(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now the part of the chapter I want to focus on is at the end there, the story about Esau. And notice the last phrase in the chapter where it says, Thus Esau despised his birthright. And that's what I want to preach about tonight. That's what I want to talk about. The fact that Esau despised his birthright. What does that mean? Basically, he didn't appreciate what he was born with. I mean, he was born the son of Isaac. He had the whole riches of his father. He had the spiritual blessings of being a child of Abraham, the son of Isaac, of being in the lineage of Jesus Christ, of being part of this great family. To him it just meant nothing. All he cared about was gratifying the immediate need of his flesh right there. He was hungry. He wanted to eat. And so it just meant nothing to him to just sell all of his birthright, sell everything that his parents had worked hard to give him, sell out everything because he just didn't appreciate the value of it. Now turn, if you would, to the book of Hebrews. And we've read the story in Genesis, but we're going to make some applications here in the book of Hebrews. Look at Hebrews chapter number 12. Hebrews chapter number 12 says in verse 16, Lest there be any fornicator. What's a fornicator? It's basically someone who goes to bed with someone else before they're married. A man and woman go to bed before they're married. That's fornication. Today it's commonplace. It's normal. But let me tell you something. It's never been approved of by God. It's wrong. It's a sin. It's wicked. Now if you're reading an NIV or one of these new Bibles, it'll just tell you, oh, sexual immorality. And the word immorality just means something that's considered wrong in a certain area. Something that's considered wrong by the world standard. I don't care what the world standards are. God's standard is that a man and a woman, a man will leave his father and mother, cleave unto his wife, and they too will be one flesh. And he said, what God is throwing together, let not man put his son to death. That's God's plan. And people sleeping together before they're married is called fornication. And it's considered wicked in the eyes of God. It's a sin. And it's not to be taken lightly. Today it's commonplace. In God's eyes, it's a wicked sin. But he says here, lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau. See, that's what Esau was. He was a fornicator. He was a profane person. And it says, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. You see, afterward he wanted to change his mind. Afterward he regretted selling his birthright, but it was too late. He'd already sold it. He'd already given it up. And I think today, many of us in this room, and this is where I want to preach about time and go through several points, do not appreciate the things that have been given to us. Do not appreciate the things that we have inherited. Do not appreciate the things that God has given us. We don't appreciate it, what it means to live in the United States of America. We don't appreciate what it means to be a part of an independent, fundamental, Bible-believing, soul-willing, King James Bible-only, fire-breathing, Baptist church. Do not appreciate it. And yet there are others who would love to live in the United States of America. There are others who would love to attend a church like this. There are others who would love to live the life that you live. But see, Esau had it all, spiritually. He had it all financially. But you know what, he did not appreciate it. He despised his birthright. Look at chapter 10 of Hebrews. We'll start with salvation. Look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 24. Well, salvation, and then he also mentions church in this one as well. Look at chapter 10 verse 24. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. Right? It's not just all about you. You should be trying to come to church and encourage others to do good works as well. Trying to provoke one another to love and good works. Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. Which is exactly what we're doing right now in church. We're assembled together in the congregation. As the manner of some is. There are people today who have forsaken the assembly. They don't go to church. They sit at home and they think the internet is church. They think YouTube is church. They think the televangelist is church. They think that XM radio is church. They think that Billy Graham on TV is church. They think that Dial a Prayer is church. They think Call In and Listen to a Sermon on the Air is church. They think the iPod is church. No. Church is the assembling of ourselves together. Don't be that guy who forsakes the assembly. Because that is the manner of some today. And so much the more as we see the day approaching. So do we need less church or more church in 2009? But we need more. We need to be assembled together more than in time past. Why? Because the world is getting more wicked. And so we need a place where we can get away from the worldly crowd and get together with other people who believe on Jesus Christ, who are saved, who love God, who love the Bible. We need to come here and be refreshed by being with God's people more as we see the day approaching. And by the way, the whole point of church is to assemble together with those who believe like you do. Don't go to some liberal church. Don't go to some watered down church. Don't go to some feel good prosperity preaching kind of a church that's just going to tickle your ears and tell you what you want to hear. Don't go to some lying church and assemble together with people who are going to sharpen you like iron sharpens iron that aren't going to make you dull and blunt from going to that church. It's pretty sad if you are way more spiritual than the pastor. You're in the wrong church. You're out winning people to the Lord every week. You're getting people saved week in and week out. The pastor never is getting anybody saved. What are you doing in that church? He's going to make you dull. He's going to make you blunt. Because iron needs to sharpen iron. Not iron sharpens a piece of wood. It's pastor driftwood. Driftwood Baptist Church. You're in the wrong church. You need to assemble yourselves with some people that are going to provoke you to good works. This is a church where you don't even just look at me. Look at the person next to you. And that's somebody who's going to provoke you to good works. You can look around almost anybody in this room and see somebody that's going to encourage you. That's going to get you out soul winning. That's going to motivate you. That's going to