff. I mean, this is the Bible, okay? I hope I preach the Bible faithfully, but that doesn't mean that I am someone to be, you know, exalted and lifted up. Now, look at verse 18. It says, let no man deceive himself. Because remember, we're talking about being puffed up. If any man among you seem to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise that they are vain. Therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours. And the Bible clearly says in another place, let him glory in the Lord, not in man. Don't glorify man. Don't glorify Paul. Don't glorify Paul. Don't glorify me. Don't glorify any other preacher. Glorify God. And he said, in verse number 21, therefore, let no man glory in men, for all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, Cephas is Peter, or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours and ye are Christ and Christ is God. Now let me check before verse 1. Let a man show account of us as the minister of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Jump down to verse 6. I know this is a lot of deep stuff in the Bible, but just pay attention to it because it makes a really important point here in verse 6. It says, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure, and I know the language is a little bit difficult to follow, but try to follow this. It says, and these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another. And here's the key in verse 7. For who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst not receive it, or now if thou didst receive it, why does thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? And he said, what does that mean? He's explaining to them, what, look at verse 7, he says, for what, who maketh thee to differ from another? Now what does he mean by that in verse 7? Who maketh thee to differ from another? What he's saying is, okay, so you go to the church at Corinth, so you're following Paul, you're following Apollos, and you take some big pride in that. Like that somehow makes you someone great. But wait a minute, what makes you to differ from the other guy that's down the street at some other church or the other guy that's not even in church? What makes you so much better than everyone else, he's saying? Who maketh thee to differ from another? Or what hast thou that thou didst not receive? Now if thou didst receive it, why does thou glory as if thou didst not receive it? You see, people often times when they go to a church like our church, which is a great church, teaching them a lot of great Bible doctrine, and they're learning a lot of great things from the Bible, like these people had learned from Apollos and Paul, you know, they were learning from these great preachers, far greater than myself, and they're learning about all these doctrines, they were beginning to become puffed up and to look down on others that don't have the knowledge that they have. But what you have to ask yourself is, why do I even know the things that I know? Who even made me to differ from another? Now, I can look at my own life, for example, and let me explain to you where I'm going with this. I can look at my own life, for example, and if you were to run into me, and I got saved as a six-year-old boy, but if you were to run into me when I was 15 or 16 years old, and you would have spoken to me, you would have said, like with everything you know right now, sitting in this church, and some of you have been here for a year, two years, three years, four years, whatever, with everything that you know, that you learned in this church, if you would have met me when I was 15 or 16, you would have said that I was an idiot. You would have said that this guy is biblically stupid, this guy doesn't know anything, he's a fool, he needs to learn the Bible, but wait a minute, where did you learn a lot of this stuff? From me. But if you would have met me when I was 15 or 16, I didn't know any of that stuff. Now, you know why I didn't know any of that stuff? Number one, I hadn't read the Bible all the way cover to cover, I'd only read a lot of it, but I hadn't read the whole thing. And number two, I wasn't in a good church that was teaching me the Bible. Now, when I turned 17, I got into a church that started preaching me the Bible, they started teaching me a lot of great doctrine that opened my eyes to soul winning, that took me out and showed me how to go soul winning. Look, before I was 17, I'd never even been soul winning. Never, my whole life. I've been saved for 10 years and I'd never been soul winning. I've been saved for 10 years and had never read the Bible cover to cover. But when I turned 17, I got into a good church where I heard great preaching, where I got deeper into my Bible reading, where I went out and knocked doors, where I heard a lot of good doctrine. But hold on a second, without that being there, without having gone to that church, I would not be where I'm at today. Without having somebody teach me, without having someone to guide me and to help me forward, I would not be where I'm at. Because before I got in that church, you know, I was not where I needed to be spiritually, not even close. So what am I trying to say? Should I be puffed up and say, look at all the great doctrine that I know. Look at all the preaching I can do. But hold on a second. I got a lot of it from somebody else that taught it to me. I got all of it from the Bible, which I definitely did not write. A lot of it was taught to me. A lot of my soul winning methods, I picked up from going soul winning with others and learning from them. Just like you learned a lot of your methods from going soul winning with other people. You see, what makes you different than somebody who doesn't know all the things that you know? Or what makes someone else different from me when they don't know the doctrines and the truths that I know? You know, part of it is just because they've never had a good church to go to. Part of it, they've just never been taught. Part of it, their parents didn't teach them. Part of it, their pastor didn't teach them anything. And so you got to be careful not to just look down on people and get so puffed up like you're so much better than everybody else. You know, in many ways you're just fortunate to be in a church that taught you this stuff. Because if we took you and put you in some liberal church for the last ten years, your head would be full of a bunch of stupid ideas too. So you got to be careful not to just write people off as an idiot. You know, people need to learn things and they need to grow. But oftentimes people who go to a good church can become prideful and puffed up and talk down