(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.) Tell me the story most precious, the sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels before us, sang as they welcomed his birth. Glory to God in the highest, peace and good tidings to earth. Tell me the story of Jesus, light on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, the sweetest that ever was heard. Fasting alone in the desert, tell of the days that are past. How for since he was sent in, yet was triumphant and past. Tell of the years of his labor, tell of the sorrow he bore. He was despised and afflicted, hopeless, rejected and bored. Tell me the story of Jesus, light on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, the sweetest that ever was heard. Tell of the cross where they nailed him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of the grave where they laid him, tell how he lived at the end. Loving that story so tender, liver than ever I see. Stay, let me weep while you whisper, love bring the ransom for me. Tell me the story of Jesus, light on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious, the sweetest that ever was heard. Oh, worship the King, the glorious of love, and gratefully sing his power and his love. Hark, share with me, paper, the ancient of grace. Oh, let us explain the great burden with grace. Oh, tell of his life and sing of his praise. Whose love is the light? Whose hand hath he placed? The mysterious, the bright, the deep thunder clouds more, and our news is well on the way to us. The storm, I bout him for care. But something beside me bleeds in the air, it shines in the light. It streams from the hills in peace and stills of pain, who rise beneath his hills in the fair land of pain. Prail, children of God, we all astray. We need you, Jesus, Lord, find it in him. By your seas, I'll take her, I'll come to the end. I'll be her, be her, be her, be her, and pray. Have you a heart that's weary, tending a load of care? Are you a soul that's seeking rest from the burden you bear? Do you know, my Jesus, do you know, my friend? Have you heard he loves you, and that he will lie till the end? Where is your heart, oh, pilgrim? What does your light reveal? Who hears your call for comfort? Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. Thank you all for coming. Looks like most of us are already sitting down. So for those who aren't sitting down yet, go ahead and find a seat. And once you've found a seat, go ahead and open up a hymnal. We're going to start in song number 180. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Song number 180. Song 180. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Let's sing it out together on the first. There will never be a space for me, Story of the Savior's lovely mind, Love that rotted from the ground before me, To save a sinful soul like mine. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, Love, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me, Countless as the universe around me, Reaching to the farthest soul away, Stating, keeping love with what's around me, That is what my heart can surely say. Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me, One hundred and eighty on the last, Love beyond our human comprehending, Love of God who tries to carry me, This will be my name in ever-ending, Pray for me in love of Calvary, Isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful, wonderful, Oh, isn't the love of Jesus something wonderful? Wonderful it is to me. Let's sing it, everybody. Let's go ahead and bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this church. We thank you for everyone that's gathered here. We ask, Lord, that you bless everyone that's gathered here with the Spirit, Lord. We ask that you fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit so that he can preach to us an edifying sermon so we can walk out better Christians, and we came in for your honor and for your glory. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Alright, next up we have song number 67, The Pearly White City. This song has some interesting timing, so make sure you watch me. At the end of the verse, we're going to hold out for a minute, come in nice and slow on the chorus, and then we're going to speed up again when we come back into the verse. Just watch me on that timing. There's a holy and beautiful city whose builder and ruler is God. John saw it descending from heaven, with pathos in exile he saw his high mass in knowledge of Jasper. The city itself is pure gold, and when my present year is folded, my eyes shall its glory behold. In that white city, early white city, I have a vision, a heart and a crown. Now I am watching, waiting and longing for the white city to come. No sin is allowed in that city, and nothing defiling or mean. No pain and no sickness can enter, no creep on the door knob is seen. Where sorrows and cares are forgotten, no tempter is there to adore, no parting words ever are spoken, there's nothing to hurt or destroy. In that white city, early white city, I have a vision, a heart and a crown. Now I am watching, waiting and longing for the white city to come. No heartaches are known in that city, no tears ever moist in the eye, there's no disappointment in heaven, no envy and strife in the sky. The saints are all sanctified holy, they live in sweet harmony there. My heart is now set on that city, and someday its blessings I'll share. In that white city, early white city, I have a vision, a heart and a crown. Now I am watching, waiting and longing, for the white city to come. My loved ones are never begun, my friends who are passing away, and soon I shall join their bright numbers, and dwell in eternity's name. There's faith now in glory with Jesus, their trials and battles are past, they overcame sin and the tempter, they reached that great city at last. In that bright city, early white city, I have a vision, a heart and a crown. Now I am watching, waiting and longing, for the white city that's soon coming down. Excellent singing. Thank you for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you didn't already get a bulletin and you would like one, you can just lift up your hand nice and high and come down and get one of our ushers will come by and grab you a bulletin, so just keep up your hand real quick. On the front we have our Bible memory passage, Matthew 28 verse 13, and if you can quote the entire chapter you can get a prize, but also if you can quote the verse of the week in your 18 and under there is a treat for those on our Wednesday night service. Inside we have our service times, our soul winning times. One note is Brother Illy's time that was meeting here at the church on Saturday afternoons is now going to be meeting in the North Dallas area. Instead of just meeting here, they are just going to meet in the North Dallas area and if you would like to participate, you can just message him or put a message out to one of our soul winning captains or lieutenants and we can get you in contact with them. Also down below is our church stats and we have been doing really good for February. Hopefully we can even do better than we did for January. We will just keep going. Also on the right we have our list of expecting ladies. We have upcoming events and we have our evangelist Fer and some other church members are going to be going on a cruise missions trip next week or this week. So make sure to be praying for them that everything will go smoothly. We are really looking forward. They are going to be traveling to several different destinations. They are going to be going to the Bahamas. They are going to be going to St. John and St. Thomas. So I am really excited to find out and hear about how that goes and what their experiences are like. Of course we have had so many people go to the Bahamas. We already know that is going to be a great spot but I am kind of interested to see what their experiences are like in St. John and St. Thomas as well. So be praying for them. Also there is a Spanish soul winning marathon that is going to be happening on March 8th. That is a Saturday. We will be meeting here in the morning and then we will go out for a couple hours of soul winning and we will also have lunch and go out in the afternoon as well. The areas that we are going to be targeting are going to be predominantly Spanish speaking areas. Of course because we are in Texas you can always run into people that speak English but the areas that we are going to be going are designed to be areas where there is mostly Spanish speaking individuals and so if you want to participate with us you can of course do so but if you don't speak Spanish you may not necessarily have the opportunity to preach the gospel very much. You might be a silent partner that day but of course you can still join us but it is going to be predominantly doing Spanish speaking. We have some flyers that we have made and we are going to be advertising a breakfast the following Sunday morning and encouraging people to come to our Spanish services and so that is just for you to know. If you do come to some of our Spanish services that might be a great service to show up for and to just participate and to help in. Also our kids choir is going to be practicing March 2nd. We have a spring recital happening March 22nd and so keep those dates in mind. A couple church reminders there below. On the back we have our prayer list. That is pretty much all I have as far as announcements are concerned. We will go ahead and sing our third song which is in our binders. It is actually a hymn that I wrote. It is a pretty simple hymn. It is called Where the Spirit Blows. It should be probably the last one in your binder. Brother Rich is going to give us some instruction. Where the wind blows. All right. Where the Spirit Blows. I want to hear those go, go, goes. On the last of the chorus on the go I want to hear it real loud. We will go. On the first. Overland is deep. Red, black and white. Sweet in his sight. Where the Spirit blows we will go, go, go, go. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Yellow and brown to every town. Not just the Jews. Let's go and choose. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Go, go, go. Where the Spirit blows we will go. We are going to speed it up a little bit on the third. These three are one. Holy Trinity always with me. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Go, go, go. Where the Spirit blows we will go. We are sin bound, sin crushed and bound. But He arose, crushing our clothes. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Go, go, go. Where the Spirit blows we will go. On the last. He feels the lame. Call on His name. Faithful of saves. Empties the grave. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Go, go, go. Where the Spirit blows we will go. Excellent singing everybody. If you would like to see the offering place or going around would you please turn your Bibles to Romans chapter number one. Romans chapter number one. Romans chapter number one. Romans one the Bible reads Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an apostle separated under the gospel of God which he had promised for by his prophets and the holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for his name among whom are he also the called of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome beloved of God called to be saints grace to you in peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ first I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world for God is my witness whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his son that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers making request if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you for I long to see you that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift to the end ye may be established that is that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me now I would not have you ignorant brethren that oftentimes I purpose to come unto you but was let hither to that I might have some fruit among you also even as among other Gentiles I am deader both to the Greeks and to the barbarians both to the wise and to the unwise so as much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth to the Jew first and also to the Greek for therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith as it is written the just shall live by faith for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all godliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath showed it unto them for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened professing themselves to be wise they became fools and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man and to birds and four footed beasts and creeping things wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts to dishonor their own bodies between themselves who changed the truth of God into a lie and worshipped and served the creature more than the creator who was blessed forever amen for this cause God gave them up unto vile affections for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature and likewise also the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another men with men working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet and even as they did not like to attain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness maliciousness full of envy murder debate deceit malignity whisperers backbiters haters of God despiteful proud boasters inventors of evil things disobedient to parents without understanding covenant breakers without natural affection implacable unmerciful who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them let's bow our heads forward to prayer Father in Heaven I pray that you bless all aspects of this morning's sermon fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit enable him to preach the message you've laid on his heart with boldness and with clarity of mind and help us Lord to apply this sermon to our lives give us ears to hear we love you and in Jesus name I pray Amen. Amen. I want to look back at verse 29 just the last word the Bible says whispers backbiters haters of God that's the title of the sermon this morning is whispers backbiters haters of God now in Romans chapter 1 towards the end of the chapter the Bible is contrasting the saved with the reprobate those that are the righteous those that are the wicked and the evil and as it kind of describes these people towards the end of this chapter it gives us a long list of all kinds of things that the wicked do of course it's talking about in verse 29 being filled with all unrighteousness so every sin everything you could think of that's wicked or against God reprobates are doing they're being filled with they're constantly guilty of doing these things but look at chapter 2 verse 1 for a second therefore thou art inexcusable o man whosoever thou art that judges for wherein thou judges another thou condemnest thyself for thou that judges doest the same things chapter 2 verse 1 explains that even though reprobates are guilty of this laundry list of things that we've just read about also many people that are not reprobate are also guilty of these same sins we don't want to necessarily say only a reprobate would commit these type of sins or guilty of these type of actions no unsaved people can commit these sins that are just normal and even saved people can commit many of the sins on this list and so we don't want to limit the scope of these sins just to the most evil reprobate people in society we have to understand that your flesh is capable of committing all the same sins as another unsaved flesh barring a few just strange things of course there's a few abominable things the Bible says even a normal person that's unsaved wouldn't do but being a whisperer being a backbiter and even potentially being a hater of God is something that virtually anybody is capable of being guilty of at some point in their life of despising the Lord or whispering or being a backbiter and really what I find in common with these three people is they all seem to be false accusers that could be another alternative title for this morning's sermon is just false accusers but you'll notice that that's really what these people are often guilty of in the Bible now go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3 go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3 it's almost like there's three kind of categories of false accusers you've got whisperers you've got backbiters and you've just got haters of God and all these people just love to bring false accusation on a regular basis and the Bible warns about false accusers especially in the end times the Bible says as you get closer to the end times and you're in the end times false accusations are going to abound look at verse number 3 here about natural affection, truce breakers, false accusers the Bible warns that in the latter days there should be perilous times meaning dangerous and why is it dangerous because there's so many false accusers in this world now go to Titus just turn to the right just a hair Titus chapter 2 look at verse number 3 the Bible is talking about the aged women being older women saying the aged women likewise that they be in behavior as becometh holiness older ladies are to have good behavior so as to motivate and encourage the younger women to also have good behavior and then the Bible gives us a big list here of some of the things that they are to do and not to do as we keep reading it says as the first one what is the first one not false accusers it's just saying like hey women need to be in good behavior what is just number one what is just the first thing being brought up that women should not be is a false accuser because it's just so common it's just so prevalent in society that women are false accusers and not just young women older women as well the aged women being false accusers and then encouraging young women to follow in like suit of being a false accuser of being a gossip of a busy body a settler going after the working of Satan as the Bible describes and you know it's not just reprobates that are false accusers it's not just normal unsaved people it's even Christians sometimes can be guilty of being a slander of being a false accuser go to 1 Peter chapter number 3 go to 1 Peter chapter 3 if you study your Bible if you just read the book of Psalms one time just read the book of Psalms one time you'll notice this giant theme in the book of Psalms it's how the men of God are constantly being lied about and falsely accused I mean it is just every chapter almost just over and over how the enemies are resting his words and lying and deceit and dissembling and fraud I mean there's just a laundry list of synonyms for just being a liar or a slanderer or a railer or just false accuser, dissembler, flatterer I mean you just have like so many different ways of describing just the same sin over and over and you have to think about it why because they're being influenced by the devil what is the devil's hallmark what is the devil who is he? He is the father of lies you have to understand that our world is truth versus lies the only truth in this world is the King James Bible is the word of God and the lies of this world abound and they're coming from the father of lies the devil and so this world is just filled with just lies and truth and we have to understand where the truth is coming from is from this book and the lies are coming from everything outside of this book coming from the devil who wants to get you off of this book 1 Peter chapter 3 look at verse 13 the Bible says and who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good but and if you suffer for rights and the sake happy are you and be not afraid of their terror neither be troubled but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks of you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear having a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evil doers they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ for it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well doing than for evil doing for Christ also hath once suffered for sins the just for the unjust so here in this passage it's bringing up this concept that if you serve God if you are a Christian if you're doing that which is right people will falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ and the word conversation is kind of a hard word for me I often just kind of struggle because I'm always thinking about we just conversating having a conversation talking to one another but it's a little bit older meaning is just your behavior in general it's just kind of your conduct and your behavior and so it's saying they're falsely accusing your good behavior your good conduct so you're doing things that are good and then they're going to falsely accuse you I want you to think about that for a minute though they're not accusing you or saying evil of you for the things that you're doing they're falsely accusing you so you're going to church you're reading your Bible you're going soul winning they're going to then make up false accusations because you're going to church reading your Bible but they're not going to sit here and criticize necessarily hey you go to church hey you read your Bible they're going to bring up something that's not true they're going to falsely accuse you of something that's not really happening and then they're going to attack you and so you shouldn't be shocked when someone just makes up a random lie about you that has no basis in truth because you are serving God if you serve God if you have a good conversation if you're trying to avoid alcohol if you're trying to avoid drugs if you're trying to avoid the party scene if you're trying to live a clean life if you're trying to just be faithful to your spouse and raise children and go to church and read the Bible and you're trying to go soul winning and you're trying to just do good at your job people will come out of the woodwork and they'll just make up all manner of lie and false accusation and crazy rumors about you and let me just tell you it is jarring it is