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All right, we're in Matthew chapter 25. We're gonna look at the parable of the talents look down at verse number 15 in Matthew chapter 25 and the Bible reads and on to one he gave five talents to another two into another one To every man according to his several ability and straight way took his journey So we see here a man that's a lord of these servants in his eight towns that he's gonna distribute between three different people He has one person five another person two and another person one The first thing that jumps out to you is this guy would not have voted for Bernie Sanders in the election He doesn't just automatically say well everybody gets the same amount of everything. No, he's actually a smart man He's a smart businessman and he gives people based on their ability now look down at verse number 28 Now you're probably pretty familiar with this parable, but basically the man who had five talents He does something with the five towns He gets five towns more the man who was given two talents He gets two towns more the guy who was given one talent does nothing with it at all And he just returns that one talent and then the Lord is very angry and it says in verse number 28 Take therefore the town from him and give it on to him which hath ten talents So basically he takes that town away He takes away that money and gives it to the man that actually produced five other talents So basically what you see in this sermon is that and God works the exact same way. God plays the stock market That's actually the name my sermon tonight. God plays the stock market now I want to just explain to you a little bit really briefly about how the stock market works now This is not a financial seminar. I'm not telling you go out from this sermon instead of just tithing here Just you know putting money in the stock market make lots of money But God works the same way as this Lord does of his servants in this story my granddad on my mom's side He had a prolonged death about 12 years ago He was on his deathbed for about a month And he was it was one of those situations where you're kind of almost wishing That he dies and pretty much everybody was like that except me because you know, he was not saved He was agnostic or agnostic at best maybe atheist and he died shortly after I got saved But it turned out, you know right before he died We found out you know What was in his will because he was always really private about that and all of a sudden because they lived in a very modest House, they didn't seem to have a lot of money and as far as his wife knew they didn't have a lot of money It turned out they were millionaires though and right before they died They they for everybody in the family found out they have a few million dollars and he had made that money in the stock market You know whenever we visited him growing up every single morning He would wake up like a clock and just look at stocks and just write down notes and just write down everything He lived, you know, he played the stocks, you know, like 30 years ago He would invest in gold and silver back before that was like the common thing that everybody did and one thing that I remember him Saying and one thing he told my mom is that the way stocks work is you never invest in something that's unproven You never invest in a business that is unproven, you know You'll hear stories about somebody who invested in some small company and made millions, but that's like winning the lottery There's there's tons of companies that come up and they're gone overnight And that's what he told us He said you see lots of companies that are in there every single day and all of a sudden they're gone in another month He said you never invest in something that's unproven you invest in something that is actually proven to be successful And see that's what we see in this story. And that's what I'm gonna be talking to you about today Now you don't have to turn there, but Luke 12 48 the Bible reads front of whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required because if you invest in something there's an expectation of a return on the investments Something's required as a result if you invest in something if you give something to somebody you expect something in return I'm gonna look at four different areas where God plays a stock market here today Now the first area is a pretty basic one turn to 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 the first one works a little bit differently than the other three because I'm really trying to gear this towards the people that I'm Preaching to today, but the first one is something that nobody deserves at all But it is something God gives us and that is salvation salvation is not something we work for Salvation is not something we earn salvation is not something that anybody deserves or anybody's proven to be deserving of that gift But it is something that God gives gives us now turn to 2nd Corinthians 5 I'll read a few very common verses the Bible says in Romans 6 23 for the wages of sin is death But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord So the Bible says that eternal life is a gift through Jesus Christ That is something that God is giving us first John 5 11 the second half of that is parallel to the second half of Romans 6 23 and it says God hath Given to us eternal life and this life is in his Son the gift of God is eternal life God hath given to us eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord and this life is in the Sun you can see those are parallel Statements and that is the record you must believe you must believe that it's only in Jesus That is something you're receiving and that it is eternal that it cannot be lost That's what the Bible teaches one other place. That's really common in Ephesians 2 8 9 2 8 through 10 It says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves? It is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast now oftentimes people stop at the end there And they say well there you go. It's a free gift, and that's it and that is true But verse number 10 is a very important verse it says for we are as workmanship Creating Christ Jesus on to good works, which God hath before deigned that we should Walk in them see because of the fact that God has given us salvation Because of the fact that he paid for it that we don't have to do anything to earn it the fact is God