162 to God be the glory. If anybody needs, I bought three large prints. Um, there's two out and I'm using one, but if anybody needs one, just let me know and I can use the other. Obviously we'll get more if we ever need it.
Final Pastor Cobb needed one for his eyes. All right. To God be the glory on the first. To God be the glory on the first.
To God be the glory, great things he hath done. To God be the glory, great things he hath done.
2 p.m. Our verse of the week is Philippians 1.19, but I trust in the Lord Jesus to send to Matthias shortly unto you, that I also may be of good comfort when I know your state.
And then down there at the bottom, just a quick reminder, we are family integrated, and I know we got a lot of babies in the audience.
I mean, obviously we want them in here, and then moms just be aware if they're getting a little bit out of hand, then there's a mother-baby room back there.
So I bring that up. Obviously we're a smaller congregation here, so it is a little bit more compact. Sound resonates a lot more.
But other than that, we want to include you, and I know that Brother Heath has the services back there as well.
And then last year, those are our numbers for last year, but so far this year we're at 44 souls, one for the year.
And then we have the birthdays and anniversaries. It was Riel's birthday, correct?
And my wife told me, cause she's not here, do you bring a cake? Is that okay? I just didn't want to.
So I think there's going to be some cake after the services to celebrate. Oh, cupcakes. I'm sorry. I don't.
Yeah. You just tell them what they need to do. Just anybody who wants to come after the services.
They brought some stuff to celebrate Riel. You guided. I don't ever do any of that stuff. My wife handles that.
Just pray for them. They'll be back today. My brother-in-law is being discharged from the hospital.
He's got a long road ahead, but at least he's on his way home, so that's why everybody was there to see him off.
And then upcoming activities. Next Saturday, we have the Soul Winning Marathon. I'll send out a text sometime during the week.
We are doing it here locally, so we're going to meet at the church. We'll have breakfast, and then we'll either do lunch somewhere out there,
or we'll just do lunch here at the church. I haven't quite figured that out.
And then the next major event we got coming up is the soul-winning Marathon March 21st, and then the next day after that,
Pastor Bruce Mejia of First Works Baptist Church will be preaching both services for us, so we're looking forward to that.
He's actually really popular on social media right now, so we expect a lot of people from the Houston area.
As a matter of fact, people reach out to me regularly asking me if I know Pastor Bruce Mejia.
Yeah, he's my friend, and they're like, "Oh, okay," because he's just gotten that much traction.
I think he's somewhere up there in the several hundred thousand followers in Instagram,
which is one of those weird platforms where it's a lot harder to build up, so he's done a really good job on that.
And then, of course, after February, I'll remove that, but congratulations.
And I did talk to Brother Heath. I'll make sure to get all those gift cards to everybody for the New Testament Challenge that was completed in January.
I do want to point out Sister Sheena reached out to me yesterday.
She wanted Theo to get baptized today. We still use this big baptism back here.
We're eventually going to fix it so we can fill up a trough at any point because we're getting more people.
But as of right now, if you want to get a baptism, just give me like a couple of days heads up.
Because it does take me a couple of hours to get this thing ready.
So that's why I didn't do it. Sister Sheena texted me late afternoon yesterday.
So just getting that filled up takes like two hours with a hose.
But before that, we got to make sure to clean everything.
So if you want to do it next Saturday, that's fine.
I'll get it ready. I mean, next Sunday we'll do the baptism.
But I figured it'd be a good time to just let you know.
Any time you guys want any baptisms until we get that fixed where we can do it on the spot.
Just give me a couple of days.
I mean, even if it's just Friday, I just need that Saturday to come in and get it ready.
And that'll help me out.
And then one of the things I did mention, if you guys will just this is really for
the men to step back Baptist Church has this link on their website where they're
trying to push so winning at colleges.
What really brought me up is I'll run this out.
I have another one.
But and there's a lot of public colleges here in the Houston area.
So if we could get a couple of men and lead that charge, I'll get you.
We'll communicate with them because then they'll promote it.
We'll get people from out of state or even within the state to come out.
We can go do a big push for the church and also just for those colleges.
Apparently it's really receptive.
Sorry. Oh, I'm sorry.
Oh, yes. And then the brother he was here yesterday.
He's fixing one of the rooms back there,
which is what's been used to be the playroom.
Like there's sheetrock and I don't know, trim and nails.
So for right now, the kids can just stay out of it just for today.
That should be cleaned up by the end of the week.
But there is a lot of materials.
And then pray for this.
I don't know all the details, so I don't know how it's going to work out.
But Trey ran into someone who actually has a parking lot for the rodeo.
I don't know if you're not from Houston, you're not familiar.
The rodeo is like a huge event, hundreds of thousands of people for a whole month.
And people park miles away and then get shuttled to the rodeo.
So this gentleman that Trey put me in touch with has a parking lot and he wants
to make it a ministry type event.
I haven't really. I talked to him briefly yesterday.
I told him, look, we just we just want to be able to soul win and, you know,
give these people the gospel, pull them out of hell.
And he said, well, I'm going to be driving the van.
So like the whole thing is eventually he wants to build it.
This is the first time.
So if it works out, just pray that we won't be we'll be able to just put people
there, just go and soul win at that place with permission, which would be awesome.
Because what we want to do is do it when
they get there on the way to the rodeo, whether waiting for the shuttle, not on
the way back, because on the way back, it's probably they're not going to be in
great shape. So if you don't need them out the rodeo, there's a couple reasons
people go. Number one is to get really, really drunk. So probably, I mean, unless
they're younger, of course, then it's not going to happen. But other than that,
pray for my wife and my family. They're on their way back. My sister-in-law flew
in from Alabama, so I just told her to make sure to go as too many kids to be
just by yourself. My brother-in-law is getting discharged today. And then just
pray for the messages. I think I'm fine, but I was under the weather all week, so
if you hear me coughing, that's what it was. Some of you are more versed, so I'll just say
hi from me. Hi to you from far away, so you don't have to worry about it. And then if anything else, let's turn
our hymnals over to page 472. 472. This is My Father's World. I'm the first. I'm the
first. The hymnals are at page 441. And then we're gonna be in the book of Psalms.
