Number two, you need to approach claims with caution.
You need to approach claims with caution.
Go to Proverbs, or I'm sorry, go to Deuteronomy 19.
You know, Proverbs 14, 15 says,
"The simple believeth every word,
"but the prudent man looketh well to his going."
You know, apply this to conspiracies, please.
Just because you hear of a conspiracy,
you need to approach that with caution.
And look, I believe that conspiracy theories are real.
The Bible is actually full of conspiracies,
if you actually look for it.
I've preached a whole sermon called "Conspiracy Theory"
or "Coincidence Theory."
I believe in conspiracies,
but that does not mean that every conspiracy theory is real.
And when you hear a claim,
you should approach that with caution
and not just instantly believe it.
No, you should actually do your own research.
But think about this mentality some people have
of just believing everything they hear.
They don't approach claims with caution.
What if we just took that same mentality
and applied it to Steadfast Baptist Church?
What if you just typed in Steadfast Baptist Church
into Google and just believed everything you read
and believed everything you hear.
You wanna know, here's some claims made
about Steadfast Baptist Church.
There's a video online of this black guy pulling up
to Steadfast Baptist Church back when we were in Hearst.
And this little skinny little white kid
comes up to his window and the black guy asks him,
hey, what are they doing in there?
And the little white kid says, oh yeah,
they said that they'll, Steadfast,
Steadfast said that they'll allow black people
to go to heaven if they promise to be their slave.
These are the types of claims that are online
about our church, just absolute, fabricated,
out of nowhere, complete and utter lies.
But you wanna know what an idiot, stupid person would do?
They see that video and they go,
whoa, what a terrible church.
It's like, hey, moron, it's a lie.
Let me explain to you something about the internet.
Not everything on the internet is true.
Not everything you hear is true.
Not everything you see is true.
And so realize that if there's videos about Steadfast,
you know, we're gonna have slaves in heaven someday,
maybe your weird Joe Biden hologram theory is also a lie.
Do you ever think about that?
You know, maybe you just look up
and you see outer space at night,
and then you go on your internet and it says,
oh, space isn't real.
Maybe it's lying to you.
Maybe you should actually approach claims with caution
and not be a complete idiot.
Here's another claim about Steadfast Baptist Church.
Our protesters claimed that I pointed an AR-15 rifle
at the protesters during church.
And they would repeat this over and over and over.
They made videos about it.
I'd walk out of the church like,
"Hey Dylan, why'd you point a rifle at us?"
It's like, look, what kind of an idiot
would believe something like that?
But people do.
People see that video and they believe it.
Not realizing that if I had pointed a rifle
at protesters in church, that I would be in jail right now.
I would be in jail.
But the simple believeth every word.
They hear a claim.
Oh, Dylan pointed an AR-15 at protesters, must be true.
Why, because I heard it on the internet.
Here's another claim about us on the internet.
Pastor Shelly wants video gamers to be murdered.
I mean, our protesters literally had signs.
Pastor Shelly wants to kill all video gamers.
It's like, we have tons of video gamers in our church.
Why isn't he killing all of them?
Because it's a lie.
But we're so full of idiots in our society
that just believe everything they heard.
Pastor Shelly wants disobedient children to be murdered.
Wow.
Here's one, here's a video I saw.
Some (beep) protester claimed to have infiltrated
one of our services.
They said that, oh, I went in,
I attended one of their services.
And as soon as I got in the service,
all the ushers quartered off the building
and locked all the doors and locked everyone in
during the service.
It's just like unbelievable.
But people are gonna watch that video
and they're going to believe it.
Why?
Because they're stupid.
And you think you're so much better than them.
But hold on.
Do you believe everything that you hear?
Do you approach claims with caution?
Or do you just believe
every single stupid TikTok video that you see?
You believe any conspiracy video that you see on Instagram.
You might be guilty of the same stuff.
Don't fall into that trap.
Don't just hear a claim and believe it.
No.
Approach claims with caution.
And you know, let's apply this to people.
'Cause oftentimes accusations
are made against other individuals.
We should not just believe accusations
made against individuals with no evidence.
By the way, I even apply this to people I don't like.
In fact, I even apply this to people that I hate.
Just because someone is a sodomite
does not give you the right to lie about them.
It does not give anyone the right to lie about them.
And it does not give you the right to exaggerate about them.
And if someone is saying something about a sodomite
that is false, you should be rebuked for doing so.
When someone says something false about anyone,
you should be rebuked for doing so.
You know, Greg Locke, I'm paraphrasing him here,
but unfortunately, I listened to one of his sermons
and he got up, he's being all charismatic,
and he was saying, who's the two guys he called out?
