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Thank you for your word, thank you for this opportunity we have to gather here to preach. Just pray that you be with Pastor now as he preaches, fill him with your spirit and please just give us ears to hear and do some praying. Amen. Amen. All right, we're in Luke chapter number four. Look down at your Bibles in verse 27, it says, And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisias the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving name in the Syrian. And all day in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust him out of the city and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way, and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath days. The title of the sermon this morning is The Hill to Die On. The Hill to Die On. Here in Luke chapter number four, we see in verse 18, The Spirit of the Lord, the Bible tells us, is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. Now who is he referring to here? Is he referring to those that are just in Israel? No, he's referring to everyone, right? And he's specifically saying, anybody who's brokenhearted, anybody who is in captivity of sin, anybody who is recovering, who needs deliverance from this captivity, I'm sent to preach the gospel unto them. And he's basically saying, I'm no respecter of people. You know, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. No matter what race you are, no matter what color you are, if you want to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, whosoever will, the Bible says, can come and drink of the water freely. So he reads this scripture, it says in verse number 20, And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down in the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. Skip down to verse number 23, or verse 22, excuse me, it says, And all bear him witness, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of the mouth, and they said, Is not this Joseph's son? And he said unto them, You were surely saying to me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself, whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country. So what is he saying? Hey, we heard about all your miracles and all your exploits that you did in Capernaum, but why don't you take some of those miracles and some of those things that you're doing and actually do them in your own country. Seems like as though, you know, you don't really have love for your own country, you know. He says in verse number 24, And he said verily, I say unto you, no prophet is accepted in his own country, Verse 25, But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisias, the prophet, and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. So what is he saying? Look, in those days when the prophet came, he came unto Israel, he went to God's people, but none of them really, God didn't really send them to those specific individuals. In fact, he ended up sending to the widow, the leper who were outside of Israel. Now, this in turn made them really mad, because what he's saying is this, I'm here in Israel, but you're not going to accept me, therefore I'm going to go out and reach other people. You know, the Israelites were going to reject Jesus Christ, and in fact the Bible tells us, he came into his own, and his own received him not. Well this caused so much wrath, because they obviously knew he was referring to them, okay. That they were not the widows, they were not the lepers, you know, he's basically going to save other people who are willing to trust him, okay. And this made them so mad, what did they do? They actually threatened to kill him right then and there. Not only threatened him, they took him, they brought him to the hill, and they wanted to cast him down from that hill headlong. They just wanted to toss him off the hill and just kill him, okay. Because he was preaching against those in Israel. So this sermon was so fiery, that people just wanted to kill him right then and there, right. They were so enraged by what he had said. But we see that he conveys himself away and basically escapes out of their hand. And somehow he was just able to finagle his way through the crowd, and really circumvent the angry mob. So everyone's just taking them, and they're about to get to, and who knows that unlikely person they thought, you know, was Jesus, I don't know if they threw someone off the cliff, they're like, yeah, we got him. It's just like, that wasn't him. He just kind of finagled his way through and he avoided it, okay. So in other words, this wasn't the hill that he wanted to die on. Now, was he preaching the truth? Absolutely. Everything that he preached that he believed 100%, yes. But you know what, he wasn't willing to allow it to cost him his life because that wasn't the hill that he should die on, okay. Turn with me if you would to Matthew chapter 12, Matthew chapter number 12. And look, he chose, he could have chosen to be delivered into their hands. He could have chosen to die at that moment, but he did not want to. He had the power to give up his life right then and there. And in fact, the Bible tells us in John chapter 10 verse 17, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I laid down my life that I may take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father. Hey, God, Jesus Christ, gave his own life for us willingly. You know, those who crucified him, yes, they were responsible, but he allowed himself to be crucified. He allowed himself to be killed and he could have allowed himself to die right here, Luke chapter number 4, but this wasn't the hill that he wanted to die on. It wasn't a worthy cause to die for. Hey, folks, replacement