challenge you. Hey, if I have a bad day or a bad week I can just look at other people around here and see the soul winning that they're doing. See what they're doing for God. Hey, that's going to encourage me. That's going to motivate me. I need that assembly. You need it. We all need it. It's not just about listening to preaching. It's about assembling together. He says, exhorting one another and so much the more as we see the day approaching. But watch the warning. For if we sin willfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. Now let's get this into context. In the earlier part of chapter 10, the Bible was talking all about the sacrifices in the temple. The bulls, the goats, the lambs. In chapters 9 and 10 it was all about the animal sacrifice in the Old Testament. Now in the Old Testament, someone would commit sin. Then they would bring an animal to the tabernacle to make an atonement for their sin. Now, was that salvation? No. The Bible says it's not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins. No one was ever saved by works or by bringing an animal and sacrificing it. But that was a symbol. That was a picture, a figure for the time then present is what God said. It was symbolic. But basically in the Old Testament when they sinned, if they took it down to the altar, the sacrifice, then they were forgiven for that sin. We're not talking about heaven and hell, we're not talking about their personal salvation, we're just talking about as far as their walk with God, as far as their standing in the congregation. They basically took care of that by bringing an animal down and making an atonement for their sin, and then okay, they can go on with their life. A sin offering. Pictorial of Jesus' offering once and for all. But he says there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. We're talking about physical death. You know, the death penalty. But in the New Testament, God is really lightened up. That's not what it says. Look what it says. It says, of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy, suppose ye shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden underfoot the Son of God, and had counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing, and had done despite unto the Spirit of grace. Now, despite is the same word as when Esau despised his birthright. It says, for we know him that hath said, vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense save the Lord. And again, the Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Now, is this talking to people that are saved or unsaved? Saved. Because first of all, he said that they tread underfoot the Son of God and counted the blood of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified. So this talking about people who've been sanctified by the blood of Jesus Christ. And again, you've got to get this in the context of the book of Hebrews. Chapter 9, chapter 10 talks about those who've been sanctified through the blood of Jesus Christ through the offering of Jesus once for all. He said they counted it an unholy thing. They don't respect that birthright of being born again. And they basically just sin willfully. They don't care. They look at the Spirit of grace and they say, hey, let us continue in sin that grace may abound. Now, Paul said in Romans 6, he said, what then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. But wait a minute. If we continue in sin, will grace abound? Absolutely. That's why he even brought it up. Because he just finished telling us where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. The more you sin, you're just more of a partaker of God's grace because that's just more than he forgave you of. But he's saying, okay, so should we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How should we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? He said, know ye not that so many of us were baptized into Jesus Christ, were baptized into his death, therefore we are buried with him by baptism in the dead, that like as Christ raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, we also should walk in newness of life. Does it say we automatically will walk in newness of life? No. Does it say we must walk in newness of life to be saved? No, but we should walk in newness of life. If we really appreciate what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, if we really understand what it means that Jesus shed his blood on the cross, dipped his soul into hell, resurrected from the dead, all to pay for our sins because he loved us, we ought to walk in newness of life. We ought to have respect for that, not despise it and just say, oh, well, I'm hungry, okay? You know, that's basically Esau talking. What do you expect me to do? I'm hungry. Well, you know, I can't come to church. I'm busy. I'm trying to make money. I got all this stuff going on. I know. Wait a minute. God said not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. I don't think he's ready to accept the whole bunch of excuses why he can't come to church from reading this passage. I mean, think about it. Does it sound like here, he's saying, don't forsake the assembling of yourself yet unless you've got to make money to put food on the table. Hey, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. God can provide your food. God can take care of you financially, but you've got to put him first and not forsake the assembling of yourselves together because when you do forsake the assembling of yourselves again, you're sinning willfully. That's what it says. I mean, did I make that? That's what it says. Verse 25 is not forsaking. 26, he says if we sin willfully and he's referring to the sin of forsaking the assembly. That's what he's talking about. And he says don't despise God's offering. Don't tread underfoot the Son of God and count the blood of the covenant wherewith you're sanctified and unknowly. Hey, praise God that we're saved. Thank God for his offering once and for all. Hey, at least we can come to his house. At least we can serve him with our life. The Bible says what? Know ye not that you're not your own for you're bought with a price. He said, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. And so we owe it to God to serve him. We owe it to God to do these things because we've been bought with a price. He created us. He gave us life. He saved us. It's our duty. The Bible says present your body as a living sacrifice which is our reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Turn, if you would, to Acts 20-28. You see, why do people forsake the assembly? Because they don't appreciate it. Why did Esau... Okay, well, let's think about this. Why did Esau sell