He's like, "Kenneth Copeland is a pedophile.
"Joel Osteen is a pedophile.
"Yeah, why don't you sue me, Joel Osteen?
"Why don't you sue me, Kenneth Copeland?"
And I'm just thinking like, okay,
maybe Kenneth Copeland is a pedophile,
maybe Joel Osteen is a pedophile,
but do you have any evidence for that?
Do you have any evidence for making a claim against someone
that is a crime being worthy of putting to death?
Because look, I don't care how much I hate Kenneth Copeland,
I don't care how much I hate Joel Osteen,
if that's not true, then Greg Locke is guilty of railing,
and according to the Bible,
should be literally thrown out of church!
He should be thrown out of church
for a lot of reasons, actually.
But look, just because you don't like someone,
just because even someone's a false prophet,
don't get up and just lie about them.
And when you hear claims about someone,
realize that you should approach that claim with caution.
Even if you hear a claim about someone you don't like,
someone says something bad about a false prophet,
make sure it's true.
Someone says something bad about the Jews,
make sure it's true.
Why?
Because I think God cares that we care about truth.
Not just confirmation bias, I hate the Jews.
A lot of people in the new IFB have this attitude
where they hate all Jews.
Which by the way, I don't hate all Jews.
I don't think you should hate all Jews.
I think you should hate the religion of Judaism.
But there's people who call themselves Jews
that can get saved.
But don't just turn off your brain
and turn on your little confirmation bias
and you hear something negative about the Jews
and you just automatically believe it.
You know what you could be guilty of?
Being simple, being stupid.
Someone that just believes everything that they hear.
I'm sick and tired of hearing this.
Go to Deuteronomy 19, verse 15 says,
"One witness shall not rise up against a man
"for any iniquity or for any sin,
"in any sin that he sinned."
So if one person comes up to you
and makes a claim about another person,
don't even listen to it.
Don't even give it credence in your mind
for one single second.
Someone makes a claim about someone,
to me, and there's one witness,
I'm just gonna pretend like I heard nothing.
I'm gonna change the way I think about that person zero,
and stuff like this has happened.
And you know what?
Not understanding this actually causes people harm.
Because there's been people in the past
that have made false accusations against pastors,
one witness, and I hear people,
their heart and their attitude
has been changed towards that person.
Because they're wondering in their mind,
could it be true?
But you know what?
You're just a fool if you do that
because the Bible says one witness shall not rise up.
And so when one witness comes to you,
just immediately let it go out of your mind.
Approach claims with caution.
It says at the mouth of two witnesses
or at the mouth of three witnesses
shall the matter be established.
So look, you need to have two or three witnesses
even to open up an investigation.
That doesn't mean that two or three witnesses
just automatically convicts.
That just opens up an investigation.
You know, let's just use a theoretical example.
Let's say you have video evidence
of brother so-and-so inside of a bar.
Now, the simple-minded person would say,
oh yeah, for sure, this proves beyond any shadow of a doubt
this guy's a drunk.
You know, what was he doing there, blah, blah, blah.
That video just shows that that person was in the bar, right?
But you know, there could be other logical explanations
for things that you need to investigate
before you just jump to a claim that someone's guilty.
Like for example, what if someone was doing door dash
and was just delivering food
or picking up food from that restaurant and leaving?
If you're a door dash driver, don't pick up from bars.
I'm not saying to do that.
But what I'm just showing you is you need to realize
that sometimes there's more to the story
and you can't just run with something right off the bat,
right?
Two or three witnesses, that just opens up an investigation.
Then you need to make diligent inquisition.
Look at verse 16.
It says, if a false witness rise up against any man
to testify against him that which is wrong,
then both the men between whom the controversy is
shall stand before the Lord,
before the priest and the judges,
which shall be in those days.
And the judges shall notice,
shall make diligent inquisition.
And behold, if the witness be a false witness
and have testified falsely against his brother.
Before I get on the next verse,
I wanna point out that phrase, diligent inquisition.
What is this?
This is a fact-finding investigation,
a fact-finding mission.
This means your emotions are put aside,
your prejudices are put aside,
your feelings and dispositions about the person
based on their religion or if they are whatever to you,
those are put aside and you're gonna look into the facts.
Okay, I don't like Joe Biden either,
but saying he's a hologram, where's the facts, man?
I don't like him either.
He's a real person, he exists, okay?
Look, NASA has done some weird things,
but space exists, my friend, okay?
The rockets don't just go into the Bermuda Triangle.
If you actually did some diligent inquisition,
you'd find really fast that a lot of those,
I mean, how about the flat earth, good night.
