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

Hey man, it was great to be back. I'm glad I got to take a little siesta in between the services there. I'm sorry if you didn't get to, but I did, so I feel good. And I'm thankful for that. But we don't really have that time in between our services, so it's kind of nice. I'm thinking about changing our times now. Anyway, I just want to say thank you for the lunch this afternoon. It was really great. And the comedy relief from outside, that was pretty fun. Apparently, I'm a murderer, I didn't realize that. But that's what's written on the chalk, so it must be true. But anyway, I was out there and there was one of the guys out there earlier, he was in one of those motorized wheelchair type things. And I think he was a homo, which I don't understand how that works. But I asked the guy who's back here tonight, I asked him if that guy was a queer, and he's like, are you a queer? And I was like, no. I said, do you know what you call a fag in a wheelchair? He said, he didn't say anything, I just said roll aids. But anyway, that's one you can use. You don't get to use that one very often, so I just thought that was a pretty good one. So anyway, let's look down at our Bibles at Psalm 113, verse 7. The Bible says, he raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dung hill, that he may set him with princes, even with the princes of his people. It's a great psalm here, and what it's talking about is, God just, he can take someone that's poor, that was born with nothing. And this is obviously, when you spiritually apply this, God tells us to go and reach the poor with the gospel, cuz the poor are the ones that are gonna listen to it, but he also talks about blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see God. And he lifts those people out of the dung hill, and obviously, I've never lived in a dung hill, but there's places like in India and things like that where people, I'm sure there's places, things where people literally have lived in something that would be considered a dung hill. But I mean, if you wanna consider that the life that you live, or where you come from, whatever, but God can take us out of whatever station in life we were born into, and whatever spiritual horror show that we've come up in, and he can take us out of that and put us where? He can set him with the princes. And so you might not be born royalty, but when you become a child of God, you become royalty, become one of the princes, cuz it says he sets us with the princes of his people. The title of my sermon tonight is The Cream of the Crop Rises to the Top. The cream of the crop rises to the top. Or you could just call it the cream rises to the top. So whatever one you wanna come up with, you wanna call it whatever. But when you leave milk out, it, and I'm talking about real milk, not the one that's already gone through the process and all these places. You know what I'm talking, not milk that you buy at the store that has no cream on the top, who remembers or who gets milk where the cream, there's still cream at the top of it, anybody get that kind of milk? You used to be able to get that, especially out in areas like more rural areas like this. But I remember getting A&W milk, and I don't know, I didn't know that they made milk, but they did back then. And you'd open that fresh milk, and it'd have a big thick layer of cream on top of it, and that was the best part to put on your cereal, whatever kind of cereal you're having. And so when you leave, you know, when you milk a cow and you put that milk out for a while, the cream rises to the top. It's just, and people say that's the most delicious part of the milk, which it is. And this meaning was transformed to describe things and people, figuratively, since the 16th century, the term cream has been used to refer to the best. So when you're talking about the cream of the crop, you're talking about the best people, right? When it's figuratively being applied to people. And there's a guy named, there's a wrestler, and he claimed that he was the best wrestler, and back in the WWF and what was called that, but he was the Macho Man Randy Savage. Who's ever heard of the Macho Man Randy Savage? All right, and he has a famous video where he's talking and he's doing one of those pre-wrestling montages where he's just talking about how he's the greatest wrestler and everything. But he described himself as the cream of the crop, and then he begins to just start pulling out little bottles of cream like this. And handing them to the guy, and then he's just like, he's talking, and then just all of a sudden another cream comes out of his pocket, and you're just like, where's all this cream coming from? And he's just like, no one's better than the Macho Man. Well, I gotta get the glasses on for this one, all right? I brought these glasses that I actually wear because I like the Macho Man. Anyway, so he wears glasses kind of like this, but they're way more wild, right? And he's just like, and nobody's better than the Macho Man. He puts the cream on top of his head and he's like, balanced off, balanced, doesn't matter, I'm better than you. He's just going off on this wild tangent about how he's the cream of the crop of the wrestling federation and all this other stuff. And he takes the cream back from the guy, and then he puts it back in his pocket. And the whole time at the very end, he just kind of throws a cream and then walks off. He just drops the mic and walks away, but he drops the cream and walks away. So anyway, that's where I actually first heard the term, the cream of the crop, but it is actually a saying that's kind of been around for a long time, obviously, since the 16th century. Now, the worldly meaning of this term means that the best people, the most talented, the most gifted people, will automatically rise to the top in most situations. This is true in most cases, isn't it, out in the workforce or in the sports world. You know, the best athletes, the most gifted, the most talented, the best speakers are going to be in the positions of the best actors, and the most beautiful people, and the most fit people. Those are the people that society deems as the cream of the crop, okay? But this evening, I want to present it from a Christian perspective. In a reality, Christians are the real cream of the crop. Christians are the cream that rises to the top in God's eyes and in reality. Because think about this. Where are those people that might be the top in this world, the best athletes, the best looking, the most talented, the most gifted, the richest, the ones born into royalty, the ones that are born princes. They didn't have to get pulled off of a dung hill. They weren't born poor. They were born with a silver spoon in their mouth. And someday, most of those people are going to be in hell. They're going to end up on the bottom. And where are the Christians going to end up? They're going to end up on the top, right? So my first point tonight is, we are the cream of the crop, and it's not because we're better than everybody else. That's obviously not true. It's because of Christ. It's because of Christ, that's what makes us the cream that rises to the top. It's not ourselves. Let's look at 1 Samuel chapter 2, 1 Samuel chapter 2. Now, this famous little speech that's given here is actually given by Hannah after she's talking about how she's really