theology is not a worthy cause to die for. You know, trying to prove that the Jews are not God's chosen people, you know, hey, I believe it, but that's not a hill to die on, right? John chapter 10 verse 37 says, If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works that ye may know and believe that the Father is in me and I in him. Therefore they sought again to take him, but he escaped out of their hand and went again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized and there he abode. Again, the leaders wanted to take him, they wanted to kill him, and he just kind of conveyed himself away. He escaped out of their hand. That wasn't the hill that he wanted to die on. Look at Matthew chapter 12 in verse number 11. It says, And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you that shall have one sheep, and if it fall into the pit on the sabbath day, will he not lay hold on it and lift it out? How much then is a man better than a sheep? Amen? That's a good verse for the vegans to get a hold of. Hey, this is Jesus speaking. I didn't even notice that this was here when I put this in my notes. Holy Spirit is like, why don't you go ahead and add verse number 11 and 12 on that. Alright, you know. Hey, let's read that again. Verse 12. How much then is a man better than a sheep? He's better than them. Wherefore is it lawful to do well in the sabbath days? Then saith he to the man, Stretch forth thine hand, and he stretched it forth. Oh, you're taking it out of context. He's not saying that we shouldn't love these animals and hold them to the same level as human beings. Yes, he is. He's saying it's better. We are better. Verse 14. Then the Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence, and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all. Now, let me ask you. This is obvious. Was Jesus Christ being a coward? No. Was he afraid of them? No. Was he not filled with boldness? Absolutely not. He had the Holy Spirit of God within him. He had the Spirit without measure. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was filled with boldness. He was filled with courage. It wasn't that he was afraid. It's just that's not where he wants to die. That's not the hill that he wants to choose to die on. Therefore, he withdrew himself. Go to John chapter 19. John chapter 19. The title of the sermon is What Hill to Die On. What Hill to Die On. You know, today in 2020, you have Christians who fight battles, but sometimes it's a misguided battle. Sometimes it's a battle that is just not worth fighting for. It doesn't produce anything. It doesn't have any eternal rewards. It's not the hill that we should die on. We need to pick and choose our battles, but more than that, we need to make sure that the battles we're fighting are worth fighting for. And I'm not saying, you know, there's not battles out there that we shouldn't fight and chime in on, you know, but at the end of the day, we've got to recognize, what does God think that is most important? What does God say that's most important? Souls, right? Look at John chapter 19 verse 17. He bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Golgotha, where they crucified him and two other with him on either side, one, and Jesus in the midst. This is the hill that he chose to die on. Calvary. He didn't die in Luke chapter number four. He didn't die in his previous encounters with the Pharisees. He didn't die when they tried to threaten him and they tried to take him. No, he chose not to die on those hills, but this is the hill that was worthy to die on right here. Mount Calvary, Golgotha. Why? Because he came to seek and to save that which is lost. He didn't come to die for people to be physically healed. Folks, he didn't come to die, he didn't want to die on the hill of feeding the poor, or digging wells in Africa, or Black Lives Matter. That's not the hill that he chose to die on. And it makes me sick when Christians try to have these social justice wars and they try to slap Jesus' name on it as if that was the hill that he wanted to die on. He didn't die on the hill of patriotism either, folks. Oh man, we gotta save America. And people want to die on that hill. Christians, preachers want to die on the hill of patriotism, nationalism. They want to live their entire lives, their entire ministry is based on just saving America. What do you mean by saving America? Like the land? Like you don't want immigrants to come over here? What does that mean? You have Sam Gibb who tweeted that weird tweet that said, God is your father, America, not the earth, is your mother. Your mother nurtured and cherished you, now the liberals are trying to destroy your mother. What in the world? Hashtag senile. That guy's lost his mind. Jerusalem, which is above, is the mother of us all, the Bible says. Not America. What in the world? But you know what? That is the exact attitude of a lot of independent fundamental Baptists, not just the individuals within the churches, but the pastors themselves. Well, they want to spend their entire life dying on a hill of patriotism. It's not a just cause, folks. USA is Babylon, it's going to be destroyed. I'm not going to fight for a nation that advocates for sodomy, abortion, and all manner of evil and wickedness. We can't help those who hate the Lord. We can't love those that hate God. Wrath shall be upon us if we do such a thing. It's not a hill to die on. Jesus died on Calvary, outside of the city. Why? To save sinners. 