absolutely jarring and dumbfounding when it happens you can't even believe it and for the vast majority of my life for the vast majority of my life I don't really remember I'm sure it happened occasionally I don't really remember people making just wild false accusations about me I mean just going up going to public school playing golf going to college living my normal life working at the workplace I don't remember people just constantly lying about me and saying all kinds of things and I'm sure it did happen occasionally I'm sure there was always you know issues and stuff but it's pretty minor but I'll tell you when I started serving God it's just like all of a sudden just people just out of the woodwork family friends all kinds of just saying the most insane things I've ever heard in my life that have no basis in reality and it's really it's really disturbing it's emotionally draining sometimes because when you're just falsely accused you just want to exonerate yourself you want to make sure that they are taking a task you want to make sure that they take it back you want to make sure that you're proven right you want to make sure that people don't believe the lies about you and it's just a really grievous thing it's a really frustrating thing no one likes it and I just want to prepare you that if you serve God this will happen to you who would say hey since getting serious about church someone just came out of the woodwork and just made a crazy lie up about me yeah look all over the room you're not the only one people just randomly make crazy lies up about you and you're just thinking like I don't even get it I don't even understand where this is coming from it's coming from your good conversation in Christ it happens to everyone that serves God and serves Christ yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution go to Matthew 5 for a moment go to Matthew chapter 5 and notice that Jesus brings this up you have to realize that for the most part you know when you're just serving the devil people kind of leave you alone sometimes in fact they might even encourage you in serving the devil but boy when you start serving God now the false accusations are going to roll out now you're basically going to be a target for demonization Matthew chapter 5 look what it says in verse number 10 blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your ward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you now if you actually just pay attention throughout the Bible you'll notice that the great men of God are constantly being lied about and there's no basis of reality whatsoever people like Jeremiah who preached really hard against the children of Israel they constantly accused him of being a traitor they constantly accused him of falling to the Chaldeans and being this basically double spy and having been like this evil conniving person that's trying to destroy them when in fact he's just a messenger of God trying to deliver them he actually loves them and he cares greatly for them Hosea is lied about you see all kinds of different Amos is lied about Joseph is lied about Jesus Christ they bring him before Pilate and they say you know what has he done wrong he's like well if you're not we're not a malefactor we would have not brought him unto you but it's like was Jesus a malefactor no they accused him of trying to overthrow the Roman government was he trying to do that no they tried to accuse him of destroying buildings was he doing that no so they're just going to bring up all kinds of just crazy wild conspiracy theory strange things against men of God on a regular basis Naboth lied about Joseph lied about I mean you just pick somebody in the Bible and they're basically just lied about you know Moses is being accused of being in confederate with God to drag them out in the wilderness to cause them to just be destroyed we're not graves in Egypt you know it's like you just brought us out of this wilderness you know to kill us to slay us and stuff like that it's like Moses delivered you out of captivity I mean he delivered you out of your prison in Egypt and now you're falsely accusing him of his his good conversation in Christ that he loves the Lord and that and that's what's so funny is people will take people that are doing something good for the Lord they go to church they love their family they're doing right they're going soul winning and then they just have to hate on them and really it's just their problem it's their fault go if you would to Psalm 41 go to Psalm 41 so we talk about false accusers though they come in different shapes and sizes they have different motives and even though whispers and back fighters in my mind are just really similar like it's really a pretty similar concept I think there's a little bit of nuance to them and we can see some different motivations in there and when we really look at a whisper one of the things that the Bible brings up and we'll get there in a moment but is the concept of how they want to just essentially destroy friendships that is kind of like one of their main goals is what a whisper does now in Psalm 41 just look at verse 7 first all that hate me whisper together against me against me do they devise my hurt the book of Psalms is a great book because not only does it have application for us but it's often talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and we know about the Lord Jesus Christ that there was many people constantly whispering against Jesus and trying to conspire against him and they ended up destroying him and so you have parallels of the psalmist talking about Jesus you have parallels of the psalmist talking about himself and even David he had his enemies whispering about him Saul Saul is a whisperer Saul is one who's saying things in private to his servants about how he wants to kill David and he wants to slay David and so he's going around whispering and he wants people to not be friends with David he wants Jonathan to not be friends with David and we see Saul exhibiting this attribute of whispering in some parts of his life and you have to understand if Saul can do it any saved person can do it Saul was anointed king by God Saul was considered humble in his own sight little in his own sight he was greatly used by God at one portion of his life so that tells me that any person could become a Saul at any point and anybody could become a whisperer at any point and whisperers are not someone that is friendly whisperers are hateful did you notice what it said all that hate me whisper together notice a word in this in this verse all did you notice that word Calvinist all every single person that hates him whispers every single person that hate is hateful is whispering about them so you should basically just realize people that are whisperers are hateful they're hateful people don't allow them to deceive you and make you think oh no this is a friendly kind good person but I know they're whispering about this other person no no a whisperer is hateful and you should be aware of whisper when someone comes and wants to whisper in your ear about someone else just realize they're a hateful person and just realize they'll whisper about you as soon as you're not looking as soon as you're not around and really you have to just realize some people just want to watch the world burn some people just want to watch the world burn and this is often what a whisper is like is they're just going around just they're a destructive force and they just want to destroy anything and everything they're jaded they're upset they're envious they have their own prideful issues and so they just want to watch the world burn that's called the devil folks the devil is not content just going to hell by himself he wants to watch the world burn with him he wants to drag down as many people with him as possible and this is a satanic attribute that people that are on their way down want to drag as many people down with them as possible and they want to burn everything in their sight they want to pull a zimrai and say well I can't have the kingdom no one can let's just burn everything down with me now this psalm is actually a great song I want to read a little bit of it and then we're going to we're going to move on but it says in verse one blesses he that considered the poor the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive and he shall be blessed upon the earth and that will not deliver him under the will of his enemies the Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing that will make all his bed and his sickness I said Lord be merciful unto me heal my soul for I have sinned against thee now a couple of things to point out number one if you want to be delivered from your enemies help poor people and that I mean that's kind of what it's saying now of course when you help people you don't want to let your left hand know your right hand do if you want to do your arms in secret and you want to do good and bless people but you know just people that are just generally going out of their way to help poor people considering them and doing things for them these are the people that are constantly see being delivered and we won't know that's why they're delivered but the Bible tells us that's why they're delivered right verse number four though also we see that the psalmist says five sinned against the this is not a perfect guy I'm so glad I read verses like this I'm so glad that I read verses where I realize hey the psalmist is also not perfect because you know what I'm not perfect and sometimes I sin and sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes I screw up and sometimes I'm not right with God and you know what we're supposed to do get right with God hey when you sin go back to the Bible go back to church go back out soul winning you know one of the best cures for getting out of a backslid nature or if you're sinning too much is to go soul winning I mean I've heard some people criticize saying if you're too sinful stop going soul winning that's the worst advice the best advice is start doing spiritual things you just just immediately start walking in the spirit and try to realize the whole point of your life I mean the woman at the well is in a pretty simple condition but then she immediately just drops her water pot goes and tells a whole bunch of people about Jesus and helps a lot of people get saved I mean that's a great move she shouldn't have been like I need to wait to stop being sinful for a while before I can tell anybody about Jesus no she just went out there and told a bunch of people about Jesus and you know what you often find is that when you start serving God it feels good and so it just encourage you to keep walking in the spirit more anyways OK but there's nothing wrong with walking in the spirit at any point in your life OK that would be a silly idea to say like you need to wait to start serving God no serve God right now just just make a change just repent right now and start reading your Bible going to church whatever it is just make a change verse 5 says this mine enemies speak evil of