his birthright? Because he didn't appreciate the value of it. He despised it. He didn't think it was important. And so, therefore, he sold it for one more soul of meat just to gratify physically. And, you know, today people don't appreciate what they have in church. Did you know that there are people across this country that wish that they had a church like this in their town? It's true. I mean, they search and they search and all they can find is some watered-down, milk toast, limp-wristed, sorry excuse for a Baptist church. Nobody ever gets saved. You know, the Baptist tree is filled with Christmas decorations from three years ago. Nobody's getting saved. Nothing exciting is happening. Nobody's knocking at any doors. The preaching is dull and drab. It doesn't motivate you. It's not Bible. It's some series from some big preacher somewhere that's got some series that's going to, you know, build you up or whatever. And it's not even Scripture. It's just a bunch of philosophy and quotes from famous preachers. And they go there. It's dead. It's dry. There's nothing happening. Hey, thank God for a faithful word Baptist church. Thank God. Here we are. Thank God we can get around a group of people, not one, not two, not three, but a whole group, a whole church of people did it on fire for God. Hey, thank God for that. Praise God for it. And then you say, well, you know, I guess I'll see if I can make it every once in a blue. You know what I mean? Yeah, I guess maybe I can hit the church house three times a month or whatever. Put in my time. Hey, you ought to thank God for this church. You know what? I didn't used to have a church like this to go to. There have been times when I sat in church embarrassed by what the pastor was saying. And just thinking to myself, man, I brought my visitor to church and he's hearing a bunch of junk. And then I'm going to have to explain them on the way home why what we just heard in the church that I invited to him was false. And I was looking for something like this. You know what faithful word Baptist church is? The church I was always looking for but could never find. Now it exists. It existed in my mind. It existed in the page of the Word of God. I said, hey, let's bring this dream to life. And we started this church and this church exists today. Hey, I appreciate this church. I love this church. I appreciate this group of people right here. It means a lot to me. That's why I make the point to be here. Amen. I'm not going to forsake this assembly, my friend. A lot of people just, oh, you know, oh, there were reporters. So I got scared and left. You know, it's funny how the apostles stood in the face of prison and death. Jesus Christ had just been crucified and beaten. And they stood up and said, hey, Jesus Christ, you slew him with wicked hands. And you need to believe on Jesus Christ. And they said, we ought to obey God rather than men. And they stood up and they went to pray. They faced the trials. Daniel faced the lion's den. Moses faced Pharaoh face to face and said, let my people go. Amos looked at King Amaziah and said, your wife is going to be a whore. And these preachers about John the Baptist faced Herod and was thrown in jail and later beheaded. And yet you can't face Channel 3. You know what I mean? You can't face Stephen Lemons from the New Testament. I got scared and left because of the reports. Good night. And you know, Jesus can face the cross. Daniel can face the lion's den. And you can't face Stephen Lemons or whatever. Channel 10 News pointed a camera in my face. You know what? Doesn't this church mean more to you than that? I think it ought to. It means more to me than that. You know what? I'll crawl on my knees through broken glass to come to this church, let alone have to walk through some picketer, some lesbian with a sign that says free hugs. I can handle that. I can do it. You know? Appreciate this church is what I'm saying. I love it. Appreciate the chance to go soul winning. You know what? When I was a kid, I always wanted to win somebody to Christ. I used to pray every night. Listen to me. When I was a teenager, I prayed every single night. God, please allow me to get one person saved in my lifetime. I prayed that for years, just as sure as I'm standing here. When I would go to bed at night and I would say my prayers before I went to bed, I prayed, God, can I please get one person saved in my life? I prayed that for years. I meant it. That was my sincere goal was to get one person saved. Because I was like, I want my life to matter. I want it to matter to where I want somebody to Christ. And you know what? I talked about it this morning. I walked up to the youth pastor and said, show me how to get people to take me out slowly. And you're in a church where you can walk up to anybody and they'll take you out slowly and show you how to do it. That's worth something. Thank God for that. Thank God to be in a place where people are solar. They can teach you how to do it. That's right. Praise God for it. I mean, it's a great church. And so it ought to mean something to you more than just, oh, I have an ingrown toenail, so I can't make it. I have a sniffle, so I can't make it. And it's funny, but you know what? Sometimes we just let the dumbest excuse keep us from coming to church. Or because we're scared. Oh, I'm scared. Well, you know what? So were all the people who forsook Jesus. So were all the people who forsook the apostles. They were scared, too. But you know what? You ought to have boldness. The Bible says, the wicked flee when no man pursueeth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Why not go to the church that you know is given to you by God? Jesus said that he died for it. Look at Acts 20, 28, where I had you turn. Somebody stand up and read it. I'm not there. Somebody stand up and read Acts 20, 28, loudly. Did you hear that? The church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. The pillar and ground of the truth. The house of God, which is the church of the living God. The pillar and ground of the truth. Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hey, the church is what it's about, my friend. The assembling of ourselves together. The house of God. Assembling with God's people. Appreciate it. Don't despise it and sell out and go to some watered down, sissified pansy of a church, because you're just a little more comfortable there. We finally got padded chairs. I mean, what more do you want? What about the people who gave the church when we were in the house? When we were in a plastic folding chair from Ikea for $9.99 a piece. Go ahead and sell it out for the morsel of meat that they're going to feed you after the service down there. Hey, this church means something to me. I hope it means something to you. Some people wish they had a church like this. But you know what? What about our other birthright? What about the fact that we live in the United States of America? People today are willing to sell that birthright of being born free. And every one of us was born free. I mean, technically. Technically, we were born free. And yet we're willing to sell that out. Now watch this. Go back to Genesis, because I want to show you a little more out of this story with Esau. Genesis 25. Look at Genesis chapter 25. And watch this, because this is so typical of the attitude today. It says in verse 31, And Jacob said, Sell me this day that birthright. Now, he was obviously kind of a conniving guy, but at least he saw the value of it. At least he wanted it. I mean, he wanted it. He was willing to cook this food and give it to him, because he wanted that birthright. And he tricked him, supplanted him, so to speak. But watch what he says here. Jacob said, Sell me this day that birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die, and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And that's what people are today, like, oh, you know, what goods are freedom going to do when we don't have the health care that we need? You know, or we don't have the food that we need. What good's freedom when, you know, all the terrorists and all this stuff. And you know what? The Bible is teaching us here that Esau did not appreciate how important it was, his birthright, and so he just sold it out for a physical security, a physical meal, a fleshly appetite, and people today will trade their freedom and liberty for a handout, for a free meal, because that's what Esau got, a free meal. He sold the money that he would have for the rest of his life, the birthright that he would have for all of his life, the heritage he would have for eternity in the Bible, because he needed a free meal. There's no such thing as a free lunch, Esau. You just sold out your whole future. You just sold out everything that was important. And you know what? I believe personally that the reason that God allowed Jacob to later take his blessing is because it was a punishment for selling his birthright, because Jacob didn't really trick him in this instance. I mean, Jacob pretty much told him, sell me your birthright, I'll give you the food. And then you wonder why later on God allowed Isaac to be tricked and give the blessing to Jacob, because I think that was a punishment for him giving up the birthright. He lost the blessing also. And today, people want a free lunch. They want a free ride in America. They want a free ride, and they're willing to give up their birthright of being free-born in order to get a free ride. Look at the book of 1 Samuel. While we're talking about the nation, first we talked about church. We talked about appreciating your salvation and not continuing in sin that grace may abound. And then the big sin that he mentioned was forsaking the assembly, you know, getting out of church. But in 1 Samuel, as we continue talking about our heritage of being born free, it says here in, I'm sorry, 1 Samuel 8. It says in 1 Samuel 8, verse 5, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, Give us a king to judge us, and Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people and all that they say unto you. For they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even unto this day wherewith they have forsaken me and served other gods, so do they also unto thee. Now therefore, hearken unto their voice, albeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and show them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked it in the king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you. He will take your sons and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen, and some shall run before his chariots, and he will appoint them captains over thousands and captains over fifties, and will set them to ear his ground and to reap his harvest and to make his instruments of war and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries and to be cooks and to be bakers, and he will take your fields and your vineyards and your all-guards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants, and he'll take the tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants, and he will take your men servants and your maid servants and your goodliest young men and your asses and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep, and he shall be his servants, and he shall cry out in that day because of your king, which he shall have chosen you, and the Lord will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight, watch this, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, harken unto their voice, and so on and so forth, make him a king. Now turn to 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17, famous chapter. You see, in chapter 8, the people rejected God's form of government that he gave them in the book of Judges, which was basically where they would choose from among them leaders, basically a republic form of government, because they chose leaders from among themselves, men of integrity, men of character, men of renown, godly men, righteous men that hated covetousness, that would not take bribes. This is documented in Exodus and also Deuteronomy chapter 1. And under the system of the judges, these leaders of the people, that would choose from among them who they wanted to lead them, would basically govern them. It was very limited government. But they said, no, we want to have a king. And he's like, wait a minute, if you have a king, he's going to take all these taxes, 10% of everything that you own, he's going to put all your animals to his word. He's going to take their kids and force them to be in the military, he said. He's going to make them run before his horses, his cherries. He's going to make them ear his fields and do his work. And he's going to put them to work, and he's going to do all this stuff. And he said, you're going to be crying out to have the old system of government instead of this kingdom. And they said, no, we want a king anyway. We want someone to fight our battles for it. So basically, they were willing to give up their freedoms. Because under the system of the judges, that was God's form of government. He never set them up with them on earth. He told them, you don't want a king. He said, the judges, the system of the judges, out of that system, they were totally free. They weren't giving 10% to the government. They weren't giving all this money to the king. I mean, they