9, I know who I'm gonna lead then. Go ahead and sing it out with me on the 1st.
I know not why God's wondrous grace to me hath made known, nor why I stand redeemed,
but I know persuaded that he is a... This wonderful church and this, uh,
we have to praise you, Lord. We just ask you to fill this room with your spirit and bless
the service in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, for our next song, let's go to song number
356. Song number 356. "I Must Tell Jesus." Song number 356. Singing out loud together on the first.
I must tell Jesus all of my trials. I cannot bear these burdens alone. In my distress, He kindly
will kiss for His own. I must tell Jesus I cannot bear these burdens alone." From everyone to Steadfast Baptist Church, thanks for coming this evening.
If you don't have a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand and an usher will bring you a fresh bulletin.
We have there on the front our Bible memory passage of the week, Revelation 1
13. If you can quote this to myself, Pastor Shelley, or an usher, you're 18 or under,
you'd get an ice cream at the end of the Wednesday service. This evening, Pastor Shelley is not going
to be here. He's in Georgia for the Stronghold Baptist Church camping trip, so make sure to be
praying for him, that he gets to and from safely, and that his family get the much needed, you know,
fun that they deserve. Let's see here on the left side of the bulletin, we have our service times,
our church-wide soul winning times that meet wherever our location is, and our regional
soul winning times. Those meet in various locations of the DFW area, so if you're ever
interested in one of those, get with those respective leaders. We have there our soul
winning stats for the month of April, which definitely has padded because of the soul
winning trip in the Bahamas. That was a great time. It'd be nice if every country was that
receptive, right? It was a great time to be in a Christian nation, at least in a sense,
where people just respect the Bible and they want to hear the Bible. You have a Bible in your hand,
they're ready to listen to what you have to say, they want to get saved. That was definitely
refreshing. And even in comparison of DFW, which honestly, DFW Texas, I've been soul winning many
other places in the United States, like this is one of the most receptive areas in all of America,
to be honest. But even comparatively, like the Bahamas was just insanely receptive. So that was
a really great time. We have there, make sure you're staying in prayer for our expecting ladies,
has the corresponding due dates there. And if you know a lady in here ever needs to be added to that,
shoot an email. I know we get those all the time. So just shoot an email to sedfastbaptistkjv@gmail.com.
Also, we have our weekly prayer list. We have many prayer requests this week. Rebecca Noguera for her
health. Miss Lucy for her mother's tumors and health. Brother Cameron, ongoing prayer for his
leg to be healed. Matt Pendleton, we're praying for his brain cancer to be healed. Brother Wallach's
daughter is pregnant, so we have that prayer request. Mrs. Cooley, praying for her stepdad's
cancer treatment. Brother Sue Hale for his fiance's visa process and travel to the U.S. so they can get
married. That's pretty important, right? You looking forward to that? Mrs. Restrepo down in
South Texas, a good friend of ours, is asking prayer for her daughter who's recently diagnosed
with inflammation of the heart. Mrs. Gale, healing from her wrist surgery. Brother Kenton, be praying
for Brother Kenton. He's doing a great work over in the Bahamas. I'm excited to hear that he's going
to be planted there for a while. I think the last couple years he's just been going all over the
world, the Philippines and Africa and I think a little bit in the United States. But from what I
understood what he was saying is that he plans on staying there for a while and just discipling those
people that we got saved. You know we got people's contact information for Brother Kenton to follow up
on them and you know he's going to a great church there, Liberty Baptist Church. So definitely keep
him in prayer just that he would do a great work in the Bahamas and be able to not just get people
saved but get them in church and get them to become soul winners themselves. Brother Goodwin
is praying for his brother-in-law's health and upcoming trial and he's also praying for his
works contract negotiations and praying that they would avoid a union strike. Man unions can be some
of the biggest babies and just some of the they just want to not work a lot of times and complain
about everything so I definitely understand wanting to avoid a union strike that could be very very
annoying. Faith and Ethan Miller's praying for health. The Urbanic family's praying for health. I think
we have a lot of people in our church sick so make sure we're praying for them. Let's go ahead and go
to the Lord and have a word of prayer as a church at this time. Heavenly Father thank you for this
day. Thank you for our church and for all the people here. Pray that you'd be with Mrs. Rebecca
and her health. I pray that she would just help her to have a strong body. Pray for Lucy's mother
that her tumors would be healed Lord and pray for Cameron that his leg would heal. Brother Pendleton
a faithful word. Pray that she would heal his cancer if at all possible Lord and just pray that
brother Wallach's daughter would have a healthy pregnancy. That things would go according to plan
on that. Mrs. Cooley praying that her stepdad's cancer also would be healed Lord and that she
would just work miracles in this these health situations. Pray for brother Sue Hill that things
would go according to plan with the date they've selected for their wedding. That his fiance would
be able to get here and get her visa process completed. That she'd be able to travel safely
to the United States. Pray for Mrs. Ophelia for her daughter was diagnosed with inflammation of
the heart. I pray that she would please heal her body and that she'd be with them during this
difficult time. Mrs. Gale we pray for her healing from her surgery that she would just have full
mobility of her wrist and hand after recovery. And Lord we pray for brother Kenton in the Bahamas
that he'd be able to follow up on those disabled on those uh safe people in the Bahamas and turn
them into disciples that they'd be able to go to Liberty Baptist Church and to grow in the Lord
and to become soul winners themselves and pray for brother Goodwin for his work situation or
contract negotiations to go well according to your will also for his brother-in-law's health to
improve and for his upcoming trial things would turn out according to your will Lord and we pray
for all the sick families in our church that you would please heal their bodies and help them to
be able to come back to church soon and in Jesus name we pray amen. All right on the back there we
have some church reminders as well as the totals from our Bahamas trip some upcoming events on May
10th which is next Wednesday we have a guest preacher coming you're not going to want to miss
this it's going to be a great time May 13th is our Mother's Day tea May 20th is our spring swap
and July 1st Lord willing is the wedding of Suhail and Lori May and please send an email to brother
Suhail if you would like to go to that I believe he's invited everyone in the church so send him
that email it's listed there if you'd like to go to that at this time we're going to go to our Psalm
of the week Psalm 147 Psalm 147 in your white handouts Psalm 147 147 to sing praises on to
all god for his pleasant and praises comely the build up Jerusalem other the outcasts of Israel he hit the broken dip sing praise upon forth his command run in his judgments on at this time please turn your bibles to first kings chapter five first kings chapter five first kings chapter five the Bible reads and Hyrum king of Tyre sent his servants unto Solomon for he had heard that
they had anointed him king in the room of his father for Hyrum was ever a lover of David and
Solomon sent to Hyrum saying thou knowest how that David my father could not build a house under the
name of the Lord his God for the wars which were about him on every side until the Lord put them
under the soles of his feet but now the Lord my God hath given me rest on every side so that there
is neither adversary nor evil occurring and behold I purpose to build a house under the name of the
Lord my God as the Lord spake unto David my father saying thy son whom I will set upon thy throne in
thy room he shall build a house under my name now therefore command thou that they hew me cedar trees
out of Lebanon and my servant shall be with thy servants and unto thee will I give hire for thy
servants according to wall that thou shalt appoint for thou knowest that there is not among us any
that can skill to hew timber like under the Sidonians and it came to pass when Hiram heard the
words of Solomon that he rejoiced greatly and said blessed be the Lord this day which had given
unto David a wise son over this great people and Hiram sent to Solomon saying I have considered the
things which thou sentest to me for and I will do all thy desire concerning timber of cedar and
concerning timber of fir my servant shall bring them down from Lebanon under the sea and I will
convey them by sea and floats under the place that thou shalt appoint me and will cause them to be
discharged there and thou shalt receive them and thou shalt accomplish my desire in giving food for
