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We got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. I got a raptor. Okay? What do you do? Alright everybody. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Glad you could all make it here tonight. Its a special night. Indeed. We got the Chilli Cook Off right after the service. Lets go ahead and start with our first song. faith is the victory notice it's faith is a victory not works 410 410 we'll sing it all together on the first and camped along the hills of my feet christian soldiers rise and press the battle there the night shall build the glowing skies against the bow and bails below let all our strength be heard faith is the victory we know that overcomes the world faith is a victory faith is a victory all glorious victory that overcomes the world there's better over us is love our sword the word of god we tread the road the saints above with shouts of triumph drawn life ain't they like a whirlwind swept on or every field the faith by which they conquered death is still our sign faith is a victory faith is the victory oh glorious victory that overcomes the world on every hand the home we find drawn up in dread array let's enemies be left behind and onward to the grave salvation's helmet on each head with truth all good of them the earth shall tremble beneath our trend and echo with our sound faith is a victory victory oh glorious victory that overcomes the world to win that overcomes the fun wine gray men shall begin before the angels he shall go his name confessed in heaven then onward from the hills of life all hearts full of a flame will vanquish all the hosts of nine in jesus faith is a victory faith is a victory oh glorious victory that overcomes the world amen let's bow this word of prayer if you have any father we thank you again that we could be in your house tonight to hear the preaching of your word i just pray you'd speak to us through the message tonight that you bless pastor shelly and you fill them with your spirit and help us all to walk out of here as better christians tonight and in jesus precious name we pray amen next is going to be 411 right next door you shouldn't even have to turn the page kept it easy for you tonight 411 hold the fort oh my comrades see the signal through the sky reinforcements now appearing victory is not hold the fork for i am coming jesus answer back to heaven high thy grace we will see the mighty host advancing satan leading on mighty man around us calling courage almost gone hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven high thy grace we will see the glorious banner waving here the trumpet blow in our leader's name we'll triumph over every foe hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven high thy grace we will years and long the battle rages but our help is near onward comes our great commander cheer my comrades cheer hold the fort for i am coming jesus signals still wave the answer back to heaven high thy grace we will good evening thank you so much for coming to steadfast baptist church if you don't already have a bulletin and you'd like one just slip up your hand real quick and an usher can come by and get you a bulletin on the inside we have our service and soul winning times as well as church stats i'm going to go ahead and get a count for the last few days of any soul winning to report for the church was there anything to report from thursday anything from thursday one for thursday okay what about friday anything from friday nine nine for friday what about saturday yesterday it looks like fourteen for yesterday and then today i didn't even get the church van so just give me the church van numbers too looks like twenty for today so praise the lord on that we got to go out before the lights go out because this is not the night to go soul winning but on the right hand side we have the list of expecting ladies please continue to pray for all of them and our church grows really fast when he got this many ladies that are blessed with babies also down below we have a prayer list lots of people to be in prayer for in addition to our expecting ladies and then on the back we have a list we have a couple of other announcements we are going to do another church yearbook and so we are going to try and start our pictures next sunday and so there is a sign up sheet over here and we like everyone to participate it's obviously always completely free miss lucy has offered to help take those pictures she does a really good job and we are going to be doing it with the wood background that is in my office so just so that way you can think of colors or whatever i don't know i don't really care about that but i know a lot of you do and that's important also we are going to do baby pictures and the babies are babies born in 2021 ok so we want to have all the 2021 babies in there so january 1st 2021 all the way to the end and so we will be doing that also there is a sign up for the next two weeks if you miss there will be make ups but try to see if you can make sure to sign up on the cabinet sheet and then make sure to be here a few minutes before your time just so you are not you know miss lucy is doing this for completely free so like you know don't disrespect her time by signing up and then not showing up or you know whatever just try to make sure that you take that appointment seriously and we try to get that done quickly also we have our cook off tonight you made it chili cook off and it's a texas chili cook off so you know you are going to enjoy it and you are going to enjoy it tonight and you are not going to have regrets tomorrow you know the non texas chili cook off where they put a lot of frijoles some beans in there you really feel the burn later ok but this one you can enjoy it just forever you know and your spouse can enjoy it too with you so also if you did bring a chili and you are entering it into the competition immediately following this service my wife will get with you so you will just have to go and see her and get a number and then let her know like which chili is which so that she can get all that signified and signed and everything we want to have make sure we are doing the competition well also we are going to have our judges sitting over here testing while y'all are fellowshipping don't harass them ok and you won't even know exactly which one is which anyways so don't try to guess or whatever we try to keep integrity here we will need a few extra judges we might as well disappoint them now so if you are not related to anybody entering a chili and you would like to be a judge above the age of 16 we got miss lauren, zach, billy and marcel alright and me so there is your five judges ok and you are like well there is more men than women get used to it ok that's just that's how it is alright so they are all baptists so there you go there is your supreme court we are going to have prizes awarded to first second and third do please give us a moment after the service just allow my wife to go down the line and get all of the chili ready for the competition once she's got that secured then y'all can go down and feast and have a good time i saw someone put beans in their rice krispy treats ok that's fine cause that's not a texas chili you know it was always a rice krispy treat now it's just a cluttered rice krispy treat or whatever but it looks cool i like it so there you go some people have falsely accused me of not liking beans this is a false accusation ok i love beans i just don't put them in my chili you know and they said they also didn't put any screwdrivers in the rice krispy treats either so you are safe to eat it alright and i'm hoping as soon as we are done with this evening i won't bring up the texas chili thing for a long time ok so you don't have to worry about all these jokes anymore alright but you know the title of the sermon this evening is the rebuke of humor