paid their tithe to God. But they didn't have to give all this money to the government. There was no forced military service under God's system of the judges. So anybody who didn't want to be there could always go home. That's what it taught in the book of Deuteronomy. But they gave that up because they wanted somebody to fight against the Philistines for them, to fight their battles. They wanted to be like all the other nations. But watch this. Look what it says in 1 Samuel chapter 17. This is a very famous story about David and Goliath. And if you remember, everyone was afraid to go face Goliath. They wanted one man from the children of Israel to fight against the greatest warrior from the Philistines. Instead of the two armies fighting, it was just these two men were in a fight to settle it. And for 40 days, Goliath came out and presented himself and challenged them to send someone out to fight him. But he was huge. He was a giant. He was a man of war. And everyone was afraid to do it. Well, David comes up. And David hears what's going on. And watch this in verse number 23. And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine, Gath, Goliath, Bani, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words. And David heard them. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were so afraid. And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man that has come up? Surely to defy Israel as he came up. And it shall be that the man who killed them, the king will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter, and watch this, and make his father's house free in Israel. Now, wait a minute. By the time we get from chapter 8 to 17, they're not free anymore. You had to kill Goliath to be free, he's saying. He's saying if you kill Goliath, then just your family will be free in Israel. What's that tell you? That the other people weren't free. What's that tell you? That the rest of the nation wasn't free. They had to pay all this revenue and all this money to the government. They weren't free. And the only way to be free was if one of them would defeat Goliath. And so that shows you the downgrade. As soon as they get a king, they lost their freedom. That's what it said. I mean, look, as soon as they got that king, and King Saul was still in power, the first king in chapter 17, that's why they had no freedom. And he was going to give freedom to one. Oh, gee, wow, thanks. My father's house can be free in Israel? Wow, great. Isn't that, didn't everybody used to be free? But you see, people don't, they don't appreciate that birthright that they're born with. I mean, they're willing to just sell it out for a little financial gain. Oh, I'm suffering financially. So yeah, let the government take over. Let the government run everything. Let us lose, oh, we'll give up some liberty for security. We'll give up liberty for financial security. Hey, you ought to not be like an Esau. And today, we've got a bunch of politicians that are a bunch of Esau's and a bunch of people to vote from that are named Esau. You know, we've got Esau McCain in our, you know, whatever. But anyway, the point is, I just had to say that. But you know, let's get off that subject. Let's look at another subject. Look at Revelation chapter 3. So basically, we've hit a few subjects on this. Number one, we say, hey, number one, people need to appreciate their salvation, not despise the blood of the covenant wherewith they've been sanctified and count it as an unholy thing. Number two, don't despise the house of God by showing up when you feel like it. You know, man, be here. You say, well, do we have to come to all three services? You don't have to come at all. You don't have to come to one service. You don't have to come once a week. You don't have to come twice a week. You don't have to come once a month. Hey, I'm going to be here every time the doors are open, personally. Because I appreciate it, that's why. Because I believe in it. Because I understand that this is a gift from God. It said in Ephesians chapter 4, remember when we read it this morning? He gave some pastors. He gave some teachers for the edification of the saints, for the perfecting of the saints. Hey, if God gave me a pastor to teach me the Bible, I want to get there and get that teaching. I want to get there and get that preaching. I want to hear what God has for me. He that hath an ear... Are you in Revelation 3? This isn't what I was going to show you in Revelation 3, but while we're here, look at verse 13. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Hey, God's Spirit has something to say to the church. You see, there's personal Bible reading, and that's where I get 95% of what I learn. And you ought to get 95% of what you learn from the Bible, from the Holy Spirit. Go to the source. But let me tell you something. God's Spirit is speaking to the churches today. And if you're in church, you'll hear what God has to say through the preaching of His Word. And if you're not, you won't hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Look at verse number 7, though. It says in Revelation 3, 7, And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, and try them to dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast that thou hast, and no man take thy crown. Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name, he that hath neither let him hear, what the Spirit saith unto the churches. What about the opportunity that God has given us? The open door that he has set before us. It's said in 1 Corinthians also, that a great door and effectual is set before me, but there are many, he said, there are many adversaries. We today, in 2009, in Tempe, in Faithful Work Actors Church, in Arizona, we had an open door set before us. I mean, the door is wide open. I mean, how many souls do you want to win? How many doors do you want to knock? I mean, the opportunity is there. I mean, you could go out and knock doors and knock doors. Nobody's going to arrest you for doing it. Nobody's going to stop you. You've got a great wide open door. You've got millions of people, literally, four million people in this county that are just sitting there behind that door, and you've just got it all laid out for you, the work for God to do. Do you appreciate that? Do you understand that? Do you see what God is saying here when he says, I've opened the door for you. I'm coming quickly, he said in verse 11. Hey, use the time that you have. Use the opportunity that you have. Don't just despise it. Don't just sell it out and not care. Hey, redeeming the time, the Bible says, because the days are equal. Use your life. God's given you good health. He's given you your whole life