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reads but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Akan the son of Carmi the son of Zabdai the son of Zerah of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai which is beside Beth Avon on the east side of Bethel and spake unto them saying go up and view the country and the men of Ai went up and viewed Ai and they returned to Joshua and said unto him let not all the people go up but let about two or three thousand men go up and smite Ai and make not all the people to labor thither for they are but few so there went up thither of the people about three thousand men and they fled before the men of Ai and the men of Ai smote of them about thirty and six men for they chased them from before the gate even unto Beth Shebarim and smote them in the going down wherefore the hearts of the people melted and became his water Joshua rent his clothes and fell to the earth upon his face before the ark of the Lord until the eventide he and the elders of Israel and put dust upon their heads and Joshua said alas Oh Lord God wherefore hast thou at all brought this people over Jordan to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to deliver to destroy us what did God we had been content and dwelled on the other side Jordan Oh Lord what shall I say when Israel turn at their backs before their enemies for the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land shall hear of it and shall environment us round and cut off our name from the earth and what will thou do unto thy great name award senator Joshua get thee up wherefore lies thou thus upon thy face Israel hath sinned and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them they have taken even taken of the accursed thing and have also stolen and disassembled also and they have put it even among their own stuff therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turn their back backs before their enemies because they were they were accursed neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you up sanctify the people and say sanctify yourselves against tomorrow for thus saith the Lord God of Israel there is an accursed thing in the midst of thee Oh Israel thou canst not stand before thine enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you in the morning therefore you shall be brought according to your tribes and it shall be that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man and it shall be that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire he and all that he hath because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord because he hath wrought folly in Israel so Joshua rose up early in the morning and brought Israel to buy their tribes and the tribe of Judah was taken he brought the family of Judah and he took the family of the Tsar Heights and he brought the family of the Tsar Heights man by man and Zabdai was taken and he brought his household man by man and Achan the son of Carmi the son of Zabdai and the son of Zorah of the tribe of Judah was taken Joshua said unto Achan my son give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou has done I did not from me and Achan answered Joshua and said indeed I've sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian ish garment and 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels weight then I coveted them and took them and behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under it so Joshua said messengers and they ran unto the tent and behold it was hid in his tent and the silver under it and they took them out of the midst of the tent and brought them unto Joshua and unto all the children of Israel and lay them out before the Lord and Joshua and all Israel with them took Achan the son of Zorah and the silver and the garment and the wedge of gold and his sons and his daughters and his oxen and his asses and his sheep and his tent and all that he had and they brought them unto the valley of Achor and Joshua said why is thou troubled us the Lord shall trouble thee this day and all Israel stoned him with stones and burnt them with fire after they had stoned them with stones and they raised over him a great heap of stones unto this day so the Lord turned from the fierceness of his anger wherefore the name of that place was called the valley of Achor unto this day let's pray dear Lord God just thank you for this time we've got here to come and hear your word being preached Lord just please fill pastor me here with your Holy Spirit and give him boldness Lord as he preaches unto us Lord and please ready our hearts and minds to receive the word with gladness tonight Lord and we pray this all in Jesus name amen amen okay we're in Joshua chapter 7 and look at verse number 1 it says but the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing for Achan the son of Carmi son of Zabdine the son of Zara of the tribe of Judah took of the accursed thing and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel the time of my sermon this evening is don't be a liability don't be a liability a liability is essentially a person or thing whose presence or behavior may cause embarrassment or put someone at a disadvantage obviously this is in direct opposition to an asset which is something that is useful someone or something that is of quality or that which is valuable and it goes without saying that we as Christians should desire to be assets in our church and not a liability as an asset we should desire to be useful in the hands of God to be a blessing to our church to help propel our church forward to be a blessing to be used of God to see people saved to disciple individuals etc the Bible tells us you don't have to turn there in 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 20 but in the great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor he says if a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified meet for the Masters use and prepared unto every good work essentially what this is saying is that every Christian starts off as a liability to a certain extent right babes in Christ are somewhat liabilities people who are young in the Lord can be a liability but eventually if you're growing in the Lord you're reading the Word of God you're striving to be a disciple of Jesus Christ you will eventually turn from being a liability into an asset and what I want to talk about this evening is this matter of being a liability and what are some things that you can do to avoid being that liability in our church now let me just say this is that not everyone is gonna be an asset in our church okay I know this is just shocker but not everyone is gonna be per se useful or a blessing but here's the thing is that some people just break even so sometimes a person is not necessarily useful but you know they come to church the present just their presence is just a blessing it's good to have them in church and they somewhat just break even and let me just say this I prefer the person who breaks even than the person who becomes a liability in our church because then we're left in the red spiritually speaking because of the liability so here's two things I would prefer is obviously the asset and the goal would be that we would grow as a church grow individuals to the point where we become assets in the house in the house of God but if not let's just help people become someone who just breaks even and avoid being a liability in our church let me give you a couple things that you can do to avoid or I'm sorry let me give you a couple things that will make you a liability so that you can avoid them number one is unrepentant sin will make you a liability in our church unrepentant sin will make you a liability in our church and this is why I started off in the book of Joshua chapter 7 go to chapter 6 if you would because it says that essentially Achan took of the accursed thing and if you pay the attention to the chapter that was being read they were supposed to go out and conquer different cities you know you had Jericho and then they were to move on to AI and AI was actually a lot smaller than Jericho and so they sent out a smaller party of soldiers to go and overtake that but then they got their rear ends handed to them tons of people died and Joshua was kind of beside himself thinking like why would the Lord forsake us why is it that we've lost I thought we're here to like win I thought we're here to conquer I thought we were here because God you promised this land to us and God says