- Good morning, everyone,
and welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church.
So great to see everybody here.
If we can go ahead and find our seats, get started.
We've all found a seat.
Let's go ahead and grab a hymnal.
And this morning, our first song will be
song number 230, "Sunlight."
Together, song number two.
Everybody, let's open up the service now
with a word of prayer.
Love you so much.
We just thank you so much for this awesome day,
the awesome weather, great church,
all the great people gathered here to sing unto you, Lord.
We just ask now that you help us lift up our voices
and fill us with your spirit as we sing unto you this morning.
And it's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
All right, for our next song,
let's go to song number 334.
334, a blessing, somewhat of a newer song to us.
So let's follow along.
Second or third, we'll all get it together.
It's song number 334.
See you all here this morning.
If you need a bulletin,
please raise up your hand nice and high.
We'll have the ushers come around and get that to you.
On the front there, we have our Bible memory passage.
We're in verse number five,
getting really close to the end of this chapter.
This was an easy one for you,
so hopefully you guys are spending the time
to get that memorized.
On the inside, we do have a special announcement to make.
Congratulations to Austin and Kaitlyn Shipman
on the birth of their son, Luke Leon Shipman.
Luke was born Wednesday, November 12th at 11.23 p.m.,
weighing eight pounds, three ounces,
and measuring 21 inches long.
So let's go ahead and give them a round of applause.
If you haven't noticed in Step Fast Baptist Church,
God's adding to the church daily, it seems like, right?
It's just got all these babies being born, it's great.
There on the inside, we have our service times
and our sowing times.
Of course, we'll have sowing this afternoon at two.
We meet here at the building,
and then we'll partner you up and send you out.
Encourage you to be there for that.
Below, we've got our church stats for the month and year.
We're continuing to pray for our expecting ladies.
Keep each one of those ladies in your prayers.
Some upcoming events to look forward to.
After the service this evening,
we are gonna have our children's choir practice
directly after.
So if your children are gonna be participating in that,
make sure that you're here for that.
Also, next weekend, pastor is gonna be preaching
in Oklahoma City at Anchor Baptist Church,
celebrating their first year anniversary.
So they've made it a full year
and really excited for them and Pastor Oz.
So definitely want to check that out.
If you're able to make it,
I know that would be a great blessing to them as well.
Right after Thanksgiving on the 29th,
we're going to have the Turkey Bowl.
And Brother Lugo, he's going to be leading that
and we'll play some flag football, get out there.
You know, hey nuts to watching football on TV.
Why don't you come out and play some real football
with some men, right?
So definitely show up for that.
We've got our ladies Christmas party, December 5th.
Encourage all of you ladies to attend that.
They'll be here at the church.
Christmas caroling will be December 8th.
And honestly, it's one of my favorite events of the year
is Christmas caroling.
It's really well received.
And if you have not participated in that in the past,
you definitely want to put that on your calendar.
You don't want to miss that.
And then our children will be putting their practice
to good use on the 21st for that service where they'll
be performing for us.
And then we'll have a cookie bake off as well the same day.
Our Christmas candlelight service
will be Christmas Eve, December 24th.
And then on New Year's Eve, we're
going to have men's preaching and pizza for that service.
So lots of fun things.
This is a great time of year for holidays and family,
most especially our church family.
And so I encourage you guys to take time out
to come to each one of those.
On the back, we've got a prayer list.
Keep each one of these people in your prayers
throughout the week.
That's really all the announcements that I have
for you guys this morning.
Of course, Pastor Shelley, if you
can think to pray for him this afternoon,
he's going to be traveling.
But he'll be here this evening preaching for us.
So if you're a visitor, we're thankful that you're
here, but you want to come back this evening.
He's got a great sermon prepared for us this evening.
With that, we'll go to our next song.
In your black book, it's going to be Psalm 126, Psalm 126.
"Pray thou, Psalm 126, Psalm 126."
Chapter number six, that is John chapter six.
In six, the Bible reads, "After these things,
Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee,
which is the Sea of Tiberias.
And a great multitude followed Him,
because they saw His miracles, which He did
on them that were diseased.
And Jesus went up into a mountain,
and there He sat with His disciples.
And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
When Jesus then lifted up His eyes
and saw a great company come unto Him,
He saith unto Philip, when shall we
buy bread that these may eat?
And this He said to prove Him, for He Himself
knew what He would do.
Philip answered Him, 200 penny worth of bread
is not sufficient for them, that every one of them
may take a little.
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother,
saith unto Him, there was a lad here
which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes,
but what are they among so many?
And Jesus said, make the men sit down.
Now there was much grass in the place,
so the men sat down in number about 5,000.
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks,
He distributed to the disciples and the disciples
to them that were set down, and likewise of the fishes,
as much as they would.
When they were filled, He said unto His disciples,
gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Therefore they gathered them together and filled 12 baskets
with the fragments of the five barley loaves,
which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle
that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth that profit
that should come into the world.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come
and take Him by force to make Him a king,
He departed again into a mountain Himself alone.
And when even was now come, His disciples went down
unto the sea and entered into a ship
and went over the sea toward Capernaum.
And it was now dark and Jesus was not come to them.
And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
So when they had rode about five and 20 or 30 furlongs,
they see Jesus walking on the sea
and drawing nigh unto the ship and they were afraid.
But He saith unto them, "It is I, be not afraid."
Then they willingly received Him into the ship
and immediately the ship was at the land
whither they went.
The day following, when the people which stood
on the other side of the sea,
saw that there was none other boat there,
save that one whereunto His disciples were entered,
and that Jesus went not with His disciples into the boat,
but that His disciples were gone away alone.
Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh
unto the place where they did eat bread,
after that the Lord had given thanks.
When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there,
neither His disciples, they also took shipping
and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus.
And when they had found Him on the other side
of the sea, they said unto Him, "Rabbi,
when camest thou hither?"
Jesus answered them and said, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles,
but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.
Labor not for the meat which perisheth,
but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life,
which the Son of Man shall give unto you,
for Him hath God the Father sealed."
Then said they unto Him, "What shall we do
that we might work the works of God?"
Jesus answered and said unto them,
"This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him
whom He hath sent."
They said therefore unto Him, "What sign showest thou then
that we may see and believe thee?
What dost thou work?
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written.
He gave them bread from heaven to eat."
Then Jesus said unto them, "Verily, verily,
I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven,
but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven
and giveth life unto the world."
Then said they unto him, "Lord, evermore give us this bread."
And Jesus said unto them, "I am the bread of life.
He that cometh to me shall never hunger,
and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
But I said unto you, that ye also
have seen me, and believe not.
All that the Father giveth me shall come to me,
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
For I came down from heaven not to do mine own will,
but the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will which hath sent me,
that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing,
but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of him that sent me,
that every one which seeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up
at the last day.
The Jews then murmured at him, because he said,
I am the bread which came down from heaven.
And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph,
whose father and mother we know?
How is it then that he sayeth, I came down from heaven?