my household. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees according to wall his desire and
Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for food to his household and 20 measures of pure oil
thus gave Solomon to Hiram year by year and the Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he promised him
and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon and they too made a league together and King Solomon
raised a levy out of all Israel and the levy was 30,000 men and he sent them to Lebanon 10,000 a
month by courses a month they were in Lebanon and two months at home and Adoniram was over the levy
and Solomon had three score and 10,000 that bear burdens and four score thousand hewers in the
mountains beside the chief of Solomon's officers which were over the work 3,300 which ruled over
the people that rot in the work and the king commanded and they brought great stones costly
stones and huge stones to lay the foundation of the house and Solomon's builders and Hiram's
builders did hew them and the stone squareers so they prepared timber and stones to build the house
and let's bow our heads for a word of prayer and father in heaven i pray now lord that you would
just give uh brother dylan awes the fullness and power of the holy spirit as he preaches to us and
i pray that you give him clarity of mind lord and enable him to preach his sermon with boldness and
lord help us to pay attention this evening help us to draw lessons from the message tonight that we
apply to our lives and lord be with everyone as we go our separate ways after the service and just
keep us safe we love you and pray for safe travels for pastor shelly as he comes back after his trip
in jesus name i pray amen amen well first thank you pastor shelly for again giving me the opportunity
to fill the pulpit tonight it's a great blessing to preach the word of god thank you all for coming
this evening and we're in first king's chapter number five and just to give you some context of
what's going on in the story king david had just recently passed away in this story he had given
his final charge to his son solomon now king solomon is the new king his kingdom's firmly
established in previous chapters he had asked god to give him wisdom and understanding to judge his
people and now you know the nation is fearing king solomon they're respecting him his kingdom's
fully established and that's where we're at at this point in the story in first king's chapter
five and i want to read the first five verses of this chapter starting in verse one the bible says
and hyrum king of tire sent his servants unto solomon for he had heard that they had anointed
him king in the room of his father for hyrum was ever a lover of david and solomon sent to hyrum
saying thou knowest how that david my father could not build in house unto the name of the lord his
god for the wars which are about him on every side until the lord put them under the soles of his feet
but now the lord my god hath given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor evil
occurring and behold i purpose to build in house unto the name of the lord my god as the lord spake
unto david my father saying thy son whom i will set upon thy throne in thy room he shall build
in house unto my name and the title of my sermon this evening comes from verse five where solomon
said this i purpose to build i purpose to build that's the title this evening and i think there's
a lot of lessons that we can get coming out of just the first couple verses of this chapter so
i want to go over uh have a few statements from this chapter that i want to preach about
this evening the number one is this david fought so that solomon could build david fought so that
solomon could build read verse three again it says this thou knowest how that david my father
could not build in house unto the name of the lord his god for the wars which were about him on every
side until the lord put them under the soles of his feet if you remember it was actually in king
david's heart to first build in house unto the lord but he could not do it and why is that it's
because of all the wars that were about him on every side and so david wasn't able to be the one
to actually physically build the house of the lord god said no your son solomon is going to do that
but what can we learn from that well it's that david fought so that solomon could build go to
psalm chapter number 18 psalm chapter number 18 psalm chapter number 18 let's start reading
in verse number 34 this is a psalm of david and this is what he says he says he referring to god
teacheth my hands to war so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms that was also given me the
shield of thy salvation and thy right hand hath holding me up and thy gentleness hath made me
great thou has enlarged my steps under me that my feet did not slip i have pursued mine enemies and
overtaken them neither did i turn again till they were consumed i have wounded them that they were
not able to rise they are fallen under my feet for thou has girded me with strength unto the battle
thou has subdued under me those that rose up against me that was also given me the necks of
mine enemies that i might destroy them that hate me they cried but there was none to save them even
unto the lord but he answered them not then did i beat them small as the dust before the wind
i did cast them out as the dirt in the streets thou has delivered me from the strivings of the
people and thou has made me the head of the heathen a people whom i have not known shall serve me as
soon as they hear of me they shall obey me the strangers shall submit themselves unto me so this
sounds exactly like what we just learned in first kings five that david was a man of war right he's
constantly in war and he's talking about how god has given him the ability to fight he teaches
david's hands how to fight he gives him strength he's allowing him to destroy his enemies and in a
way king david is a picture of jesus christ because when jesus comes back to establish his earthly
kingdom just like david was stacking bodies jesus is going to be stacking bodies right but in the
same way solomon's kingdom also pictures jesus christ because hey jesus is coming in and he's
going to be stacking bodies but then it's going to be peace then it's going to be great and that's
kind of how solomon's kingdom was it was a time of peace it was a time of prosperity and so we
see that david had to fight so that solomon could build flip over to psalm chapter 35 psalm chapter
35 psalm 35 let's start reading in verse one it says plead my cause oh lord with them that strive
with me this is david speaking fight against them that fight against me take hold of shield and
buckler and stand up for mine help draw out also the spear and stop the way against them that
persecute me saying to my soul i am thy salvation let them be confounded and put to shame that seek
after my soul let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt let them be as
the chaff before the wind and let the angel of the lord chase them let their way be dark and slippery
and let the angel of the lord persecute them for notice this without cause have they hid for me
their net in a pit which without cause they have digged for my soul and again this is another picture
of the lord jesus christ because does it sound like king david is out just picking fights like he
really wants to be in a physical battle all the time no these people are attacking him without a
cause just like jesus christ was attacked without a cause he came to bring peace he wasn't trying
to start some sort of physical fight but yet he was physically killed though it wasn't his fault
it was without cause that they hid for jesus their net in a pit same thing with king david
and this reminds me of second timothy 312 where it says yea and all that will live godly in christ
jesus shall suffer persecution and so here's the thing if you want to serve god you have to get
comfortable being in a fight you have to get comfortable being in a battle being in a
confrontation you know if we care about the next generation if we want the next generation to be
like solomon to have a time of peace to be able to build that means that we have to be the ones
to fight and you know when we went to the bahamas it felt like we were stepping back in time 60
years you know obviously i wasn't alive then but what i imagine america was like 60 years ago
when you could have the bible in public school when you could pray to the lord in public school
right we're going to all these schools and there's just scripture on the wall
they're starting their classes by praying to god singing psalms unto god reading god's word i mean
they have bible class in public school and you want to know why that's not the case anymore in
america is because christians stopped fighting because if christians had kept fighting and kept
being in the battle then we could be like solomon and build and have peace but that's not the case
right now in america because the previous generations of christians in america have
failed to fight so it is going to fall on our shoulders to be the david generation that fights
and some people aren't comfortable with that and some people don't like the fact that we're always
in a battle that we're always in a fight and it can cause people to get weary but you have to realize
that if you love your children you must rise to the occasion and fight it is a necessity in our