I think it's Psalm 74. Psalm 74. And then if you get a chance, you know, when I was young I
was trying to be rich and own a penthouse suite and travel the world for all the
wrong reasons. But there's a crew back there of young guys just travel
and go visit all the churches that are, you know, friendly with each other. And so
they're back here after two weeks. And so just say hi to them, you know, and wish
them well and pray for them as they travel around everywhere. And also we
want to thank them. Brother Alex has been kind enough to try to help us get a
better lens for the camera so we can get a better picture. So I appreciate all the
effort that those guys are doing and I just pray for them. Let's turn over to
441 great is thy faithfulness on the first. Great is thy faithfulness. Great is
thy faithfulness for us. And if I could get brother Trey to take up the tithes and the
offerings reading greatly appreciate it. Thank you. Alright everyone turn in your
Bibles to Psalm 74. Psalm 74. Psalm 74. Psalm chapter 74 verse 1 the Bible reads
oh God why hast thou cast us off forever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the
sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation which thou has purchased of
old? The rod of thine inheritance which thou hast redeemed is Mount Zion wherein
thou hast dwelt. Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolation, even all that
the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. Thine enemies roar in the
midst of thy congregation. They set up their ensigns for signs. Man was famous
courting as he had lifted up axes upon the thick trees, but now they break down
the carved work there at once with axes and hammers. They have cast fire into thy
sanctuary. They have defiled by casting down the dwelling place of thy name to
the ground. They said in their hearts, "Let us destroy them together." Burned up
all the synagogues of God in the land. We see not our sign. There is no more any
prophet. There is there among us any that knoweth. O God, how long shall the
adversary reproach? Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name forever? Why
withdrawest thou thy hand, even my right hand? Pluck it out of thy bosom, for God
is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Thou didst divide
the sea by thy strength, breakest the heads of the dragons in the waters. Thou
breakest the heads of Leviathan in pieces, gavest him to be meat to the
people inhabiting the wilderness. Thou didst cleave the fountain with flood. Thou
driedest up mighty rivers. The day is thine, the night is also thine. Thou hast prepared the
light and the sun. Thou hast set all the borders of the earth. Thou hast made summer
and winter. Remember this, enemy hath reproached. Foolish people blaspheme thy
name. O deliver not the soul of thy turtle dog unto the multitude of the
wicked. Get not the congregation of the poor forever. Have respect unto the
covenant. Dark places of the earth full of the habitations of cruelty. O let not
the oppressed return ashamed. Let the poor and needy praise thy name. Rise, O God.
Lead thine own cause. Remember how the foolish man approacheth thee daily.
Forget not the voice of thine enemies. Tumult those that rise up against thee,
increasing continually. Bow our heads and go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank
you for gathering us here this morning in your house. Thank you for even hearing
our prayers, Lord. We just want to take a moment here and worship you and give
you thanks. Praise you for your glory. Praise you for your might and your
strength. Lord, please soften our hearts so that we may behold wondrous things out
of thy word. Become more effective servants for you. Lord, please fill Pastor Reyes
with Holy Spirit. Allow him to preach with boldness and clarity from the pulpit.
In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Right, we're there in Psalm 74, but if you want to go
ahead and also turn to Revelation 2. Let me just get this all plugged in, put my
little timer here so I don't over. Right, and the title of my sermon this morning,
title of the message this morning is Synagogue of Satan. Synagogue of Satan. I
was trying to come up with like a really fancy term for it, but that itself or a
fancy title, but that in itself basically is the descriptor of what we're gonna be
dealing with today. And I'm just continuing on this where every few weeks,
I'm not gonna do it every week, but I'm just gonna build up on why we are, you
know, why we preach so hard against certain religions and against certain
people groups. And I'm not talking by race, but by spiritual allegiance because
we are obviously, any race, any purpose, the Bible says we're of one blood, and
anybody that comes to the knowledge of Jesus Christ and believes on Jesus
Christ can be saved. I don't care what religion, what color, what faith, what
upbringing you have, as long as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you
will be saved. But there is a group of people that seem to be leading this
charge against the Lord Jesus Christ, against the Word of God, and they seem
to be at the root of a lot of the challenges that are going on worldwide.
And it starts with who? They're children of the devil. They're of the synagogue of
Satan. But the reason I started there in first in Psalm 74 is let's just take a
look at a couple of verses there. In verse 1 it says, "Oh God, why has
thou cast this off forever? Why doth thine anger smoke against the the sheep
of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old, the
rod of thine inheritance, which thou has redeemed, this Mount Zion wherein thou
hast dwelt." And what's going on here is what is he talking about? The
congregation is getting backslidden and it feels like the Lord's, you know,
ignoring them and he's like, "Hey, don't forget that you purchased us." Of course
the reference obviously and always will be to the Lord Jesus Christ who
purchased us with his blood. And then we see there in verse 8 it says, "They said
in their hearts, 'Let us destroy them together. They have burned up all the
synagogues of God in the land.'" And the only time you find the word "synagogue" in
the Old Testament is actually in this verse, and it's referencing
the synagogues of God in the land. So I will kind of touch a little bit on a
synagogue, but it's basically a place of prayer, worship. It's not
necessarily a church, but it's a location or a set location and building where
people come to gather and pray and all that stuff. Even today they're synagogues,
but at that time they had already become part of the modern culture, right? And it
turns out that based on the Bible, just on one verse, and all we need is one
verse for reference, if God says it right, that they started out with the right
intent. It says the synagogues of God, they burned them up. You know what it is
that devils crept in, here references Leviathan and it references people
making, you know, chopping down axes, I mean taking axes and chopping down
trees. What are they doing? They're carving out idols, right, and they're creeping
in and basically they're perverting the doctrine of God, they're perverting the
congregation and they're leading them astray. And that is the danger of any
church at any time in history is that the devil is always seeking whom he can
destroy and how he can devour. And if he can't destroy you from without, he's
gonna seek to destroy you from within, right. And we know that the Bible
actually speaks very strongly of a specific group of people. And yes, I am
talking about the modern-day Jews or the religion of Judaism. I'm not talking
about a race because people argue, "Oh well Jesus was the Jew." Yeah, he was of
the tribe of Judah. That's how you get the word Jews, right. They were of a
lineage. But by the time Jesus shows up in the scene in the in the Gospels, in
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, you have a group of people that are religious
zealots against the things of God. I mean literally Jesus is kind of is
constantly saying hey in the word it says you know honor father and mother
but you guys have perverted it and you've twisted it completely the opposite
direction and you've basically destroyed the tenants that are the Word of God,
right. And let's go there in verse 12 it says "For God is my King of old, working
salvation in the midst of the earth." So what's always been the plan? Salvation.
Drawing people out of the pit, out of the lake of fire, pulling them out, having
compassion on them, right. Hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. And then
just this is really just the personal thing but there's another reason besides
the fact that we know the King James's goth word and it's the only word and
that we don't need any other versions. It's just really cool sometimes some of
the wording this is personal but there in verse 20 says "Have respect unto the
covenant for the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty."