upset because she can't have a child. And God blesses her with a child. And she kind of goes on this little speech here in this second chapter, where she's obviously speaking by the Holy Spirit here. But in verse number six, it says, the Lord killeth and maketh alive. He bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich. He bringeth low and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung-hill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory, for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and he has set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness, for by strength shall no man prevail. So by our strength, by our talents, by all the ways that the world measures success, that is not how you rise to the top. You rise to the top because the Lord allows you to rise in that way. And what is the top? Well, the top is that you get to go to heaven, right? You get to rise out of death and be risen into life everlasting. Christians are the cream of the crop, all right? And it's not because we're special. It's not because we're physically gifted. It's not because we're the best looking. It's not because we're the most talented. It's not because we have all this ability, and that we're mentally superior to everybody, or richer than everybody, or high born, or born into some royal family. And it's not because of our moral superiority. Obviously, Christians usually are more moral after they get saved in general. If they go to church and follow the Christian life, they're generally more moral. But that's not why we go to heaven, is it? Why do we go to heaven? Because Christ was moral for us. Christ charged and led the way for us. He was the real cream of the crop, and he allows us to kind of get in. He allows us to get on the top with him and to inherit with him. Christians are the cream of the crop because God's made us the cream of the crop because of our faith in the son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at John 1-12, John 1-12. The Bible talks about this truth in John 1-12. And the power is given to us to become the cream of the crop, but there's something that we have to do to get that power, right? Look at John 1-12, it says, but as many as received him. So we have to receive him, right? To them gave he power to become the sons of God. So we get that power to become the sons of God because we've received him. He gives us that transfer of power, even to them that believe on his name. And I like how it says this here, it says, which were born not of blood, so it has nothing to do with our lineage, nor of the will of the flesh. It's not our human efforts that get us there, nor of the will of man. I can't make you get saved. We'd like to just shake people and make them get saved at the door, or get them in a headlock and make them choose Christ, but we can't do that. But what does it say, the last three words there? But of God, right? So that is how we get in. It's not because of anything special about us, it's God. God's the one that makes us the cream of the crop. So therefore, God allows us to rise out of our previous station of life, which was what? Going to hell, a sinner, lost, not knowing what's right and wrong necessarily, but on our way to a devil's hell. And we are now born again, and are spiritual kings and spiritual priests unto our God. And we've been lifted out of our spiritual dung hills. We have inherited the riches of Christ. We are rich, and now we are royal. We're in the royal family now. I mean, everybody in here is royalty. Isn't that cool? I mean, we didn't have to, there's all these real popular shows like Downtown Abbey, and all these shows about kings and queens. And people just, in England, it's a really big deal where people just follow, the paparazzi follows around the queen and the king. And they're listening in on their conversations, and Charles is complaining about the coronation. And they just follow these people around and just worship them like gods almost. But we are the real royal line. Our royal line never ends. Our inheritance never ends. And we're also priests. So just like if you think about the tabernacle in the wilderness, okay? Moses was the one that was supposed to do everything. God told him, this is how everything's supposed to be. This is what you're supposed to do. And then he made Moses put the clothes on him. He made Moses show them everything they were supposed to do, just like Christ shows us what to do. And then Aaron was the high priest. Jesus Christ is also the high priest. And so once they were washed, then they had to wash themselves also, the priests that were Aaron's sons. And we are sons also of God, but it's not through hereditary like it was with Aaron and his sons. It's a different kind of inheritance. It's a spiritual inheritance, but we're still sons, aren't we? And so in the Old Testament, it was a fleshly inherited right that you were born into, just like the kings. I mean, sometimes there was kings that were picked and you're like, why was this king in? Well, because he just happened to be the firstborn son in the family. And sometimes they were pretty crappy people. Sometimes they were just downright wicked. And then they ruled for this long period of time. And then you just kind of had to wait until these wicked people die until maybe somebody else would be better than them. Let's turn to 1 Peter chapter 1, or excuse me, 1 Peter 2, verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9. The Bible says in 1 Peter chapter 2, verse 9, it says, But you're a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praise of him who hath called you out of darkness, out of that dung hill, right, into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So just because we've obtained mercy, we get all these great blessings from God. And again, it's nothing that we do, but yet here we are. We're the cream of the crop. Well, let's see. I can't balance it either. But we're the cream of the crop. And we do rise to the top. And it's not based upon anything we've done or any merits that we've done, but it's just God's graciousness to us and God's love and mercy toward us. And we get to just get in on the royal priesthood. We're kings and princes and priests under the Lord. Now number two, this is kind of my longer point in the sermon. But number two tonight is, as the cream of the crop, we should view things how God does. We should have this view in perfect view, that it's not because of anything physical or mental or anything like that, that we're like the cream of the crop. It's quite the opposite of that, you know? And so go ahead and turn to First Corinthians chapter one, verse 26. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 26. But the problem I see sometimes is that even though we should look at it a certain way, we don't look at it a certain way. And it's just really unfortunate because the Bible really clearly spells this out that God just calls the normal people. He just calls the regular people. Even Jesus Christ was nothing special to behold. He wasn't made some six foot ten, muscle bound bow hunk, that all the girls thought he was this most handsome guy ever or something. He was just a regular guy, a regular looking person, so that nobody would desire him like that. But look at verse 26, it says, for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise, so are there many wise people called? What is wise? People that are really smart, right? When it comes to the world, okay? Not many wise, men after the flesh, see, after the flesh. Not many mighty, so the great athletes, the great warriors, not many of those, not many noble, not many princes, not many people that are born with a silver spoon in their mouth, this is what it's talking about, are called. So, is there a lot of people that are super smart that are called that are saved? No, there's not. Is there a lot of people that are physically gifted? No, it's saying there's just not many of those. And why? Because a lot of the times those people don't want Christ. It's not that they couldn't get saved, it's just they won't get saved. Because they have advantages in their lives that cause them to not want it. It's just like rich people. Why don't they get saved? Because they already have everything they need. And they don't see a need for Christ. But it says in verse 27, But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world. What is base things? The low things. The people that these high-born and snotty, snobby, highfalutin people that they think is base. You know what they think is base? When you knock on their door, even though it says welcome all. Or welcome to my home, and they're like, what do you want? These types of people, knocking on someone's door is base to them. Preaching, don't preach to me. How many times have you heard something stupid like that? It's because they think they're being talked down to. Who are you, low born? Who do you think you are, talking to me, scum? I know where you came from. I know what area of town you were born in. Who do you think you are, talking to me? I'm rich, don't you realize that? These are the types of things, and God uses the weak things to confound the things of the mighty. And the base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to not, things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. So, God has a problem with people that are prideful. You know what, people that are beautiful, people that are physically gifted, people that are mentally gifted, the Oppenheimers, and what's the guy's name, the theory of relativity, Einstein, right? Apparently I'm no Einstein. But, were they saved? Do you think those guys were saved? But they had these brilliant minds, and everybody just thought they were so great. One guy invented the atomic bomb, sorry Hiroshima, sorry Nagasaki. Now the whole world's in fear because the weapons that he created, so that people could destroy the world a million times over, if they really wanted to. I mean, these are the things that are the mighty. But God doesn't use those things. God uses the things that people consider weak. You know what people consider weak? Christians that walk around with their kids knocking on doors. They don't like that. It's base to them, it's low. And what we do is base to them, but you know what? God doesn't want people that are gonna just glory, try to glory in his presence. That's why it's not, I mean, that's a main reason why it's not of works, lest any man should boast. Because if people could boast about how good they were and how they earned their way into heaven, I guarantee you they would, and you know how I know that? Because they do anyway. They think they're good enough all the time, don't they, when we go to their door. Well, you know, I'm a pretty good person, and right then you know they're boasting, aren't they? I'm a good person, I'm pretty good, I was a teacher for 30 years. I was in Operation Desert Storm. I saved a kitten out of a tree, I'm a firefighter. I've heard some pretty crazy ones. What's the craziest ones anybody's heard? Anybody have a crazy one? Anybody? Come on, don't be afraid. You got one? No? Anybody? Come on, Pastor Jones. Well, he's had, I mean, people come up with a lot of excuses too. You know, my cat's behind the microwave. That's, you know, one that he's heard. You know, I know Brother Rabon had one just recently. It was like, I gotta catch this spider, and the kid pulls a cup out of, a cup that he's gonna catch the spider with. He's like, well, I'll wait, you know, go catch the spider and come back, I'll preach you the gospel. Didn't happen, but, you know, people just, they think that they're good though. That's the, that's the thing. And God doesn't want us to glory in his presence. He wants the base things, the weak things. And to, to most people, they're like, well, I don't want anything that's free. I want to work for it. And that's how they are, right? So, anyway, but, so why would we, as Christians though, why would we turn around and make requirements of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to live up to some kind of standard that the heathen look to? And I'm talking about things within our own lives. Why would we turn around when we know that that's something that God doesn't like, when, and it's something that God doesn't choose people for. Why would we turn around and be those things, and try to be those things, and then try to put those standards on each other in churches? And what do I mean by that? Well, what do I mean by that? Well, I mean carnality, pride, trying to be, you know, super fit. The super, you know, and I'm not saying don't be fit. Be fit. And I'm just saying that there's sometimes people get into this mode of carnality and pride, and they look, start looking down their nose at other people because of the food they eat, or because of what they look like, and all these things, and these are things that God doesn't really care about so much. They're not things that are emphasized in scripture, and yet I see these kind of things pop up within our circles sometimes. I'm just like, why are you making this such a big thing? It's just because we can't help sometimes with be carnal, and I don't know if it's just envy from seeing it. And there's a lot of stuff out there today to fill our brains. There's a lot of YouTube channels that are like, yeah, you know, be like me, be like Andrew Tate. And you can be a womanizing whoremonger just like me. And you can be the alpha male, bro. And you can lift weights in new karate and all this other stuff. It's just like, you know, but is that what God's called us to do? Is that what you were supposed to spend all your time doing? Just worrying about how, you know, how much you can deadlift and all this other stuff, like, what really is that? And I'm not, look, I'm not saying don't do it. I'm not saying don't better yourself. I'm not saying don't eat healthy foods. I'm not saying don't care about your health care or whatever. But sometimes people take it to an extreme and then they look down their nose at other people and act like, well, you're not being like me, or you're not being like this person. Well, then you're just not very good. That's exactly what the world does. It's exactly what the princes of this world do. It's exactly what the beautiful people of this world do. It's exactly what the top athletes of this world do. And if you were gonna be a top athlete, you'd be one right now. But you're not. You're sitting on the bench. You're not even in the game. You're not even on the team. And then you wanna talk about your physicality. That you have to be so much more of a great athlete to be on a professional team, it's not even funny. You're like, well, I could have been. Well, that's what everybody says. You know, if I had a football, I