lives you know christians in america have stopped fighting about the sodomites and that's why they're
taking over our nation that's why they're in the television that's why they're in the public schools
that's why they're in every single institution in our country is because christians have stopped
fighting about it but you go to the bahamas and people there are literally finishing leviticus
2013 for me when i'm showing it to them right because they haven't stopped fighting on that
issue but if they did they would look just like america and if they fail to fight for what's right
in 60 years they will look like what america looks like today and god will be kicked out of
their schools they won't be able to have evangelists come in and get hundreds of their children saved
that ship will sail if they stop fighting same thing with many different issues in our in our
day you know christians have stopped fighting for the king james bible and even churches that have
been king james only for all of their history are now just throwing up their hands and giving up and
just saying well let's go to the new king james well let's go to the esv it's not that big of a
deal and they stopped fighting and what are they leaving the next generation with trash false bible
versions corruptions of god's word you know people in america have stopped fighting today
for traditional roles in marriage and what's happening is the divorce rate in america is
skyrocketing men are unhappy women are unhappy kids are growing up in broken homes why is it
because christians stop fighting for those things soul winning you know a lot of people think that
we're some sort of jehovah's witness or mormon by going out and preaching the gospel but it used to
be common knowledge that if you're a baptist you're a soul winner why is that kind of fading away in
many different types of baptists because they stop fighting for it hard preaching this is something
that's not normal in most churches in america you are not going to just walk into a random
church in america and find a hard preaching church it's a very rare thing why is that because people
stop fighting for it and so we if we want to keep all these things if we want to hand all these
things to the next generation we have to be the david generation that fights for all of these
things go to proverbs chapter number 23 i'll read for you first timothy 6 first timothy 6 verse 12
says this fight the good fight of faith lay hold on eternal life whereunto also thou art called and
house professed a good profession before many witnesses notice that it's important the bible
says to fight the good fight that kind of implies that there's a fight that's not good right and i
feel like a lot of christians today in america they may think that they're fighting but they're
not fighting the good fight they're not fighting the fight that really matters you know i'll give
you a good example of this is stephen crowder this guy wants to get up on his show and cry
and whine and bemoan the fact that there's a tran on a can on this stupid bud light tranny on a can
and you know what his solution is when he tells you oh look at this horrible bud light is promoting
trannies he says you need to support local breweries that's his fight is that fighting the right fight
see he's mad he's upset he thinks he's fighting against the trannies and he's telling you to go
buy more beer from a different brewery from a local brewery that's not fighting the right fight
look what fighting the right fight would actually look like in proverbs 23 verse 31
says look not thou upon the wine when it is red when it giveth his color in the cup when it
moveth itself aright you know this is a good verse to prove that not all wine is the same in the
bible there's wine which is just the old english word for juice and there's wine meaning alcoholic
wine the bible is saying here there's a type of wine that you should not look at and it's the type
of wine that's red that gives its color in the cup and that moves itself aright i've never just seen
a bottle of grape juice just move itself aright but you know what i have seen champagne moving
itself aright wine moving itself right and is it any coincidence that the ceo of louder with crowder
is this bozo named jerald who owns another company that is a winery is it any coincidence
that they're not fighting the right fight when you literally own a winery and he gets up and
promotes drinking alcohol to millions of people that listen to them millions of people and in fact
this jerald guy was even asked a question of what type of church should you look for and he basically
says you know you should be following the bible any church that's preaching the bibles what you
should follow you know i don't really care what you call yourself denominationally but he says
but if they're telling you to wear skirts and dresses or if they're telling you that jesus
didn't drink alcoholic wine that's the church i won't go to right so what are these people doing
fighting the wrong fight that's not the good fight to sit here and praise alcohol to tell people to
buy alcohol it's ridiculous not only that steven crowder recently made a little mini documentary on
muhammad ali and this was basically the whole premise of the documentary it was look muhammad
ali used to be a radical violent communist uh muslim and now he became a conservative
less radical muslim isn't that just a great american story doesn't that just make you happy
that muhammad ali converted from one sect of islam to another isn't that great no it's terrible
because he's going to hell why would i get excited about a foaming at the mouth terrorist
becoming a less extreme muslim why am i going to make a documentary about that and say this is a
great american hero no matter where you line up on the religious scales and you know muhammad ali
taught that the only true religion is the religion of the heart that's a satanic statement you know
you can't trust your heart according to the word of god but yet this guy is not building his house
on the rock he's building his house on the sand he's teaching people lies he's telling people to
drink alcohol this guy's not fighting the right fight you know you got these fox news baptists
they're all upset about lgbt propaganda in schools or you know the the what the tranny being read to
kids and it's like why don't we talk about if this should even be a crime why don't we talk about
what the bible actually says about it but that's not what these people want to talk about they just
want to talk about the issues that are safe you know it's safe to say that you're against uh you
know lgbt propaganda in schools but it's not safe to say that they should be executed after a lawful
trial even though that's what the bible actually teaches this guy jerald also has a show called
jerald apologizes apologetics and i watched this his first episode and the whole thing was about
homosexuality and he showed on the screen he's like here's every verse in the bible of course
he doesn't actually show you the verse or read any of the verses he just shows the reference
so leviticus 2013 was on there but of course he didn't read that for his audience he just said
all right all screen all the verses on the screen here's what the bible says about it and he goes
actually you know it actually says even more about homosexuality in the new testament and basically
he's like all right so here's here's what the homosexual has to do he says you know i have
natural temptations as a man as a man i have to hold myself you know within the binds of marriage
and basically if you're a homo all you have to do is just be celibate for the rest of your life
that's what the bible teaches and that's how you can please god and that's basically his answer
but is that really what the bible says why don't you actually read the verse that everyone in the
bahamas was finishing for me levitticus 2013 if a man also lie with mankind as he lied with a woman
both of them have committed an abomination they shall surely be put to death their blood shall
be upon them these fake christians never want to talk about that they always want to stay on what's
safe and tell them oh don't do that don't be a homo that's not what the bible says it says execute
homos are we i mean what are we going to do are we going to get to the point where bestiality is a
discussion in america and it's like hold yourself back from that desire it's like no let's take them
out back and execute them under the proper channels of the government okay not sit here and hold the
hand of sodomites and people into bestiality it's ridiculous go to second timothy chapter number two
second timothy chapter number two and so you know another way that you could look at this
you know david fought so that solomon can build this could also be looked at from a season of life
perspective there could be seasons in your life where you're fighting seasons in your life where
you're building we're all going to have seasons where we're doing both second timothy chapter number
two verse three says this thou therefore endure hardness as a good notice soldier of jesus christ
no man that warth entangled with himself with the affairs of this life but that he may please him
who hath chosen him to be a soldier so the truth is you know we are in a real fight as christians
we're going to go through seasons of life where we're in a fight and on top of that as christians
we're referred to as soldiers the bible says we're supposed to endure hardness so it's supposed to be