I mean that's just a really good descriptor of what we're dealing with in
the world right and then we just go there verse 23 it says "Forget not the
voice of thine enemies" and then it ends with "the tumult of those that rise up
against thee increaseth continually." And this is why it's so
important for us and sometimes churches like us get a bad rap because we're
constantly preaching sometimes it feels like we're preaching more negative than
positive and look I preach I mean we started out the year and I preach some
good messages on you know goal-setting and being the 1% and how we're
peculiar people but the Bible constantly is telling us it's not just
here in Psalm 74 but you just go back to Genesis 6 and you know just read Isaiah
and Jeremiah and Lamentation and then you get into the New Testament and it's
the enemies right those that rise up against the increase what continually
it's a continuous thing it's a drip it's a Chinese torture it's just constantly
dripping at Christianity that the enemies of Christ are increasing all the
time right every day there's something new and it's a if you really dissect it
if you peel back that onion of conspiracies and of the theories it all
is stemmed from the devil hating the Lord Jesus Christ hating the things of
God right and what I'm trying to do here with these sermons is really kind of
dispel a couple of things and get you landing on the truth right I don't want
to just you know that right now this is a popular message but it's also a
negative message it's always you know you always have the the polarizing thing
but with the rise of social media and generation Z and like the newer
generation that has access to a lot of information they're starting to see the
truth of not only the Judaizers but also just even false religions the
corruptness of like big corporations and false governments you know and all that
stuff that's always existed but now the younger generations have more access to
verify the truth the challenge with that is that you can over and I've talked
about this you can over correct right I remember when the internet I mean I'm
sorry YouTube first came out like in the early 2000s you could access anything I
mean you could find out anything about anything and the problem was that people
were so good at making videos that you just took them at like truth without
ever really verifying if what they were saying was true right and so I'm coming
from a place where I've been down that road where when you find something out
for the first time you know especially if it's not directly from the Bible you
can kind of get really overzealous and there's some things in that mindset or
even in that stance that you're taking that are wrong and what I want us to do
is have a biblical view of what the synagogue of Satan really is why do we
preach against certain groups of people why do we bring it up because otherwise
it just we're just sounding just like the rest of the world with no rhyme or
reason as to why we're doing it you know I don't I don't care you know about the
conspiracy theories that are out there like the that the Jews killed Charlie
Kirk I don't really don't care about that that does that does makes no
difference in my life what I care about is that Satan is looking to destroy you
and your family that's what I care about because that's not a conspiracy that's a
fact right I mean because I always ask myself the question I don't I didn't do
when I was never but I asked myself the question okay so let's just say we found
that out that this was true that you know this sinister group of people which I
believe there are sinister group of people that are pulling the strings at
the highest forms of government and power and and principalities and all
this stuff in the world let's say we find out this was true what's gonna
change five over what is it over five million documents and emails came out
from Jeffrey Epstein I literally watched the 32nd clip yesterday where they took
AI and they analyzed the top ten people that both emailed back and forth with
Jeffrey Epstein and guess what none of them are in jail none of them I mean
these are ex you know ex ministers from not just the US from foreign countries
big corporations big journalists you know people that just have power and
influence you know what they're all at home sleeping well tonight because you
know the world's not gonna punish them the Lord will take them out right so I'm
not gonna worry about that stuff what I want to worry about is how do I protect
you guys how do I protect my family from things that are coming down the pipe
right so let's go let me just kind of as a form of introduction but do go to
Revelation 2 go to Revelation 2 but really quick where do I draw this from
you know this is just the way that I look at it so the first point I have for
you I only have four points for you this morning is that you know what is the
synagogue because this term is thrown around and you know people confuse it
and there's this kind of like not necessarily in our groups but in modern
Christianity you know there's a there's another sector of Christianity that's
much bigger that is pro-israelites pro-jew we should be allies with the
Jews they take verses out of context and they don't even know what half of this
stuff even really is but the Bible says in 1st John 2 verse 21 it says I have
not written unto you because ye know not the truth but you know it and that no lie
is of the truth look the reason that we even Jesus said hey I've written to you
not because you don't know the truth but let me let me make sure I clear this
even further even when people say hey there's a little truth sprinkled in this
lie no there's no lie I mean there's no truth in a lie it's a lie if you look at
the book of Job it sounds like the miserable comforters and even the young
guy it sounds like they're saying some stuff that makes sense but when you get
to the end of Job when when God himself speaks you know what they were all wrong
so just because you're quoting Bible or you're saying something that sounds like
Christianity doesn't mean that it's true if you're sprinkling a lie in there
then it's a lie you've tainted that whole entire piece of truth with just a
little bit of a lie that's all it takes right it's the analogy and I know it's
gross but it's a good analogy because it'll especially in the young people's
here if I had purified crystal clear water and all I did was just take one
tiny drop of some kind of fecal matter and put it in there how many of you
would drink that nobody it's gross so it's no longer pure water it's tainted
it's it's jacked up right but what is a synagogue well a synagogue or a shul
it's just you know a meeting school in Yiddish or a temple is a place of
worship for Jews and Samaritans it serves as a house of prayer with a main
sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels where Jews attend religious services or
ceremonies such as weddings bar and but but Smith fuss choir performances and
children's play synagogues often also contain study rooms social halls
administrative and charitable offices classrooms for religious and Hebrew
studies the spaces for community gatherings they frequently display
commemorative historic or modern artwork along its items alongside items of
Jewish historical significance or exhibits about the synagogue itself so
it's basically it's just that buildings are used for Jewish prayer mainly study
assembling and then this is interesting the reading of the Torah is traditionally
read entire over a period of a year in a week portions during the service or in
some synagogues and a triennial cycle however the edifice of a synagogue or
such is not essential for holding Jewish worship and then the other thing that
they're saying here is that then there's the oral Torah which is kind of weird I
didn't I didn't even know just doing and I was like let me not get off on this
tangent because that's not the whole sermon that's what I'm saying this has
to take this is several sermons because it's just a lot to cover but the oral
Torah is basically like where basically I guess the rabbis or the people who
are chosen leadership interpret the Torah to whatever they think is deemed
correcting or or solidifying or correcting or modifying the written
Torah so basically you're relying on a bunch of guys to tell you how it is and
by the way that's what you know we rely on the pastor to expound on the Word of
God but you know what a good pastor will do and I'm not saying I'm a great
pastor or anything about it but I am a good pastor in the sense I'm gonna tell
you if you don't agree and the Bible disagrees with me you know who you land
on Bible I'm not here to override anything that the Word of God says I am
not the Pope I am not a rabbi I am not you know the vicar of Christ I am none of
that if anything I'm just the messenger of Christ and if I get it wrong well
then clarify it with the Word of God it's open to interpretation public
interpretation you can figure out the Word of God without coming to church I'm
just helping you move along faster you know what I mean so that is a big