ahead of you if you're young. If you're old, you still have more life ahead of you. It's not over. As long as you're in this life, as long as you're still alive, God has work for you to do. Because as soon as you're done, then he'll take you home. There's no reason to be here if you're done. Well, I don't really have anything left for him, but I'm just going to leave him on earth for a couple more years and I'll see what happens. Obviously, if you're here, God has work for you to do. Don't be one of these that gets old before your time. Look at Moses did his greatest works when he was 80 years old. Caleb did his greatest works when he was 85 years old. And these men didn't say, oh, I'm old now. I'm going to let the young crowd do it. No, Caleb said, as my strength was then, so is my strength now both to go out and to come in. Give me the hardest job. He said, in this whole land, the toughest place is Mount Hebron. He said, that's where I'm going to go. I want that mountain. I don't care if they're old, but they have iron cherries. I don't care. That's where I'm going to fight. But you're 85 years old. I don't care. I'm going to go fight God's battle. I'm going to do something big for God. And Caleb did that. And you know what? Once he went and took over that city and took over that mountain, he gave it to God. Because remember when they were turning over the cities of refuge and they were giving a few cities out of each tribe? Caleb gave his big city, the one that he worked so hard for, the one that he fought for when he was 85. He said, you know what? Take that. And Hebron became one of those cities of refuge that was given over to God. You see, you have an opportunity in your life. You have your health. You have two strong legs. You've got food. You've got clothing. You've got a place to live. You've got a church to motivate you. You have friends to motivate you. You've got the Holy Bible. You've got the whole Bible, Genesis to Revelation, other generations throughout history have not necessarily had the entire Bible. Many people in other nations today don't have the whole Bible translated into their language. They might only have a portion of it. They might have some messed up version of it and they're trying to get a part of it translated into the right version or the whole thing in the proper version, not some Catholic, you know, messed up version. Hey, I'm here to tell you something. You have it all. You are like a modern day Esau today because you have it all. You live in prosperity. You live in peace. You have the finances to survive. You say, I'm poor. Nobody here is too poor. I mean everybody here has food, has clothing, has what you need to live. You may not be living in the life of luxury, but you've got it all, my friend. You've got the Holy Bible. You've got the Holy Spirit in your chest if you're saved this morning or tonight. You've got the Bible. You've got friends to motivate you. You've got a church to preach to you. What more do you need? The door is open, my friend. Realize it. And people will sell it out to gratify the flesh. I mean think about it. The example that was brought up was fornication. They'll go out and sleep with somebody before they're married and forfeit their spirituality, mess up their life just for that moment of pleasure, one moment of pleasure and pain for a lifetime, 20 years of consequence, a whole lifetime of consequences just because, oh, it felt good. Now stop and think about that. Is it really worth it to go out and commit fornication? Is it really worth it to go out and drink? Is it really worth it to take those drugs if you're forfeiting your birthright, if you're forfeiting your open door to go out and serve God, if you're forfeiting your church attendance, if you're forfeiting your freedom, is it really worth the pleasure? Is it really worth the good feeling? Is it really worth it when Esau ate his bowl of soup? Did it really taste that good, Esau? Because you sold out everything. You gave it all up. You lost everything in one moment. You see, it took a lifetime for Abraham and Isaac to earn his birthright, to work hard and to build up the wealth that they had, to build up the spiritual heritage that they had, but it only took five minutes to lose it all, and that's the way your life is, my friend. You know how much work it went into to build this church? You know, and God's the one who built it, but he used people to go out and knock doors and preach and work hard. You know how much work went into this church? You know, but this church could be destroyed easily if we just, if we're like Esau, if we don't appreciate, if we don't take heed to it. Look at Psalm 78, the last place we'll turn. Psalm 78. Look at Psalm 78, verse 10. I love the book of Psalms, and I love Psalm 78 because there are several psalms in the book of Psalms that kind of tell stories from the Old Testament, and they kind of give you another angle. You know, Psalm 101 is like that, and there are a lot of psalms like that that tell you the Old Testament story. It's kind of like Acts, chapter 7, where Stephen goes through a rundown, and you get different perspectives on the Bible, so it's interesting. Look at Psalm 78, verse 10. It says, They kept not the covenant of God, and the context here is that he's basically referring to the children of Israel that come out of Egypt. They kept not the covenant of God and refused to walk in his law and forgave his works and his wonders that he had showed them. Marvelous things did he in the sight of their fathers in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoach. He divided the sea and caused them to pass through it. He made the waters to stand his feet. In the daytime also he led them with the cloud and all the night with the light of fire. He claved the rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as out of the great depth. He brought streams also out of the rock and caused waters to run down like rivers, and they sinned yet more against him by provoking the most high in the wilderness, and they tempted God in their heart by asking meat for their lust. Yea, they spake against God. They said, Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? Behold, they smote the rock and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he give bread also? Can he provide flesh for his people? Therefore the Lord heard this and was wrong. So a fire was kindled against Jacob and anger also came up against Israel. Watch this. What was the real problem? Because they believed not in God and trusted not in his salvation. Though he had commanded the clouds from above and opened the doors of heaven and had rained down manna upon them to eat