Number 96 will be our first this evening, leads us along, hymn number 366, God leads us along.
This time we'll open with a word of prayer with your heads with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you again for an opportunity to come together this evening,
to sing praises and worship in your name and learn from your word. Lord, I just want to thank you for the eight salvations that we had this afternoon,
for just leading us to those that are receptive. And we just pray that you'd continue to use us and guide us in the right paths that we could be good and faithful,
profitable servants for you. Also pray for this service that everything would be done decently and in order. These things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.
Alright, for our next hymn, number 31, "He Lives." Excuse me, hymn number 31, "He Lives." Hymn number 31, we'll sing there right on the first.
I serve a risen Saviour, He's in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever men may say. See His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer.
Just the time I need Him, He's all that lives today. Walks with me along the station to His leanest appearance. Jesus lives today with me and talks with me along the life-station to so christency.
It's a heart to Jesus' crucifixion, so christency. Jesus lives today, walks with me and talks with me along life-stair, away lives salvation to.
There's some announcements. If you don't have a bulletin, raise your hand and Usher will bring you one.
On the front, as a reminder, we are in Galatians chapter 1 for our Bible memorization. Verse number 23, so only a couple more weeks left to memorize this chapter.
We do have on the inside our service times listed Sunday morning at 1030, Sunday evening at 430, and our Wednesday Bible study at 7 o'clock.
Below that, we have our soul winning times. All those meet here at the church building, as well as our year to date statistics for soul winning.
And we had eight salvations today out soul winning, so praise God for that. It was a really receptive area.
You know, you know, you're in a nice part of town for soul winning, that is, when you're in the middle of preaching to someone and these three dudes walk through all messed, you know, all angry.
And there's like, you know, someone who just mess with my acura, you know, huffing and puffing through the area like that's good soul winning and stuff like that happens.
So, you know, it's just we go to those type of areas for a reason. Below that, we have our upcoming events.
Father's Day is June 15th and for that evening service, we're going to have pizza and root beer
coke floats. So make sure to join us and stick around after that service. June 22nd is the men's
preaching night. We've got three guys signed up so far. If you want to preach, please sign up
on the back over there. June 28th is the Tinker air show and definitely is a good time to prepare
for that. If you need to buy lawn chairs or stuff for the kids, sunscreen, all that good stuff. It's
coming up pretty quick. June 29th brother Ben Naim from Steadfast is going to be preaching both
services. Really excited to see him again. August 27th through the 31st fire breathing
Baptist fellowship at Steadfast and October 6th through the 11th is the Bahamas mission trip.
We do have on the right our prayer list. Make sure to keep these requests in prayer throughout
the week and if you have any requests please do email me and I'd be glad to add that for you.
It's going to be it for announcements this evening. We'll go ahead and go to our third
song. Let's sing it out together nice and loud. Third hymn this evening.
137 in times like these. 137 in times like these. Don't forget this one since it's not super popular
after you get through that last line where it says the only one you sing the "be very sure" part one
more time. There's like a little s above it in the chorus. If you don't know what I'm talking about
just watch. In times like these, 137. 137 there on the first.
In times like these, you need a Savior. In times like these, you need a Jesus.
are being passed to 2nd Timothy chapter number 4. 2nd Timothy chapter number 2nd Timothy chapter 4.
I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the
dead at his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season,
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all lung suffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall keep to themselves teachers having
itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables.
But watch now in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, 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. Henceforth there is laid up for me
a crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day.
And not to me only, but unto all them also that love is appearing. Do thy diligence to come shortly
unto me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica,
Cretians to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me, take Mark, and bring him with thee,
for he is profitable to me for the ministry. Antiochus have I sent to Ephesus, the cloak that
I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially
the parchments. Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil, the Lord reward him according to his
works, of whom be thou aware also, for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer,
no man stood with me, but all forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge,
notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might
be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was delivered out of the mouth of the
lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly
kingdom, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Salute Priscilla and Aquila, and the household
of Onesiphorus, Erastus, abode at Corinth. But Trophimus, have I left at Miletum sick.
Due thy diligence to come before winter, Eubulus greeted thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia,
and all the brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit, grace be with you, amen.
Let's pray, gracious Lord, we're so thankful to have souls that we're saved today, thankful to
have the spirit with me, that it is still passed on to the spirit, that it keeps the spirit and
that it focuses on the preaching of the word. Amen. Amen. Second Timothy chapter four, verse six,
the Bible says, "For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have
fought a good fight. I finished my course. I have kept the faith." The title of my sermon
this evening is "Fight the Good Fight." Fight the good fight. You know, here we are at the end,
towards the end of the Apostle Paul's life, and as he's towards the end of his life, he's ready to be
offered, he's ready to depart and be with Christ, and what's in his mind during this time is verse
seven where he says, "I have fought a good fight." And you know what that means? That means that the
apostle Paul to that point has been fighting the whole time. His whole ministry, his whole life,
his whole service for God has just been one long fight. That's why he said, "Hey, I have fought a
good fight." He's not saying like, "I just now started fighting right now," or "I was fighting
20 years ago, I was fighting 50 years ago." He's like, "No, I've been fighting a good fight. I have
fought a good fight." And what you need to understand is that if you are doing Christianity
correctly, if you are serving the Lord, if you are making a big difference and you're trying to do
something great for God, your whole life is just going to be a fight. The spiritual, the life of
a Christian spiritually is going to be one of a fight. And all throughout the years, you know,
the last 10, 11, 12 years I've been in church, I've heard from dozens and dozens of people.
This is not just one person that has said this. I've heard so many times, it's not even funny,
Christians expressing to me their weariness with the fight. And this is just a common thing. You
know, if you've said something like that, I'm not mad at you because this is something I just hear
people say all the time. They express a weariness with fight, they express a weariness with drama,
with battles. But I just want to show you in this sermon tonight that Christianity, if you're doing
it right, is a fight and that we are going to have lots of fights in our life. Go to Luke chapter
number 12. And of course, let me say this, you know, just by way of introduction, of course,
there are bad fights. Of course, there is such a thing as a carnal fight that we shouldn't get
involved in. Of course, there's, you know, Christians fight because of gossip and railing
and backbiting. Of course, all those things happen and we should avoid those type of fights.
But there still is a good fight that we should constantly be fighting. That's why Paul said,
"Hey, I fought the good fight." While you're turning to Luke 12, Exodus 15, 3, the Bible says
this, "The Lord is a man of war. The Lord is his name." So if God is a man of war, that just goes
to show that not all warfare is bad, right? In the same way, look at Luke 12 verse 51, Jesus said,
"Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth. I tell you nay, but rather division." So we see God
as a man of war, not all warfare is bad. Christ said that he's not going to come bringing peace on
earth, he's come to bring division. That means that not all division is bad either. And division
is kind of like a bad word in our society, but you know what? God's a man of war. There's a good
warfare to be fought. Jesus Christ came to bring division. There is a good division that is just
the result of serving God. You know, if you want to actually separate yourself and you actually want
to be serious about being a disciple of Christ, you are going to be divided from some things in
this world. You might be at odds with carnal family members. You know, if you actually get saved and
want to serve Christ, you know, your grandmother who doesn't get saved and doesn't want to serve
Christ, you might be separated from her. You might be a little bit more of a distance than you would
be with your brothers in Christ. These are just natural results of serving God. So let's talk
about the different types of fights that is a good fight that we should be fighting as Christians. Go
to Romans chapter number seven. Romans chapter seven. Number one this evening, let's talk about
the fight against yourself. The fight against yourself. You know of all the the fighting that
is out there, the fight against yourself is probably the most important fight. And if you
are really good at the fight with the flesh, the other fights aren't going to be as big of a deal.