so when people are laughing at you you need to pay attention alright also we have two so many mini-a-thons november 13th december 9th through 11th december 31st we have a new years eve party we also are going to have christmas caroling again in december and we are going to have a thanksgiving pie fellowship or dessert fellowship and so i'll try to get those added into the bulletin please continue if you are going to donate via check or online just do that to pure words baptist church for now and i'll continue to update you on that we are going to have an extremely short business meeting immediately following the music so please don't jump up and one other thing i have a feeling we might have broke our record this evening so we are going to have ice cream but we are not going to just do it right afterwards basically as soon as you are done eating chili or whatever you can have ice cream ok so its going to be a free for all we got plenty of ice cream in the freezer or whatever so you can cool down a little bit after you heat up from that chili alright so with that lets go to our third song for the evening 260 he is able to deliver thee again thats 260 he is able to deliver thee no by sin oppressed go to him for rest our god is able to deliver thee tis the grandest theme in the earth o'er me tis the grandest theme for immortal strength tis the grandest theme tell the world again our god is able to deliver thee god is able to deliver thee he is able to deliver thee he is able to deliver thee no by sin oppressed go to him for rest our god is able to deliver thee tis the grandest theme let the tidings roll to the guilty heart to the sinful soul look to god in faith he will make thee whole our god is able to deliver thee he is able to deliver thee he is able to deliver thee no by sin oppressed go to him for rest our god is able to deliver thee while the offering plates are being passed around please turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 19 2 Kings 19 2 Kings 19 for the children are come to the birth and there is not strength to bring forth it may be the Lord thy God will hear all the words of Rabshakeh whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that are left so the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah and Isaiah said unto them thus shall ye say to your master thus saith the Lord be not afraid of the words which thou has heard with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me behold I will send a blast upon him and he shall hear a rumor and shall return to his own land and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land so Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Livna where he had heard that he was departed from Lachish and when he heard say of Tirchaka king of Ethiopia behold he has come out to fight against thee he sent messengers again unto Hezekiah saying thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah saying let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee saying Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria behold thou has heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly and shalt thou be delivered have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed as Gozan and Haran and Rezeph and the children of Eden which were in Thalesar where is the king of Hamath and the king of Arpad and the king of the city of Sepharvayim of Hena and Ivah and Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers and read it and Hezekiah went up into the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord and Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said O Lord God of Israel which dwellest between the cherubims thou art the God even thou alone of all the kingdoms of the earth thou hast made heaven and earth Lord bow down thine ear and hear open Lord thine eyes and see and hear the words of Sennacherib which hath sent him to reproach the living God of a truth Lord the kings of Assyria have destroyed the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods but the work of men's hands wood and stone therefore they have destroyed them now therefore O Lord our God I beseech thee save thou us out of his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord God even thou only and Isaiah the son of Ammon sent to Hezekiah saying thus saith the Lord God of Israel that which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard this is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him the virgin the daughter of Zion hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the Holy One of Israel by thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said with the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof and the choice fir trees thereof and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders and into the forest of his Carmel I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it now have I brought it to pass that thou shouldst be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps therefore their inhabitants were of small power they were dismayed and confounded they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb as the grass on the housetops and as corn blasted before a bee grown up but I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me because thy rage against me and thy tumult has come up into mine ears therefore I will put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest and there shall be a sign unto thee ye shall eat this year such things as grow of themselves and in the second year that which springeth of the same and in the third year sow ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits thereof and the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward for out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant and they that escape out of Mount Zion the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria he shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shield nor cast a bank against it by the way that he came by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city saith the Lord for I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake and it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred four score and five thousand and when they arose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpses so Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh and it came to pass as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god the Adri-Melech and Sheariza his son smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Armenia and his arhat and his son reigned in his stead Let's pray Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for all the souls that were one today please Lord fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit help us to pay attention and minimize distractions please help us apply the message to our lives and in Jesus' name, Amen And I want to look back at verse 21 where the Bible reads This is the word that the Lord hath spoken concerning him the virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn the daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at thee and the title of my sermon is coming from this passage in a way and it's really the rebuke of humor the rebuke of humor and we have a story where the children of Israel are going to be besieged by the king of Assyria and he sends messengers to basically strike fear into the hearts of the children of Israel and to try to cause them to just basically roll over just allow them to take over the city just become their slaves they don't want to have to fight them so they're just basically trying to intimidate them scare them into succumbing to their will and so they surround them and they're coming and they send this messenger he's trying to shake their faith, right? he's trying to put doubt and fear into their heart and essentially God is telling the prophets this is what I think about this guy this is what I