- Men, the title of my sermon this evening
is "Letting Go of the Past."
Letting go of the past.
Psalm 37 is a great chapter to keep in perspective
the big picture about the ultimate fate
of people who live for God versus the wicked
and people who disregard his commandments.
The first verse starts out in verse number one.
It says, "Fret not thyself because of evildoers,
neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity."
And this is really two different sides
of the same coin here or two different aspects
of how the wicked of this world could bother you.
So they could bother you in two different ways.
One way that evildoers could bother you
is if you're looking at them
and you're irritated by the fact
that you feel like they're prospering
or that they're not being punished
or that God's not punishing them.
Why are people just allowed to get away
with the horrible things that they do?
And so you could fret over that
or fret yourself because of evildoers,
but then on the other side of the coin,
maybe you'd be looking at them and saying like,
oh, I wanna be like them,
because I'm seeing the prosperity of the wicked
and I'm coveting their rock and roll lifestyle
or just whatever it is that outwardly seems like
they're doing well or whatever.
And so it's really different,
two different sides of the same coin here
of just looking at the wicked
and letting their very existence bother you.
And God is saying, do not let that bother you.
Don't fret over it.
Don't worry about it.
And then don't be stupid enough to wish that you were them.
Why?
Because he says in verse number two,
"For they shall soon be cut down like the grass
and wither as the green herb."
And notice this is really the solution to both problems
because if it's bothering you
that they're not being punished,
well, guess what, they're gonna be punished
is what the Bible says.
And if you're envying them
because you wish you were them,
well, guess what, you don't wish you were them
when they are getting what's coming to them.
And so he says, "They will soon be cut down
like the grass and wither as the green herb.
Trust in the Lord and do good,
so shalt thou dwell in the land
and verily thou shalt be fed."
He's saying, look, if you trust in the Lord
and you do good, you're gonna be blessed,
you're gonna be fed,
things are gonna go well for you.
"Delight thyself also in the Lord
and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart."
So instead of looking at other people
and thinking so much about the wicked,
whether you're thinking about them not getting punished
or whether you think about their prosperity,
maybe you envy them,
you say, look, just quit looking at them
and just think about your own situation, right?
And realize that if you do what's right,
if you follow the commandments of God,
if you obey the Bible, God's gonna bless you.
If you trust in the Lord, if you do good,
he is gonna give you the desires of your heart,
you're gonna be fed, you're gonna have food and clothing,
you're gonna be taken care of.
And hey, what else do we need?
And by the way, you know, I just wanna bring this up.
This is kind of just a total aside
that doesn't really have anything to do
with my sermon tonight.
But it's kind of a throwback to my Wednesday night sermon.
Notice it says trust in the Lord.
Isn't this like a massive part of the Christian life,
trusting the Lord?
And you know, it's interesting
because when we think about the word faith, right?
It means trust in a lot of contexts.
Like when the Bible talks about putting our faith
in Christ for salvation,
it's really talking about trusting Christ as our savior,
trusting Him to get us to heaven,
relying on His death, burial and resurrection
to get us to heaven, putting our faith in Jesus.
But is that where faith stops in the Christian life,
just after salvation?
No, because really for the entire rest of our Christian lives,
we're just going from faith to faith.
And I mean, every single day, it's like, man,
we gotta trust the promises of God.
We gotta trust that God's way is the right way.
We gotta do what God wants us to do
because we have faith that the Bible's true,
that it's right, that everything that he says to do
is the right thing for us to do.
So we're gonna do it.
I mean, the whole Christian life,
if you could sum it up in one word, it's faith.
Faith gets us saved,
and then faith guides the whole rest of our life.
Well, here's what's funny.
You know, I preached this sermon on Wednesday night
about Christ's human experience.
And, you know, I picked that title very carefully
because what we're talking about is from his perspective
while he's on this earth, what is he experiencing?
And you know what he's experiencing?
The human life that we're experiencing.
He was tempted at all points,
like as we are yet without sin.
And of course, bozos come along and try to debunk my sermon.
Hater, ex-NIFB losers already trying to debunk my sermon.
But you know what they end up with at the end of the day
is they end up with a Jesus that actually can't relate
to the most critical component of the Christian life,
which is faith and trust.
Because here's the thing,
if you're gonna buy into their doctrine,
if you're gonna believe that while Jesus was on this earth,
he didn't just see Nathaniel under the fig tree.
Oh no, he saw every single person
under every single fig tree on the entire planet at once.
And he knew every man.
So he knew people in China and Korea and Japan.
If you're going to believe that, then you know what?
Jesus wouldn't have to have any faith at all.
Is everybody listening?
Because Jesus would just be like,
well, I just know everything and just see everything.
And I'm just walking around,
just turning water into wine willy nilly.
Well, why would he need any faith at all then?
He wouldn't have to exercise any faith at all, would he?
So how in the world is he an example
for us to follow in his steps?
How is he tempted in all points, like as we are,
when the one essential most important thing,
he doesn't even have to do it
'cause he's just walking by sight.
Think about it.
We don't walk by faith, we walk by sight.
We don't walk by sight, we walk by faith.
So explain this to me.
If Jesus Christ just sees everything all the time
while he's on this earth as a human being,
would he really have to exercise any faith
in what the Bible says, faith in the Old Testament?
Nope, he'd just be walking around
just seeing everything and knowing everything
and it's a foolish doctrine, okay?
It's wrong.
The true story is that when Jesus Christ was on this earth,
he did not know everything because in Mark 13, 32,
he flat out says of that day and hour of his second coming,
knoweth no man, not the angels in heaven,
neither the Son, but the Father only.
Now, here's the funny thing.
If somebody's gonna get up and say,
Jesus knew everything while he walked on this earth,
they're just denying clear scripture.
The Bible literally says,
he did not know the day and the hour of his second coming.
End of story, case closed.
But then they'll come along and say,
well, you know, he knew all men,
so therefore he knew everything.
Well, let's enter into their foolish fantasy
that he knew all men means that he knew people
in China and Korea and he just knew everything,
knew everybody, that's what that supposedly means.
Okay, well, does that mean that he knew
the day and hour of his second coming?