But look at Romans chapter 7 verse 14. The Bible says this, "For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin." Here the Apostle Paul, who's one of the greatest Christians to ever
live, said that he is carnal. And you know what I learned from that? You know what that means? It
means that I'm carnal and that means that you're carnal. It means that all of us are carnal. We
have the flesh. If the Apostle Paul is recognizing that, you know, I think we could recognize that as
well. Then he says in verse 15, "For that which I do, I allow not." He's saying, "Hey, there's some
things that I do that I forbid other people from doing, that I say, 'Hey, you know, the Bible says
not to do this,' and then yet Paul finds himself doing those very things. For what I would, that do
I not, but what I hate, that do I." So notice, I mean, if you didn't understand that the Bible teaches
that we have the old man and the new man, you'd kind of read this and think, like, is this a, you
know, schizophrenic person or something? Like, he's doing things that he hates and he doesn't allow.
No, but this is just the reality of life, that we all have the flesh, we are all sinners, and though
we want to do right, we want to always be at every soul-winning time in our spirit, but yet sometimes
our flesh gets lazy. Sometimes we get backslidden and we don't do the things that we will. But he
doesn't make excuses for it, because look at verse 16. He says, "If then I do that which I would not,
I consent unto the law that it is good." He's saying, "Hey, the Bible's always right. I'm not
saying that when I sin, you know, I'm excused from it. No, God's always right. The law's good.
Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." He's going to explain what that
means. "For I know that in me," notice, "that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. For to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not." He's saying, "Look, in my flesh
there's nothing good about my flesh." And in our flesh alone, we can't like reform ourselves just
in our flesh. You know, we actually have to, if we want to please God and separate ourselves from
some of the sins in our life that we struggle with, we do that by walking in the Spirit. You can't
just reform the flesh out of the will of the flesh. He's not able to do that. He says in verse number,
let's go to verse 20 now. If I do that, or I'm sorry, verse 22, "For I delight in the law of God
after the inward man, but I see another law in my members," notice this word, "warring against the
law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." So,
what are we talking about? We're talking about fighting the good fight, the right type of fight,
and he says, "Hey, there's this war that's going on inside of him between his spirit and his flesh."
That is a fight that we should fight every single day. And though, of course, we are never going to
achieve sinless perfection, anyone who tells you that is a false prophet, we are always going to
have sin in our lives, we are always going to fall short and come short. I'm sorry, we are always
going to come short of the glory of God. That does not mean that we should just give up in this battle
though and just, you know, don't even try to resist sin anymore, don't even try to walk in the spirit,
no big deal because we're sinners. No, we should still try. He says, "O wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me from the body of this death." Right? When we're delivered of our fleshly bodies,
when we die someday, when we get a new glorified body, then this war will be over. We're not going
to have this battle inside of us anymore between the flesh and the spirit because we're just going
to have the new man only. And you know, once we're in our glorified bodies, one of the really great
things about that is that we will never sin again. And you know, that is going to be amazing when we
don't have to fight the flesh. We don't have to worry about sin and the consequences thereof.
We could actually just be in the spirit at all times. He says in verse 25, "I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law
of sin." Now go to Galatians chapter 5. So we see in Romans 7 that in the life of the apostle Paul
and in the life of every single Christian, there is this war that's happening between the flesh
and the spirit, and you will never be delivered from this battle until you are in heaven, until
you get your glorified body. So while we're on this earth in these bodies, how do we fight this
battle effectively? How do we war this warfare? Well, look at Galatians 5 verse 16. The Bible
says, "This I say then, walk in the spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the
flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh." And these are contrary, the one
to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the spirit,
you're not under the law. So these two things are at odds, and they're always fighting to get the
upper hand in your life, the spirit and the flesh. And so to fight this battle effectively, what do
we have to do? We have to walk in the spirit. We have to be filled with the spirit of God.
And of course, this is talking beyond just the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit that
happens at salvation. This is walking in the spirit, being filled with the Holy Spirit.
And the Bible says we could do that, for example, by singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs,
you know, making a melody in your heart to the Lord. That's a great way to get
filled with the spirit. And by walking in the spirit, the Bible says, you're not going to
fulfill the lust of the flesh. So understand, every single Christian will continue to sin.
But you know what? Christians who wake up every day and read the Bible and get filled with the
mind of Christ, get filled with the word of God, who pray to the Lord and ask God to help them and
ask God to fill them with the Holy Spirit. Christians who go to church, Christians who
sing out the hymns, those Christians are going to have a lot less sin in their lives. Those type of
Christians are going to be fighting this battle against the flesh much more effectively than the
guy that we just got saved at the door and then just doesn't do anything for Christ because there's
this idea out there that people will say well if you get saved you're going to have a changed life.
Let me tell you something that's not necessarily true. Now let me say this if you get saved and
you walk in the Spirit you will have a changed life. That is true because if you walk in the
Spirit then you're not gonna fulfill the lust of the flesh and some people get confused because they think about their own testimony and they think well
When I got saved my life changed drastically and I will say for myself when I got saved my life did change
Greatly, but you want to know why well
Maybe it was because I was reading the Bible as soon as I got saved and I was so winning as soon as I got saved
And I was three to thrive as soon as I got saved yeah, obviously if you're getting that much
You know input of spiritual things then the flesh is gonna start cleaning up a little bit
But the Christian who just gets saved a soul winner goes to their door and they call upon the name of the Lord in faith
Hey that person is saved they have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit
But you know what there might not be that much of a change in their life
And you know you we don't necessarily need to doubt people's salvation because oh this person says that they believe in Jesus
But they still drink yeah, it's a lust of the flesh
Oh, you know this person says they believe in Jesus, but they haven't cleaned up their life
Well, if they're not walking in the spirit, they're going to continuously fulfill the lusts of the flesh and here's the thing
Here's the warning for all of us that is true of all of us if you
Cease to read the Bible if you stop coming to church if you stop soul winning you
Absolutely will backslide into a life of sin you want to know how I know that because you have the same flesh as all of us
And if Paul says hey, I am carnal sold under sin
Let me tell you something about you you are carnal too and sold under sin and you ought not think well
You know, I'll never backslide I can never get into alcohol
I can never get into these wicked sins that the Bible warns about yes, you can yes
You can that that's why you know
He that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall and realize that you are not too spiritual to keep reading your Bible
No, you need the Bible every day you need church every single week
And you are never going to arrive at this place spiritually where you just suddenly don't need these things anymore
No, because this battle with yourself the battle with the flesh it will always exist
And I tell people out so winning all the time
You know hey
This is also a good reason to prove that we could never lose our salvation
Because if you could lose your salvation you would if I could lose my salvation
I would why because we will always have this flesh and this flesh causes us to sin
And you know what the Bible says the thought of foolishness is sin
I'm probably gonna have a foolish thought this week
You're probably gonna have a foolish thought this week
And if you could lose your salvation by sitting you would lose it every single day
But you know what you can't lose your salvation praise God, but this battle is still gonna happen within us
We got to fight this battle by walking in the spirit go to 1st Corinthians chapter 9 1st Corinthians chapter 9 look at verse number
24 of 1st Corinthians chapter 9. This is also the Apostle Paul
He said no you not that they which run in a race run all but one receiveth the prize
So run that you may obtain and notice the the fighting language here in verse 25 and every man that striveth
For mastery is temperate in all things now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown
But we an incorruptible I therefore so run not as uncertainly
so fight I
Not as one that beat at the air, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection
Lest that by any means when I have preached to others. I myself should be a castaway
What are we talking about the fight against yourself and the Apostle Paul saying here?
