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the sermon on cryptozoology in light of the Bible and man that was good that was just a fun sermon you know it wasn't like a doctrinal as far as like fighting or anything like that it was just like just learning the meat of the word and just kind of having fun with the Bible there so I was exciting and but I've learned a lot from him a real thankful for his friendship and so and I'm privileged to be here and so I'm thankful for that look at Revelation chapter 2 you know when I when I was thinking about what to preach here I was thinking myself what do you feed a church that's well-fed you know what do you give a church that's well-fed and and I don't say that in a flattering way because I think you would obviously agree that you are well-fed so flattery is when you lie and I'm not lying here and so you know I was thinking about what to what to preach on today and I think I found the sermon here look at Revelation chapter 2 verse 18 it says unto the angel of the church at Thyatira write these things saith the Son of God who hath his eyes like into a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass I know thy works and charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works and the last to be more than the first and the title of the sermon this morning is the last to be more than the first now here in Revelation chapter 2 and 3 we see Jesus Christ is addressing the seven churches which are in Asia now right off the bat we have to obviously understand that these are literal churches okay these are literal churches with literal congregation literal members you know these are actual local New Testament churches you say well that's obvious why you have to emphasize that well because there's a stupid doctrine out there called the church age doctrine that is taught by the dispensational crowd and what they'll teach is that the churches that are found in Revelation chapter 2 & 3 are actually church ages which I don't know how you get that from just reading just the regular churches that are there in Revelation 2 & 3 but according to the dispensational crowd they'll tell you well no these aren't literal local churches these actually represent a time period which I don't know if you noticed but dispensationalists are just obsessed with time periods and like you know dispensations of these time periods or whatever and they'll tell you that you know the church of Ephesus represents a time period and and what it is is that they'll say that the characteristics of each church represents the characteristics and the attributes of that time period of the local churches in that time period now that's a dumb doctrine you say why is that well simply for the fact that the Bible tells us that there will be glory in the church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages not only that the Bible talks about the church in the wilderness in Acts chapter 7 and over and over again we see the concept of local churches not church time periods and look most of these people who believe this conveniently enough they'll say that we're in the Laodicean Church era right and if you read about the Laodicean Church era they're lukewarm they're not neither hot nor cold and why do they say that well because they're lazy that's why because they're lazy they're lukewarm they don't want to do any work they're slothful therefore they need to pick some churches within Revelation 2 & 3 that they can relate to but you know what we're not Laodicean Baptist Church in LA what you guys aren't laid to see about this church here in West Virginia you know every church has a responsibility to be diligent to to work hard and to patter themselves after the churches in the New Testament that were successful but we understand that they're not this isn't a time period that we're in okay and by the way we don't believe in the universal church right that's kind of where this leads to believing in the universal church that we're just as soon as you're saved you're all a part of the the the overall universal church but there's a lot of problems with that one of the problems is that if this is the universal church then it's impossible to put away from among yourselves that wicked person you see the Bible teaches us that excommunicating a member out of from church because of certain sins found in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 is biblical you know if someone's involved in fornication drunkenness if they're railing on someone if they're being extortioners these are valid points to basically excommunicate someone out of the church but if we have a universal church how is that carried out if we kick someone out of the church but they're still part of the universal church that's impossible to carry out not only that how do you forsake the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is if this is a universal church why would that commandment be in there if we're all part of some universal church unless you live in the Twilight Zone you know how do we know how to behave ourselves in the house of God if this is a universal church why would that commandment be there to say hey the daughters know how to behave thyself in the house of God well I mean there's the whole world the house of God now go with you to what to Ephesians chapter 5 this is all introduction because I hate dispensationalism there's like a documentary out there about that I think someone recently put out and I despise it because it's such a perversion they pervert the scriptures they pervert the right doctrine they teach weird stuff okay and one of those weird stuff that they teach is this concept of the universal church or that you know there are different church ages and so on and so forth but look at Ephesians 5 verse 22 wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the Savior of the body so here the Bible is telling us that Christ is the head of the church no sir there you go the church it's the church you hear that phrase you know we got to take we got to what's going on in the church talking about this universal church but is that really what the scriptures teaching because it says that the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church he's using the illustration of a husband you know being over his wife as Christ is the head of this church right because here ask yourself this is your husband the head of every wife no he's the head of one wife which is his wife just as Christ is the head of one church each individual churches local churches but go back to Revelation chapter 2 there's a lot of evidence to prove that obviously this is a stupid doctrine it's a false doctrine this should not be adhered to it should be exposed and shown for what it really is but I think one of the strongest evidence that we can find in the Bible that this concept is fake is the fact that within Revelation 2 and 3 we have seven churches highlighted right but one of those churches is called the Church of Ephesus well guess what we have the church at Ephesus in the New Testament we have an entire book dedicated to the church at Ephesus and look what the Bible says Revelation 2 verse 1 unto the angel of the church at Ephesus right these things saying he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks I know thy works and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and has tried them which say they're apostles and are not and has found them liars and has borne has and has patience and for my namesake has labored and has not fainted nevertheless I have someone against thee because thou has left thy first love remember therefore once thou are fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come into thee quickly and will remove thy candlestick out of his place except thou repent so we see here that the negative aspect of the church at Ephesus was what they had left their first love and it wasn't talking about like their wife okay it's talking about the fact that they had stopped soul winning because it later on in verse number five we see that he tells them do the first works well what are the first works preaching the gospel seeing people saved that is the first works and this church had a lot of good things about it but one of the negative things is they stopped soul winning now keep in mind that the doctrine of you know church ages teaches that each individual church found in Revelation 2 and 3 characterizes all the churches of that so-called era now go to 1st Thessalonians chapter 1 so according to their theology or lack thereof they basically believe that the church at Ephesus that age is characterized by preachers who don't preach the gospel churches that are not going out soul winning they left their first love they're not doing the first works right that's what it's characterized by we see that the negative aspect of this certain period so-called period is that they're not soul winning they're not preaching the gospel but the problem with that is is that we also have the church in Thessalonica which is also in the New Testament which is around the same time as the church at Ephesus and in fact look at verse number six of chapter one it says he became followers of us and of the Lord having received the word in much affliction with joy of the Holy Ghost so that you were in samples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia for from you sounding out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia but also in every place your faith that Godward is spread abroad so that we need not to speak anything you know one thing we know about the church at Thessalonica they were fervent soul winners they were out preaching the gospel in fact their example was spreading abroad to all the other churches people were hearing about their zeal about preaching the gospel and their soul winning efforts oh hold on a second well hey guys what are you guys doing don't you know who this is the Ephesian the the church at Ephesus church here what do you guys do you guys are supposed to be leaving your first works no here here's the thing here's the truth the truth is these are individual churches and not church eras not time periods as the dispensational select to say this are these are individual churches that have their individual wills they can basically be on fire for God if they want to they could be lukewarm if they want to be lukewarm but at the end of the day they're individual local churches the church at Thessalonica was a fiery hot soul winning Baptist Church amen that's what it was it wasn't like the Ephesians and so this this concept falls apart very quickly just like every other dispensational teaching does so we see here that this is not what this is teaching but rather these are literal churches that existed at one point and when you study these churches in Revelation 2 & 3 you come to find out that a lot of them had a lot of strengths and they also have a lot of weaknesses you know and they're there for a reason to basically so we could look at that and pattern their strengths and try to stay away from their weaknesses right now go back to Revelation chapter 2 but one common thing you'll see in the book of Revelation 2 chapters 2 & 3 you know they all have their strengths and weaknesses but one thing that God always constantly just brings up over and over and over again no matter how bad or how good the church is he says this I know that works he starts off every time hey I know that works and then he goes off on all their good qualities I know that it works and then he highlights their bad qualities but every single one of them he says hey I know thy works you know that goes to show me that works are important to God and it's it's important to God that a church a local church labors that it works that it occupies till he comes that they understand that they are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works that's important to God you see I'm thankful to be saved I'm thankful that I have eternal life I'm thankful that my sins are forgiven but you know I'm also thankful for that I get to have that I get to work for God then I get to earn rewards that I get to earn rewards for the other side of eternity that I can earn things that I can enjoy for the rest of eternity and God's given me a job to do I can do that job and earn rewards based upon that and know for a fact that my labor is not in vain why because he says there I know thy works you see if you ever do a good work if you're serving the Lord and no one thanks you no one pats you on the back no one you know praises you for whatever may be maybe no one sees you you know what God always sees you and in fact be reminded that when you do something great for God and no one sees you may this ring in your ears I know thy works I know what you're doing I know your labor I know the souls that you're winning I know the good testimony that you are God always knows this is a good important concept right here look at verse 18 now out of all those examples of these churches where he says I know thy works there's one church that stands out where he repeats it twice look what it says in verse 18 unto the angel of the church of Thyatira write these things saith the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet are like brass I know thy works and charity and service and faith and thy patience oh and in thy works I mean he says it twice and he says this this is a profound statement and the last to be more than the first he says I know thy works then he highlights all the qualities and then he finishes off with saying oh by the way I know your works that the last are more than the first that is a great testimony of a church that when they started they did great works but you know what at the latter end they were doing greater works towards the end of their church look what it says in verse 20 notwithstanding I have a few things against thee because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel which callest herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed into idols and they gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not behold I will cast her into a bed and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds and I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works by the way verse 23 also debunks that foolish doctrine of church ages because it says and all the churches shall know that I am he which searches the reins and hearts you know that's telling that when God judges this church all the local churches in the area are gonna see oh whoa we need to stay away from what