me when shall he die and his name perish notice that they are just not content with this person existing they just want him to die they're just ready for him to perish verse 6 and if he come to see me he speaketh vanity his heart gathers iniquity to itself when he goeth abroad he telleth it so this guy is just going around just dreaming things up gathering iniquity he goes everywhere and just tells everything everything he says is just vain and meaningless says verse 7 all that hate me whisper together against me against me do they devise my hurt so they're plotting they're not just whispering they're plotting they're thinking how can I destroy this person how can I hurt this person how could I do them some evil and they devise something and then they start whispering and spreading lie and spreading gossip and spreading whatever because they just want to hurt this person verse 8 an evil disease say they cleaveth fast unto him and now that he lieth he shall rise up no more so it's like this guy is down I mean you kind of get a good picture the psalmist has sinned and the psalmist is at a weak point they're kind of at a low point because he's lying down and they're saying oh he's down he's never going to get back up and we can't wait for him to die and they have they're just going around saying all kinds of evil against him they're kicking him while he's down verse 9 yea mine own familiar friend in whom I trusted which did eat of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me boy I'll tell you it just really hurts when people lie about you that you thought were your friend and not that you thought were your friend that just was your friend I'm saying you hung out with this person you broke bread with this person you did activities with this person you went to church with this person and then they just lift up their heel against you it just it's a special kind of cruel punishment it's a special kind of evil to hurt people that you were friends with verse 10 but thou O Lord be merciful unto me and raise me up that I may requite them so he's saying hey God heal me make me better so that I can repay them that's what he's saying that I can requite them by this I know that thou favors me because mine enemy does not triumph over me and as for me thou upholdest me in mine integrity and set me before thy face forever blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting amen and amen so again the psalmist is not perfect we already saw that but at the same time he still has righteousness did you notice that it says in verse number 12 and as for me thou upholdest me in mine integrity so again no one's gonna be perfect we're all gonna have sin we're all gonna make mistakes but there's the guy that's actually still sincerely pursuing the Lord that's the just man that falls seven times that's rising up again and then there's the guy that just simply is sinning and doesn't care he's presumptuous in his sin he's presumptuous in his rebellion he's adding iniquity to his rebellion and you know that's a different kind of person and the Lord is going to hear those that are of a contrite and broken spirit and are trying to serve God and recognizing their need for his grace and humility and there's the person that doesn't care that they sin they don't think God's gonna punish them and let me tell you something that the person that is humble God will show grace unto and the froward person God will show himself froward unto that person as well when you're a contrary person go over to Proverbs chapter 16 Proverbs chapter 16 but let me tell you something whispers are evil wicked people they are not your friend you should just immediately think wow I don't want to be your friend if you're gonna whisper to me about other people and it's just an easy temptation because this is what typically happens a lot of times people will come and whisper to you about someone that you already don't like it's really easy to hear whisperings about people you don't like because in some cases your carnal flesh kind of just wants it to be true anyways you're just kind of like yeah I bet yeah of course that guy's bad yeah of course it's happening you know but we don't want to be around whispers because let me tell you something they're just not your friend what is the point of a whisperer well let's read look at verse 27 an ungodly man diggeth up evil and in his lips there is as a burning fire a froward man so is strife and a whisperer separateth chief friends so here's the thing the whisperer doesn't have friends you know why because he's a whisperer because he's hateful because he's a rotten person what does the bible say a man that hath friends must show himself friendly let me tell you something these whisperers aren't friendly type people but they'll just kind of flatter you a little bit and they're usually a light acquaintance but then they'll come around and they'll just whisper to you about someone else it is not that they want to be your friend they just want to destroy the friendship you have because they're envious of your friendship they're mad that you're closer to this person and that just irks the fire out of them they say i want to be this person's friend and i'm just mad that you're good friends with them so i just want to whisper so that y'all stop being friends their whole goal is just to destroy did you notice what it said in verse 27 it said in his lips there is as a burning fire let me tell you something you know what that is they just want to watch the world burn they want to burn friendships they want to burn relationships they want to burn marriages they want to burn families they want to burn churches they want to burn soul winners they want to burn the work of God they want to burn godly women they want to burn men that actually rule their household household. They want to burn democracy. They want to burn our presidency. They want to burn the constitutional republic. They would love to burn the constitution. And you know what? They'd love to burn this book while they're at it. And they'd love to burn everything that's godly and true and righteous. They would burn everything and we would just become a communist hellhole so fast. Because they just want to watch everything burn. And let me tell you something. We should stay away from whisperers because they are not good people. Go to Proverbs 26. You know who's a whisperer? Here's a whisperer in your Bible that you need to learn about. Her name is Delilah. Delilah is a whisperer. And Delilah is this evil, wicked woman. She's a whore too. She is a whore. And let me tell you something about Delilah. She does one of the most betraying, cruel things you can imagine to take Samson, who loves her, his secret, and to use that to attack him. And let me tell you something. It is evil and it is wicked to take private information of people and then give that to enemies to use against them. I mean, that is a Delilah move if I've ever seen one. And let me tell you something. In a military situation, you reveal secrets like that, you're going to kill people. And you know what? Delilah doesn't care. She's fine burning Samson and destroying Samson and harming Samson. And look, obviously Samson shouldn't have been in this type of relationship with this type of woman. But there's technically nothing wrong with Samson telling his wife or his spouse his secrets. But, you know, she's not really his wife and it's not really a good relationship. So by entrusting his secret to this woman, he was putting himself in a dangerous situation, wasn't he? But here's the thing. There's nothing stopping Delilah from just being a loyal person and just loving Samson back and saying, you know what? I would never reveal this secret. I would never use this information against you because I love you. But you know what? She doesn't love Samson. She's a whisperer and she's hateful. All that hate me, whisper. All that hate me, whisper. And of course she's going to whisper to the Philistines and whisper to her men of her country Samson's secret so they can use that to destroy him, so they can use that to harm him and hurt him. And let me tell you something. People that come to churches and use people's information against them are wicked and hateful. Take it to the bank. You say, I don't think that. I think that they're nice and kind. Well, you don't believe the Bible. I mean, imagine reading the story of Samson to Delilah, one of you single guys, and then you come up to me and say, hey, I was thinking about dating this girl named Delilah. What do you think? I'd be like, bro, she's hateful. No, no, no. She just did that to him. She wouldn't do that to me. Oh yes, she would. Yeah, she would. And let me tell you something. You know, people think like, oh, I know they burned you, Pastor Shelley. And I know they lied about you, Pastor Shelley. And I know they're attacking our church, Pastor Shelley, but they wouldn't do that to me. You are so full of it. You just don't believe the Bible. Because let me tell you something. The whisper is a whisper to everybody. And you know what? The only reason they won't whisper about you is because apparently you don't have a good conversation in Christ. Because if you have a good conversation in Christ, they will falsely accuse that. They will attack you. And let me tell you something. You should get away from a Delilah, from a whisperer. What does Proverbs 26 say in verse 23? Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. Hey, there's that burning lips again. What's the point? They just want to watch things burn, folks. It says in verse 24, he that hateth, dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him. You know what dissembl means? Lies about it. He's fake. You're not ever going to catch one of these haters or whisperers just being honest with you. You're not going to say like, hey, why did you whisper? Because I'm a hateful piece of crap. Because I'm Delilah. They're like, I didn't do that. It's like, wow, I caught them lying and then I asked them if they were lying and they said they weren't. I'm like, some people's logic. I'm just thinking like, what do you mean? You mean, you mean you caught Bill Clinton with Monica Lewinsky and then you asked him on national television and he said, I did not have sexual relations with that woman. I mean, what, what man in here would say that if Bill Clinton did to Monica Lewinsky, he did that to your daughter and you asked him, hey, did you have sexual relations with my daughter? He said, no, you would think that was honest. You would think that was true. I mean, come on. Oh, this guy doing this evil thing and we asked him if he did it and he said, I didn't do it. Look, I've caught people red handed with all the proof you could ever want in their life and say like, hey, all the facts prove that you did it. And they're like, I didn't do it because they're a liar. You just have to understand liars lie. You have to realize evil people will whisper and lie and do wrong. You can't just believe them. He that hated December with, with his lips were verse 25 when he speak it fair. How