(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music What is it again, Pastor? What is the acronym? Water, Fire, Food. That's the ticket. Anyway, thank you, Pastor. That was a great sermon, so I did take notes because I just don't have a photographic memory. Anyway, so we got to learn how to survive out in the wilderness and how to build a shelter that we needed. We just got some spiritual principles out of that. It was a really, really great sermon. Tonight, after the service, we're going to have Tillamook ice cream. That's your reward for having to listen to me for the rest of the evening. I only have about an hour and 45-minute sermon planned tonight, so the ice cream might melt. I'm just kidding. I'll try not to make it that long. The songs went so long, so I was just going to have to cut into yours. You're not cutting into my time. I'm going to cut into yours. Anyway, like Pastor said, you should be used to it by now. Anyway, I'm preaching a standalone sermon tonight, so it won't be in our Exodus book. We'll come back to that in a couple weeks. Anyway, ice cream right after the service. We have various different kinds. It's Tillamook ice cream, so you don't want to pass that up. October 25th, we have our men's leadership class. That's this Tuesday at 7 p.m. October 28th through 30th, that's Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. It's a special service weekend up in Surrey, B.C. at our church in Canada. We're going to have Pastor Jared Pazarnsky there preaching for us at 10 a.m. Friday, there's a barbecue at 7 p.m. at the church building. If you need any of the information about that, just see me after the service. Pastor Pazarnsky will be preaching for us on Saturday, so it is Saturday at 10 o'clock in the morning. We're going to have a lunch provided by the church, and then I'll be preaching at 1 p.m. There's a man named Brother Jim Weeb. He's from Sound Doctrine Baptist Fellowship. He's kind of just leading a soul winning group over in Manitoba, Canada. I was listening to Brother Win's announcement the other night, and he's saying that technically the town that he's from is called Snowflake. I won't say he's a Snowflake, but he's actually a Winkler, Manitoba, Canada, I guess. Brother Win was just joking around, I think. So, anyway, nobody wants to be from Snowflake, right? So, anyway, he'll be preaching for us there on Sunday morning in the a.m. service, which is at 10 30 a.m. And then there'll be a men's preaching night that evening. For anybody that's going to be here, we're having a chili potluck dinner after the morning service. It's not a competition, but if you could bring a chili dish, I think Miss Julene's put the sign up in the group. Is there anybody signed up for it yet? Y'all better get busy and sign up, because otherwise I'm going to have to go to Safeway and get an Allie's or something. And you're not going to want that or denting more or something. So, anyway, we'll have that after the morning service. I will be here to preach next next Sunday morning, and then we'll have a men's preaching night. So we haven't had one of those in a long time. So we're going to have that available and we'll have a good time with that. And let's see, November 6 is daylight savings time, so you'll have to fall back. Your cell phones automatically do that. So it's not like the good old days when you had to actually turn the clock in your house. But some people still have clocks in their house, so that's good. But anyway, you're going to get an extra hour of sleep if you go to bed on time. And then November 8, we're going to have a homeschool field trip to Pioneer Farms. And that's in Eatonville, I believe, right? Eatonville is about two hours and 15 minutes as the crow flies from here. So if you live down south, it's going to be a little bit longer of a trip for you. But anyway, they went six years ago, and now six years later we're going to go back there. And it's supposed to be really fun and interesting. So it'll be two one-and-a-half-hour tours and then a sack lunch in between so you get a break and another hour and a half. So that is November 8 of Tuesday. OK, November 8 is a Tuesday. And that is, so what time? Oh, 10 a.m., OK, it's there. All right, I just got to read. Anyway, and then I'll be preaching in Spokane, Washington, November 20. That's a Sunday. I'll be there for the weekend, Saturday, Sunday, coming home Monday. That's November 20. And then it's not on there because we just ran out of room, but the Pi Social is going to be on Tuesday the 22nd. And so we're going to move our service from Thursday to Tuesday. We're going to have the Pi Social after our evening service. So that's November 22. And then all this other stuff you already know, we're a family-integrated church. Please make sure you're taking your children and infants to the mom-baby room or dad-baby room if they're really distracting in the service, please. And no dads are allowed in the mom-baby room and vice versa during the services. And then please make sure that the rockers and gliders are available for pregnant nursing mothers or elders only. And let's see, the food for the assembly area thing is kind of out the door today. Please just try to clean up after yourselves, clean up after your family, and we'd appreciate that. We have people that clean here on a volunteer basis, so if we could make it easier for them, that would be really nice. I'm sure they'd appreciate that this week. And then if you need an escort to your vehicle, one of the ushers, just tap one of the ushers on the shoulder. The guys that have the badges that say usher on their jackets, and they'd be happy to take you to your vehicle. And maybe if you're just having some health issues and you just need help in your vehicle or something, they're available for that too. You can give online or you can text give when it comes to offerings and ties, and then you can see the number that has come in so far for this month. And again, if you're not 100% sure that you're saved, then we'd like to make sure that that need is taken care of for you. If you don't know that you're saved, please see either me or one of the ushers after the service, and we'd like to just explain to you what the Bible says it takes to go to heaven. And if you need to be baptized, I'm also available after the service to talk to about that. We'd be happy to baptize you, and you can either see an usher during the time of the offering or after the service, or just come see me after the service, or any time, and I'd be happy to schedule a baptism for you. On the back, we have the birthdays for this month, and we sang to all of them except for somebody that wasn't here. Anyway, and Jeremy and Molly had their 8th anniversary sang to them, and then again, congratulations to the Lambert family for the birth of Zadok Rex Lambert. He was 7 pounds and 17 and a half inches, and he's very cute. And so make sure that you congratulate brother Eli and Miss Amy on the birth of their new son. With that, yep? Brother Sean Conlon has a few things I'd like to share with you. Oh okay, so brother Sean Conlon's wife is possibly in labor. We had a false alarm a couple days ago, but let's just remember to pray for her and the birth of their child too. So with that, that's all the announcements I have. Let's sing another song and we'll receive the offering. Alright, our next song is song number 66, Ferris Lord Jesus. Our new song again. Song number 66 near Blue Henbooks, Ferris Lord Jesus. Song number 66, Ferris Lord Jesus. Let's sing it out together on the first. Ferris, me will I honor, thou my soul's glory, joy, and crown. There are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands, Roping the blooming garb of spring. Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer, Who makes the woeful heart to sing. There is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight, And all the twinkling starry hoes. Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer, Than all the angels heaven can boast. Beautiful Savior, Lord of the nations, Son of God and Son of Man. Glory and honor, praise, adoration, Now and forevermore, he thine. Amen. Good scene. Brother Ryan, could you bless the offering for us? Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Now go and open your Bibles to Acts chapter 20. Acts chapter number 20. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of the ushers will bring you one. Acts chapter number 20. Acts 20, the Bible reads, And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece, and there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return through Macedonia, and there accompanied him into Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Segundus, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus, and of Asia, Tycheus and Trophimus. These going before tarried for us at Troas. And we sailed away from Philippi, after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days, where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep. And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him, said, Trouble not yourselves, for his life is in him, when he therefore was come up again in a broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Aesus, there intending to take in Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Aesus, we took him in, and came to Mytilene. And we sailed thence, and came the next day over against Chios. And the next day we arrived at Satmus, and tarried at Trogillium. And the next day we came to Miletus, for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, because he would not spend the time in Asia, for he hasted, if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church, and when they were come to him, he said unto them, Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the line and weight of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shown you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost had made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch and remember, that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver, or gold, or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me. I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more, and they accompanied him unto the ship. Brother Robert, will you pray for us? Amen. Alright, well I just want to direct your attention to verse number 7, because I want to just prove to you that it's biblical to preach long sermons. Look at verse 7, it says, And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continue his speech until midnight. So don't get mad if you're just here until 5.15, alright? Put your whining, alright? And it says, And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together, and there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen asleep in a deep sleep, and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third law. So I don't get offended when people fall asleep, because that's what happens, but don't be surprised if you drop dead in the middle of the service, because you fell asleep, okay? That's not what I'm preaching about, but I just kind of want to kick that dog as I walk past it, but let's actually focus in on verse number 17, where the Bible says, And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church, and when they were come to him, he said unto them, You know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I've been with you in all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations which befell me by the lying and weight of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable, and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, and now behold I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. Let's have a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord we thank you so much for the great day we've had in church, I pray that you just continue to bless it, Lord I pray you fill me with your spirit as I preach your word, I pray Lord that we would receive the things that God has, that you have for us Lord, and I pray that the people would hear what the spirit says unto the church tonight, I pray you bless all aspects, and the manner of our service, and everything in the fellowship afterwards, we thank you so much for all the people that showed up as guests today, and Lord the people traveled long distance, and thank you for the faithfulness of those that live close, and Lord we pray that you just bless this service, in Jesus' name, amen. The title of my sermon tonight is, But None of These Things Move Me, and of course taken from verse number 24, there's some things in life that if you're a Christian, there's going to be some things that happen in your life, and the intent is those things move you out of being in a spiritual walk with Christ, after following sanctification and living the Christian life, there's going to be things that happen in your life, that are going to be things that might attempt to move you from the faith, might attempt to move you out of church. Pastor, preach a great sermon about the things that we can do to help our spiritual lives, and one of the things is that you shouldn't allow anything to move you out of the Christian life, and you should adopt this motto of saying, hey I know all this stuff is going wrong in my life, but you know what, none of these things move me, none of these things are going to take me out of church, none of these things are going to take me out of serving the Lord, I'm going to continue on, I'm going to have the attitude and the mindset, that nothing is going to take me out of this Christian life, no matter what happens, come hell or high water, whatever happens, I'm going to continue to serve the Lord with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind, with all my strength, with everything that I have, and you know what, sometimes there's going to be hard things that happen in our lives, and things that are going to trip us up and make us want to move, but you know, if you have that mindset, if you already have it, you know, purpose in your heart, like Daniel said, I'm not going to eat, you know, the king's meat or drink of the wine that is of the king's, because he had purpose in his heart not to do those things, and sometimes we have to set our hearts to just be of this mindset, that we're not moving, we're not changing, we're not stopping, we're not quitting, no matter what happens, and you know, the apostle Paul says this, after he just kind of explains some of the things that he's gone through, now, if you were to go through a list of all the things that the apostle Paul had to endure, whether it's people stabbing him in the back, which happens, whether it's, you know, people just forsaking him in the end, he was like, you know, everybody's forsaken me, no man stands with me, and you know, basically Paul got to a point where nobody even was, you know, he was a Christian, there was all kinds of people that he got saved, but nobody was standing with him, because here's the thing, no matter what, even if no man stands with you, you should have the mindset that none of these things are going to move you, and that's why Paul was so successful, that's why Paul goes down as one of the greatest Christians of all time, because of the fact that he did not allow circumstances or hard things about the ministry to stop him, no matter what, he got up, he even got stoned, and everybody thought he was dead, and got up and walked to the next town. I mean, most people, they're going to be like, mommy, kiss my boo-boos, I'm going to be out for three weeks, or whatever, and Paul's like, I'm not even out for three minutes, I'm just going to get up and walk to the next town. So, the apostle Paul here, in this story, is going through his final round of visiting churches, he doesn't necessarily realize that this is the final round that he's going to be going and visiting these churches, because he gets captured a few chapters later, and he ends up being in prison, and so, and obviously that didn't move him, that didn't even stop him, he still kept on serving the Lord, and he ended up being in jail, a lot of people would quit at that point, but he, you know, if we try to develop the mindset of the apostle Paul, and just say, none of these things are going to move me, our Christian life is going to be a lot better, because, you know, because you might say, well, if this happened, then maybe I would stop serving God. That should not be in your mentality, because if it is, guess what, that's going to come, that's going to come, and there's a lot of people in this life that want you to move, they want you to move out of the way that you're going. You've got family members that would try to stop you from coming to a church like this, or try to shame you out of it, or try to invite you to stuff on off days, you know, when you're supposed to be in church, they go, oh, we've got this party to go to, or whatever, and like anything that they can do to get you to stop going to church, or stop serving the Lord as fervently and as on fire as you are, they're going to try to stop you, the devil's going to try to stop you, the devil tried to stop Jesus, and obviously there was many people trying to move Paul out of what he was doing, and you know, we might not see the level of persecution, or the level of things that tried to move Paul in his life, because we're just playing simply, nobody's going to be the apostle Paul. I mean, you can serve the Lord with all your might, and a lot of people still probably won't attain to this, and so you're probably not going to also get the same amount of flack that he got that tried to move him out of the way, but you know what, you might have some of it, and you might, I mean, the more you serve the Lord, the more the devil wants to stop you, the more people are going to try to get in your way to try to stop you from serving the Lord, but you know, Paul even says that he had a humble attitude about this, and he explains these, just some of the things that happened to him along the way, I'm not even going to go into all the beatings and all the punishments that he went through for this, but he did receive a lot of just even physical persecution that none of us have ever even come close to attaining to, but he was a humble servant of the Lord, and there's a lot of things that tried to move Paul, and I just want to go through, you know, seven things really quickly of things that Paul, that tried to move Paul from this text. Number one, he was trying to, people tried to move him, and he had many tears, you know, in the ministry, there's going to be, like if you're a pastor or if you're a leader, you're going to see many people leave. Pastor Mendez asked for a show of hands of who was here from the beginning, and it kind of, you know, I was glad to see that there was people that were here from the beginning, but there's a lot of people that aren't here anymore, and those are things that upset me, and I wish that everybody that was good that was here from the beginning was still here, because we lost some good people too, but some people just get moved for whatever reason. Maybe they just literally physically move to a place where there is no good church, and after time, that is going to move you away. If you're going to a red-hot, zealous church, and then all of a sudden you're just like, well, I'm going to go for this