Nope.
So did he know everything?
Nope.
End of story, case closed.
And you know what?
I'm sick and tired of being called a heretic
by Catholics and Protestants who are gonna go to hell
when they die because they don't even believe
in salvation by faith alone.
And then we're gonna go get our doctrine
from the trash can of the Roman Catholics
to explain to us their retarded doctrines
like divine simplicity and all these things.
Look, I'm not interested in what those people have to say.
They're wrong.
Now, if you would go to John chapter two,
And I don't want you to miss this point because the entire Christian life is a life lived by faith
It's a life lived by faith every single day. I am exercising faith in the Lord
It's not just faith that got me safe
I mean I'm exercising faith every single day have to believe the Bible now when Jesus was on this earth
Guess what he had to do as well as a human being he's born as a baby
He had to learn how to talk he had to learn how to walk he had to rely on his mother to feed him
He had to learn how to grow up and do everything he had to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God
That's what the Bible says and he didn't do his first miracle until he was 30 years old and up to that time
He hadn't done any miracles. So how does he know that he's the son of God?
How does he know that he's God in the flesh? How does he know that he's the Messiah?
How does he know that if he hasn't done a single miracle?
I'll tell you how he knew that because of the fact that he's reading the Bible
He's filled with the Holy Spirit and God revealed that to him and he had to believe by faith
That the Word of God is true and trust in the Lord and he then even after he's involved in his ministry
He's trusting God the Father. He's relying on God the Father
He's believing the Word of God other people are coming at him and telling him. He's a liar telling him
He's a fraud denying what the scriptures teach and you know what he had to trust God over them and not he had to not listen to
The Pharisees not listen to Sadducees trust what the Bible is saying trust what the Holy Spirit is saying
Does everybody understand what I'm saying?
Okay, and then ultimately he was obedient unto death even the death of the cross
Believing that God the Father is going to raise him from the dead
Sacrificing his life by faith believing and resting in the hope that his soul would not be left in hell neither would his flesh see corruption
So here's the thing you walk out of my sermon on Wednesday night
And here's what you walk away with you walk away understanding
You know what Jesus Christ actually lived the human life and when I'm sad when I'm struggling
When I'm doubting when I'm going through all these things you know what Jesus Christ has been there and suffered
But guess what he always did the right thing so like you see Elijah
Despairing you see Jonah getting frustrated and mad at the Ninevites everything
Here's think Jesus was put in all those type of situations, but he always reacted the right way
He always did it the right way. He always had total faith total trust
Total fullness of the Holy Ghost so he's an example that we can follow in his steps
But but you know this other doctrine that just says oh no Jesus just knew everything
He's he just knows every person on the planet and he can just you know
See everybody sitting under every tree on the whole planet
Well, here's the thing about that is that he wouldn't have to exercise any faith at all. He would just know well
I'm Superman. I'm superhuman. I know everything and no one else does ergo. I'm the son of God. I'm the Messiah now
I don't know if you don't understand what I'm saying tonight
Or if you do understand what I'm saying tonight, but I'm telling you right now that this stupid Catholic doctrine
Literally to me
It just lets all the air out of the balloon and just ruins Christmas as far as I'm concerned because I'm sorry
I cannot relate to a Jesus that never has to believe the Bible at all
Never has to have faith never has to make a decision because he just already just automatically knows everything
No
I love the Jesus of the Bible that lived the human life and was tempted in all points like as we are yet without sin
Oh, he's tempted all points like as we are except the biggest thing that matters, which is faith
He wasn't tempted in that at all because he just knew everything and saw everything and just walked by sight
Well, you know what? I'm sorry, but if Jesus wasn't tempted with regard to faith versus doubting then I'm sorry
I don't see how he could be tempted at all points when that is
Literally the number one test for every person on this planet without faith. It is impossible to please God
How can you please God without faith? How can Jesus say why do always those things which please the Father?
I'm tempted at all points like you and then he never has to exercise faith because he just sees everything
He just walks by sight. That's absurd. And so, you know, I'm standing by my guns on this one because
They're just wrong. Look at John chapter 2. Did I have you turn to John chapter 2?
This is the supposed proof text that Jesus knew everything on this earth
And again, there's a clear verse that says that he did not know the day and hour of a second coming which means he didn't
Know everything case closed end of story, but look at John chapter 2 verse 23
It says now when he was in Jerusalem the Passover in the feast day many believed in his name
When they saw the miracles which he did but Jesus did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men now
What does that mean? He did not commit himself unto them because he knew all men
What it's saying is he didn't commit himself unto them
He didn't trust them right if I committed myself unto you. It's like I'm trusting you. I'm relying on you
Why did Jesus not put his trust in other human beings?
Well, the reason why is because he knew all men, but is that where the verse stops is this thing?
Oh, he knows a guy in China. He knows people in Korea Japan India
He just knows every person on the whole planet. That was saying when it says he knew all men
No, it says he needed not that any should testify of man
We're talking about what man in general?