to people and be arrogant instead of being humble and realizing, you know what, everybody's at a different stage in their walk with God. And you need to be patient with people and understand. And thank God every day that you're where you are. You know, and I thank God. And a lot of the things that I learned, I learned myself just with the Bible and the Holy Spirit studying the Bible. But you know what, a lot of the things I learned were taught unto me by others. And there were people that God used in my life, people that God brought into my life, not only my pastor in Sacramento who taught me a lot of things, but also my parents, but also just people that I came into contact with throughout my life. Even just fellow church members that I sat in church with side by side that I went out solely with and they taught me many, many valuable truths from the Word of God where I wouldn't be where I'm at today if that person hadn't have been there and helped me and taught me. You know, that Apollos in my life or that Paul in my life or that Cephas in my life that God used to help teach me and help me grow. You know, we have to be careful that we're not just puffed up like, well, yeah, you know, we are right on and everybody else is just, you know, an idiot. Well, no. A lot of people, they just haven't learned. And you ought to just be thankful that you wear your arm, not lifted up as though thou didst not receive it. Look what the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 4. It says in verse 7, who makest thee to differ from another? And what hast thou the doubt didst not receive? You know, what knowledge do you have that you didn't receive, that someone didn't teach you? Now, I'm sure that you've learned a lot of things from the Bible on your own, just like I've learned many things from the Bible on my own. But, you know, a lot of what you learned from the Bible was just taught to you by me or by someone else. You know, and he says, you know, what do you have that you didn't receive that wasn't taught unto you? And he says, if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory as if thou hadst not received it? Now ye are full, now ye are rich, ye have reigned as kings without us, and I would to God ye did reign, that we also might reign with you. For I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as if appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ. We are weak, but ye are strong. Ye are honorable, but we are despised. And he's being a little bit sarcastic here, like, yeah, you guys are so much better than us when we're the one who taught you everything that you know, is basically what he's saying. He said, quit being so puffed up. You're a baby, you're a spiritual baby, he's saying to the Corinthians. And he said, you know, part of the reason I can tell you're such a baby is because you're so puffed up and prideful and you're glorying and glorifying man instead of God, and worshipping Paul and Apollos instead of just worshipping God. Look at verse number 18. The Bible says, Now some are puffed up, as though I would not come to you. Verse 19, But I will come to you shortly if the Lord will, and will know not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. What will ye? Shall I come unto you with a rod, or in love and in the spirit of meekness? See, people, a lot of times that are really puffed up, they're all talk. They can blow off their mouth and they can say everything, but they haven't really lived the life and walked the walk for a long time. But they can talk the talk. Now, go if you would to 1 Timothy chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6. And go to Matthew 7 if you would also. Matthew 7 and 1 Timothy 6. We're going to look at both places. We're actually going to look at Matthew 7 first. Because there's a lot in the book of 1 Corinthians about judging. And it's usually tied in with the people that are the most puffed up are the ones that are the most judgmental of others. And they look down on others and they judge others and so forth. Look at Matthew chapter 7 verse 1. We'll go to 1 Timothy 6 in a moment. It says in Matthew 7, 1, Judge not that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. And with what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye, but consider'st not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the moat out of thine eye, and behold a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you. Now the Bible here is telling us if we judge others, we're going to be judged by the same standards. And he says that many people are hypocrites in that they judge the tiny little moat that's in their brother's eye. Like basically a moat is just a tiny little splinter in their eye. And they look at somebody else's eye and they see this little splinter and they are just ready to correct that. Whereas what they don't see is the beam that's in their own eye. Like a beam. Like buildings are made of beams. And obviously Jesus is exaggerating here. He's trying to make an extreme point like somebody has just a big beam of wood coming out of their eye. Here, let me help you get that splinter out of your eye. And Jesus used the same kind of extreme comparison when he talked about the Pharisees being hypocrites. He said they strain at a nap and they swallow a camel. And I mean obviously nobody can even swallow a camel. But he's saying they choke on a gnat like a tiny little bug, but then they swallow a camel. And he's talking about hypocrites. You see, people who come to a church like ours, where they learn a lot. And let's face it, if you come to this church, you're going to learn a lot. Because there's so much Bible in every sermon. You're learning from God's Word. You know, there's so many scriptures and there's so much Bible and you're going to learn a lot. A lot of churches, you go there week after week, you don't learn much. Here you're going to learn a lot. But here's what I've noticed. Some people, there are two kinds of people that come to a church like this. Some people come to this church and they start learning a lot and then they start feeling like they know everything. And they start feeling like they know it all. And they get puffed up about it. And they start thinking that they know more than me and they know more than you and they know more than everybody. And they start getting puffed up to where they think that they've learned it all and they don't have anything else to learn. And then they start missing a lot of church. Because at first, man, they want to be at every service, you know, because they're learning and they don't want to miss it and they want to learn. And then they