think about the king of Assyria this is what I think about the Assyrians and when God is giving this word he's not even just including himself he's just saying all the children of Israel he's saying the virgin, the daughter of Zion he's saying the daughter of Jerusalem he's saying you guys are going to laugh them to scorn you're going to laugh me to scorn and you're going to shake your head at them meaning they're coming, they're saying we're going to take you over and you're just laughing at them you're just like, you're not going to do anything you're just, you're talking a big game, good luck basically you're just laughing back at them you're just, you're buking them and what people don't realize is that laughter, humor, mocking, jokes, ridicule it's actually all a form of correction or rebuke because when you think about someone laughing at someone what's the point of laughing at someone? it's because they're being stupid that's why it's funny if someone's not being stupid if someone's not making a bad decision if someone's not doing anything wrong then it's not funny the whole reason it's funny is because the person's stupid that's the whole reason that you're laughing I mean if you look at a meme or something and it's making fun of someone I don't know, let's pick a person how about Joe Biden? why is it that all the memes and all the different sayings that he has why is it so funny? because he's so stupid because he's so foolish he doesn't even know where he's at I mean the statements and the comments that he's making that are coming out of his mouth just make no sense they're just foolish that's why it's so funny because if Joe Biden got up there and everything he said just made perfect sense and it was well articulated it was really eloquent and it was exactly right it wouldn't really be funny to make fun of him it would really just basically become baseless it would make no sense and someone making fun of him would end up becoming the brunt of the joke because they're the ones that are actually being stupid they're the ones that are being foolish now in this passage again saying that you're going to destroy the Lord's people is a foolish thing to say and so what happens is God and God's people laugh at that person they mock that person they ridicule that person and really they should consider that rebuke and that they should have said you know what? I should not mess with these people if the Lord's laughing at me you're in trouble you don't want God to laugh at you in the Bible every time God laughs it's because he's severely mocking and making fun of people that are against him you know we often think of laughter you know we love a comedy, right? people love to watch a comedy show or whatever but you're always laughing at someone being stupid is the reality of laughter in and of itself and really what you should do is when someone's laughing at you you should realize there's something wrong with you potentially you know you need to make sure like why are they laughing? because if they're laughing at me here's a question am I doing something wrong? now not all laughter is necessarily credible or not all laughter or mocking is legitimate so I have two points that I'm going to make this evening of how you need to test laughter when someone's laughing you need to test two different things and here's point number one that you need to test you need to test the character of the person that's laughing at you you need to test the character of the person that's laughing at you when God's laughing at you you're wrong it's just case point I mean it's just like if God's laughing at you you should be terrified you know that's the person you don't ever want to be laughing at you now obviously someone that's laughing let's say the devil's laughing at you you don't have to worry about that because what's his character? his character is that he's a liar okay so I don't care if the devil's laughing at me but if God's laughing at me now I'm in severe trouble now let's keep reading this passage a little bit more I know we read some of it let's keep reading it says verse 22 whom hast thou reproached in blaspheme? so what is he asking? this is the character what's the character of the person that you're reproaching? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the Holy One of Israel so they're making fun of Jesus is what he's saying making fun of God verse 23 by thy messengers thou hast reproached the Lord and hast said with the multitude of my chariots I am come up to the height of the mountains to the sides of Lebanon and will cut down the tall cedar trees thereof and the choice fir trees thereof and I will enter into the lodgings of his borders and into the forest of his caramel I have digged and drunk strange waters and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of besieged places hast thou not heard long ago how I have done it and of ancient times that I have formed it now have I brought it to pass that thou shouldest be to lay waste fenced cities into ruinous heaps now when you're reading the Bible sometimes you don't realize the shift in who's talking but in verses 23 through 24 he's basically saying this is what you guys said okay but then in verse 25 God starts speaking and he's saying they're coming up to this area and they're saying we're going to knock down your trees we're going to knock down your borders we're going to come in here and take over and then God's saying didn't you realize that I did that too? not only have I done that before I made all of the trees I made everything because to get the full context you have to realize when the king of Assyria comes in he's saying which of the gods of these other heathen have delivered them so basically they're just they're basically touting their record their accolades what they've done in the past like we're 17-0 or we've won every game before we've beat all these teams before and so they're saying we're going to get rid of all your trees and God's like I've already done it not only have I already done that I created the trees he's like oh you want to brag? let's go ahead and see who has done the most here verse 26 therefore their inhabitants were of small power they were dismayed and confounded they were as the grass of the field and as the green herb as the grass on the house tops and as corn blasted before it be grown up but I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me because thy rage against me and thy tumult has come up into mine ears therefore I will put my hook in thy nose and I will turn thee back by the way which thou camest you know what I like about God? he talks some serious smack I mean this is really it's just like two opponents like two teams and they're just talking smack to one another you know it's like one quarterback over here is like oh yeah I can throw a football 400 yards but you can't I can throw a football 60 yards and God's like oh yeah I can throw it 6 trillion yards and I made the football and I made you and I know where you sleep and I know where you live and I'm going to put my hook in your nose and I'm going to drag you wherever I want to I mean he's just like oh yeah buddy you want to talk smack to me? let's go! God's like I got you I mean I like God he's nice this isn't that nice he's nice to those that love him he says in verse 29 and this shall be a sign unto thee he's talking to the king he's talking to the children of Israel it's kind of hard to figure out exactly who he's talking about at first but he's talking to Israel now and he's saying this is the proof that what I'm saying to you guys is going to come true he says ye shall eat this year such things as grow themselves and in the second year that which springeth are the same and in the third year sow ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruits thereof and the remnant is the skate of the house of Judah yet again take root downward