job, like Pastor was talking about this morning, I'm going to go for this job, and then the only church in the area is some repent of your sins, you know, lordship, salvation, just teaching false salvation church, you know, you're not going to be as hot. You're going to be with a bunch of people that don't believe the same thing as you do, and you're going to, you know, you're going to cool off. You know, if you're in a fire, you're on fire, you're red-hot, but then if you throw that coal out, that coal is going to burn out and get cold, isn't it? But Paul said he had many tears. It says in verse number 19, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears. So Paul didn't just say, I cry, I had some tears every once in a while, it says many tears. There's many things that probably the Apostle Paul ran across. He was like, I can't believe that this happened. I can't believe this person left. I can't believe this person stabbed me in the back. I can't believe this person wouldn't get saved when I preached them the gospel. And you know, sometimes those things can also move you. You can be like, well, you know, I'm tired of serving God because there's so many tears that are happening. This is what Paul's mentioning, right? In verse 2, or excuse me, number 2, is that, you know, he said it's with many tears and temptations. So temptations can be trials that you're going through, but it also could be temptations to sin. And so, what can move you? Well, sin can definitely move you away from the place that you need to be, the path that you need to be on that straight path. We don't want to just keep walking around in the same circle of sin, right? Where you're just like, you know, you're not learning your lessons, so you're just going around the same circle, right, like Pastor was talking about this morning also. So temptations can cause us to move you. You know what? Paul says, you know, these are one of the things that tried to move him. And it says in the same verse, there was basically, number 3, a terrorism of the Jews. So it says that the temptations which befell me by the line and weight of the Jews. So every place he went, there was always somebody there, one of these Jews that were trying, or groups of Jews that were trying to stop him and kill him. There was so much, they hated him so much that they made a pact that they were, they actually put a curse upon themselves saying that, you know, if Paul's not dead, we're not going to eat any food. So I don't know, I don't think they starved to death because, you know, Jews are always liars. Anyway, so, you know, they probably just broke their truce or whatever, but they were really serious about killing the Apostle Paul. They hated him, they hated his message, and so Paul received a lot of terrorism. People were always, the Jews were always trying to terrorize him and not only just the Jews, but other people too. Number 4, unfiltered teaching can also move you. Well, how's that? Well, look what it says in verse 20. It says, And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. So, you know, when you teach the unfiltered truth, people will also attack you for that. When you just get up and preach in a regular church service, and you have maybe visitors that have never been before, or something like that, and they hear you preach the unfiltered truth, they can, you know, try to dismay you, or give you dirty looks, or anything like that, but even if you're just doing it with your family. You know, when you teach the truth to your family, then that unfiltered truth can also cause them to try to make you be moved. You're in a cult. You're a Jesus freak. You're this, you're that. And the Apostle Paul said, Hey, I kept back nothing. And, you know, he taught the whole counsel of God, it says later on down there. And number 5, public teaching. So it's not just, you know, the fact that the Apostle Paul was keeping back nothing. He was still preaching everything that God had for them, but also the fact that he was doing it in public. You know, and a lot of times we get criticized for putting our sermons on YouTube, or one of these other social media sites, or whatever, but what are we trying to do? We're trying to get it out to the public. We want people to hear the truth, not just people that are in this room, but people from all over the world, from all over the country, and we want them to hear the truth about Jesus Christ, and all the doctrines that are in the Bible. We're supposed to teach every word, and so when you preach publicly, the things that are in the Word of God, and especially in 2022, people are going to get angry with you, and people are going to try to persecute you for that. People are going to try to shut down what you've got going on, and they'll try to move you from preaching the truth, from preaching publicly. Number 6, testifying of the truth. So, look in verse number 21, it says testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul was testifying both to the Jews, and that's what was getting him in trouble with the Jews, because the ones that wouldn't listen were totally against him, and wanting to kill him, of course, but what was the testifying that he was doing? That, hey, we need to repent, and stop believing the garbage that we believed before, and believe the truth. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. It's the message that he was testifying that got him into trouble, and people were trying to move him, and they were trying to move him with rocks, and they were trying to move him with anything that they could, and, you know, at first people just get mad, then people say stuff, then people persecute you with words, then people persecute you through the law, or they'll persecute you through physical means, or they'll actually physically and violently attack. So, and then also, of course, we have threats of affliction, number seven, and it says in verse number 23, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. So he just mentions all these things really quickly, but what did he say after that? After these afflictions abide in him, these, number seven, these threats of affliction. Well, what's the threats of affliction? If you don't stop preaching that, I'm going to kill you. If you don't stop preaching that, I'm going to physically harm you. I'm going to lay hands on you. And this is the threat that Paul had in every place that he walked into, every city that had not hurt him yet, every Gentile location, but where did he go first? To the synagogues. So he's already, every place he goes, he's at risk of his physical life, and what are they telling him? Shut up, Paul. Quit preaching that, Paul. I'm going to kill you, Paul. If you don't stop doing that, we're going to murder you, we're going to kill you, and then they tried to do it. And he had to escape out of a basket with a garrison chasing him. I mean, all these things were happening to him. He was beaten with rods. He was whipped. He was stoned. All these things were happening to him. Why? Because people are always going to try to move you. And especially when you're doing great works for God, when you're on fire, when you're fired up, or even if you're just living the Christian life and doing what God says, people are going to try to move you out of your place. And they're going to use all different manner of techniques to do those things. So, you know, these might be things that tried to move, Paul, but what did Paul say? But none of these things move me. And you know what? Can you say that today? Can you say, you know, if all these things that happened to Paul happened to you, would you say that those things wouldn't move you? Or would you cave? What is it? I mean, I just want you to kind of get a mental picture in your mind right now, but I don't want you to dwell on that. I'm just saying, is there something in your mind right now that you say, well, if this happened, I would stop serving God. If this happened, this would move me. And what I want to help you with this evening is, you know, is for you to not have that mentality and for you to have the mentality that nothing is going to move me. No matter what happens, I'm going to stay in church. I'm going to stay in the fight. I'm going to stay fired up. I'm going to stay soul winning. I'm going to stay reading my Bible. I'm going to continue to pray. I'm going to continue to meet at this church, no matter what people say about it. I'm going to meet with this church, even though they're talking bad about my pastor or my pastor friends, whatever. What is it that would move you? Well, I want to help you dispel that tonight and to have the mentality that, you know, no matter what happens, I'm not going to be moved. Now, I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. So, again, we're not going to necessarily endure the things that Paul had to. I'm not trying to freak you out tonight because most people aren't going to go to all these different places preaching the gospel. But, you know, maybe some of us will. We do go on mission trips. We do go soul winning. And, look, the thing that the devil hates a lot is soul winning. The devil hates soul winning. The devil hates true biblical preaching because he knows that the Word of God has power to change people's lives, to change people's hearts, to change their life, and he doesn't want you to be fired up. He doesn't want you out, you know, in the highways and hedges trying to get as many people saved as possible. He doesn't want you to do that. He doesn't want you to get plugged into this church. He wants you to stay where you're at and not get plugged in and come whenever you feel like it and, you know, go out