it's because you've taken of the accursed thing there is a liability in the camp of Israel which is why you're not permitted to succeed now look at chapter 6 and verse 17 it says in verse 17 in the city shall be accursed even it and all that are there in to the Lord only Rahab the harlot shall live she and all that are with her in the house because she hid the messengers that we sent it goes on to say verse 18 and ye and any wise keep yourselves from the accursed thing lest you make yourselves accursed when you take of the accursed thing and make the camp of Israel a curse and trouble it now what is the accursed thing that he's referring to look at verse 19 but all the silver and gold and vessels of brass and iron consecrated unto the Lord they shall come into the treasury of the Lord the Bible says now here's the thing is that when it comes to when it comes to what he's talking about here he's essentially saying you know when you go into the land of Israel into these different nations and cities obviously the things that you find there are yours you know it's yours for the taking this is your inheritance but the first city that you come to that needs to be sanctified unto the Lord okay so there's nothing necessarily wrong with the silver gold brass all of these physical assets that they find in the in the cities it's just that you know the first fruits are to be the Lord's you understand the first fruits are to be God's it's kind of like the tithe right you know the tithe is essentially the first fruits of our labor that's supposed to be sanctified unto the Lord when a Christian then decides not to tithe what takes place you know God sends the devourer essentially and so what he's saying here is you know what after Jericho when you go into AI and the surrounding cities take what you will and if you read the remainder of Joshua you see that God tells them all right you know it's a free-for-all go ahead and take what you want and it's all yours he just said make sure the first one though Jericho you need to sanctify that unto the Lord okay look at Joshua chapter 7 with that in mind in verse number 10 so at this point they've lost they've had significant lives lost in this battle with AI and Joshua is just being he's lamenting he's mournful he's kind of like Lord why did you allow this why did this happen and look at verse 10 the Lord sent to Joshua get thee up wherefore lies thou thus upon thy face now I like this response because God's not making it complicated okay sometimes people are like what have I done and God's just like just get up get up and go fix it go fix it go make it right and it'll be all over verse 11 says Israel sin and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them for they have even taken to the accursed thing and have also stolen and dissembled also and they have put in put it even among their own stuff therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies but turn their backs before their enemies because they were a curse neither will I be with you anymore except you destroy the accursed from among you what is the same their sin in the camp is what he's telling them you know there's people who are secretly hiding that which was supposed to be sanctified into the Lord you have a liability in your camp Joshua you need to fix it and once you fix it we can go on with you know as business as usual you can go and conquer the other lands but until then I'm not gonna be among you he says a verse 13 up sanctify the people and say sanctify yourselves against to tomorrow for thus ain't the Lord God of Israel there is an accursed thing in the midst of the Israel thou canst not stand before that enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you look at verse 18 so at this point you know all these families are coming and then Joshua is just kind of grilling everyone he's investigating who's got the sin who's got the accursed thing who's taken of the accursed thing and everyone was like I didn't you know it wasn't me well then verse 18 it says he brought his household man by man and Aiken the son of Carmine the son of Zabdim the son of Zara of the tribe of Judah was taken and Joshua said unto Aiken my son give I pray I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him and tell me now what thou has done hide it not from me now I don't know if this is just something that he said to every tribe you know maybe he's just like tell me what you did even to the innocent people just to kind of put the pressure on them or if he was just divinely you know given that information was the violently given to Joshua to know that it was Aiken and his family because this is a pretty direct approach right you know tell me how what thou has done and hide it not from me in either case let's say it was the first one that he didn't really know he's just kind of questioning people obviously Aiken's guilty conscience made him think that you know oh man the Lord's got me and you know what anytime someone's involved in sin sometimes you just have like a regular conversation with them and all of a sudden they think that you know or something somehow you just know they're about that particular sin and it's not that you know I guarantee you there's someone in here probably right now who's thinking like oh he knows because he's preaching no the reality is this is this the Holy Spirit working in conjunction with your guilty conscience to bring that to light he says in verse 20 Aiken answered Joshua and said indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel and thus and thus have I done when I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonian garment you know he's got it he got it found a Versace whatever okay 200 shekels of silver and a wedge of gold of 50 shekels of weight then I coveted them and took them and behold they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent and the silver under by the way that's a good little outline there he says when I saw I coveted I took you know he saw the goodly Babylonian garment he started a coveting in his heart and it resulted in him taking of that essentially what same thing what happened to Eve look at verse 22 so Joshua sent messengers and they ran into the tenant behold it was hid in his tent and the silver under it and they took them out of the midst of the tenant brought them and Joshua unto Joshua and into all the children of Israel and laid them out before the Lord look at verse 25 Joshua said why has thou troubled us the Lord shall trouble thee this day and all of Israel stone him with stones and burn them with fire after they had stoned them with stone so needless to say a kin was a kin you know because he was stoned or whatever the point the principle that we see here though is that there is a liability in the camp and it's because of hidden sin because he was involved in something that God specifically told them do not take up the accursed thing he deliberately disobeyed that and not only did he pay the consequences of that but unfortunately his family did as well and the principle we can learn there as a church is that you know what you could be a liability in our church by just keeping unrepentant unconfessed sin in your personal life go to first Corinthians if you would chapter number five first Corinthians chapter number five first Corinthians chapter five obviously we know we're all sinners and we all make mistakes we're not perfect we you know commit sin because we're in this corruptible flesh but the reality is this is the Bible highlights specific sins that can be a liability to a local New Testament Church even to the point that if you don't get that right or is just allowed to go unfettered in the congregation it can spread into the entire church the Bible says that a little leaven leaven at the whole lump it can corrupt the church and then the church ends up becoming a cesspool of sin of a variety of different sins and obviously that incurs the judgment of God upon that particular church and in first Corinthians chapter 5 he specifically addresses the subject of fornication and this is something that I feel like I just have to keep bringing up every couple of months just because it's a major sin and it's a major sin that young people are tempted with it's a major sin that yes even Christians get involved in no matter how many times I preach it no matter how many sermons it's just like I'm running out of creative ways to talk about fornication and it's like no matter what there's it just happens you know people