Mankind no one needed to tell Jesus about man for he knew what was in
Man, that's not saying oh, he knows every person on the planet individually while he's walking on this earth as a human being
What it's saying is that he knew mankind in general therefore
He knew all men for example
I could walk up to someone on the street today that I've never met in my entire life and I automatically know a few things
About that person. I know that that person is a sinner
I know that all the imagination of their heart from their youth up is only evil continually
I know that their heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know so am I just gonna walk around
Trusting people and just committing myself to people. No, I'm not
I don't need anybody to testify unto me of man, and I'm not even Jesus
I don't need anybody to testify unto me of man because I know what's in man, too
Because I read it in the Bible. Okay, so to take this verse out of context and say oh Jesus knew all men
Therefore he knew everything again. That's not what the Bible says, you know, he knew what was in man
He knew that people are sinful, but at the end of the day
Jesus Christ was human that means he has a human brain and a human body and guess what our brain our human brains
We can't know
Everything about everything in the whole world at one time like like our brains don't have enough RAM
They don't have enough CPU to be thinking about every person everywhere on the planet at any given time
Seeing everything knowing everything all the information in the universe can't fit in my brain. It simply can't now
Here's the thing Jesus Christ right now glorified up at the right hand of the Father
Yeah, of course, he knows everything Jesus Christ, but when he came to this earth
Robed in flesh. He took upon himself the human the human limitations
Okay, and and people can say it's heresy if they if they want to go to Catholics to get approval for this
That's fine. But at the end of the day, you know what Jesus Christ was robed in human flesh
And he lived as a human with a normal human brain with normal
human abilities in his brain and you know what he did not have just a million thoughts coming into his head and just he just
Sees everything knows everything because then he wouldn't have to exercise faith
And so then he can't even model the Christian life because the entire Christian life is based on faith
So pretty understand what I'm saying
and so I think that some people haven't really thought through the implications of the foolishness of this bad doctrine of
Claiming and here's what they'll just say they'll come at when you call them out on this stuff
They'll just come at you with a word salad
So, you know, I'm giving some very concrete statements up here Jesus lived on this earth as a human being and
Jesus in his human experience
Walking around did not know everything and did not have unlimited superhuman powers
He just did and I are and I'm not gonna repreach my sermon from Wednesday night
but here's the thing about that is that you know Jesus he is
Filled with the Holy Spirit to the max. He's always doing those things which please the father
He's praying to the father. And so yeah, he's working all these mighty things God's revealing things to him
He's having visions. He knows things in a superhuman manner
So did other prophets and Apostles in the Bible now look people will slander me
I literally went on YouTube today and I saw that there was a thumbnail with my face on it with a little
Speech bubble coming off my face and it literally said
Jesus stopped being God now, of course, I never said that Jesus stopped being God. I would never say that
That's a ridiculous absurd doctrine because Jesus Christ is God. That's his identity
He doesn't have to have an ability while he's on this earth to prove that he's got you know
Sometimes these people that feel like Jesus has to prove that he's got all the time with his abilities
I wonder if they're trying to convince themselves that Jesus got see for me
It's just already settled that Jesus got I'm just not worried about it. The deity of Christ just isn't up for grabs
I mean Jesus just is God nothing could ever convince me that he's not God and you know
Why I believe Jesus guys because he said he's God, you know
I believe Jesus is the son of God because the Bible said so, you know
I believe Jesus created the whole world because the Bible says so so I don't I don't need Jesus while he's
Supposedly living a human life to walk around knowing everything in order for him to be God
And so let me just say this that person who made that picture of me with a speech bubble saying Jesus
Stopped being God is an evil person and you know what if you if you listen to that person if you're friends with that person
Just realize what a rotten person you are for hanging around with slanderers or listening to railers and evil
But because that's just a bold-faced like putting a quote in my mouth that I didn't say of something super evil
Super blast. I mean if I said Jesus stopped being God, that's a super evil blasphemous statement
And let me just tell you something about this particular person
I know this particular person and he's a damnable heretic
He's buddies with Tyler Baker and him and Tyler Baker are both gonna go burn in hell when they die
Okay, and so I ain't even worried about it cuz Psalm 37
Let's get back to Psalm 37 Bible says in Psalm 37 in verse 3 trust in the Lord and do good
So shall thou dwell in the land and verily thou shall be fed, you know, that's the Christian life
My friend trust in the Lord and do good and you know what Jesus did while he was on this earth
He trusted in God the Father and he did good and he lived the ultimate
Perfect life that none of us could live and he left us an example that we could follow in his steps
Okay, and so he'd know he did not stop being God
No
He did not empty himself of being God and these people love to use fancy big words that the kenosha's heresy and
The hypostatic union and all this stuff. It's you know what?
It's a word salad to deny the plain text of scripture. The scripture says Jesus doesn't know the day of his second coming
Oh, so then how did he know everything always on this earth? Oh, oh the hypostatic
Hypothalamus static union. What is that? What is that?
It's they're throwing jargon at you because they think you're gonna be stupid enough to just hear jargon and think all this guys
This guy's saying smart stuff. And so I guess I'll just believe it
No, you know what we need to do is get back to just actually believing what the Bible flat-out says
You know the clear reading of the text. What does the Bible say and you know what take your?
Theological terms and throw them in the trash can because the only time a theological term is helpful is when it makes something easier to understand
You know like like people bring up the term Trinity a lot
But the term Trinity is a beautiful term because it's easy to understand. It's just three and one it just makes sense
It doesn't raise more questions than it answers, you know
Hypostatic union sounds like something when I'm taking stuff out of the dryer and I didn't put in a dryer seat or something
What is that the hypostatic union? Well, you know, it's that Jesus, you know
The human nature and the divine nature are there there, you know
I mean, they're like distinct but they're but they're never like divided but they're also never mixed and it's just like
It's all a bunch of vein jangling
Striving about words to no profit. It's just hitting you with a bunch of words the stink
But not that divided the the the meshing and the mixing and they're not mixed but they're but they're also never separate and what?
What and then what's funny is that this idiot makes an hour and 14 minute video?
Supposedly debunking me and then at an hour and eight minutes in he basically just says yeah
I guess Jesus didn't know the day of a second coming. So yeah as a human from his perspective
I could be didn't know everything. It's like well, thanks for what wasting the last 68 minutes of our time fool
Because you know, you're supposedly debunking me and then 68 minutes in you basically admit that I'm right because it's impossible not to admit that
That Jesus didn't know everything because it's explicitly stated in Mark 13. Anyway, sorry
I'm off on a tangent, but I just wanted to get that off my chest
Go back if you would to Psalm 37 the Bible says commit thy way unto the Lord
And again committing your way unto the Lord. This is that same commit that we just saw in John chapter 2
You know Jesus he didn't want to commit himself unto men because he knew all men because he knew what was in man in general
And so therefore he knows that people in general are not reliable
And so we should commit our way unto the Lord right trust the Lord. He's gonna take care of it
He will bring it to pass. He's gonna make it happen. Look at verse 6
It says and he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light and thy judgment as the noonday
Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for him
fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass and so notice
Here that fretting yourself because of him who prospereth
This is what I was saying about verse number one that that's what he means by don't fret over the evildoers
Don't think that they're getting away with it
Don't fret because it feels like they're prospering look at verse 8
It says cease from anger and forsake wrath fret not thyself in any wise to do evil now
Now here's what the Bible saying here is that you know, it's easy to get mad about evil people, right?