Hey, I fight I you know, I fight not as one that beat at the air
He keeps under his body meaning he's fighting to put his flesh down to put his flesh in
Check and he kind of compares that to an athlete how they have to be temperate, you know
Athletes like all the same foods that we do but athletes are temperate and tell their flesh. No, no M&Ms
No ice cream. No doughnuts
It's not like their taste buds are different and they just don't like the taste of those things. It's that hey, they're in a fight
They're in a competition and they're gonna put their bodies desires on the back burner and they're gonna wake up early anyways and work out
Even when they don't want to and eat the green and eat, you know, the healthy foods all those things, you know
Cuz they're fighting for that temporal crown and we're fighting for the eternal crown
And so how much more should we put our energy into this fight?
He doesn't want to become someone who's preached to others and then notice becomes a cast away again
Even Paul recognizes that though he's being greatly used by God though. He has a great ministry
He doesn't just take it for granted that he'll always be some great apostle that he'll always be some great servant of God
Because he's saying look if I don't keep my body in check, I could become a castaway
I could be cast away from my position as a preacher as an apostle and you know
All of us we can be cast away to the side too and we need to remember that and take it very seriously
Go to 1st Peter chapter number 5 1st Peter chapter 5. So number 1 we talked about the fight against yourself
That is a good fight that you will fight until the day you die. You need to just get comfortable with the fight
Oh, man, I'm just so sick of all the fighting
Well, you're gonna be fighting every day until you die if you're serving God correctly, you're gonna be fighting against the flesh
Here's another fight that we fight number 2 the fight against the devil 1st Peter 5 8
The Bible says be sober be vigilant because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about
Notice this seeking whom he may devour. So notice the devil is often
Selective in who he comes after and you see in the Bible
Sometimes the devil comes after a big name a big target that he wants to bring down
You know, he wants to go after job because job is a super righteous person and the devil wants to target job
You see the devil come after the Lord Jesus Christ in the wilderness
You see the devil come after even Peter, you know
Because Jesus told Peter that Satan has desired to sift him as wheat
So sometimes you see the devil being selective and who he comes after
Because they're like a big target other times you see them
You see him rather being selective on someone who's easy prey. Sometimes he goes after big name
Sometimes he goes after easy prey. This is why in first Timothy 3 talks about how the the pastor needs to not be a novice
Otherwise, he's gonna be lifted up with pride and fall into the condemnation of who the devil
So someone who's prideful is just easy prey for the devil
He's gonna come after you and he is going to destroy you if you are a prideful person
So this is a fight that we're constantly gonna be in spiritually go to Galatians chapter number six
And of course, how do we fight this battle, you know?
It's very similar to the way that we fight the battle against ourselves by walking in the spirit and Galatians 6 gives us
Some more details on this in verse 11
It says put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of what the devil
So again, we're in this battle with the devil verse 12 for we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities
Against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickedness in high places
so, you know we fight against the devil and how does this work from a
Practical standpoint oftentimes we're fighting against the devil's proxies. We're fighting against the devil's minions
You know sometimes in the Bible the devil or devil's plural will have influence over
World leaders people that are high in government and so our battle with the devil could often be through human beings
But yet it's still a spiritual battle
It's not like we're gonna go fight against people that are high in government with firearms or anything like that
No, we're fighting a spiritual battle and it tells us in verse number 13
wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and
Having done all to stand so in the battle against the devil
God tells us that we need to put on the whole armor of God now
I've never been in the military some people in here have but I would just imagine
I think I'm correct in saying this that if you're gonna go out to a battle
You would want all the defense you could possibly get, you know
If there's some sort of armor protection that's available to you, you know
I would want that personally if I was going out to a fight the Bible says that when we're going out
We got to have the whole armor of God. It gets more specific
It says stand there for having your loins girt about with truth
So, you know the loins it's saying kind of like a you'd put on a belt around your loins
You want to gird your loins with truth, you know
If you ever seen someone trying to run without a belt on usually it's a police video and someone's running from the police and usually
They're sagging their pants because they don't have a belt
I would not want to get into a fight with someone not wearing a belt, you know, I always wear a belt
I don't understand how people don't wear a belt
but I guess the only time I don't really wear a belt is like if I'm wearing swim trunks and
Even swim trunks, you know, even though it's got the little tie
I'm not as confident to run and jump and do all these things with those things because I don't have a belt
I wouldn't want to get up in a fight wearing swim trunks
Okay
And just like I wouldn't want to get into a fight without a belt
Imagine like going into war sagging your pants like you're gonna get destroyed and that's why these people can never run from the police is
Because even if the cop is eating donuts and out of shape, it's like the bro doesn't even have a belt on
So yeah, they're always gonna catch the guy so we got to have our loins gird about with truth
So, you know, the truth is what gives us confidence
Right just like a belt gives you confidence to run and jump and be mobile and all those things
You know having the truth gives you confidence that you're even in the right fight that you're even on the right side
By knowing what the Bible says that that's the truth that gives you confidence to fight
Then it says this and having on the breastplate of righteousness. So, you know today
We have like the body armor plates and the Bible saying that we need to put on the breastplate of
Righteousness. We just talked about Proverbs chapter 10 Proverbs 10 and Proverbs 11 both have this quote
Righteousness delivereth from death. And so the Bible saying hey you want to put on that breastplate of righteousness
Why because it delivers from death if you get shot through, you know on the armor, you know
Even one of our church members has tried this many times. It actually does stop bullets and it'll deliver you from death
Well, you know what the Bible says righteousness delivereth from death
So if you're in a battle if you're in a fight if you are going through a hard time
You know, who is it that God is often gonna deliver those who are righteous?