1 Timothy 1.15 says this is a faithful saying, worthy of all expectation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to feed the poor? To fight for the nation of Israel? Was he a nationalist? No, in fact, they thought he was anti-Israel, right? Did he come to do those things? No. To save sinners of who I am, chief, the apostle Paul said. John 10 and 11 says, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Go to Hebrew chapter 12, if you would. Romans 5.6 says, for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Hey, you know what? What we need today is Christians to redirect their attention and pick the appropriate hill to die on. They've been dying on a bad hill, folks. You know, we die daily, we take up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow him, but we gotta make sure that when we die, it's the right hill to die on. And I guarantee you, there's a lot of sincere pastors out there who have gone home to be with the Lord, and they get there and they say, that was the wrong hill. I didn't fight the right battle. I spent my entire life fighting against communism. And look, communism is wicked, amen? But that's not the hill we're gonna die on. You know, they spend their entire lives protesting abortion, and by the way, abortion is wicked. But that's not a hill that we're gonna die on. We're not gonna spend our Sunday afternoons protesting outside of an abortion clinic. You say, how do we protest? Right here. I protest Sunday morning, Sunday night, Thursday evening. I stand against the wickedness of this world, and it's more effective doing it here than it is doing it out there. Why? Because people drive by and they're like, this person's a nut. What is this person doing? Holding a sign, standing out there. You think anyone is gonna listen to you? You know, doing it in the name of Christ, it does not work, folks. It's not the appropriate hill to die on. Look at Hebrews 12, verse 2 says, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Notice that throughout Jesus' ministry, he always talked about bearing the cross, right? Before anyone even knew that's how he was gonna die. But he always talked about taking up your cross, taking up your cross. Why? Because that was his focus. He looked towards the cross. He knew that that was his purpose in life, was to die, to resurrect in order to save the world. Okay? For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest he be wearied and faint in your minds. Even Jesus recognized the importance of not only living with a purpose, but dying for one as well. The right purpose. Okay? A worthy purpose. And look, within every single church, there should be a spirit of fighting, shouldn't there? We shouldn't be passive, we shouldn't be these like, you know, watered down, limp-wristy churches where we don't want to get involved in any social conflict or controversy. Hey, this is the church, the pillar and ground of truth. And it should be that in the church you should find the answers to life's, you know, social injustices, so to speak. We need to know what God says about these things, right? But the Bible tells us that we ought to fight the good fight of faith. Not just any fight, the fight of faith. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain, the Bible says. Now, let me give you some hills that we should not die on. Okay? Let me give you some hills that we shouldn't die on. Number one, the hill of political battles. The hill of political battles. We need to make sure we fight and vote for President Trump to come back into office. It's the only hope for America. You need to go with Sam Gibb and Mama America and take that somewhere else. That is not the right hill to die on. And by the way, people were like, you know, they tweeted back on that. You know, they commented on that stupid tweet that Sam Gibb put out. And they're like, I live in Europe and I'm saved. Does that mean America is like my mom too? Or like, how does that work for me? You know? What about save people who are in different parts of the world? Is America still our mom? Is America your daddy? This is a foolish hill to die on. Okay? Oh, I'm going to vote though. You know, I've got to make sure. Folks, it's already been predetermined who's going to be the President of the United States. Your vote does not count. Oh, oh ye fools and slow of heart to believe. Who think that casting a vote is going to help, you know, President Trump get elected. He was elected before all this. Any president is elected before all this. And you show me in the Bible where the Bible teaches us that we ought to be patriots, nationalists. Show me in the Bible where the Bible says thou shalt vote for the right president. Vote Republican. Oh, hold on a minute. What side are you on? Are you on the left wing or the right wing? I'm on a different bird. People don't think. When they talk about left wing, right wing, do you understand that's the same bird? That's a pigeon. I'm on an eagle. I'm on an eagle's wings. I'm on a completely different bird. Because that's not my focus. And literally, Christians want to live their lives, you know, waving the Babylonian flag. Churches want to have the Babylonian flag on their church, you know. And then you have the Talmud flag on the right. This is not the battle that we are supposed to fight, folks. Who's going to be president? What regulations our state is going to impose upon us? Well, look. If there's a regulation that the state's going to impose upon us and it's trying to cause us to sin against God, then we ought to obey God rather than man. Obviously. Obviously, that's a given, right? But look. Being a nationalist, being a politician, or being, you know, an American and a patriot does not help the cause of Christ at all. You know what it actually does, being an American, let me just be quite frank with you. It actually makes you more racist. Because if you're not America, you're not right. God can care less. Look, folks. We