It made me mad when I saw a picture of myself with a speech bubble saying heresy that I never said
Can you see why that would irritate me to see a comic of myself?
And it's something that I don't believe that I've never preached that I've never said right that bothered me
I don't like people lying about me
I don't think you like people lying about you and
Slandering you and making up stories about you and saying that you did things you didn't do
Saying that you said things that you didn't do right
I mean nobody likes that and so this is the type of thing that makes people mad right it makes me mad it makes
You mad, and you're like why are you so mad pastor Anderson?
But guess what I bet you'd be mad if somebody's you know said it was you that did these things or said these things or
Taught damnable heresy and put a speech bubble in your mouth with a quote that you didn't say because they're an evil
Slanderous piece of garbage right now. I think that anger is the natural
Reaction to that in our lives
You know if you if you went to work
And you found out that one of your co-workers
Had lied about you to the boss at work, and now the boss is coming down on you and punishing you would you get mad?
That's the normal reaction right and so our human reaction is anger and
Let's take it up a notch wrath. You know serious anger like extreme anger is what wrath means and what does the Bible say it says?
You know what cease from anger and forsake wrath. He's saying look. I know you're mad
It's natural to be mad. It's normal to be mad Jesus got mad
God's anger with the wicked every day. You know there obviously there are times when anger makes sense
It's warranted, but here's what the Bible says stop being mad
Cease from anger and forsake wrath. He's saying look you can't just go through life
Staying mad staying angry, you know, and what does the Bible say?
Don't let the Sun go down on your wrath and and you know, obviously we don't want to take that as this hyper literal thing of
Like well, you know the Sun just went down
That means I got 23 hours to stay mad until the Sun goes down again or what?
You know or or oh, I got mad five minutes before sundown. I gotta figure this out quick
Is that you know, we don't want to take that hyper literal approach the idea of not letting the Sun go down on your wrath
Is not going from day to day angry about the same thing
Don't be angry on Monday and then you're still mad on Tuesday and then you're still mad on Wednesday
Somebody see what I'm saying, you know, the Bible says be angry and sin not let not the Sun go down on your wrath
You know, we need to not give place to the devil
We don't want to get consumed by bitterness and rage at these things
So he's saying look cease from anger and forsake wrath now in order to stop doing something
Don't you have to start doing it? So the psalmist understands God's telling us in the psalm. He's saying look
I know you're mad. I know you're mad. Stop being mad. Hey, I know you're filled with wrath forsake wrath
Let it go let go of the wrath, but then I like this next part
He says fret not thyself in any wise to do evil
So he's saying, you know, stop being angry stop being mad
But whatever you do don't do evil as a result of anger
So look sometimes getting rid of anger can be easier said than done
Sometimes it's easy to say stop being mad
But you know sometimes just kind of hard to get rid of the anger and maybe you are going to be angry from Monday to Tuesday
Or Tuesday to Wednesday even though you shouldn't because we're imperfect people
We're human and sometimes we might hold a grudge from one day to the next maybe against our spouse or against you know
Loved ones friends enemies, whatever, you know, sometimes we could be angry from day to day
But what the Bible is saying is look the best thing to do is is put off the anger and chill out
But even if you're mad whatever you do
Don't cross the line of doing evil as a result of your anger, right because anger can lead to violence
Right if somebody gets really angry then they can get violent and I'm not just even talking about being physically violent because also what else?
Can anger lead to just other sins there could be a temptation to?
Slander there could be a temptation to fight fire with fire
There could be a temptation to you know
Go on the offense and start doing something that crosses the lines of morality or what the Bible says to punish people ourselves
When in reality we need to rely on the Lord that he's gonna punish people instead of thinking like I have to go punish people
I have to take things into my own hands. No vengeance belongs to the Lord
He will repay he will recompense and so the Bible saying cease from anger and forsake wrath
But in any wise no matter what in any situation
Whatever you do fret not thyself to do evil why why Lord he gives the because in verse 9 for
Evil doers shall be cut off like like why are you gonna sit there and and stay mad and then go out and take?
Things into your own hands when God's gonna do it anyway
And here's what it is if you take things into your own hands if you take vengeance into your own hands
You know what you're doing. You're doubting that God's gonna do it
I mean think about what if my wife asked me to fix something around the house
Okay, and I said I will fix that this week
I will get it done and then what if like two days go by and then she just does it herself
What is she saying if she asked me to do it and I said I'll do it this week and is that soon enough?
Yeah, this week's fine. Okay, great. I'll get it done this week two days later
She's doing it herself. What is she basically saying? You know is like well, she didn't think I was gonna do it
She felt like I got to take this into my own ass rather than just sitting back and letting it happen
Because I'm gonna take care of it. Does everybody understand what I'm saying. So God's up in heaven and God is saying hey
You know what? I'm gonna take care of this. I will punish the wicked
I will punish the evildoer don't fret don't trip. Don't worry about it. Relax. Don't get mad
Even if you do get mad don't take things into your own hands. Just take it easy
Okay, and then I go out and take things into my own hands. What am I saying?
I don't believe him when he said he was gonna do it or you say well, maybe she's just impatient
Maybe she just decided I don't want to wait the week
I just well guess what we need to wait the week God wants us to wait on him
And what does the Bible say those exact words wait on the Lord trust in the Lord
He's gonna bring it to pass commit your way to him seize from anger. Don't get mad because here's the thing
If we truly knew that all the wicked people that all the enemies were gonna get what was coming to them
We wouldn't be mad. We wouldn't be upset anymore
Would we you know a lot of people are mad about the Epstein thing and they ought to be mad about it because it's
disgusting and evil the all this human trafficking and and evil that went on and
All these people in government that are covering for one another and all these raunchy things that they did or that they had knowledge of
Or that they either participated in or condoned of or what it went along with. Okay, but here's the thing if
If we knew every single person involved in that Epstein business is
Eventually gonna get punished like they're eventually gonna be in an orange jumpsuit
They're eventually gonna be put away there, you know, then then, you know, people would feel better about it, wouldn't they?