get involved in fornication and they what are they doing they become a liability in our church now look there's churches out there that don't consider that a liability the churches out there they're okay with you fornicating and remaining in the church and oh they're just growing in the Lord right they're just growing we need to give them time to grow we got to give them space we gotta be gracious with them and I'm all for being gracious and I'm all for being merciful and giving people a grace period to understand these things but there comes a point my friends after you know a couple months where a person just realizes okay I'm involved in fornication I'm gonna get thrown out of the local New Testament Church if I don't get this right so either one you know one I have to get married or two I got to separate or three just suffer the embarrassment of reproach of getting thrown out of a local New Testament Church okay now this is not something that is very popular amongst churches because churches don't like to practice Church discipline because you know churches like to grow and so they'll do whatever it takes to grow the church even to the point where they compromise on this particular point and allow fornicators adulterers drunkards and all manner of sin that the Bible talks about should not remain in the church but they'll allow it you know in the name of being gracious and merciful or whatever but folks you know that's wrong the Bible tells us that an unrepentant fornicator is not allowed in church look at 1st Corinthians chapter 5 verse 9 says I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators yet not all together with the fornicators of this world or with the covetous or extortioners or with idolaters for then must he needs to go out of the world so it's not an extreme commandment right it's not just saying like you shouldn't just be around fornicators because the reality is this we live in a world that's filled with fornicators and you're gonna come into contact with fornicators at your job maybe you know people your neighbors just unsaved people or even backslitting Christians that are just fornicators that you can't necessarily do anything about maybe they work at your job you know you come into contact with them for whatever reason you can't really do anything about that but it goes on the same verse 11 but now I've written unto you not to keep company if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or drunkard or an extortioner with such a one no not to eat so what is this specifically saying it says that we should not have fellowship with because when it says no not to eat he's referring to the fact that we shouldn't fellowship with people who are openly involved in these particular sins and are not willing to get them right so yeah you know you have some Christian friend or whatever or some Christian co-worker should I say who's involved in fornication or they're drunkard you know you shouldn't be taking a lunch break with them because the Bible says that they call themselves a brother they consider themselves to be a Christian therefore you know fellowship must needs be broken between you two because that's what the Bible commands okay now if the Bible is saying that we shouldn't eat with these people do you think the exception would be if they're here in our church no it's like what the Bible says Terry not at the wine look not thou upon the wine when it is red if it's telling you not even to look at it you know the implication there is that you shouldn't drink it either it's like don't even look at it is like almost exaggerating the amount of distance that you should create between you and alcohol so if it's saying you shouldn't eat with the fornicator and I know there's other sins that it's talking about here but if it's saying don't eat with the fornicator it's basically saying we should have no fellowship with fornicators okay and eventually you know it goes on to say that we need to put away from ourselves that wicked person what does it mean to put away from yourselves that wicked person it means they need to be thrown out of the church be Church disciplined be excommunicated from the church be asked to leave the church if they're not willing to get that right and you know what this should this should essentially be a preventative warning for those who are tempted to fornicate okay and I've said it before and I'll say it again and sometimes I'm on an island by myself this is why I don't think it's good for young people who are dating to ride alone in the car together I know that's not popular I know people get they kind of flinch at that and they think I'm just kind of being too strict about it but you know what it's just being cautious and I guarantee you you know a couple who has fornicator committed the act of fornication it all started with them being alone and just kind of normalizing being alone just being comfortable with just being alone right together and you know I'm not saying you can't ride in a car together as long as there maybe there's a chaperone or someone another a third party someone they're present to make sure that you're accountable because here's the thing folks he that stand to take heed lest he fall so well I'm a godly Christian I'm King James only I hate fornication yeah you'll you hate fornication until the point that you actually commit fornication because you have a sinful corruptible flesh that's tempted and you put yourself in that position the Bible tells us make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof okay now people have this misconception that what I'm saying is that if you commit fornication you're gonna get thrown out of the church and that's not true you get thrown out of the church if you're just unwilling to repent of that fornication but let me say this you know the reproach of committing fornication is punishment enough to a certain extent I mean think about that committing fornication and even if you repent of it that's a major reproach and let me just get really awkward here okay you know committing fornication with someone in our church is very awkward because even if you get right you're both in the same church that's weird oh I gotta make it so weird well because we're talking about fornication here why don't we just stay away from it period it's weird and you know what I'm not saying you can't love the Lord I'm not saying you can't serve God I'm not saying you know you can't be restored and everything can go back to the way it was before but let's just be a hundred percent honest it's a little weird so why don't we avoid that little awkwardness and weirdest by just not fornicating at all now again if you've you know you're with someone you're in a relationship you commit fornication number one is the the ideal situation would be to get married you both are saved get married okay or you could just separate and just not date anymore sit somewhere else go to church in separate vehicles have someone else pick them up like oh why you gotta make it so awkward because I don't want you to commit fornication that's why is it really that bad yeah people this is this is a reality in the world in which we live and in the seven years that I've been pastoring this church it happens you know and sometimes I'm like it my preaching to the air because it seems to go in one ear not the other and people don't seem to believe how dangerous that is until it happens to you but the Bible tells us explicitly so either one you get married which is ideal I would encourage that and you don't have to have a fancy wedding you can just go to the recorder's office get your marriage license and we even throw a little little shindig here amen or you can separate or the third option is we can just simply throw your rear ends out because you're just not willing to stop fornicating like a bunch of little hot dogs they can't seem to control themselves or you can join some other church that is okay with you fornicating and then I'll just shame you from the pulpit for attending a church and I'll shame that pastor as well for allowing fornicators in that church and not doing anything about it which one would you like free will you you could choose any one any one of them fornication is wicked we know that adultery is wicked adultery in the Bible is punishable by death but let's just be honest fornication is far more prevalent than adultery in certain instances especially amongst young people okay and so this is a you know a subject that I have