Those who are taking the things of God seriously not people who just go to church on Easter go to church on Christmas
You know God's looking to deliver people that are righteous and this is how I believe it'll be during the tribulation period
You know the Bible says he that endureth to the end the same shall be saved
I believe that the people who God is going to deliver are the ones or they're actually risking something that are actually continuing to serve God
through the dangerous times
Look at verse number 15 and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, right?
So you wouldn't want to go out to a fight wearing in nothing being barefoot
You know your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace above all taking the shield of faith
Wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked
So of course even being righteous and even having the truth
Fighting for the Lord and being involved in a great work for God is still gonna take a lot of faith
And even if you've been through something before you got to go through it again
You still got to keep putting your faith in the Lord to deliver you then it says and take the helmet of
Salvation, you know, I've always heard this preach and I agree with it that taking the helmet of salvation
It doesn't mean like getting saved
I think it means like knowing that you're saved and being assured of your salvation knowing the doctrine and not being you know
Wishy-washy on it and the sword of the spirit which is the word of God
So the only offensive item that's listed in the full armor of God is a sword and that sword is
The word of God. So again, why is the Bible called a sword if we're not in a fight, you know
These people that have this idea that the Christian life is just gonna be peaceful and no battles and no problems
Then why is this a sword? Why did God give us a sword if everything's just gonna be peachy and roses and fine
He gave us a sword to fight with and it's like the reason why a lot of Christians and a lot of churches
Don't understand this idea is because if you're not doing a bunch if you're not fighting really hard if you're not taking it to the enemy
Well, then yeah, maybe then you'll have some peace. Maybe then you'll have some quiet
But if you're actually doing something if you're actually really taking it to the enemy taking it to the devil
Then you're gonna need your sword. You're gonna actually need to be ready for a fight
then it says praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and
supplication for all saints
Why does it say praying always why does it say with all?
Perseverance because this is something that's just gonna keep happening throughout your whole life
the Christian life is that of constant fights and
Constant battles and the only reason you're not having any battles is because you're not really taking it to the enemy
It's because you're not really striving to do something great go to Matthew chapter 4 Matthew chapter 4. So what are we talking about?
We're talking about the fight against the devil the devil is selective and who he goes after
God tells us how we fight against the devil
It's by putting on the full armor of God and let's look at an example of a battle between Jesus and the devil
Matthew 4 verse 1 then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness
To be tempted of the devil when he had fasted 40 days and 40 nights after he was afterward and hungered
And when the tempter came to him, he said if thou be the son of God command that these stones be made bread
But he answered and said it is written man shall not live by bread alone
but by every word that proceeded proceeded out of the mouth of God one of the ways that the devil often
Attacks us and tries to come at us in war is to play on our pride is to play on our
Curiosity, this is like what it was in the Garden of Eden
You know one Eve wanting to have the knowledge of good and of evil and the devil's kind of taunting Jesus here
Like oh if you're really the son of God if you really are who you say that you are
Why don't you just command that these stones be made bread? But Jesus didn't fall for it. He responds with scripture
He says man shall not live by bread alone
But by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God
Now this is a really important reason why you should memorize scripture
Is that it is very useful in the spiritual battle that we wage both with the flesh and with the devil
You know when you're going through a hard time or when the devil's coming after you through, you know
The TV or social media or college or some person that wants to give you an unbiblical worldview or a worldview
That's coming from the devil. What helps you overcoming that is scripture that you have memorized in your hearts
And you know, I really want to encourage every single person
I really want every single person to participate in our memorization of the Bible
This is not just something for just the man or just the adults
You know, the Bible says thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee
This is something that every single Christian should be doing and I want everyone to take that seriously
That it is important to memorize the scripture
Look, I'm not saying you have to be some savant that could just memorize the entire New Testament or something like that
Now if you could do that, amen, that's awesome. Strive for that if you can that's wonderful
But I mean asking you to memorize one verse a week is not hard folks
And you do not have that busy of a life where you cannot memorize one verse a week
It is important to do this and it will help you in the spiritual battle that we fight against the devil to have
Scripture memorized because we see that was Jesus's tactic when he was in spiritual warfare with the devil
He says ah, it is written man
Did not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God
That is a great tactic and just as a side note here
Also, this is important. Why do you have a King James Bible and not one of these modern versions?
Because this is removed from the modern versions where in the modern versions
Jesus just said man shall not live by bread alone the end
You know what's important is to have every word of God and I mean that literally as far as like this verse saying
Every word of God go to first Timothy chapter 1 first Timothy chapter number 1
So we're talking about the fight against the flesh the fight against the devil
Here's another fight that we will constantly be fighting in the Christian life number 3 the fight for correct doctrine
This is something that we will just continuously over and over need to fight for and this fight is not going anywhere
First Timothy 1 verse 1 Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ
Which is our hope unto Timothy my own son in the faith grace mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord as
I besought thee to abide still
Excuse me at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia
Notice that thou might as charge some that they teach no other
Doctrine, you know Timothy or I'm sorry Paul is leaving Timothy here at Ephesus
Presumably to watch over people who could potentially become elders and ordain elders and he's saying hey
You need to charge these people that they teach no other
Doctrine, you know that means doctrine is important doctrine is worth fighting over and so many churches today
They don't like to get specific about doctrine. They don't like to make a big deal or take a hard stance on
Doctrine but here Paul is saying hey charge some that they teach no other doctrine saying you need to command that the right
Doctrine is being preached and look, of course there are
Secondary and small different differences that we have with other Baptists is and certain interpretations of scripture and that's totally fine
But you know what the core doctrines that we believe here are not up for debate
They are not up for being changed, you know, we might be wrong about some things
I don't know of any because obviously I'm only trying to preach to you guys the truth
But look, I know that we're right about the things that are doctrinal statement that I know and we are not you know
Gonna change on eternal security someone came here a few months ago and I was explaining to them after having preached the gospel to them
After having conversations with them. I explained to this person
We do not allow the doctrine that you could lose your salvation at anchor Baptist Church
We do not allow it. We are going to preach what the Bible says and we're gonna charge some that they teach no other doctrine
You know, obviously we don't have this issue
But obviously if I allow another man to preach behind this pulpit I am not gonna allow them to preach
Doctrine that our church disagrees with and especially the fundamentals the important doctrines of our church
That is not happening, you know and even small things, you know
If you disagree with the pastor on a doctrine that shouldn't be the thing that you preach about
That should be something that you just keep to yourself and you know
Why don't you get ordained and you become a pastor someday and then you could preach what you think is right?
But here at anchor Baptist Church, I'm gonna follow what Paul said and I'm not gonna allow people to preach other doctrine
We are gonna preach the doctrine of the Bible and guess what? That's a fight that we will always fight go to 2nd Timothy for
2nd Timothy chapter number 4 look at verse 1
I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom
Preach the word be instant in season out of season reprove rebuke
exhort with all long suffering and
Doctrine, you know, what's another way of saying that?