Jesus therefore answered and sent it to them,
murmur not among yourselves,
no man can come to me except the father
which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets,
and I shall be all taught of God,
every man therefore that hath heard
and hath learned of the father cometh unto me,
not that any man hath seen the father,
save he which is of God, he hath seen the father.
Verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me
hath everlasting life, I am that bread of life.
Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness
and are dead.
This is the bread which cometh down from heaven,
that a man may eat thereof and not die.
I am the living bread which came down from heaven.
If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.
And the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world.
The Jews, therefore, strove among themselves,
saying, how can this man give us this flesh to eat?
Then Jesus said unto them, verily,
I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
dwelleth in me and I in him.
As the living Father hath sent me,
and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me,
even he shall live by me.
This is that bread which came down from heaven,
not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead.
He that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said,
This is an hard saying, who can hear it?
When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it,
he said unto them,
Doth this offend you?
What and if ye shall see the Son of Man is sent up where he was before?
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not; for Jesus knew from the beginning who they
were that believed not, and who should betray him.
And therefore said I unto you, That no man can come unto me, except that were given
unto him of my father.
From that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him.
Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.
Can we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the living God?
Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being
one of the twelve.
Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer.
Father in heaven, we thank you for this day and for this church service.
I pray that you fill Brother Fer with your spirit and enable him to preach the message
you've laid on his heart with boldness and clarity of mind.
Help us, Lord God, to apply this message to our lives and to serve you better.
We love you.
In Jesus' name, I pray.
Amen.
Well, I want to start off by just thanking Pastor Shelley for the opportunity to preach
as always.
We're going to look back at verse number 60.
The Bible says, "Many, therefore, of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, 'This is an
hard saying.
Who can hear it?'
When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at him, he said unto them, 'Does
this offend you?
What, and if ye shall see, the son of man ascend up where he was before?
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.
But there are some of you that believe not.
For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray
him.
And he said, 'Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were
given unto him of my father.'"
Notice this in verse 66, "From that time, many of his disciples went back and walked
no more with him."
So Jesus is explaining a very difficult truth to the Pharisees, and of course his disciples
are there, and they're hearing this.
And even his disciples, they said, "Hey, this is a hard thing.
Who can hear this?
Who can comprehend this?
What is it that you're saying, right?"
And Jesus, what does he do?
He just plainly tells them.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, right?
It's a spiritual saying that he was speaking unto them about eating his flesh and eating
his blood.
It wasn't literal.
He explains this hard truth unto them, but yet what ends up happening?
Many of the disciples departed from Jesus at this time.
Many of them went away from him, and yet not all.
The Bible, we'll continue reading, it says in verse 67, "Then said Jesus unto the twelve,
will ye also go away?
Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life.
And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God."
And the title of my sermon this morning is "Loyalty to Christ."
Loyalty to Christ.
Notice that many disciples, when they hear difficult sayings, difficult doctrine in the
Bible, what ends up happening?
They end up being disloyal to Christ.
They end up departing from Christ.
But yet there are still some who, because of their faith, continue to be loyal to Christ.
And this is something that you're going to notice in this sermon is that there is a strong
correlation in the Bible between having great faith and being very loyal to Christ.
They go hand in hand.
And it's kind of interesting if you look at verse 66.
This is John 6, 66.
Now I get it that the chapter and verses are not inspired by God, but it is kind of interesting
that this number that's kind of notorious in the Bible is indicating people who are
not loyal to God.
They're not loyal to Christ.
They're departing from Christ.
And the reality is that somebody who is disloyal to Christ is of Satan.
There's somebody that is having a satanic mindset.
And I'm not saying that somebody who departs or is disloyal to Christ is unsaved.
Okay?
That's not what I'm saying.
But think about this.
Jesus, what did he say to Peter?
He said, "Get behind me, Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but of men."
Right?
So it is possible for a saved person to have a wicked heart or a heart of unbelief and
not trusting in Jesus.
And that's exactly how God feels about it is that it's satanic.
It's something that we should not do.
God expects us to be loyal to Him.
He expects us to be loyal to Him.
Go to Hebrews chapter number three, go to Hebrews chapter number three.
I want to prove this again in another verse, Hebrews chapter number three, of course, this
is talking about the children of Israel that had a disbelief in God or they didn't trust
in God to bring them into the promised land.
Notice what the Bible says in verse number 12, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in
any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from the living God."
So notice this correlation of unbelief and disloyalty, right?
Not only that, what does the Bible say is that if you are departing from Christ, if
you're not loyal to Christ, you have an evil heart.
It's satanic to be disloyal to Christ.
And really what I want to preach to you this morning are three areas in your life where
you should be loyal to Christ, where you should be loyal to Christ.
But before I even get to there, I want to kind of give you just a kind of a silly illustration
or a silly anecdotal point to this, right?
What is loyalty?
You know, those who know me know that I love college football, right?
And especially Oklahoma State University.
The only reason why is because that's where I grew up.
I grew up in Stillwater, a little town outside of Stillwater.
So from a little boy, I watched and listened on the radio with my dad to the football games.
And back when I was a kid, they were terrible.
They were awful.
And you know, as I got older and then I ended up going to college, that's actually where
I ended up getting my degree at was at Oklahoma State University.
And when I was there, I had season tickets, I was eight up with it.
And I would go to every game.
And I was very loyal to Oklahoma State.
And you know, of course, anybody who follows college football knows that Oklahoma State
is awful again this year.
They're terrible.
I think the record's like one in nine.
I mean, it's bad.
They couldn't even beat Tulsa.
I mean, and again, if you don't watch college football and you don't care, that's fine.
You're probably just going to go, you know, you're blanking out right now and that's fine.
But they're awful.
But you know, the motto for Oklahoma State is loyal and true, loyal and true.
And you know, I've noticed with the younger generations, you know, that would be, you
know, from that area that, you know, they'll root for the enemy as long as we're not facing
the enemy.
Right.
They'll root for it.
And you say, well, who's the enemy?
Oklahoma University.
And it's funny is like there's one game out of the year where I root for the Texas Longhorns.
You know what game that is?
It's the Red River rivalry.
You know why?
Because I could care less about anything other than, oh, you losing.
Why?
Because I'm loyal to Oklahoma State.
I'm loyal to my alma mater, if you will.
And of course, I'm not up here promoting college.
Don't get me wrong.
Obviously, this is kind of a silly example.
But at the end of the day, I'm never going to root for OU.
I root for every team that they're playing against.
Right?
Why?
Because I hate OU.
Because I'm loyal to Oklahoma State.
And that's what it means to be loyal, is even when things aren't going well, even when
things are going as bad as they could possibly be, you stay loyal to whoever it is that you're
loyal to.
Right?
And so in this case, we're talking about Christ.
Whether you're having the highest point in your life as a Christian, or you're at the
lowest point in your life as a Christian, you know what God expects of you?
Is you to be loyal to Christ.
Loyal to God.
Loyal to the Scriptures, the Word of God.
That's what God expects of us.