They wouldn't be like I don't want to wait the 30 days for that to come out or I don't want to you know
If you know that it's eventually coming it's like who cares right it happens a month from now two months from now
You just want to know that people are gonna get what's coming to them
But guess what?
God has promised us in this passage over and over again that all of those people are gonna get what's coming to them all of these
Weirdo perverts in our government and in business and in finance all these people are gonna get what's coming to them
You know the Epstein files at the very minimum are getting released at the Great White Throne of Judgment
You know, it's gonna be unredacted. It's gonna be a hundred percent unredacted at the Great White Throne and and guess what?
It's not gonna be a slap on the wrist
It's not gonna be all let's settle out of court for a few million bucks like that weirdo pervert royal prince
What's his name Andrew Prince Andrew, you know, oh, you know, he just throws some money at it
Makes it go away or whatever. You know what?
Have fun Prince Andrew at the great white throne judgment pulling out your money and trying to say oh, hey, let's just let's just settle outside of court
There's no there's no outside of court at the great white throne because heaven and earth have fled away. There's found no place for them
Everybody's at that great white throne. There's nowhere else to go. There's no one to appeal to there's no backroom deals
There's no plea bargaining
the only way to escape that fate is to put all your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and
Unless Prince Andrew has done that or does that in the future? He's doomed and any of these guys man
If any of these guys if it's not too late for them and they're not so hard-hearted and blinded man
These guys better get saved before it's eternally too late because even if they get away with it on this earth
They are not getting away with it at that great white throne. So they better get saved immediately, you know
I don't think they're gonna hear this sermon, but serves them right. Amen
But you know the Bible says in verse 9
Hey chill out because evildoers shall be cut off but those that wait upon the Lord they shall inherit the earth for yet
A little while and the wicked shall not be
Yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place and it shall not be you're gonna be like man
Whatever whatever happened to that guy. He really went up in flames. He really crashed and burnt. I can't even find him
I don't know where is it's cuz he's dead. That's why we can't find him. That's why we don't know where he is
He's dead. He's probably out in an open field somewhere and didn't even get buried
We don't even know we can't even visit his grave because we're gonna diligently seek his place and not find it
The Bible says verse 10 yet a little while and the wicked shall not be ye they'll shall diligently consider his place and it shall
Not be I can't find this guy
but the meek shall inherit the earth and shove the light themselves in the abundance of peace the wicked plotted against the just and
Nasheth upon him with his teeth the Lord shall laugh at him for he seeeth that his day is coming
You know, I'd rather laugh at things than to be angry all the time, right?
You know, I don't want to go through my life in a rage. I don't want to go through my I want to do what the
Bible says I want to cease from anger
I want to forsake wrath and just believe that God's gonna take care of it
And you know what God's gonna laugh someday when these people get what's coming to them
And you but you know
I can actually start laughing even now and I'll tell you why I can start laughing early
Because of the fact that I know it's gonna happen and it's already as good as done, you know
And that's what faith is that's trust
Relying on the fact that what God says in psalm 37 is real the Bible says in verse number 14 the wicked have drawn out
The sword and have bent their bow to cast down the poor and needy and to slay such as be of upright
conversation their sword shall enter into their own heart and their bows shall be broken a
Little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked now
Some of these verses could seem like they're just kind of out of nowhere, but obviously this is all connected
This is one coherent thought here. Okay, because he's talking about how you know, man the wicked
They're just plotting and planning and trying to destroy those that are of upright con conversation
But what's gonna happen to them verse 15 their swords gonna enter into their own heart, you know
They're gonna end up if they seek to make you look like a fool. They're gonna make themselves look like a fool
They seek to destroy you they end up destroying themselves
And that's what the Bible saying their own sword is gonna enter in their own heart
their bows shall be broken and then he says in verse 16 this might seem like kind of
random out of nowhere unrelated a little that a righteous man hath is better than the
riches of many wicked the idea here is that you know
Even if you look at wicked people and you see them just having a bunch of money and prosperity
Realize that your life is better than theirs, right?
Your life is better, you know
And and again, we know that there are these stars and you know, I'm gonna pick you know an outdated example
Just cuz it's easy and I'm lazy but Michael Jackson, you know
Michael Jackson is literally having to be anesthetized every night to go to sleep at night, right?
I mean, that's how he died because you know doing all that anesthesia can ultimately be dangerous
And so he is literally he can't even just go to bed and just lay there and fall asleep
No, he has to take anesthesia. Like if you're going into surgery, he has a physician by his bedside
Antisizing him to bed at night now that's kind of extreme example, right?
But you know what pick name the rock star name the pop star, you know, a lot of it's the same story
Okay, and you know you think I you know, I read about Jimi Hendrix that basically Jimi Hendrix and his band basically
It's like they have to take drugs in order to perform
They can't even perform on stage without taking drugs to get them going and then when they're done
They got to take different drugs to put them to bed at night
So it's like they got to take the downers before bed they got to take the uppers in order to get work done
You know what is that really a happy blessed life, you know, and it's like, oh, it's so great
Oh the the glamour and the fame and the startup and guess what? It's not just rock stars, you know fill in the blank TV actors
movie actors
Fashion models, you know
These people live difficult painful lives because the way of transgressors is hard
and so if you see a bunch of people making money the easy way and you're sitting there grinding at your job and
Just trying to make ends meet and you're pinching pennies over here. Meanwhile some woman down the street
She's making money on only fans, which is a pornography website, right?
So basically it's like oh look how easy it is to make all this money through pornography must be nice. Listen to me
I guarantee you that even if you're grinding even if you're pinching pennies and even if you're struggling to make ends meet you
Young Christian lady you Christian mother you Christian homeschooler you Christian wife
You stay-at-home wife stay-at-home mother or you know, maybe you're out there working and and and you know, whatever your situation
Let me tell you something. You're happier than this pornographer is now
How do I know that you're happy than these bunch of stinking pornographers on?