they're doing okay verse 24 but unto you I say and unto the rest in Thyatira as many as have not this doctrine and which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak I will put upon you none other burden but that which you have already hold fast till I come and he that overcometh and keepeth my works into the end to him will I give power over the nations and he shall rule them with the rod of iron as the vessels of a potter shall shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my father now before we get into the strengths of Thyatira let's talk about the weaknesses because God highlights some pretty bad weaknesses that they have in fact the weaknesses of the Thyatira Baptist Church is threefold you can basically categorize them with three F's you know you take a test you don't do well and you get an F well this church got three F's what are the three F's female preachers fornication and false doctrine not a good report card female preachers right off the bat bad you know fornication right off the bat bad false doctrine that's the straw that breaks the camel's back now look at verse 20 notwithstanding I have few things against it because thou suffers that woman Jezebel which calls herself a prophetess to teach it says so apparently this church was allowing Joyce Myers to come and preach for them you know they're allowing these Pentecostal prophetess type false teaching females to stand behind their pulpit and teach the Word of God you know what they're teaching is good I don't care if they're teaching if they're what they're teaching is biblical it's not biblical for them to be behind the pulpit teach the Word of God period exclamation mark period period period the Bible tells us in 1st Timothy 2 11 let the woman learn in silence with all subjection but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence for Adam was first formed then Eve now see when you hear preaching like this a lot of the times people on the outside who don't read their Bibles they're not in 1st Timothy 2 they're not in 1st Corinthians they hear something like this oh you're just a male chauvinist pig or whatever well first of all pigs are females hog would be a more correct way of saying that okay secondly you know take it up with God and when we priestess we're not saying that women are less than men okay they hold the same amount of importance in a sense of we're both human beings saved so on and so forth but there's an order to things and according to God this is out of order Pentecostal churches need to read this verse and tell me well how do you interpret that you know they're so busy flapping their tongue and dreaming up all kinds of visions and dreams that they're not actually reading the Bible and look Pentecostal churches under tourists for things like this I remember one time and I went to Bible College don't hold it against me I'm sorry about that I went to Bible College and I remember when I was in Bible College we went after a church service we went to an in and out and I was with some of the guys this is in my younger years and you know we're all in our suits and so a group of ladies walked in a little older ladies and they're like oh hey you guys look like you go to church you guys go to church like yeah we go to you know we told the church that we went to we gave them the invite and they're like oh we're Pentecostals we go to Pentecostal Church and it's just like red flag I don't even want to talk about this I'm trying to eat go home you know and okay well you know and then they start telling some of the things that they do yeah you know I preach this and do this and you know I speak in tongues I said well yeah I'm gonna be honest I don't believe in tongues speaking in tongues so by the way the Bible doesn't say speaking in tongues talks about speaking with tongues right I speak with tongues I can speak Spanish all right but I tell I don't believe in speaking in tongues and she says why not I said cuz it's not it's not biblical and you know she kind she got upset as it look I don't want to talk about so I order my food I go sit down and she she's just not done yet so she comes up to me she's like I'm very offended at what you said you know about the whole tongues thing I said well you know take it up with the Bible because that's what the Bible says you know the Bible says the woman ought to keep silence in the church and that did not go over well with her and she looked at me and she's you know how dare you and all these things I'm like it's what the Bible says and she she kept just harping on this tongue thing I said you even speak in tongues is this heavenly jibber-jabber that you're talking about I said do it right now you can you do it she said yeah good I said do it right now and she did her holla shalabah on a six-pack dollar or whatever I bought a Nissan I should've bought a Honda and I said repeat what you just said right now again and she just looked at me like like a deer con you know in the headlights I was like you can't cuz it's fake that's why you know your little jibber-jabber may look convincing at first but when we asked you to repeat the same exact thing that you said because it's jibber-jabber you don't remember what you said you know it's it's a foolish doctrine it's a foolish teaching that completely negates the Bible and desires to put women preachers behind the pulpit you know it's the sin of Thyatira allowing female preachers to come behind the pulpit you know well you know they got the female preachers because it's not a man well go look for a man you know there's been out there I'm tired of hearing people saying well you know there's no men to do this that's why there's so many ladies you know doing all well go find one why don't you go train a man there's men out there that love the Lord they want to be trained but you know what most of the time it's because the pastors are too scared to preach some hard fiery sermons you know they want to preach their soft smooth sermons to appeal to the ladies rather than to the men we need hard preaching and female preachers are not for that okay but the second sin that we see there is fornication the Bible says in verse 20 notwithstanding have few things against it because I'll suffers that woman Jezebel which calls herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication this is a grievous sin in church that is being overlooked today a lot of churches just tolerate fornication they just allow it and look I've talked to people who have been involved in for at my old church who were involved in fornication for years and they're still allowed to come to church and when you confront the leadership about it you know what they say well we're discipling them like how long is this discipleship program last for how long does it take to take them to 1st Corinthians chapter 5 and just show them what the Bible says about fornication or have you not gotten there yet what it is is that they don't want to offend anybody because they're afraid to lose people you know but this is a grievous sin that needs to be talked about and in fact 1st Corinthians 5 9 says I wrote it to you in an epistle not to company with fornicators yet not all together with the fornicators of this world over the covetous or extortioners or the idolaters for them