Expects us to do works for him. It says for we are his workmanship Creating Christ Jesus on to good works God gave us this free gift, and we don't have to do anything in order to prove We're saved or anything like that, but God does want us to be a zealous people of Peculiar people zealous of good works like the Bible talks about we're expected to go out there and do good works now The number one thing is obviously soul winning and you're in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 And this one the Bible says in verse number 17. It says therefore if any man be in Christ He is a new creature old things are passed away behold all things are become new This is a verse that a lot of people really get confused By a lot of people look at this verse and they say well see if you're really saved Then that means you're gonna just start making a big change in your life. You're no longer gonna desire alcohol You'll no longer desire drugs or anything like that all of a sudden your life will just be completely reformed But that is not what it says in verse number 17. It says old things are passed away behold all things are become new You know nobody when they get saved becomes a perfect person So this is not talking about repenting of your sins or changing your life But what it is saying is this when you get saved the Holy Spirit of God indwells you and that is something that's completely brand New your flesh does not change your flesh is the exact same and that's why you see people that that you know Let's say they lived a hard life before and they get saved you see them fall back into alcohol and drugs I have friends of mine people I know that right now are struggling with alcohol and drugs Real serious issues and it's because of the fact that flesh didn't change when they got saved. They want to do what's right? We have that choice every day. Are we gonna walk in the flesh or are we gonna walk in the spirit now? We don't have to walk in the spirit to be saved But God expects us and wants us to walk in the spirit It says verse number 18 and all things are of God who have reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and have given to us the ministry of reconciliation Because the fact that God gave us salvation that he paid for the free gift of eternal life God expects us to reconcile other people onto him God expects us to be out there on on Saturday mornings on Sunday afternoons on Thursday evenings knocking the doors going out getting people safe. It is our job We are required to go out there and preach the gospel and get people saved And honestly, the reason why this church exists is because of soul winning Yeah, I mean if we didn't believe in soul winning there would be no point in starting a church up here in Vancouver, Washington But we believe in soul winning There's a reason why people are driving a long distance be a part of this church because we believe in hard preaching We believe in soul winning and this is the only show in town. I wish that weren't the case I wish there were great churches in Portland and Vancouver and all over but that's just not the case You know, we were in Portland yesterday morning We went to voodoo donuts because people told us this is like a really famous donut place and I see all the sodomite flags up There it's pretty obvious that the independent Baptist churches not have not been preaching hard in Portland Otherwise, they wouldn't exist there but you live but there's a cesspool in Portland, Oregon because there's not churches getting up here and Preaching the truth and preaching hard that we need to change our lives and preaching that we need to walk in the spirit in The new man, we need to be reconciling people on to God We need to be getting people saved in verse number 19 in 2nd Corinthians 5. It says to wit that God was in Christ Reconciling the world onto himself not imputing their trespasses on to them and have committed on to us the word of reconciliation Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us We pray you in Christ's dead be reconciled to God so you can see how he's pleading with them Hey win people to the Lord. That is our job. That's what we need to be doing Now every single person in this room assuming that you're saved God gave you the free gift and you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ You made the personal choice to believe on Jesus Christ and get saved None of us deserve this free gift But at the same time even though nobody's deserving of this free gift The truth is that God gave some people more of an opportunity than other people now We should all take the fact that we earn this fruit that got we got this free gift of salvation And decide to be motivated to win people to the Lord But if you got saved in a pretty special way in a pretty unique way You ought to put in a bigger emphasis and realize you are very blessed and you are very lucky now some people in here Maybe you grew up in an independent Baptist Church. I didn't grow up in an independent Baptist Church. I got saved in college I'm lucky that I got saved when I was a freshman before I went down a life of sin. Who knows what would have happened? I got I would be up here right now And there's some people in the Bible that got more of an opportunity one person is Cornelius you think about how Cornelius got saved Cornelius was a man before he was saved to fear the Lord God made it a point to send somebody to preach the gospel to him because he feared the Lord He was living a good life and he really did fear the God above. He was not living a sinful life He wasn't getting drunk on the weekends. He was trying to do what was right. Another person is the Ethiopian eunuch He was actually reading the scriptures and when Philip came and preached him the gospel but probably the biggest example that had a special opportunity was Paul the Apostle and He's somebody who actually did something with it And I believe that God looked down at Paul the Apostle and saw someone who was gonna do something big for God and said you Know what? I'm gonna send an angel to talk to this guy and then he eventually got saved and he became the most zealous Christian who's ever lived most zealous soul wonder that you see I mean, it's amazing the things that he did half the New Testament was written by Paul the Apostle now I don't think anybody in here is Paul the Apostle I certainly am NOT but you know if you had a special opportunity