to cover over a couple of months just as preventative or sometimes just as a matter of you know it happens and so therefore it needs to be talked about but he says fornication covetousness idolatry railing being a drunkard by the way being a drunkard does not just include alcohol and includes marijuana includes any kind of drug mushrooms you add whatever drug you want into there okay that includes being a drunkard where you're completely inebriated you're hallucinating or whatever that's included you know you're sniffing glue well such a one no not to eat okay and you know the Bible says the Bible talks about the fact that you know God says it is good for a man not to touch a woman right and then he prescribes a solution he says let every man have his wife then because it's not like God's like instituting this rule because he's just so like strict and he's not willing to have fun he just doesn't want you to destroy your life and the reality is this let me just speak to the women briefly okay if he is willing to fornicate with you he doesn't respect you can I just be frank with you if he's willing to just commit fornication with you and not put a ring on that finger and not you know commit to you then he's just using you for your body even if he's a Bible believing Christian he has zero respect for you you said well that that's not nice because you know maybe we're in that situation I'm not talking to you I'm talking to people who have not yet done that act who are tempted to let me just remind you if you allow that to be you your boyfriend or whatever does not respect you and let me just be very frank with you you are like unto a whore unto him amen go to chapter 6 if you would chapter 6 hey we want to promote godly marriages here and you know in my opinion dating should be with the intent to marry not just dating so you can play around and fool around and fornicate around it's with the intent to marry okay and if that is your intent if that is your goal did you want to achieve be smart about it be wise about it understand that you are a man a red red-blooded man that has natural desires that God has given to you and you got to make sure you don't make provision for the flesh and you think well you know I got self-control you know and I don't feel that way around her or whatever then you're like a fag or something what dude likes to be around the woman that he loves and not want to be physical with her hello or am I preaching to fags or something it's fact if you're around the woman that you love emotionally you want to be with her physically and so the goal would be to restrain yourself learn how to possess your vessel and sanctification and honor for this is the will of God that you abstain from fornication the Bible says until you get married look at 1st Corinthians 6 verse 14 it says meets for the belly and belly for meats but God shall destroy both it and them now the body is not for fornication before the Lord and the Lord for the body and God has both raised up the Lord and will also raise up us by his own power know you not that your bodies are the members of Christ shall I then take the members of Christ and make them the members of in harlot God forbid what know you not that he which is joined to in harlot is one body for to say if he shall be one flesh but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit flea fornication every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body what know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you which you have of God and you're not your own and I can obviously go through the list of just you know terrible things that can happen to you if and when you commit fornication but you know I preach other sermons on that but let me just say this a lot of the consequences of committing fornication has a ripple effect that will affect you for years on end even if you don't get diseases or you know let's say you don't have bastard children and nothing really kind of comes from that and that in that sense you know there's there's like emotional damage that comes with that it's like mental damage that comes with that you have to live with for the rest of your life okay and so do it right have accountability and you like why don't agree then don't let the door hit you with the Lord split you because you're not welcoming in our church if you're just like an open fornicator that you just like to commit fornication and you think it's okay because you like to take the test drive before you actually buy the car you know and you don't think there's anything wrong with that then you know what there's the door see you later and don't come back why because you are a liability in our church and don't let this message just fall on deaf ears don't ignore what I'm saying don't just take this as oh man this is just a red fiery hot sermon yeah you know I'm sure throughout the years people thought the same thing about previous sermons that I preached and they still commit a fornication why don't you actually take serious what I'm saying here okay take it to heart you will be a liability you are a liability if that's you okay and so what are some of the ways that you can become a liability one just have unrepentant sin if you're a drunkard if you are a fornicator and you know a lot of these other sins that we see in 1st Corinthians 5 they happen but not as commonly as fornication and drunkenness I'll just be honest with you some people just struggle with these particular sins and it's because of the fact that our culture has made it just it's kind of normalized these sins and so young people just expose themselves to this and look obviously if you're in our church and your parents are not in our church it's probably harder for you to abstain from fornication it's true because you know when you are a young person and you don't really have you know parents to kind of guide you protect you have a curfew for you have standards for you you have to set those on your own you don't have anybody to tell you those things you know myself I got saved when I was 21 you know mama wasn't dragging me to church I had to drag my mom to church okay you know I didn't really have anybody that kind of held me accountable I had to set up guidelines and principles to protect me from these sins that I know would destroy my life and so if that's you you need to have the maturity sorry that your parents are not in church I'm sorry that you don't have some spiritual you know advisors at home and maybe they're worldly and maybe they might even encourage some of that type of behavior and sin but you know what sorry you got to grow up a little faster than the rest of them and you know what you need to set up some guidelines some principles and some standards in your life that will protect you from these sins that will destroy your life just understand this the Satan is as a lion walking about seeking whom he may devour and he wants to take you down he wants to destroy your life he wants you to make life-altering decisions that will affect you for the rest of your life in a negative way he wants you to be a liability in our church okay so be wise have wisdom and you know you're like well I don't know what guidelines well you know what there's enough people in here to kind of help you to know what those guidelines should be okay and don't be so prideful and arrogant that you don't get some help when I when I got there when I was 21 I was like there's a bunch of men around me I I liberally asked a lot of people what do I need to do I wasn't like well I'm spiritual and I write the Bible I go sowing in I'm a fundamental Baptist forget all that I was like you know what I need your help to know what it's what I should do in order to abstain from particular sins or not get myself into a situation that can destroy me later on and so don't be a liability in our church amen if you're dating date to date to marry or don't date at all and you know what if you're dating there should be a date to that to that to the conclusion of that you know season why not well we'll figure it out one day like when though cuz look a relationship has to grow it grows it's like it's like a triangle it's just like you know the closer you get to God the longer you're dating the closer you want to get to each other and I'm just telling you some people date just a little too long and then they open themselves up to temptation okay he said well I'm kind of like the exception to the rule yeah you're the exception to the rule but not