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a week, Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night, and God I just pray that you would bless the service tonight and use this great chapter in the Word of God to speak to the hearts of those that are here, Mylon included. Please just use something in the chapter to stir someone up, bring them closer to you, to give them more zeal and fervor, and God I just pray that you would speak through me tonight. Holy Spirit, I just pray that you would fill me as I preach tonight, and in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now in James chapter 4, he starts out with a question. From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members? Now he's describing some problems. He's describing strife that we talked about in chapter number 3. Envians and strife was a lot of what we talked about in chapter number 3 at the end there. And he says, where does it come from? What's the problem? Is it the devil that's causing all the problems? Is it other people that are attacking you that's causing the problem? He says, no, this is what the problem is. He says, come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members? Now the word members in the Bible is talking about body parts. That's what the word members means. Have you ever heard of somebody, not to be grotesque, but have you ever heard of somebody being dismembered? That's what it means. Members are talking about like an arm, a leg, a hand, a foot. He's saying, come they not hence even of your lusts that war in your members? You lust and desire, I'm sorry, you lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight and war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts. Now I'm kind of laying a foundation for what I'm going to talk about, but the word lust in the Bible is the exact, it has two synonyms, okay? Covet is one of them and one of them is desire. Those three words are used interchangeably in the Bible. You see quotations of the Old Testament where those words are substituted. Covet, desire and lust. Lust is an inordinate desire for something that you don't have. It's a burning, consuming desire to have something that you don't have. It's called lust. Or it's also called covetousness, one of the Ten Commandments. Thou shall not covet. And the Bible also uses the word desire. Thou shall not desire thy neighbors, on and on, lists all the different things. Now there's a doctrine that so many people don't understand. It's a very simple doctrine in the Bible and once you understand this doctrine, and I've preached on it many times and I don't mind being repetitious because it's so important, once you understand this doctrine that I'm going to talk about right now, you'll see it in the Bible over and over again, especially as you're reading the New Testament. I see this come up in almost every single chapter. And once you're looking for it especially, you'll see it all the time. But look if you would at Romans chapter 8. Turn over to Romans chapter 8 and I'll explain this to you. And he alludes to this a few different times in chapter 4, but he's saying that the problem, the fighting, the bitterness, the strife, the sin that's in your life, he says the problem is the lust that's warring in your members. What's the war? Okay if there's a war, there has to be two sides to this war that are fighting against each other. These are the two sides. The Bible says the flesh is one side and the spirit is the other side. And the Bible says the flesh warth against the spirit and the spirit warth against the flesh. And these two are contrary, one to the other, so that you cannot do the things that you would, so that you can't do the things that you want to do. Look if you would at Romans chapter 8 verse number 16. The Bible says the spirit, see the capital S? That's talking about God, that's talking about the Holy Spirit. The spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. See if you're saved tonight, you know you're saved because the Holy Spirit lives inside of you bearing witness with your spirit that you are the children of God. The next verse says, and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God and join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with them, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who had subjected the same in hope. Now look at this next part. It says because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth and pain together until now. Here's the important verse right here. Verse number 23 the Bible says, and not only they but ourselves also which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. So he's saying here that when you got saved you really got the first fruits of salvation because the moment that you got saved your body was not saved, your flesh was not saved. Your flesh is the same flesh that it was before you got saved. Exactly the same. I mean the same things that you craved and desired and lusted after as the Bible says before you got saved, the moment you get saved it's not like wow. And you hear these preachers and they're usually preaching this heresy where you have to turn from all your sins in order to get saved or be willing to turn from your sins. This is what they get up and say, you know these guys from the south, you know no offense, but these guys from the south, bless God, when I got saved I got all the way saved. And they say like, I got saved, I never wanted a cigarette again and I never wanted to do this again. You know what, you're a liar. You're a liar because the flesh, the Bible says, cannot be brought into subjection to the laws of God. And the Bible says that the same flesh that you had before you got saved is the same flesh you have after you got saved. So you know what, if you like to drink before you got saved, the flesh still likes to drink. Okay, if you like to listen to rock music before you got saved, your flesh is still going to like to listen to rock music. You know, you like to smoke cigarettes before you got saved, you're still going to want it. The next day after you get saved, you're going to wake up and want to smoke a cigarette. Okay, the next day after you get saved, you're going to want to watch the same filth on TV because that's the flesh, the same flesh. I still have the same flesh from before I got saved. The same stuff that I used