difference between that type of environment right and then you know here
just over time they've been constructed so you know they're throughout history in
the first temple period Jewish communal worship revolved around the temple we
know this from the Old Testament right and it's served as a central focal
point a significant symbol for the entire Jewish nation as such it was a
destination for Jews making pilgrimages during the three major festivals
although there's no evidence you know eventually you started getting other
buildings and that's where we get what's what's what's known today as the synagogue
right they believe or it's believed that the first synagogue emerged during or in
the just Jewish dysphoria probably after Babylon exile of Judea in 586 BC and
several centuries before the introduction of the land of Israel and so
you know and of course there's like all this stuff and then they reference you
know like Josephus and other Jewish historians that say this stuff but
basically it does line up with the Word of God and in Psalm 74 which is right
there in the Old Testament we see that there are synagogues of God and they're
being burned up but here's the challenge by the time that's the only time you
hear the word synagogue in the Old Testament by time you get to the New
Testament the synagogues are just a place of gathering and really it's run
by the religious elite and it has nothing to do with the Word of God and
today modern-day Judaism and Israel the state of Israel today is based on a
religion not on a historical you know race or anything like that modern-day
Judaism rejects clearly a hundred percent the existence of Jesus Christ or
if they believe in Jesus Christ as coming on this earth they label him a rebel
rouser who basically failed at his job because he died right that's a whole
sermon for another day but that is literally on I mean I read that just
yesterday and even this morning on several of the of the websites like this
is not stuff that they hide they're like who is who is Jesus to the to the Jews
he's a nobody he's basically his loser who didn't
accomplish any of the works of God they definitely don't believe he was raised
from the dead they definitely don't believe he was you know born of a virgin
none of that and it makes sense that Jesus Christ himself would call them the
synagogue of Satan because their whole goal is to be the the antithesis to
Christianity whereas other false religions will try to mimic Christianity
you know the Catholics and the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses the Jewish
religion and that's what I'm being careful because it's not because I don't
care about the people if someone who says they're Jews believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ get saved I'm talking about the religion itself the Judaizers that
religion itself is only to serve Satan right and I was doing this all this
research and everything I actually sat and watched like I don't know maybe 15
minutes live of you know a live stream of a local Jewish temple here in Houston
and I just thought to myself we could just go to 1st Corinthians 11 is it is
first correct me if I'm wrong which one is it speaking in tongues it's either
11 or I think it's 12 1st Corinthians 12 is the speaking in tongues and be like
they're right there they're breaking the laws of God because the whole thing is
done in in Hebrew and I guarantee you 90% of the people in Houston area that
are going there don't speak Hebrew because everybody was just chanting it
sounded like a Catholic church with Hebrew chants you know Elohim I don't
I how don't I you know that's the whole that was the whole thing with very
little English in between I was like man even if I wanted to go check one of
these places out which I don't I couldn't sit there because I wouldn't
understand it it's like going to a Catholic church that that does the whole
reading in Latin how many of you speak Latin in here you don't we have Latin
roots but none of us speak Latin right how many of you speak Hebrew in here
you don't right we we know some words in Hebrew from the Bible but none of us
speak Hebrew so even just on that point alone it's just and then I asked just
to make sure that you know we're on the same page are synagogues strictly Jewish
because that's not how they started out right and yes synagogues are exclusively
houses of worship studying community gathering for what Jewish people and a
Jew today is someone who's converted to that religious belief right I've
actually known in my life actually I don't know if brother Trey knows but we
know someone in common who their son the Props one of their children converted to
Judaism it was a like a heartbreak to the mother I remember this is like 20
years ago when she came to me she came to me crying she's like my son is
converting to Judaism you know he started wearing the little hat and all
that stuff so it's a big deal and like I said this this one stems from what it's
It's it has its satanic roots. It stems from Satan himself. This is I mean literally the Bible gives us of all the false religions we could talk about this one specifically is geared and says hey you are of the synagogue of Satan.
I mean there's no way to no way to bounce around and and previously I told you you know the characteristics of Satan right who is Satan was the devil he's Lucifer he's the son of the morning.
God of this world prince of the power of the air the ruler of the darkness of this world he's referred to as the wicked one or the evil one he's the enemy he's a tempter he's the accuser of the brother and he's a liar he's a murder he's a serpent an old serpent he's a dragon but he's also an angel of light he's a deceiver Beelzebub he's the prince of devils he's the chief of devils.
This is not a being that has the best interest in you and your family, right?
Of all the people, of all the beings that you could deal with in your life,
the one that you don't want to be directly aligned with or deal with at all is the devil.
But as Christians, you know what? We are in that crosshair, right?
As soon as you get saved, you are now the enemy of the devil.
He's seeking to devour, to destroy, to kill, to just murder, to maim.
Whatever he can do to ruin your life, he's going to do it, right?
Point number two is, you know, first, what is the synagogue?
I've already explained it.
Point number two is, what did Jesus say about them?
What did Jesus say about this group of people?
Well, go there to Revelation 2. Go to Revelation 2.
But just to give you context, just to make sure that, you know, we're all aligned,
I'll just read for you really quick.
But in Revelation 1, this is, verse 1 says the revelation of Jesus Christ, right?
And who's speaking here? Jesus Christ, right?
If we go through the whole thing in chapter 1, you know,
John is basically, he's prostrate almost as one that is dead
because he's in the presence of Jesus Christ, of God Almighty, right?
And we get there, Revelation 2, and we get there to verse 8.
And it says, "And unto the angel of the church of Smyrna," right,
"these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive,
I know thy works," now he's saying there's people in the church, right?
We'll get the context here.
He says, "I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich."
Now why is he saying that?
Because spiritually they're poor, but financially or carnally they're rich, right?
"But thou art rich, and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not,
but are of the synagogue of Satan."
Man, that's a harsh word from the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says in verse 10, "Fear none of these things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison,
that ye may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life."
He says, hey, if you're faithful, here's your reward.
When you get to heaven, you're going to get a crown, a crown of life.
He says, "He that hath an ear, let him hear.
What the Spirit saith unto the churches, he that overcometh,
shall not be heard of the second death."
So notice it also very carefully.
He says, hey, if you overcome, you won't be heard where?
The second death.
You could die here, but you're not going to die the second time.
Christianity has it all backwards, right?
But he says, hey, those guys that call themselves the Jews,
they're not really Jews.
Because at the end of the day, and I'll touch on that briefly,
you know who's a Jew?
Those that are spiritually of the line of Jesus Christ.
Sometimes when I go door knocking and someone says, oh, I'm a Jew,
I'll be like, oh, me too.
I am.
I'm of the seed of Israel, of Jesus Christ.
I'm saved by grace.
Of course, they don't like that very much.
But even if I was nice, they wouldn't like it.
So it doesn't matter which way I approached it, right?
Revelation 3.
Just go one chapter over in Revelation 3.
So several churches of the seven churches have this problem, right?
It says right there in verse 7 of Revelation 3.
It says, "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia," right?