to hear the gospel Be motivated by that and realize that God invested something big into you and use that to do something big for God now It's kind of funny when you hear these celebrities and athletes that end up You know getting saved and they end up becoming Christians and it's always that an angel came and talked to them Have you ever noticed that when you read their stories and then whenever you hear online what they actually believe salvation is They it's all about them. They gave their life to God they quit drinking they quit fornicating They quit committing adultery. They did this and that and that that's work salvation They're not saved and they're being used by the devil, you know And it's always an angel came down to give them the gospel But here's my question, you know Paul was given the God this what it says in first Timothy one You don't have to turn there But it says and I think Christ Jesus our Lord who hath enabled me for that He counted me faithful putting me into the ministry who was before blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious But I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief see Paul obtained mercy because it was done in ignorance He didn't realize what the truth was. He thought he was doing what was right these athletes these rock stars that are that are just You know going around to bed with every woman and things like that and just doing drugs and alcohol They know what they're doing is wrong. It's not that they're doing it ignorantly and unbelief They know what they're doing is wrong one of the most famous people about this very famous athlete is Manny Pacquiao and you can listen to him on YouTube and listen to What he says about salvation the man is not saved and honestly, you know I wish he was I had a friend of mine who had an opportunity to meet him and he was gonna try to preach him The gospel and I wish he could have gotten saved But if you listen to his salvation testimony It's all about a true Christian is someone who really turns and no longer does this and that But why would an angel come to give him the gospel when he was not living a righteous life before he switched from Catholicism To be in a charismatic Pentecostal, it wouldn't have happened Paul obtained mercy because he did it ignorantly in unbelief Now none of us are deserving of this free gift of salvation But you know God expects something from us and I'm not spending a lot of time on this because this is something obviously we preach A lot because we've been given the free gifts of salvation God expects you to do something with it if God invests something in you He expects something in return now You don't have to turn to these next scriptures But the second thing I want to look at other than just salvation is God's invested in the people in this room Specifically in the fact that God gave you great friends you see and if you go around the nation You're not gonna see this group of people localized in one area like it is here in Vancouver, Washington in the surrounding areas God is invested in each and every one of you that's connected in this big friendship The Bible says and if one prevail against him two shall withstand him and a three-fold cord is not quickly broken You know the reason why you guys are still going soul winning right now It's because of the fact that three-fold cord is not quickly broken You see a lot of you went to a dead independent fundamental Baptist Church before you started coming here And before you went here the only reason why you probably continued is because you had great friends that wanted to live for the Lord I'm no exception. I've been fortunate that whenever I got saved. I've been around people that love the Lord If I was on my own and I was at a church that was boring that wasn't preaching the truth That wasn't sending people out to preach the gospel that wasn't preaching hard against sin And I didn't have close friends that want to live for the Lord. Also. I wouldn't be up here today I wouldn't have done anything with my life and the truth is friends can make a huge huge difference in your life I want you to realize that one of the big reasons why you're here today is because God has given you Great friends the people in this room the people in this room. This is your true family These are your closest friends because you know when you start living for the Lord your old friends your family your co-workers They're gonna reject you They're not going to accept the new you because when you get saved and you get on fire for God You will start to change all of a sudden the people that you knew before they don't want to be around you anymore That's the truth. I mean if you were here today and in the past Let's say you you would have been at a place right right beside here like at the bar across the street Let me tell you something the people used to hang with they're not your friends anymore They don't want to have anything to do with you anymore They like the old you that used to get drunk But they don't like the new you that wants to read the Bible and talk about the things of God and invite them to the Church and go so any they don't understand the new you they abhor the new you and you have to understand something your bit You've been blessed to be given these great friends that are in this room right here now There's two different things that I believe is a requirement because you've been given great friends one of the obvious ones is this be a great friend to the people that you have in this room and the other people That are really zealous and love the Lord be a great friend to the people that God has actually given you You know, here's the truth I can look at some of my best for friends in my life and every single one of them at one time or another has Done something that really made me angry and honestly every single one I've probably done things that have made them angry But you know the bottom line is we have to be willing to forgive each other and realize that it's stupid to have Petty arguments that and this this happens in churches. There's petty arguments There's people that you know, they won't talk to you for years because of one thing you said like two years in the past I mean, it's really ridiculous and you have to realize the friends that God has given you He's invested in you giving you these great friends localized in this area be a great friend of those people the Bible says