Reprove with long suffering and doctrine
rebuke with long suffering and doctrine
Exhort with long suffering and doctrine the long suffering and doctrine portion of that is applied to all three
You know what that means? Doctrine should just be constantly being preached whether you're reproving, you know
If I'm correcting something I better do it with doctrine
I better do it with the Word of God not with my opinion. You know, one of the distinctives of
Baptists and the things that Baptists believe is that we obey the authority of the Bible
We don't elevate man's creeds or church councils or pastors opinions
over what the Bible says no what we believe is preach the word and if I'm gonna reprove something if I'm gonna
Rebuke something if I'm gonna exhort you with something it better be with
Doctrine it better be with the Word of God not with my personal opinion
my job is not to get up here and preach my opinion and I just hate it when pastors use their platform and
Just always talk about their opinion always push their opinion. You know, it's an abuse of their authority
It's an abuse of their position. And look if I preach my opinion to you, I'm gonna make it clear that it's my opinion
That's what I'm going to do
I'm not gonna just get up here and constantly preach my own philosophies my own ideas
Look, I always wanted to follow a pastor that was following this why because I want to serve Jesus
I want to follow Jesus
And so I wanted to follow a pastor that really cared about the words of Jesus Christ
And it is a red flag when a pastor is constantly putting their ideas and their opinions and their
Philosophies over what the Bible says that is a red flag
And this is why it's so important that ministers, you know
take heed to themselves and take heed to the doctrine like the Bible says and
constantly be reading the Bible and not just allowing their minds to be tainted by the
Philosophies of this world and the doctrines of this world because what does doctrine mean?
It just means beliefs it just means teaching right then it says in verse 3 for the time will come when they will not endure
Sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears
It is so important for the pastor just to be rock solid on the doctrine of the Bible
Why because people in general don't want to receive sound doctrine?
and so what that means is that human beings in general are going to naturally be pressuring pastors and
Pressuring preachers to turn from the right doctrine and to turn from the sound teaching of the Bible
And so if the pastor is not rock solid in the doctrine
He's gonna be more likely to give in to that pressure, right?
Because there's some people that just they turn away their ears from the truth. They want to be turned under fables
That's why I says but watch thou in all things endure afflictions do the work of an evangelist make full proof of thy
Ministry, you know preachers and pastor should care about doctrine not care about people's opinions
This is why in Galatians 1 10 Paul's like, you know, hey, do I seek to please men or God, you know?
He's saying like if I was gonna please men then I wouldn't be the servant of Christ
And so when we preach we need to make sure that we're giving heed to the doctrine go to Galatians chapter number two Galatians
Chapter number two and we won't read this but of course in Galatians chapter one. We see an example of the Apostle Paul
Reminding people he's saying, you know
I marvel that you were so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel
Right. So the doctrine of salvation Paul is not going to allow to be up for debate
he's saying look if anyone preaches another gospel to you let him be accursed and
What you have to understand is that doctrine if it's serious enough can cause
Relational strains or separations from other Christians even sometimes other good saved Christians
And there's an example of this in Galatians chapter 2 verse 9. The Bible says when James
Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars
Perceived the grace that was given unto me
They gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship that we should go into the heathen and they unto the circumcision
Only they would that we should remember the poor the same which I also was forward to do
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face because he was to be blamed
So notice Paul here is
Calling out Peter and of course Peter's great Peter's a great man of God
I mean, we've got the epistles of first and second Peter. He is just a rock star Christian
But you know what sometimes men of God can be on the wrong side of issues when they're not giving heed to doctrine
When they're allowing their mind to take on the world's philosophy or unsafe people's philosophy rather than what the Bible says
You know even great ministers great pastors this great apostle
Can be in serious error to the point where they might even need to be
Corrected and might even need to be called out and look Peter was called out to the face
I mean people complain about vague preaching
I mean Paul went to his face and just corrected him to his face
You know if you can't handle being corrected by just the truth being preached
I mean imagine just getting called out to the face verse 12 says for before that certain came from James
He did eat with the Gentiles, but when they were come he withdrew and separated himself
Fearing them which were of the circumcision
So notice not because of what the Bible says did Peter change his behavior
Peter used to eat with the Gentiles
Why because God came down in that vision and explained to him that what God is cleansed that call not thou common
You know the New Testament doctrine is that there is neither Jew nor Greek that were all one in Christ Jesus
And so of course Peter understands that at one point. He's eating with the Gentiles
He's believing the right thing, but then he was afraid of the circumcision
He was afraid of people's opinions and he allowed the politics of the ministry to cause him to no longer
Sit with the Gentiles now
He's ostracizing them and you know why this is a problem is because the New Testament
The authors of the New Testament are constantly trying to get people on the New Testament program and trying to get them to understand
Hey being of the seed of Abraham isn't special doesn't make you special the Old Covenant is done
You need to get on Christ's program and then here you have Peter
starting to become Judaized and get into this, you know Old Testament system, which could give the appearance to people of
Serious false doctrine in fact of salvific doctrine because it says in verse 13 and the other Jews
Dissembled likewise with him. So notice it affects other people in so much that Barnabas also was carried away
with their dissimulation
This is why false doctrine has to constantly be fought against
Because whether you like it or not whether you think you're so steadfast in the faith and you're so smart and you'll never fall
What I see in the Bible is when people preach false doctrine
I see people getting carried away with them and you know what I see in real life when false doctrine is preached
Good people get carried away with the air of the wicked or just with the air of false doctrine
It says in verse 14, but when I saw that they walked not uprightly notice according to the truth of the gospel
I said unto Peter before them all if thou being a Jew livest after the manner of the Gentiles and not as do the Jews
Why compel us thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews he's saying look you are a Jew ethnically and
You are living like the Gentiles. You're not with you know withholding yourself from the meats that were unclaimed the Old Testament
You're living the New Testament life. Why are you now compelling the Gentiles to live as do the Jews, right?
And you could see how this could get into muddying the waters of salvation very quickly
Even though of course Peter saved, of course, he knows the right gospel
He's kind of giving an appearance though to Judaizing which does taint the gospel which does corrupt that
Doctrine which is why he reminds him in one of the most repetitive passages that I just love in verse 15
Who are Jews by nature and not sinners of the Gentiles knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law
He's like hey Peter, you know that people aren't saved by the law
We're saved by faith
He goes but by the faith of Jesus Christ
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law
For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified
So notice this is kind of like Paul's rebuke to Peter. He's saying like, you know this, you know
We're not saved by works not saved by the law. So why are you appearing like that's what you're having people do
Why are you giving the appearance that you're having the Gentiles live like the Old Testament Jews, you know
It's kind of muddying the waters of salvation and can cause someone to infer wrong doctrine and believe wrong doctrine
So, you know what it needs to get corrected
It needs to be called out go to Colossians chapter number two
And you know, let me just say this every single person and and I'm sure every single pastor is gonna come to a point in their ministry
Where they realize that they were wrong about something and you know what? That's okay. Like we're human beings here
We're just men. We're just doing the best we can but you know
What is if we get correction if we are corrected with the scripture, you know
We should do rather than getting offended rather than getting mad rather than complaining about people correcting our doctrine
We should just correct the doctrine. We should just change and you know what?