everyone else is so beware and I don't enjoy throwing people out of the church I don't I know some young guys probably do I don't I'm not like finally you know I don't enjoy that you said what do you enjoy marrying people I enjoy when Christians repent I enjoy when Christians make wise decisions I enjoy young men keeping themselves pure and holy I enjoy women keeping themselves holy and pure before the Lord that's what I enjoy seeing that point number two you're in 1st Corinthians go to chapter 10 if you would I'm sorry not chapter 10 go to chapter 3 don't be a liability don't allow yourself to commit fornication and by the way stop get off that dating app to stop looking for just random just type in Christian girl Christian girl who loves Jesus I don't know how those things work because that's before my time back in my day you actually had to like you know like meet people face to face I know now they have like dating apps and stuff and from what I've heard a lot of these dating apps are simply fornication apps that's what I've heard you know and you know some of these other apps like Instagram end up becoming like fornication apps where people just meet on there and they're so bold to begin with that they end up you know it ends up escalating to something else and they end up committing fornication or adultery and it's wicked you know and I know I already preached to clean up the ox's crib but clean up your ass's crib clean that beast's crib up don't a lie you know if that's something that's a temptation to you delete that's that stinking app throw that thing away you know dedicate some time to just reading the Bible getting off of social media spending time soul-winning spending time talking to people and look you know just let me just say what irritates me in church sometimes can I just get this off my chest when you're in church and you're on like your social media app what a complete oxymoron there's like yeah let me come to church where there's people to get on social media to contact people who are not in church let me just get on my tik-tok and my Instagram while I'm in church amen we come here to fellowship and we were just looking at stories of the people who are in church or whatever looking at stories of other people who are in other churches who are in church fellowshipping with people face-to-face I'm not against social media because I'm gonna be watching your stories later on tonight I'll be in my bed you know just looking at your documentaries Jill's you know plum work plumbing work or feel like I've seen them I feel like I know how to do your job now looking at just cats and it is like I'm not against social media I think it's great I think it's wonderful I like it I like to I like you guys so much that I just want to see your lives even when we leave church I think it's great but you know what while we're here can you just like you know what's better than the my social media post is me I'm right here just talk to me that honestly that that drives me wild and sometimes I want to just like you know I see people on their phones I'm like get off of social media you're here to socialize not with media why did you even come to church if you're gonna be on your phone the entire time now if you're on your phone right here right now because you're looking through Bible verses whatever I'm not I don't care about that that's you that's cool but I'm saying after church you just kind of sit yourself in the corner somewhere and just going through like your followers list or something it's it's it's nonsense I'll get off that don't be a liability in our church by having unrepentant sin not only that you could be a liability by being a gossip the term gossip isn't necessarily found in the Bible the Bible more so uses the term tailbearer okay and things of that nature but you know essentially the result of gossip is division now this morning I was talking about division right and how Jesus Christ brings a sword in that divides but that's out there so the way God wants it is like he wants division out there but he wants no division in here he wants us to dwell together in unity not just in doctrine but just you know just to get along okay the Bible tells us your first Corinthians chapter 3 I'm gonna reach you from Leviticus 19 verse 16 it says thou shalt not go up and down as a tailbearer among thy people neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor I am the Lord first Corinthians 3 1 says and I brethren could not speak unto you as into spiritual but as into carnal even as into babes in Christ I fed you with milk and I was not with me for hitherto you were not able to bear it neither yet now are you able for year yet carnal for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions are you not carnal and walk as men the Bible says Proverbs 11 13 says a tailbearer reveal its secrets but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter Proverbs 20 verse 19 listen to this he that goeth about as a tailbearer reveal his secrets therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips go to Proverbs chapter 26 Proverbs 26 if you would Proverbs 26 if you're a gossiper in our church and I'm not saying this because I heard that you know someone's gossiping to me about your gossip or something but this is a temptation for people in church as the church begins to grow the little factions that start you know forming look little clicks are forming up and then you know maybe some person in our church doesn't really get along with another person in our church and let me be more specific some lady in our church doesn't get along with another lady in our church and you know there's these ladies who are in opposition one to another or whatever stop all that okay have unity stop being divisive stop being a gossiper and stop sharing gossip as a prayer request against their fellow brother sister in Christ or against your husband to amen you know being an open reproach to your husband by sharing a prayer request but really what it is just you wanting to vent about your husband or something like that that's wicked you're gossiping about your head your Lord like in Proverbs 26 verse 20 where no wood is that there the fire goeth out so where there is no tale bearer the strife ceaseth as coals are to burning coals and wood to fire so as a contentious man to kindle strife the words of a tale bearer as wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly burning lips and a wicked heart are like a pot-shirt covered with silver dross he that hateth dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him when he speaketh fair believe him not for there are seven abominations in his heart let me just say this is that you know going back to the whole spouse gossiping about their spouse you're actually shooting yourself in the foot let me explain to you why okay let me just explain to you a very practical reason why when you verbally outwardly complain about your husband you're basically saying I'm a bad husband I'm a bad wife that's what you're doing when you openly complain about your spouse and how unhappy or how bad the bad qualities of your spouse you're basically saying I'm a bad wife I'm a bad husband because here's the thing folks is that there is no perfect marriage we all make mistakes we all have things that we need to work on and we should as a marriage or as a couple strive to highlight and accentuate the strengths of our spouse not bring them down not criticize not correct in front of others our spouse and be just an open reproach like that and this is my point for later on but obviously I'm talking about gossip here you know I haven't heard about this at all but again this is preventative you know ladies when you get together you shouldn't be just criticizing your husband's criticizing you know their bad habits or something to leave their socks and their underwear out and they never put it away or you know just kind of just going through the long list because you have no one to talk to throughout the week or something like that keep that stuff to yourself don't be an open reproach to your spouse and just gossip and so strife and you know and by the way just as church members we should we should not have any gossip about church members right creating division and obviously the guys talk trash to each other all the time that's normal I don't consider that gossip because I'll say it to your face you'll say to other people's face the guys in our church operate more like brothers you know it's