was he going to answer the question? Hey, we caught you lying. Oh, I love you. I would never do anything harmful to you. I love everyone. I love, I would never do anything evil. I just, you know, I just try to do good. I always try to do what's right. I just love justice and honor and integrity and I try to do everything that's good. You know, the whole congregation is holy. What does the Bible say? When he speak it fair, believe him not. That's what the Bible says. For there are seven abominations in his heart. This guy's worse than you think. Whose hatred is covered by deceit. His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. Somehow when you're just bubbling with hatred inside, it just ekes out eventually. You just get caught doing something that just doesn't, isn't consistent with love because when you just are filled with hate, it's going to confuse you and you're going to end up slipping up by saying something, doing something, acting a certain way. You just can't fake it for so long. You just can't fake it forever and eventually it comes out and then you just have to realize, Hey, this person is hateful. This person's not who they're acting to be. They're not, they're pretending to be something that they're really not. Says in verse 27, who so diggeth a pitch shall fall there in and he that roll the stone and will turn upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it. Did you read that again? A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it. When someone comes and whispers whatever about you, they hate you and they hate that person and they just want to harm you. And of course people want to go around. Why would someone want to whisper? You know why they want to whisper? Because they're afraid of someone else hearing and then saying, well, that's not true. Well, wait a minute. I don't think that that's accurate. And then actually trying to discover what the real truth is. They just want to come and tell you something and for you to not fact check it for you not think about it critically and to just believe lies and to allow things to just fester. And look I'll tell you there are evil, evil whisperers out there. Go to Psalm 15. Go to Psalm 15. I've known people. They just basically go around and they try to pit everyone against each other. Now even in my high school days this happened one time and it was kind of funny because I wasn't really directly involved but essentially I had a group of friends mostly because we all played golf together. And essentially there was three guys and I'm kind of like mainly friends with one but I'm kind of you know somewhat associated and friends with the other two guys. But you have friend A, B and C, alright? And friend A and B are really good friends. They're really close. They like each other. C is kind of on the outside. C isn't as close as A and B and you kind of know like, hey, he probably wants to be close. And I was hanging out with A and just me and A hanging out. C comes around and C says, hey, B's a piece of crap. You know, B's really bad. B's always talking trash on you to A. He's like trying to tell A like he's not really your friend. He doesn't really like you and all this. I'm just thinking like, whoa, I've never heard this before. Then I'm hanging out with B and then C comes around. And C comes around and says, hey, A doesn't like you, B. And he's talking crap on you and he's doing all this stuff. And I'm thinking like, wait a minute, you know, something fishy about this. So then I got A and B together because I just happened to be that ear just kind of hanging around. And I said like, hey, this guy's saying you both are talking trash to each other. I've never seen it. I've never heard it. I don't think this is true. And they were like, yeah, this isn't true. This person just wanted to destroy their friendship so that he could insert himself or do something. And let me tell you something, that happens all the time where people will just come around and let's just try to tell, hey, so and so doesn't like you or say an evil about you. And they're just trying to break up your friendship and ruin your friendship. And let me tell you something, when you're upset with somebody, if you are not friends with somebody, just go to the person, please. Just go to the person and just say, hey, I'm upset about this because sometimes it's based on misconceptions. Sometimes it's based on things that aren't true. Sometimes it's based on things that are true and you want it to change or be fixed, but they're not going to fix it until you address it with them. Say, hey, I saw you do this or act like this or you're doing something that I don't like. I want to be your friend, but you need to change or you need to do this differently. And then maybe you could actually repair that relationship. But you know what you shouldn't do is take information about this person and then go whisper about them and lie about them and exaggerate and try to destroy their friendships and get mad at them, even if they don't want to be your friend. It's evil. It's wicked. It's satanic. We don't want to be a whisperer. Of course, a similar thing is being a backbiter. This is brought up in Psalm 15. Look at verse number one. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue. Notice the person that's going to be in church, the person that's serving God is the person that's not backbiting with their tongue. Now, when we think about a backbiter, it's really kind of supposed to give you an image, right? Now, of course, these people aren't literally biting you on the back unless it's Mike Tyson or something, okay? They're not going to necessarily literally bite you. But why are they biting you? Because they hate you. Because they want to harm you. Why is it on the back? Because they don't want to be confronted on the issue. They don't want you to fight back for yourself. They don't want you to defend yourself. So they do it when you're not looking. They try to harm you from behind. So they're just kind of a coward and they're kind of an evil person. And really, what they are, if you think about it, is two-faced. Because to your face, they're not going to hurt or harm you. But as soon as your back is to them, they'll bite you right away. So they act one way and then they totally flip on a dime. Now, here, it's a warning about people being backbiters. What should we be? We should be in verse 2, the person that speaks the truth in his heart. There's nothing wrong with telling your friend or telling people they did something wrong, right? I mean, there's nothing wrong with just saying, like, hey, I don't like this. There's nothing even wrong with just saying, I don't like you. But you know what's not good? It's saying, I like you. And then, I don't like him. I don't like him. Hey, I like you. Hey, you're cool. Hey, he's really, I hate him. I don't like him at all. That's being a backbiter. If you don't like someone, just say, like, hey, I don't really like you. Sorry. You know, I like that person way more. You know, I can be friends with someone that doesn't like me. I cannot be friends with someone that's a backbiter. Because you know what? I'm fine with people just being honest, people being truthful, just saying, hey, I just don't like you, or I don't like this, or I'm, I don't, just be an honest person. You know what? We're all sinners, but you don't have to be a lying scumbag. You don't have to be a backbiter. Okay? None of us are perfect. We all have sin, but let me tell you something I'm not as a backbiter. If I talk negatively about somebody, let me tell you something, I would say it to their face. If you hear me criticizing someone, just know for a fact that I would tell them to their face. And just know that I have no problem with them hearing what I have to say about them. That should be your litmus test. If you're going to talk negatively about someone, you should be willing to say it to their face. Okay? And if you're not, then you're a backbiter is what you are. Okay? There's nothing wrong with saying like, I don't like Joe Biden. Because if Joe Biden was here, I was like, I don't like you. I might even explain it in more gratuitous language. Okay? But at the end of the day, I'm not going to go around and say like, I love you. You're so awesome. I love how you sniff children. You know? So great. No, no, no. I'm going to say you're an evil pedophile. Get away from me. Okay? And I don't have an opportunity to tell him to his face. So it's not like I'm trying to be a coward and not telling him. I just don't have the opportunity. Okay? But there's nothing wrong with saying you don't like someone. There's nothing wrong with saying you disagree with something. But what's wrong is being a backbiter about it, where you're dishonest to them in person, where you lie to people about it, and then you bite them in the back later. That is being evil. That is being wicked. Or just lying about people, of course. You can say you don't like someone. That's not necessarily lying. But you shouldn't just make up lies about them because you don't like them. Go over to Psalm 55. Go to Psalm 55 and we'll see another passage on this. You know, you should be very careful with anybody that appears to be backbiting. If you notice someone is saying something about someone to you, but then when they're around that person, they're acting completely different, that's a dangerous person. I've seen this in my life. I've worked at a company where I had a coworker. He would just talk mad trash about our boss. He would say, our boss is an idiot. He's dumb. He doesn't know what he's doing. I have no respect for him. He's saying this just verbatim. I kid you not, 20 minutes later, we walk into the office just back from lunch and he's just like, hey, everybody, I just want to make an announcement to the group. I just want to say how much I appreciate our boss and how much I love him and respect him and think he's great. And I'm thinking like, I've never even seen someone do this ever. Even when they did love the boss, like just this random announcement to the rest of the people about how much they love him. But especially 20 minutes after just telling me how much he hates the boss. That's a dangerous person. That's a wicked person. It's insane, but people are like that. I just couldn't even believe it. I was just thinking like, what in the world is wrong with you? If you don't like the boss, just keep your mouth shut. But don't go around singing his praises when I know it's fake because then I know you're fake. Psalm 55, verse 12, for it was not an enemy that reproach me. Then I could have borne it. Neither was it he that hated me, that did magnify himself against me. Then I would have hid myself from him, but it was thou a man, mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together and walked under the house of God in company. You have to understand that we typically think of all these bad people as being like people on the outside or protesters or the reprobates or something. This is not a reprobate. I mean, it might be. I'm just saying it's not someone