hard right we're soldiers it's supposed to be hard and i think sometimes in our culture this idea of
being a soldier is really glorified it's glorified in movies and video games and people kind of think
in their mind like man it'd be so cool to be a soldier i thought that my whole life growing up
as a child i got up to the point where i was enlisting in the marine corps when i met my wife
and decided not to go that route so i understand that desire for a man to want to be a soldier
but here's the truth being a soldier in the lord's army is just as real as being a soldier in any
physical army and we actually are in a real fight and i talked about this recently in pure words
baptist church we are in a real fight but the stakes are actually higher in our war you know
this fight is way more important than any battle that's ever been fought by the us army or by the
marine corps by any of those armies our fight is a real fight and serving god is going to be a fight
we are going to have to fight in our lives but do we treat our lives often like we're actually in a
war because if i were to grab the people in this room and tell you hey tomorrow we're strapping on
our ar-15s and our body armor and our medical gear and tomorrow we are marching into combat
you are going to see physical combat tomorrow you would take that very seriously wouldn't you
you'd take that very seriously you know if i was a physical soldier i'd be waking up super early
every morning and training i'd be reading the intelligence reports trying to get skills so
that i could get the edge over my enemy and win in combat right i'd be eating good to fuel my body
i'd be checking my gear i'd be checking my ammo you know i'd know my mission and my plan i'd make
sure we have good teamwork good communication that we're following our leader's command right
i'd be taking it really seriously if i knew tomorrow the bullets are flying wouldn't we all
take that seriously but how often do we take christianity that seriously how often do you wake
up in the morning and train for the battle that we're actually in and realize that it's not just
temporal lives that are at stake but it's our children's futures that are at stake spiritually
how much more should we wake up and know the intelligence and know our plans and execute
our leaders orders right and fight against the enemy and get skills and knowledge to give us the
edge over the enemy you know it's possible that in our lifetime or in the lifetime of our children
we could be that generation that sees the great tribulation and you better believe you better be
the best christian soldiers that have ever walked this planet because there's never a time of trouble
that's ever been like it or ever will be in the future we're going to be in the most hot spiritual
battle if we live through that time and even if we don't live through that time we're in a hot
spiritual battle right now look at our country look at what's happening to our nation it's being
destroyed and it's because of sin sin is a reproach to any people but righteousness exalteth a nation
we're seeing that happen in our day you know we need to treat our lives like a battle because it
is going back to first kings chapter number five so look david fought so that solomon could build
but what if you're solomon what if you're in a season of peace in your life what if you're
solomon well you must work hard even in times of peace number two this evening is you must work
hard even in times of peace look at verse number three it says thou knewest how that david my father
could not build in house unto the name of the lord his god for the wars which were about him
on every side until the lord put them under the soles of his feet but now the lord my god
hath given me rest on every side so that there is neither adversary nor evil occurrence and behold
notice what he does i purpose to build in house unto the name of the lord my god as the lord spake
unto david my father saying thy son whom i will set upon thy throne in thy room he shall build in
house unto my name notice solomon had the right attitude david's fighting david's warring david's
dealing with the enemies of god and here solomon prospering in a time of peace god has firmly
established his kingdom you know he asked for wisdom and knowledge god gave it to him the
people fear him what is he going to do with that opportunity is he going to sit around and do
nothing no he says hey i've got a time of peace you know what i'm going to do i'm going to build
the house of the lord i'm going to work i'm going to do something with my life and you know right
now you could say that our church is in a time of peace especially relatively speaking to what
we've been through before right hey you know the the first part of this year has been great it's
been peace but what what has our leader been doing has he just not been working no he he sent people
out to the bahamas to get almost a thousand people saved pastor shelly said hey okay we're in a time
of peace i will build let's go to work let's stay busy let's not get lazy because idleness is the
enemy of christianity idleness is the enemy of christianity go to first timothy chapter number
five first timothy chapter number five and the context of this chapter is talking about widows
obviously they've lost their husband and the bible gives some rules on what widows the church is and
isn't supposed to be taken care of and when she's supposed to get remarried and when she's not
notice in verse number 13 it says this and with all they learn to be idle so these ladies they
didn't choose to build they didn't choose to work they didn't choose to stay busy you know what they
chose to do to be lazy to do nothing they learned to be idle wandering about from house to house and
not only idle but tattlers also in busy bodies speaking things which they ought not so not only
did they choose not to build and to get lazy but that laziness has now led them into other sins in
their life it's led them into other issues that they would not have necessarily had if they were
working hard and we would save ourselves a lot of trouble a lot of grief a lot of heartache if when
we're in those times of peace where we're not just warring that we would still build that we would
still work that we would still do something with our lives so that we don't fall into laziness
verse 14 says i will therefore that the younger women work is basically what he's going to say
marry bear children guide the house give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully
for some are already turned aside after satan what does god say hey here's the solution for the young
lady that's idle and that's getting herself into trouble it's work and it's no different for men
you know if we get lazy we sit around we'll get ourselves into trouble too and what's the solution
work so in life you should either be fighting or working or both your entire life that's what we
should be doing as christians fighting or working or both proverbs 31 i'll read for you verse 27
says she looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness so the
proverbs 31 woman the opposite of this she's looking well to her house and what is she doing
she's not being lazy she's not just sitting around doing nothing no she's the proverbs 31
woman because she's building because she's working hard go to second samuel chapter number 12 i'll
read a few proverbs 14 one says this every wise woman buildeth her house that goes along with what
we've been preaching about right i purpose to build ladies too should purpose to build this
wise woman says every wise woman buildeth her house but the foolish plucketh it down with her
hands men are the same way we also get into trouble if we get lazy look at king david which by the way
this is the guy that was fighting right this is the guy that was in the battle this is the guy that
was destroying the lord's enemies but look at second samuel chapter number 12 verse 1 and it
came to pass after the year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle so this is when
david should be fighting remember i said fight work or both right that david sent joab and his
servants with him and all israel and they destroyed the children of amen and besieged reba but david
tarried still at jerusalem so it was the time for king david to go out and to fight but instead
what did he do he just stayed home he wasn't at the fight like he was supposed to be verse two
and it came to pass in an evening tide that david arose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of
the king's house and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself and the woman was very beautiful
to look upon so what's going on he's not working he's not fighting so because of that he's up late
he's bored he's got nothing to do just meanders out into the roof and what happens he gets
himself into trouble because he wasn't fighting he sees a woman that's bathing herself and he
doesn't you know take captive his thoughts and flee fornication you know like joseph did instead
what does he do he's like i'm gonna stay out here for a while he gives into the flesh right and why
did he do this because he wasn't fighting but look what it says in verse number three not only did he
just lust after her in her heart that would have been a sin but he went further than that in verse
three David sent and inquired after the woman not only was he thinking sinful thoughts here but he's
like hey let me ask you about her he's starting to inquire about her and one said uh is not this
Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam the wife of Uriah the Hittite what are you doing king David you know
this is this is a little awkward that you would ask me about a man's wife what's going on and David
sent messengers and took her she came in unto him and he lay with her for she was purified from her
uncleanness and she returned unto her house you know king David a man after God's own heart a man
that's better than me or anyone in this room didn't fight he put himself in a bad situation
the flesh took over and he ended up committing a sin worthy of death king David committed to sin
that according to God's law he should have been put to death for that now of course he was repentant
he was sorry he asked for forgiveness and God gave him mercy God gave him grace meaning it's
not what he deserved he deserved to die but God did give him mercy and grace but it just goes to
show the importance of fighting or working or both because he wouldn't have gotten himself in this
situation here's an example of someone that did this the right way though is king Asa go to second
chronicles chapter number 14 so you know unfortunately David was a bad example in this aspect he's a great
example in many areas but hey just because you're king David yesterday doesn't mean that you're king
David today right just because you were fighting and working yesterday doesn't mean that you're
automatically going to be fighting and working today every single day we have to put on the new
man every single day we have to remind ourselves we're in a spiritual battle every single day we
have to get ourselves to work and to overcome the flesh because it's not automatic second chronicles
14 let's look at a good example though verse one so Abai just slept with his fathers and they buried
him in the city of David and Asa his son reigned in his stead this is one of my favorite kings in
the Bible in his days notice the land was quiet 10 years this is a lot like Solomon's situation
right where he has a time of peace he has a time of quiet but he was in the same situation as
Solomon but what did he do did he get lazy did he do nothing no look what he did in verse 2 it says
and Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord for he took away the altars of
the strange gods and the high places and break down the images and cut down the groves and commanded
Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers and to do the law and the commandment also he took away
out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the images and the kingdom was quiet before him
sounds like he was getting to work right he was getting there he's getting rid of the idols he's
getting rid of the high places he's commanding his nation to seek the Lord he's commanding his
nation to follow the law of God to follow the commandments he's identifying issues and he's
taking care of it he's working right what did he do look at verse 3 he identified problems and
solved them for he took away the altars of the strange gods and the high places and break down
the images and cut down the groves hey that's an issue when you got false religion in your nation
you know you should identify hey that's a problem that can cause the next generations to stumble
to not be saved to go to hell hey i notice there's a problem here i need to get to work on that and
solve that problem and hey if you're living in a time of peace if you're living in a season of
peace in your life identify problems and solve them there's got to be something in your life
that could be improved there's got to be something in your church that could be improved or your
workplace hey if you're in a time of peace notice issues make them better make them better also he
invested in others notice how he said that he commanded them to seek the lord right you could
think about that kind of as winning someone to christ commanding them to to know the lord but not
only that it says he commanded them to do the law right so he's getting to work he's saying all
right let's get you saved and then i'm going to teach you to follow god's commandments asa is
getting to work here and then he was thorough notice on verse five it says also he took away
out of all the cities of juda the high places and images so when he was finding work to do in this
time of peace he wasn't doing it half-heartedly he was going through all the cities and making
sure this was taken care of he was being thorough he was working hard and you know that's what we
got to do in our lives and we're in a time of peace when our church is in a time of peace let's
make sure being thorough and hey let's knock every single door of this area let's have a plan to knock
every single door in all of dfw and you know keep winning people to christ and other nations and
other states starting churches let's be thorough let's command people to know the lord let's
command people to follow the law as well follow the commandments of god that's something that
we could be doing as a church while our church is in a time of peace look at verse six and this
goes along with the theme of what we've been saying notice in verse six and he built fenced cities he's
building in time of peace right he's working for the land had rest and he had no war in those years
because the lord had given him rest therefore he said unto juda let us build these cities and make
about them walls and towers gates and bars while the land is yet before us because we have sought
the lord our god we have sought him and he hath given us rest on every side so they built and
prospered isn't that great you see seasons where they're fighting they're fighting they're fighting
and then boom what should you immediately go into building what happens when you're staying busy when
you're working for the lord prosperity prosperity and that's why king solomon's kingdom was so
great at first is because king solomon had the mind to work said hey my dad fought let's get
something done let's build the house of the lord and you could say arguably that king solomon's
reign was the most israel had ever prospered i mean king solomon is the richest man that's ever lived
by far not even close had the greatest sacrifices to the lord as far as quantity goes you know god
came and appeared twice to king solomon it was a time where the nation of israel had peace from
from their enemies, they weren't fighting.
You know, it was a great time in the nation's history,
and why is that?
Because he was working, because he was building.
You know, there's this saying about a cycle
that societies go through, and it goes like this.
Hard times create strong men.
Strong men create good times.
Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times.
And that last one is where we are right now.
Weak men of our nation is creating hard times, and we have not seen the worst of it yet.
In our nation, we are still reaping the blessings of our godly heritage when this nation was
started.
When fundamentalism is thriving, when Christianity is thriving, we're still reaping a lot of
the benefits of having built our nation on the rock and on the word of God, on His statutes,
His laws.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch the sodomite deception.
It proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that, hey, our nation was founded off of the principles
of God's word.
Now, was every single founding father saved?
Absolutely not, okay?
But Christianity was our nation's religion.
No doubt about it.
And that is why we have the most freedom that any nation has ever had.
That's why we've had the most prosperity that any nation has ever had.
That's why we've had the most preaching of God's word, the most missionaries, the most
King James Bibles, the most churches.
It's because of the foundation that our nation laid.
But as we depart from that, what do we see?
Do we see prosperity in our nation?
No, we see us losing freedom.
We see us getting more and more wicked rulers.
We see the US Navy promoting trannies.
We see our military making recruitment videos with fags.
Meanwhile, Russia's recruiting videos is like this dude bench pressing, right?
We're going into hard times, and it's because we don't have strong men, and it's because
those strong men didn't go through hard times themselves.
And even if you're in a time of peace, you can make your life hard, and you should.
Every single person in here should make their life hard by working.
As Christians in America, if you wanted to, you could have such an easy life, it's not
even funny.
I mean, there's so many things in America that I take for granted, and then I go to
another country and I'm like, "Wow, we have it so good here."
Because honestly, the Bahamas is about as good as you're gonna get in a foreign nation.
And I tell you what, I am so glad I live in America and not the Bahamas.
I'm serious.
It's so much better, it's not even funny.
You can't even walk into a grocery store in the Bahamas without some security guard buzzing
you in.
You can't just walk in.
You don't have the peace or freedom to just walk into a store.
Someone has to buzz you in, and there's gates and bars everywhere, and there's barbed wire
everywhere, and you don't have the right to carry a firearm there, right?
You know, the thing is, it could be really easy to live in America if you wanted to.
You could just have prosperity.
You could just work a cush job and have your amazing American food and go on your vacations
and live in prosperity and wealth and not really have a hard life if that's what you
wanted.
That's what a lot of people are doing in America.