and bear fruit upward for out of Jerusalem shall go for the remnant and they shall escape out of Mount Zion the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria so now he's switching and dialing it this is how you know what I'm telling the truth you guys are going to eat food this year next year, I mean you're going to be fine they're not coming in here so he starts doing that and then he talks about later prophecy he says in verse number 32 therefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria he shall not come into this city nor shoot an arrow there nor come before it with shield nor cast a bank against it by the way that he came by the same shall he return and shall not come into this city saith the Lord basically it'd be like some guy saying we're going to score so many points on you and God's like you're not going to score a single point you're not even going to advance one yard you're not even going to get one first down I mean just no points no advancement you don't even get to shoot one arrow zero arrows are going to be shot and in fact the way you came in you're going exactly back out that same door there's no opportunity for you to do anything against the people of God and he says verse 34 for I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred four score and five thousand and when they arose early in the morning behold they were all dead corpses so Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went in return and dwelt in Nineveh it came to pass as he was worshipping in the house of Nisroch as God that at Dremelech and Cheriezer his son smote him with the sword and they escaped into the land of Armenia and Ezra-Hadon his son reigned in his stead and here's the thing once God laughed at him he should have repented in sackcloth and ashes but instead what happened huge numbers of his troops just immediately dead he goes back home in shame he goes back home in contempt and it's so embarrassing that his sons even come up and kill him now what should he have done hey when God's people and God are laughing at you you better fix it you better get right get right really quick and some people will say oh you guys are mean because you laughed at us no no no no no no we're laughing at you because you're stupid and if you had realized that rebuke was actually helping you then you would have gotten right by laughing at them you're helping them realize they're doing something wrong because it's just funny how stupid they are and you know some people get really offended by that but you know what laughter can be good go to Job chapter 29 go to Job chapter 29 ever bring up an idea and a whole bunch of people laugh at you like that was a dumb idea you know what they did? they helped you because you were going to say that stupid thing to somebody else but after you brought it up and everybody made fun of you you're like I'm never bringing that up again you know you're like I think the earth is flat and everybody's like what? I was talking to an attorney and I was trying to describe to him that there was somebody that I knew that was a flat earther and he's like what do you mean by that? and I'm like they believe the earth is flat and he's like in a spiritual sense and I'm like no like the shape what do you mean the shape? and I'm like they think it's like literally a flat plane what do you mean? what do you mean? like he just couldn't figure it out he didn't believe it existed and look I didn't think that was even real there was a point in my life I didn't realize that people were actually like that I thought I thought it was like the flying spaghetti monster or something where you know it's just an obvious troll or people are just being stupid on purpose just to like be funny or whatever and then you find out people really are like that and you're just like wow but you know what helps that person? laughing at them making fun of them, ridiculing whenever you have this weird idea in your mind and people start making fun of it you're like oh yeah I better not think that or say that out loud what is helping you? the rebuke of humor and you know what rebuke is good for us and you have to consider this the character of who's laughing there's certain people that if they're laughing at you you better be careful what you believe there's an example of this, not just God let me show you another person Job chapter 29 look at verse 1 moreover Job continued his parable and said oh that I were as in months past as in the days when God preserves me now what you understand about Job is Job used to be the greatest man on the earth in every capacity everybody had respect unto him and in the part of this chapter he's going back and thinking about the past he's remembering the former days oh man I wish it was like it was back in the old days when God preserved me and he says in verse 3 young men saw me and hid themselves the aged arose and stood up the princes refrained talking and laid their hand on their mouth what does he picture? he's saying he had so much respect people had so much fear of Job because he was such a great person that young people when they saw him they were just afraid to get in his way they were afraid that Job would basically be mad at them for any reason he's even saying the aged people they stood up as respect now in the United States when you have a respectable person come into a room you're supposed to stand for them like when you're in a court you have to stand for the judge or whenever you have a bride coming down and it's her wedding day you all stand as a form of respect Job is saying he walked into a room and people just stood up they had that much respect for Job Job's here we better stand up Job's here in some cultures that's still a thing I think it's in Hispanic cultures when an elder an older person is a respectable person everybody has to stand up at the table that used to even be an American culture when someone would enter the room that was of noteworthy importance to stand at their presence for them even coming in look what it says in the next verse it says in verse 10 the nobles held their peace and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth when the ear heard me then it blessed me and when the eye saw me it gave witness to me because I delivered the poor that cried and the fatherless and him that had none to help saying he went into the room it was just deathly silent and nobody else wants to speak for fear of sounding like an idiot now skip down I'm going to give you all this look at verse 21 unto me men gave ear and waited and kept silence at my counsel meaning when you're in the room with Job you're not going to speak you're going to let him speak because you want to hear his wisdom he's just of so much greater importance wisdom and stature verse 22 after my words they spake not again and my speech dropped upon them now what's cool about this and I'll give you a tidbit this is Jesus too when Jesus came everybody wanted to hear what? Jesus speak and when Jesus spake a parable what happened? everybody was silent afterwards they couldn't speak a word they were afraid to even ask him another question because some people have this there's no such thing as a stupid question that was a stupid statement there are stupid questions the bible says to avoid foolish questions and you know you don't want to ask Jesus a foolish question because then he'll make fun of you and he'll just ridicule you and mock you for asking such a foolish question you do greatly err not knowing the scriptures that's what he said when people would ask him questions he would just point out how they were so stupid I mean wouldn't it be funny to have the pastors of the day go and walk up to Jesus and ask him questions because you know he would just make them look like complete idiots after everything they said and we'd all laugh at them and you know what they would do? they would be silent