And I want to show you three areas in your life where you should be loyal to Christ.
Go ahead and turn to 1 Samuel chapter number 18, 1 Samuel chapter number 18.
The first area is that you should be loyal in service.
You should have loyalty in service.
And we see a great example of this with Jonathan towards David.
Jonathan was somebody who was very loyal to his friend, David.
And I want to show you the extent of his loyalty.
Notice there in verse number 1, 1 Samuel 18 verse 1, the Bible reads, "And it came to
pass when he had made it end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with
the soul of David.
And Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
And Saul took him that day and would let him go no more home to his father's house."
Notice this in verse three, "Then Jonathan and David made a covenant because he loved
him as his own soul.
And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him and gave it to David and
his garments, even to his sword and to his bow and to his girdle."
You see this picture of loyalty that Jonathan has for his friend David.
And what is it that Jonathan does?
He's willing to give and sacrifice everything that he has to be loyal to his friend David.
He's sacrificing his sword, his bow, his girdle.
He loved David.
David was his friend.
It was his best friend.
And he was somebody who was very loyal to David, even though it was going to cost him
his position, his future inheritance of the throne.
I mean, Saul was king.
He could have just sided with his dad thinking, hey, I'm going to gain the kingdom.
But did Jonathan?
Jonathan is somebody who's very humble.
He didn't really necessarily care about the accolades or the position.
He cared more about just being loyal to his friend, David.
That's a great example for us as Christians.
Of course, David pictures the Lord Jesus Christ, right?
And so us as the friend of Jesus, what should we be to Jesus?
We should be as loyal as Jonathan was to David, being willing to sacrifice any position in
this life, being willing to sacrifice family.
Jonathan sided with Saul over his own father.
He was willing to sacrifice his family, his position, his possessions, his safety, all
because he wanted to remain loyal to David.
It's a great example for us as Christians is that we should have this mindset that I'm
going to serve Christ and I'm going to be loyal in service to Christ.
Flip over to chapter number 19, just the next chapter, notice what the Bible says in verse
one and Saul spake to Jonathan his son and to all his servants that they should kill
David.
But Jonathan, Saul's son, delighted much in David and Jonathan told David saying, "Saul,
my father seeketh to kill thee.
Now therefore I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning and abide in a secret place
and hide thyself and I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art
and I will commune with my father of thee and what I see that I will tell thee."
So Jonathan again is willing to put his life on the line to remain loyal to his friend
David.
It's a great example of how we as Christians, we should be willing to sacrifice the things
that we have in this life to be loyal to Christ, to have that kind of faith to do that.
And again, remember, faith and loyalty, they go hand in hand.
Jonathan would not be able to have accomplished these things that he did for David if he didn't
have a lot of faith in God.
So we have a great example here of Jonathan and David.
Go to Matthew chapter number four, Matthew chapter number four.
Look at another example of those that were loyal in service.
Matthew chapter number four, the Bible says in verse number 18, it says, "And Jesus walking
by the sea of Galilee saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew his brother, passing
a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
Of course, he's referring to the fact that they're going to win souls for Christ, right?
Instead of doing carnal fishing, which is fun and great, and they've got to do this
as a job, right?
Jesus said, "Hey, I'm going to make you a fisher of men," going out and preaching the
gospel and getting people saved, something that has more eternal value.
Verse 20, it says, "And they straightway left their nets and followed him."
I love that word straightway.
My son, because we'll read the Bible and stuff, my son uses that word in his vocabulary
a lot.
It always cracks me up.
He's just like straightway.
It doesn't matter what he's talking about.
He's always using that word.
I love that word.
Why?
It means immediately.
It means they didn't hesitate.
They went and they straightway followed Jesus.
Notice verse 21, "And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of
Zebedee and John his brother in a ship with Zebedee, their father mending their nets.
And he called them and they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him."
So again, we have this example of four men, they were in a family business, you know,
they're probably well off, they were serving alongside their father, you know, they had
this business that's going to be handed down to them and what was it that they were willing
to do when Jesus told them to follow them is they were willing to remain loyal to Christ
as opposed to loyal to their family, loyal to those that were close to them.
So they took up, you know, they dropped the things that they were doing and they left
immediately and followed Christ.
And so again, we see this example of, you know, there's a sacrifice, there is often
a cost to remaining loyal to Christ.
To being loyal to Christ, there is a cost associated with that, right?
That could be a career.
It could be family members.
You know, I know many people in here, personal testimonies where their family will not have
anything to do with them because they want to come serve at a church like Steadfast Baptist
Church.
I mean, that's just a reality, is that your family often will not be on your side when
it comes to wanting to serve God.
And praise God if your family does.
You know, I have family members in my immediate family that are going to a new IP church,
that are so wanting that are, you know, increasing and getting better and trying to get sent
out of their life.
Hey, praise God for family members that are willing to serve Christ.
But you know, we should not allow our family members to drag us down with them.
We should be willing to forsake those things and be remain and be loyal unto Christ.
Oftentimes true loyalty requires us to forsake all to follow him.
Go to Luke chapter number nine, Luke chapter number nine, Luke chapter number nine and verse number sixty one.
Another example of the cost to being loyal to Christ in service, it says in verse sixty one.
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee.
But let me first go bid them farewell, which are at my house, which are at home at my house.
And Jesus said unto him, no man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back,
is fit for the kingdom of God.
Now this can be a hard saying for some people, right?
Now what the Bible is not saying, some people, especially those who preach works for salvation,
they love to use verses like this to show like, hey, if you're not completely repentant
of all your sins and willing to drop and become a disciple of Jesus and to give your life
to Christ, you can't be saved.
That's not what the Bible is teaching here.
This word fit, and this is kind of why they say this is because it says you're not fit
for the kingdom of God.
But the word fit has a synonym like appropriate, right?
So obviously Christ expects a lot from us, but you know, nobody gets to heaven because
we deserved going to heaven, right?
Nobody gets to heaven because they earned it.
The Bible says, you know, where we're not going to be boasting about the fact that we
have salvation.
It's only by God's grace and his mercy that we're saved.
But you know, this is what God expects of us, right?
This is what is appropriate for the kingdom of heaven is being willing to remain loyal
to Christ, being willing to forsake the things of this world and to follow him.
I mean, that this is a key element.
Notice that it's again referring to family and this is just reality is that many times
it is our own family that ends up causing us to look back, you know, to want to go
back to the way it was before you were serving God.
Jesus said, "Hey, no man that puts his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the
kingdom of heaven."
What does that mean?
Well, if your hands on the plow, that means you're already working, right?
You're already out there in the field, you're in the Lord's vineyard working and then, oh,
you start to turn back to, you know, the life you once lived.