like big brother and little brother and they say very offensive things to each other and I'm here for it you know he's like they're just kind of like brethren and they at the end of the day they love each other they won't tell each other that but they do love each other man see testifying right there you know but I'm saying you know you're actually criticizing someone because you don't like them or for whatever reason you have some sort of strife with them and if you have a problem with someone in our church for a legitimate reason let's go through the proper channels okay and you're like you know not like this well I have this problem but it's okay I already forgave them after you just listed the whole entire problem that you have against that person okay it's not right it's not fair don't be a liability in our church and just be a gossiper sowing discord and strife and division in our church you know if that's you you probably need to find a new church because you should be in a church where you get along with the people well I like to preach and I just don't like the people you gotta like both sorry you gotta like both comes with the package okay well I like your preaching I just don't like you well sorry you gotta have both go to Exodus 16 actually no hold your place to go to Philippians chapter 2 actually Philippians chapter 2 I got to finish up here in a couple minutes talk about being a liability hey being a complainer next one being a murmur and a complainer makes you a liability stop being a complainer stop whining about everything some people you just can't please for nothing you could just have like the greatest environment you know the best of whatever and it's just still not good enough for certain people learn to have gratitude and stop being a murmur and a complainer you know God hates murmuring and we are natural murmurers that comes natural to us it's easy to point out all the bad stuff about our building that's easy it's a it's a freaking storefront it's not a church building this is not a church building this is a storefront we've turned it into a church really you don't have to remind me how ugly certain parts are I work here seven days a week I know I'm trying to make it better we're not gonna add purple lights and smoke either but you know there's certain people no matter how nice you make the building no matter how much you fix the floors no matter how much of the wall you get rid of you know they're just like a Debbie downer they're just like yeah but there's like a little part right there that you guys didn't fix what about everything else murmurs and complainers that are just really good at pointing out all of the little flaws well let's go ahead and take a microscope to your life and just look at every nook and cranny do you need a fix let's go to your house why don't we just show up unexpectedly at your house throughout the week and just do a surprise visit and see how you know let's see if you hold up to that same standard yeah you don't like that don't be a murmur and a complainer just be grateful do we have somewhere to meet be grateful that you know you're not in some godless state where the temperature is 120 degrees some hot as hell state we're just talking about that sorry brother Connor he would like that kind of weather but you know you know some some state out there there's just super hot or you know just you know forgive me Texas or something you know we got some Texas visitors thank God that we're here yeah but see there's like a little cover that's missing on that outlet right there it's just like it like yeah we got the floors we got the you know that the trimming yeah but I see that they miss trimming over there though this is there a reason for that you fix it then yeah we left it like that so you could fix it because we know you'd find it so you know what instead of complaining about why don't you just fix the problem just getting these things off my chest here well you know it is a virtue not to complain God despises complaining because it shows a lack of gratitude for what you have and you know what young people don't complain about your parents don't complain about whatever food your mom provides don't complain about you know your living situation be grateful for it be thankful for what your parents provide be thankful for the house do you live in be thankful for the vehicle that you drive be thankful for the clothes you have your possessions be thankful for those things because you know there's people out there that would love to have a building like this people out there just wish they had something like this it's probably people in Africa who are just meeting in a hut somewhere having mosquito burgers for lunch or whatever instead of Lachona oh we're having Lachone oh that's so gross why can't we do something better so I can't believe we're doing it yes we're doing Lachona is gonna be delicious you know what eat it oh man we're having alligator yes you know explore a little bit you know at least we're not having a possum or something or some random animal that they do in the south or whatever we're not having like roadkill or something you know sometimes things are just aren't good enough for people you know and it takes discipline to be intentional about being grateful for whatever happens okay it's like the muffins oh man oh this is the only muffins you guys brought bring pizza where's the cheese pizza though you know but it's just like there's always something to complain about there's always something to murmur about folks let us be those who just shut it if you have a complaint look we have a complaint box here by the way we do have a complaint box so you can always write out a complaint you go right out these doors it's really big it's it's like tall and it's the doors go like this and you drop she just got it yeah sure everyone look that's the complaint box right there right into the trash cuz I don't give a rip about your complaints and here's the thing okay when it comes to murmuring let me just teach you something about murmuring when you murmur against me or you murmur against the church you know how God actually views it he views it as though you're murmuring against him because the Bible says let me read it to you exit at 16 8 and Moses said this shall be when the Lord shall give you in the evening flesh to eat in the morning bread to the full for that the Lord here with your murmurings which he murmur against him and what are we your murmurings are not against us but against the Lord the Bible says now I get it you know I complain sometimes and you know it's it's a simple thing to do and I have to get right with God when I do it I complain to my wife you know I complain to the Lord and it's not right sometimes but you know we shouldn't be characterized though as being complainers what does the Bible say look at Philippians 2 14 do all things without murmurings and disputings that you may be blameless and harmless the sons of God without rebuke in a midst of a crooked and perverse nation among whom he shined his lights in the world the Bible says hey don't complain about the restaurant that your team leaders taking you to after soul winning I'm just inspired by the whole the Holy Ghost has come upon me right now hope don't complain about whatever we always come here can we go somewhere else especially if someone's paying for your meal just suck it now if it's like a if it's like a vegetarian spot you know I get it if it's an Indian food for sure complain murmur dispute contend earnestly amen we all complain okay but don't be characterized by being a complainer in a murmur okay and if you have that temptation to just murmur and complain about something that you see it's too cold it's too hot it's to this you know you're just like Goldilocks in our church this is what you do just shut up that's one of the best things Christians can do is just zip it remind yourself God doesn't want me to complain he doesn't want me to murmur and so I'll just complain thus within myself and then that'll teach you to be more grateful not complaining actually teaches you to be more grateful sometimes because it helps you to see you know the silver lining and everything okay I must hasten here well the sermon is too long you preach too long you don't preach long enough folks can't please everyone so just be happy and whatsoever state you're in there with to be content all right let's move on here go to number chapter 12 numbers 12 numbers 12 if you would numbers 