start getting anxious like, I've heard all this before. I can miss church. I don't have to come all the time. Because they already know everything anyway. But you see there are other types of people who come to a church like this and the more they learn, the more they dig into their Bible and the more they say, I know nothing. I need to learn more. And I find that some of the smartest people I know are the ones who feel like, man, I have a lot to learn from the Bible. And man, I can learn from church every time I come on Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night. I still have more to learn. And they don't get puffed up about it. You see, I learn something every time I listen to preaching. Now, I don't listen to a lot of preaching because usually I'm the one who's doing the preaching. But when I do listen to preaching, I always learn something. You know, I come to the preaching class and you say, well Pastor Isaac, you're teaching the class. What are these whippersnappers that get up and preach for 10 minutes? What do they know? But honestly, I learn a lot. And part of the reason why I enjoy the preaching class is just to be there and listen to the preaching and to get a little bit of spiritual need for myself. I download sermons sometimes from my friend Roger Jimenez in California. Pastor Roger Jimenez, who, you know, when I met him, he was 16, I was 20, okay? And you know, I took him under my wing and taught him everything. Anyway, you know, we'd go out soloing together and all this. But you know what? I taught him a lot of things, but you know what? Every time I listen to his sermons, I learn something. Okay? Every time. And I've downloaded several of his sermons, and I listen to them, and every time he's been here as a guest preacher and preached, every, and I'm not saying that. There are some preachers I listen to where I don't learn anything, believe me. But when I download and listen to his sermons, I always learn something new. See, I can learn from him because I don't know everything. That's why I can learn from him. And if I went to that church, I'd be getting fed every time I was there and learning more. Because you say, but Pastor Anderson, you know so much. The more you know, the more you realize how much more there is to learn. I mean, I'll memorize whole books of the Bible and think like, I just don't fully grasp what this book is, and I feel like I need to study more other parts of the Bible and compare scripture. You've got to get past this puffed up attitude where you know everything, and I know it all. I've been coming to Faith Board Baptist for six months, and I pretty much know everything. I'm ready to move on now. No, you don't. You know nothing. You need to learn more. You need to come to church and pay attention and listen and not get distracted and not zone out and not think, oh, here he goes again. Yeah, here I go again, and you're going to learn something new. Because there's so much more in this book. You say, I'm preaching through the book of Genesis on Wednesday nights. I already know all that stuff. It's so basic. You will learn from the book of Genesis because I learn new things every time I read the book of Genesis, and I've been reading it for a long time. I've been reading it for decades, and I still learn something new. Don't get puffed up. But people often become puffed up, and here's what I see a lot, and boy, this gets me fired up. This is something that really fires me up, and let me just let loose on it right now. People who listen to the preaching from our church on the internet or else they come to our church, and then they end up just completely getting out of church because they say, well, I can't find a good church in my area, so I'm just going to not go to church because this church is wrong on this and this church is wrong on this and this church is wrong on this and this church is wrong on this. Let me explain to you what that is. That's somebody who's totally puffed up, number one. They want to walk around judging everybody else, judging every church. They're the expert on what's a good church and what's a bad church, and that person is walking around with a huge beam in their eye that they don't even go to church. And you know what the Bible says about people who don't go to church? The Bible says that God's wrath is on those people. Look at Hebrews 10. Go to Hebrews 10. I didn't plan on going there, but I want to go there because this is a perfect example of what I'm talking about. People who don't go to church because no church is good enough. Did you hear me? There are people all across this country, and it's not just people who listen to my sermons. Oh, no. There's nothing new under the sun. There have always been people like this, and I've known tons of people like this throughout my life. People where they don't go to church because no church is good enough. I was outsoleting. And we knocked on a door, and this guy said, I don't go to church, because he said every church I go to I pretty much know more than the pastor knows anyway. Isn't that puffed up? Oh, yeah, any church I go to. And I just flat out told him to his face. I said, you know what? I said, I know more than you do. He said, well, how do you know? Because anybody who says that is a babe in Christ. That's why. Anybody who says that is carnal, and has no knowledge, and look, he said in 1 Timothy 6, if any man teach otherwise, I had you turn there, I know we're, I'm going to have you turn all over the place tonight, okay? Keep your finger in Hebrews 10. He said in 1 Timothy 6, if any man teach otherwise, verse 3, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to God is, he's proud, knowing nothing. Often the people who are the most proud are the ones who know nothing. And look, that guy just flat out told me. Well, I know more than pretty much any pastor, so why would I go to church? Fool, you know nothing. You're carnal, you're proud, you're puffed up. And so there are those who walk around with this huge beam in their eye. Listen to me now. Beam in their eye, I don't go to church. Now, isn't that one of the most basic commandments in the New Testament? I mean, isn't that the most basic? I mean, pretty much it's get saved, get baptized, and then go to church. Are not those the three most basic first steps? Like, number one, you've got to believe on Jesus Christ to be saved, and then they got baptized, then they were added to the church. If you're going to church, that doesn't make you super Christian. That is the most basic thing. Going to church is very, very basic. And if you're not going to church, you are not some kind of a spiritual