I'm glad that Peter didn't get all offended and you know get mad at Paul and stop being Paul's friend
You know he did he just went on to the ministry and he kept doing great things for God and we read that
He did wonderful things, you know, that's what we should do. You know, if my doctrines ever corrected someday
I'm sure it'll sting in my flesh. I'm sure for that temporary moment
It'll hurt but you know what in the long run?
The best thing to do is just take the correction and then just believe the right doctrine and look if you're right with God
If you're an earnest sincere servant of Christ, you're gonna want to be in line with the Bible
Anyways, you're gonna want to be on the right doctrine. You don't want to lead people astray
You don't want to preach false doctrine. And so, you know, even if it does, you know offend me temporarily
I want the truth always I want the right doctrine always and let me just tell you this
I believe personally that if someone sees a leader correct themselves and
And go from being wrong to being right. I don't think that's gonna make people lose respect for that person
In fact, it'll probably make people gain respect for that person
You know, I've seen pastors over the years correct things here and there and I just thought praise God. That's a great person
That's a wonderful man of God
Why because it just shows like this man wants to be what this says wants to follow what Jesus says not their own opinion
And if I find out that any of my ideas are wrong
Well, guess what the Bible's right and I'm ready to believe what the Bible says
I'm ready to submit to what the Bible says that brings me to number four another fight that we're gonna have in life
Always the fight against bad
Philosophies, you know, the Bible warns about
wicked
philosophy look at Colossians 2 verse 6 as he have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk he in him
rooted and built up in him and
Established in the faith as he have been taught abounding therein with thanksgiving
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain
Deceit after the tradition of men after the rudiments of the world and not after
Christ the Bible warns us about
Philosophy and the man's man's traditions the rudiments of the world things that are of the world not after Christ
And why does God warn us about these bad philosophies because it says that it can spoil you and you know
If someone is not in the Bible
This is this is also why it's so important that everyone in the pews is reading the Bible and checking daily whether those things are so
Because if a pastor gets up and preaches his opinion and preaches his philosophies that he's been getting from the world
You know what it could do it could spoil you and what I've noticed is that every time there's a fight in
Christianity every time there's a fight over doctrine every time there's there's this like dividing line between right and wrong
You know what? I constantly see happen. I constantly see Christians falling away
I constantly see Christians being spoiled through philosophy through bad ideas
This is why we have to be aware of these things. This is why you know on Wednesday
I called out that idiot Jordan Peterson why because he's like this modern
Philosopher who wants to teach you and it's like he can't even answer the question
Do you believe that Jesus rose again from the dead? Well that depends on what you mean by Jesus vain philosophy folks a complete idiot
But you know if you just listen to Jordan Peterson all day, and you just soak in all of his books
You don't even have a critical mind when you read it, and you're just listening to his podcast his
Philosophy will infect you you know you got these authors Frederick Nietzsche you read those authors
you just soak all that stuff in it will affect you and you have to beware of
vain philosophy and
Deceit look at John chapter number 11 John chapter number 11
John chapter 11 look at verse 10 the thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy
I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly
I am the good shepherd the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep
But he that is in hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not see if the wolf coming and
Leave it the sheep and flee it and the wolf catch at them and scatter it the sheep the hireling flee it
Because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep
So Jesus is the good shepherd and he explains us some characteristics between a good shepherd and a hireling a hireling
Sees the wolf coming what does the wolf represent the wolf represents danger?
peril death and this
Pastor this shepherd sees this hireling pastor sees danger coming towards his sheep towards his flock
And what does he do? He flees he runs away. He doesn't confront the issue
You know what a good pastor would do if they're watching over their sheep
And they see the wolf coming is they would put a five five six right through that wolf's heart, right?
They would shoot that sucker and kill that wolf and protect the sheep and you know you have these people today that criticize
New IFB pastors because they will say well, there's always drama and there's always issues being addressed
But let me just tell you something that a loving pastor does if there's danger coming in if there's bad
Philosophies coming in that means that their flock is in danger of being spoiled and what a good pastor would do is
Confront the issue and address the issue and not run from it and not hide from it and not always stay silent
Yes, there's a time to stay silent. But you know what a pastor is not someone to stay silent
You know that you know that my job is to speak. You know that my job is to warn
You know that my job is to reprove and rebuke and exhort with all authority
You know, I'm not I'm supposed to not let people despise me and despise the Word of God
My job is to warn you and you know what I would be doing you a disservice if there's all these worldly philosophies
Going around amongst Christians and bad ideas and bad doctrines and I just never addressed it
You know, I'll tell you what it would be it would be easy to just preach
You know soft sermons and just preach basic really easy sermons, you know, my job would be easy
I wouldn't even have to really study that hard
But you know what I care about the flock and I care about your soul the Bible teaches that pastors watch for you
your soul I care about your spiritual well-being and I get personally offended and
Personally saddened when I see Christians fall away into bad philosophy
When I see Christians believe the right doctrine and then stop believing the right doctrine
Living the Christian life the right way and then seeing someone spoiling them and them being a castaway basically that
Personally grieves me. It's why I'm a pastor because I care about these things
I am truly passionate about these things and so I'm not gonna just see any danger coming from my congregation and just be silent about it
It's not gonna happen. I'll read for you this pay attention to the words that I'm reading for you. Isaiah 62 verse 6
I have set watchmen upon thy walls. Oh Jerusalem
Which shall never hold their peace day nor night ye that make mention of the Lord
Keep not silence. You know what a pastor is a pastor is a watchman. He watches over the flock
He's watching for the sheep. He's watching for the wolf that's coming and the Bible says that watchmen will never hold their peace
Yes, there is a time to speak and there is a time to keep silence
But when you are a watchman, it is not a time to keep silent
And you know what if you preach behind this pulpit, I don't want you to be afraid to preach what the Bible says
Don't keep silent. Don't be scared to preach the truth. Don't be scared to address the issues of our day
You know what? A pastor and a preacher needs to not keep silence
And yes, it may seem like there's drama going on in the new IFB
But that's because new IFB pastors are willing to call out the vain
philosophy the bad ideas the bad doctrines that creep into churches and other pastors won't do that and
You want to know why they don't do that because they don't want to offend people
Because they want the service to be so nice and so wonderful and so clean and so, you know, just perfect
You know, there's no drama. It's real comfortable. It's real nice, but you know what?
It's real easy just to be the hireling that just runs away when the wolf is coming
You know
It actually takes some strength and takes some grit to address the wolf and to address the problems coming in and if if you think
That I'm gonna stop doing that I'm telling you I will never let the culture change when it comes to this issue
You know, I really like that the new IFB, you know, I'm a fan of the new IFB
Let me just tell you I really like that. The new IFB has some grit
I like that it has some grit you see you can go into an old IFB church today and
Everything will sparkle and shine and it's gonna be a beautiful magnificent building and hey
There's nothing wrong with big buildings and the program is gonna be so smooth and the music is gonna be absolutely perfect
And the lighting is spot-on and the temperature is spot-on and everything is just run so perfectly and the pastor is just gonna be
Immaculate and he's never gonna trip over his words and his vocabulary is just gonna be amazing and but you know what?