12 talk about being a liability in our church okay number four being self-willed and rebellious yeah your liability okay if you're a person that just doesn't like authority your liability in our church like why like your authority pastor yeah but do you like your husband's authority though what about your boss it is like authority your liability because God wants us to love authority in all facets well I like your authority pastor but do you like your parents authority though be weird if you like my authority but you don't like your parents being self-willed rebellious you know that can hinder our church because our church is supposed to be characterized and and have the testimony that we are under authority authority of the Bible authority of the pastor authority of the Lord Jesus Christ authority of just civil government just being a law-abiding citizen but you know what just authority all across the board look at numbers 12 in verse 1 it says in Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married for he had married an Ethiopian woman and they said hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses hath he not spoken also by us and the Lord heard it that's a scary little piece of information right there because they're murmuring against Moses they don't like his authority they think that God can speak by them and this is Miriam mostly by the way and you know God's kind of like oh I'm hearing what you're saying look at verse 9 and the anger of the Lord was kindled against them and he departed and the cloud departed from off the tabernacle and behold Miriam became leprous white as snow and Aaron looked upon Miriam and behold she was leprous and Aaron said unto Moses alas my Lord I beseech thee lay not the sin upon us where we have done foolishly and wherein we have sinned let her not be as one dead of whom the flesh is half consumed when he cometh out of his mother's womb and Moses cried unto the Lord saying heal her now Oh God I beseech thee and the Lord said unto Moses listen to this if her father had but spit in her face should she not be ashamed seven days let her be shut out of the camp seven days and after that let her be received in again and Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again so Miriam basically hindered their wanderings for seven days because of a rebellion just just think about this like a million people and probably a little more more than a million people there's a whole nation just waiting on Miriam this is like work you were behind schedule yeah I know we're just waiting on Miriam just complaining about Moses you know authority and so God says she needs to be shut out because she's leprous I mean that's a hindrance she became what a liability to the children of Israel they couldn't move forward they couldn't proceed because of her rebelliousness and you know what your family will not proceed spiritually if you're a rebellious woman against her husband don't be an open reproach against your husband don't be an open reproach against your husband and let me just say this because you know it's important to mention this especially in the day and age in which we live you know a couple should respect each other okay I mean I can't believe I have to like say that in a Baptist Church but we should respect each other like I don't I can't really think of a time that I like just yelled at my wife because she's like my wife like I have a certain level respect for her that you know she's very dainty you know and so you know I'm not saying we've never argued or anything like that or I might have raised my voice over the last you know nine years or something like that but in general we have a lot of respect for each other and my wife would not dare even raise her voice at me and you know if she ever did I'll just be honest with you and she knows this already like I would consider that to be severe reproach upon me if my wife raised her voice at me yelled at me cussed at me reviled me and in front of my children from others or just by ourselves should never be done it's just an open reproach and it's an indication that you don't respect biblical authority yeah but he had it coming so what so what are we Christians here don't we render blessing for blessing not evil for evil you know are we like a drunk couple in the ghetto just fighting each other or something like that are you just like some derelict couple crackhead couple that you just you know in the hood somewhere and you just don't know how to deal with problems you just yell at each other and cuss each other out no you're not you're Christians well I can't believe you said that I grew up in the ghetto so I know what I'm talking about I've seen it and you know what I don't want my family to be characterized by that why cuz we're Christians and you know what my marriage I want my marriage to reflect Christ in the church and the last time I checked Christ doesn't cuss me out nor do I cuss Christ out obviously the church I mean that's that's the reflection there so grow up you know if you have beef with each other as a couple handle it like adults not like children I got pent up rage against my husband or against my wife or whatever then you know what grow up grow up what are you gonna do you gonna slap him or something what are you gonna do slap her folks we're grown we're adults we're Christian adults we should know how to resolve conflict in a Christian manner the Bible says he that hath no rule over his own spirits like a broken city without walls and so you know learn to respect each other I for I've sought to practice with my wife the utmost respect especially in front of my children and especially in front of others I'll joke with my wife but in general I want to show her the utmost respect because she's my wife this is my queen this is the woman that I I wanted to marry okay I'm not just gonna be an open reproach her and just like belittle her in front of others and in like manner it would be wrong wicked and sinful for her to belittle me in front of others as well yeah but you don't know him doesn't matter does it make it right that's a liability and you know I've seen churches where the pastor's wife belittles the pastor I mean this guy sucks can't be a part of this church how can I be a part of a church where the pastor's wife doesn't respect the pastor and just becomes like a boshtee right those who laughing I've read the Bible and know what I'm talking about other people like yeah yeah bosh who point that I'm making here is that you're you are a liability in our church if you just don't know the basics of just look folks and you don't even need Christianity to respect your spouse there's people out there in the world who don't have the Bible they're not saved and they respect their spouse because they know that's just the thing to do that's just human courtesy and you know it's bad when a husband doesn't do that to their wife but for some reason I don't know it's just even worse when a woman doesn't know how to do it to her man because the man is the head of the wife okay and and here's the thing folks is that we all have to grow we all have our areas we have to work on and I'm not trying to single people out and if you've done this before we're sinners we make mistakes whatever but you know from here on out we should live by that principle I need to respect my spouse and here's the thing here's a good motivator to respect your spouse even if they do you wrong here's a good motivator the Bible says that you're doing it as unto the Lord so before you just slander your husband or slander your wife and talk all kinds of trash to her face and say all manner of evil against them just remember this the Lord is right there as you're doing it as unto the Lord would you say that to the Lord Jesus Christ would you raise would you yell at your wife would you yell the Lord Jesus Christ the way you yell at your wife would you say all that manner of evil to your spouse to the Lord Jesus Christ as you're doing it to your spouse absolutely not don't be a liability in our church by rejecting biblical authority well I'm under the Bible of the Bible's authority or you're not not if you don't respect the home authority not if you don't respect your boss's authority not if you don't respect parental authority all facade all right let's move on here let me also say this is that we're talking about being a liability being a bad testimony outside of the church is a liability I'm not gonna spend too much time on this but