feeling, you know, okay or whatever. You know, the Word of God should affect you in some way, shape, or form. I hope you're not tuned out tonight. I hope that you tune in to what I'm trying to help you with here tonight because people have left. People leave all the time. If Pastor Jimenez did the same thing in his church, there'd be a lot of people that weren't with him in the beginning. Probably most of the church, right? There's some that have been there from the beginning. There's been some that have been there for a long time. But this is what I've learned in being in the ministry for a while now is that people do come and go. And that is what is very sad is that and you can see it as a preacher, as a pastor, as a leader, you can see when people are starting to lose their zeal. You can see when people are starting to detach and get a little less zealous and like no matter what you preach, no matter what you say, it still seems to keep happening. But you know what? If we don't shut our mind off to the Word of God, you know, and don't just start trying to blame your situation, your circumstances, or try, you know sometimes people just blame God too. They're like, well I can't believe I was serving you Lord and you allowed this to happen in my life. Well how do you know that that was something, you know, obviously God allowed that to happen, but you know God does test us and he allows us to be tested. That's what temptation is. You know, we are tempted and tried. We go through trials and temptations and we go through hard times and I'm not saying that God just wants to hurt your life to make you bad, you know, to make you quit, but sometimes he wants to know, is this person really on my side or not? And a lot of people fail that test and we don't want to fail that test, do we? There's a game called Chicken. Who's ever heard of that game called Chicken before? Alright, who's ever played it? Well, it can be multiple different things, but you know, usually it's someone driving and then, yeah, at each other and then whoever swerves out of the way first is the chicken. But I would say that's the smart person in all honesty, but you know, but what I'm trying to get you to understand is that God doesn't want you to move. You know, no matter what's coming at you, it might seem like it's going to kill you, it might seem like it's going to destroy you, it might seem like it's going to you know, do all these things, but you know, God doesn't want you to move when it comes to the Christian life. When the things are coming at you, the semi-trucks coming at you or whatever it is that you're going through in your life, God does not want you to move. When you move, that's when you lose. There's another game called the staring game. Who's ever played that game before? Brother Chris, have you played that game? Okay. Well, it's where you stare into each other's eyes and the first person to blink or move or look away loses, right? But God doesn't want you, you know, in that game, it's fun to win or whatever, I'm not very good at it, but what I'm trying to explain is it's something to help you understand that God doesn't want you to blink. God doesn't want you to look away. He wants you to keep looking straight ahead and don't move. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 says, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast. What does steadfast mean? Resolutely or dutifully firm and unwavering. If someone is steadfast in something that they're doing, they're convinced that what they're doing is right and they refuse to change or give up. That's what steadfast is. So here's the Apostle Paul writing to the Corinthians. He said, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable. What does unmovable mean? Well, this is pretty simple, unable to be moved. That's what it means. Unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. You'll notice when the Apostle Paul tells us to be steadfast or to hold fast or be unmovable and all these things, he always connects it with working for the Lord. You'll notice in a lot of the scriptures that we go through, it's always concerning, hey, you know, if you're working for the Lord, you're not going to be able to be moved. Don't allow things to move you. Have the mindset of being steadfast. Have the mindset of being unmovable. I'm not moving. I'm not changing. I'm not quitting. I'm not turning this way or that way. I'm going straight ahead. I'm steadfast. I'm unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord. That means you're increasing. So you shouldn't go back on how much work you were doing. You should always go forward. You should always try to get better at working for the Lord and not say, well, you know what, I'm going to downsize my working for the Lord. That's a mistake. That's moving. So if you're doing nothing for God and you just start doing something, that's good. But if you go back and doing nothing again, that's bad. That's being movable and you don't want to be movable. You want to be unmovable. Always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. And you might think, well, you know, I've only gotten like a few people saved this year or maybe I haven't got to open up my Bible as much. Well, you know, we have more than one soul winning time. You know, we have more, we have several soul winning times. If you really want to increase getting more people saved, well, spend more time soul winning. If you want to, you know, increase your learning in the word of God, come to church, all three services, instead of just coming to one. Instead of just staying home. I mean, to me, I just don't understand what people are doing when they're not here. Like, you know, your church, your, I'm new IFB, I'm sold out, I'm Baptist born, Baptist bred. When I die, I'm going to be Baptist dead. Well, how come you weren't at church then? How about that? Why don't you explain that to me? What were you doing that was so important that you couldn't come to church? Oh, well, you know, my brother's sister's cousin was in town from Minneapolis or whatever. It's like, well, bring him to church then. Why are you allowing a family member or something else to drag you out of church? I brought up this the other night where Jesus' mother and his sisters and his brethren were outside going, Jesus, your family's outside. They want to talk to you. And he's like, who is my mother? Who are my brethren? You know, they pointed to them that they were his brethren. That person was his mother. Why? Because they were outside. Why were they outside? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Why were they outside? Why weren't they inside listening to the sermon? You know, they're like, hey, Jesus, let me interrupt you real quick. Mommy's outside. She wants to talk to you. It's like, you're my mommy. You know, you're my mother. You're my dad. You're my brother. You're my sister. It's the people that are serving the Lord that are your family. And if your family's trying to drag you out of a church service or saying, hey, I'm in town. This is only Sunday night only. Well, I go to church on Sunday nights. You know, that should be the immovable thing that you have in your mind that hey, I'm going to go to church no matter what happens. And you know what? I don't care who's asking for me outside. I don't care if it is my mom. Right? Because you should be unmovable in those things if you already have the mindset. Me and Pastor Mendez were talking about this and you're like, it's not even a question in my mind. Am I going to church? No, I am going to church. It's just automatic. You're like, well, you're the pastor. You have to be. Well, you should be too. He didn't say only the pastor has to go to service three times a week. Just the pastor. No, it's everybody. You're like, well, where does it say that in the Bible? So much the more as you see the day approaching. Why don't we just incorporate seven days a week church? You're like, oh, that's what they did in Acts. They're always at church. They're always going soul winning. We just need to attain to that level someday. But we'll just stick with three because you can't even come to that many. Anyway, so what does it mean to, so there's all these terms that Paul uses. He uses a lot of different things to kind of mean similar things. But I already told you what steadfast means, what unmovable means. What about standfast? He uses that word too and that means to firmly remain in the same position or keep the same opinion. Don't change. Don't, don't go off into liberalism, whatever, but just stand fast. Don't change on what you believe. Remain firm. Hold fast. That means remain tightly secured. Continue to believe in or adhere to an idea or principle. A lot of these are similar but they're not exactly the same but they, they do have the same principle in mind which is, you know, stand fast, don't move, hold fast, hang on tight to what you believe in and don't give it up for anybody. So, firm foundation. I mean, there's that song How Firm a Foundation You Saints of the Lord. But there's also the name of our church is Sure Foundation. There's a reason why we called it that because it's something that's unmovable. You know, when it comes to the Lord Jesus Christ, he's unmovable. If we build our life upon that rock, we're gonna be fine. We're gonna do well, you know, because he's not gonna be moved. Well, if we just piggyback on to his foundation, then we're gonna be good also. Isaiah 28 verse 16. Go ahead and turn to Isaiah 28 verse 16. Isaiah 28 16, it's our, our verse for our church. It says, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, a man for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. See, if