because they'd be afraid of looking like an idiot this is what Job is like Job is such a man of great value and stature that if he's laughing at you you're in trouble look at what it says in verse 23 and they waited for me as for the rain and they opened their mouth wide as far as for the latter rain if I laughed on them they believed it not and the light of my countenance they cast not down saying when someone brought up the flat earth theory and Job laughed they all dropped it like a bad habit if Job's making fun of me then I must be a complete idiot that's what he's saying he's saying if I laugh at you you need to realize you're in the wrong why because of the character of Job if Job's laughing at you you got serious problems but you know what it's a benefit it's a blessing to be rebuked with the laughter because honestly it could be even worse he says in verse 25 I chose out their way and sat chief and dwelt as a king in the army as one that comforted the mourners now paying attention to this chapter will help you understand the book of Job because what happens when his friends first come to him they don't speak for the longest time have you ever noticed that? have you ever noticed that their friends just show up and it's like forever until it talks about a really long time before they actually start speaking if you look at how much time the reason why is because Job had that much respect that nobody wanted to walk up and be the first to speak they just got to the point where they finally had to open their mouth and say a bunch of stupid stuff or whatever and they let Job talk or whatever but Job was a very respectable person and if Job's laughing at you you're in trouble go to Psalms 37 go to Psalms 37 now I don't have time this evening and I don't want to show you every verse on laughter with God but just look it up look up the word laughter pay attention to who's laughing find me a time when God's laughing and it's a good thing doesn't happen every time God is laughing it's because someone is being an idiot someone is being a fool and he's mocking them and he's ridiculing them and some people are like you have a bad spirit because you laugh at people it's like I'm trying to be like Christ I'm trying to be like the Lord God in what capacity I'm supposed to strive to be like the Lord in every area of my life it's not like well you know what I know God laughs at people but I don't I'm much nicer than the Lord I'm more loving and compassionate than the Lord now look I'm not trying to give people in this room a license to just mock and ridicule every person on the planet you need to have some discretion you want to be someone that's genuinely sincere and loves people and is kind and compassionate and look the way that you treat people is how God's going to treat you if you laugh at everybody for every single thing they do that's wrong be afraid when God's going to laugh at you for everything you do that's wrong so you want to extend a lot of grace and mercy you have to realize if someone's gotten to the point where they have to laugh at you maybe you deserve it maybe there's a reason why they're making fun of you you know when someone's got a kick me sign on their back and everybody's laughing at them there's a reason they should take the sign off because they look foolish you know you got something on your face and everybody's looking at you you got to take the thing off your face when your fly's down, everybody's laughing at you pull your fly up people are laughing Psalm 37, look at verse 12 so they say when evil people plot against God's people God just laughs at them He's like, you really think you're going to do something against them? you really think that I'm going to allow you to get away with that? He just laughs at them you guys are just so stupid people are so stupid it just makes God laugh that's the normal emotion when someone does something stupid or foolish or says something awkward what does everybody do? laugh because that's just a normal human emotion and that's what God is like God just laughs at how foolish these people are go to Mark, chapter number 5 Mark, chapter number 5 be afraid though when God's laughing at you and we can extend this to other respectable men somebody that you have high esteem for high respect for, someone that's very intelligent someone that's shown themselves to be of great character and they're laughing at you you should be afraid of that you should fear that when they're laughing and mocking and ridiculing you rather than sitting here and saying ah, that guy's mean ah, that guy's rude look at Mark, chapter 5, verse 35 as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto them the ruler of the synagogue, be not afraid only believe and he suffered no man to follow him, say Peter and James and John the brother of James and he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue and seeeth the tombal and then that wept and wailed greatly and when he was come in, he saith unto them why make ye this ado and weep? damsel's not dead but sleepeth and they laughed him to scorn now, let's stop for a moment why did they laugh at Jesus? because they knew that she was dead and what it sounded like to them is he's saying she's just asleep so it was probably a normal response in a sense and if someone's dead and you think that they're just sleeping you're like, that's silly she's dead, it's obvious that's why they laugh now I'm not excusing their laughter to laugh why also are they laughing? because they don't believe the word of God now someone who does not believe the word of God how much should I care about their laughter? zero why? because of their character hey, when someone doesn't even believe the Bible why do I care what they think is funny? everything they think is funny is stupid it's not funny okay that's why the left can't mean because they don't have any truth that's why you look at their meaning that's true they're like, do you really believe Jesus? and you're like, yeah they think the Bible is funny because they just don't believe it because to them it's stupid but because they're stupid and it's the truth we laugh at them you know what? everybody laughs everybody thinks things are funny but the only thing that matters is the character of the person laughing what are you laughing about? is it the truth? then that's what actually makes it funny verse 40 and they laughed him to scorn but when he had put them all out he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel and them that were with him and entereth in where the damsel was lying hey, there's people laughing outside but you're inside verse 41 and he took the damsel by the hand and saith unto her lithai kumai straightway the damsel rose and walked for she was of the age of twelve years and they were astonished with great astonishment now how would you feel having laughed at Jesus and then you see this girl walking around wouldn't you feel like a complete idiot? now, would you have wanted to laugh with those people that were laughing? no, but you know why you shouldn't? because of their character it was someone that laughed at the statements of Jesus it was someone that laughed at the word of God it was someone that laughed at the word of God why would I care what you have to say? when people are mocking the Bible they're the idiot they're the fool you know the Bible says fools make a mock at sin but among the righteous there is favor so when we hear the rebuke of humor we do have to assess the character of that humor but when it's someone of high character realize it's probably a rebuke when it's someone that hates the word of God guys, who cares what you believe? who cares what you have to think? you know, the Jimmy Fallon's of this world their laughter isn't even funny to me late night comedy is not even funny anymore because they're just making fun of things that are true it's just like, you're an