You start to turn back to those unsaved family members, you know, and we are getting to,
you know, these times of the year where, you know, the world kind of centers the holidays
around family. And again, there's nothing wrong with spending time with your family,
your flesh and blood, right? But the reality is, is that oftentimes when it comes to Thanksgiving
and Christmas, if they're unsaved, you know, I know this is true in my family and extensions
of my family is that there are a lot of people who like to drink alcohol. There are a lot
of people who like to get involved in ungodly things, and they expect you to come and eat
turkey and eat, you know, food with them and also while they got a glass of wine at the
table or they've got alcohol or some booze or whatever, right? You know, and this can
be a really difficult season of life for many Christians. Why? Because they have to make
that difficult choice. Hey, am I going to be loyal to Christ or am I going to be loyal
to my family? And listen, I'm not telling you to not go eat Thanksgiving dinner with
your family. But what I am telling you is that what Christ expects of you is to make
the right decision, right? You don't need to be in that type of environment. You don't
need to be around that type of, you know, things that are going on, sin that's taking
place. You have to make those difficult decisions. And being loyal to Christ requires sacrifice.
It requires tough decisions that you have to make. But the great thing is that when
you serve Christ and you're loyal to Christ, guess what, there are rewards that are also
associated with it. Even though there are great sacrifices, there are also great rewards
that far outweigh any type of, you know, benefit or any type of, you know, comfort you might
have in being around those that would maybe bring you down. You know, it's kind of an
interesting example here that the Lord is bringing up. No man putting his hand to the
plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of heaven. And we have almost an example of
this that teaches us and helps us to understand what this passage is saying. Let's go back
to 1 Kings chapter number 19, because the third example I want to teach you in loyalty
of service to Christ is about Elisha's loyalty to Elijah. Elisha's loyalty to Elijah. 1 Kings
chapter number 19. I like going to this verse, or this passage, when we're talking about
what Jesus spoke of here, because it kind of gives us a real picture as to what this
looks like. It gives us a good example of this. Because Elisha, once he was given the
opportunity to follow Elijah, he sacrificed everything that he had. He sacrificed his
land. He sacrificed his possessions and he sacrificed his family to follow Elijah. Notice
what the Bible says in verse number 19. Let's read this section of passage here. The Bible
says, "So he departed thence and found Elisha, the son of Shafed, who was plowing with twelve
yoke of oxen before him. And he with the twelfth, and Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle
upon him. And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah and said, 'Let me, I pray thee, kiss
my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee.' And he said unto him, 'Go back again,
for what have I done to thee?' And he returned back from him and took a yoke of oxen and
slew them and boiled their flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave unto the
people and they did eat. Then he arose and went after Elijah and ministered unto him."
Now you might be thinking in your mind, it could be really easy to get confused on this
and to think, well didn't Elijah just break what Jesus was commanding them not to do?
But if you think about it, Jesus said no man putting his hand to the plow. So this guy's
actively working, then he starts to go back to where he came from. What does Elisha do?
Elisha, after he's basically given this opportunity to follow Elijah, he takes his yoke of oxen,
he kills it, prepares it for eating, he has his last final meal with his family, and then
he goes to the work. And what you're going to see is that Elisha never turns back to
go back to his family, right? So it can be kind of confusing trying to compare these
scriptures together, but what Jesus, I believe, is saying is that the person asked, "Hey,
can I go back and tell my parents that I'm leaving, that I'm going to go follow you?"
What Jesus is saying is, you know, once you start working, once you start following me,
there's no going back, right? Or else you're not fit for the Kingdom of God. That's not
appropriate. You should remain loyal to Christ. And so you have this turning point in Elisha's
life where he has this opportunity to serve God greatly. And what does he do? He sacrifices
what he has. He basically burns those bridges and there's no going back, right? He decides
to follow Elijah until the very end. And that's exactly what ends up happening. Elisha is
loyal to Elijah to the very end. Skip forward just a couple of chapters to second Kings
chapter two, second Kings chapter number two. And we get to see this play out. Of course,
up until this point, Elisha has been Elijah's right hand man. He's been there with him.
But you know, this is the definition of loyalty is loyalty is to the very end. Loyalty does
not stop. Loyalty does not quit on Christ or serving God. Loyalty's to the very end.
Notice what the Bible says in verse number one, second Kings two, one, the Bible says,
and it came to pass when the Lord would take up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind that
Elijah went with Elisha from Gilgal. And Elijah said unto Elisha, Terry here, I pray thee,
for the Lord has sent me to Bethel. And Elisha said unto him, as the Lord liveth and as thy
soul liveth, I will not leave thee. So they went down to Bethel and the sons of the prophets
that were at Bethel came forth to Elisha and said unto him, knowest thou that the Lord
will take away them by master from my head today? And he said, yeah, I know it. Hold
you your peace. And Elijah said unto him, Elisha, Terry here, I pray thee, for the Lord
has sent me to Jericho. And he said, as the Lord liveth and as thy soul liveth, I will
not leave thee. So they came to Jericho. And the sons of the prophets that were at Jericho
came to Elisha and said unto him, knowest thou that the Lord will take away thy master
from my head today? And he answered, yeah, I know it. Hold you your peace. That was kind
of interesting. He's like, these guys, they're basically telling Elisha, you know, Elijah's
not going to be around anymore, right? And to somebody who's not loyal, this could be
an open door for them to just kind of go back and do what they were doing before, right?
To kind of just, okay, this is it. This is the end. But no, Elisha showed great loyalty
to Elijah because of his faith, right? It was his faith in God that allowed him to keep
going and to not allow these opportunities to leave Elijah. We'll keep reading. Notice
in verse number, verse number six, the Bible says that Elijah said unto him, "Terry, I
pray thee here, for the Lord has sent me to Jordan." And he said, "As the Lord liveth
and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee." And they too went on. And 50 men of the sons
of the prophets went and stood to view afar off and they stood by Jordan. And Elijah took
his mantle and wrapped it together and smoked the waters and they were divided hither and
thither so that they too went over on dry ground. And it came to pass when they were
gone over that Elijah said unto Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken
away from thee." And Elisha said, "I pray thee, let a double portion of thy spirit be
upon me." And he said, "Thou hast asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if thou see me when
I am taken from thee, it shall be so unto thee." Notice this, "But if not, it shall
not be so." So, in order for Elisha to have received this double portion of the spirit
of Elijah, what was required of Elisha? His loyalty. He had to remain loyal to Elijah
all the way to the bitter end. Even though Elisha had to give up many things, he had
to give up his possessions, his family. There were sacrifices involved with being loyal,
yet there was also reward. And the reward far outweighed any sacrifice that he had to
give up, isn't it? I mean, he got a double portion of the helping of the spirit of Elijah.
But here's the thing though, if he didn't remain loyal until the end, he was not going
to get that, right? And you know, there are some things, some rewards that we will not
receive from God unless we remain loyal to Christ and to the bitter end. Right? The Bible
teaches this concept of, of finishing the race that is set before us. Right? There's
no reward for, for, you know, getting out early, right? For stopping halfway. They don't,
they don't hand out the 13.1 reward to the marathon runner in, you know, the kingdom
of God. Right? Now I get it. You run a half marathon, you can get a reward. But in God's
kingdom, there's no reward for stopping halfway. You got to finish the whole race. Right? And
so you see this great example of Elisha's loyalty to Elijah, even maybe it wasn't even
convenient, right? Maybe in times where he had these opportunities to leave. And this
is what I believe God is trying to get across to us is that once we decide to follow him,
once we decide to be loyal to him, we should remain loyal. You know, there's that song,
"I've decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back." Right? So, you know,
this is a concept that we as Christians, we need to embrace is to remain loyal to Christ.