"These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David,
he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth.
I know thy works.
Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.
For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan,
which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie.
Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet,
and to know that I have loved thee, because thou hast kept the word of my patience.
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world,
and to try them to dwell upon the earth.
Behold, I come quickly, hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Hey, the crown's already set for you, don't lose it.
And then verse 12 says, "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God,
and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem,
which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name.
He that hath an ear, hey, you're here in church, you have ears,
let him hear what the Spirit sayeth unto the churches.
No, Jesus is not confused. This is Jesus speaking. He's not confused.
He's not tolerant. What is he doing? Instead, he calls them for what they are
and to whom they belong, right? They feign to be part of the church,
but spiritually they're aligned with who? The devil.
Isn't that like the major enemy of Christianity?
The devil himself. I mean, one of the first things you learn as a little child
is that there's a god when you're little, little, right? There's the devil.
And every child learns that the devil is a bad dude. Nobody wants to mess with the devil.
You don't teach him about false religions. You're not going around to your three-year-old and be like,
"Hey, let me tell you about the Mormons." But a three-year-old understands the devil really quick.
And if they're like, "My son kind of has more of a self-righteous addiction,"
he's like, "I don't like the devil, you know. If the devil was here, I bit on him."
And you know how kids get really... Yeah, because you just have this, you know that it's a bad enemy.
It's funny, just like there's some things that you don't teach your children to sin,
you don't have to teach them to recognize the enemies of God.
Because God said in Romans that he already wrote in our hearts the message of him, right?
Go over to John 8, I'll read for you really quick in 2 Corinthians.
In 2 Corinthians, right there in verse 11, the Bible says,
Hey, you need to be aware that just because it looks like a light, it's not.
It says, hey, don't be surprised when the governors and even ex-Baptist or actually current Baptist preachers
that are now ambassadors to the state of Israel are telling you that Israel is the chosen people of God.
Huckabee, in case you didn't know what I was talking about, getting up there and just basically kissing the ring.
Hey, it makes sense. Like, you know, right now it's not politics like Trump and even Cruz and Marco Rubio.
They've never claimed to be Christian the way we claim it. But Baptist or Baptist, you know, you go anywhere in the world.
I go so in and a lot throughout this country. And if I run into a Baptist nine times out of 10, you know what?
They probably have the right gospel. When you're Huckabee, what's his name? Mike Huckabee.
When you're Mike Huckabee, who was a former Baptist preacher and you can't get this thing right,
tells me something about your Bible reading, because it's pretty clear, right?
Go there to John 8 and verse 41, the Bible says, "Ye do," this is Jesus talking to the Pharisees and the Sadducees,
scribes, basically the modern, you know, the Jews of that day, right?
Says, "Ye do the deeds of your father, then say they to him, 'We be not born of fornication, we have one Father, even God.'"
Right? The attack is on who? Jesus.
Because what they're saying is they don't believe in the triune God.
That's exactly what they're doing there.
And then they go to verse 42, says, "Jesus said unto them, 'If God were your Father, you would love me.
For I proceeded forth and came from God, neither came I of myself, but he sent me.
Why do you not understand my speech? Even because you cannot hear my word.'"
And then here comes, you know, the kumbaya, really sweet, loving, peace-loving Jesus saying,
"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, and speaketh of his own, for he is a liar, and the father of it.
And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not? Which of you convinces me of a sin?
And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me?
He that is of God heareth God's word, yet therefore hear them not,
because ye are not of God. Then answered the Jews, and said unto him,
Who answered? Then answered the Jews, and said unto him,
Say we not well that thou art Samaritan, and hast a devil?
You know, Jesus is preaching truth, and they're like,
Hey, isn't this guy crazy? He's on the devil's team, right?
And isn't that what society does to like, the more conservative of a person you are,
and then add the more conservative of a Christian you are, the crazier you are, right?
I mean, that's kind of like you use better, you know, that's your badge of honor with your family and friends.
Everybody thinks you're just a little bit weird. You're always talking about faith and religion.
You're always preaching the Bible. You know, that's your cop out for everything.
Everything, you know, if it's not in the Bible, it's not true.
Well, that's how we live our lives. That's how that's how we dictate how we make decisions,
especially moral decisions for our families.
If you can't get it, I'm sorry, you can't get it.
But I just don't want to fall into the hands of a living God.
I don't know what to tell you. You don't have to go there.
Go to Galatians 3. Go to Galatians 3.
But in Romans 2 verse 28, the Bible says, "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly."
What? How do Christians not get this?
You know, that's what I still don't get because they're not reading their Bibles by the way.
Modern versions don't ever just say like this. That's the other reason, right?
I mean, that's pretty clear, right? "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly."
Hey, they're wearing the shawls and little, you know, little hat and blowing the shofar.
God says, "Hey, that's not a Jew for me."
He says, "Neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh,
but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly."
So who is a Jew? I'm a Jew!
He says, "And circumcision is that of the heart."
You know, my heart has been circumcised by the blood of Jesus Christ.
When I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, He put it all away.
It says, "In the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God."
And what did the Jews of that day do?
I'm going to prove it to you here.
When they went to the synagogues, what did they do?
They wanted the praise of men.
As a matter of fact, someone gave me a nice compliment earlier this week about my preaching.
And you know what my prayer was?
It was like, "Lord, help me to forget those things.
I don't want to preach because people like it.
I want to preach because it's the truth."
And I'm not exaggerating.
I don't ever want to fall into the trap where if you guys are saying amen and you like it,
then that's all I'm going to preach.
No, I'm just going to preach whatever I need to preach.
Sometimes you'll say amen.
Sometimes you won't.
And that's okay because I'm not here to appease the congregation.
I'm here to please God, right?
We need to preach the truth.
Point number three is what are the characteristics of the synagogue of Satan, right?
So, you know, what did Jesus say about it?
What is a synagogue?
But just really quick outward religion without any inward regeneration.
What is it?
What does the Bible say?
It belongs to what system?
Satan's system, right?
So all these people, they get up and they're like, oh, you know, let's go to the National Day of Prayer with Paula White.
That's pretty satanic in my opinion.
Thrice divorced, all this stuff.
It shouldn't be that difficult to knock her out of contention as a thought leader, let alone a spiritual leader, right?
But if I have to, I can preach that sermon another day.
But what are the characteristics of the synagogue of Satan, right?
Well, first of all, they claim an identity, but they don't claim the truth, right?
What do we see?
They say they are Jews, you know, outwardly, but inwardly they're not, because they're not born of the Spirit.
In Galatians 3 verse 6, the Bible says, "Even as Abraham," and it's interesting because what will the Jews, even to this day,
who do they claim homage to?
To God Almighty, of the lineage of what?
Abraham, Isaac, right?