authority that can sit there and say, well, this is wrong with this church, and this is wrong with this church, and this is wrong with this church, and this is wrong. You don't even go to church. I have more respect for somebody who's sitting in a church that's maybe wrong on X, Y, and Z. At least they're in church. You're not even in church. I have more respect for somebody who goes to a church where I disagree with having what they do than somebody who just doesn't go to church at all. That is not right. And let me prove it to you from the Bible. In Hebrews chapter 10, the Bible says in verse 25, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. He said, don't forsake the assembly. And look what he says next. As the manner of some is. So there are people that are like that, huh? They forsake the assembly. He says, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much less in 2012, since it's tough to find a good church. No, he said so much the more as you see the day approaching. And by the way, that's talking about the latter days. You need more church, not less. And he says this, for. Now, what part of speech is the word for in verse 26? It's a conjunction, isn't it? What does that mean? It means it connects two ideas. For is not a complete thought. He's saying, give me the modern day word that we would use instead of for. Because, right? And the Bible uses the word for and because interchangeably. It's a conjunction. So he says, don't forsake the assembling of ourselves together. As you see the day approaching, be in church more. Because why? Why should I? Why should I not forsake the assembly? Because if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. What's indignation mean? Anger. God's fiery anger. That's why you better get your carcass in church. That's what he says. He said, a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who had trodden underfoot the Son of God, and had counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite under the spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, but I just can't find a good church in my area. Because I'm so much better than all these churches. You know, most of the people I know who said that, they were all screwed up on their doctrine. But they were so worried, this church is wrong, this church is wrong. You get in church. And look, if you're having trouble finding a good church in your area, hey, I feel bad for you. But you might just need to drive a little further. Amen. And I thank God that when my parents struggled to find a good church in our area when I was growing up, they drove a little further and they took us to the best church they could find. And they drove. And you know, it wasn't fun, the long drive, but you know what, it was important to them to be in church. They could have just sat around and said, well, we can't find anything. Guess we'll just stay home. And by the way, this little home church, that's not a church. Who are you kidding? Who do you think you're fooling? This is the thing. People will stay home and this is what they'll do. They'll just preach to their wife and kids and call it church. That's not church. It's called something else. It's called a family. Now I have a family too. I'm married and I have a wife and I have children, but that's not a church. That's a family. Everybody understand the difference between a church and a family? A family is when it's a man and he's married to a woman and they have children together. And guess what? I'm supposed to teach my family the Word of God. You're supposed to teach your family the Word of God. Mothers are supposed to teach their children the Word of God. Fathers are supposed to teach their children the Word of God. The family should speak about the Word of God daily. In Deuteronomy 6 it says when you get up and when you sit at the table, you know, we should talk about God's Word. I should teach my children. My wife should teach my children. We should preach the Bible unto our children. That is not church. It's not church. Oh, but we gave it a name or something. It doesn't matter. It's not church. You can sit there and pretend it's church. You can set up chairs and you can even build a pulpit. It ain't church. It's not church. You know why? Because church is when you have a real pastor, a bishop that's ordained by God that meets the qualifications for a bishop. And it's not just one family. It's multiple families. This is what the church means. Congregation. Well, if you have one family, that's not a congregation. That's one family. One thing can't congregate. Okay? In order to have a congregation, you have to have multiple things congregating. Well, me and my wife are congregating. No, that's a family. That's not a congregation. That's not a church. Does anybody understand what I'm saying right now? You staying home and having a Bible study is not church. I've known people, well, we can't mind a good church, so we're just having a Bible study in the home. No. Where did the Bible say have a Bible study in the home? And you say, well, it just says forsake not the assembling of ourselves together. That's just me and my Christian buddy getting together at the coffee shop. No, it isn't. The Bible says that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And the Bible says that, and look, the church, it's not something that's barely mentioned. It's mentioned hundreds of times. Just get a concordance and look up every time the word church is mentioned. It's hundreds of times. Everything that happens in the book of Acts, it's starting churches and it's done through churches and it's the local church and it's I'll build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. It's the church, the church, the church, the church. The Bible is written to the church, to the church at Corinth, to the church at Ephesus, to the churches of Galatia, to the churches of Thessalonica, to the church, I mean church, church, church. What about the book of Philemon? He said it's to you, Philemon, and the church in your house, and guess what? He's not talking about him and his wife and kids. They had an actual church meeting in the house, a congregation. Our church started in a house, but it wasn't just me and my wife. That wouldn't have been a church. We had all, Brother Dave, Amanda, did you come to church when we were in the, who else came when we were in the house? Anybody else? My kids are always there. That's right. You know, Amanda is one, Brother Dave is one. They were here when our church met in the house, but it wasn't a house church. It wasn't just like, oh, it's just our family. No, that was a bona fide church. You want to