Only fans is because the Bible says a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of any wicked
So if I'm making some tiny amount of money, but I have integrity it's better. I'm happier
I'm enjoying it more than the person who's just rolling in the dough from selling drugs from human
Trafficking from being a pimp from being a prostitute that money is no good
You know the Bible says the blessing of the Lord maketh rich and he added no sorrow to it
Okay, why because a lot of riches come with sorrow come with pain
They come with things that you can't even imagine and so wouldn't it be foolish to envy that and you know
What's funny is that we have some news station around here this called?
Family AZ families anybody know what I'm talking about. What is it like? It's like a TV station. Is that what it is?
It's like a news station
I I think it's a TV channel, but I saw it as like a Facebook page AZ family
It was like a media local media thing and some of you probably know what I'm talking about AZ family ran an article
glorifying prostitution, you know, just it's literally called family and it's talking about
Oh, oh this schoolteacher quit her school teaching job
And now she's making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on OnlyFans and whatever
And people were commenting like how is this family even non-christians even people who don't even care about
religion are saying how in the bleepity bleep bleep is this a family channel and you're telling people how oh
You know, she quit her low-paying teaching job and now she's just doing so great making all this money
You know what? Why would you write a story like that? You piece of trash because you're glorifying wickedness
You're glorifying sin. You're glorifying prostitution. It's so empowering for women. No, it's an embarrassment humiliation
then you know you flip the page and some kid is committing suicide because he's getting bullied at school because everybody saw his mom naked because
His mom is a sleaze and a whore
You know, the Bible says a little that a righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked
You know what?
I know that maybe you're not making as much money as you want to make and maybe you're struggling and grinding and
You're playing life on difficult mode because guess what the Christian life you're playing on difficult
And then you see these people that seem like they're playing on easy mode
And it's just so easy for them just strip off their clothes and make a bunch of money
But let me tell you something the way of transgressors is hard
Do not envy them your little tiny bit is better
You know you go out to dinner once a month or once a year
You're probably enjoying it more than people are going out to dinner every single day
But they have to take drugs to go to sleep at night because you know what?
I'm sorry, but not being able to sleep at night. It's horrible, and I think we've probably all been there who has ever
Struggled with insomnia at some point in your life. Yeah, it's terrible isn't it horrible one of the worst things ever
I've struggled with it before it's awful
And you know I you know whenever I start with I lay in bed
And I'm just like God you said you give your beloved sleep you I thought you loved me here
Give me some sleep, and you know it's something that virtually everybody looks like has dealt with it at some point in their life
How would you like that to just become a permanent lifestyle drugs to get to sleep at night? That's not that's not happiness
That's not Mike. That's not life goals
Hashtag goals for the new year
Medicaid to sleep every night well the Bible says the arms of the wicked verse 17 are gonna be broken
But the Lord upholdeth the righteous the Lord knoweth the days of the upright and their inheritance shall be forever
They shall not be ashamed in the evil time and in the days of famine they shall be
Satisfied, you know when the evil time comes when the difficult times come God's gonna take care of us and we're gonna we're not gonna starve
What's that worth?
You know, we're gonna have food when hard times come now the Bible never promised that we're gonna be rich and and and have every
Fancy thing but you know what the Bible did promise us food and clothing and you know what you have permission
To stop being content when you lose all your food and all your clothes then you can start complaining
Okay, but as long as you got food and Raymond was the Bible say and having food and Raymond let us be there with content
And by the way, it doesn't say having filet mignon and lobster
Let us be aware with you know, it might not necessarily be the fanciest thing
It could be just something to sustain you it could be cheap food rice and beans whatever
But you know what if we have proper nutrition and clothing, you know what?
We got to just power through and God's gonna bless us and in the end
It's gonna be great but the Bible says in the days of famine they shall be satisfied
But the wicked shall perish and the enemies of the Lord verse 20 shall be as the fat of lambs
They shall consume into smoke shall they consume away? What's the Bible saying? There is they're gonna be sacrificed
What does that mean when it says the fat of lambs?
Consuming into smoke this is talking about an animal sacrifice the picture right of the lamb on the altar
Burning the fat unto the Lord
They would burn off the fat of the Lord and the fat is converted into smoke that goes up and is a sweet savor in the Lord's
Nostrils and you know what the Bible is saying here is that the wicked are gonna be
Sacrificed and you know what? Here's the thing about that is that I'm thankful that the Lamb of God
Jesus Christ was already sacrificed for me and already paid for all my sins because let me tell I don't want to be sacrificed
I'm glad Jesus was sacrificed. So I don't have to get sacrificed the wicked are getting sacrificed
It's what the Bible says the wicked borroweth and payeth not again
But the righteous showeth mercy and giveth, you know
It's interesting about these mega stars isn't it amazing how they end up making millions and millions of dollars and then being in debt
You know I back when Michael Jackson was alive
I used to joke around say I have more money than Michael Jackson because I did because Michael Jackson's net worth was negative
My net worth is positive. Even if it's just a couple bucks
What kind of an idiot makes millions of dollars and then is in debt millions of dollars and goes bankrupt?
Right the wicked borrow and they pay not again. That's not that's not blessing. That's not the way I want to live my life
That's not a goal for the new year rack up debt that I can't pay
That's a terrible way to live life for such as be blessed of him shall inherit the earth and they that curse
Or they that be cursed of him shall be cut off the steps of a good man are
Ordered by the Lord and he delighteth in his way though
He fall he shall not be utterly cast down for the Lord upholdeth them with his hand the Bible saying look even when we
Quote-unquote fall or crash and burn, you know, we're not totally wiped out. It's like in a boxing match
We're knocked down, but we're not knocked out. We get back up. We keep going though
We fall he should not be utterly cast down
Why the Lord upholdeth them with his hand right we fall down God picks us up and we keep going
I've been young and now I'm old yet
Have I not seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread saying look man. I've lived my whole life
I've been young. I'm old I have decades and decades and decades of experience and you know what I've seen people forsaken
I've seen people left out to dry. I have seen people forsaken. I've seen them begging bread
I've seen their kids begging bread, but he said I've never seen the righteous forsaken and I've never seen his kids begging bread
I don't know pastor. I understand. I don't know if I believe that well
That's the whole point of this chapter believe it have faith in it trust it commit yourself to the Lord
Trust in the Lord put your faith in the Lord and realize hey God is gonna take care of you
You're not gonna run out of you're not gonna run out of money and starve to death. You're not going to you say
Well people starve death not the righteous not their seed. I believe this never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread
He is ever merciful talking about the righteous and let it and watch this and his seed is blessed
His seed is blessed now the primary application here of the seed being blessed
You know, we got to take the context because what was the seed in the previous verse talking about his kids
It says, you know that I've never seen the righteous forsaken and I've never seen his seed begging bread
Meaning like if I if I said to my kids like kids we have no food
We are starving and so kids I need you guys to go stand on the corner and I need you guys to go beg
Because that's the only way you're gonna get fed because I don't have any food for you, right? Wouldn't that be terrible? I mean
First of all as parents we would never want to say that to our kids and our kids never want to hear that our kids
Take it for granted. They roll out of bed and it's just give me cereal, you know, right?