as he needs go out of the world 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 a drunkard or an extortioner was such in one no not to eat the Bible says Bible says we can't even have a meal with this person you know if they're involved in fornication and they're called a brother I don't know how churches can just completely disregard what it says there you know why it doesn't fornication doesn't really mean fornication what does it mean then why don't you give me your interpretation what it means without using Schofield reference Bible the third sin that we see is that false doctrine was tolerated okay let me read to you from Galatians 5 7 it says he did run well who did hinder you that you should not obey the truth this persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you a little leavened leaveneth the whole lump and I'm thankful that you know this generation is is starting many churches that are really just going back to the book they're going back to the Bible and they're emphasizing the importance of doctrine they're not undermining it they're emphasizing the importance of biblical doctrine and they understand hey false doctrine is bad we're not gonna tolerate it well you know they just believe a little different but if it's a little different regards to salvation that's a big deal we're not talking about things that are obscure in the Bible things that are not essential okay we're talking about things that are important like salvation you know when the pastor has the Calvinist on this side the lordship salvation on this side the one saved always saved on this side and you know the ecumenical crowd on that side there's a problem with that we need to make sure that we're emphasizing doctrine so what is the result of all this nonsense look at Revelation 2 21 and I gave her space to repent of her fornication and she repented not behold I will cast her into a bed and then that commit adultery with her into great tribulation except they repent of their deeds and I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he which search at the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works so what is the what is the outcome will God judges that church and specifically he judges the people who are committing these things within this church because in Thyatira you have people who weren't involved in this stuff they were actually living righteously they were doing right there were there were they were adhering to the biblical doctrines of the Bible but there are people who are actually tolerating this nonsense and God was gonna judge them but it also goes to show these judging them to be an example to everyone else so that other local churches can look at that and say that's not something that I want to exemplify in my personal church that's not something I want to exemplify in my congregation or in my personal life so we see the weaknesses of Thyatira and that that's not something we want to be a part of right but you know what Thyatira had some good things about it and I think we could look at the good qualities of these churches and say okay that's that's something we need to pattern our lives after look at verse 19 I know thy works in charity and service and faith and thy patience and thy works in the last to be more than the first so like I mentioned in the beginning the good quality of Thyatira is that there were they had a good work ethic they had a great work ethic they were able to serve and to work and in fact the works that they did at the beginning didn't even compare to the works that they did at the end that is a great testimony to have and that's something that each and every Christian each and every church should aspire to to attain is that when we first start off as a Christian we pace ourselves we work we try our best to live a life that's pleasing unto the Lord we win souls to Christ but it should be is that as the years pass on we get better as the years pass on we will get more people to Christ as the years pass on we become better soul winners we become better preachers we become better church members that's how it ought to be you know experience trial and error should help us to become wiser and therefore more efficient for the work of the Lord look when someone gets saved they're what the Bible would call a babe in Christ what is a baby in Christ it's a baby Christian in other words they don't know a whole lot they know about salvation they know they need to come to church and they know they need to read the Bible but that's about it and they know they need to get sin out of their life but that's about it but here's the thing is as the years pass on we can't remain babes in Christ and this is really what this message is about to say hey it's time to grow up it's time to grow up as Christians if you've been a babe if you're a babe in Christ hey thank God for that but you know what it's time to grow up you know I got a two-year-old boy and I love the fact he's two years old he's my son but you know what you know he acts like a two-year-old and that's great I'm fine with that but once he gets five fifteen twenty he better not be acting like a two-year-old anymore because then at that point we understand there's something wrong with that kid you know it's the same thing as Christians we need to understand that as the years go by you better be growing in your Bible knowledge you better be growing as a church member you better be growing in your wisdom that God has given to you or do you have access to so you could be more efficient for the work of the Lord so it could be said of you that the last is more than the first the Bible tells us go to look at Revelation 3 I'm a retreat from Proverbs 19 verse 20 here counts and receive instruction that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end you know the problem with a lot of Christians is is that they don't consider their latter end what does that mean they don't they think about tomorrow they think about what's for lunch and by the way I'm wondering what's for lunch too soon I'm in that same camping man by the way what is for lunch now I'm just kidding I'm kidding you know they think about they can't think past lunch but the Bible tells us that we need to consider our latter end consider the fact that our life is going to end one day consider the fact that the decisions we make today will affect our children tomorrow consider the fact that the decisions we make today have ramifications massive ramifications in the future you see if we think about that it'll help us to make the right decisions today not just live for today not just make you know decent decisions today but make decisions today with the latter end in mind I make decisions today keeping the second generation in mind you know the problem with the old IFB was is that they completely disregarded the second generation you know they were great soul winners they taught us a lot of good things but they were not family oriented they did not consider their children therefore the second generation rose up and got into false doctrine the second generation rose up they weren't even saved the second generation rose up and they were just worldly Christians why is that because that generation did not consider the latter end we don't want to be that way we