that we just obviously recognize as a reprobate. This is not somebody that is just on the outside. This was somebody that was on the inside. Now, of course, they could have been a Judas and I think that's what's being alluded here. So don't hear me wrong. Yeah, he probably was a rep in this situation, but not everybody that's a backstabbing traitor is always a reprobate either. It can be another Christian. It could just be a Delilah. It could be a King Saul who's just trying to exact revenge on you and try to take advantage of you. But let me tell you something. Boy, it is just a special kind of hurt when it's somebody that you hung out with, you've counseled with, you've done good things unto, and then boy, they just come out of nowhere and attack you. What does the Bible say in verse 15? Let death seize upon them. That's extreme. But let me remind you, 1 Corinthians 5 is about saved people and what does the apostle Paul say? To deliver such one unto the devil for what? For the destruction of the flesh. That is the same thing that's being described here. Let death seize upon them and let them go down. Of course, this one's a reprobate Judas and let them go down quick into hell. In 1 Corinthians 5, it's a different story. It's like, let them die that the soul may be saved, that the spirit may be saved. So obviously, you can't stop someone from being saved. If someone's saved, they're saved. But you know what? When you do the same activity, when you do the same thing, you know what? Sometimes you get the same carnal punishment. You may not get the same eternal punishment, but you can get the same carnal punishment for having been a wicked, hypocrite, evil scumbag. You know what? It is a scumbag to go to church and then betray people in church. I mean, you're betraying Jesus. You're just being just an evil type of person. Look at verse 21 of this chapter. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter. When he speaketh fair, but what does it say? But war was in his heart. Again, this is why people get confused. They say, but I talked to them and it was smooth as butter. It was fair. They said all kinds of nice things. Yeah, but when you see the inconsistency in their action, just take it to the bank. There's war in their heart. War. And let me tell you something, there is war in some people's hearts. War. There is a conspiracy and a confederacy of people that have left our church to hate on me and to hate on our church and to drag people out of this church. And they are whisperers and they are backbiters. And let me tell you something, when they speak fair, when their words are smoother than butter, there is war in their heart. And you should believe them not. And they are not going to be your friend. They don't want to be your friend. They just want you to stop being my friend. And they want you to stop being friends with people in here. And they want you to just basically destroy yourself. And look, this is not a new concept. Some people would think like, oh, this just happened. This has happened ever since I started pastoring. If you've ever been to St. Vincent Baptist Church, we have a revolving door. We have 20 to 30 people leaving our church every six months. I mean, just basically we just have like 20 to 30 people just leaving our church, getting kicked out, all of the above, just like every six months, just every year, every six months. And then we have about like 40, 50 people joining our church every six months or whatever. So it's like somehow we just keep gaining. Like, you know, people will be like, oh, these people left the church. It's like, yeah, but we just somehow just keep getting people. And then it's like we keep growing somehow. I'm just thinking like we don't have any room. Like, can you all just, I mean, can all you fake people just leave already? I mean, I get up and scream it and yell it. I'm just thinking like, how do you go to a church when the guy's screaming for you to leave and then you just still want to just use information against them, release private information and then pretend like you love them? I mean, yeah, that would be like you going and saying, I think Delilah really loves Samson. That's a joke. That is a joke. They do not love them. There is a just satanic conspiracy theory against us. And you know what? I've noticed that almost all these people go to the same church and it's weird. Go over to Psalm 26, go to Psalm 26. There was a person, and look, I could tell you story after story after story. You wouldn't even probably believe all of that. It's insane. I'm going to share one. There was a person that came to our church back when we were in Samson Park, had a large family, would travel all the time and was really unstable with his family life. But I was going through like a personal issue and had some problems in my house. And so I just shared some information with people. This person knew. They were like, hey, can I help? And I'm like, no. And they're like, can I help? And I'm like, no. Can I help? And they're just so insistent that finally I just said like, fine, you can just show up and I can probably have you do something. What this person did that I didn't know at the time is they came and they took pictures of my house. All they did was just go around and covertly take a bunch of pictures of my house. And then they wrote a 42 page document, just the wildest story I've ever heard in my entire life, just accusing me of all kinds of just crazy nonsensical things that I've never could, you could never believe in a million years. And then they just email this out to all kinds of, there's emailing us out to every pastor friend of mine, to all kinds of church members, just all these kinds of people. And of course this person, then whenever they do this and I call them, won't answer the phone, won't talk to me, won't show up, just hides. Then every time, mysteriously, I would just visit Jacksonville or visit Oklahoma City, they would randomly just show up at the church and I have no chance to just confront this person, won't take a call. What am I even supposed to do about that? It's just super weird and super crazy and creepy. This person is evil. This person is an evil scumbag fraud dissembler. And then I realized, oh, this person still goes to church here and happens to go to church with lots of our ex members. But you know what? I don't want to go to church with a person like that. You know what the Bible says in Psalm 26 verse 23? Let's just read what the Bible says. I'm sorry, no. Yeah, Psalm 26, let's go to verse one for a second. All right? Judge me, O Lord, for I have not walked in mine integrity. I have trusted also the Lord, therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me, try my reins in my hearts, for thy loving kindness is before mine eyes and I have walked in thy truth. I have not sat with vain persons. Neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers and will not sit with the wicked. You know what? This verse motivates me as a pastor to root out dissemblers in our church because I refuse to go to church with people that are fake. I refuse to be in a church service with people that are going to lie and be a snake and be a gossip and be a whisperer and be a backbiter and just do evil unto people in this congregation. I refuse to do that. And you know what? People that want to leave our church want to go hang out with those people and go to church with those people. You know what? That's evil. And you know what? I don't care how big our church gets. I will not stop enforcing church discipline. I will not allow snakes and dissemblers and whisperers and backbiters to just hang out and be like a hiding place for them. And look, that is one person of many that are all confederate and going to the same place and hanging out. How do you want to go to church with that person? I don't want to go to the... Yeah, invite them over. Make sure they have their phone with them when they come over to your house. Oh, but that's cool because it happened to you. It wouldn't happen to me. You're just lying to yourself. You're lying to yourself. And look, that is just one story of all kinds of just crazy, insane, weird things that happen. And look, people are constantly joining our church so they don't know about the latest drama. There's not like a bulletin board with the most wanted list or something in our hallway. But let me tell you something. There is like a hundred people on our kicked out bad list of our church. There is a lot, a lot of people and it's taken time to accumulate. And then it's like they all go to a church together. It's like I don't want to go to that church. I mean, these are just some of the worst of the worst. And look, some people are not necessarily that bad, but at the end of the day, they get sucked into the lies of these people. They allow the whisperers and the backbiters to affect them evil and they go down with them. They go hang out with them. And they think like, oh, well, I didn't have any friends at steadfast. I heard people that criticize. People aren't friendly to me and people weren't charitable to me or whatever. It's like go hang out at fake Baptist church. Go hang out with Delilah and then tell me how great friends you have. It's all fake. It's a charade. They just want to whisper and they want to make you think, oh, there's all these magical, wonderful friends out there. Look, I've been in the old IFB. I've been in the non-denominational circles. I've been in all kinds of churches. I know what kind of friends are out there. And let me tell you something. The people in this room, it's not even close to the type of quality of people to hang out with. It is not even close, my friend. The people in this room are such high caliber. It is an honor to be a pastor of this church. It is a privilege to be a pastor of this church because I don't just pastor a good church. I pastor a great church, yay, arguably one of the best churches in the world. You say, what's a church? It's not the building. We don't have the best building. It's not the bank account. It's not the entity. It's not about the name. It's the people, folks. You know what makes you all so great? You know why I love you all so much? How much you want to get people saved. It's not your food preferences. I'm constantly trying to get you all on better food. It's not your sporting ideas. Look, golf's the best sport, folks. You guys need to learn. Do you think I even like baseball or softball? I just do it to hang out with you all because I like you all. There's so many things that I would love to fix and change, but you know what I wouldn't want to fix or change is your zeal for soul winning and your love for the loss and wanting to get people saved. And let me tell you something, there is a conspiracy theory to attack a good church all the time. Every single part in the Bible is just pointing to this. You know, don't let the whispers and backbiters get you down. And of course these people, they just cannot move on. It's so funny. They want to constantly say that we're a cult. And I'm like, look, these