You don't even need diligent inquisition for that.
You just need to like open your eyes and look outside, okay?
The earth is not flat.
Please don't ever try to convince me of flat earth.
I don't wanna hear it, okay?
Verse 19, "Then shall you do unto him
as he had thought to have done unto his brother.
So shalt thou put away evil from among you."
Look, God hates false witnesses so bad.
He says, "If you accuse someone
of something that's worthy of being put to death,
and it comes out that you actually are a false witness,
then whatever the punishment
for the person you are accusing would have been
should now become your punishment."
And you know, we live in a society today
where people are not afraid at all
to falsely accuse individuals,
as I showed you with the examples of steadfast.
I mean, people are just ready to falsely accuse each other.
Why? Because we don't have God's law.
Look, false accusations would be a lot less common
if women who claimed to be raped by a man
and were lying about it were actually put to death.
You know, we have this believe all women movement.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.
You don't just believe all women.
You don't just believe all men.
You follow the facts.
You find two or three witnesses.
You do a diligent inquisition.
Every woman has the right to be believed.
No, she doesn't.
You don't have the right to be believed either.
I don't have the right to be believed either.
None of us do.
We have to have facts.
Because I had someone tell me this
that works in this part of the world,
that a lot of times women will either fornicate
or commit adultery.
And in order to cover it up,
they will go get a rape test kit from the police.
And so the physical evidence often shows,
oh yeah, it does show that you have just lying with someone.
But does that prove that she was raped?
No, it doesn't.
Because sometimes women are doing this
to avoid consequences of embarrassment,
of discipline from their parents,
or of their spouse finding out that they committed adultery.
So believe all women, no.
Do diligent inquisition.
And by the way, if a man rapes a woman,
he should be lined up against the wall in the head.
Rape is a disgusting sin,
and a woman who is a victim of rape should have justice.
And the perpetrators of that crime
should be dealt with by the government,
legally and lawfully.
But you know what?
If a woman claims to have been raped and she's lying,
then she should be put to death after diligent inquisition,
after facts are presented.
Why?
Because we shouldn't just have this culture
where people are just falsely accusing people all the time.
But here we are, so what should we do?
We should approach claims with caution.
And realize just because something says something
does not make it so.
Go to Exodus chapter 18, Exodus chapter 18.
But you know, at least in the house of God,
we are not going to tolerate railing and false accusations.
You know, the government may not do anything about it,
but if you think that you could just rail against
your brothers and sisters in Christ,
if you think you could just falsely accuse
your brothers and sisters in Christ
and not have any punishment for that,
you have another thing coming.
That's not how a real church works.
Exodus 18, 21.
Moreover, thou shalt provide out of all the people,
able men, such as fear God, men of truth,
hating covetousness, and place such over them
to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
You know, when it comes to the qualification
of someone to judge in any matter,
it's important to have quality men of integrity
in the position of a judge.
Why, because if they're not,
well then they might just believe everything they hear.
If they're just a simple person,
they're just gonna believe everything they hear,
or they're gonna be led by their emotions.
By the way, I'm sorry,
we shouldn't have women judges in our nation,
because women are more emotional than men,
and sometimes it takes a man to say, you know what,
take the emotion out, take your presuppositions out,
or what you think this evidence tells you,
and we're just gonna look at the plain, cold facts,
regardless of where it leads us.
That's the type of men that we need as judges in our nation.
That's the type of men we need as pastors.
That's the type of men we need as police officers,
as presidents, and any type of position of power,
we need men of truth.
Why, because we should be people
that approach claims with caution.
I wanna read to you, this is some commentary
from the U.S. District Court
for the District of Massachusetts,
and it goes over this idea of being innocent
until proven guilty.
See, our legal system, it doesn't just hear a claim
and just believe it, and you're just guilty
because Kim Jong-un said so.
Now, a lot of communists in our nation
wanna turn it into that way,
but let me read you some commentary
from the U.S. District Court
for the District of Massachusetts.
It says this, "Presumption of innocence
proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
It is a cardinal principle of our system of justice
that every person accused of a crime
is presumed to be innocent unless and until
his or her guilt is established beyond a reasonable doubt.
The presumption is not a mere formality.
It is a matter of the most important substance."
So the Massachusetts District Court here saying,
you'll want to know what the bedrock of our legal system is.
It's that a person that's accused of a crime
is presumed to be innocent until proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.
You know what?
That is how we should treat people in church.
That's how we should treat people in our daily lives.
We should give people the benefit of the doubt.
That's even a legal principle in our own nation.
It says this.