And even though there might be sacrifices involved with that, there are also going to
be great rewards. Elisha received a double portion of Elijah's spirit. Go to Mark chapter
number 10. Let's look at another passage on this. Mark chapter number 10. I do think a
lot of people struggle with making that decision to get all in and serve God. And this is just
the reality is that the Bible says every man will proclaim his own goodness, but a faithful
man who can find. The reality is that most people are not willing to remain loyal until
the very end. They're not willing to make those sacrifices that are required to be loyal
to Christ. But the good news is that there's rewards at the end of that, not even just
once we've finished our race. Even in this life now, we can still be and have great things
that God can bless us with. You know, I feel so blessed to live in America, you know, to
have the job that I have to have, you know, to be able to do all the things I get to do.
I mean, we live in a great time to serve God. We're extremely blessed by God. And even though
there's sacrifices involved with serving him, hey, the rewards, the benefits far outweigh
those sacrifices. They don't even come close. Notice what the Bible says here in verse number
28, Mark 10 28, the Bible says, "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all
and have followed thee. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, there is
no man that hath left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children
or lands for my sake and the Gospels. But he shall receive in hundredfold now in this
time houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and
in the world to come eternal life." You know, eternal life, we can't even comprehend the
amount of riches that we are going to possess and be able to enjoy in eternal life. You
know, the Bible describes salvation as being the unsearchable riches, right? But not even
that. How about the fact that I have a room full of brothers and sisters that would, you
know, most of you, hopefully all of you would help me at a moment's notice, right? And that's
just true for all of us, right? We have this excellent opportunity, this excellent reward
of just being brothers and sisters in Christ, right? Serving along one another. And, you
know, if one of us gets in a bad spot in our life, often there's so many people that are
just willing to come and help and come alongside that person, offer prayers, offer financial
help, offer, you know, whatever it is that is needed. And, you know, that's what I believe
Jesus is talking about here. When he's talking about those who have sacrificed family members
or they sacrificed careers, they sacrificed possessions in this world, that sacrifice
isn't even compared to the reward of serving God. And it's funny. It's like the prosperity
preacher, they forget this verse, you know, they want to tell you, oh, well, if you serve
God and you give money to the church, you're going to just going to get all this abundance
and blessings. And, you know, that is true, but they leave out the part where it says
with persecutions, right? It's like when you're actually serving God, there is going
to be persecutions, right? But even in persecutions, there's great rewards, right?
The Bible says that when we're persecuted, we should leap for joy. We should count it
a joy to go through persecutions because we know that great is our reward in heaven for
going through those things. So even though being loyal and remaining loyal in service
to Christ is going to require sacrifice, there's also rewards that come with that. And that
should give us comfort, that should give us a desire to want to serve God with all our
heart, mind, and soul, right? To give everything to Christ. Just like these examples of Jonathan,
of the disciples, of Elisha, where they're willing to just sacrifice everything just
to remain loyal to Christ. The second point that I have for you this morning is loyalty
and doctrine. We should remain loyal in doctrine. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter number two,
2 Thessalonians chapter number two. And the importance of remaining loyal in doctrine
is this is going to keep us from going astray, right? This is going to keep us from, you
know, believing something that's false, believing something that's wrong. We should care about
the truth. You know, there are plenty of people out there that say, "Oh, well, there is no
absolute truth." And it's funny, it's like, well, is that statement even real? If there's
no absolute truth, then are you sure that there is no absolute truth? But the reality
is there is absolute truth and it comes from the word of God, comes from the doctrine.
And so in order to remain loyal in doctrine, we need to always be identifying the source
of that doctrine, right? It's the source is what matters. And I believe it was on Wednesday
night, pastor was bringing this up about Bible versions, right? What matters is the source.
It doesn't matter how old it is. It doesn't matter who it's coming from. What matters
is the source. Second Thessalonians chapter number two, look at verse 15. It says, therefore,
brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word
or epistle. So you have this commandment by Paul, he's saying, Hey, be loyal to the doctrine,
be loyal to the traditions which you have been taught by word or epistle, by the word
of God. Those are the things that you should be loyal to is being loyal to the word of
God. And you know, there's nothing wrong with tradition, as long as the source of that tradition
comes from the word of God, right? That's what we should always be testing. That's what
we should always be identifying is, Hey, what's the source of the doctrine that I believe?
You know, is the source coming from the word of God and epistle by Paul? Or is that source
coming from a church father? Is that source coming from somebody who wrote a commentary,
but in Matthew chapter number 15. So that would be an example of a good tradition, good
doctrine, right? That we should hold on to. Let's look at an example of a bad tradition.
Matthew 15. And of course, I mean, I could spend a whole and preach a whole sermon on
this topic, right? Bad traditions in the Bible. The Pharisees are kind of just known for
preaching a lot of bad traditions, a lot of bad doctrine. Why? Because they didn't remain
loyal to the word of God. They didn't remain loyal to the doctrine of Christ. Matthew chapter
number 15, the Bible says in verse 1, "Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees which
were of Jerusalem saying, 'Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?'"
You know, that's where they kind of messed up, right? Starting with that as their statement
to Jesus. It says, "For they washed off their hands when they eat bread. But he answered
and said unto them, 'Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?'"
So notice that it's possible to not remain loyal to the doctrine of Christ through traditions,
right? Through these, you know, made up ideologies that come from man. He says, "Why do you transgress
the commandment of God by your tradition?" Verse four, "For God commanded saying, 'Honor
thy father and mother.' And he that curseth father and mother, let him die the death.
But ye say, 'Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, 'It is a gift by whatsoever
that mightest be profited by me.' And honor not his father or his mother, he shall be
free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition." And
the fact is, is that many people today claim to be Christians, claim to preach the Word
of God, but yet what are they doing then making the Word of God of none effect through their
traditions? You know, just look at the Catholic Church. I mean, just pretty much any tradition
of the Catholic Church is, is in contradiction of the commandments of God. It's the complete
opposite. You know, it's as if they're not saved. Could you imagine that? Right? It's
as if they're a bunch of reprobate pedophiles preaching the Word of God, reading the Bible
with a bunch of blindfolds on. And these Pharisees are no different. You know, they're, they're
teaching this idea that you shouldn't provide for your father and mother when the, you know,
if that time ever comes, right? And that's what it means to honor. If you kind of study
this passage, obviously we could look at honoring as like respecting our, our father and mother.
Of course we should do that. But it even goes beyond that to where we should provide financial
help to our, our, our father and our mother if they so need it, right? Not sending them
off to the nursing home, but opening up our own home and, and being a, a help to them.