Why do you think both men and women work, so that they can both have an income and have
the easiest life that they could possibly afford?
But as Christians in America, if we want to be strong men, you must make your life hard
because oftentimes in America, circumstances aren't going to do it for you.
Now not everyone's in the same situation.
If you're like, "Hey, I'm working 80 hours a week, I'm busy," great, praise the Lord.
But if you're not in that situation, you need to make sure you make your life harder.
That brings me to my third point, is that you must purpose to build.
You must purpose to build in your life.
Go back to 1 Kings chapter number 5, 1 Kings chapter number 5, verse 4 says, "But now the
Lord my God hath given me rest on every side, so that there is neither adversary nor evil
occurrent.
And behold, I purpose to build in house unto the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spake
unto David my father, saying, "Thy Son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he
shall build in house unto my name."
If you're living in a time of peace, if you're living in prosperity, if you have a pretty
easy life, you need to do things that makes your life harder.
Solomon noticed that he was in a situation, "Hey, I've got peace and prosperity, so you
know what I'm going to do?
I'm going to do something hard.
I'm going to build the house of the Lord."
Do you think that's easy?
You think that's an easy task?
This was an insane construction project that was done.
They're putting all the pieces together outside of the temple so there's not a sound of any
tools as they're building it.
They're using really nice materials.
They're working hard.
They've got labors for this thing.
He decided to do something big for the Lord, making his own life harder and doing so.
Did Solomon have to build a house to the Lord?
No, absolutely not.
He's the king.
He can do whatever he wants, right?
And in America, can't you just do whatever you want?
Pretty much.
Right?
So you need to make your life harder.
What's one way to do that?
Why don't you be like Solomon and build the house of the Lord?
Why don't you build the house of the Lord?
Why don't you dedicate your life to the house of God?
Dedicate your life to the local New Testament church.
I'll read for you Psalm 12 verse 1 says this, "Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, for
the faithful fail from among the children of men.
They speak vanity, everyone with his neighbor, with flattering lips and with a double heart,
do they speak."
You know, church in America in general is on the decline.
Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth, right?
Most people in America are not going to church like they used to.
That does not have to be the case here.
That does not have to be the case for St. Fast Baptist Church, and thank God it's not.
Our church is thriving, our church is prospering by God's grace, but, hey, you should make
sure that you yourself make sure that your life is dedicated to the house of God.
If you're only going to church one time a week, make it three.
You know, a lot of people drive really far distances to go to church, but, hey, you need
to make your life harder, because it's real easy to drive to the Baptist Church that's
five minutes away, because we live in Texas and everyone has a Baptist Church five minutes
away, but that doesn't mean that every church is preaching hard.
That doesn't mean that every church is soul-winning.
That doesn't mean that every church has the King James Bible as their foundation.
So you need to do something hard called driving a little bit three times a week and going
to church.
Hey, you need to do something hard and make sure that you bring your family to church
with you and that you're not only prioritizing yourself, but if at all possible, you're also
investing into your children and investing into your wife.
Because what's the point of fighting if there's no generation to give it to?
What's the point of you going to church your whole life and your kids don't?
You think that they're going to serve God just because you did?
Not necessarily, you need to teach them.
You need to be a great church member and not complain and not add more issues or add more
work, but rather look for things to take work away.
Look how you could be a blessing.
I was really impressed with this Bahamas trip because everyone was so easy to manage, no
one complained, everyone's on time for stuff.
That was great.
That's how every local New Testament church should be, and we need to set the example
of, hey, we're church members that show up on time, we go soul-winning when we're told
and we don't complain about it, and we sing the song that we're told whenever, whatever,
like Pastor Shelley preached, right?
We're just on board, we just have the zeal of the Lord, we're ready to serve God in His
house, whatever the sermon is, we're ready to listen to it, whatever the song, whatever.
We're ready to give our lives dedicated to the house of Lord, you know, playing an instrument.
I think it's great that we have so many instruments here, but it's also kind of weird that we
have 200 plus church members and one piano player.
You know, one person can't do that all on their own, right?
There's got to be someone in here that can build their skills to play piano, right?
So we could have another piano player.
Wouldn't that be great?
I'm just saying, you know, greet a guest when they come, be a friend to someone, be friendly.
You know, that's not something that's necessarily easy to every person if you're naturally introverted
to talk to people that are new, to be friendly, to be guests.
That's a service that you could do for God's house.
That's a way that you can make Steadfast Baptist Church a better church than it is today.
And that's what you should do.
Hey, make your life harder by just fully dedicating your life to God's house, working and serving
in God's house.
Go to John chapter number 2, John chapter number 2, John chapter number 2 verse 14.
This is the story of Jesus here in John 2, "And found in the temple those that sold oxen
and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting.
When He had made a scourge of small cords, He drove them all out of the temple and the
sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables, and said
unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my father's house an house
of merchandise."
And His disciples remembered that it was written, "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up."
You know, that could be said of King Solomon, that could be said of King Asa, that could
be said of Nehemiah, that could be said of the Lord Jesus Christ, could that be said
of you, that the zeal of God's house has eaten you up.
You know, you shouldn't only dedicate your life to the local New Testament church if
you have some sort of position, if you're an usher or a song leader or a sound person
or a musician.
Every single person, no matter what of your position in the church, should dedicate your
life to serving God in the local New Testament church.
That is what every single person should do.
The zeal of God's house should be the first thing in your life, should be what eats you
up, it should be the most important thing to you.
Here's another way you could build an area that you could build in your life, Titus chapter
number two.
Flip over to Titus chapter number two.
We talked about building God's house.
What about your house, Titus chapter number two?
That's what Solomon did.
He built God's house and then he built his house.
Titus chapter number two verse three says, "The age of women likewise that they be in
behavior as become with holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers
of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands,
to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, notice keepers at home, good, obedient to
their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed."
You know, just like as men in America, we can live a pretty easy life if we wanted to,
ladies in America can live a really easy life if they allow themselves to.
And every single lady in this room should purpose in her heart to make her life hard
by serving her family to the best of her ability.
That is going to be hard, but that is what God has called ladies to do, to love their
spouse, to love their children and to be keepers at home.
Think about how easy your life could be as an American woman if you just tried to have
just the easiest life possible.
I mean, all your household goods are delivered from Amazon.
You don't even have to go shopping.
You can get your nails done all the time because you're not in the field doing any physical
work.
You don't need to use those hands for anything.
You don't need to milk the cow.
You don't need to gather the wheat.
You don't have to do any outdoor activities, right?
I mean, you have a dishwasher that cleans everything for you.
You got a robo vacuum for crying out loud.
You don't even have to sweep or vacuum.
The thing does it itself.
Hey, find some ways to get to work.
God didn't create you to just sit down all day and play on TikTok.
You can still work even in America with all these modern amenities given to you.
You can still work.
And hey, I've got three young kids.