want to make sure that we take care of the now here and now but we also want to make sure that we consider the latter end as well that the last is more than the first that you don't end up worse at the end of your life you actually end up better you know you don't end up being a worse Christian you actually end up being better accomplishing more now we don't want like an artificial increase we don't want to look like wanting to make it look like we're doing more but never not really doing more that was the problem with the church of Sardis look at Revelation 3 and verse 1 unto the angel of the church and Sardis write these things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and seven stars I know thy works that thou hast a name that thou livest and are dead ouch he's like I know your works you think you're alive but you're actually dead dead as last year's Christmas tree I got a Christmas tree for the first time this year my first Christmas tree I've ever gotten that thing died midway through December we called it a vintage tree after that it was like not green anymore at all and I remember telling my wife like we failed at this we have a tree that as though it's alive but it's actually dead but you know a lot of Christians that's how they live right there you know why because they have increased their works but it's all vanity they increase their ministries in their church but they're not really doing much they have these elegant sermons but they're not really saying much I mean have you ever heard a sermon where a lot was said but not a whole lot was really said it's just a bunch of fluff and cream and whipped cream at the top and just cotton candy tons of sugar no substance just because you have more doesn't mean it's actually better just because you have more doesn't mean you're actually living the Bible says there that you could be dead look at verse 2 be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die for I have not found that works perfect before God you see any Christian or church if they find themselves in a situation with their where they think that they're living but they're actually dead what they need to do is take a step back and strengthen the things which remain make good quality the things that you already know how to do it's good to basically master a few little things and try to be a master of many things you ever heard the phrase the jack-of-all-trades master of none that's not the kind of Christian we want to be well we're just a jack of all trades were able to do all kinds of things but at the end of the day we haven't really got much accomplished I mean have you ever had a day where you just checked off an entire task list or you feel like you just did a whole lot but at the end it's like what did I do I have no idea what I just did and you don't really feel like you accomplished a whole lot that's a lot of Christians where at the end of their lives like yeah we did a whole lot we had this discipleship program so we're all the disciples that you know oh we had this you know this 10,000 flyer track drop so who got saved look and I used to do track drops so I know what I'm talking about when I I personally gave out 15,000 tracks you say you know your labor is not in vain no no that labor was in vain down the toilet in vain and I remember the time when we did that we did it for like Easter we gave out 15,000 invites and the pastor of this church plant that I helped start he's you know we're gonna have all these people 15,000 and the way it works it's the law of numbers you get one person for every hundred invites and I'm like man I don't know about this there's a lot of work we're putting into this and it was a lot of I mean even just putting tracks on the doors 15,000 that's a lot and you know so I was like alright well I'm just gonna do it cuz he this is what he wants me to do we're gonna we're gonna do this in faith right well Easter time came around and guess guess who was there nobody I'm sorry I take it back crickets were there you know just like cricket cricket now one person showed up I take that back one person showed up but it wasn't because of the invites they found us on the internet oh yeah I was just looking for a church and I found this on the internet you know what we did a whole lot but we didn't really do a whole lot in fact all that labor was in vain we would have got more and done if we just went out there and actually preached the gospel to a thousand people if we preach the gospel to a hundred people more would have been done we need to make sure that we're strengthening the things that remain go to Deuteronomy 32 hold your place there in Revelation chapter 2 but this sermon is basically to help us to basically understand that we need to make sure that we're considering our ladder and then we're thinking about the end of our lives our lives have an end in this world you know we're not gonna live forever as far as our physical bodies here on this earth well we obviously understand we have eternal life but as far as our life here we're not gonna live here forever we need to make sure that we take inventory of what we're doing and make sure that what we're doing is of importance it's of quality it's things that will profit us in the latter end but not just us we need to make sure that we don't have this hezekiah mentality where peace and prosperity is good in our days but forget about the next generation let them fend for themselves that's not a good attitude to have we need to consider the latter end not just for ours not just for us but also for the children also for the next generation okay look at Deuteronomy 32 verse 27 says were it not that I fear the wrath of the enemy lest their adversaries should behave themselves strangely unless they should say our hand is high and the Lord has not done all this for they are not for they are a nation void of counsel neither is there any understanding in them all that they were wise that they understood this that they would consider their ladder and God is pleading with people hey consider your ladder in think about this don't let it just be like water off a duck's back think about your ladder in you see we have a lot of examples of people in the Bible who started off good but finished bad prime example Saul King Saul started off great little on his own side first king of Israel everything's just going good what happened became stubborn rebellious prideful disobedient committed suicide that's not a good end that's a poor end and in fact for thousands of years he's been used as a byword and a proverb to teach what not to do hey let me ask you this would you rather be a byword and a proverb to say hey that's the example we want to be or would you rather be someone like Saul to say hey see what that guy did don't do as he did don't end your life like he ended his life Saul had a lot of potential he had a lot of potential to do great works for God but what happened he finished poorly he didn't consider his ladder and you think of Aaron Aaron started off great doing helping his brother Moses out doing these these miracles plaguing Egypt I mean I'd love to be a part of that that's great but what happened at the end strip ever strip Aaron of his garments and give it into Aliezer because of his compromise okay you