But yet what were these Pharisees doing? They're basically saying, oh, well, this is a gift
for the house of God, right? This is, this money is set aside. And so, you know, I can't
give it to you. You can't be profited by me because of this money, because it's dedicated
to the house of God or is dedicated to God. And Jesus rebuking them for their stupid tradition,
right? And so you have a lot of people today that are basing their doctrine on the traditions
of men instead of the timeless traditions of the word of God. You know, the word of
God is timeless. You know, it's not old. It's timeless. It has no expiration date. It has
no beginning. It's always existed. You know, the Bible says in a very well-known verse,
you might use out so many in 1 Corinthians 15, "For I delivered unto you first of all
that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to men, according
to tradition, according to the scriptures." Why? Because Paul was loyal to the word of
God. He was loyal in doctrine. You know, and so many people today, you see them splintering
off and coming up with all their weird doctrines or following the doctrines of the blowing
winds of the Catholic Church or whatever church father. Why? Because they did not remain loyal
to the doctrine of Christ. They decided that they're going to come up with their own method,
their own ideology, instead of just staying true to the word of God. And listen, I believe
this is possible or save people to even do this. Save people to get off on doctrine,
to believe things that are just completely wrong, contradiction. I mean, you see this
happen all the time. If you've been paying attention for the last year in this church,
all you would see is the people who stopped being our friends, it just seems like they're
just getting off into some weird doctrine. They're not remaining loyal to the doctrine
of Christ. And it's not because they stopped being friends with our church necessarily,
I mean it's kind of interesting how obviously as a church what do we strive to do? We strive
to believe every word of God regardless of what the rest of this world thinks, regardless
of what commentaries there are. I mean most independent fundamental Baptist want to be
friends with us because we believe what the Bible actually says about the tribulation,
about Zionism. Why? Because they care more about their Schofield reference Bible than
they do staying loyal to the words of Christ. Jesus literally said after the tribulation.
It's like what in the world, dude? But yet they don't want to be our friends. They don't
want to, you know, be affiliated with us. And it's kind of interesting that everybody
that goes and just, you know, stops being our friend, they all of a sudden just start
getting weird on doctrine too. They kind of go hand in hand because, you know, and you
know what that is for me? That's an evidence that we are remaining loyal to the doctrine.
We are remaining loyal to Christ as a church. Go to Galatians chapter number one. Galatians
chapter number one. Let me just show you another example of this. Of course, the churches of
Galatia, they had a lot of issues mainly dealing with circumcision and allowing a twist. I
mean, think about the most basic doctrine in the Bible, salvation, for by grace you
are saved through faith and that not of yourselves is the gift of God, not of works, let's not
mention both. So, you know, the Bible is super clear, you know, the teaching of Christ was
super clear on salvation, but yet you even had churches that were getting off on such
a basic doctrine like salvation. And notice what he says there in verse number 10, it
says, for do I now persuade man or God or do I seek to please men? And this is the question
that these pastors and these teachers that are preaching doctrines that are from the
traditions of their church fathers or, you know, some commentary, they need to ask themselves,
who is it that they're seeking to please? Are they seeking to please a potential friend
like Tyler Baker? I mean, who wants to be friends with that freak? Good night. Or do
they care about pleasing God? Right. And it seems evident that a lot of people, they're
going off and they're being disloyal to Christ in doctrine. Why? Because they care more about
pleasing men than they do caring about pleasing God. Says, or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Listen, you cannot, you cannot
serve two masters. That's what Jesus said. And so, you know, we can't put our, uh, our
loyalty in man. We need to put our loyalty in the timeless doctrine of Christ. Verse
11, it says, but I certify you brethren that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. For I neither received it of men, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. You know, we as, you as an individual and we as a church, we need to
remain loyal to the doctrine of Christ. And you say, well, how do you do that? Well, you
check the source of what you believe. If the source is the King James Bible, the inspired
word of God, hey, you're probably doing pretty good, right? And I'm not saying that, you
know, I have everything figured out. I'm not saying that, you know, we're always going
to be 100% right on every little nuance of the Bible, but you know, there's some easy
and clear doctrines in the Bible that you just can't go wrong on, right? The Bible
is just so clear, you know, when the, when, when Jesus says, Hey, I came not to do my,
to do my own will, but the will of the one, him that sent me, it's like, you can kind
of figure out, Hey, these people have two different wills, right? It's not that hard
to figure out when Jesus told the disciples, we read that passage in chapter number six,
he told the disciples about being offended. He said, will you be offended if the son
of man is sent up from where he was before? It's like, well, where do you think, who's
the he that he's talking about? The son of man, because the son of man was in heaven
before he came down as the incarnate Christ. I mean, these things are not hard to figure
out if you care about doctrine and remain loyal to doctrine. Go to Ephesians chapter
number four, Ephesians chapter number four, he say, well, you know, I'm a new Christian.
So one way to get up to speed on a lot of doctrine is to listen to a lot of good preaching.
Come to church. You know, there's a great sermon out there. It's called go to church
with all thy might. That means you should be in church three times a week. Why? Because
you're going to get three times the preaching every single week. It's what you need as a
Christian to grow and to not be led astray by every wind of doctrine. And this is what
we're being taught here in this passage. If you look there, verse number 11, he says,
I gave and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors
and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge
of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ. So the purpose for pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets is so that way we can all
grow in unity in Christ. We can all start to get the sin out of our life. We can get
roots of bitterness out. We can stop having evil thoughts. That's the whole purpose of
listening to hard preaching, is to clean up your life, to make you a perfect man, a complete
Christian. That's the goal. At least that should be your goal. And you're going to
get a lot of that teaching from the pulpit, from listening to good men of God who are
loyal to the doctrine. But notice this, that not everybody's loyal to doctrine.
Verse number 14, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness. Notice this,
whereby they lie in wait to deceive. Now, I don't know, I could think of a couple of
examples of some guys who come into our church and what do they do? They lie in wait with
cunning craftiness to deceive. They'll get up after they're ordained and say, "Well,
now I can preach all the things I really want to preach. I can preach the things that are
really in my heart." Listen, I'm not making this stuff up. This stuff really happens that
there are men that are not loyal in doctrine to Christ, but rather they're following the
traditions of other men. Their source is a bad source. It's some trash can source. Like
many of the commentaries out there, especially the Schofield Reference Bible. I grew up in
a fundamental Baptist church, and that was just common in IFB churches, because everybody
just had their Schofield Reference Bible. Of course, the guy was bought and paid for
by the Jews. Imagine that, the Jews trying to corrupt God's Word. This is why so many
people get astray, is because there are evil men, there are evil workers that want to deceive,
and they'll come in with cunning craftiness, waiting for their opportunity, waiting for
an opportunity to deceive those that are simple, to deceive children, because notice it's the
children that are tossed to and fro with everyone's doctrine. You know, if you see
somebody who's just like constantly changing on their doctrine, you know what that tells
me is they're not a very mature Christian. It's somebody who actually hasn't studied
a whole lot of the Bible. It's somebody who is, is, uh, has the mentality of a child.