could throw it over that mountain right there. Napoleon Dynamite. Uncle Rico, no you couldn't. Anyway, so let's look at verse 30. It says, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. So what are we supposed to be glorying in? Not our own self. Not our own looks. Not our own intellect. Not how great we speak. Not how great we are or how much money we have. But we're supposed to glory in what? Let him glory in the Lord. That's what we're supposed to be glorying in. And any other thing besides that is carnality. And look, again, I'm not saying don't better yourself. I'm just saying that I see this attitude sometimes and it gets kind of weird. It gets kind of holier than now. And, you know, God doesn't like that either. So I see a pride in carnality sometimes from certain elements in our own camp. Christians being stuck up and snobby and holier than thou in regards to looks, strength, physical appearance, speaking ability, alpha male mentality, thinking only silver-tongued orators are worthy of being pastors, diet, organic food, health food, natural supplements, natural remedies, parenting, personal preferences, and various other nitpicky little things that people get into. And look, I'm not trying to just, I'm not picking on anybody. Pastor Jones didn't tell me to preach to anybody. I don't know what your hang-up is. I'm just preaching this because I feel like God put it on my heart to preach. So, but again, I'm all for, you know, people bettering themselves, but not when people start looking down their nose at other people. That's nauseating. And, you know, as a pastor, I get criticism. But you know what, I can take it. And I realize that that comes with the job. It's just a reality. You know, it's a little hard at first. And every once in a while, there's a blow that gets struck that, you know, touches the nerve. But, you know, that's with anybody. You know, but that is pride, too. Because nobody likes to have their pride stepped on. And nobody likes to be teased. Jesus didn't like to be mocked. I mean, when they say that Jesus, they cast this also in his teeth. And, you know, they're just lying about him and railing on him. It did affect him. He didn't like it. You know, it's not like he was just impervious to all that. It does hurt, but, you know, obviously it's part of the job. But sometimes that criticism comes with an accusation that like I or we or other pastors like myself, you know, we try to copy everything that certain pastors do. And I've had this accusation multiple times that like I tried to preach like Pastor Anderson or whatever. And all the people in our movement or all the pastors in our movement try to preach just like Pastor Anderson. It's like nobody can preach like Pastor Anderson, okay? But that's just not true. I think everybody has their own individual style. And, you know, the simple thing is it's just not true. But there's variations within what we teach and how we teach it. They'll say like, oh, you teach everything that he says and if it's against something that he says, then you'll just change your mind and teach that anyway. I think people that go to our churches, the different churches that we have, know that that's not true. You know, there's different things that we, you know, obviously there's nuances in or differences in smaller doctrines. But in truth, if you have like-minded Baptist preachers, then there's gonna be a lot of similarities in what we teach and what we believe. It's the same Bible, it's the same God, it's the same Holy Spirit. And, you know, we have unity in doctrine that matters, right, salvation by faith alone, eternal security of the believer, King James only, those types of things. And if you happen to listen to people that preach a lot, there's no doubt you're gonna repeat something that they might say or teach something the way they teach it because you think that they might explain it extremely well, who says that that's wrong? Like, I don't understand why that's so wrong. But if you spend time with somebody, just say you go to a foreign country and you spend a lot of time around a bunch of British people, you're gonna start picking up things that they say in the way that they say it. And if you spend a lot of time in a foreign country, you're gonna start talking the way they talk. If someone from a foreign country comes over here, they're gonna start losing their accent that they had when they came over. So, and obviously you can still pick up on it, but it's just the way it is, we naturally kind of emulate the way, the society that we're in, to a certain extent. But then there's the other side of this where people will say, well, you know, well I'm not gonna listen, I only listen to one specific pastor and he's my favorite pastor and all the other ones are not as good as him because they don't speak as good as him. It's just like, what kind of attitude is that to have? It's just like, who made this a competition of a, who made this a speaking competition? You know, every man of God that I know, that I'm friends with, they preach good sermons. And maybe not all people preach the same as far as like, how gifted they are at preaching or how much of an orator they really are or how long they've been preaching, because those things matter. Who's preached in here before? A sermon. How many of you preached? One. Was it harder than you thought it was gonna be? Were you nervous? So I mean, when people have never preached a sermon before and they're just like, well, that person doesn't preach very good, why don't you just get up and try it once and see how you feel when you get up and preach the sermon, you know? So I mean, everybody's a critic, but everybody likes to play Monday morning quarterback about how good they would do something, how they would run a church, but they couldn't even run a hot dog stand, let alone a church, you know? They couldn't preach if they tried, they'd be too scared to get up and do it. And look, I'm not saying that people that have never done something can't judge what's good preaching and what's not, but to criticize someone that maybe isn't as good or eloquent as another man, that's wrong, you know? Are they, here's the test. Are they preaching the Bible? If they're preaching the Bible, they're getting the message across, and maybe they're not as good at preaching. Who said we're supposed to, you know, are we supposed to compare ourselves like that? Are we supposed to compare, well, this is my favorite one, and then here's my second favorite. I mean, that's carnal, that's division, that's exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches us to be like. And I'm not saying don't have your favorite pastor. I mean, I'm not my favorite pastor. I get it, so, but what I'm saying is like, it's wrong to have this attitude where you're just like, well, if it was just Pastor Anderson in the New IFB, the New IFB would be way better. It's just like, but do you think he feels like that? You know, I mean, that's just a bizarre thing to say. You know, because when more pastors pop up, that means more churches are popping up. And when more churches are popping up, then they can start more churches and exponential growth can happen. But one person can't do it all from one location. And I don't think he expects everybody to be exactly like him. I don't think Pastor Jimenez expects everybody to be exactly like him. And he's a great pastor