you place everything on the foundation stone of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're not gonna be moved. You know why? Because he's not gonna be moved. And if we tap into that power, then we have a lot of power on our side, don't we? But see, when you move away from that, when you maybe build a foundation on the sinking sand, or build a, build in a swamp or something, you know, the Bible teaches that principle that we should build everything that we have on the foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Matthew chapter 7 verse 24. Turn to Matthew chapter 7 verse 24. Matthew's obviously the first book of the New Testament. Matthew chapter 7 verse 24 says, Whoever heareth these saints of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which build his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. What is he trying to teach us here? He's saying build your foundation, everything that you have, build that upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the rock. Amen? And when the rain comes, the floods come, the winds blow, and beat upon the house, it's not gonna fall. Have you ever been in your house, obviously you live in the Pacific Northwest, so you've probably been through some storms where it's really windy or raining, and sometimes you can hear stuff beating against the house, and you're like, oh, that didn't sound good. You know? But when you have your foundation upon that precious cornerstone, the Lord Jesus Christ, you don't have to worry about whether the wind is gonna blow your house down, because it's not gonna happen. And so when you put everything and say, I'm gonna build everything on that rock, it says that it was founded on a rock, so it fell not. So we don't wanna fall in our life and build our lives in Christianity upon something that's not firm. If it's on anything other than Jesus Christ, then it's not the right foundation, is it? Look what it says in verse 26. Everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. So a fool builds his house upon the sand, isn't that what it's saying? And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. When you live your Christian life, and you're building it upon something that's not the Lord Jesus Christ, then it is able to fall. It's able to be destroyed. And you can't just say, well, I just wanted to try Jesus. No, you don't just try Jesus. You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bible says, thou shalt be saved, and you trust in his words. You trust in this book right here, and God's never gonna let you down. His word is never gonna let you down. You can count on everything he says is gonna happen, but you can't trust in anything else, can you? Nope. You can't really put your faith in anything else. You can't even put your faith in other people. You can't even put your faith in yourself, because you fail every day, too. But you know who never fails? The Lord Jesus Christ never fails. He'll never leave thee, nor forsake thee, so no matter what's going on in your life, whether the storms of life are beating you down, and everything's going wrong, you know who you can always count on, you know who you can always look to? The Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews chapter 12. Turn to Hebrews chapter number 12. I've always thought that this is an interesting set of verses here, and hopefully I do it justice here, but Hebrews chapter 12, verse 26. What's the point of the sermon, you know, that we would not be moved? But none of these things move me. When you build your house upon the rock, when you build your life upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, none of it, didn't it say it didn't fall? When all these things happened, all the storms came, all the wind's blowing, the rain's hitting it, and it fell not. But when you build your life on sinking sand, when you build your life on yourself, your own works, other people, you put your trust in a man, you put your trust in anything else besides Christ, those things will fail you. You know, nobody can live up to the standard of perfection that Jesus Christ has. Look at Hebrews 12, verse 26, it says, whose voice then shook the earth. It's talking about back in the time of Exodus, the time of Moses, when God's voice was so loud that the children of Israel said, we don't want to hear from him anymore, we'll just do whatever you say, we're scared, right? It says, whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promising, yet one more, once more, excuse me, I shall shake not the earth only, but also heaven. There's coming a time when everything's going to shake. It's going to be a huge earthquake, the biggest earthquake that's ever happened. It says, Yet once more signify at the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. So, what are the things that can't be shaken? See, there's things that can be shaken. We're talking about earthquakes here. I think earthquake preparedness week was last week or something, and they want to train you what to do in an earthquake, and obviously, there's some things that might be helpful, but you know, some earthquakes, you've got to think about it. You know, you're just, things shake. What happens when the earth shakes? Things move, don't they? Things fall apart, don't they? Well, but there's some things that can't be shaken. See, it says that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Well, what are those things? Well, look at verse 28. Wherefore are we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved? Someday, there's going to be a kingdom here on, it's the kingdom of heaven that cannot be moved. It says, let us have grace, whereby we may, what did I say that Paul always attaches things to? Service, right? That we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire. You know, don't worry about all these things from without these things that can be shaken, because you know what can't be shaken? The kingdom of God. And you know what? When we serve God, we should serve Him because what? and have godly fear towards Him because He's a consuming fire. You know, don't fear those things, you know, don't fear those that can't send you to hell. You'd fear those things, you'd fear God who can't send you to hell, obviously. But obviously, He's not going to send a Christian to hell, so don't get me wrong on that. But God is a consuming fire and you know what? We want to get lit by His fire, don't we? We want that fire, His zealousness, His zeal to be upon us and so we need to serve God acceptably, it says. You know, and the kingdom that we have coming to us cannot be shaken, it cannot be moved. So don't you want to get on that train instead of a train that can be moved? Something that can be moved? Turn to 2 Peter 3 verse 15. It's really interesting that Paul and Peter kind of had a fight where Paul tells in the book of Galatians how he had to get in Peter's face and kind of tell him he was wrong. But sometimes, you know, Christians can get in fights and things like that but you know what? We've got to remember that we're brethren, alright? But Paul, it's very interesting that Peter talks about Paul and he doesn't just say hey Paul, you know, he doesn't say anything bad about him even though the Bible says that he, that Peter was wrong and Paul was right and Paul got into his face basically and told him he was wrong. But look how Peter writes about him. Look at what it says. An account that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation even as our beloved brother Paul. Peter talks nice about him, doesn't he? He says he's our beloved brother. Also, according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you as also in all his epistles speaking in them of these things in which are some things hard to be understood which they that are unlearned and unstable rest as they do also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. See, there's a lot of people that take the word of God and they like to twist it and they like to lead other Christians astray with it, don't they? But what's the, what's Peter saying about Paul? He's saying, hey, he's kind of giving him a stamp of approval, isn't he? Because the apostle Paul was often accused of not being a real apostle. He was, you know, even though he started all these churches and got all these people saved, what's Peter doing? He's saying, hey, he's an apostle, right? Look at verse 16 again, as also in all his epistles, and it's talking about beloved brother Paul speaking in them these things which are some things hard to be understood. So Paul does have some doctrines that, or some way, a way of speaking sometimes is a little hard for us to understand. But, you know, and that's why people that are unlearned, like they don't know the Bible, or they're just unstable. They rest the scriptures and this they do with also the other scriptures unto their own destruction. You know, don't follow people that don't know what they're talking about. You want to follow people that do know what they're talking about that are grounded in the word of God. You shouldn't just jump ship to every single person that you hear on YouTube. A lot of these people are teaching a lot of stupid things, aren't they? Don't jump off the cliff in your doctrine, hey, be grounded in the word of God, have a firm foundation of what you believe if you've never read the Bible cover to cover, you shouldn't be reading books about the Bible. Why don't you read the Bible first and then maybe you could judge whether the people are writing about the Bible or even write because a lot of commentaries you see and I'm not, you know, sometimes people can, I'm sure, you know, we're kind of