I understand life is crazy and I don't expect my house to be perfect, especially when I
have three little kids, but when my three girls are teenagers, I will expect my house
to be perfectly clean at all times because you're expected to tell me that I have four
women in my home and my house can't be clean. No way. No way. That is a joke. If there are
four women living in a house and that house is dirty, that is a shame. Should not happen
ever. That's ridiculous. God has told you you're supposed to keep the house. That is
your job. And look, I get it. There's other difficulties that comes with being a mom and
being a wife. That's why it's called work. It's not easy, but hey, a lot of American
women, their life is easy and they need to get to work and not be idle, but actually
serve their family, cook some good healthy meals, invest into your children, teach them
the Bible, love them, sing with them, play with them, be a good wife to your husband,
you know, be ready for him when he gets home, like the old 1950s school pamphlets, have
the children quiet, have the house clean, take his shoes, take his coat. Why not? Why
not? You just want to play on TikTok all day? That's no fun. Same thing with dads. Ephesians
6, 4 says, "Any fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord." You know, that's not easy either. That's hard work,
bringing up your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. You know, kids need
a mom and dad. Kids need a mom and dad that both love them, that's both invested into
them, that's both committed to teaching them God's Word. And if you're doing it right,
it should be a lot of work. It should be something that's not easy, it should be hard. Proverbs
22, 6 says this, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will
not depart from it." You know, training implies a lot of work. And when you see someone whose
kid grows up that knows the Bible, and someone's kid grows up to be a soul winner, and someone's
kid grows up just to be a squared away human being, that took a lot of work from mom and
dad. And you should be willing to invest that type of work into your children because, hey,
it's not all about us. It's about the next generation, too. We don't want to just fight
and not hand it off to a Solomon. No, we want to give it to a Solomon for him to build.
Here's another thing you could build is your community. Go to Acts chapter number one,
Acts chapter number one, finding ways in your life to make your life harder so that you
can build in your life. Acts one verse eight says, "But ye shall receive power after that
the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and
in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth." And let me tell you, there's
no better way to build your community than by soul winning. No better way to do it. You
know, we can go to the Bahamas, and we can do like a lot of churches do, where they build
a house, or they build a school, or they start a soup kitchen. But you know, that doesn't
serve people as well as getting them saved. That doesn't serve people as well as helping
them escape the fires of hell. And when it comes to, hey, let's build God's house, let's
build our house, let's build our community too. Let's bring the Bible back to the Bible
belt in Texas. Because it's not, it's the Bible belt in name only now. Let's make it
the real Bible belt again. Let's get a King James Bible into the hands of everyone here.
Let's give them a preserved Bible. Let's give them a sodomite deception. Let's serve our
community by giving our community God's word. Righteousness exalted a nation. How is it
that you serve your country? You know, serving your country is not just joining the military.
your country is preaching God's Word. That's the best way to serve your country. I'll read for you
Psalm 119 verse 9 says, "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto
according to thy word." How are we going to clean up this area? How are we going to clean up Texas?
How are we going to clean up America? It's only by the Word of God. It's only by the King James
Bible. And if you love America, if you love Texas, you want to build your community, you love your
neighborhood. This is how you build them, is by giving them the words of God. Here's another thing
you could build in your life. Go to Proverbs chapter number seven. Proverbs chapter number seven.
Another thing you could build in your life is your education. Now for educational purposes,
I've recently been reading Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler, and he talks a lot about education and
his philosophy on education. And he very clearly states that his goal for education is the
indoctrination of racism and the hardening of the physical body. Physical training and racism is why
public schools exist in Germany. That's what he wanted the little kids to learn. Make sure that
they realize who the master race is and never to mix with inferior races and to become physically
strong. That is what he wanted, but that is not what the Bible teaches. This is a stupid wicked
ideology. This is what the Bible says, Proverbs 4-7. Wisdom is the principal thing, meaning hey,
wisdom is the most important thing, not your physical body, not your race. No, wisdom is the
most important thing. Therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. So the
Bible does not agree with Adolf Hitler here, saying the only thing that matters is racism and
your physical body. No, the most important thing you could get is wisdom and your physical body.
Wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. How are you going to get that? You're going to get that
through the Word of God. Psalm 119, 104 says, "Through thy precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way." You want to get understanding? Read the Word of God. You want to
get knowledge? Read the Word of God. You want to get wisdom? Read the Word of God. Hey, but don't
stop there. Read books too, because reading books is like a secret weapon in our society, because
almost no one does it anymore, and it will give you an edge over other people in so many areas just
by reading books. People don't know anything about history anymore. People are completely just
uneducated, and the reason why is because our society is set up on a 60-second TikTok reel,
just going over and over and over and over, and people don't take the time to read God's Word
anymore, let alone read things other than the Bible. And here's the thing. I hope everyone in
here already has a great habit of reading the Bible. It's really easy to take someone that reads the
Bible already and turn them into a reader of extra things, rather than the kid that just graduated
high school who doesn't read anything, right? So it's not really that much harder for us just to be
like, "Hey, let's read a little bit of something extra. Get smarter. Learn about history." You know,
in all labor there is profit, the Bible says. Don't only focus on the Bible, though. If you're not
reading that, then please start with the Bible, but I think you should also read other things.
You know, as far as education goes, I think it's great to take classes of specific things you want
to learn. You know, the problem with college is not learning. I mean, hello, the Bible says that
knowledge is the principal thing, wisdom is the principal thing. The problem is when you're not
learning anything there, when you're being taught lies there, when you're being indoctrinated there,
when you're spending your time drinking and partying and committing fornication,
that's the problem with college. The problem is not taking a class. Look, if you could take some
sort of class and learn something, you should do it. That's great. It's great to be educated.
There's nothing in the wrong, nothing in the world wrong with getting educated. There's something else
that you should build your career. I'll read for you 1st Timothy 5.8 says, "But if any provide not
for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an
infidel." Bible says that someone that wouldn't take care of their own family is worse than someone
that's not even saved. And so if that's something that you're struggling with to do, then hey,
that's an area in your life that you should build, that you should purpose to build. Hey,
I'm going to build a career. I'm going to get the education I need. I'm going to get the skills I
need. I'm going to put in the work to get a higher-paying job. That's maybe something that
people need to do. Now, hey, there's some people that are taking care of their family just great,
and that's awesome. Focus on the other areas that we talked about. But for some people,
this is where they need to invest their time, is in their career. Looking forward 10 years ahead
and thinking, "Am I going to be able to provide for my family with this job in the future?" Thinking
about the future is very important. And another area we could build, this would be the last one
I talk about, and notice it's last because unlike Adolf Hitler, I don't think this is the most
important thing, but it still is important, and that is building your body. Now, this is not
something that that is even close to the most important, but notice what the Bible says. Go
to 1st Timothy chapter number four, 1st Timothy chapter number four, 1st Timothy chapter number
four verse seven says this, "For bodily exercise profiteth little, but godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come." So hey, we talked
about building your church, we talked about building your family, we talked about building
your community and your job and your education, all those things are more important. But hey,
the Bible says that bodily exercise profiteth, but it profits little, okay? It's not the most
important thing, but hey, our society has taken this to way too much of an extreme, okay? Where
people are just obese, they're just unable to do basic tasks because of how unhealthy they are.