And listen, there's nothing, there's, it's not negative be a child because everybody's
a child. Everybody starts off somewhere, right? But we shouldn't stay a child. I mean, how
weird would it be if I got up here and I'm wearing a diaper and I've got a little binky
in my mouth? I mean, you would be like, pastor, I'd be out of the church. Like you're a weirdo.
Get out of here. Why? Because as an adult, it's not cool to be a baby or a child. You
should grow unto an adult, right? You should desire to grow and to be a perfect man. And
you know, the reality is it's just going to be people out there who don't love you. You
know, the people who just want to tell you what you want to hear, they don't love you.
And we live in a weird society today where it's like people just want to hear, they want
to have itching here, ears, right? They want to hear the things that they want to hear.
They don't want their toes to be stepped on. But let's finish this passage here. Look
at verse 15. It says, "But speaking the truth in love." You know it's loving to say the
truth. You know it's loving to tell you that you're fat and disgusting and you need a change.
You know it's loving to tell you that you need to get the alcohol out of your life.
You know it's loving to tell you to quit, you know, beholding things with your eyes
that you shouldn't behold. You know it's loving to tell you to take the pants off and put
on a dress. Listen, these are loving doctrines. Why? Because it's the truth. And what is the
Bible saying? Speaking the truth in love. You know, we correct our children and we spank
them because we love them. Not because we, if you don't spank your child, you hate your
child. Just in the same way, if you don't tell people the truth, you hate them. If I
have a booger hanging on my nose, the first thing I want somebody to do is tell me that
I have a booger hanging on my nose. I don't want to walk around looking like an idiot.
I want somebody to tell me. You know, that's the attitude we all should have. We should
have that attitude, "Hey, I want somebody to tell me the truth." And yet so many people
they hate Pastor Shelley because he's willing to tell them the truth. You know, and I'll
tell you what, that's why I love Pastor Shelley. That's why I love Steadfast Baptist Church.
Because he's not afraid to tell people the truth. You know, and those are things that
are good for us. That's what's going to help us to be a perfect Christian. It says, "But
speaking the truth in love may grow up unto him into all things which is the head, even
Christ." You know, and I think about Pastor Shelley and so many people hate Pastor Shelley.
I don't know if you've noticed this or not. Man, a lot of people hate Pastor Shelley,
and you know, to those who hate the truth, of course, they're going to hate the person
speaking truth. That's why they killed Jesus, because all he did was speak truth. You know,
people have a weird idea of what Jesus was like in his ministry and what he taught. It's
like Jesus taught some hard things. You know, even his disciples sometimes were like, "It's
not good to get married if that's, you know, what it means to be married for life." Right?
And they couldn't receive some of those things. They struggled with some of those things.
But the reality is that we should love those that tell us the truth. We should want to
embrace those things. And I want to go to another place. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter
number 12 before I lose my thought here. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter number 12. 2 Corinthians
chapter number 12. You know, Paul understood this concept too because a lot of people hated
Paul because he told them the truth. You know, even saved people hated Paul. You know, he's
calling out fornication. He's calling out all these, you know, wicked things that are
going on in the church of Corinth. And a lot of people did not like him. They were talking
crap behind his back. They're saying all kinds of, you know, negative things about Paul.
Notice there in verse number 15, it says, "And I will very gladly spend and be spent
for you, though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved." You know, and this
is true for our pastor. You know, the more he loves us, the more he preaches truth and
sermons that are going to help us to be better Christians, it seems like the more people
don't love him. You know, and he sacrifices so much time, energy, effort. You know, he
sacrifices many of the time that you get to have with your families to get up and preach
sermons and deliver good sermons of truth so that way you can change and be better.
And yet he does that, and yet it seems like he's loved even less, right? Even less people,
you know, want to invite them to their Red Hot Preaching Conferences. It says, it goes
on it says, verse 16, "But be it so, I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty,
I caught you with guile." You know, I'm thankful for a pastor who's willing to do the hard
things, who's willing to say the hard things, to preach the hard things. And, you know,
I'm thankful for pastors willing to root out the bad people. You notice what the Bible
says? I just found this kind of interesting. Paul, he says being crafty, he's talking about
being crafty, I caught you with guile. You know, and I'm thankful for a pastor that roots
out people who are talking crap behind his back, that roots out people who are talking
crap about our church. And, and he, he deals with it. You know, you think he likes dealing
with those things? He doesn't like having to have those conversations and do those things,
but you know what? He does it and praise God for them. You know, and you should have a
more thankful attitude for a pastor that cares about the truth, that is loyal in doctrine.
Right? You should be thankful for a pastor that's willing to do that for you. Last point
that I have for you this morning is loyalty in battle. Loyalty in battle. Go to Judges
chapter number seven, Judges chapter number seven. Loyalty in battle. Now, you know, I
think this is really a good point for people who are new to our church, maybe in the last
year or so. And of course we've had some battles, but the battles we've had recently are kind
of more internal. They're things that are honestly a little bit closer to home, but
even in times past, if you know anything about the history of our church, our church has
been through some really hot battles, right? Some really difficult battles. And there are
a lot of people who did not remain loyal to Christ in battle. Many people stopped serving
God. And I want to, you know, especially for the new people here that maybe haven't been
through those fiery trials, which are to try you, you know, that's the reality is we go
through persecutions, difficulties, battles in his life as if it's a test from God, right?
God is testing us. He's giving us this trial that we're facing, but it's for our benefit.
It's for our good. It's like putting a clump of metal or a clump of rock in a fiery furnace
to then purge out all the infirmities, to purge out all the bad stuff, to purge out
the dross, so that way you come through as gold, right? That's the whole idea of that
process. And so, going through difficult battles, going through persecutions, these are things
that are necessary for a Christian to grow, but the reality is that many people aren't
willing to go through those battles. And I want to kind of show you a couple of verses
about this to help you, because I guarantee you, even though it might be really quiet
outside now, hey, that may not always be the case. You know, that battle with the sodomites,
the fags, the dykes, hey, that battle could come back at any point, right? Right now,
we're living in a time of peace. It seems like the cultural winds have kind of blown
our direction at least when it comes to hating the Jews and the wickedness of the Jews and,
you know, them employing all the faggots and, and disgusting reprobates to come and attack
our church. And we're kind of through that season, and we're in a season of peace, if
you will. But you know, there's always going to be battles on the horizon. And it's important
that you remain faithful to God, because if you don't have faith in God now, when the
battle rages, you're not going to have faith, right? You're going to struggle in that area.