think of Solomon the wisest man that ever lived gave us the book of Proverbs Ecclesiastes this man had wisdom yet he finished not well you know many women took his heart away from the Lord he did not finish well he had wisdom I mean the guy wrote Proverbs 2 5 6 & 7 about the strange woman yeah he didn't even take that into consideration himself the guy didn't even listen to his own advice and what happened he ended poorly his end was not as good as his beginning you think of Asa the king of Judah who one of the great characters in the Bible took the sodomites out of the land amen I mean that's a cool thing to have to be able to be remembered for that's the guy who took the sodomites out of the land that's good but what happened at the end of his life was disease in his feet had like some athletes foot that was really bad or something and and what happened he saw the physicians and not the Lord the Bible says that's a poor way to end that goes to show me that he did get away from the Lord in his ladder end because he wasn't seeking the Lord in his ladder end you know I want to make sure that when I'm old when I'm when I'm up there in age that I'm seeking the Lord even more that I'm seeking him today you know people often tell me from my own church oh you've changed oh you've checked yeah you better believe I changed I'm glad you saw that I changed why because I want to be more zealous today than it was when I first got saved I want to be crazier for the Lord today than it was last year why because I'm learning more I'm hearing more hard preaching I'm learning more doctrine I'm learn I'm becoming more efficient in Sony therefore I ought to be more zealous for the things of God we ought to become better not worse but there are examples in the Bible of people who started off well and end off great you think of King David who started off great had some bumps in the road you know he committed sin but he got it right and he finished well you think of Daniel you know we obviously understand that we're all sinners but some people in the Bible like Joseph and Daniel God chose not to highlight specific sins he started off great ended off great you think of Joseph started off great ended off great you think of the Apostle Paul started off great and guess what ended off great as well he finished his course with joy he was able to accomplish the race that was set before him these are the examples that we need to look to to say that's how I want to end up I want to end up better at the end of my life than when I started now let me give you some points here about finishing well go to 1st Samuel chapter 15 I've mentioned this already but it's important to emphasize the number one just remember this one we talked about the last being more than the first understand that quality is always better than quantity quality is always better than quantity the quality of our soul winning is far better than how many people we can get saved because there's a lot of people out there that want to bring up these massive amount of numbers but when you go so many with them you realize whoa this gospel presentation is a little off you know I met people like that or they you know you think of these heretics Tyler Doka Dookie and unjust LeBlanc his evangelist his evangelist said that he saw 18 people saved in one hour that's not even possible what in the world does he know math can someone help him out he literally so he they tell this story how they you know they all come to church and you know they give their reports of how many people they got saved and one guy was like I saw one person say and the other person I saw two and what about you Justin he comes up how do I embarrass anybody but huh kind of feel bad saying this but I got 18 like what you liar you little liar I mean well I mean literally you just people were just got saved as soon as you talk it was like this is not even a one-two-three pray after me it's like a one pray after me or just a pray after me to get 18 obviously we understand that he can't get anybody say because he's a false teacher is a false prophet and he can't bear grapes he can only bear thorns and briars but this is what I'm talking about talk about quality over quantity you know better for you to come and say I got one say but you know for a fact that that person got sick okay first Samuel 15 verse 20 says in Saul said unto Samuel yay I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me I brought a gag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites now is he telling the truth here no he's talking about the quantity of his obedience isn't he but the people took of the spoiled sheep and oxen chief of the kings which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God and Gilgal and Samuel said hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams you see the quality of your obedience is far more important than how many sacrifices you can make you can sacrifice a thousand rams if you want but if you're not obeying the Lord it's all in vain we want to make sure that if we want to finish well and we want our ladder in to be successful more than the first we got to place an emphasis on quality not quantity now here's the thing if you have the quantity or excuse me if you have the quality you will have the quantity if you have the right gospel presentation you will see a lot of people saved verse 23 for rebellion is as a sin of witchcraft and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry because that was rejected the word of the Lord he hath also rejected thee from being King hey we want to make sure that the preaching is still of quality amen and thank God they hear a mountain Baptist Church it doesn't look like the quality is going down anytime soon looks like it's gonna be increasing more and more each year and we want to make sure that as preachers our preaching is still quality and it increases in quality every single year you know the amount of people we see saved the Bible tells us that some will bear a hundred sixty fold thirty fold but guess what the quality is that it falls upon good ground why why are they able to bear that much fruit because it's good ground you know the a lot of people out there they have quantity of ministries don't they they have and I'm not against like some of these ministries but it's to the point where you just want to look busy but you're not really doing anything okay you know you think about nurseries right you guys have nurseries here I'm just kidding you know Sunday school these are the things that makes you look busy as a church but you're not really doing anything at all okay oh you know they're getting more Bible in Sunday school are they really getting more Bible in Sunday school are they learning some foolish song that's gonna give them an appetite for worldly music later on or for worldly Christian music later on okay you know you could have a quantity of members hey if it's all about quantity then Joel Steen is like the godliest guy on the face of the planet this guy has an entire stadium filled with people there that's all that's a large quantity yeah but they're not none of them are saved that stadiums gonna split hell wide open you know that stadium most of those people if not all those people are gonna go straight to hell in a hand