iron Sharpeneth iron so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend Another verse also in Proverbs 18 24 the Bible reads a man that hath friends must show himself Friendly and there's a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, you know Honestly, I can look at my closest friends in my life and even people in this room that maybe I haven't known you for that Long, but I know we're on board with the same things and I feel like you know with a lot of you I'm closer to you than people that are my relatives my relatives I see him from time to time and and honestly, you know, I love my parents You know and my parents are saved and I love my family But at the same time I don't want to necessarily spend that much time with them because we don't have that much to talk about Oftentimes I want to talk about the things of God and unfortunately, I have a lot of family that's not saved They don't care about the things of God. They would vote for Bernie Sanders in the election I mean, we don't have much in common, you know, there's just not much between us now Here's the thing in Proverbs 18 24, which I read it said a man that hath friends must show himself friendly But I want you to realize the second point you must show yourself friendly to the friends you have But also show yourself friendly to potential friends. You see the people in this community, Vancouver, Washington You're gonna get a lot of people saving this community And I hope that you're invested in bringing people in this church and being a great friend to them and realizing they have friends In a family right here You see if you get somebody saved that comes and visits church And they start coming so winning they start reading the Bible What you need to understand is their other family and friends are gonna reject them And if they come to a place and they don't feel like they have close friends and a family to replace them They're most likely gonna go back to the world and usually that's what we see with people Usually when they do come to church, they end up fading out. They end up going back to the world You know, I've had lots of visitors at the year I've been at Verity Baptist Church and there's some that are still there But there's a lot that aren't because of the fact most people are gonna go back to their old ways Sin is powerful and one of the big things that's gonna keep people in church is do they feel connected? Do they have friends here? I mean, you know, whoever's preaching up here is gonna say things that are gonna make people mad, especially if they're new here They're gonna put someone's gonna preach a sermon on clothing standards or something like that and somebody that's newly saved is probably gonna be offended And there's a good chance. They're gonna walk away. But if they have friends here, they might stick around say, you know what? I still want to see brother Joe. I still want to see brother Aaron So I want to see brother Ryan, but if they don't really feel connected here They are going to leave this happens in churches all the time And this is something that churches have a real problem with is being friendly to new people Oftentimes we have the us for and no more mentality and honestly in a place like this It's very easy to develop because you guys have been together for a long time You guys are close to each other you've known each other for a while after the service you want to talk to about things You know You've been talking about for years and it's very easy to have new people come in and just kind of be missed in the shuffle You need to make sure that doesn't happen if this is your church and you say Verity Baptist Church Vancouver's my church home. You need to make sure you invest in the people that are coming in and visiting and bringing people into church Now I know people in various churches have a different opinion on follow-up and Different churches can do things different ways But the bottom line is Verity Baptist Church believes in follow-up, which means this church believes in follow-up Which means people ought to make it a personal mission to bring people into church And honestly the more time you invest in to bring people the more you're gonna get a return on your investments The more people you're gonna bring to church now There's a follow-up program that's being developed right now up here and we have it in Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento But even on a personal level if you get people saved I mean, I would hope that you want to see them come to church I would hope that you're willing to make a personal investment say I'll put in a little bit of time to maybe visit them drop off a box something small like cookies or something like that or give them a call on You know I called someone this morning that I talked to this past week and I just called them see if they still wanted to come To church because I want to invest in the people that I've talked to and I want to bring people to church and one thing You have to understand At your old church that you went to if you brought people to church They would hear boring preaching and they wouldn't really grow and you would have to personally teach them everything That's not the same case here. You have to understand that if people visit this church They are more likely to stick around than at your old church. I mean your old church. Maybe it was boring Maybe they didn't have great preaching. Maybe they didn't have soul winning but here you're gonna have those things So you have to understand that if you do bring someone into this church, there's a much better chance They're sticking around I mean one thing I've noticed that Verity Baptist Church that wasn't really the case when I was in West, Virginia When I bring people to church and they actually come Oftentimes at least half the time they stick around for at least one more service Because they're hearing a great sermon from pastor minutes behind the pulpit and they're thinking man. This is exciting I've never heard anything like this before that might not have been true at your old church But it is true at this church that they're gonna learn the Word of God. They can learn to be a great Christian So I would suggest investing personal time into follow-up and avoiding the click mentality The Bible says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise But a companion of fools shall be destroyed You have to understand