are seeking for a better country. Did you know there's a better country than America? How dare you say that? What's the country that my God abides in? That's what the Bible says. We seek for a better country. Right? John chapter 6. Go to John chapter 6, if you will. Now look. I like the moves that Trump is making. Any Christian does right now. Because it's in our favor. Right? I like the stuff that he does. I like the moves that he's making. I like the fact that he's standing up for churches. Obviously. You know? Let me just give you a reality check when it comes to that. Okay? Because if we're in the end of days. Like if the end times are coming soon. Okay? Then I understand something. Liberalism. Listen closely. Liberalism keeps Christians keen. You understand what I mean by that? Keeps them aware. Keeps them vigilant. When you have a liberal president. You have liberal people running the country. It makes Christians on edge. They're actually like better Christians because of it sometimes. You understand? But when you put a Republican in the office. Who fights for the rights that we desire. We kind of put our guard down a little bit. We're like oh okay now we can relax. This guy's for us. Everything's going to be okay. Anti-Christ is no longer going to come. Trump's going to stop the new world order from happening. I mean seriously. That's the attitude that people have sometimes. And when you put your guard down. That's when Satan strikes. He's not trying to get at us through liberalism. He's going to use your own medicine against you. He doesn't want you to be on edge or vigilant. He wants you to have put your guard down. And the only way to get Christians to put their guard down. Is make them think that their leader is for them. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it for a little bit. Think about that. Okay. Oh you should just go back to your country. Well this is where I was born. I know I got brown skin. I know I'm an Hispanic. I was actually born here. Why don't you go somewhere else? Why? No. Go back to your country. I live here. This is where I was born. And I love the sinners that are in this country. And I want to see them saved. Okay. Let's look at what Jesus said. John 6 12 says, When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Wait a minute. Do I have the right verse on here? I'm sorry. Go to John 18. Look at John 18 verse 36. Jesus answered, My kingdom is the United States of America. My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. But now is my kingdom not from hence. What is he saying? This isn't my home. Now he is going to take over one day. He's going to rule with a rod of iron. But right now, not the case. Acts 1 6 says, And when they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, would thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? Are you going to just take over and just destroy Caesar and just rule and reign like you said you were? And he said unto him, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father had put in his own power. He is saying, Now is not the time. Look, folks, I'm not saying politics is bad and you should have paid attention to politics, but now is not the time to pay attention to politics. He said, When is the time? The millennial reign. When there is only good, righteous politicians in power, which are all believers. Now is not the time. We need to have Christ's perspective and Christ's behavior. When he was on this world, he was under the rule of the Roman Empire. He didn't seek to usurp the authority. I guarantee you, he wasn't voting. You think he was just like, I'm Roman, and you know, we need to make sure that we don't allow immigrants into, you know, we got to make sure we make everyone Roman and make sure that, no, that wasn't, he didn't care about those things. That wasn't a hill that he was dying on. Here's a hill that people die on, maintaining our constitutional rights. Guarantees people in this church that get mad at me when I say stuff like that. How dare you. This is my constitution right here. This right here is my constitutional rights. The piece of paper called the Constitution doesn't give me my right. For where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, the Bible says. And guess what? The Holy Spirit resides within me, therefore I'm at liberty. Ye shall know the truth, and the truth, not the Constitution, shall set you free. That's not a good hill to die on. Well, I want to make sure that we maintain our constitutional rights. Who do you, so the government's the one who gives you those rights then. Is that what you're saying? No, for us as Christians, we've already been made free. Yeah, but what if they enforce vaccines? I've got a resurrected body waiting for me. If they pin me down and inject me with all kinds of nonsense and filthiness, I'm just going to take it laughing. Because I know, you know, I'm taking names and I'm going to take it happy. Okay? Taking names. And I'm going to remember this. What I'm saying is this, is that hey, you know what? For those who are fighting for their constitutional rights, let me just say this, that's a losing battle. If you're a Christian, I'm saying, there's people who are not Christian and they fight for those things, this is the war they seek to fight and they think they're going to win, but they're not. This is a spiritual battle. Okay? And this right here is a losing battle. Because there's something called the New World Order. And it's going to happen. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, it's going to happen, it's written in the book, folks. That's why we need to serve the Lord, we need to win people to Christ, we need to take up our cross and follow Him, we need to know what the word of God says so that we're not afraid of sudden destruction when it comes. Okay? The hill of maintaining our constitutional rights, the hill of patriotism. And look, 4th of July, I'm celebrating the liberty I have in Christ. Chunk of meat in one hand, turkey leg on the other. I mean, I'm going to celebrate. What's that? We're protesting. We're protesting, yeah. Absolutely. Down with veganism, you know? Hebrews 11, 13 says, these all died in faith not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. Go back to your country. Okay, well, the day that I die, I will. Because my country is heaven. And in fact, the fathers of the faith, those who are in the hall of faith, they specifically said, we're strangers and pilgrims here. This is not our home. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country and truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to return. But now they desire a better country that is in heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God for He has prepared for them a city, the Bible says. Go to John chapter 4. That's a hill that we shouldn't die on as political battles, okay? And I know, maybe some of you were all about being a libertarian and being a republican and all these things, and then you got saved and maybe that stuff is still lingering around in your system. It's time to just get in the Bible, become eternally minded, folks. Don't place your faith in Egypt because Egypt is gonna fail you. The hills that we shouldn't die on. Number two is that we should not die on number two is the hill of social issues, okay? Let me give you an example. You know, a lot of people tell me, why don't you guys focus on feeding the poor? You know, do a canned food drive. We have a church down here that does that. As if that, like, makes a difference. How can you say such a thing? Because, do you notice that when you eat food? Let me just shed some light here. Did you know that when you eat food, you actually get hungry again? How many know what I'm talking about? Okay? So, giving someone a meal does not solve a problem. Because what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world or a meal and lose his own soul? Look at John 4.15. Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again. Hey, whosoever eateth of the meal that we give them shall hunger again. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into the everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not. Neither come hither to draw. What is he referring to? Eternal life. And the reason I make this statement is because I'm telling you, there's Christians out there that make this the hill that they want to die on. We need to make sure we feed the poor. That's the hole in our gospel. Jesus went about feeding people all the time. How can you say such a thing? Well, go to John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Jesus fed the poor. Yeah, but he also like made food out of nothing, too. You know, he just made, can you do that? No. And the Great Commission, correct me if I'm mistaken, has nothing to do with food. Right? Has nothing to do with digging wells and feeding the poor does not exist. Now look, I'm not saying don't feed people. You know, people come to our church, they take them out to eat, they give them a meal, be a blessing to them. Amen. But that's not the hill that we're gonna die on. Okay. Look at John 6, 25. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Verse 26, Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me. Not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth into everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father sealed. He's like, you guys are just coming to me because you just got food. And let me say this, if you look at the church down the street, I forgot what it's called, Faith Tabernacle something. Anyone know what I'm talking about? It's down the street. You'll see a line, I mean all the way around the corner of people that are getting clothes and they're getting food and that's what they're there for. Okay. But I guarantee you, you go to any single one of them, I'm about 99.9% sure that if you were to ask them what must I do to be saved, they'd be like, I don't know. Be a good person. Go to church. What are you here for? For the food. They're there for the food, they're there for the physical sustenance. You know, I'm not against feeding people, but here's the thing, that's not the hill that we're gonna die on, folks. You know what the hill is that we're gonna die on? Soul winning. Preaching the gospel. Okay. All right, here is a very sensitive issue today. Hey, social injustice organizations such as Black Lives Matter, we're not gonna die on that. And don't call me racist either. People who try to say, oh you're racist because you're against Black Lives Matter, hold on a second, hold on a second. George Floyd, who passed away on May 25th, they're rioting, they're protesting for him, what about all the other black people that have died because of the looting? Why don't their names come up? If that's what it's all about. Black people have died, folks, in the rioting and looting. Innocent black people have died. You trying to tell me that that's what it's all about? And you have these liberal pastors that get on social media and hashtag Black Lives Matter, you don't care about people. You don't care about black people. If you cared about black people, go witness to the black people. You know, the Bible says, the Bible teaches that all lives matter, amen? For God so loved the black people, know the world, that he gave his only begotten son. And if you cut any black person, any Hispanic, any white person, we all have