Jacob, that's their lineage, right?
But he says, "Even as Abraham," the Bible says, "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness,
know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham."
So hey, how are you a child of Abraham?
Remember the song?
Father Abraham had many sons, and many sons had father Abraham.
I am one of them, and so are you.
So let's just praise the Lord.
Right arm.
I'm not going to do the whole song, but, right?
And then we hated that song because it was like, you're like an idiot.
Left foot, right foot, turn around, whatever.
But why is he Father Abraham?
Because we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ because he believed and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
It says that you're the same, or the children of Abraham.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith,
preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying,
"And thee shall all nations be blessed, so then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham."
So modern day allies of the people of Israel quote Genesis 12.3, it says,
"Those that bless thee I will bless, and those that curse thee I will curse."
Except they didn't go to Galatians 3, which is, "Hey, who is he blessing?"
Those that believed on the Lord Jesus Christ.
So actually the blessing is to us, not to a lineage of people,
not to people that draw their blood and can say that they belong to the tribe of Issachar.
And the reason I say Issachar is because apparently if you ever run into a black Hebrew Israelite,
which that's a whole other sermon for another day,
but I have personally been told that the tribe of Issachar is my people, the Mexicans.
So, you know, that's why I say that, which I think is really silly, but that's not here.
Go down to verse 14.
The Bible says that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ,
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
Brethren, I speak after the manner of men, though it be but a man's covenant, yet if
it be, confirm, no man disannuleth, or addeth thereto.
Now to Abraham and his seed, where the promise is made, he said, not, and to seeds, as of
many, but as one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.
And see, that's the contention with the synagogue of Satan.
The minute you mention Jesus Christ.
Go to verse 26, it says, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus,
for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ."
And then this is where all this false religion and these people that say they belong to groups
and stuff is destroyed.
It says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek.
There is neither bond nor free.
There is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ.
And if ye be Christ's, then ye are Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise."
I mean, that's pretty clear English, pretty clear scripture.
I'm not even going deep.
This is not, you know, "And there rose a beast out of the sea with ten horns."
You know, this is easy stuff, right?
You believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you are His, and you are of the seed of Abraham,
which is what?
The seed of Jesus Christ.
Go to Matthew 6 and John 3.
The Bible says in verse 3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
Accept the man, be born again."
He cannot see the kingdom of God.
Titus 1.16 says, "They profess that they know God, but in their works they deny him,
being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."
Hey, where is the biggest queer haven in the world?
In Tel Aviv.
I mean, that's like known information.
Who runs the porn industry, right?
Who runs Hollywood?
Exactly.
This is not even like conspiracy stuff.
This is real.
Everything that the Lord says don't do, they're like, "No, let's do."
Hey, get married to one wife.
No, fornicate, all you want.
Hey, be neither rich nor poor.
No, seek money.
Hey, don't look for the applause of men.
Hollywood, you know.
Hey, don't do that thing that is unseemly, right?
Men defiling themselves with other men, women,
leaving the natural use of the woman or the man for women or whatever.
They're like, "No, let's just make it a haven for them."
That's exactly what they're doing.
Matthew 6, right here we see a couple of interactions between Jesus and the Jews.
It says in verse 1, "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them,
otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
Therefore, when thou doest thine alms, do not sound the trumpet before thee," or the shofar, right?
"As the hypocrites do," in what?
"In the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men.
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.
But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth,
that thine alms may be in secret, and thy father which seeth them in secret,
shall reward thee openly.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are,
for they love to pray standing in the," what?
"Synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men.
Verily I say unto you, that they have their reward.
But when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hath shut thy door,
pray to thy father which is in secret, and thy father which seeth in secret,
shall reward thee openly.
But when you pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do,
for they think that they shall be heard of their much speaking.
But not ye therefore like unto them, for your father knoweth what things ye have need of,
before you ask him."
You know I was watching that live feed yesterday, and what are they doing?
Vain repetitions.
I don't have any context, so there's like a wall, and at some points they're like down here,
and they're like, "Hanime," and then at other times they're like at this wall carrying something,
and then they're doing the same thing.
And you know what they do?
At the western wall, pastor, you've been there, in Israel, they sit there, and they're like,
"I wish I was exaggerating," but that's exactly what they're doing.
They're just in that, and they're praying.
Go to Matthew, go to Acts, I'm sorry, go to Acts 13.
I have one more point for you today,
but I want to bring this one home real quick.
Matthew 7, verse 22, the Bible says,
"Many will say to me in that day,
'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name,
and in Thy name cast out devils,
and in Thy name done many wonderful works?
Then I will profess unto them,
'I never knew you.
Depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'"
Hey, you want to get God's attention?
Do what God's asked you in His Word.
You want to get the world's attention?
Let everybody know how good you are at praying
and giving and all the stuff that the world likes to do.
I don't know, it's just weird sometimes.
Just because you go to church, by the way,
just because you're in church doesn't mean you're saved.
Salvation is a personal thing and it's the time
and the moment that you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
By the way, it's one saved, always saved,
just in case we didn't cover that.
But what do these synagogue of Satan individuals do?
What do the Jews or the Judaizers do?
They blaspheme the true believers.
And I mean, it's not that hard.
I'm telling you, it's a different world we live in.
You can look this stuff up.
I wish I was making it up.
But literally dignitaries and people in power
from the State of Israel will tell you
that the goyim are so easily deceived.
The best way to deceive them is through Christianity,
that they're there to serve the real Jews.
And that Jesus is in hell boiling in a tub of eskremim.
That's what they believe.
Go to Acts 13, right there in verse 5.
It says, "And when they were at Salamis,
they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews."
Now notice now, it's the synagogue of the Jews,
and they had also John to their minister.
Now, the reason I'm pointing this out
is because by the time you get to the New Testament,
you're still in the synagogues.
You say, "Well, why are they preaching in the synagogues?"
Well, it's not like today, right?
Cities and congregations wasn't today.
You went where the people were,
and everybody congregated around the synagogues.
That's where people were hanging out.
So Jesus was at the synagogues,
but you notice he never gave the stamp of approval.
He was always calling them out.
And what did the apostles do after Jesus went to heaven?
They did the same thing.
They went there, and then they ministered.
Go to verse 14, it says, "But when they departed from Perga,
they came to Antioch in Pisidia,
and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and sat down.
And after the reading of the law and the prophets,
the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying,
Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation
for the people, say on."
In other words, you see what they were doing.
People were gathered together.
They would read the law and the prophets,
and then somebody got up and said,
"Hey, does anybody else have anything to say?"
It says, "Paul stood up and beckoning with his hands said,
'Men of Israel, and ye that fear God give audience.'"
And if you were to read later on,
he basically rips on them for killing the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we get down to verse 42 and it says,
"And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue,
the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached unto them the next Sabbath."