that when somebody comes from off the streets or wherever they are You have to understand their friends are probably companions. They're probably companions with a bunch of fools They're probably companions with a bunch of people that don't care about the Lord They want to talk about drinking and all these different things the movies and Hollywood and everything like that And you have to understand that if they're around those people if they don't switch over to this being their new group of friends And family they're probably gonna go back into that old way. They're gonna be destroyed They're not going to become a great soul winner. They're not going to become a great Christian Invest in the people try to get them to come into church and not only that when they do come in Make sure you get them to stick around because it is tough to bring people to church So if you do have somebody visit try to invest in them try to be a great friend try to get to know them Don't just talk to your old friends and honestly this is something all of us struggle with I See certain people on Sunday mornings at church and some people are my best friends and other people, you know I don't necessarily know that much I do want to talk to my people that are my Closest friends because you know life is busy You don't get to talk to them all the time But we need to invest in the new people that are coming in turn to Acts chapter 18 Acts chapter 18 So The first thing we saw is this the first thing you've been given is you've been given salvation God expects you to be a soul winner You've also been given a lot of great friends God expects you to be a great friend of the people he's given you and also be a great friend to reach out to other People as well. The third thing I want to show you though in Acts 18 verse 25 and 26 The other thing you've been given is you've been given great teachings and great truths from God It says in Acts 18 verse 25 and 26 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in the Spirit He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord knowing only the baptism of John and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard they took on to them and Expounded onto him the way of God more perfectly So what you see is you see a man that is really bold He wants to teach the truth But honestly, he just doesn't know the quite the right direction and actually teach him the truths of the Bible turn to 1st Kings chapter 3 Now what I want you to understand is because you've been given great teachings from God And here's the truth some of the things that you've learned from God You learn from reading the Bible and honestly a lot of things that I know right now I learned from reading the Bible if there's a lot of things I was completely spoon-fed by hearing great preaching and great sermons and a lot of it was online A lot of you have come because you heard online preaching now some of those things you probably already believed But I think everybody could raise their hand and say you know what I was spoon-fed a lot of doctrines I was brainwashed in a lot of different ways if it weren't for Pastor Jimenez it weren't for Pastor Anderson if it weren't for these Other pastors I'd still be one of these foolish people that we talked to that talked about these various different doctrines and honestly that You have to understand when somebody comes in here Maybe they're from another independent Baptist Church, or maybe from another church Maybe they just didn't hear that sermon that you heard now. We look at people we learn some new things like man I'm post-trib the Bible says immediately after the tribulation if you don't believe that you're an idiot You know what if you didn't watch after the tribulation what if you didn't hear that sermon on Matthew 24? You'd still be saying well Matthew 24 is just to you know the chosen elect of Israel You know I mean you have to understand certain things you might have learned on your own But certain things you were spoon-fed you were given great teachings from God now I believe there's a reason why God gave you great teachings I believe he looked at someone and said that person is gonna teach other people so I'm gonna invest in this person and help them Learn the great things of the Bible and that's what God expects as a result because you've learned great things Because God has opened up your mind. You've seen great things from the Bible, and you've heard great things from sermons He expects you to teach other people now. We need to be real clear though It's not our job personally if we're not the pastor or not preaching up here to go up personally to someone and say you know What you're not dressed right you know ladies should be wearing this or that or guys should be wearing this That is not my job or anybody's job if they're not behind the pulpit now I'll preach to you what the Word of God says and anybody behind the pulpit preach the truth But outside of the pulpit you're not supposed to be a jerk to people and people they learn new topics And then they just go up to everybody individually and say well You know you're not doing this right and this and this and this and usually those people they just changed on it like a month Before that and it's like well, maybe somebody else didn't hear that sermon Maybe they didn't read that chapter in the Bible. Maybe they just didn't notice it you know there's a difference between hearing the preaching behind the pulpit and Individually telling somebody something, but at the same time you can still help people and teach them various things You know someone that I went so winning with recently at her church. He got saved just a couple weeks ago He got baptized. He's been so winning like four or five times, but he's really struggling with the old man He's really struggling with walking in the flesh And we're still praying for him and a lot of people the church is trying to help him out And when I was taking him soul winning I was showing him various things that I thought could help him Get through the struggles that he's dealing with get through the old man that he's walking You know in and and and that's what we need to do We need to be helping people out and teaching them things that can really transform their lives in first Kings chapter 3 It says this in verse number 9 Give therefore thy servant and understanding heart to judge thy people that I may discern between good and