commentating as preachers sometimes. But, you know, there's a lot of commentaries that survive the ages because they're just garbage because the devil wants to promote those types of things. But we should count on people that we know are knowledgeable in the Scriptures and the Bible says that, you know, Peter's basically giving Paul the stamp of approval about his writing of Scripture, about his understanding of the Scriptures, and it says, you therefore, beloved, seeing you know these things before, beware lest you also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own what? Steadfastness. See, Peter's assuming that we're just already steadfast, but you know what, you can fall from your steadfastness and how do you do that? Well, you get led away by the error of the wicked. And when bad people, and what I mean by bad people is people that are wicked, you know, probably infiltrators will come to a church like ours, what are they, what's their goal? They want to lead people away. They, you know, and when they're discovered that they're wicked, then they want to work on those people who are still there and try to pull them out of church also. That's how predators operate. They, they encompass about the saints. David talks about, multiple times in the Psalms, how that they, the power of the dog and these predators are always surrounding him, and what do they want to do? They want to come in and take a sheep, and what do they, do they always get the most strongest one with the biggest horns? No, they get the small ones, they get the babies, they, you know, and if you're a babing Christ, you're an easy target, and so if you, you know, one way you, you don't want to get moved, you don't want to be moved away by some false teacher, by some false prophet, teaching lies, and leading you astray and taking the Scriptures and twisting them and saying things that aren't true, or just generally, I mean, you, one pastor talked about this morning about how, you know, you, you know, it's okay to be a baby, right? But babies got to grow up sometime. You know, when you feed a baby, they're going to naturally grow, but unless you're feeding on the Word of God, you're not going to grow, and he was talking about how if you're not in church, you're not going to, you're not going to read the Word of God, you're not getting admonished to do right. You're just kind of out on your own. We don't want to fall from our own steadfastness by listening to The Air of the Wicked, and you're in danger if you're just going to YouTube only for all your doctrine. You know, don't fall from your own steadfastness. Look at 2 Timothy 4 verse 5, and the Apostle Paul, I mean, he, there's just so much about this topic, but, you know, I don't want to be here till midnight, literally, so I was only joking about that, but anyway, 2 Timothy 4 verse 5, the Apostle Paul said this, he said, But watch thou in all things endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. Now, I understand this is written to pastors, but can you apply this to each individual Christian too? Watch in all things? Endure afflictions? Should you endure afflictions? Can you do the work of an evangelist? What's an evangelist do? Give the gospel. Can you all do that? Make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. This is the Apostle Paul. He's fought. He did it. He got there. He finished, and he finished the course, and he kept the faith, and so why? Because none of those things moved him. That's why. Because all the things that came at him, all the multitudes of things that he endured, all the multitudes of things he suffered, the Apostle Paul endured all those things, endured all those afflictions, and still came out on top, and still finished his course. He still kept the faith. He's a great example for us to look at, someone that has done the right thing and made their ministry count. Look at what it says in verse eight. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day. Who's talking here? The Apostle Paul. What's he saying he's going to get? What's he going to get? He's going to get a crown of righteousness, but he's not just trying, he's not trying to just promote himself. Look what he says also. And not to me only. See, every one of us can also get a crown of righteousness. It says not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. So we can all, that's y'all. That's everybody in this room, you know, but what did he say first? He finished his course. He kept the faith. He wore to good warfare. He, you know, Paul completed his mission. And even though it might not have ended the way he thought it was going to end, he still, none of these things moved him. Nothing, he never counted anything his life even dear to himself. That's how you can have the boldness to walk into a city full of heathen that want to kill you and preach the word of God only, still, right? Turn to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4. What's it going to take to move you? Well, some people, are pretty easy to move them. Mark chapter 4 verse 14, it's the parable of the sower kind of explained here. I'm just going to read from verse 14. It says, the sower soweth the word, and these are they which, excuse me, these are they by the wayside where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. And these are they, likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness, and have no root in themselves, and so endure for a time, afterward, when affliction or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately, they are offended. See, some people get saved, and then the first time someone makes fun of them for being a Christian, the first time someone persecutes them in any way, shape, or form, what happens? They're offended. They fall away. They don't want to have anything to do with it. Why? Why does this happen? Well, some people are just weak. Maybe they just didn't get into church. Maybe they got into a church, and they didn't know what to expect. They thought that everybody wanted to hear about Jesus, but not everybody does want to hear about Jesus, do they? So sometimes people get on fire for God, and they're trying to share it with everybody, and then the first person that says something negative about them, and they realize that this is going to happen, I'm done. What's going to move you, though? Everybody in this room has probably endured something like that, but that could be ramped up for your level. So don't let anything move you. Don't let persecution move you. If someone makes fun of you at the door the first time you go sowing or someone cusses you out, who cares? I mean, does that really hurt you that much? What if someone smacks you at the door? Is that going to stop you? Should it stop you? It shouldn't stop you. It didn't stop Paul. None of these things moved him. But the Bible's saying here, you know, let's be warned about these things, these little things that people can be moved on. We don't want to be moved by these things. Look what it says in verse 18. And these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and what? The cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in choked the word, and it becometh unfruitful. See, some people, the persecution isn't what bothers them, but it's the cares of this world. You know, who's winning the Seahawks game? Who cares? I mean, who cares? I mean, I might check every once in a while about like, do I really care that much? Am I going to, you know what, I'm going to stay home and watch the Seahawks game or whatever. Look, who cares? It's the cares of this world, the things that don't really matter. These things that are in the world, they don't matter. And we shouldn't allow those things to move us. How about the deceitfulness of riches? The pastor was talking about that this morning, how people are like, oh, I'm going to move for this job, but I can't come to church. It's like, that's stupid. Do you hear yourself? But you know, I'm still going to read my Bible and all that. Yeah, right. You're not. You might do it for a week. You might do it for a few days. But you know what's going to, you know, when people get involved about the deceitfulness of riches, that's just one way to move you. The devil puts things in your path to help you move. You're like, this was of God. You know, it's of God for you to just never go to church. It's of God for you to stop reading your Bible. It's of God to stop spending time with your family. I mean, those things aren't of God if it's something that you're, if you're enticed by riches, you're like, hey, you know, we're not supposed to seek to be rich. Who cares? Get enough money to live in this life and get along. But you know what the most important thing is? It's for you to serve the Lord and to raise your family in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord, to have a great relationship with your wife or your spouse. And you know, these other things mean nothing. It says the lust of other things entering that in. That's just everything else. Nobody in here is going to get you. Look, nobody in here is unaffected from lust. Nobody in this room is unaffected from desiring things that they shouldn't want to have. But none of these things move me. Don't allow these types of things to move you out of the Christian life because once they get a hold on you, they, you know, they sink their claws into you and before you know it, you're out of church and you don't care. These are things you should care about. So, and Satan is going to do his best to move you. When people always say, well, I'm going to start coming to this church, I always think I need to pray for them extra. You know why? Because the devil's