idiot you know, the guy coming around mocking the children of Israel mocking the Lord God saying that they're going to defeat him, you're just like who are you? you're going to take on God, okay, good job buddy let's go chapter 2 the Bible says if a wise man contended with a foolish man whether he rage or laugh there is no rest now here's the thing you have to also understand trying to convince these jokesters that you're right is a fool's errand you know, you can't win everyone over you know, and I think that some people just have this naive approach to life they just think that everybody's up for grabs and everybody's, you know if they just heard the right argument, they'd come to their side or whatever no, really what happens is the truth just exposes who's a sheep and who's a goat in this world and so our job is really just to expose truth to people but once you've already exposed truth to people there's nothing left to do if they sound more like a goat after exposing truth to them you need to realize they're going to stay like a goat you know, there's nothing left to do at that point and when you're contending with a foolish man who's a foolish man? the fool has said in his heart there is no god why do I want to continue debating an atheist whether he rage or laugh there's no rest let me explain to you why your joke's bad it's like, no, there's no point and you're never going to convince him you're never going to get him on your side but this is what I I really want to hit home on this because I think I've kind of made my point and that's point one I'm going to get to point two in a second but when I'm confronted with someone doing something really stupid really foolish and I feel like it's necessary to say something and this is what I do I typically make a joke out of it because you have two options, right? let's say someone does something really stupid they go to Home Depot and they're going to buy paint and they think that the paint in the can is automatically the color that they want they don't even have to get it mixed they don't even have to ask them to pour into that that's pretty stupid right? so let's say they bring you that paint I have two options now option one is to be like you're a complete idiot right? wouldn't that be one way to correct them? or a second way to do it would be to make a joke out of it right? just be kind of like oh really? you didn't even think, you just thought they knew exactly what paint you wanted when you showed up at the store, right? now which one would you rather have someone do? would you rather someone just yell at you and scream at you or just kind of make a joke out of it and be kind of more light hearted about it it's actually a little bit nicer to joke about it isn't it? be a little more light hearted about it they don't realize by you making fun of them they were correcting you it was still a rebuke you should still learn from it I've noticed though that some people they have this weird attitude where you make a joke about it and then they joke back and you're like, you didn't get it no, I'm laughing at you because you're stupid and I'm telling you that this is my personality my personality is that when I see people doing stupid things or making a fool of themselves or whatever my personalities tend to just joke about it or to be kind of light hearted about it and not really confront it real sharp because I don't want to make them more embarrassed than they have to be it's more embarrassing to have someone just scream at you and yell at you in front of everybody rather than just kind of making a joke about it you can kind of recover from that a little bit easier you're not as embarrassed when they're kind of being light hearted with you but you should still take the joke as a correction you should still take the joke as a rebuke but some people they just can't get it and then you just keep escalating and then it gets to a point where you just have to be real clear with the person you're being stupid quit it stop it yeah, I like to have fun too when you interact with the person laughing at you and joking with you sometimes you need to back off and realize woah, I probably screwed up here I probably messed up here maybe I should make it right even though the person's being light hearted about it and I say that because I know I'm not the only person that does this I know your boss might do this because it's more natural to just kind of like joke about it or laugh or just try to be put people at ease about it if your boss kind of jokes with you a little bit you know what you should do in that situation still apologize correct it, fix it and not think like, oh he didn't think it was a big deal, he just made a joke about it no, they still thought that you did something wrong they just weren't wanting to make you more embarrassed than you had to be they didn't want you to feel worse than you had to and look, the reason why the joke was funny was because it was true if everybody's laughing at you and they have the right character you got to be really careful with that and look, maybe that's a character flaw of mine because I'll be honest with you my personality is not to want to confront people on issues I hate it, I don't like it I would let everything go and so it's probably a defense mechanism when someone comes to me I just kind of laugh about it or joke with them or try to explain something light hearted or whatever lots of times you just have to be direct with people because they can't pick up on the clue that the fact that you're joking about it they're already in the wrong and so you got to be careful when people are laughing at you when people are making a joke at you you need to say, do I actually have a real problem here that needs to be fixed go over to Psalms chapter number 2 and look at verse number 1 why did the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us he that sitteth in the heaven shall laugh the Lord shall have them in derision so notice they think they're going to literally kill Jesus and win and you know get the Lord away from them or whatever and God's just up there just laughing we've already talked about one point character, right when God's laughing at you be afraid here's the second thing that you have to pay attention to and a joke is the content is the content of the joke okay is the content true is the content true if someone's making fun of you and it's not true you know, what if I don't know, I can imagine people are laughing you're like, haha, you're a cult you're a cult leader, haha that doesn't hurt me because guess what, the content's not true it means meaningless to me I don't care at all you can call me a cult all day long and I don't care because I know I'm I'm not in a cult but I do know I'm the cult leader if it's a cult, okay right but wait a minute you know, when did I tell anybody to do anything that they actually listened if I was a cult leader, I'd be really disappointed right now because you guys, you know don't really listen that well it's that it's silly you know, it's silly when people make fun of you and it's just obviously not true it obviously has no basis in reality you shouldn't care because the content's not true but here's the thing why is God laughing at them because they are not going to be able to successfully overthrow the Lord they're not going to take over look what it says in verse 10 so in verse 4 he's laughing at them but then he has to escalate it and he has to get real direct no look, the reason I'm laughing at you is because you need to be instructed you need to learn you need to be wise you need to wise up why is he saying be wise? because they're being foolish because they're being stupid go to Proverbs chapter number 1 being foolish is not a good thing being stupid is not a good thing the Bible says to get wisdom and with all that getting get understanding we're supposed to strive for