bad For who is able to judge this I so great of people and the speech pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing And God said unto him because thou hast asked this thing and has not asked for thyself long life Neither has to ask riches for thyself nor has to ask the life of thine enemies But has to ask for thyself understanding to discern judgment behold I've done according to thy words law I've given thee a wise and an understanding heart so that there was none like thee before thee Neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee and I've also given thee that which thou hast not asked both riches and honor So that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. So we see here in King Solomon He asks for wisdom. He asks for understanding so he can judge the people so he can teach them He is asking for something because he plans to use it now I believe this personally that you know when you look at certain preachers that are really willing to preach the truth I believe God will give them wisdom so they can teach their congregations You know I believe when I prepare sermons that God helps teach me certain things that I didn't see before Because he understands I'm gonna preach to somebody else and teach them so he opens up my eyes That's what we see with Solomon and I believe that's the truth pastors that are that are you know Really like-minded really preaching the truth and Solomon he asked for wisdom and understanding so he could teach other people But there's also a second thing that's expected of us because God's given us great wisdom and great teaching The other thing is this you're expected to keep the teachings and the things that you actually heard You're expected to keep the commandments that God's shown you verse number 14 in 1st Kings 3 It says and if thou wilt walk in my ways to keep my statutes and my commandments as thy father David did walk Then I will lengthen thy days and so you have to understand that it wasn't just that God gave him great understanding But he also gave him a little bit of a warning He said you're expected to keep the commandments and keep the rules if you know the truth God expects you to obey it now if you're ignorant of the truth God might be merciful to you But if you know what the Bible says about a topic and you willfully say I don't care what the Bible says I'm still gonna listen to the trashy music. I'm still gonna watch the Hollywood movies I'm still gonna do this or that or still drink a little bit here or there And you know what the Bible says about it, and you choose to do it God's gonna be very angry about that turn to first Kings chapter 11 You It's interesting to me that right before David died He left his son Solomon with some instructions, and he told him show thyself a man now when he told him to show yourself A man he didn't talk about slaying Goliath. I mean that sounds like a pretty manly thing to do isn't it killing a giant I mean I feel like if I was about to die say man you remember when I killed July that Goliath That's pretty impressive You know he didn't talk about all the women that he had married which is something the world would look at as impressive You know what he talked about was keeping the commandments of the Lord when he said show thyself a man Showing yourself a man is obeying God's rules I mean the world says well Just drink and drink and drink and the more you can drink that proves how manly of a man you are now that proves You're a bigger drunk if you can just hold down liquor And it doesn't affect you at all that doesn't make you a man being a man is obeying the commandments of God That's what the Bible teaches in first Kings 11. This is what the Bible says in verse number 29 first Kings 11 verse 29 First Kings 10 is a great chapter which we're actually going to look at here in a second But in first Kings 11 this is when Solomon had married all these women and his heart was turned away from the Lord Says in verse number 29 And he came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem that the prophet Ahijah the Shiloh knight Found him in the way and he had clad himself with a new garment and they too were alone in the field And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him and written in 12 pieces And he said to Jeroboam take the ten pieces for thus saith the Lord the God of Israel behold I'll rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon and will give ten tribes to thee But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake and for Jerusalem sake the city which I have chosen of all the tribes Israel Now why did he take the kingdom away look at verse number 33? Because that they have forsaken me and have worshiped Asheroth the goddess of the Zidonians Shamash the god of the Moabites and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon and have not walked in my ways to do that Which is right in mine eyes and to keep my statutes and my judgments as did David his father Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand But I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake whom I chose Because he kept my commandments in my statutes But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand and will give it on to the even ten tribes and on to a Son will I give one tribe that David my servant may have a light all the way before me in Jerusalem The city which I have chosen me to put my name there so this is what we see where the northern and the southern kingdom end up coming from and the vast majority of people vast majority the Tribes they go to the northern kingdom They fall into following Jeroboam now the lineage of Solomon and David was Rehoboam and you have Judah and Benjamin that go there Which is the southern kingdom? But the majority of the tribes they go up and they fall into end up following Jeroboam Later on in the story and what didn't happen in the day of Solomon happened after that He died when his son was in charge But the reason why is because they started worshipping false gods, you know people have this idea about America And they think this in every country, you know, America is just powerful and God loves America We have completely turned our back on God. God does not look down on us and say I'm gonna continue to bless this country I mean the amount of abortions, I mean just everything we're just a filthy country now God is not blessing us anymore and it's the same way here. I mean the