know why? Because I was qualified to be a pastor, because I was sent out with the laying on of hands, because I came here and went preaching from house to house, bringing people in, constantly bringing in visitors, constantly bringing people in, constantly assembling together, baptizing, doing all these things, not just getting together, just having a Bible say with my family. That's something you should be doing anyway. It's not a substitute for church. And you know, if you can sit there and read this, I can't. I can't sit there and read Hebrews 10, 20, and maybe you just don't understand it. I don't know. But I can't sit here and read Hebrews 10, 25 to 31 and just decide I'm going to stay home from church. I can't even say it. This passage tells me that God's going to be mad. God's going to punish me. And look, have you ever gotten really bad spanking from your parents? Man, I remember my dad would lay into me sometimes. You know, I don't want God to give me that kind of spanking. And God's going to take you to the woodshed when you think you can just skip church and stuff. You know what I mean? And look, I'm not trying to force you and tell you, be a church every single time at this church or, you know, God's going to destroy you. That's not what I'm saying. Now, personally, I'm going to be here every time. I'm not saying that the Bible commands you, you must be in church every single time. But you know what? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you. I am going to be in church. I made a decision in my own life a long time ago to always be in church. I made that decision a little over a decade ago. And probably about 11 or 12 years ago, I made that decision. And I don't decide if I'm going to church, I just go to church. And you know what? I did that because I'm humble and I want to learn. You say, oh, but did every church you went to always teach you everything? You know, some churches not been taught me more than others. But you know what? I just always went there just to make sure I didn't miss something that God had for me that I needed to learn. And I went there and I wanted to learn as much as I could. And so I showed up every time and I decided that church was really important. If Jesus Christ shed his blood for the church, according to Acts chapter 20, if he gave his life for the church, if he shed his blood for the church, if the church is the pillar and ground of the truth, if he said, upon this rock I'll build my church, I'm going to be there. I'm going to be a part of it. I want to be a part of what Jesus is building. And that's the local church. I'll be there. And so I've made church a priority in my life. But those that are puffed up, they don't need church. And they know more than everybody around them. And they'd be better off to sit down and shut up at some church that maybe they don't agree with everything than to just say, I can't find a church. I'm going to skip church. So they have this big beam in their eye. I don't go to church. I'm disobeying one of the most basic commandments in the Bible. I've got God's indignation and wrath on me. God is up in heaven fuming and mad at me for forsaking the assembly. I'm not a part of what Jesus is building. But oh, this church over here, they have children's church. Oh, this church over here, they sing special music and it sounds like rock and roll. Oh, I can't go to this church because they pledge allegiance to the American flag. That's what somebody told me. They said, I can't go to church because every church pledges allegiance to the American flag. And I don't want to pledge allegiance. Shut up, you idiot. Just do like Obama and don't pledge to him? So what? So what? So you're going to just throw out God's command to go to church because you don't want to pledge allegiance to the American flag. So what? Just whatever. Honestly, that is so stupid. There's no other word for it. It's stupid. Now look, if you don't want to pledge allegiance to the American flag, then don't pledge allegiance to the American flag. And the same person said, yeah, but then they kicked me out because I wouldn't do it. There's no church in America that's going to kick you out for not pledging allegiance to the American flag. You know what he probably did? He probably went around and told me, you need to stop pledging allegiance to the American flag. What are you doing? Why are you pledging allegiance? And then they said, get out of here, you freak. If anybody got kicked out for not pledging allegiance to the American flag, that's what they were doing. You know, you shouldn't go into some church like you know everything and you're going to fix everything and say, you're not the pastor of that church. You can't fix a liberal church. If it's liberal, you can't fix it. Many have tried. It doesn't work. It's got to come from the top down, my friend. Look, if you're in a liberal church and you don't like it and you don't like being in a liberal church and you wish you were in a better church, then go find a better church. But if that's the best church you can find, sit down and shut up and learn something in that church. And don't pick it apart and find everything wrong with it. I got this for you. There is no perfect church. You're like, well, faith for a bad church is a perfect church. I hope so, but I'm sure it's not. I strive to do what's right. I strive to preach what's right, but I'm not sure that everything I say and do is always 100% right all the time. Nobody's perfect. I'm not perfect. You're not perfect. People need to go to church. And in 2012, more than ever, get in church and stay in church. You say, why are you preaching to us? We're in church. Because you know what? Many other people sat where you sat and heard this sermon and they're not in church. People here local in Phoenix, not in church anymore. Why? Because they already know everything. Why? Because they can download it. You can't download obedience to Hebrews 10. God didn't say forsake not the download. Okay? He said forsake not the assembly. And he wasn't talking about you assembling your ethernet cable to your laptop so you could stream the sermon onto your machine. No, not forsake the assembly of your computer, forsake the assembly of yourselves, of human beings, of people. And maybe I'm getting off on a tangent on this point, but I told you I was fired up about it. I told you it bugs me. And I tell this to people all the time. And these people contact me all the time. Pastor Erickson, we love your preaching, Pastor Erickson. I love listening. I've learned so much. I believe exactly like you believe, but I don't go to church because I can't find one