wisdom, understanding knowledge being an idiot that's what people laugh at slapstick comedy someone just walking around a bumbling idiot can't talk right they can't speak right think about a lot of racist jokes what do they do? they make fun of the way people speak because they say things stupid they say things foolishly or they can't pronounce things correctly and so they make fun of it I'm not excusing that I'm just telling you why they laugh and here's the thing if every time you pronounce a word people are laughing, fix it I'll tell a joke me and my wife went to high school together this was before we dated my wife would have never dated me I was a loser but at this time we were in class we were in geography class we had to write these essays or maybe it was history class I think it was a history class and she had written this paper and she'd done such a good job that the teacher wanted to read it for the whole class and her paper was on Buddhism but she didn't know how to say that so she gets up and she's reading this paper and has the word Buddhism like 20 times she's like, Buddhism is a religion and you know, she says uh and people really like Buddhism and it was just like I'm just sitting here busting out laughing now here's the thing what does that laughter do? it helps you realize that's not how you say that word and it sounds funny when you mispronounce it doesn't it? my brother used to tell this joke he said there was a bunch of people on a plane and they were flying and they ended up crashing and they were in the sea but they found this nearby island and so they all just kind of drift and swim, they get this island and they're just kind of seeing what options they have on the island and then somebody gets up there and they're trying to figure out what everybody's good at and they're kind of looking at everybody's race and it's a very diverse plane group they have all kinds of different people they have Hispanic people, black people, white people and Asian people and they're telling some of the black guys that are stronger, why don't you get some wood and help us to build a hut or a house or something and they're assigning different tasks and they're asking people to look around the island, see what they can find they look at some of the Asian people and they say, why don't you go look and see what supplies we have and they just kind of pass all the tasks out well, after a while they've kind of gathered and they're reconvening in this meeting and they say, I can't find the Asian guy and they're like, what happened we've got to find him so they start going around and they start looking and they're like, he was looking for the supplies, right? Yeah we can't find him, so they go and they're looking and they find this dark cave and they're like, this is the last we've looked everywhere but there's this dark cave left and they don't know where he is so they're like, let's go look so they all get really close to the deep cave, they're creeping up and then the Asian guy jumps out and says supplies! it's a joke and you say, why would you lie? because it's just funny how they say it, right? but obviously, if you can't say things correctly, you should fix it isn't that the whole point? someone's going to call me racist after this I know it look, we have every nationality, Asian people I love everybody it's just funny, okay? why was it funny? because they mispronounced it but look at verse 22, Proverbs chapter 1, verse 22 how long ye simple ones, we love simplicity and the scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge turn ye at my reproof, behold I'll pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, you said it not all my counsel I would not have my reproof I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you, God says because you're so stupid and you're so foolish and you won't hearken to me and you won't pay attention to my commandments well guess what? whenever I punish you, I'm gonna laugh at you when I punish you, I'm gonna mock you I'm gonna make fun of you what is it to mock someone? I mean you're using their words against them you know, and that's what God does, like I don't like that spirit when you use people's words against them, that's the God of the Bible that's the Lord, the Lord is gonna literally mock people while destroying them, you say that's a mean spirit, well actually that's the Holy Spirit welcome to the word of God you know, I know they won't preach that at Joel Osteen's church, but I'm not at Joel Osteen's church, I'm at a Texas, Chile, Baptist church okay, maybe we should add that to the IFB, right? go to Psalms chapter 52, Psalms 52 what's the sound of the sermon? the rebuke of humor, the rebuke of humor when someone's laughing, when someone's mocking you you know, you gotta think about two things the character of the person laughing and the content of why they're laughing, why are they laughing? is it true? Psalms 52, look at verse 1 God shall likewise destroy thee forever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living, Selah, the righteous also shall see and fear and notice this phrase and shall laugh at him whoa, this is the man that made not God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and strengthened himself in his wickedness you say I don't like that attitude, well I guess you're not righteous, because guess what the righteous are gonna laugh and mock at all the God haters everybody that laughed and ridiculed at God's people and at God whenever we see them destroyed the Bible teaches we will laugh at them now that might make you feel uncomfortable but I'm just telling you what the Bible literally says, I didn't write the Bible I didn't invent laughter I didn't invent mocking in fact, you know what, I can only do it because God told me how and showed me how God did it and even says the righteous are gonna do it go to Luke chapter number 6 go to Luke chapter number 6 we will laugh, we will rejoice you know, and I'll tell you what when I see people that have been persecuting my church for a long time and hating my church members, look like a complete idiot, you know what I do I laugh at them it's funny, it's hilarious when they just are shown to be the complete moron that they are and some people are like, oh you're mean I'm just trying to be righteous here that's what the Bible teaches Luke 6, look at verse 21 blessed are ye that hunger now, for ye shall be filled blessed are ye that weep now for ye shall laugh hey, you might have to endure a lot of persecution now but you're gonna get to laugh about it in the future we're gonna get to enjoy and rejoice about the affliction and the future, it's gonna be fun it's gonna be a great time of fellowship and a party Luke chapter 14, look at verse 28 Luke chapter 14, look at verse 28 for which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down first and counteth the cost, whether ye have sufficient to finish it blessed happily after ye have laid the foundation and is not able to finish it all that behold it began to mock him saying this man began to build and was not able to finish there's gonna be some people that have a half-baked idea a half-baked scheme and they can't end up coming all the way to the end they can't finish it they didn't think it all the way through and then we're gonna laugh at them when they didn't you're gonna make fun of them you really thought that was gonna work, huh? oh, you didn't really count the cost on that one, did ya? that's what the Bible says go to Ecclesiastes chapter 7, I'm almost finished I know you're getting hungry, okay so, why bring this up? well, you know, it's funny the society that we live in because the world can't take jokes anymore comedy has ceased to exist comedians are getting cancelled left and right how about Dave Chappelle? who knows who Dave Chappelle is? I just want to be curious almost everybody, okay now, I'm not saying I like his