Israel's the chosen people they rejected God They hate God he that believeth not the Sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on God Doesn't look down and say well Those are my chosen people even though it's one of the filthiest countries in the world God has rejected them because they rejected God That's the truth but we see two things here because you've been given great teachings from God God expects you to help teach other people and Part of that is just getting them to come into church where they're gonna hear the preaching behind the pulpit But also to keep the commandments and the teachings that that you've heard if you've learned something You're expected to obey it and to keep it You know the Bible tells us very clearly we need to go out and preach the gospel and there's a lot of people there's a Lot of pastors that know the Bible teaches that and they choose not to go into all the world preach the gospel to every creature And you know because they know that God is very angry with those people all the independent Baptist churches Most of them they've rejected soul winning. They don't really care about seeking the lost anymore turn to 1st Kings 10 So The first point we saw is with salvation that's something God's been given has given us The second thing is God has given especially the people in this room great friends The third thing is God's given you great teachings and truths from God's Word But the fourth point is the reason why this sermon exists is the last point but the last point I want to illustrate is This God has given you a great church here in Verity Baptist Church, Vancouver. This is a great church The Bible says in in Acts 1 8 But he shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and he shall be witnesses on me both in Jerusalem And in all Judea and in Samaria and on the uttermost part of the earth, you know, obviously in Sacramento There's been a lot going on the last several months But you know what our pastor decided to go big because he said, you know, we don't want to just stay here in Jerusalem We want to reach the whole world. We want to reach the west coast That's the vision that God implanted in his heart and in his mind and that's why this church is here because he God gave him Vision to do something big for God says in Titus 1 5 for this cause left idea and Crete that thou should have said in Order the things that are wanting and ordained elders in every city as I had appointed thee God's plan is there for for there to be churches throughout the entire nation every state every big city We need big churches. We need to do something big for God now first Kings 10 is a very interesting chapter. I Believe this is probably the clearest chapter in the Bible that shows us what a perfect church is Even though it's in the Old Testament We see a lot of things that we can learn here and it says in 1st Kings 10 look at verse number 4 It says and when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom. So the first thing that we see here is this That and just to give you really tell you real quickly the requirement I would say because you've been given a great church is pretty much everything Make this a great church be involved in soul-winning be involved in bringing people do everything you can to make this a self-supported church Where man God's like, this is an awesome church We need to get this going on its own so we can start something else Make this a great church if you decided this is your home in verse number four It says and when the Queen of Sheba had seen all Solomon's wisdom The first thing we can see here is this the Queen of Sheba she visits to because she's heard of the wisdom of Solomon There are gonna be a lot of Queens of Sheba that are visiting this church over the next several months over the next several years There was a lot to visit last week. There's people that have visited today There are people that are checking out this church right now, they haven't necessarily decided is this my church home They're trying to find out the Queen of Sheba She goes a long way because she had hurt she's heard of the wisdom of Solomon You know when this church came up We didn't necessarily didn't put the information out for the address from day one because we knew the sodomites would try to protest and do Whatever and there was a lot of people right when we put it up that were giving calls and email and asking about the church People that lived in Washington some live several hours away and Honestly, I think some of those people are gonna be trickling in over these next couple months because they're interested in what's going on up Here in Vancouver. They want to see is this church the real deal. Should I make this my church home? Is it worth the investment to drive a couple hours to be a part of this church? They're gonna be a lot of people like that and then it says in verse number four in the house that he had built You know, she came here and she noticed the construction She had noticed the building that was there, you know, most churches when they start they just they start in a church home They start in somebody's house. This is a lot nicer than a house You know, I mean there might be buildings that are a lot fancier, but this is pretty nice for a church Just starting. I mean, this is a pretty nice setup. I mean, it's the audio equipment is fantastic for a church That's just starting out. This is pretty impressive. I mean we when our pastor decided to go in he says we're gonna go big We're not just gonna go in partial We're not just gonna give these guys one talent just see if they can swim sink or swim He said no, we're gonna invest everything into Vancouver. We're gonna go big. They're the person that gets the five talents We're gonna go for it That's what we see you see here a very nice building the house that he had built verse number five in the meat of his Table, you know, I heard you guys have Sunday afternoon cooking. I expect some good meat today I expect some good cooking, you know, they're gonna come on Sunday. They're saying man the meat of his table. This food is awesome I'm coming back in verse number five though It also says in the sitting of his servants and the attendance of his ministers and their apparel and his cup bears And his ascent by which he went up onto the house of the Lord and you notice in this What you see in verse number five all of the people mattered. She saw