It's like every toddlers first word in my house is cereal because it says it's a word that's necessary for survival
You know, the mom, you know mama's important, you know dad dad's good. But cereal is pretty high on the list
Cereal, you know, I mean I literally
You know how to knock on my door recently of my bedroom and I said who's there and the answer was just cereal
It's just like enough said, you know, I know who this is. It's like it's like hey cut the small talk dad
You know, it's just let's get to the point cereal. Okay, so he's a man a few words
You know what's interesting when it says oh, you know, I've never seen the righteous forsaken
I've never seen his seed baking bread and up his seed is
Blessed, you know what? I'll guarantee you about this though
I'll guarantee you that the child who curses his parents is not gonna get this blessing because when the Bible says oh
His seed is gonna be blessed and oh, I've never seen his seed baking bread, you know
In order to get that blessing you got to stay on the boat
You got to stay on the ship don't you because let me give you an example
About a certain Bible character that definitely classifies as a righteous man and that man's name is Noah
Noah was the most godly man on the planet, right?
I mean how many people can say that only one right now and we don't even know who the heck it is
He doesn't know who it is or she who the greatest person is on the planet right now
We don't know but we know that when Job was around he was the greatest guy on the planet
And we know that when Noah was around he was the greatest guy on the planet
There's eight billion people, you know chances are it's none of us or anyone we've probably ever met in our lives
But somebody out there has this distinction, but Noah was the greatest man on the planet
I mean if anybody's gonna be blessed, it's him and his seed, but let me ask you this when Noah's seed
Messed with him when Noah's seed seed
Dishonored him when Noah's seed did him dirty when Noah's seed
Cursed him what happened to that seed of Noah and you know the world of what does the Bible say Noah?
Once he woke up from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done on him. What did he say?
Cursed be Canaan and let me tell you something
Canaan was cursed and all throughout the Bible we see that nation of Canaan being a
God forsaken
Cursed nation so did
Canaan get these blessings that we that we read up here in Psalm 37 didn't ham get these blessings here
No, he sure didn't no he didn't get these things because he
Obviously burned his father and well, guess what? Well, you're not on the boat anymore. You're not on the ship anymore
You don't get the blessings, you know, and so when the Bible says here
I've never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread
You know, this is talking about actually the seed that are actually honoring their father and mother
where the parents actually want them to have what they need and care about them and are taking care of them and
You know don't want them to be begging and struggling and suffering, you know
I mean, what did Noah want for Canaan? Noah just wanted to be cursed. Isn't that what he said?
He said curse it be Canaan a servant of servants. I don't even want him to be a slave
I want him to be a slave of a slave like what's lower than a slave when you're the slave slave the servant servant
But you know what? He said blessed be sham blessed be Japheth
But cursed be this seed of ham for what ham did and cursed became him. That's what the Bible says
So the Bible says here in verse 27 depart from evil and do good and dwell forevermore
For the Lord loveth judgment and forsake it not as Saints
They are preserved forever, but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off the righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever
The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom and his tongue talketh of judgment
The law of his God is in his heart
None of his steps shall slide the wicked watch it the righteous and seek it to slay him
The Lord will not leave him in his hand nor condemn him when he's judged
Wait on the Lord and keep his way and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land
When the wicked are cut off thou shalt see it. I've seen the wicked in great power and
Spreading himself like a green bay tree yet
He passed away and lo he was not yay
I saw him but he could not be found mark the perfect man and behold the upright for the end of that man is peace
But the transgressors shall be destroyed together the end of the wicked shall be cut off
But the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord
He is their strength in the time of trouble and the Lord shall help them and deliver them
he shall deliver them from the wicked and save them because they
Trust in him now. Now look, this is one of my favorite Psalms. I can't even count how many times I've read this psalm
I mean just a lot of times I'll just go to this psalm
It's not just like reading through the book of Psalms cover to go. He's just like no, let's go to Psalm 37
I mean, this is a psalm that you find yourself visiting over and over again
But you know what this psalm only works if you believe it, right?