comedy, necessarily he's pretty vulgar he uses a lot of, you know really explicit jokes and comedy and everything like that but, I'll be honest, I've heard some of his jokes against transgender and it was hilarious okay, I'm just being honest you know what, they're trying to cancel him I love those jokes they don't like it, they're so mad they had walkouts at Netflix or whatever you know because that's where he had his most recent special or something like that but here's the thing he's laughing at you because you're stupid he's making jokes at you because you're a complete fool and if you would hear the rebuke of humor you would get it right if everybody's laughing at you you got a problem now, frankly speaking Dave Chappelle, it's not really good because of his character though it was because of the content but if you say, well, Dave Chappelle, character? eh, content though, if it's true you still need to fix it because even an idiot can be laughing at you and it's still a legitimate rebuke because of the content and whenever the content is true, you know, and like the reason why something's funny is because it's true that's why comedy is ceasing to exist in our society because truth is falling in the streets when you elevate truth, you elevate humor when you attack the truth, you attack humor you know, there's not any good comedies anymore used to be people would make good movies and they were funny and it was fun because of truth, now you can't make fun of anyone because they're all bought and paid for and you offend too many people but I'll tell you what comedy is alive and well I mean, if people weren't restricted there's more jokes to pass around than you could ever imagine because there's just so many things to make fun of why? because there's so many stupid people in this world there's so many stupid ideas I mean, Joe Biden is a walking joke literally you couldn't make enough jokes about that guy he's so foolish and we're going to be making jokes for him as long as we can remember him I mean, he has forgot himself but you know, we still know where he is and people get mad at this they get mad at memes, jokes and ridicule and the left and our government wants to get rid of memes you know why? because they want to get rid of rebuke they want to get rid of correction you know why they don't like memes? because they don't like the truth and they don't like correction and these people they're stiff necked, they're hard hearted and let me tell you something people that just hate memes, there's something wrong with them there's something wrong with people that don't like memes people that are constantly like, oh you guys are so mean, you like memes and whatever you just not like correction? you not like the rebuke of humor? because there's two options I could just rebuke you straight up or I could just make a joke out of it and then it's a little bit less harsh because I'll tell you what, if I really screwed up I'd rather you make a meme about it and just be super blunt and I'm just being clear because it's less embarrassing and to have your bosses scream at you or yell at you you know, it's better to just have them kind of laugh about it and then you can just kind of laugh and be like, I was stupid that was foolish you know, and then you just move on you just realize, like I've done who's done stupid things and you laugh at yourself, right? you've done, yeah that's the right attitude if someone's making fun of you because you're stupid laugh! and then fix it don't be like, eh, you're just so mean so rude I don't like jokes I don't like memes you just seem like an idiot then idiots don't like memes there I said it Ecclesiastes 7, look at verse 1 a good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death it is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting for that is the end of all men and the living will lay it to his heart sorrow is better than laughter for by the sadness of the countess the heart is made better the heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth it is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools you know, if someone ends up making a joke about you or ridiculing you notice how the bible describes it it says in verse 3, sorrow is better than laughter anyways because it gives you an opportunity to get better as a person and it's saying, hey, by the sadness of the countess countess, the heart is made better, meaning by you having to go through hard things by you being made fun of, by you being ridiculed you become a better person you know, and I've worked for bosses where when you screw up, they make fun of you every time, they call you stupid they laugh at you, they joke at you but you know what, once you start getting better they can't laugh at you as much anymore and you should realize that laughter can be a good tool to make you a better person don't resist laughter don't resist someone being able to make fun of you, don't resist these things because it can help you become a better person the person that rejects humor that rejects the rebuke of humor is going to be a bad person the person that embraces the humor embraces the joke that is going to bless the person the bible says, he that rebuked the man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue when you're stupid you should want your friends to make fun of you you know what you don't want your friends to do when you're stupid they're just like, you're just such a good guy I can't believe those people that made fun of you they're so mean I'm telling you what if someone's stupid you should hope that your friends make fun of you and when your friends make fun of you you should say thank you and laugh with them rather than just having this really bitter attitude, bristle at it and just get so offended and be like, I just want to be around people that just tell me I'm great all the time that person hates you that person's not your real friend they're just flattering you thank you Heavenly Father for the word of God thank you for laughter thank you for humor thank you for allowing us to just be able to make fun of ourselves at the stupidity that we have and I pray instead of getting offended at jokes that we would just embrace the truth of the jokes we would consider the content and the character, but when we realize the joke is true we just affix it we don't get so offended that we are able to enjoy our lives and laugh about the silly things and laugh about the foolish things and not look at it as this just mean evil wicked spirit because we know that you laugh we know that you mock we know that you ridicule the fools of this world and I pray that God's people would get a sense of humor and they would realize the benefit and the blessing of the rebuke of humor in Jesus' name we pray, Amen Amen, let's go ahead and sing one more song before we dig into that chili there we'll say a prayer right after the song I believe there might be a meeting too two hundred and fifty-nine Jesus saves song two hundred and fifty-nine song two fifty-nine Jesus saves we have heard the joyful sound Jesus saves Jesus saves there'll be tidings all around Jesus saves Jesus saves bear the news to every land find the sleeves to cross the waves awkward tears our Lord's command Jesus saves Jesus saves often on the rolling tide Jesus saves Jesus saves tell Jesus there's more and more Jesus saves Jesus saves sing the islands of the sea echo back the ocean caves earth shall keep virgin living Jesus saves Jesus saves sing above the battle's dive Jesus saves Jesus saves highest death and endless life Jesus saves Jesus saves sing his humbly good with the harm for mercy praise sing in triumph for the tomb Jesus saves Jesus saves give the winds a mighty voice Jesus saves Jesus saves let good nations now rejoice Jesus saves Jesus saves shall salvation pull and free highest hills and deepest caves this our song of victory Jesus saves