going to throw everything in his toolbox at you. Oh, I, my, I got a flat tire on the way to church. You know how many times that's happened? I mean, the devil is going to throw everything at you and allow you to use any excuse that he, he can muster up for you so that you can say, oh man, I just, I was going to come, but you know what I slept in and it was daylight savings time. You know, just whatever it is, whatever excuse you have, he's going to allow you to use it and he's going to, he's going to put things in your way to try to do what? To move you, to stop you from serving him, from serving the Lord and, you know, bringing your family to church or bringing yourself to church. Do you know Christ? Is Christ the most important thing in your life? Are you a soul winner? Then he's going to come at you. He's going to come at you and you have to be prepared for that. See, at this church, we try to prepare you for the harder things that you might have to go through because this church is not like any other church. Pastor brought that up again this morning. He was like, this is the best church in the area. I agree 100%. And I'm very thankful that we have people in this area. I might as well just move away because, you know, most churches aren't training people to be soul winners. I'm not saying there's none. I'm just saying that it's just a very rare thing. And what they mean by soul winning is bus ministry. And what they mean by soul winning is you coming up to the altar after the pastor preaches the 1100th salvation sermon in the Sunday morning service. And after 10 stanzas of Have Thine Own Way, Lord, and then you can come up and lead someone to Christ. And I'm not saying those things don't work and they're not good necessarily, but what's the Bible say? The Bible says, go ye therefore into all the world and preach the gospel. He's gonna come at you. What are we supposed to do about that? Well, turn to Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13. Ephesians chapter 6, verse 13. We're supposed to put on the whole armor of God, aren't we? Is that an armor of God? Is that an armor that you can see? Or is that an armor you can't see? It's an armor you can't see. You know why? Because it's spiritual armor. It's armor that God equips you with, but you do have to put it on. It says, wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God. It doesn't say everything but the shoes. It doesn't say everything but the shield. It doesn't say everything about the sword. It says the whole armor, doesn't it? Having the evil day and having done all to stand, stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Why is the devil going to come at you? Well, if you're putting on the whole armor of God, he's like, well, he's ready to battle. Let's go. And sometimes all we can do is stand. But what's the, what are we talking about tonight? But none of these things move me. So what's he saying to do? Stand. Just stand there. Can you stand? Can you put on the whole armor of God? Can you stand? Well, none of these things should move you. And look what it says in verse 15, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. People that aren't going soul winning are not putting on the whole armor of God. How many churches in this area are there? How many churches in this area have a soul winning program? Well, what does that tell you about them? That they don't have the whole armor of God on. So how are they going to stand? And your shoes are a pretty important piece of armor. You know, that was a big thing back when there was knights and all that stuff. And they put on armor because they're fighting with swords, right? And if you accidentally get hit, it's not going to hurt as bad or maybe not going to kill you, obviously. It's there for your protection. Well, imagine going out to battle with your full armor on except it's not just part of the armor. Well, what's it saying? Stand. Can you stand there? Can you just put your armor on and stand there? I'm not expecting anything else, but you just stand when you're being attacked because what's coming at you, the fiery darts of the wicked. You know what? If you have the shield of faith, then you're able to quench those tempted of the devil, wasn't he? And what did he do? He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights before the temptation. And the devil offered him everything he could. He took him to all these places in a moment of time to see all the kingdoms of the world. And he said, all these things could be yours if you just bow down and worship me. And tempted him with the pride of just jumping off and the angels will come and pick you up, lest you dash your foot upon a stone. But what did he do? Listen, the devil does have things to offer. That's why he offered him to Jesus. He said, these things have been given to me. He can offer them. Why? Because he does have that power. In most situations. And so, can he come at you? Oh yeah, he can come at you. He came at Job. He had to ask for permission, but he came at Job. So, can he come after you? He absolutely can come after you. And you know what, he will. But what is it going to take to move you? Job was the greatest man in the world at that time. The best man. The most complete Christian. He hated evil. He shoot evil. And, you know, he was a great man. But we're not all Job. But can you at least just say today, I'm not going to be moved no matter what the devil throws at me. Because, you know, the worst things might happen. But again, it just might depend on what you're doing for God. If you're not doing anything for God, why is he going to attack you? It's like, why would he infiltrate a church that's already taken over by him? Who's he going to focus all of his ire, and all of his wrath, and all of his hatred on? Is God to defeat us? Well, he's going to focus his ire on those churches that are actually doing what God wants him to do. And then he's going to focus on individuals inside those churches to try to divide them. That's why we're supposed to be one in spirit, one in mind, striving for the gospel. So, what's he going to do now? Are you going to finish your course? Are you going to keep the faith like the apostle Paul said? Have you counted the cost of serving Christ? Because you have to actually do that. You have to actually say, what is it going to cost me to serve Christ? Am I willing to come? What if it's going to have all of your extended family hate you and call you a cult member? Are you still going to stick with this church and stick with the things of God? Or are you going to just say, you know what, I never really realized because you're not supposed to. But see, a lot of people, you know, they have that blood is thicker than water thing, but you know what, Jesus paid his blood for me. So, yeah, his blood is thicker than water. But I'll take that. I'll take the blood of Christ instead of family blood and we'll spend some time together, mom, or brother, or sister, or whoever it is, but I'm dang sure not going to skip out on church. I'm not going to skip out on my responsibilities for anybody. It doesn't matter if they're in my house or not in my house. I'm not going to skip out for anybody. Well, I guarantee you that something's going to come and try to move you out of your steadfastness. It's going to try to move you out of you serving Christ. Are you ready for the challenge? Because the challenge is going to come. The devil's going to say challenge accepted. And then you're going to have to go through that problem and they're going to quit. You know, Peter denied Christ. Why? Because some little maid told him or just accused him of being one of Jesus' disciples. And he was afraid. He was scared. He was afraid of what was going to happen if he said, yes, because it does move some people. Well everybody says your church is a cult. So what? Everybody hated Jesus. They nailed him to the cross. Everybody hated his disciples. Everybody hated them and cast out their name as wicked and they beat them and they said these people of this way and in Christ. Who cares what they think? Why do you care? You know who I care what they think? I care what God thinks. And that's what we should actually care about and none of these other things should move us. Who cares what they oh the ADL says that your church is a hate group and so what? Who cares what they think? I don't care. If they want to send me the award I'll put the plaque on the wall. So go ahead and send it. What about the public opinion of your church? What about the public opinion of your pastor? You know are you going to stand with your pastor and all that stuff? They're not coming to you they're coming to me. They're coming to Pastor Jimenez. They're coming to other pastor friends of ours and you know what I signed up for this job I understand that but I'm just telling you that there's things that we have to deal with that you don't even know about that you've never even known about or saying what God already told us to say. We're like you said this this and that and it's like yeah but that's in the Bible. Like what is there a problem with that? Like I thought it was okay for Christians to believe the Bible. Well not that part. Not Leviticus 2013. You know we don't care what the public thinks. None of these things should move you. You know what should move you? Your motivation to serve God. Move in that direction. Whether you're being sued or I'm being sued or whoever's being sued who cares? You know what God's got my back and you know what the Bible says vengeance is mine sayeth and whatever happens to me you know what I know for sure that God has my back and he's going to repay every single thing that's ever