basket oh but the quantity yeah but the quality there's no salvations in there the gospel is not right in there there's no doctrine in that place so quantity is not necessary the most important aspect quality is and then when you have the quality you will have the quantity okay but you can't mix those up so as Christians if we want to make sure we have more at the latter end than at the first we got to emphasize quality quality Bible reading quality soul winning you know when you read your Bible instead of making a goal to read 30 chapters a day and then you just don't even know what you read why don't you try five chapters a day would you actually remember what you read well I mean I just I got to catch up on my binary so I got to read 50 chapters you know by the end of the week yeah that's probably not the best idea the reason why it's because if you read 50 chapters or if you try to strive to read 50 chapters you've never read at least 10 chapters you're gonna pretty you're gonna be pretty discouraged by the end of the week and it's just like throw them the towel I can't do it once you have a good quality time in the Bible where you understand what you're reading and then you can work your way up to 10 chapters you can work your way up to 15 to 20 so on and so forth the quality is always important over the quantity but again even with Bible if you have good quality eventually you'll get the quantity of chapters in the Bible go to Luke chapter 14 so we're talking about having more at the latter end of our life at the latter end of our life than at the first the first point I said is quality over quantity number two we need to count the costs count the costs look at Luke chapter 14 verse 27 and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he hath sufficient to finish it less happily after he hath laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold to begin to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what King going to make war against another King sitteth not down first and consulteth whether he be able to with 10,000 to meet him that cometh against him with 20,000 or else while the other is yet a great way off he sent it an amassage and desireth conditions of peace so likewise whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath he cannot be my disciple and I want you to notice verse 28 where it says for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost whether he has sufficient to finish it what does it mean to count the cost now this doesn't mean like you know we got to count the cost of serving Christ and if you can't do it you don't do it at all what it means is you count the cost you recognize maybe I don't have the sufficiency of godliness maybe my commitment is not as strong maybe I don't have a whole lot of character but this is basically an inventory to show me this is what I need to get so if you don't have the character to read your Bible every single day if you don't have the care to go to church when you need to go to church or whatever responsibility you have then get it count the costs so you know what am I lacking and then get it you see sermons are here to teach you what you don't have and say okay I'm lacking that in my Christian life time to add that time to work on that aspect time to get that sin out of my life time to add that discipline and that aspect of quality in my personal life I need to count the costs don't just go through the Christian life on on autopilot you know just going through the motions got to come to church because I got to come to church you know read a proverb a day just kind of flippantly go through the Christian life that's how it and not not to be that way we make sure we count the cost take inventory of our disciplines take inventory of our work because that's how we can have a successful end you see no one has the successful end of the year just wishing that they will be successful at the end of the year like oh I got so many goals I'm gonna lose 15 pounds so do you have a plan how are you gonna lose 15 pounds or just you think it's just you're gonna pray it down well I gotta go at the end of the year that I'm gonna do XY and Z so what's the plan what is the strategy what is the plan have you counted the costs to see if you're able to finish it you see everyone finishes the race but not everyone finishes well we're all gonna finish the race because we're all saved a man we're all gonna get we all have eternal life you know we're gonna get to heaven but at the end of the day we want to make sure that we finish well not finish less than what we started with go to James chapter 1 and the time flew by is that the right time that is the right time right okay I only got like 10 more pages so I think you should be good you're not that hungry are you I'm just kidding my third point is be doers of the word and not hearers only be doers of the word not hearers only it's good to listen to preaching amen it's good to listen to biblical King James only hard preaching but you know what's even better is doing it that's even better it's good to start off listening to hard preaching preaching that'll that'll teach you some things but it's even better when you actually do what's being taught look what the Bible says in verse 21 wherefore lay apart all filthiness of superfluity of knottiness and receive with meekness the engrafted word which is able to save your souls but be doers of the word and not hearers only deceiving your own selves now why is this person deceiving themselves well this kind of reminds me of like the Calvinist because the Calvinist believes that as soon as they get saved they're like not tempted to sin anymore you know they don't got to repent of any sin because they're just they're just good to go they're just batteries included you know batteries included you know no need to recharge the batteries everything is just perfect right off the bat you're deceiving yourself because verse 21 says wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness and receive will make this the engrafted word see it's we have to clean up our lives afterwards why because within every Christian is filthiness superfluity of naughtiness their sin that we got to clean up and when we receive the word we say man that's true you know fornication is bad lying is not good extortion is bad but if you walk away you don't change those things you're deceiving yourself look what it goes on to say in verse 23 for if any be a hero the word and not a doer he is likened to a man beholding his natural face in a glass for he beholded themself and go with his way and straightway forget it with manner of man he was but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continue with therein he being not unforgettable here but of doer the work this man shall be blessed in his deed we need to make sure that we're doing the work now when it talks about the perfect law of liberty the glass is referring to the Bible what good is it if you hear a sermon that steps on your toes that preaches on your sin and you say hey that's good but then you walk away and you're still doing it that doesn't help you you know how's the great sermon yeah but have you are you gonna apply the sermon though like are you gonna actually do it that's a different story isn't it we