So then it's gonna quote the directions
that a judge would give to the jury.
It says this.
The presumption of innocence alone
may be sufficient to raise a reasonable doubt
and to require the acquittal of a defendant.
The defendant before you, John Doe,
has the benefit of that presumption throughout the trial,
and you are not to convict him of a particular charge
unless you are persuaded of his guilt of that charge
beyond a reasonable doubt.
The presumption of innocence until proven guilty
means that the burden of proof is always on the government
to satisfy you that a defendant is guilty of the crime
with which he has been charged beyond a reasonable doubt.
The law does not require that the government prove guilt
beyond all possible doubt.
Proof beyond a reasonable doubt is sufficient to convict.
This burden never shifts to the defendant.
It is always the government's burden
to prove each of the elements of the crimes
charged beyond a reasonable doubt
by the evidence and the reasonable inferences
to be drawn from that evidence.
The defendant has the right to rely upon the failure
or inability of the government
to establish beyond a reasonable doubt
any essential element of a crime charged against him.
If, after fair and impartial consideration
of all the evidence, you have a reasonable doubt
as to the defendant's guilt, it is your duty
to acquit him of that crime.
On the other hand, if after fair and impartial consideration
of all the evidence, you are satisfied
beyond a reasonable doubt of a defendant's guilt,
you should vote to convict.
So notice judges tell juries today,
if there's any reasonable doubt in your mind,
any reasonable doubt in your mind
that someone is innocent of the crime
they're being charged with,
that you should then vote for them to be innocent.
That is the mentality of even our system of law.
And you want to know where this mentality came from,
it comes from the Bible.
It comes from the word of God.
That's what our country was founded on.
And our country, you know, knows that the Bible says
that you're not supposed to just believe one witness.
That you're not supposed to just hear a claim
and run with it.
That you're supposed to make diligent acquisition
to a matter.
And that there has to be proof of that guilt
beyond a reasonable doubt.
Otherwise, don't listen to it.
Otherwise, we're not throwing the person in jail.
Otherwise, you shouldn't listen to that gossip,
to that false accusation, to that railing by someone
about any individual, whether they're your friend,
whether they're your foe.
You should treat everyone the same
when it comes to judgment.
Everyone the same.
Look at 1 Timothy chapter number five,
and it gives some instructions
to both congregation and pastor here.
1 Timothy chapter number five, verse 19.
Specifically, when it comes to accusations
made against a pastor,
this is what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 5, 19.
It says, "Against an elder, receive not an accusation,
"but before two or three witnesses."
So notice, for you to even hear an accusation
against a pastor, there must be two or three witnesses.
Not to say that the pastor's for sure wrong,
but to even listen to it, there has to be two or three.
Then it says, "Them that sin rebuke before all,
"that others also may fear.
"I charge thee, the pastor, before God,
"and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels,
"that thou observe these things,"
notice, without preferring one before another,
doing nothing by partiality.
Notice, when it comes to judgment,
God wants the pastor, God wants judges of this land
to judge everyone equally, to not be a respecter of persons,
to not think, well, I like this person,
so I'm going to assume their innocence,
or I dislike this person,
so I'm going to assume their guilt.
No, rather, both parties are given
the presumption of innocence, no matter what,
and there has to be proof to convict.
There has to be multiple witnesses,
and if there's not that, you know what?
Just approach that claim with caution,
say, "I'm not going to listen to this,"
and just let it go.
Don't treat anyone any differently for hearing it,
and notice how it says there,
"Them that sin, rebuke before all."
You know, we need to bring back a culture in America
where people are called out for lying about other people.
I mean, that is one of the worst things about politics,
which politics is just terrible.
It's just, it sucks, okay?
But one of the worst things about it
is how people are just allowed to lie about each other,
just nonstop.
I mean, I even had a teacher in my high school
that ran for a local low position.
He ran for coroner.
And just even in a little tiny county election,
I actually followed that election
and I was just blown away at how like bloody and nasty
and how many lies were involved in that campaign.
I mean, our nation today is full of liars and lies.
And look, if someone lies about someone else in this church,
they need to be rebuked.
They need to be called out.
And if they don't apologize, they want to dig in,
1 Corinthians chapter five says that they should actually
be removed from the congregation.
And so don't think that, because out in the world,
women can go around accusing any man of rape
and nothing happens to her.
Look, if a woman decided to do that in this church,
she'd be thrown out immediately.
I mean, that's garbage.
If it was false, of course.
Now, if it's real,
then you better believe we're calling the police.
Like, obviously, we're getting police involved
when it comes to crimes.
But you get what I'm saying.
Approach claims with caution.