been done to me wickedly. And none of these things are going to move me. Turn to Luke chapter 14 verse 25. Luke chapter 14 verse 25. I'm getting milkshake with it. All right Luke 14 25. So when you're at Luke 14 verse 25 hold your finger there and I want you to go to Isaiah chapter 50. I'm pulling to Pastor Luke 14 25 because we're going to come right back there in just a second. At least I'm trying to practice the past. Anyway Luke 14 or excuse me Isaiah 50 verse 6. See Jesus had a lot of things that came to him that they tried to move him also. They're always trying to kill people. You know the religious leaders are there you know staring him down giving him dirty looks you know just waiting to ask some stupid question that he already knew the answer to. Thinking wicked thoughts about him. I mean you want to talk about having a tough crowd. You know he had some that he wanted to live a perfect life for us to endure all the things that we might endure also. For what? So he could save us. So he could save our souls. And he had a mission and you know what his mission was to go to that cross. And when he finally set his heart to go to that cross to the smiters of my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair I hid not my face from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me. Therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face like a flint. And I know that I shall not be ashamed. When Jesus said I'm not stopping for anything else. We're going. This is where we're going. And you know the Samaritans were upset about that or whatever. The disciples were like let's barbecue these guys. But Jesus Christ was like you know what I got a mission to do. I'm heading to Jerusalem. And I'm setting my face like a flint. I will not accept my face like a flint. And I'm not going to be moved. Look at verse 25 in Luke chapter 14. Excuse me. Go back to Luke 14 where I had you turn originally there. And it says and there went great multitudes with him. And he turned and said unto them if any man come to me and hate not his father and mother and he cannot be my disciple. That's a hard saying isn't it? But he's not like saying hate them. Don't have anything to do with them. He's just saying like in comparison to what how you should love God it should appear as hatred to everybody else including even your own parents and children and your wife and your own family and follow after him. That's what he's talking about he's saying and whosoever does not bear his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you intending to build a tower sitteth not down and first counteth the cost whether he has sufficient to finish it. So when I say count the cost what I'm saying is I'm not turning back from this. I remember when I asked my wife I was like this is what I'm thinking about I'm actually thinking about possibly leading this church and becoming the pastor. And she always says I remember where we were when you asked me are you willing to follow me no matter what happens. Cause that's what I asked her I said because we today I'm committing to leading a church and becoming a pastor. Nothing is going to be able to move us from that and I need your commitment to me right now as my wife that you're going to follow me every step of the way. And she said we were in the Dairy Queen drive through. And I don't know great things happen to Dairy Queen apparently but she said I will. She thought about it for a second. She looked at me. She said I will. I will follow you. If I wouldn't have my wife with me to do this though I couldn't do it without her. I couldn't be a pastor and minister to all these people by myself. I need my wife. And so when I asked her that she said that she would follow me no matter what. And she's still here. And I'm still here because of her more importantly because of Jesus Christ and because of a pastor that would take a chance on a church clear up in Vancouver Washington that he's probably never been before have you? Had you before you came? No. So he took a chance on us and you know what pastor counted the cost of what it was going to cost to start this church and it was probably a lot. But you know he paid that cost and then you know all I'm saying is that when you're setting out to do something you need to count the cost and when it comes to serving God with your life and being like a full time you know servant of God. I'm just saying full time as in you're all in. I'm an all in Christian. I'm not a half way out. I'm not a one time a weaker. And look if you're only coming one time a week you know I'm not trying to beat you up but I am trying to motivate you. You know because we should count the cost of what it's going to cost and if it's anything that's going to knock you off that's you know but I don't want you to do that. I want you to be the best Christian that you possibly can be and you know how you do that? Well first you got to count the cost of what it's going to take to serve in a church like this and if you're like well you know I'm just going to go to a regular Baptist Church that doesn't have soul wanting. Okay well you know you're never going to have any adversity. You're not cut out for this type of church and there's been a lot of people that have been cut out for it. A lot of people that have and people like to make excuses as to why they quit and that's the most that's one of the most frustrating things as a pastor. I'm just going to talk to you. We're just all you know alone here anyway so but a very frustrating thing that happens is that when people leave church they go to church and they start this counseling and help them and taught them and try to bring them along and teach them all the things you could teach them and then they had a great life here and then whenever they just like they want to find some excuse to leave. They want to find some excuse to move let something move them unless he actually did do something but don't blame the pastor for you being weak. Don't quit because you didn't like something the pastor said that's garbage. I'm going to say something stupid from time to time and probably every week but I'm going to try my best to not do that. Which one of you could get up here and preach a perfect sermon every single time and let your excuse to be moved be something in leadership or something that some other person in the church did. Quit being weak and make an excuse if you just want to quit because you don't have what it takes because you didn't count the cost because you didn't realize your mom was going to call you a cult member or because you didn't realize that we're going to fire. I'm on fire. I'm going to do all this stuff and then where are they now? They're gone because they never counted the cost whether they had sufficient to finish it. And verse 29 says, less happily after they had laid the foundation and is not able to finish it and all that behold began to mock him. I guarantee you if you're all sold out and acting like you're really are going to mock you. They're going to go, I thought you believe in all this Jesus stuff. I'm like, oh yeah, yeah, I did. But now, I mean, they're just a cult. No, you're just weak. Verse 30, saying this man began to build and was not able to finish or what king going to make war against him with 20,000. Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an embassage and desireth conditions of peace. So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple. What's the cost of serving Christ? It's everything. It's going to cost you everything. It's going to cost you everything. It says, what if the salt had lost its saber? Wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land, or yet to be for the dung hill. But men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear let him hear. Listen, don't lose your saber. Don't move from your steadfastness. But none of these things moved me. You don't want to be thrown out of your face like a flint. Here's what I'm going to do. I want to serve God for the rest of my life. And I'm going to be the best church member I can. I'm going to be the best soul winner I can. I'm going to be the best prayer warrior I can. I'm going to be the best church member. I'm going to be the best soul winner. I'm going to be the best groomer I can. Amen. Bye. Alright, sorry about that, Karina was sleeping. This song will be song number 343, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, in your blue hymnbook. It's 393, excuse me, 393 in your blue hymnbook, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Let me get there as well. Song number 393, A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, let's sing it out together on the first. A mighty fortress is our God Of all work never failing Our helper he amid the flood Of mortal ills prevailing For still our ancient foe Does seek to work us wrong Its craft and power are great And armed with cruel hate On earth is not his equal Did we in our own strength confide Our striving would be losing We're not the right man on our side The man of God's own choosing Does ask who that may be Christ Jesus it is he Wards survey of his name From age to age the same And he must win the battle And know this world with devils filled Should threaten to undo us We will not fear for God hath will His truth to triumph through us The prince of darkness grim We tremble not for him His rage we can endure For lo his doom is sure One little word shall fail him That word above all earthly powers No thanks to them abiding The spirit and the gifts are ours Through him who with the signeth Let goods and kindreds go This mortal life also The body they may kill God's truth abided still His kingdom is forever You