and had given them of the corn of heaven, man did eat angel's food. He sent the meat to the full. He caused an east wind to blow in the heaven and by his power he brought in the south rain. He rained flesh that was also upon them as dust and feathered boughs like as the sand of the sea, and he let it fall in the midst of their camp round about their habitations. So they did eat and were well filled, for he gave them their own desire. They were not estranged from their lust, but while their meat was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them. That's where God started. Why the fattest? Because it was all about their lust for food. You see this? They didn't even... I mean, think about this. They saw God part the Red Sea. They saw God make water gush out of a rock. They saw the cloudy pillar and the pillar of fire by night. And yet it was just, I'm hungry. I'm not getting enough to eat. I'm tired of eating the same thing every day. Mana, over and over again. You know, we wish we had the cucumbers and the garlic and the leeks. You know, they're bringing up these obscure foods. You know what I mean? That they just have to have all this exotic stuff. You know, leeks, cucumbers, garlic. Can't live without it. Onions. My food doesn't have onions in it. You know, that's what these people are complaining. And so God said, I'm going to start with the biggest, fattest person who's just gorging themselves. And it says, He slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they send still and believe not for his wondrous works. You see, some people... Here's the point I'm trying to make. Some people, no matter how much God does for them, they just don't appreciate it. You give them a great church. You give them great food. You give them a place to live. You give them freedom. You give them all these wonderful things. They have a great family, great husband, great wife, whatever. And they're never satisfied. They just want something else. They just want something more. You know, why don't we just stop and appreciate what we have? Why don't we appreciate it and not be so willing to just give it over? You see, Pastor Anderson, why is it that you're like this freedom finder? Because I'm just not willing to just give up my birthright. You know what I mean? I'm not willing to just, oh, okay, you want to take my freedom? Okay, that's fine. You know, I'm a Christian, so I'll just give up my freedom. No, because the problem is I wouldn't just be giving up my freedom. I'm giving up everybody's freedom. If I give up my freedom, then I'm basically saying, well, take everybody's freedom. Think about it. It's not just you. It's everybody. And so that's why, because I appreciate my birthright. You see, Pastor Anderson, why are you so staunch on your stance on the biker? Why don't you just mellow out a little bit, lighten up, and just take it easy? You don't have to scream and yell. No, because I'm going to tell you something. I love this book. I appreciate it, and I'm going to preach my lungs out of this book because you know what? To me, it's worth something. It's not like, oh, well, you know, of course we all have the Bible. No. We have the Holy Bible, God's word in our hand. Hey, somebody needs to get up and shout this from the mountaintops. We got too many preachers who want to whisper it in somebody's ear instead of getting behind the pulpit and just shouting about it. Just let everybody know. Hide it under a bushel. No. I'm going to let it shine like the song goes when you're a kid. And so we need to appreciate what we have, our freedom, our salvation, the blood of Christ, it said in Hebrews 10, the assembly. And I can tell who appreciates the assembly. It's the people who are always here. You know what I mean? Think about that. That's who appreciates it because they're always here because they appreciate it because they're saying, man, a lot. Thank God we have a church like this because there aren't many left. I don't know if you know that, but there are a lot of places that don't have a church. There are great churches out there, but you know what? It's getting a huge bar between you. And so, hey, if you appreciated it, you'd show up. For example, let's say I cooked a great big dinner, and maybe this will remind you of a story you read in the Bible because there's a story just like this. Let's say I cooked a great big dinner, and I said, you know what? I cooked this dinner for you. And he said, you know what? I'm just going to go to Burger King tonight. I mean, I appreciate the fact that you made that big meal, but I think I'm just going to drive through and get a Whopper instead. Now, that's going to hurt my feelings, right? Because I withdraw this work. I cooked this nutritious meal. All the food was organic. I used raw, non-pasteurized milk from a local farm. I bought grain-fed beef. And I'm trying to give you something nutritious. I'm trying to cook something up for you, and I cooked it all just right. I put a little piece of parsley on the side, a little garnish, a little slice of orange. And then you're going down to Burger King and getting a Whopper. It's like not even really beef. It's cow, but it's not beef. Use your imagination. You know, soggy French fries. I'm trying to make you French fries. At my house, I invited this dinner. I'm cutting up real potatoes and deep-frying them in canola oil. And I'm trying to make this nutritious meal, and I'm making you a bacon cheeseburger, but the beef is all free-range beef, and the bacon is an organic pink or whatever that means, and lettuce, tomato. I get this thing all set up, and you walk in, and you say, well, you know what? I knew you made this dinner for me, and I wanted to eat the dinner. But, you know, 15 minutes before I got here, I saw Burger King, and I didn't want to wait the 15 minutes until I got there. So I went ahead and just picked up a Burger King combo number one, and I ate this instead. Now, how would that make me feel? Now, think about this. God has prepared a meal for you. Pastor Anderson prepares three meals a week for you, and that's what preaching is. This is the food right here. This is the meat and the milk of the Word, and I'm going into the fridge here, okay? I open the fridge door. I pull out the ingredients. I cook it up for you, and, you know, if you realize, and listen to me. Coming to church is not doing me a favor. You're the one that's missing out when you go to Burger King Baptist Church. You're the one who's missing out when Pastor Ronald McDonald picks up and serves you, serves you his sorry excuse for a happy meal. And you know what? You can get your little, go get your little happy meal, and that's what you get