the same color blood. Did you know that? They all have a soul. This is not a hill to die on. You know, you have these pastors, oh, the social injustice. And look, I'm against what the police officer did. I preached a sermon on Thursday called The Police and Light of the Bible. I know police brutality exists. That's a fact. And it's funny, there's police brutality here in Omani where they're beating up two Mexican guys, and that really didn't make the news now, did it? Hmm. Interesting. It's an agenda, folks. Well, we need to stand up for the social injustice. We need to stand up against Satan. We need to win these people to Christ. You sound like you don't love black people. My grandma's black. And I love my grandma. My brother is black. And I love my brother. And you know what, more than that, I got black people in my church that I love. How can you say such a thing? Well, why don't you ask the black people in my church? They come and hear me preach all the time. Ask them if I'm racist against black people. Ask the black people that we want to the Lord in Compton if we're racist against them. Ask the black people in Watts on Grape Street if we're racist against them. No, in fact, we brought them the gospel. We got them saved. Because that's the hill that we're gonna die on, folks. You know, the hill of police brutality. That's not a hill I'm gonna die on. I'll preach against it. Because these are issues that we should chime in on, amen? To redirect the people's attention, to help people understand, hey, this is the way you're supposed to think when it regards to this issue. Because you have Christians who stand up for police and police can do no wrong. You know, you have black lives matter and then it's like, no, blue lives matter. It's like, both lives matter. You understand? It's like, do you not understand that there's police officers out there that are really corrupt? Have you ever heard of the Rampart scandal? Who's old enough to remember the Rampart scandal? Why don't you go do some research on that and tell me, do those men's lives matter? Those corrupt police officers. And there are corrupt police officers out there, folks. But that's not a hill that we're gonna die on. See, it's easier to be a Christian because you just preach against everything. You don't have to choose one thing. You just preach against it all, right? You preach against all wickedness. It doesn't matter what color you are. Hey, how about this? How about animal brutality? There's Christians who wanna die on that hill. I'm not dying on that hill unless there is swine on top of that hill and that he's the last thing to eat. You know? Then I'll die on that hill. But you know, I'm not dying on the hill of protecting animals. I'm not gonna worship the creature more than the creator. But there's people who literally will die on that hill. They think that animals are important. And I agree with them. They are important for our consumption. And I say that jokingly, but it's actually true, too, though. You know, they're like, oh, how could you say that? Would you eat a dog? Well, you know, don't be so close-minded. And that is racist, yeah. Folks, in Southeast Asia, that's like a common meal that they eat out there is dog. You racist vegan. Everybody says, how can you eat dogs? Don't say that. Go to Southeast Asia and see what they think about that statement. There's parts of China, folks. You know, Dalian China, where my sister-in-law's from, she's Chinese, okay. They eat all manner of creatures over there. Rats, yeah. I mean, dogs, I mean, anything. If it walks, it can be eaten. If it walks on four legs, oh, so you're for cannibalism. Folks, animals are not human. This is why they have to use that stupid phrase, they're sentient beings. Does it sound stupid to say that they're humans? So they have to say they're sentient beings. Sentient meaning they have feelings. I know they have feelings. No one's arguing that they don't have feelings. I was in Guatemala, and in honor of our presence, my aunt killed a fat hog so we can eat. Fat hogs so we can eat. And you and I learn as a 10-year-old boy, man, it sucks to be a pig. That's so inhumane. There is no humane way to kill an animal. It's impossible to kill an animal in a humane way. Do you understand that? How can you say, look, read the Old Testament, how they killed the animals back then. I mean, to call us inhumane is to call God inhumane as well. And let the news flash that God was the first person to kill an animal. Yeah, but for sin, well, actually it was actually to cover Adam and Eve, yeah. Let's just kill this animal and make cover, skin coverings and cover them up because we don't want them to be cold. We want to protect them from the elements of this world, so let's just kill this animal and use its skin for the benefit of a human being. Not a hill that I want to die on. And look, fighting against veganism is not a hill I want to die on either. It's just a hill that I look at every once in a while and I make comments and, you know, I go up halfway. Not a hill that I want to die on, but hey, the Bible does teach that the teaching of veganism is a doctrine of devils. 