let me just say this is that don't be a bozo online don't be just like a godless person online please can you stop posting stupid music online please godless just wicked music online okay why because you know you're being a bad testimony you're a Christian now look there are certain music there's music out there that's not Christian that I don't think is bad you know I have certain music that makes me think of my wife and and you know you know the oldies but goodies amen makes me just think upon my wife and rejoice with them up with the wife of my youth you know and it just you know I think I don't think songs like love songs are bad per se obviously there's a difference between just like love songs and they're like perversion and stuff like that but there's certain love songs out there that I think are legitimate for between you and your spouse and you may not agree with that but I believe that okay you know but you know there's certain songs out there that people be posting it's just wicked as hell it's just godless it's stupid and it's you're acting like a bozo online you need to find a different outlet man why are you so rough because I'm trying to teach you not to be a liability in the Christian life okay and you know what some of this stuff is just attention-seeking is what it is the church is here for you the church wants to be a blessing to you the church is here to help you through the hard times and the difficulties the church is here to restore you the church is here for you emotionally mentally spiritually physically we're here for as friends we are here you know to give you a hug as a man man with the man woman with a woman to give you a handshake and be here for you and pray for you we will be your best friend okay but there's only so much that we can do and don't abuse that and still return and be like a bozo online we live in a day and age where you can just put all your nonsense out online don't be a bozo don't be look and if you just want to willing I can't kick you out for being a bozo online but if you want to be just a complete bozo online posting stupid stuff at least go like private or just put a different profile picture and just change the name on there or or just remove first works from your bio or something so why because you're being a bad test because then people are like this person goes to first works this person's a Christian they go to first works yeah you know what if that's your prerogative and that's what you like to do I'm not gonna say more power to you because I think it's wrong but you know what you can choose to do whatever you want but please please please take church off your bio though our church specifically and don't put anybody else's church on there either the Bible talks about having a good report of them which are without and I understand that that's 1st Timothy chapter 3 the qualifications of a pastor but everyone would agree that those are just a bare basics of what a pastor has to fulfill to even be considered to be a pastor so this is applicable to all Christians to have a good report of them which are without okay go to 3rd John 11 3rd John 11 3rd John 11 and I'm almost done look if you're struggling with something just let us know just come and talk to us let's talk you know just get it off your chest let's chat let's fellowship you know what I'm a pretty real person you can be pretty real with me and not offend me you can tell me some of the deepest things that you're probably struggling with and I'm not gonna be like I will not freak out God you know he allowed me to go through some things they have given me thick skin and he probably did it for an intent to hear things like that and so if that's you you can tell me the craziest stuff and I probably won't freak out about it and so I'm here for you people are here for you we're a real church okay use the church as an outlet to get make yourself better not like these sinful things that people post online and and things of that nature look at 3rd John 11 says beloved follow not that which is evil but that which is good he that doeth good is of God but he that doeth evil has not seen God Demetrius hath a good report of all men and of the truth itself yea and we also bear record and you know that our record is true what does that mean Demetrius has a good testimony as a good report people know who he is they know his testimony is Demetrius perfect no did he have some struggles probably he's human like everyone else but in general he has a good report and you know what your struggle is no excuse for you to just live wickedly outside of these walls because there's people who struggle a lot in our church I know people in our church they struggle exceedingly they're going through a really hard time but these people are faithful to church they live a godly life they live a holy life they're joyous and they go through a very difficult time but you know what they're going through it the right way so don't bring that to me being a bad testimony outside of our church liability and then lastly having a stubborn attitude is a liability so what do you mean by that we are here to advise you to counsel you but not to advise you and to counsel you over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over again you know the same counsel over and over and over and over and over again you understand what I'm saying like if I counsel you or advise you and then you just ignore it and then three months down the road you come back with the same problem you're like what should I do and then I tell you the same exact solution and then three months later you don't do it and you come back with that same problem you're the problem you're stubborn now you're a liability because now what I see is me giving advice and then going in one year and out the other be someone who takes advice takes Godly counsel don't be the person fishing for the right for the council that you want to hear come to counsel for the things that you need to hear not what you want to hear the Bible tells us in Proverbs 12 verse 1 who so loveth instruction loveth knowledge but he that hateth reproof is brutish what is brutish stupid say if you hate reproof you're dumb you don't listen to reproof you're dumb you know we're all need to grow and we all have a lifelong of growing but here's the thing one thing that will help us to stay on the right track is just listening to Godly counsel not just mine just plenty of people here who have given Godly counsel wise counsel given good advice but listen to it listen to it you know we're not just like trying to expound and sound smart or show you know just kind of show them that we know what the Bible says or whatever we're actually trying to improve your life but you know if you don't listen to it and you're just keep continued to suffer with the same issue the same problem I'm not gonna change my answer it's the same answer and you're not the exception to that rule okay and so you know it's a hard sermon tonight but you know sometimes you got to hear things like this what I'm trying to tell you this evening is don't be a liability you know at best break even hey and I'm all for it you want to just break even I'm cool with you we're good I'm not mad break even sounds good because at least if you're breaking even we're not in the negative with you and you have you still have potential to be an asset the goal would be to be an asset in our church but if you're not ready for that just break even but please please please Oh pretty please with the cherry on top with the fake cherry on top that comes in that jar and all those juices I like them too don't be a liability let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and Lord as I mentioned we all start off as a liability just as babes in Christ but as the years go by as we read the Bible Lord we need to strive to either break even or become an asset and I pray that you'd help us as your people to do so I know the sermon was hard tonight but I pray it would fall upon obedient ears people who are willing to open their hearts to the truth and be willing to take that advice and that counsel and Lord we're here for people and we're here to help Lord and we don't want people to continue in unrepentant sin we want them to restore their walk with you restore their purity Lord and just live a life that's pleasing unto you I pray that you bless us this evening as we fellowship and as we go our separate ways bring us back here safely on Thursday in Jesus name we pray amen