people are in way bigger of a cult than you could ever imagine. They're in the biggest hate cult and they cannot leave. And they listen to my sermon still. You know that and I know that. They tell you. They still listen to Pastor Anderson's sermons. These people that think I'm so bad and think Pastor Anderson's so bad, they listen to more of Pastor Anderson's sermons than I could ever wish to listen to. How does that even make sense? How can you not just move on with your life? And look, it's not like people that go to another church or just serve God in another way, I attack or do any evil to. I don't care. Here's a witness. How about Brother Evan? Evan goes and visits another church all the time. When have I ever attacked you or said anything negative about that? Have I ever said anything about you not going there or not visiting there? Never. You know why? Because I don't care. If you want to go serve God or visit another church or hang out with other people, praise God. In fact, I love the pastor of the church that he's been visiting. I talk to him and we're friends. Because you know what? I can be friends with people too. It's not like, oh, I'm friends with old IP people and you can't. I can still be friends with them too. Ha. But let me tell you something. You know, I'm not going to go to a church where everybody is just secretly recording me and doing all kinds of evil and just trying to harm people and whispering and backbiting and railing and be like, oh, look at this wonderful church. It's insane. It's insane. And you know what I know about that person that I'm talking about, the other pastor that I like? If I called him and said, hey, this person is secretly recording me and doing all this weird stuff, he wouldn't let that person go to their church. But the other person won't even take a call or an email or wouldn't even take five seconds to hear about the evil people in this church. In fact, the person wouldn't even let me just try to help them when they were going through a hard time. You know, it's evil to think like, hey, here's another brother in Christ. Here's another pastor that's being attacked. And I wouldn't even let, I wouldn't even hear them out. It's weird. It's weird, my friend. And let me tell you something. People cannot move on. And you know, there's all these haters online too. I don't really care about them that much, but it's so funny to me that they'll never stop and they'll constantly attack our church and try to get you to leave your church. They don't actually want you to go to their church. They'll say that. They'll say like, I never want you to come to my church, but they just want you to leave this one. They just want to burn you. Okay. And it's so funny to me that these haters, they can only get attention. They can only get views on their sermon. They can only get views on their documentaries if it's about the new IVB. If it's about Pastor Anderson, it's about the new IVB. Here's my challenge to all of you haters. Get attention that has nothing to do with the new IVB. One time. And you know who's someone that did that? How about Brother Dylan Oz? Brother Dylan Oz, who is just a layman. You know, they love to throw that term around. A layman, a lay guy, the laity. He preached a sermon that got millions, yay, billions of views online. And in fact, they were calling him a pastor. They thought he was more of a pastor than you pastors online that can't get any attention. I mean, you would probably pluck your own eye out if it would give you attention online and you can't even get it. So you just have to constantly talk about the new IV because that's the only attention you can get. I mean, you can make a documentary for six years and put tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars into a film, release a trailer, get a thousand views, then just put out a hit piece against the new IV, get 10,000 views in like a few days. It's like, why? It's because you're not good at getting attention and you're an attention whore. And so why do they attack the new IV? It's one reason I want attention today. I didn't get enough attention today. I got to talk about the new IV again. I need more attention, new IV again. And they're just going to keep hitting that button. They would hit any other button if they could get attention. I mean, if there was any other button that they could press, then they would just start pressing that button. They're like, they're a drug addicted junkie. And they're just, they're just like a monkey, just hitting the button, just giving them the shot of insulin or whatever, just giving them that little drug high. And they're just like, pastor, they wake up and they wake up in the morning and they're, they're just like so sad and have such a pathetic life. They can't just open the Bible and read the Bible that they're just like, as soon as they're done preaching their sermon, they're going to go online. I'm going to get the popcorn out. I'm going to go watch a sermon. Oh man, because they cannot go five seconds without getting their drug high of the new IV. And let me tell you why, because we're the only game in town folks. If there was something else that they want to listen to, they would listen to it. Why is it that every one of these other Baptist pastors has a YouTube channel and they're not getting tons of views? Why? Why is it that Pastor Anderson can start a YouTube channel and in one day have more views and more attention than anybody else? It's because he's preaching great sermons in the truth. Why is it that you can have 40,000 subscribers and upload a video and nobody cares? It's because you're not speaking the truth. Let me tell you something. The truth is powerful. Oh, but you know what? You're, you're in a cult. What's the cult? It's listening to pastor Shelley. Well, do you listen to pastor Shelley? Oh, you're in a cult. You listen to pastor Anderson. Do you listen to pastor Anderson? Hmm. Yeah. How do you like obsess about him? What? Who says about what? And look, let me tell you something. They're all envious of brother Dylan because he's a lay guy and got more views than them. So if they hate on brother Dylan and you know what, you know why Dylan got a bunch of views? Because he's a great preacher. He's a way better preacher than these losers, than these lane people. And look, we have other great preachers in our church. Brother Ben preaches good sermons. Brother Joe preaches good sermons. Brother Diego is a rising star, my friend. Look, he's getting more sermon, more views on his Spanish sermon just then these guys will get on their hottest, bestest sermon when they don't mention pastor Anderson. Of course they have to just mention bastards because they need attention. They will never stop because they need attention. They are an attention whore. It is like trying to get a meth addict to stop taking meth. They will never stop taking meth. They are psycho ex girlfriends. And you know, it's so funny that these haters are just so bad at preaching. I mean, look, you know who's great at preaching? Pastor Bruce Mia. Why does he get tons of great views and people are paying attention to him? Pastor Roger Jimenez, great preacher. You know, you look at YouTube, you know who can't be on YouTube? Pastor Jimenez, Pastor Mejia, Pastor Anderson and me. We just can't be on YouTube. It doesn't matter what we do, what we try. I mean, I try to explain this to people. I tried to explain this to Evangelist Fur. I'm like, I can't be on YouTube. He didn't even fully understand it. He just makes a random channel that has nothing to do with me. Phone numbers have nothing to do with me, whatever. And they just upload it just immediately gone. It's just like, yeah. And then, and then the people, you know, I can't have Facebook. I'm a known terrorist according to Facebook or whatever. You can't even put my name on anything. And this is so funny that haters would be like, oh, Pastor Shelley's hiding behind his anonymous account. I can't have an account. I'm not hiding. It's like me hiding. This is from Jonathan Shelley. Here's a video of my face on it. He's hiding. What are you talking about? I don't hide. You're the coward. You're the person that hides. You're the person that whispers. You're the backbiter. And you know what? Many of you are just the hater of God. Go over to Psalm 14. Go to Psalm 14. I have too much to say. Psalm 14, haters of God. Look at verse 1. The fool has said in his heart there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none that doeth good. You know who also wants to destroy our church? Faggots. Faggots and dykes. And you know what? It will be a cold day in hell when I'm on the same sideline as a bunch of faggots and dykes and freaks and witches and Satanists and God hating reprobates. It is going to be a cold day in hell. I don't care if I hate a Baptist church, if I despise everything about them, if they're right on the Gospel, you will never see me side with the evil, satanic works against that church. I mean, good night, the haters of God. Boy, when they're in your crowd, when they're your friends, you know you're on the wrong side. And boy, there is just some people, they're just so good at being on the wrong side every time. They're allergic to truth. And you just see them, it's just a bad take after bad take. It's just like they can't get anything right. And you know what? Those are the people you should stay away from. They can't get anything right whatsoever. Now I'm just going to give you a laundry list of verses before you end. If you want to keep up, you can. But I'm going to go through Psalms real quickly. And this is what I want God to do. I want God to punish the whisperers, the backbiters, and the haters of God. Now of course there's two categories here. There's obviously the same and the unsaved versions of this. But you know what? I believe God pours out the same carnal punishment on both. And I believe it's biblical because if you look at 1 Corinthians 5, the railers are supposed to be delivered unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. But this is what my prayer is going to be for these people. Psalm 3, verse 7, is that God would smite all mine enemies upon the cheekbone. I pray that God will break all the teeth of the ungodly. Psalm 5, 6, I pray that God is going to destroy them that speak leasing. Verse number 10, that God would destroy thou them, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels. Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions. I'm going to pray Psalm 6, 10, let all my enemies be ashamed and sore vexed. I'm going to pray Psalm 7, 16, let his mischief return upon his own head. I'm going to pray Psalm 10, 15, break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man. Seek out his wickedness till they'll find none. I'm going to pray Psalm 11, verse number 6, that God would rain snares, fire, brimstone, and a horrible tempest upon mine enemies. I pray Psalm 12, 3, that the Lord shall cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaketh proud things. I'm going to pray Psalm 17, verse 13, that says arise, O Lord, disappoint him, cast him down, deliver my soul from the wicked. I'm going to pray Psalm 18, verse number 40, which says thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me. I'm going to pray Psalm 25, verse number 3, where it says that God is going to let them be ashamed which transgress, notice this, without cause, without cause. I'm going to pray Psalm 28, verse 4, that God will give them according to their deeds and according to the wickedness of their endeavors. I'm going to pray that he gives them after the work of their hands and renders to them their dessert. I'm going to pray Psalm 31, verse 18, let the lying lips be put to silence which speak grievous things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. I'm going to pray Psalm 32, verse 18. I must have written that down. Psalm 31, verse 18, I already wrote that down. Verse 10, Psalm 32, verse 10. I'm going to pray that God brings many sorrows to the wicked. I'm going to pray Psalm 35, verse 1, that God would plead my cause and that he would fight against them that fight against me. Verse 4, that they would be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul and they'd be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt. Verse 5, that they would be as chaff before the wind and that the angel of the Lord chase them. I'm going to pray verse 6, let their way be dark and slippery and let the angel of the Lord persecute them. I'm going to pray verse 26 that says let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt. Let them be clothed with shame and dishonor that magnify themselves against me. I'm going to pray Psalm 37, verse 13, the Lord shall laugh at them. I pray that God would just laugh at these people. Verse 15, their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken. Verse number 17, the arms of the wicked shall be broken. I'm going to pray verse 28 that says for the Lord loveth judgment. I'm going to pray that God judges. I'm going to pray verse 36 which says, yea, he passed away and lo, he was not. I pray that I can't even find him. Verse 38, I'm going to pray that the transgressors shall be destroyed together and the end of the wicked shall be cut off. I'm going to go to Psalm 55 and I'm going to pray verse number 9 that says destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues for I've seen violence and strife in this city. Look, I could go on and on and on and on, but let me tell you something. This church is special. The work that we're doing is special. We are getting many people saved. Many people are making better decisions for their family, for their marriage, for their job, for their lives, for their eternity, and it's going to be a cold day in hell when I lay down and just take it. You know what? I'm going to pray to God. And look, I'm not going to fight these people myself. I'm not going to avenge myself. I'm not going to go after them the way they've gone after me. You know what I'm going to do? I'm just going to pray to the God in heaven that they apparently don't fear whatsoever that God will just deliver them unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. You know what? This church is important and the work of Christ is important and you doing nothing for God is meaningless anyways. And let me tell you something. You know what? I'm not going to lay down and just take it. You know what? I've never taken anything. I'm going to fight. I am steadfast. I am committed. I believe the Bible. And you know what? I love God. And you know what? The Bible says the prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And let me tell you something. You should be afraid to have me preaching against you. You should be afraid to have me praying against you and you should be terrified of the Lord God. It's a fearful thing to fall in the hands of the living God. And you know what? There's a curse upon people that would get thrown at a church for being a railing, lying, dissembling whispering backbiting hater of God. And let me tell you something. You should never want to be on that list. You should never want to be on that list. And look, I've seen some of the most evil horrible things happen to people that got thrown out of church or left church. The worst things you can imagine. I'm not even going to plant those ideas in your mind because they're so evil. Evil stuff. And you know what? I didn't pray that for them many of the times. I'm hoping that they would get restored. But let me tell you something. When you're going to attack my church, when you're going to whisper against us, when you're going to be a backbiter, when you're going to be a railer, you know what? You better realize I'm going to fight. You better realize I'm going to do something. Go to Psalm 24. Go to Psalm 24. And you know what? People that love church should have no fear coming to this church. People that love God should have no fear. People that love the truth should have no fear. But you know what? If you're a lying snake, gossip, dissembler, you should be terrified. You should be terrified. You know what's coming up soon? Easter. And we're going to have the Lord's Supper. And all the fake people, boy, I hope you show up. I hope you show up and I hope you take the cup of the Lord unworthily and He will destroy you. But you better think twice about taking the Lord of the cup, the cup of the Lord, when you're such a deceitful, evil, conniving piece of crap. And yeah, I said crap. Sorry. But I'm not sorry. Look at verse 3, Psalm 24. Who shall ascend in the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place, He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul into vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, He shall receive the blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of His salvation. You know what? Let us not be people that are swearing deceitfully. We will receive the blessing of the Lord. We will receive the great reward for serving God. I want to show you one more. Go to chapter 32, verse 2. Don't be caught being this whisperer. Don't be caught being this backbiter. Don't be caught being someone that hates God. And at the end of the day, even if you do make that mistake, you can always get right. Hey, there's been people that have gotten right. We move on. We forgive. We forget. We don't care. I don't care. I just don't want you to be on this warpath of destruction for yourself. You know, you should never want to be in a situation where there's a church out there that you would never allow to be attending because you're a railer, because you're a backbiter, because you're a gossip, because you harmed them, because you lied to them, because you won't even deal with the sin issues that you had. Why don't you just repent and get right and say sorry and fix things? I would never want to be on that list. And look, I had someone this week out of nowhere who did all kinds of evil, just messaged me and say, hey, you know what? They always listen to the sermons. I was listening to your sermons. It was really good. I just realized that I was wrong and I'm sorry. I lied and I'm sorry that I did all this stuff. Will you please forgive me? And I'm just like, yeah, no problem. I move on. And you know what I did? I prayed that God would bless that person. And I prayed that God would do good on that person. And you know what? If that person never comes here again, I don't care. But at the end of the day, I want them to be blessed. I want them to serve God. But don't be this railing, backstabbing, evil whisperer. And why would you want to go to a church? Think about this. You were in a church where all these evil people were thrown out and you agreed with it. And now you're going to go and go to church with those people and hang out with those same people. Isn't that weird? There's something weird about that. Something weird about why you'd want to do that. Psalm 32, look at verse number 2. Blessed is the man, under whom the Lord impudeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. Let us be people that have no guile in our spirit. No deceit, no trickery, no lies. Let us just be honest people. If you don't like something, just say it. You know I'm honest. I don't like Indian food. There I said it. That's a silly carnal example. It's meaningless. I'm just trying to say like, I am not a perfect person. I make mistakes. If you think I make a mistake, come tell me. If you don't like something I did or said, come tell me. I'm an open book. I've always been an open book. People constantly said things to me, you know, at the end of the day. But one thing you won't catch for me is not being sincere. I always tell people exactly how I feel. I'm completely consistent. I'm not going around whispering about anybody. I'm not backbiting about anybody. I'm not trying to hurt or harm other people. If I don't like somebody, you'll know. And if I like you, you'll know that too. Because I'm not fake. And let us not be fake people. Let us not hurt and harm the brethren. Because when you do that, you're whispering it's Christ. You're backbiting it's Christ and you're hating on Christ. Let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for giving us these instructions and helping us to just realize evil people exist. Bad things are going to happen. People are going to lie and be false accusers and persecute. I pray that we wouldn't fall victim to their lies and deception. We wouldn't allow people to come around and whisper in our ear and use smooth buttery words to try and confuse us or trick us or trap us. I pray that you would help us to realize the important work that's being done here. And that we wouldn't allow the evil people to destroy our friendships and our family and our work and our soul winning. Rather, we would just be steadfast. I pray that you would just persecute these people that are attacking any work of the Lord. That you would shut up their lying lips to cause them to be ashamed and confounded. And I pray any of them that would get right, that you would just touch their heart, they would repent, they would stop lying and gossiping and they would just move on with their life. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, for our last song, we're going to go to song number 191. Song number 191. In my heart there rings a melody. Song 191. Sing it out on the first. I have a song that Jesus gave me. It will stand up and above. There never was a sweeter melody. Tis a melody of love. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody with heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody of love. I love the Christ who died on Calvary. For he washed my sins away. He put within my heart a melody and I know it's there to stay. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody with heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody of love. It will be my endless theme in glory. With the angels I will sing. It will be a song with glorious harmony. With the course of heaven free. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody with heaven's harmony. In my heart there rings a melody. There rings a melody of love.