too, you know? And before you start, well, you're just jealous. I'm not jealous. But you're using the wrong word, it's envious. But I'm not envious either. I'm just who I am. And I preach how I preach, and that's just the way it is. But, you know, just because I don't, you know, I don't check your little boxes of whatever you think I should be doesn't mean that I can't be helpful to somebody in preaching sermons. So both extremes though are wrong. And nobody forces you to listen to anybody. But being carnal, a blowhard, a big mouth, picking people apart, you know, how would you like if somebody did that to you over everything that you do in your life? You probably wouldn't like it. And if someone disagrees with your hero, if someone disagrees with the pastor that you agree with the most, and then you're like, well, I just can't go to that church or something because I disagree with that one thing. Now, I talked, I kind of briefly brought this up this morning, but we're not all gonna agree about everything, you know? And so you're never gonna find the unicorn church that agrees with every doctrine you believe in. And if you can't get behind with something that your pastor preaches, shut your mouth and believe whatever Pastor So-and-So says, but just don't, you know, you don't have to make a big deal about it, you know? So, and stop criticizing other good men. It's just not right. And, you know, have you ever thought that maybe you're just wrong? Maybe they're wrong, who knows? But who died and made you the judge of another man's servant? That's what I wanna know. Who died and made you the judge? Because for you to just act like that and just pick other good men apart, I think it's wrong because they're preaching the word of God. They're, you know, maybe they're not doing all the things that you like or something, but, you know, go to that church then. If that's the church you love, then go to that church, I say, you know? But you should be able to get on board with the pastor of the church that you go to. And if there's something you disagree with about, about with them, then disagree with them. If it's something that you can't get down with, then move to another church. I mean, it's just that simple. But when it comes to people's speaking abilities, I do wanna kind of hammer this a little bit. Look at Exodus chapter four, Exodus chapter four. Because whoever said in the Bible that men of God and preachers of God are supposed to be these eloquent orators, as a matter of fact, you really don't see that in the Bible. I think God would rather just hear someone thunder forth the word of God than to have them be this, you know, tailored, you know, they went to speech classes and all this stuff and they learned how to put, you know, put points together and all this other stuff. You know, look, and I'm glad for people to do that. But where's the Bible say to do that? Do you see Jesus going, point number one, do you see that in any of his sermons? Do you? Have you seen one of his sermons where he says, and point number one says, but we do it, why do we do it? Well, we just want you to get the point, I guess. But I'm just saying that like, where does the Bible say to teach like that? It doesn't say that. Look, I'm not saying it's wrong. I think it's helpful. But look at what Moses says. God's calling him and saying, you know, this is one of the greatest men in the whole Bible. And look what God says about Moses. It says, what Moses says here. It says that Moses said unto the Lord, oh my Lord, I am not eloquent. Was Moses a gifted orator and speaker? Was he the one that got, you know, the first place at all the conferences? No, he was not eloquent. Neither heretofore nor since thou has spoken to thy servant. So he wasn't before, and all of a sudden, he didn't get the Holy Ghost blast to get him to be able to be this great orator. It says, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue. So who did God call, the best orator? Well, you know what, I'm gonna call Moses because he's the best speaker, and I know people are gonna listen to him because he's on point with all of his sermons. Is that why he called Moses? No, he called Moses because he was meek, and he knew that Moses was a humble man and that he would do the job that he gave him to do. And the Lord said unto him, who hath made man's mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seen, or the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore, go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say. And here's the thing, God can call any normal person to preach. It just takes the right person to just say yes, I'll do it, and there's no pre-required thing. Now Moses was born a prince, wasn't he? Well, not really born a prince, but he became one because he lived in the house of Egypt. But he forsook those things. He forsook the Egyptians and said, I'd rather suffer with Christ and God's people than live in sin for a season, right? So, but it says, now therefore, go, I'll be with thy mouth. So God's saying, I'll help you. You know, maybe you can't preach very good right now, but I'm gonna help you. And he said, oh my Lord, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him who thou wilt send. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses, and he said, is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well, and also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee, and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. Now shalt speak unto him and put words in his mouth, and I will be with thy mouth and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people, and he shall be even, and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. But Aaron was a good speaker. He said, I know he speaks well, but was Aaron the better leader? No, he was making the golden calf like as soon as Moses, I mean, he's letting the people do whatever they want, having a rock concert, you know, here I am. Oh, Moses, hey, how's it going? This golden calf just popped out. No, God chose Moses because he's faithful. He didn't choose him because he was the best speaker, but he did say, I'll be with your mouth. And so, do you think Moses became a good speaker, though? He probably did. You know, I mean, he had millions of people in his congregation out in the wilderness. Now look at Isaiah chapter 28, Isaiah chapter 28. Isaiah 28, verse nine. The Bible says, whom shall he teach knowledge? And whom shall he make to understand doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breast. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little, there a little. So what's God teaching us here? That doctrine, great doctrine is built precept upon precept, line upon line. You turn to the Bible, you build a doctrine by showing verses that prove your doctrine, right? And then look what it says here, it's really interesting. For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people. Now what does it mean to stammer? Well it means to speak with sudden involuntary pauses and a tendency to repeat the initial letters of words. We would call that modern day someone that stutters. So he's chosen the base things of this world. You know, nobody wants to hear somebody stutter and stammer when they speak. But yet he says, I'm gonna use people that stutter and stammer because he'd rather use someone that can't speak as well than some silver tongued orator that is preaching a false gospel and lies. And all these people that you see on television, the T.D. Jakes and the Joel Osteens and the John MacArthurs they're good at speaking but they're good at speaking lies too. And heresy and false doctrine and they're devils and they're not even saved. Billy Graham could speak well, he filled stadiums with people. And they're like, oh Billy Graham's so great they still think he's great. He's roasting in hell. And yeah he can speak and people are always like, I preached a sermon about Billy Graham when he died and it got a lot of views. But people are always like, you're just jealous of Billy. You're just envious of Billy. It's like I'm not envious of him, he's in hell. Why would I be envious of Billy Graham? Well I don't care about having thousands of people come to a stadium when I'm preaching. It would be nice but I don't care about that. That's not the point. Now turn to Acts chapter 18. So God used Moses, the greatest, one of the greatest men in all the Bible, a person that couldn't speak well. And in Isaiah he says, I'll teach people with the Bible, precept upon precept, line upon line, here little, there little, with someone that stutters, right? Now let's look at some people that also, that God did use that have great speech, like Apollos. And I don't know, you're not gonna find very often where men of God in the Bible are talked about being great speakers, but here's one that's talked about. Acts 18, 24 says, and a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus. Now, so here you got one preacher where it's saying he's an eloquent man. That means he's a gifted speaker. He's a great speaker. He's a powerful speaker. And look, there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not saying that gifted speakers are bad, they're great. It's good to listen to gifted speakers, especially saved ones. It's nice to hear them, but it is the rarity. Not many wise, not many mighty, and probably not many that are eloquent speakers. So, and it says, this man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Achilla and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expanded unto him the way of God more perfectly. I would say to you, though, that the fact that he was eloquent wasn't his only good, the only good qualities about him. How about the fact that he's mighty in the scriptures? How about the fact that he's instructed in the ways of the Lord? How about the fact that he's fervent in the Spirit, and that he was one that taught diligently the things of the Lord? Those are great qualities about Apollos, aren't they? And an eloquent speaker is the cherry on top. When you're listening to him, he's preaching great and sounds great when he preaches. But then, now just flip over a few pages to Acts chapter 24. There's also men in the Bible that are wicked, that can speak well. And sometimes they're hired out to come against God's people. And in the case of Paul, who I don't think was a gifted speaker, but one of the greatest Christians in the whole Bible, it says in Acts 24, and after five days, Ananias the high priest descended with the elders and with a certain orator named Tortulus, who informed the governor against Paul. So he's the lawyer on the other side trying to get Paul killed, basically. And they picked a great speaker to do this. And it says when he was called forth, Tortulus began to accuse him, saying, seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness and with very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness, notwithstanding. See, he's really gifted with his words, isn't he? That I be not further tedious unto thee. I pray thee that thou wouldest hear us of thy clemency a few words. You know, he's just waxing eloquent here, isn't he? For we have found this man a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who also hath gone about to profane the temple, whom we took and would have judged according to our law. I mean, that's what you want? Tortulus, Tortulus Baptist, I mean, that guy is wicked, and he's hired to go against a great man of God. And in reality, the great speakers of the world, they're not Baptist preachers. It'd be cool if they were. You know, what was that guy's name that played Darth Vader, James, what was his name? Anybody know? James Earl Jones, the guy that played Darth Vader. He had a great, booming voice. He probably would have been a great pastor. I mean, Adolf Hitler probably would have been a great Baptist preacher. If he wasn't a megalomaniac murderer, he could rip it up. Have you ever seen it? He's like, I can't understand what he's saying, but it's probably nothing great towards the Jews, but I mean, he's ripping face, and he probably would have been a great Baptist preacher. He missed his calling, you know? But who else are generally the greatest speakers in Christianity? They're the false prophets, let's just be honest. And as a pastor, you should have the ability to teach and to have some dynamic ability and to be able to get the message across to people. I agree with that. To lift up your voice like a trumpet, to clap your hands and stomp your feet, to hit the pulpit and whatever when it's necessary. But we also need to be ourselves. You know, David didn't go fighting with the armor of Saul. He said, I haven't proved that. So we need to be able to go as pastors and prove ourselves and fight within our own talents, obviously, the war that God's put us in. But when we get criticized for copying, people say if we hit the pulpit or if we do that or if we, you know, whatever, that that's copying Pastor Anderson. He's the only person in history that's ever done that in the whole world. It's like, are you stupid? The Bible says to do that. So we're doing what the Bible teaches to do. And sometimes you have to get dynamic and rattle stuff around and get people's attention and things like that. So that's just copying what the Holy Spirit told us to do as preachers. It does sometimes yell and scream and froth at the mouth, right? Now turn to Numbers 11, Numbers 11. Numbers 11, verse 25, the Bible says, I told you this is gonna be a long point. Verse 11, verse 25, and the Lord came down in a cloud and spake unto him and took of the spirit that was upon him and gave it unto the 70 elders. And it came to pass that when the spirit rested upon them, they prophesied and did not cease. But there remained two of the men in the camp. The name of one was Eldad, the name of the other was Medad, and the spirit rested upon them. And they were of them that were written but went not out unto the tabernacle and they prophesied in the camp. So they're preaching, right? And there ran a young man and told Moses and said, Eldad and Medad do prophesy in the camp. They're like the narks, right? The church narks. They're like, Moses, Moses, someone else is preaching besides you. They're all hating. And then Joshua, who's usually pretty even-keeled and a good guy says, so even Joshua's kind of carried away with it. He says, and Joshua the son of none, the servant of Moses, one of the young men, answered and said, my Lord Moses forbid them. I mean, they're just kind of like, Moses can be the only guy. Moses is the only one that can preach. Moses is the only one that anybody can listen to. But what does Moses say? And Moses said unto him, envy is thou for my sake. Like, why are you envying for me? Like, you're putting yourself in my place and that I should