And look, when it comes to serving God, it takes your physical body to do that, because you have
to walk to preach people the gospel. You got to go up the apartment stairs. You have to endure the
Texas heat standing on you, right? So there is a level of physical fitness that is beneficial
to your service for God, and you ought not just to neglect that. And some people neglect this and
think that they're more spiritual, like, "Oh, I would never go to the inside of the gym because
I would just be memorizing scripture all day. I would just be reading the Bible all day."
And it's like, cool, bro, but how about in 60 years, like, when you're 500 pounds overweight,
you can't go up the flight of stairs. Hey, don't make it your whole life. Don't obsess over it.
But being physically fit is a virtue. And not being physically fit is not a virtue. It's not
something to be praised. You know, a lot of people in our culture are just saying that you should
never be judged for being unhealthy. That tells me you hate someone. I mean, someone's super,
super overweight, they're super unhealthy, they're having issues, and you're never allowed to tell
them that. It just means that you hate them, that you don't care about them. No, no, no. Don't make
it your life. Don't obsess over it. Don't freak out about having an 8% body fat, okay? That's
ridiculous. But you should be healthy physically. And when you're talking, what are we talking about?
Ways to make our lives harder, right? Because, hey, you don't have to exercise. You can sit around
and do absolutely nothing with your life. But if you want to make your life harder and make your
life better, you should put the time to exercise. Men are supposed to be strong. And it is not a
virtue to be weak and to pretend that you're more spiritual because you're not strong. That's not
cool. You need to get strong. Spiritually, most important. Emotionally, more important. But
physically is important, too. Don't let yourself go physically, because it will eventually affect
your spiritual life. In conclusion here, let's go to Ecclesiastes chapter number two. Ecclesiastes
chapter number two. What happens in your life if you don't purpose to build? What will the
consequences be of not building? You know, we saw at the beginning of Solomon's reign that he
purposed to build a house unto the Lord, but that is not how Solomon finished his life. He started
off working hard, but he did not stay that way his whole life. And let's look at the consequences it
had for King Solomon. Let's start in verse 1 of chapter 2 in Ecclesiastes. It says, "I said in
my heart, 'Go to now. I will prove thee with mirth. Therefore, enjoy pleasure, and behold,
this also is vanity.'" So Solomon just said, "Hey, I'm just going to do what makes me happy. I'm just
going to do what's pleasurable." He's living that American life. He's living it on easy street,
the most easy path he could possibly take. That's what Solomon is going to do. Let's skip down for
sake of time to verse nine. It says, "So I was great and increased more than all that were before
me in Jerusalem." He had the biggest bank account. "Also my wisdom remained with me and whatsoever
mine eyes desired, I kept not from them." Which is pretty obvious when he had a thousand women,
obviously. "I withheld not my heart from any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor,
and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought,
and on the labor that I had labored to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit,
and there was no profit under the sun. And I turned myself to behold wisdom and madness and folly,
for what can the man do that cometh after the king, even that which hath been already done?
Then I saw that wisdom exceleth folly, as far as light exceleth darkness. The wise man eyes are in
his head, but the fool walketh in darkness, and I myself perceive also that one event happeneth
to them all. Then said I in my heart, as it happeneth to the fool, so it happeneth even to me. Why was
I then the more wise? Then I said in my heart that this also is vanity." He's pretty black-pilled
here. Verse 16, "For there is no remembrance of the wise more than of the fool forever. Seeing that
which now is and the days to come shall all be forgotten, and how dieth the wise man as the fool?"
Notice verse 17. This is the most important verse. "Therefore I hated life." That's the end of King
Solomon right there. Started off inheriting peace, prosperity, a secure kingdom from King David,
and he started off saying, "I'm going to build a house of the Lord. I'm going to work hard." But
eventually he said, "You know, I don't want to work hard anymore. I just want to give my heart
whatever my eyes desire. I'm not going to hold back any pleasure from me. I'm just going to live
my best life now. I'm not going to focus on working anymore." And at the end of all of that,
you know what he said? He said, "I hated life." There's a lie out there that people want to tell
you that people that work hard are miserable and you got to get out of that state so that you're
just only, you know, having this residual income coming in so that you don't have to work anymore
and then you'll be happy. No, if you're not working, you know what you're going to do? You're
going to hate your life. You are going to hate life because the whole reason we even get pleasure
in this life is because we can't get everything we want all the time. The reason why a ribeye steak
tastes so good because you don't eat it every single night. Right? The reason why going to the
Bahamas is so fun is because you don't go swimming in the ocean every single day. Right? But if you
went swimming in the ocean every single day, you know what would happen? You'd begin to hate it.
I'll give you a good example. I love shooting, but it's expensive. So it's not something I can
always do. My brother for his job has to shoot like 60,000 rounds a year. And he's like,
I'm done with this. This is annoying because he has to shoot so much. Right? Well, Solomon,
you've got all the wealth of the world, giving yourself everything your heart desires. You know
what that creates? Emptiness, loneliness, sadness, despair, hating life. And so there is a consequence
in your life if you decide not to build. If you decide not to work hard, you will end up hating
your life. But what if you choose to work? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. This is our church's
verse here. 1 Corinthians chapter number 15. "Regardless of how easy your life is, if you're
not working, you will be miserable. But on the converse, regardless of how hard your life is,
regardless of how much you're fighting or how much you're working, if you're serving the Lord,
you will be fulfilled and you will have a meaningful life." 1 Corinthians 15 verse 58 says,
"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the
Lord." Why? For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Notice Solomon
saying, "Hey, it's all vain. It's all vanity. It's all worthless. It all means nothing." But when
it comes to doing work for God, the Bible says that our labor is not in vain in the Lord. So no
matter how hard of a life you have, no matter how much you're constantly fighting and you're saying,
"Lord, am I ever going to stop fighting? Am I ever going to have to stop working?" Hey, all of that
stuff at least is not in vain. It's meaningful. It's something that you could pass on to your
children and invest in the next generation. It's souls getting saved. It's rewards in the kingdom
of God. Those things are eternal. Those things matter. You know what doesn't matter? Your car,
your house, your vacations, your meals, your easy life. Those things don't matter. What matters
is the eternal, the spiritual things. So in our lives, hey, realize that we're going to be in
times where we're fighting, both in our church's life and in our personal life. God has called us
to be soldiers. We should take that fight seriously. We should not get tired of fighting
because we care about the next generation. But hey, when we're in times of peace, let's make
sure that we're not getting lazy. Let's make sure that we're building, building the house of God,
building our families, building our community, our education, our homes, all of these things,
building things that matter so that you don't end up like Solomon saying, "I have hated life."
Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day. Thank you for our word,
for your word that gives us so much wisdom and knowledge and warnings in your word, Lord. I pray
that every single person here would dedicate their life to serving you and to doing things that have
eternal value so that none of our labor can be in vain. I pray that you would strengthen our pastor
to continue leading us in the right direction. We love you in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, in closing, let's go to song number 131. Song 131, "Christ is all I need."
Song number 131. Song number 131, everybody's singing out on the 1st.