It's gonna happen though. He's not gonna preach hard. He's not gonna preach hard. He's not gonna get specific
He's not gonna call out things that need to be called out. He's not gonna make you feel uncomfortable
You know what I like about the new IFB is that when I sit in the pew sometimes I feel a little uncomfortable
Yeah, there's some grit. There's some fight to the pastors in the new IFB and I like that
I am NOT gonna be ashamed or afraid or shy away from fights because the watchmen are supposed to never hold their peace
And so I'm going to strive as the pastor here to not hold my peace about things that I believe can harm you
I believe that I would be doing you a disservice as a pastor to not talk about things that I think can truly harm you
I mean, don't you agree with that if I just kept my mouth shut about something that I think was gonna hurt you
Would you say that's being a good pastor? I don't think so just to look all professional and nice
I think it's a bad idea number five go to first Timothy for another thing that we're gonna constantly be in a fight over is
The fight against bad behaviors, right? So we're fighting for good doctrine. We're fighting
We are fighting against bad philosophies. Excuse me there. Also, we're fighting against bad
Behaviors first Timothy 412 notice what the Bible says let no man
Despise thy youth but be thou an example of the believers in word and conversation in charity and spirit and faith and purity
you know, there's certain ways that we have been commanded to act as Christians in the house of God and when it comes to
Church authority and you know, Timothy is a young pastor here
I can kind of relate to this but Paul's telling him let no man despise thy youth
You know what that means is that Timothy as the pastor?
He's also supposed to fight against bad behaviors that creep into church and you know over time
People can get develop bad habits and have bad behaviors and it's the pastor's job to fight against those things
And so one of those things here he says hey, let no man despise thy youth, you know
I'm not gonna allow people to disrespect me just because I am a young pastor and look you get to follow any pastor
You want you come here willingly if you're uncomfortable with following a young pastor go to a different church
But while you're here at anchor Baptist Church, you're not allowed to despise my youth
You're not allowed to despise the fact that I'm a young pastor and it says be thou an example of the believer
So again, Timothy's behavior should be an example to other people
He should be setting the tone for that thing. Look at Titus verse or Titus chapter 2 a couple pages over Titus chapter
Number 2 the Bible says in verse 12 teaching us
Denying ungodliness and worldly lusts. We should live soberly righteously and godly in this present world
Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God in our Savior Jesus Christ
Who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people
Zealous of good works then he says this these things speak and exhort and rebuke with all authority
Let no man despise thee, right?
So we're supposed to be an example of the believers as pastors
We are supposed to be denying ungodliness and worldly lust, you know, so we're supposed to be zealous
we're supposed to be an example, but as a result of that pastors are supposed to speak and
Rebuke and exhort with all authority and they're supposed to not allow people to despise them and look
I hope you know me enough by now, you know in August I'll have been here for a year
I hope you know me by now that I'm not like some overbearing person. I'm not some like authoritarian jerk
I feel like I'm pretty mellow guy. Obviously behind the pulpit I get worked up because that's my job
But just on a one-in-one level. I'm pretty just easygoing but look
Please don't make me have to change that and no one's no one's tempting me with that. Okay
I'm not saying there's an issue going on but please don't try to despise the pastor
Please don't try to start being disrespectful to the pastor because then I will have to change that attitude and I don't want to you know
I saw some clown on YouTube is
Commenting on one of my sermons and he had a couple positive comments on other sermons
But in this one comment, he basically called me an idiot
He said I was daft which that just means stupid or an idiot, you know, don't ever speak that way to a pastor
It's extremely inappropriate. It's extremely disrespectful and I will not allow people to despise me
And if someone wants to come at me being disrespectful, I'm just gonna give you an opportunity to change the way you're speaking
Otherwise, we're not having the conversation. I'm not gonna give people the time of day who are going to speak to me disrespectfully
Hey, I'll help you with your issues. If you have a problem with me, please come to me
I want to you know talk things out with you, but if you do so disrespectfully, I will not engage with you
That's just how it works. You need to learn some respect people in our generation have just forgotten respect for authority
But you know what a pastor is a real title and it is not because I am special
But it's because this office is special and anyone who has respect for the Word of God would have respect for a pastor as well
Tied it or a first Timothy chapter number five notice what this says in first Timothy 5 verse 1
Rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father and the younger men as brethren
You are not allowed according to the Bible to rebuke an elder period and let me just say this doesn't even go for me
I don't allow people to rebuke or trash talk other past other pastors period end of story and
Even pastors that I don't even really like I don't even allow people to just drop the pastor title
Because you don't like someone, you know, I notice sometimes people do this, you know
They stop liking a pastor and it just becomes Shelley Anderson Thompson
Look, I don't care if you don't like a man of God if he is a saved pastor
I'm not talking about false prophets right now. If he is a saved pastor you call him pastor so-and-so
Don't call me Dylan. Don't call me bro. It's pastor Oz. It's pastor Shelley
It's pastor Anderson. You just need to get this through your head because this is Bible doctrine
Okay, and I don't know and it's not just me because you know
I don't allow other pastors to be disrespected either and you know
Woe unto you if I see church members going online saying pastor
So-and-so is a B word or F pastor so-and-so, you know
What's gonna happen if that happened at this church is that you would be confronted and forced to repent?