You got to believe it you got to believe that this and if you believe that it's true
Then you will obey its teachings because if you like if you don't believe it
Then you're gonna be like well
I have to take things into my own hands because otherwise nothing's gonna get done around here unless I do it myself
Versus well God said he's gonna take care of it
I just need to sit back and watch it happen and just relax and just let it happen and and not stress about it
you know, and so I think that we need to be reminded of this from time to time and
The title my sermon is letting go of the past letting go of the past
Why do I say that is because the fact that you know, there are people that have burned us in the past
I know it's not just me. Am I the only person up here who's ever been burned
now you've probably been burned by people too and you know, I picked the end of the year to preach this sermon because I
Love the end of the year because for me, it's like turning a page
pushing a reset button
Starting over and I'm just gonna tell you right now, you know
I personally have made the decision for myself that you know what I'm going into this new year and I am just cutting loose
Everything that has been bothering me for the last year year and a half
I am just cutting it loose and I'm done with it. It's not gonna bother me anymore
You know what I mean? Because it's just you know what? I'm just I'm just gonna claim the promises of Psalm 37
I'm just gonna believe that Psalm 37 is true
And I'm just gonna let go of the past and just it's a fresh year
And I'm gonna do the exact same thing that I did this year in the sense of on January 1st
The first thing I did this year on January 1st
I took out a piece of paper and I took out a black sharpie and I wrote on that piece of paper zero saved
Zero saved is what I wrote on a piece of paper because I was like, you know what? I'm not gonna live in the past
I'm not gonna think about the salvations of the past
I'm not gonna think about the people that got saved last year the things we did last year
No, no, it's zero saved, you know, and I actually went out soulening on January 1st and
Nobody got saved. So sorry. This wasn't a cooler story, but
January 2nd, it was still zero say, you know
It took me a couple days to get things going but I got it going and I ended up having my best year ever of soul
Winning and on our church had the best year ever of soul winning as well
And and so here's the thing about this is that you know when it comes to the new year
Yeah, you got your goals. You got your news resolutions. I've got a resolution for you or I've got a challenge for you
You know, how about you know the the bitterness the anger the frustration about the past, you know
Maybe just think about just cutting it loose and just having a clean site and maybe this doesn't resonate with you
Maybe I'm just preaching to myself tonight
But I am preaching myself tonight because I'm gonna tell you this right now is that over the past year year and a half
You know, I've been very upset about my situation and you know, I've made no secret about that
And you know, I in fact I just told someone a matter of days ago. Maybe weeks ago. I said, you know what?
I said I'm not at peace about my situation because I don't think it's fair what happened to me
I don't think what happened to me is fair. I don't think it should be allowed to stand
I think that I was done wrong and I was done dirty and I you know
I don't think it's right and and I'm not at peace about it and I'm and I'm upset about it and you know
I can honestly say that over the past couple days
I have made peace with my situation and I am at peace with my situation now and I and I'm ready to let it go
You know and sometimes these things take time
Well, guess what?
I'm there and I'm ready to let it go and I'm ready to move on and and let me tell you why because I thought
About it this way. I thought I thought about the massive injustice that I
frankly wasn't willing to accept the massive injustice that I feel was done unto me and then I put on the other side of the
Scale all the blessings that I have in my life all the good things about my life and you know what I decided I
Decided that if I take all the blessings and all the injustice that you know what God has been good to me
And so I need to just accept God's decisions
Even if I don't understand them even if I don't like them even if it doesn't make sense to me
You know what I am going to eat what is on my plate and so therefore I look at the blessings
I look at the injustice done unto me, and I just decided you know what God's good
And you know what I'm just accepting my situation as is and whatever happens doesn't matter to me anymore because at the end of
The day you know what God has given me a good life and blessed me
And I've got a great year ahead of me. You've got a great year ahead of you
So whatever it is where you feel like you've got a bum rap in life because that's how I feel about certain things
I'm sure you probably feel the same thing too where you feel like certain things about your life aren't fair
Or why did this have to happen or why is it this way right? You know what?
Why don't you just decide you know what the good outweighs the bad. I'm saved. I'm going to heaven
Sins are forgiven food clothing. I'm living in America, right and just what you know
Whatever you maybe your list is different than mine. That's my list. You know what I mean?
It's like my wife loves me. I live in America food clothes great church
Serving God King James Bible
I mean since there's just too much good things around me to sit there and just
Get all mad about the one thing that I can't change or that I or that isn't what I want
So pretty understand what I'm saying. And so, you know, I this has been a struggle for me, but you know what I'm letting it go
I'm letting it go, you know, and look it doesn't mean that I'm exonerating people who've done this to me
It doesn't mean that I forgive them because frankly, I don't forgive them. Don't forgive them. They're not sorry. They're not repentant
I don't forgive them at all. And you know what it's between them and God at this point though
Cuz I'm I'm just gonna go into the new year with my goal to not think about it and to stop caring and I feel that
I've succeeded that I don't care and so, you know for me Psalm 37 is helpful and so I hope it's helpful to you
But for me, you know, I wanted to take you through Psalm 37
so you could see my thought process of Psalm 37 and I expressed anger earlier in the sermon because we were at an anger part
Of the chapter. I wanted you to understand that being angry about being slandered is normal being angry at lies being angry at
Injustice is normal oppression makes a wise man mad, right?
And you know you think about when the Spirit of the Lord came upon King Saul and he chopped up
Oxen and mailed him out to everybody in a way the Bible says his wrath was kindled
Says the Spirit of Lord came upon him his wrath is kindled, you know
So it's not that anger is necessarily always bad
A lot of times it's the appropriate natural normal reaction if somebody I mean if the cop what if the cops bust in your right?
Down just like arrested you for something you didn't do you'd be pretty mad wouldn't you or would you just be like officer?
I don't know. What's going on here
You know, you got what duh you'd be angry and if the people who did that to you got away with it
That would make you mad too. We got to cease from anger forsake wrath and understand that hey
God will take care of it. And you know what a watched pot never boils. We don't need to stand over the stove
Staring at the pot waiting for it to start boiling right what we need to do is stay busy doing good
trusting in the Lord
Doing good carrying out the mission winning souls to Christ and let the dead bury their dead and you know someday
We're gonna heal hear the whistle of that tea kettle and when that tea kettle starts a whistling
We will know that the psalm 37 promises have come true
But we don't need to sit there and stare at the tea kettle saying boil boil you piece of junk
Come on boil boil boil, right?
And you know, honestly, that's how I've been a little bit over the past year, but you know what?
I'm I'm done psalm 37 is the cure. Let's bow. I didn't have water prayer father
We thank you so much for your word Lord
We thank you so much for your promises Lord help us to have the faith and trust to believe the promises and Lord
Thank you so much for the the perfect example of the sinless son of God
Jesus Christ who always walked in perfect faith and holiness and trusted and believed
Lord help us to also have perfect faith in your word and Lord God bless us as we go our separate ways help us to
Spend the next few days the 29th the 30th the 31st Lord help us spend the next few days
thinking about our lives thinking about our service for you and thinking about what kind of people we want to be going into the
New year and what we want to do this year to bring honor and glory to you and it's in Christ name. We pray amen