everything every single person mattered She saw she noticed how they were dressed. She noticed their apparel now I'm not preaching here about clothing standards or what you should be wearing But it does make a difference if you take it if people look and they say well you take this seriously Or you don't take it seriously It's important that we're serious about the work of God in all areas whether it's leading the music whether it's the Boltons everything People need to see that you're dedicated and you're serious about soul winning and everything involved in the church They need to see that you you really mean business. That's what the Queen of Sheba noticed She noticed this people they were paying attention the attendance of his ministers They were the sitting of his servants She noticed these people are sitting here under the wisdom of Solomon should try to hear God's Word They actually do love the Lord. That is something that she noticed Also in verse number five it says there was no more spirit in her You know when she noticed everything that happened she was completely blown away it exceeded her expectations 100% it was a lot better than she ever expected. She said man. He has wisdom all of his servants They want to hear the Word of God She said man His wisdom is it said the half was not told of his wisdom in verse number six the Bible says and she said to the King it was a true report that I heard mine own land of the accent of thy wisdom She noticed the acts we can apply that to soul winning You know think about the book of Acts acts or something that you do the work that's being done the wisdom and the work one Of the big things is gonna grow this churches is the wisdom the preaching behind the pulpit and the work that's being done out Soul-winning all that matters and it says in verse number six or verse number seven How be it I believe not the words until I came in mine eyes had seen it and behold the half was not told me Thy wisdom and prosperity exceeded the fame which I heard Happier thy men happier these thy servants which stand continually before thee and that hear thy wisdom When she sees everything she's completely blown away. It exceeds every expectation Now I'll tell you the truth when I was in Sacramento last week on Wednesday when people came back then visited our church Every single person said that this exceed what they expected. They said man the building is nice the audio is nice They said all the people they really care about the Lord the people are zealous that are here in Washington it exceeded her expectations Everybody said you know what this is a worthy investment, but you have to understand something in conclusion You know I like what brother Garrett's attitude was when he went to Botswana if you heard some of the interviews or heard what? He said in sermons. He said his goal was to be self-supported as soon as possible So it would open up the doors for somebody else to be a missionary now that ought to be the goal here Verity Baptist Church Vancouver do everything you can to be self-supported as soon as possible because Verity Baptist Church has more mountains to climb We're trying to get this West Coast We're trying to get churches everywhere and the sooner this church gets going and it grows and it can be self-supporting There's a man of God. That's the pastor of this church. You know full-time More mountains can be climbed in our movement. We have more hills to conquer we have more things to do I love what brother Garrett's attitude was but the other thing I want you have to understand is this Just because this is a big worthy investment. It doesn't guarantee. There's going to be success Just because you know you guys have proven that you're zealous that you love the Lord you're doing a lot of soul-winning That doesn't guarantee that this church is going to take off. It still comes down to what you decide to do It'd be very easy to have an attitude of let's just sit down here. Now. We've already done a lot of work We got the church. Let's just relax now. It's not the time to relax It's the time to go forward and to climb up that mountain and bring people to church Get people safe and do bigger and better things for God just three things in conclusion that you can do to help out this church What is this help out with the burden of preaching now? I know there's various different people that are preaching sermons But I would say any of the men who have any ability or have ever preached even a short sermon Start writing sermons start preparing something so you can be used by God see God invest in somebody that's already proven themselves If you start writing sermons God's gonna give you an opportunity to preach that sermon. That's what I believe That's what I've seen in my own life You know that once you invest once you already dedicate yourself God's gonna start to use you then don't wait until well You know I'll wait until brother Aaron or pastor man has asked me to preach a sermon and then I'll work on it start working on sermons Now and if you are preaching behind the pulpit take it seriously That is gonna make a huge difference if people come back You know Verity Baptist Church has grown a lot and 90% of it is because of the preaching I mean, it's the follow-up and everything else But a large part of it is how good is the preaching a lot of you are here simply because you want to hear great Preaching and you believe in soul winning. That is why you're here You want to learn God's Word and there are people in Vancouver and important in the surrounding areas. They want to hear God's Word So when you get a chance to preach take it seriously Another thing is this help out with the busy work that goes and gets involved in running a church There are a lot of things every single week that you don't even know about unless you've been involved Things that spring up do everything you can to help out around here And the big thing is this help out with the Great Commission get people saved Bring them into church so they can get baptized and help them learn the words of God and learn how to go so winning so They can do likewise. Let's go to the word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you for allowing us to be here this morning It is just hope this sermon was a blessing to everyone and I just pray that you'll bless with a great time of fellowship and help Us to apply these words to our lives in Jesus name we pray. Amen