married. You don't believe exactly like I believe. Because if you believe like I believe and you listen to my preaching, you'd be in church. Because this isn't the first time I preach this sermon. And let me tell you, but you don't understand, Pastor Erickson. Oh yeah, because I didn't spend 24 years of my life sitting in churches where I didn't agree with everything. Because guess what? I did. But guess what? I did it anyway. And I shut up. And you can ask the people that I went to church with all those years, I was not going around making trouble in church. Now, do you think I'm the person with strong opinions? But you know what? I was never a troublemaker. Now, in school I was a troublemaker. That's not a story. That's school. God doesn't build that. But honestly, when it comes to church, I was not a troublemaker. And I disagreed with a lot of things and I didn't agree with all the doctrine and I didn't agree with everything that was going on. And you say, I don't believe that about you, Pastor Erickson. It's the truth. It's true. I had opportunities to get up and preach. I didn't get up and just preach everything that I didn't agree with about what was going on around me. I didn't do it. I never did it. And go talk to the people. Talk to Brother Jimenez, who I went to church with for years. Talk to anybody you want. Talk to any of my friends that I went to church with through the years. And they'll tell you, I wasn't getting up. I mean, I might have asked a question or said to the pastor, hey, what do you think about this? I never was the one going around, starting stuff, going around, causing division, going around, causing strife, going around. For example, the church that I went to in Sacramento, they believed in the pre-tribulation rapture. I don't believe in that. And by the way, I've never believed in that since I was 12. Okay. I believed in it until I was 12. And the first time I read the book of Matthew is when I stopped believing it. I've never believed in it since. So I figured that one out about 18 years ago. But I sat in many churches that preached the pre-tribulation rapture, but you didn't hear me going around proving to everybody how what the pastor's preaching is wrong, everybody. What he's preaching is false. It's actually after the tribulation. I didn't go around preaching that. I didn't go around. And when I had an opportunity to preach, I didn't get up and preach what I knew was contrary to what the church believed to preach. Because you know what I said to myself? Hey, it's not my place. I'm not going to exercise myself in things that are too high for me. I'm not leading this church. I am a follower. Do I agree with everything? No. But I'm going to come here. I'm going to learn as much as I can. I'm going to be on board with the church's program. The church is winning souls. I'm going to win souls. I'm going to listen to the Bible preach. I'm going to do what I'm supposed to do. You know, if somebody pinned me down a couple of times when I went to that church, somebody pinned me down and said, do you actually believe in that? Preach your rapture? I'm like, no. I'm not going to lie about it. When somebody just pinned me down and said, isn't it after the tribulation? I said, yeah, it is. But then you didn't find me going around and you dead sure didn't find me quitting the church and saying, well, I'm going to quit this church because they're wrong on the rapture. I can't No, I went there. And look, I'm all for it. If there's something bad at your church and you have to leave, if there's something here that's bad, that's just wrong and sinful and you need to get out, that's fine. But make sure you have another church to go to. And I always tell people, don't ever quit your church unless you have another church that you're going to go to. And you know, unfortunately, sometimes you have to quit going to a certain church because of things that are false there. But you better have another church lined up that you're going to. And don't you dare forsake the assembly. Don't forsake God's institution of the local church. It's too important and you're puffed up. You think you're not. Maybe you're wrong on some stuff that you're picking apart all these other church. Maybe you're the problem. Maybe you're the one that's wrong. And maybe you're not. And you know what? Honestly, when I was 12 and I didn't believe in the preacher of rapture and when I was 15 and 16 and didn't believe in the preacher of rapture, I hadn't read the whole Bible cover to cover. Now I read enough to figure out that that was a bunch of garbage about the preacher of rapture. But did I really know for sure that there's not something I'm missing or something? No. So I'm not going to go running my mouth in a place until I know what I'm talking about. And today I know what I'm talking about. And I can get up and rail on it and preach it. But you know what? I spent plenty of time with my mouth shut like a weaned child listening to the word of God preached and not being a know-it-all that's popped up that thinks that he knows everything to the point where no church... And look, if you're in a city of 4 million people and there's no church that's good enough, you've got a problem. You know what I mean? You're off the deep end. And no, it's not going to be perfect, but come on. Even if you're in a city with 1 million or 2 million people. And then people say, well, Pastor Aaron said, why don't you find me a church? I don't have time to find everybody a church. You go find it yourself. You're too lazy. And how many times people are like, find me a church, find me a church. And then I find them a church and then they don't go there. And you never hear from them again. Because they want to not go to church because that's their manner. The Bible says that's the manner of some people, to not go to church. And they just find excuses not to go to church. So it's just an excuse. So if you find them a church, they'll just find another excuse for why they can't go to church. And that was way off on a tangent. Let's get back to the regular scheduled programming. Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 8. But you know what I'm preaching? What I just preached was really important, honestly. And you say, why are you preaching to those of us that are here? Because I want you to stay here, number one. And number two, if you ever leave here, I want you to go somewhere else and not go nowhere. Like, sometimes somebody who is a really dedicated member of our church, all of a sudden they'll quit coming. And I'm concerned about it. I'm like, man, where are they? I wonder how so-and-so is doing. And I'm worried about them. And then somebody tells me, hey, they're going to so-and-so the church now. I always go like this. That's a relief. I'm really glad to hear that. Because I thought they'd just quit going to church. You see what I'm saying? I'd much rather hear that somebody went to church somewhere else. That's fine. God bless you. If you find a church that you like better, where you're learning more, that's more on fire for soul winning and on fire for God, and you think it's superior to our church, God bless you. More power to you. But please don't just be one of these people that just quits going to church anywhere. I'd have way more respect for you if you go to church that's a watered down church than to just hear you're not going to church. Because you know, at least a watered down church, at least there's something there. I mean, if I were starving to death, I'd rather have watered down food than no food. Right? No, I don't want anything watered down. But you know what? I'd rather have watered down than nothing. And you ought not be one of these that quits church and gives up on church. There are people out there, there are radio preachers that will tell you all day long, oh yeah, all these churches are bad, you need to get out of these churches. Well, you know what? I'm never going to say that. I don't believe that garbage for one second. I believe in church. And don't let anybody tell you that, oh yeah, this guy, he really just loves Pastor Anderson and he really listens to Pastor Anderson and so forth, but he doesn't go to church. He's not following me, he's following somebody else. Because people that follow me are in church. Follow me as I follow Christ and he's building the church and if you don't go to church, you didn't learn much from me. That's what I'm saying. Oh, but you don't understand, I've been there, I've struggled with it. I've been in churches where they were trying to pry my child out of my hand and I was... I'm not kidding. I mean, I have sat there and because you know, look, I was never a troublemaker, but there were some things that I took a stand on, like I wasn't going to turn my kid over to strangers. I took that stand a few times. But you know what? I never got thrown out of the church. Why? Because I stayed cool. Because I didn't pick a fight. Because a soft answer turneth away wrath and I was able to compromise, without compromising my principles, I was able to compromise and keep my child with me, you know, when they were trying to pry it out of my hands, you know, and send it off to some other room somewhere. I don't believe in that. I don't like that. I don't agree with that. I think that my children or my children, I don't think I should have to go send them to some class with some stranger in church. I don't do it. I don't believe in it. But you know what? I've been through that battle. I've had a lot of things where I had to go through that I didn't like, but I am glad that I can stand here and say behind this pulpit right now, I've always been in church from the time I was born to the time I'm standing up here right now, I've always been in church. The longest I ever went without going to church was 20 days because I was very ill and very sick and in bed and for 20 days I didn't go to church. And I don't mean 20 services. I mean 20 days. I'm saying I went to church on a Sunday and I came back three weeks later. That's why I say 20 because there's 21 days in a week. 20 days elapsed between church services for me from the night service to the morning service and that's the longest and it was because I was sick and other than that I've never been out of church. Never. I've missed a service here or there because of illness or whatever providentially hindered from being there, but I have been in church when I wanted to be in church and when I didn't want to be in church. In season, out of season. I went to church. Go to church. You say, well, I'm back slid. Go to church. Oh, but you don't understand. You know, I'm living a sin right now. Don't add to sin. I'm not going to church. If you're in sin right now, church is what you need to help you get out of sin. There is no reason to be out of church because how hard is it to just show up somewhere and sit down? I mean, no matter you say you don't understand what I'm going through in my life, just drag yourself in and sit there and at least you can at least keep God happy in that area. I mean, if you're having problems in your life, the last thing you want is for God to get mad at you and if you're not in church, God's going to get mad, but people get puffed up and they think that they know everything and you know, or they think that they're qualified to be, you know, their own little pastor of their own family. No, you're not. You're not qualified. You don't meet the qualifications in the scripture. Okay, now if you are qualified, go start a real church. Do like Pastor Jimenez has done I know. Start a church that's a soul winning thriving church. Great. More power to you. Start it in your house, but make it a real church, not this little sham, okay? And you say, man, you're fired up about that. I am because it's something that it seems like every day I hear about a different person or a different person emails me or contacts me or tells me that they don't go to church because they can't find a good church and it just starts to get on my nerves. And I'm just thinking to myself, you're puffed up, you're carnal, humble yourself and go to church. Look, I wouldn't go to a church that's not preaching the King James Bible, but there is a King James Bible preaching church in every area in America. If you're living in Cambodia or something, disregard this sermon. If you're living in Communist China right now, if you're living in Iran, disregard this sermon. But there's probably nobody in China or Iran listening to this sermon, okay? It's probably all people in the United States of America, yourself included, that are hearing this preaching and they can find a church if they'll look a little hard. And you know, if you just say, no, I'm just in a totally heathen land where there is no church, then you need to move. Abraham had to move. You say, no, Pastor Edison, you're wrong. There's no good church in my area. Then move. And until then, God's mad. Period. But anyway, what are we talking about? Being puffed up. Being proud. Thinking that you know everything. Or thinking that you don't need church because you can stay spiritual without church. Hey, I can't stay spiritual without church. I need church. Amen. Going to church helps me recharge my spiritual battery. You say, well, you're the pastor. Still, just getting in here, getting in the group, singing the songs, it helps me. It'll help you. It's something that you need. Let's turn to one more place. Did I have you go to 1 Corinthians 8? Yeah. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 8, verse 1, now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have knowledge. But he said, knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. So that's what I'm saying. A little education is a dangerous thing because it makes people think that they know it all. Look at verse 2. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. So the Bible said, when you think you know everything, or if you think you know a lot, he said, that just shows that you don't know anything. The more you think you know, the less you actually know. That's what he's saying. Because true seekers of knowledge, people who are really on a quest to really learn the Bible, and they're reading it cover to cover over and over again, and they've read it once cover to cover, and they've read it twice and five times and 10 times and 20 times. When you get to the 20 and 25th time of reading through your Bible, you'll still feel like, man, there's a lot more to learn. But it's the person who's read it once that thinks that they know everything. It's the person who's been in church six months, and they've read the Bible once, and they know it all. The person who's read it 20 times knows, hey, I've got a long way to go. For example, the book of Judges, I've read the book of Judges scores of times, literally. Literally scores of times. And literally, just a few months ago, I was thinking to myself, man, I really need to learn the book of Judges. I need to really dig in and just learn it. Because I feel like I just don't know this book very well. I read it scores of times. The Bible's so deep, there's so much to learn that you don't get this popped up attitude. A little knowledge will puff you up, and you think you know everything. Look, just practice being humble in your life. And we kind of focused tonight on the area of knowledge. Those are some scriptures we turn to. We kind of focused on people, because they're following a great church or following a preacher like Paul or Apollos, getting puffed up about that. I got a faithful word back. That doesn't make you anybody. It makes you nothing. You and I both, we all need to be humble people that stop and realize, hey, I've got a lot to learn. And you know what? If I go visit a church, sometimes I'll visit other churches on like a Monday, Tuesday night when they have a special preaching during the week. I'll show up sometimes at these conferences where they'll have like a preaching night on a Monday or Tuesday. Like I'm going to be preaching at Verity Baptist in Sacramento. I'm going to be preaching there in February on like a Tuesday night. And sometimes things like that will be going on in our area. I don't walk in there like, let's see what this guy has to say. I'm sure it's something that I already know. I walk in and I'm ready to be fed. I walk in, if you could see what I look like spiritually walking into church when someone else is preaching, or walking into the preaching class on just Tuesday night, if you could see me with spiritual eyeballs walking into the preaching class on Tuesday night, or walking into one of these other services somewhere, I would have a bib on and a knife and a fork in my hand, like I'm ready to chow down. Feed me. Why? Because I have a lot to learn. And I probably know more than you do, and yet I have a lot to learn. You've got a lot to learn. We all have a lot to learn. You can't sit there and get this pumped up attitude, I know everything, I don't need church. And look, if Faithful Word Baptist Church stopped existing tomorrow, which it's not going to, you would be able to find another church to go to and you would survive. And you might not like it as well as you like this church, because hey, I think our church is the greatest church around, otherwise I wouldn't be here. But you know what? Other churches out there, it doesn't mean that they're just worthless. Are you listening to me? You say, oh, all these churches around Phoenix, they're all... No, they're not. There are other churches around here that are winning souls, that are decent churches. I like our church better, but you know what? Those churches are still serving God, and they're little teenage Steve Andersons in those churches that are idiots. But you know what? Someday they'll be the 30-year-old Steve Anderson. The 15-year-old Steve Anderson, you would have been like, idiot! But you see how that would be foolish to just write people off, to just blow people off, when really, you know, how do you differ from them? You got taught some good stuff that helped you to learn things, and you got to be patient with other people. Don't look down on them, don't get all high and mighty. And you know, this sermon may not have come out as eloquently as I had planned it in my notes, but it kind of went a different direction. But the bottom line is, I think you get what I'm saying. I think everybody understands what I'm saying. Don't get high and mighty, don't talk down to people, don't get arrogant, don't get prideful. You come in here, you take the lowest seat, you listen, you learn, and I want to be the same way. Even Jesus was lowly, he said. Lowly. He's Jesus. He's the Son of God. He's the creator of the universe. And so, let me just close by reading one more time, Psalm 131, where we started. This is the last thing. Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty. Neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved in quiet in myself. As a child that is weaned of his mother, my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel open the Lord from henceforth and forever. Let's bow our eyes and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word to God, and thank you for the knowledge that we do have. I thank you for the things that I was taught in all the various churches I grew up in. And I thank you for a mom and dad that taught me a lot of really valuable things through the Bible. Because honestly, Lord, I know that I would not be where I'm at if it wasn't for what my parents taught me, and for what I learned in churches along the way. And thank you for what I learned just through my own personal study with the Holy Spirit guiding me. Help everyone who's here, myself included, to be humble, not to be too puffed up for our own good and to think that we have all this knowledge that we're better than everybody else. Help us to stay humble and stay meek and lowly. In Jesus' name we pray.