too, you know? You get your toy. Get your stupid little toy. I'm trying to give you a real burger. You know what I mean? And so, look, God has purchased the local church with his blood. He's given you the tools. He's given you the Bible. He's given you a pastor to cook you a real meal, not a happy meal. And so the question is, are you smart enough to recognize what God has given you for what it is, like Jacob? Are you a Jacob or an Esau tonight? Do you recognize it and say, boy, this is something worth hearing. This is a Bible worth reading, right? I mean, I've got the King James Bible. I'm going to read it. It's not going to sit on the shelf. I'm going to read it every day. People in other countries would love to have this book in their language for them to read. And so I'm going to appreciate it. I'm going to be like Jacob. I'm going to see the value of it, and I'm going to read it every day. Oh, man, something's going on in church, preaching. I don't want to hear that. I want to be there. I don't want to miss it. I want to get that. Oh, freedom and merit. I believe in it. I appreciate it. I thank God for it. I'm going to stand up for it. Amen. I mean, these are the type of things that separate a Jacob from an Esau. Jacob is smart enough to say it's not a question of whether I have to come to church because nobody has to come. Nobody has to come back for the night service. You know, you can come in the morning and be done with it, go to the lake. But you know what? If you're a Jacob, you'll be smart enough to say, you know what? God might have something for me in this evening service. In fact, God will have something for me, something that I can learn. I better go to as many church services as I can. Now, you know these people, these pre-trib people, okay? And they, you know, this is what they say. You know, the whole Bible sits there and tells you that Jesus is coming after the Antichrist and, you know, and the clouds and all that, you know. And it's very clear that Jesus is not coming back at any moment. First, there's going to be all these different things and the abomination of desolation and the mark of the beast and all these different things that are still coming. But these pre-tribulation people, this is what they say. They say, well, you know, the church is never mentioned between Revelation, you know, 4 and 19. And I always say, first of all, you know, I like to base what I believe on what the Bible does say, not on what it doesn't say, number one, okay? But number two, you want to know the real reason why the church is not mentioned? Because during the tribulation, you know, you're probably not going to be going to church because you're probably going to be out in the hills trying to, you know, run for your life somewhere. You know, when they're out persecuting you and beheading people and throwing them in jail, you're probably not going to be able to just show up at Faith Ward Baptist Church at 10.30 a.m. And, you know, I'm not talking about the trials and tribulations that we go through on a continual basis. I'm talking about the tribulation one day when, you know, the first seal, the second seal, the third seal, all that in Revelation. You're not going to have a church to go to in the tribulation. Now, will that come in our lifetime? Maybe or maybe not. Maybe it won't even be in our lifetime. We don't know. But we could be living in the very last days, and we could experience the tribulation in our lifetime. Jesus Christ may come back in our lifetime. We don't know. But let me say this. You're probably not going to have the church that you have right now if that does happen. A dead church, you're in jail or heading for the hills, you're not going to have this church. And you know what? You might think when that time comes, you might stop and think and say, you know what? I wish I would have gone to church more because I don't have church anymore. Nobody's preaching to me anymore. And I could have gone, but, you know, I missed so many services, and now I'm wishing I would have been there because some of that preaching could be strengthening me right now. You know what? Faithful word of the Baptist church may not always be here, even if that doesn't happen. What happens if you move somewhere and you can't even find a good church or you're forced to move somewhere? Who knows what happens where somehow you're in another place? Or what happens if faithful word of the Baptist church doesn't exist for some reason? You know, and I pray to God that this church will thrive and continue, and I'm standing up to preach and to do my part, but you know what? You don't know what a day is going to bring for you. But you do have this church today. Why don't you leave? Why don't you get the preaching? You may not have your Bible someday. Someday somebody may take your Bible away from you and you won't have a Bible. And you're without a Bible. It's happened before throughout history. People have had their Bibles taken from them. And you know what you're going to say when that happens? When you don't have your Bible, you're going to say, I wish I would have read my Bible more. I wish I would have memorized more verses. I mean, there are times when I don't have my Bible with me and I'm thankful to have someone memorized so I can quote God's Word. But you know what? One day if you don't have a Bible, every single verse you memorize will be precious to you, every single chapter. And you'll wish you memorized more if you would have known the value of it. See what I'm saying? Appreciate it. Your loved ones, your wife, your husband, your children, appreciate them because what if you don't have them someday? What if they pass away? You're going to wish that you would have appreciated them more. So what's the moral of the story? Be a Jacob. See the value of everything God has given you. The country you live in, the friends you have, the church you have, the family you have, the Bible you have, the preaching you have. See the value of it. Thank God for it and don't be so willing to just forgo it. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for our church to God and for the blessings and for my family, for the Bible, for all the wonderful things you've given me. Help me not to take any of it lightly. Help me to appreciate it like Jacob and understand the value. Help us not to be like Esau, the God who's just willing to sell it all out. He didn't even understand what any of it was worth. He just wanted to gratify his physical flesh to God. Help there not to be an Esau among us dear God and help us to be like Jacob and appreciate what you've given us. We love you and in Jesus' name we pray. Alright, let's go.