Right?
So the Jews left.
There's Jews and Gentiles at the synagogue,
and the Gentiles are the ones that are like,
"Hey, we want to hear more of this Jesus."
Now, when the congregation was broken up,
many of the Jews and religious proselytes
followed Paul and Barnabas, who, speaking to them,
persuaded them to continue in the grace of God,
and the next Sabbath came almost the whole city
to get to hear the word of God.
But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy
and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul,
contradicting and blaspheming.
Excuse me, guys. I'm sorry.
I worked really hard to try to get my thing.
I'm so good, but I've got some remnant.
Verse 46, "And I took a lozenge right before,"
it says, "Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said,
'It was necessary that the word of God
should have first been spoken to you,
but seen, he put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
lo, we turn to the Gentiles.'"
Excuse me.
We don't quit here, though.
Let me get a tissue.
I'm not crying because it's good scripture.
I'm just crying because I can't stop.
Although the Word of God does make you cry sometimes.
Let's go there to 2 Timothy.
Go to 2 Timothy.
While you turn there, I'll put this in my mouth,
and hopefully my throat will be better.
I got it.
2 Timothy 3.
But in 1 Peter 4, the Bible says,
"Wherein they think it's strange that you run not with them
to the same exes of right, speaking evil of you."
And isn't that the problem with Christianity?
That once you take a side, instead of looking at the truth,
you just pick the side?
You know, modern Christianity that's pro-Israelite or pro-Jews,
they think that this message and that we are weird.
Like, how do you not get it?
My question is, like, how do you not get it?
Have you not read?
Like, it's pretty simple.
I think I've made my--I could close the sermon right now,
and I think I've made my case.
Pretty clear, right?
All right.
We're there in 2 Timothy 3, right there in verse 8.
The Bible says, "Now as Janus and Jambres withstood Moses,
so do these also resist the truth.
Men of corrupt minds reprobate concerning the faith,
but they shall proceed no further,
for their folly shall be made manifest unto all men, as theirs also was.
But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith,
long-suffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions,
which came unto me in Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra.
What persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me.
Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
So it's not, the reason we have to be careful is because, notice what it says,
they're deceiving, but they're also what, being deceived.
So even if someone starts out with good intentions, somebody else can deceive them
if they're not lined up with the word of God.
But scary what can happen if we're not doing things right?
Go to Luke 4, and I'll start on my last point, but real quick I'll read for you.
These individuals are operating under satanic influence.
So you've got to remember, by the way, you know as I call it the synagogue of Satan,
we are not, I don't know what this word even means, it keeps changing over time,
we are not anti-Semitic.
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
That whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.
We love the world, but the leaders of these groups, they're reprobating the faith.
And unfortunately, people get caught up and they follow groups of people
not always knowing who you're following.
Look, I've been, I follow people that, you know, that's why your parents warn you
don't hang out with certain groups of people
because you might end up in trouble for stuff you didn't even do.
You know, my son, one time my wife got, she got a little thrown off
because I got really angry at my son.
I don't remember, I think it was either here in church or somewhere.
Somebody else did something and he was involved indirectly.
So I warned him, I said, "Hey, the next time this happens, you need to not be around it.
And if you see it happen, you come tell me."
So then he came to tell me, but he was involved.
And I said, and I mean, I got really mad.
I don't remember what it was, I can't even remember what it was.
I just remember getting mad at him.
And my wife was like, "I just think you went over."
I said, "No, I didn't go over the line."
Because you know what?
I was pick on you, Brother Matt, but you know, that's just the way it is.
You're always looking at me.
Not Brother Matt, we'll call him Brother Pat.
Brother Pat killed somebody and I'm standing there next to him and I don't do anything.
You know who's also an accomplice? Me, right?
The problem with society is that everybody acts like, "Well, I didn't do it."
Yeah, but if you're associated, then it's by association you're going to go down.
Try to prove that in the court of law, right?
People are like, "Well, I didn't stab him."
Yeah, but you didn't do anything to stop it either.
You're going to jail.
You might not go to jail as long, but you're still going to jail, right?
"Oh, I didn't murder him. I didn't shoot him."
It's the same thing when it comes to the Spirit, you know, to the things of God.
"Hey, well, I didn't preach that."
You were there, weren't you? Then you might as well just preached it, right?
It's the same thing with us in association.
"Hey, we're preaching the Word of God, and by association, if I get in trouble,
you're getting in trouble for the same thing."
But in this way, this would be a good kind of trouble, right?
But we're there, and you're there in Luke, but in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, it says,
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart
from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctors of devils."
And in verse 6, verse 12, the Bible says, "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."
You know, not every building that has the word God means that it praises God.
Not every so-called Christian organization is a Christian organization.
But let's close out. You're there in Luke. Why does it matter?
Because it mattered to God. I mean, really, that's really why I should close out.
But also, why does it matter? What did I read for you when I first started?
I read for you from 1 John 2, right?
Even Jesus said, "I have not written unto you because you know not the truth,
but because you know it and that no lie is of the truth."
Hey, let me continue to clear this up because you know what, as humans,
we are impressionable. We are easily influenced.
They don't preach this as much anymore because our children wouldn't understand.
But in the 70s and in the 80s, pastor, remember, they would call it what?
Television programming, right?
Our children don't understand what that means.
Programming means that they're putting a code in your brain
for you to act a certain way.
Now, this one's a good one. Brother Matt is a programmer.
What he does is he's a software developer.
I think Brother Alex is back there too.
You're giving instructions on how it needs to execute.
So when the world and the religions of this world get up and say,
"Hey, this is who you need to follow,"
you're like, "Oh, yes, that's who we need to follow."
Don't read the Word, just do what we say.
Mm-hmm, that's what we'll do.
Yeah, that's what we'll do.
And everybody does it, right?
And you know you shouldn't be doing certain things.
You know you shouldn't be supporting certain things.
But it just feels it's not hurting anybody.
It doesn't affect me right now.
Well, it doesn't matter.
What matters is that God said it matters.
That's it, right?
It matters because God's Word talks about it.
And so it's important, right?
It clears up where the deception will come from,
how to avoid it,
what to do about it,
what they will do to us for our belief,
and what God will do to them for their attacks.
And I like that because, you know,
a lot of people are afraid to speak on these issues
because of the attacks that are coming.
But God said, "Hey, if you endure,
you won't lose the crown."
So then I'm like, okay, well, at least I know that
if I endure, I'm getting some good stuff.
So let me just continue to endure, right?
Right there, I also have this point here.
There are traditions, you know, they've always existed
and they're going to continue to exist, right?
And even in the New Testament, in the time of Jesus,
there was traditions.
We see this, I'm pointing it out, but what did Jesus do?