And if you didn't you'd be kicked out of church. We are not going to allow
Frailing and rebuking of men of God in this church. That is a cancer that mark my words will
Harm a ministry and I care too much about our ministry here to allow these bad behaviors to creep in
1st Timothy 5 17 let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor look at verse 19
Against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses them that sin
Rebuke before all that others also may fear, you know
If I catch you receiving accusations against pastors without evidence so much more if I catch you repeating those accusations
railing against pastors
gossiping about pastors
Rebuking pastors you're gonna get rebuked before all and you know
I'll probably come to you and give you a chance to get things right
But if you're stubborn and you dig in you're going to get called out
Why because I will not allow a culture of disrespecting authority to enter anchor Baptist Church
It will not happen. We're not gonna be like the old IFB that just refuses to get specific and refuses to preach these things
No, no, we're going to call it out. Like the Bible says go to 1st Corinthians 5. We're almost done this evening
You know when it comes to correcting bad behaviors, this is something that we see all throughout the New Testament
In fact in 1st Corinthians 5 there's a whole chapter where Paul's saying people who do certain behaviors are not allowed in church
They're supposed to be kicked out 1st Corinthians 5 one
It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles
That one should have his father's wife. So there's fornication in the church and beyond that it's
extremely gross version of fornication
Committing fornication with his father's wife and notice the church's attitude
It says and you are puffed up and if not rather mourned that he that have done this deed might be taken away
From among you, you know, that's got to be a frustrating situation to deal with where there's this huge sin in the church
There's this first Corinthians five level sin going on in the church and the church or at least many people in the church
They're not grieved by it. They're not mourning of it. They're not wanting to repent of it. They're puffed up
They actually think they're better than other Christians
They actually think they're great as they're committing first Corinthians five sins and this attitude you will see in Christians
Sometimes notice Paul's reaction for I verily as absent in body but present in spirit have judged already
It's like I'm not even there and I can give you the right judgment on this as though
I were present concerning him that hath so done this deed in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
When you are gathered together and my spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ to deliver such in one unto Satan for the
Destruction of the flesh that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus
Your glorying is not good know ye not that a little leaven leaven it the whole lump purge out
Therefore the old leaven that you may be a new lump as you're unleavened for even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us
We're not gonna read the whole chapter
But he goes on to list certain sins where he says hey if you are called a brother and you're into these things
Like fornication like railing like idolatry like covetousness like extortion if you're into these type of things
Hey, you have to be cast out of the church. You have to be delivered unto Satan
You know, that's another thing that I really appreciate about the new IFB is that we exercise church discipline
We are not gonna allow church to become a circus and a free-for-all and be like these pastors that allow
Pedophiles in their congregation literally or their staff or convicted pedophiles and they don't turn them over and preach against them
They just shuffle them off to another church, you know, that's wicked and that's you know what it's gonna do
It's gonna harm the congregation because it says a little leaven leavens the whole lump
It's why loving pastor would not allow these type of behaviors in church
If you love the flock, you can't allow these bad behaviors number six number six the fight against bad people
Go to Titus chapter number one Titus one
I'll skip some of this for sake of time Titus chapter number one the fight against wicked people Titus 1 9
The Bible says holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound
Doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers
Especially they of the circumcision. So there's all these bad people out there. There's all these bad prophets these false prophets
They're deceiving people they're speaking vainly just empty words. They're unruly
They're not able to be corrected with the Word of God and it's especially they have the circumcision
It's like there's all these false prophets, especially Jews
Especially these Jews that are out there and notice verse 11 whose mouths must be
Stopped why why should we care if people are out there preaching false doctrine?
Why should we care if there's wicked people that are false prophets? Well, here's why it says they subvert whole houses
Teaching things which they ought not for filthy Luker's sake
Here's why we fight against wicked people is for others is for the people that they harm
Why do we call out false prophets? Why do we why do we say their name?
Why do we make it clear what we're talking about so that people who are under that pastor can be warned?
You know, why do we preach about especially in June the sodomites?
Why do we preach against this sin for the children that they molest to protect them?
And you know if I just didn't care about kids and I didn't care about victims
Well, I wouldn't really be as motivated to call them out and to fight against the wicked. So, you know what?
Hey, the Christian life is a fight and we're always gonna be fighting for right doctrine. We're always gonna be fighting against the flesh
We're always gonna be fighting against bad philosophies. We're always gonna be fighting against bad behaviors
We're always gonna be fighting against bad people just buckle up and get used to it because that is the Christian life
You know last point I have for you is really quick number seven how to have no fighting you want to know how you have no
Fighting do nothing for God. This is how you will have no fighting. Don't preach hard sermons. Don't fight for doctrine
Don't fight against the false prophets. Don't get in the news by preaching against the sodomites, you know, don't correct bad behaviors
Don't have the backbone to cultivate a biblical culture in your church. Don't ever kick out the trash
Don't ever get the leaven out of the church. Then you know what you'll have you'll have not a very little fighting
Maybe not no fighting but you'll probably have very little fighting and it's like people will criticize the new IFB for always fighting
You want to know why we're always fighting is because we care about doctrine. We care
We're not just indifferent about it. We're not just gonna let things go. No, we care about what the Bible says
We care about the flock. So when bad philosophy comes in here, I'm gonna preach against it when wicked people are trying to pull you away
I'm gonna preach against them because I care about the flock and you know what? I just love that about the new IFB
I love that the new IFB has some fight. I love that the new IFB gets in the news
I love that the new and here's the thing the new IFB is doing great things for the Lord
I mean, we thank God by God's grace our church this year has had
622 salvations and our total in
2024 was like
524 salvations we're in June and we've already beaten our all-time year record
You know, we're trying to do something for God to anchor Baptist Church. We're trying to fight for the doctrine of the Bible
Hey, we're trying to fight against the wicked sodomites of our city. We're not just indifferent to it
We're not gonna be quiet to it. We're gonna hold fast the faithful word as we have been taught and we're gonna exhort and convince the gainsayers
We're not gonna stop fighting if you're looking for just a nice
Relaxing easygoing church just go to any old IFB church in this city and I'm telling you it'll be clean
There'll be no loud kids in the service because they're not family integrated. They'll allow pedophiles in their church
I mean, they won't preach hard doctrine. They won't get in the news. They won't fight
Why because they're not really striving to do a big work for God. Maybe they did in times past
Maybe the the the founding pastors of these big old IFB churches. They probably were fighters
I mean look at Jack Hiles pastor. Jack Hiles was a fighter folks
But you know what sometimes these churches the culture just slips over time over time over time
And then all of a sudden it's just like a completely different church
And you know what I am not interested in going to the most easygoing nice polished church as possible
I want to go to a church that fights fights for the right doctrine fights against bad philosophies fights against false prophets
Fights for the Word of God, you know fights against the sodomites all these things that you want to know
Why though is because it means that we're doing something great for God last verse go to second Timothy chapter 4
You know I shared on Facebook a few days ago this picture of this World War two bomber that was just torn to shreds
It was absolutely destroyed and yet it somehow landed and got through combat
And the reason why he was torn to shreds is because of flak where basically the enemy would shoot these anti-aircraft
Cannons up into the air it would explode and all that molten metal would just shred through the airplane
And you know the airplanes that were flying over the targets that were doing the most damage to the enemy
They were bruised and beat and torn to shreds and looked ugly
But you want to know why because they were actually fighting because they were actually taking it to the enemy and if you're going to a church
That's actually taking it to the enemy things might look ugly. Sometimes there might be some drama if you're fighting a war
There's gonna be drama. Okay, but look at what Paul said second Timothy chapter 4 verse 6
For I am now ready to be offered and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight
I finished my course. I have kept the faith
You know, let us at anchor Baptist Church fight a good fight
And you know, we are in the first year of anchor Baptist Church and I'm trying to do everything I can to set the tone
For the future of this church to dig down and get some roots in this church
But let me just tell you what I want for the culture of anchor Baptist Church. I want us to have some grit
I want us to have some fight and I'm just telling you if you're tired of the fight if you're tired of the drama
It is not going to change
so either get on board and join the Lord's army and endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ or just go
Ahead and go to the old IFB because we're gonna fight at anchor Baptist Church. Let's pray Lord
We thank you for your word and we thank you for the ministry that you've given to us
Lord there's nothing more important to fight for on this earth than the word of God then the ministry of Jesus Christ
Then the teachings that you've given us
I pray that we would not get weary in well-doing that we would not get tired of the battle but that we would embrace
Hardness as good soldiers in the spiritual war. We love you in Jesus name. We pray. Amen
the number
257 look and live him number
257 to
5-7 look and live
257 we'll sing they're starting right on the first
♪ You said it and I know it's true ♪