1 Timothy chapter 4, okay, look it up. There are issues that we should definitely chime in on, but not die for. And look, for example, human sex trafficking is a big issue. And we should definitely chime in on that, preach against the wickedness of that, but it's not a hill that we're going to die on. We're not going to start funding, you know, In-N-Out or whatever because they, you know, also fund human sex trafficking or the trying to stop human sex trafficking, you understand? Hey, vaccines. We're coming up with a documentary against vaccines. Vaccines in light of the Bible, but you know what? I'm not going to die on that hill. You know why? Because the vaccines are already in my body. I have like 10 vaccines in my body. I'm suffering the repercussions of vaccines today, and I'm sure a lot of you are as well. And we're going to expose the wickedness of it. We're going to use that as a tool to get people saved, but that's not a hill that we're going to die on, okay? We shouldn't die on those hills. How about the Hill of Hairsplitting? You say, what do you mean by that? Secondary doctrines. You know, if someone comes in here in their pre-trip, don't stone them with stones. If someone comes in here, they believe that the Jews are God's chosen people, don't stone them with stones. Let them sit in for a while, let them get some preaching in, and I guarantee you they'll be won over. Because don't you believe those are truths? Those are truths that are just irrefutable? Then don't worry about it. Don't we have faith in the truth? So we don't have to try to manipulate someone into taking those positions. The longer they sit and hear the preaching, they're going to get it, they're going to hear it, they're going to believe it, okay? A lot of things I can say about, for example, specific standards, you know? That's not a hill to die on. There's churches that want to die on the hill of standards. The kind of music that the church uses, the kind of dress standard. And look, we're Independent Fundamental Baptist Church, we have conservative music, we believe that the women should wear dresses and look like women, the men should look like men, not like a bunch of queer little sissies. There needs to be a distinction between the two, absolutely. But you know what? That's not a hill that we're going to die on because that's not the hill that God tells us to die on. We preach the right doctrine, we preach what the truth says, and people change. You understand? What hills should we die on? Well, the hill of salvation. Making sure that we maintain doctrinal purity, that is a hill that we should die on. And there's churches that literally emphasize standards more than they emphasize the doctrine of salvation. Making sure you have the right music, the right dress, but you know, if you're off on salvation, eh, what in the world? This is the souls we're talking about here. The Bible says in Jude 3, Jude 3, Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. The Bible says we need to fight to have the right doctrine of salvation. Not take it flippantly, not just kind of breeze over it, not take it lightly, we need to fight to have the right type of salvation. Maintaining the family unit, that's a hill I want to die on. Protecting my spouse and my children from the filth and the wickedness of this world, from this transgenderism crap that's out there. Yeah, that's a hill I'm going to die on. Protecting my son, my sons and my daughter from the filth of this world that's trying to transform their mind and pervert them. To try to make them think, oh, it's okay to desire to be a girl if you're a little boy and vice versa, nonsense, that's a hill I'll die on. Because God gave me these children, I'm to protect them, that's a hill that I will gladly die on. I'll fight that for the rest of my life. Fighting against this wicked, sodomy, culture-driven world that we live in. Biblical roles and gender clarity, we got to fight for that. The education of our children, we need to fight for that. And the hill of doctrine, primary doctrine, the King James Bible. These are hills that we should die on, amen? And clarify, if you don't know what you're talking about, when it comes to the King James Bible, don't talk. Understanding neither what they say, nor wherever they affirm. That is a hill that we should die on, which is the King James Bible. That's the word of God. Soul winning, maintaining ecclesiastical separation inside and out, that is a hill that I will die on. Making sure that we maintain purity in the church by casting out fornicators, extortioners, idolaters, et cetera, that is a hill that we should die on because Christ died for the church. That's important to him. What I'm saying this morning is simply this, is that, yeah, we need to pick and choose our battles, but you better make sure that the battle you're fighting is a Biblical one, and it produces the right type of rewards. Because there's people who, you know, you've heard the statement that people climb the ladder, once they reach that ladder, they recognize I was on the wrong ladder. The ladder of success, right? They climb the ladder of success only to realize at the very top that I was on the wrong ladder. We don't want Christians to do that all the time. They fight certain battles, they climb certain hills, and when they reach the top of that hill, they recognize this is actually the wrong hill to be on. They give their lives to these things. And they may make a difference in this world temporarily, but look, folks, we're here to make a difference eternally. We want to make an eternal difference. It's not going to happen if we die on these hills right here. Amen? Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word. Thank you for giving clarity on what battles we should be fighting. I pray, God, that you'd help us to continue to do so and recognize that there are worthy hills to die on, such as the doctrine of salvation, serving you, the church, our families, our spouses, our children. Lord, help us to do so and to stay away from things that are going to distract us and move us away from our true purpose in life. And I pray, God, that you'd help us to continue to do so and to discern that. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.