He fought against the Pharisees and the Sadducees
and the scribes and the religious institutions of his day.
You know, synagogues were a legitimate place of worship
in Jesus' time, right?
So he, like I said, he went there because that's where the people are,
but he never sanctioned the synagogues of the Bible.
He even called them, as we see that in Revelation,
the synagogue of Satan, right?
Now that being said, this was a place where people thought they were being religious.
So, hey, if you go to somewhere like that, that's fine.
But that does not excuse you to just go where people are, like,
because people say, well, Jesus would have hung out at the bar with the—
no, Jesus would not have hung out at the bar with the prostitutes.
I'm just—but go to Luke 4.
We'll close this thing out.
In Luke 4, the Bible says there, in Luke 4,
it says, "And he taught them in their synagogues, being glorified of all.
And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,
and as was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath,
and stood up for it to read."
So Jesus got up on that day, and he's the one that is reading.
"And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah.
And when he had opened up the book, he found the place where it was written,
'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted,
to preach deliverance to the captives,
and the recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty them that are bruised,
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.'
And he closed the book, and he gave it to the minister,
and sat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue
were fastened on him, and he began to say unto them,
'This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.'
So it's not like they didn't know. Why are they looking at him?
Because he just read about himself, and everybody's like,
'Whoa, this is a little bit different than, you know,
when Mordecai got up there and read the book last week, right?'
Verse 28 says, "And all they in the synagogue,
when they heard these things, were filled with wrath."
That's why we need to preach, you know, why does it matter?
"And rose up, and thrust him out of the city,
and led him unto the bow of the hill whereon their city was built,
that they might cast him down headlong.
But he passed through the midst of them, went his way,
and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee,
and taught them on the Sabbath's day."
So what happened? They're so mad at what he's preaching
that they're literally going to throw him off a cliff.
There's no new thing. This is Jesus Christ.
He says he was there in the beginning.
All things exist because of him.
And they're like going to throw him off the cliff.
It says in verse 32, "And they were astonished
at his doctrine, for his word was with power.
And in the synagogue there was a man
which had the spirit of unclean devil
and cried out with a loud voice,
"Hey, Jesus is in the synagogue
and somebody is possessed with the devil.
And I love this interaction.
It says, "Say, let us alone.
What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
Are thou come to destroy us?
I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."
Even they recognize, right?
"And Jesus rebuked him, saying,
'Hold thy peace and come out of him.'
When the devil had thrown him in the midst,
he came out of him and heard him not.
And they were all amazed and spake among themselves,
saying, 'What a word is this?'
For with authority and power he commanded
the unclean spirits and they come out.
And the fame of him went out into every
place of the country round about, and he rose.
He arose out of the synagogue
and entered into Simon's house.
And so Jesus did this because they already had crept in.
Nor does it say in Psalm 74,
it says they had burned down
the synagogues of God.
But what did Psalm 74 say?
Hey, but they crept in, and they
were burning the place down, and they had their
ensigns. Ensign is their banners.
And they had all their banners.
Isn't that what the world is
preaching today? Come as you are.
Everybody come in. It doesn't matter if you're
queer, black, yellow, white.
If you're a pedophile. Oh,
you love the Jews? Even better. Come on in.
Everybody come on in. No!
We have to draw a hard line.
I got two minutes, so let me just close this out. Go to Galatians 6.
We, as a
church, should not measure our success
by applause or recognition of the world.
It's by our faithfulness
and by the
spiritual fruit that we produce.
Man, I'm trying not to cough into
the mic, but with this new system, I can
hear myself really well. Great to hear myself
cough like this. The worst part is
it's the residual, right? It's like
it's over, but go to Galatians 6.
So what's the conclusion, right? That we
build this thing up, and there's two reasons why
we're building it up. Number one, this is stuff that we
need to preach about, and I hadn't really touched
in a long time. I kind of make
references to it, but it's
important for you to know why I make those references.
You don't think I'm just taking stuff out of context.
There's maybe more than two reasons. Number
two, I don't want you to confuse me
with those people that are anti-Jew, that have
no bearing or basis on the Bible.
I'm not that radical. I'm just basing
my stuff based on the Bible. Look,
there's a group of people, Jews, that just
follow that church, they grew up in it, they were raised
in it, that are lost. And if they can hear the Gospel
of Jesus Christ, even because it's antagonistic
and they can get saved, more power to it.
Jesus preached, and the Apostles
preached, and you see many verses that
say, "And the Jews that believe,
they wouldn't say it openly because of the fear
of the other Jews." You know what? They believed.
Right? They got it.
But I don't want to be lumped in
with a group of people that aren't believing
that just say whatever is regurgitated on
the news, or on X,
or on social media. No. I want you to
regurgitate what the Bible says. But also,
in Galatians it tells us because we don't want
to be deceived. The Bible says, "Be not deceived.
God is not mocked. For whatsoever man
soweth, that shall he also reap. For the he that
soweth to his flesh shall the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the spiritual
of the spirit reap life everlasting.
And let us not be weary in well-doing
for in due season we shall
reap if we
faint not." Look, if we don't have the right,
and I'll close with this, if we don't have
the right attitude for the battles
that we pick spiritually,
we're not going to make it to the end, right?
It's easy for me to stand on this hill
and die on this hill because it's from the Word of
God. But if I'm just doing it because everybody's
doing it, you know what? When it's not cool
because eventually it won't be cool
and they start attacking you and it's rough
then you won't stand, right?
I want to decide now how
I'll react or respond in years when
it's not popular, not when it's cool.
Hey, when it's cool, it's great. Everybody
loves it. But I want this message
to carry through in ten years
when it's not popular because it's not going to be popular
at some point in the future because the Bible tells us
that. I want to be able to stand,
hold fast, you know, and
if I have to get my crown of life, well, then I just
got to remind myself that's what God said.
Right. So let's close in a word
of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, thank
you so much for today. Thank you for your blessings.
Lord, thank you for just helping me
see this message through
with my throat. I know we had a couple
hiccups there, but at the end of the day we got through it
and I appreciate that, Lord. Thank you for everybody
that was patient through that message
and that sat through it.
And Lord, just bless the rest of the week.
Bless the rest of the activities today.
Thank you for all the visitors
and bless the soul winning as we go out later today.
In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Turn your hymnals over to page 414.
We'll close out with 414.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
On the 1st.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
Ye soldiers of the cross.
Lift high his royal knee,
Shall he wind up Jesus.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
The trumpet call obey.
Forth to the mighty conflict,
In this his glorious day.
That strength, stand up for Jesus.
Stand in his strength alone.
Let's go to number three.
The arm of flesh will fail.
God trust your soul with stranger being.
On the last, the fourth.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus.
The strife will not be long.
day the noise of a song you are dismissed.