And listen, if you don't have faith, remember, faith and loyalty are closely tied to one
another. Notice there in verse number three, this is Gideon's army that he's going to eventually
gets whittled down to 300. But just for sake of time, we're not going to go through all these
passages. We're just going to look at verse three, the Bible says, "Now therefore, go to proclaim in
the ears of the people, saying, 'Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early
from Mount Gilead, and there return to the people twenty and two thousand, and there remain ten
thousand.'" So notice the first phase of God weeding out his army to where he could get it
down to a useful number, a useful group of people, to get that useful group that's of quality instead
of quantity. He first weaves out all those that were fearful and afraid, right? Because you don't
want to go to battle with people who are double-hearted, with people who are afraid of battles,
they're afraid of the enemy. Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 20. Let's look at a couple other
passages here. Deuteronomy chapter number 20. Bible says in verse number eight, "When thou
goest out to battle against thine enemies and seest horses and chariots and a people more than thou,
be not afraid of them, for the Lord thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land
of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach
and speak unto the people." Notice this. "And shall say unto them, 'Hero Israel, ye approach
this day unto battle against your enemies. Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble,
neither be ye terrified because of them. For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight
for you against your enemies, to save you.' And the officers shall speak unto the people, saying,
'What man is there that hath built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him go and return to his
house, lest he die in battle and another man dedicate it. And what man is he that hath planted
a vineyard and have not yet eaten of it? Let him also go and return unto his house, lest he die
in battle and another man eat of it. And what man of you is there that hath betrothed the wife and
hath not taken her? Let him go and return unto his house, lest he die in battle and another man take
her.' And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, 'What man is there
that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart
faint as well as his heart.'" So God, he's basically giving this commission to the priest
to go and to give opportunity for those that had an excuse to go home. Now listen, they didn't have
to go home. If they just betrothed the wife, if they just planned a wedding, they didn't have to
go home. But he's giving them this opportunity to go. Why? Because being fearful and turning back,
it's contagious. It's going to affect other people, right? So when you see someone, when somebody is
fearful in battle, it often causes other people to be afraid. It causes other people to be drawn away
from the battle. I mean, this is what the Bible says there in verse eight. It says, "Less his
brethren's heart faint as well as his heart." So God, he's basically, you know, given this commission
or he's given this, this commandment to the priest to go out and to speak these things into the ears
of the people. Why? Because God cares more about the quality of the people that are going to battle.
The people who had great faith in him rather than just having a bunch of people out there,
right? And you know, that's how we feel in this church, right? In this church, what do we want?
We want people of quality. We don't care so much about the quality. I'm sorry, the quantity. You
know, Pastor Shelley's constantly preaching people out the door, right? And he's constantly
giving you that opportunity, just like God commissioned the priests. Listen, that's a
biblical concept. Why? Because we could be going to battle and we don't want people who are fearful,
people who do not have faith, they're going to draw away other disciples with them. It's
important that as Christians, you know, we are loyal to Christ in battle and it requires faith.
You know, there can be some difficult times and I know many of you have stories or, you know,
testimonies where, especially when the battle is raging, where you're being persecuted on an
individual level. You know, I'm sure many people have already heard this story, but when I was in
Oklahoma City, you know, I was leading the church there, just boots on the ground, and doing a lot
of the preaching. And one day, just out of the blue, I was called into my employer's office,
the big office with all the owners, and they just fired me on the spot. And they literally told me
it's because of my preaching. And they brought a reference videos and things, and I guess some
stuff had been shared. I don't really know exactly how it got back to them. But, you know, in that
particular time, you know, that could have been an opportunity for me to just exit, right, to just
leave, to get out of the battle. You know, I decided, hey, I'm just going to double down.
I'm just going to get, I mean, at this point, I'll have a job. So what does it matter? Right?
I mean, I honestly, I just decided I'm going to put my faith in God, you know, because if God can
be for us, who can be against us? Right? The Bible says in all things, all things work together for
good to them that are called according to His purpose. And I know I'm paraphrasing that verse,
but you know, the Bible teaches that all things are going to work out even though it may seem like
there's no way to win that battle. What does the Bible say? What did God tell them? Hey, I'm on
your side. I'm fighting that battle for you. And you know, the end of that story, what's really
great about that is that when they fired me, they gave me a two month severance. I got two months
worth of pay. And about a week later, my former boss called me and he hired me on the DL as a
third party consultant. So I was not only getting paid severance, but I was also getting paid more
than I was being paid before to work as a consultant for them. And then after about a month,
I found another job. And you know, that opened the door to where I able to start my own business. Now
all things work together for good. And you say, well, what if I quit? Well, none of those things
probably would have happened. I wouldn't have the blessings that I have now if I didn't remain loyal
in battle. And listen, the sacrifices that might come along with remaining loyal to Christ are not
going to be even compared to the riches. And listen, the fact that I was getting paid like,
I don't even care about that. You know what? What I care about is I can't wait to see the
rewards that I was able to get just by being faithful through that time in my life. You know,
I can't wait to see the rewards that are awaiting when our time here on earth is done.
You know, all the soul winning, the mission trips, you know, I wouldn't have the opportunity to have
now possibly. And so, you know, we don't want to lose faith when the battle is raging. And listen,
if you're somebody who's like, man, if we're being protested, you know, the battle's hot,
you know, I just don't know if I want to bring my kids to that kind of environment.
Well, you know what? The door's that direction. You know, don't let the door hit you where the
good Lord split you. You know, that's what I believe. Why? Because if we're going to go through
a battle, I want to go with people I can trust, people that I can put my faith in. You know,
and that's the type of person Christ is looking for. You know, this isn't my idea. This is what
the Bible says. This is what God said. You know, I could look at other verses. I know I'm getting,
you know, I know you guys are used to long sermons, but just to kind of quickly
read a couple of verses for you. First Chronicles chapter number 12, the Bible says in verse 38,
all these men of war that could keep rank came with a perfect heart to Hebron to make David King
over all Israel and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart to make David King. You know,
as a Christian, you should have loyalty in battle enough to keep rank, right? And to have faith in
God, that God is on your side. God's going to help you win that battle and it's in his hands.
And if God be for us, who can be against us? We should remain loyal to Christ. We should remain
loyal to our pastor. We should remain loyal to Steadfast Baptist Church. You know, and there's
a trend of people who have not been loyal. And guess what? You know, they're going down a really
bad path right now. You know, they're heading for bad things. And I'm not saying we're the only
church, the only game in town, right? But I believe that Steadfast Baptist Church is being led by a
man who cares about the truth. He's loyal in doctrine and in battle and in service. You know,
and that's somebody we can follow. 1 Corinthians 11, Paul's writing here, he says, "Be ye followers
of me, even as I also am of Christ." We should follow pastor as he follows Christ and continue
to remain loyal in our service, loyal in doctrine, loyal in battle. Let's end with a word of prayer.
Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for your word. Lord, hopefully that this sermon would have been
edifying and would encourage people to possess this great characteristic, this attribute of being
loyal to you. Lord, that we would remain loyal to your word and we're thankful for all the blessings
and the great things you do for us. God, I pray that you would bless the remainder of the day
and we pray all these things in your son's name. Amen. All right, for our last song this morning,
we will go to song number 62. Song number 62, Saved by Grace. Song number 62, let's all sing that out.