be envying against these other guys because they're preaching? That's a weird attitude. And as pastors, we shouldn't be like that either. Like, when somebody preaches a good message, I'm like, amen, I'm glad that they preach that message. So I like hearing preaching that helps me and it's good to sit down and listen. Like, Pastor Jones preached at our church last weekend. It was nice to sit there and be able to go through my Bible and listen to another man of God preach the word of God. But they said, envy is thou for my sake, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets. So what would God like that everybody would preach and that the Lord would put his spirit upon them? And you know what, we live in a day where the Lord has put his spirit upon, not just upon, within every believer, including all the women, all right? Now, I'm not saying women, I'm not trying to start an insurrection here where the women are gonna be preaching up here. But prophets preaching, preaching the word of God at the door or to your family members or whatever it is. But God wants everybody to preach, so why would we just envy over one person? Moses was the man, he was the leader. But he wasn't hating on a couple guys that were doing something good. They're preaching somewhere else and they're not doing anything wrong. He's not against us, it's for us, right? Jesus, you know, the same thing happened with Jesus. This other guy, he's preaching too. Same thing happened with Jesus, right? What did Jesus say? They're on our side. Why are you hating on them? So, and it says it's all the, so it says, would God that all the Lord's people were prophets and the Lord would put his spirit upon them? Does that mean even the stutterers and stammerers? Does that mean all the introverts and the quiet ones too? And we got some of those. Does every pastor have to be a genius savant to be a pastor that you'll listen to? Or can they just be a normal person that just preaches the word of God? And again, you know, do they have to be the best speaker that ever walked the face of the planet for you to listen to them? Or can it just be a regular person? And I don't get on board with this, only the special, greatest pastors can be pastors. I think just a normal man that has the spirit of God that wants to serve the Lord, just like Moses did, can be a pastor. They just have to, you know, they have to do it. They have to be qualified, that's it. So, can you just be a common man that God pulled out of the dung hill that maybe had a rougher background that didn't go to college, that didn't learn all these nuances of speaking? Can God call people like that? I mean, I'm pretty sure the apostles were fishermen, right, he just like, hey, quit casting those nets, come follow me. And then like, what are they amazed about? What are the Pharisees amazed about? What are the rulers amazed about? That unlearned men are preaching the word of God. But now we just, our standard is what? They have to be learned men for us to listen to them? This is what the old IFB does. You have to have DD behind your name or post hole digger, whatever, behind your name. PhD, post hole digger, behind your name. Master! Or, you know, whatever, they have to be called the teacher. You know, they want these accolades which the Bible is explicitly against. So, men that have never gone to Bible college or gone through speech classes, can they be pastors too? Men that just take the Bible and preach it and maybe say um or stutter sometimes or lose their place or whatever, can those guys, are those guys worthy to preach? Well, I think God says yes that they can. And I don't think there's any problem with listening to any of them. As long as they're preaching a message that's right and true, and they're teaching the Bible, I'm for them. So, I don't think that we should look down our nose at men of God that maybe aren't up to, maybe they're not, you know, preaching as good a sermon as somebody else might. I mean, that's just, that is carnal. That attitude is carnal. To compare people all the time like that. And I hear people do it sometimes. I'm not saying you're doing it, I'm just saying that people do it. So, I just wanted to get this off my chest because I just felt like it needed to be said, so. But, we'll get 2 Corinthians chapter 10. Here's the other thing. Do pastors, what do pastors have to look like? Or what do preachers have to look like? Well, you know, they should be able to deadlift 600 pounds, bench press at least 350. Their hair has to look perfect. Their beard has to look, you know what I mean? Like, where are we gonna draw the line here? And, you know, 2 Corinthians, you know, Paul's like kind of like hitting back on the people that are criticizing him. I really like this chapter here, but it says in verse seven, do you think on things after the outward appearance? If any man trusts himself that he is Christ, let him of himself think this again. That as he is Christ, even so are we Christ. So, he's saying, yeah, us the preachers too, we're Christ too. You know, we have feelings and we have our hang ups too and we deserve to be talked about and talked to with respect. For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord has given us for edification and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed that I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters. For his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak and his speech contemptible. This is what they're saying about the apostle Paul. His bodily presence is weak. Here comes little Paul. Oh, look at little Paul come in. You know, because Paul, you know what Paul means? It means little. So, what's the problem with the church at Corinth? They're carnal and they have a lot of problems and the guy that started their church and got a lot of these people saved, they're going, oh, here comes little Paul. He's weak. He's weak because he's short. Call pastor, he meant he's weak. He's short too, isn't he? But would you say that he's weak? No, but you know, but people, this is why he's saying, you know, do you look on things after the outward appearance? This is not how we should view things. And so he says, and his speech contemptible. His letters are really powerful. You've read the letters, haven't you? Has everybody read the letters of Paul? His letters are powerful, but apparently when he comes and speaks in person, his speech is contemptible. What does that mean? He's not a good speaker. I'm sure he was a good speaker, but this is just critics. He's not as good of a speaker as Apollos is because Apollos, you know, he's an eloquent man. Apollos is an eloquent speaker. I'm of Apollos. Isn't that what they did? I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Jesus. Because he was the best, you know, so that just trumps all of them, right? This is the kind of thing that I don't want to see. I don't want to see carnality where we're comparing preachers against preachers and then pitting preachers against each other. I don't like that. I think it's garbage. I think that it should not be something that goes on in our type of churches. You know, the last thing we should be is carnal. We should be the spiritual people. You know, we want to go to a great church. Well, let's keep it great. Let's keep our attitudes spiritual and not look on all the outward things and all the things that the unsaved, the ones that are not the cream of the crop, the ones that are going to be in the dust that we're trampling on, the ones that we're going to look upon as we walk over their dead carcasses as they're in hell, and we're going to be the ones that are risen, and we don't want to be and have our attitudes like those types of people, do we? So, I mean, if they're going to see this about Paul, they'll say that about anybody, won't they? Oh, his speech is contemptible. I got to move on for sake of time here. But let's go to 1 Corinthians 1. There's a lot of good stuff in that chapter, though. I could go on, but I won't. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 12, it says, "'Now this I say, that every one of you sayeth, "'I am of Paul.'" You know, I have Apollos, I have Cephas, I have Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? "'I thank God that I baptized none of you, "'but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say "'that I had baptized in my own name.'" I mean, Paul is dealing with this. He's dealing with this with the same church in the letter that he wrote before this. Now look at chapter three. He brings it up again. Why is he bringing it up again? Because these are babes in Christ. They're acting like babes in Christ. They're filled with problems, this church. But they're saved. "'And I, brethren, could not speak unto you "'as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, "'even as unto babes in Christ. "'I have fed you with milk and not with meat, "'for hitherto you are not able to bear it. "'Neither yet now are you able, for you are yet carnal. "'For whereas there is among you envying "'and strife and divisions, are you not carnal "'and walk as men? "'For while one sayeth, I am of Paul, "'and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? "'Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, "'but ministers by whom you believed, "'even as the Lord gave to every man? "'I have planted, Apollos watered, "'but God gave the increase. "'So then, neither is he that planteth anything, "'neither is he that watereth, "'but God that giveth the increase. "'Now he that planteth, and he that watereth are one, "'and every man shall receive his own reward, "'according to his own labor. "'For we are laborers together with God.'" You're God's husbandry. You're God's building. So, I mean, it's real clear, we're all one team working together. Obviously, we might be in individual churches, there's individual pastors, but there should never be this rivalry of pastor against pastor, church against church, mocking certain pastors at certain churches. Hey, if it's a good church, if it's a good pastor, they got good doctrine, they're preaching the Bible, you know, they're doing their thing. Maybe their thing isn't the same as that church over there. Maybe they're better at certain things, and the other church is better at certain things. Quit being so dang carnal about everything. My last point, and it's gonna be quick, is if we want to be the cream that rises to the top, we must start at the bottom. Because isn't that, you know, if it rises to the top, it must start at the bottom, right? Look at Luke 18, verse 10, all right. Luke 18, verse 10. And I only have two more places to go, and we're done. This is the first one. Luke 18, 10. And here's the thing about the cream being the cream, right? You know, only the humble people are really the cream, okay? I've already kind of alluded to this a little bit, but look what Jesus says in Luke 18, 10. It says, two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a Republican. And the Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself. He's not even praying to God, he's praying with himself. I thank thee, God, I thank thee that I am not, as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. He's like, this guy's like right behind him or whatever. I fast twice in the week, I give ties of all that I possess, and the publican standing afar off would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven. He wouldn't even look up at all. But smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone that exulteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. This is how the cream rises to the top. See, the Pharisee isn't the cream. The Pharisee is proud, he thinks he's better than everybody else. I'm not like this guy over here. Well, that guy over there was humble and wouldn't even look up to heaven, and God has said, Jesus Christ said, that that one is the one that went down justified to his house. He's the one that's saved. This guy's not saved. And the proud will never get saved, and as long as someone's proud, they won't get saved. And so in order, it's really a paradox. In order to be exalted by God, even as a Christian, like, this is talking about salvation, but just to be exalted as a Christian, you lower yourself, and you are humble, and then God is the one that lifts you up in a base, and he abases those that are proud and lifted up. Look at 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13. It's the last place we'll turn, and we're done. And this is kind of cool because you kind of really see the cream rise to the top at this point, in this very famous passage here. 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 says, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep, and where are they at? They're in the ground, aren't they? For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall, what shall they do? They'll rise first. We're gonna rise to the top, right? Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds. So it's a big, great reuniting with all believers from all history, but we're not gonna go before them, those that are alive and remain, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So wherefore comfort one another with these words. So we are the crane. If you want this crane afterwards, you're more than welcome to have it. But yeah, so the crane rises to the top, truly when Jesus comes back to get us and we get to go through the resurrection, then that is the time that we rise to the top. So and so shall we ever be with the Lord, and we win, game over. We don't have to deal with any of that anymore, those weirdos, and all the other hard things that we have to deal with in this life. And number one, we are the cream of the crop because of God, not because we're so great. Number two, as the cream of the crop, we must view things how God does. And number three, if we want to be the cream of the crop we must start at the bottom. We must be humble or you'll get abased. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you so much for this great church. I pray, Lord, that you would just bless everybody as they go home tonight. Thank you, Lord, for Pastor Jones and the Jones family for their faithfulness here. And Lord, for all the people that were here, faithful for all the services. And just pray that you just continue to bless this church, Lord. And Lord, even though it's small in number right now, Lord, I pray that you would just raise it up to be spiritually strong and Lord, that their number would be strong spiritually. And that's what's the most important, Lord. And I pray, Lord, that you would just continue to bless numerically this church also. And Lord, that the true cream of Idaho would rise to the top here, Lord. And I pray that you would just bless us all. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.