want to make sure that when we're hearing we hear with the intention to obey we hear with the intention to clean up our lives we hear with the intention to make changes necessary so that why so that verse 25 we can be blessed on our deeds the person who only hears and does not obey will not be blessed you know obviously there's a blessing to reading the Bible there's a blessing to reading it and getting instruction but to be blessed in our deeds comes as we actually do what we're listening to and this takes growing up you know we need to make sure that we enjoy preaching good preaching but more so than that we get to a point where we apply good preaching okay here's my last point I'm done go with me to it to Psalm 127 so we talk about finishing well having more in our ladder end than at the beginning the last shall be more than the first by being doers of the word and not here is only but not only that here's the last point this is how you can make sure you actually have a really good end to your life this is how you can make sure that you actually accomplish more in the end than you do at the beginning this is how you can make sure that you become successful at your letter in be fruitful and multiply in the physical sense but also in the spiritual sense you say why is that well because children are a blessing amen look at verse 3 low children are a heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the woman is his reward as arrows are in the hand of a mighty man so are the children of the youth you ever notice that God compares children to arrows why is that because when you shoot an arrow it goes further than the way you can go we want to make sure that we raise our children in such a way that they actually go further than us then when we launch them out to fight against the principalities and powers and the rules of the darkness of this world when they when they're sent out to do great works for God they actually do more than what dad did that you're able to do greater works than what mom did why because we train them right we discipled our children in the right ways so that when you're long gone you're you're dead and you're six feet under you're you're you went home to be with the Lord your legacy is still being carried out your children are still serving the Lord you know your work is your labor is not in vain why because you just you discipled I was gonna say you discipline but that too you discipled your children but by the way discipline is part of discipleship amen you discipled your children you taught in the ways of the Lord you know their generation is gonna be a scary generation to live in when they grow up might want to consider that ladder in and that should be a motivation to you to train them in the ways of the Lord so that when you launch them out they go further than you've ever gone that's the goal that's how you can make sure you that your ladder in is more than the first go with me if you would to first Corinthians chapter 4 and we're done I'm gonna read to you from 3rd John 2 it says for I rejoice greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is indeed even as thou walkest in the truth I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth here's another way you can make sure that your ladder in is greater than the beginning when people to Christ and disciple them find someone to disciple now there's a false way there's this weak watered-down way of discipleship that we see today this Lancaster Baptist Church Paul Chapel type of discipleship where you sit down in the coffee shop with this discipleship book and they teach you where to park and you know they teach you all these shallow things that has zero doctrine whatsoever you know they teach you how to listen to CCM and all this garbage that just doesn't count for anything and they call it discipleship that's not real discipleship discipleship is done when you work side by side with someone you answer their questions you invest in their lives you care you love and you pray for them but you know that takes I take someone of maturity look at the Bible says in 1st Corinthians 4 14 I write not these things to shame you but as my beloved sons I warn you for though you have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet have you not many fathers for in Christ Jesus I have begun you through the gospel so what is he saying here he said look you guys got a lot of teachers but you know one thing you don't have as many fathers why because he was the one who was winning them to Christ so it could be compared to maybe pastor Jason Robinson who probably wins the majority of the souls in this church which is a good thing but there comes a point where the people in this church need to start winning more people to Christ as well and he said there look what verse 16 wherefore I beseech you be followers of me why is he saying that cuz he's saying follow my example win people to Christ like I'm winning people to Christ see people save the way I'm seeing them say but on top of that disciple them to teach them how to win souls as well discipleship is an important aspect of the Christian life and it'll help this church to remain even in the future it'll help this church to remain in the latter times why because you have done your due diligence as an individual church member to train someone to do exactly what you're doing to train someone to do exactly what you do when you're out soul winning when you're living the Christian life when you're as a father as a wife whatever position you have that's going to help you in the long run says verse 17 for this cause have I sent unto you to Moteus who is my beloved son and faithful in the Lord who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways which be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church you see even in Paul's absence who is there to Moteus you know who's the to Moteus in our church here who's the to Moteus in all the churches there should be a man who rises up and says I want to learn I want to be discipled I want to do it exactly the way the leader does it so that I can also bear fruit as well and teach others also this is how we can make sure that the end is more than the first don't look at the end of your life when you're at the end of your life and say man I didn't get a lot done I wish I would have I wish I would have done more I wish I would have accomplished more you know at that point it's too late but you know you can do is after the sermon you can make the decision say you know what I'm gonna start applying some of this I'm gonna be a doer of the word not a hero only I want to make sure that I raise my children right so they're mighty arrows in the hand of the Lord I want to make sure that my latter end is greater than the beginning amen let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for your word thank you for Mountain Baptist Church and pastor Jason Robinson for the great work that's being accomplished here I pray God that you'd help us to consider our latter end and and to make sure that we make good decisions today because we know it'll affect our tomorrow and I pray God that you'd help us to give earnest heed to the things which we have heard lest at any time they should slip and we pray these things in Jesus name Amen yeah