to do, any time, if I walk in the flesh, I'd be tempted to do the same exact things. That tendency is still going to be there. Because there's a war going on, the Bible says, between the flesh and between the spirit. The lusts that are warring in your members is that old flesh wants to control you. Now 99% of Christians are controlled by the flesh. So they're very worldly. They're following just the lust. If it feels good, do it. Whatever they want to do, they're going to do it. No restrictions. But the Bible says that when you got saved, a part of you got saved immediately, which is your spirit. Okay? The moment you got saved, the Bible says God created a brand new creature in you that's created, and I'll read this for you. Don't turn there for sake of time. But the Bible says in Ephesians 4.22 that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, notice that word again, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind. And that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. So he says the new man, and follow me, I know this is a little bit heavy at the beginning of the sermon, but bear with me. But the new man that was created when you got saved is only your spirit, not your flesh. Your flesh is the same old flesh. But when you got saved, God took your spirit and created a brand new creature, a brand new person called the new man, or the inward man, or the spirit. And that's what the Bible calls it inside of you. Not the Holy Spirit. You also have the Holy Spirit living inside of you, but you also have a brand new Stephen Anderson in my case. A brand new Stephen Watts. You know, a brand new Dave Burzins, you know, whatever you want to fill in the blank. When you got saved, God created that brand new creature. And people will try to say, well, when you get saved, you're a brand new creature, and if this guy got saved, why does he live exactly the way that he lived before he got saved? He must not really be saved. No, that's wrong. The Bible says everyone that believeth shall not perish but have everlasting life. Whosoever believeth. So if somebody believes on Jesus Christ, confess with their mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in their heart that God is raised from the dead, they shall be saved. But does that mean that they're immediately going to change? Well, nothing changes. It's not a change that takes place when you get saved. People say, well, you got to see a change. There got to be a change. Look, it's not a change. Nothing changed. You got a brand new spirit. That's not a change. That's something new. You get a new spirit, and you got the same old flesh, and you just started a war that's going to go on. No change. Change is the wrong word. Okay? The word is a new man and an old man that are fighting against each other. Now, which one do you think is going to win? Well, if you feed, if you sow to, the Bible says, like sowing seeds, or if you feed the flesh, the flesh is going to be in control all the time. If you feed the spirit, the spirit's going to be in control. No one is 100% of the time controlled by the spirit because nobody's perfect. The flesh is always going to creep in and take over. Less more than others, you know, depending on how close to God you are, how much you're feeding the one. So, if you sit down and watch a bunch of movies on the television, okay, and then you're pumping your mind with a bunch of rock music from some guy that looks like a pervert. I mean, good night. I picked up the newspaper the other day, and they showed all the rock bands that are coming to Tempe for the holidays. I couldn't even believe it. Maybe I've just been, like, in a bubble for the last three or four years. I mean, these guys were, like, practically cross-dressed. They looked like a bunch of faggots and sodomites. They're getting up there, I mean, with all just their faces, like, mutilated with all the piercings. They got the dark eyeliner, and they were wearing full-blown makeup. And I remember that a little bit in the 80s, but I couldn't believe how prevalent it was right now. And it's sick, and it's disgusting. Hey, go ahead and pump your mind with all the garbage that they're spewing out of their mouth, all the filth that they want to teach you and educate you, which is just straight out of hell, straight from Satan. Go ahead and fill your mind with that. But who do you think you're feeding, the flesh or the spirit, when you listen to that trash? You're feeding the flesh. And you say, Pastor Anderson, I don't know why I just can't seem to get control of my mind. I don't know why I just keep going back and doing the same things that I used to do. I keep this, I want to do what's right. Like Paul said, he said, I want to do what's right with the inward man. But he says, I just find a war in me that the lust of the flesh is just warring against my spirit. Well, if you cut off the supply to the flesh, it's going to get weaker and weaker. And then you start feeding the spirit, you know, reading the Bible, okay, singing the great songs in the hymn book, you know, instead of listening to that stuff. But reading the Bible, memorizing the Bible, I mean, think about how strong your spirit will be if you just feed it the Bible, feed it preaching three times a week in church, feed it the things of God all the time. It's going to get stronger and stronger and stronger and the flesh is going to be just starving and dying and withered up and emaciated because you're not feeding it the garbage that it wants to be fed. Look, your flesh will never like this, excuse me, this kind of music right here. Never. Your flesh doesn't like this. Your flesh wants the worldly music. Okay. Your spirit doesn't like the worldly music. The spirit loves these songs. The spirit loves, to God be the glory, you know, the spirit loves these songs. The flesh hates them. And you say, you know what, I'm sorry, but I just like my music a little bit better. I like to listen to Bow Wow and 50 Cent and all this stuff, you know, that's what I like, you know, that's what I like. Hey, you're always going to like it when you're in the flesh, okay, but when you sow to the spirit, you'll start to be the new creature. Now, the moment that you die, the flesh dies and it's gone. And then at the resurrection, of course, you get a brand new body. And that flesh is a new, brand new, saved flesh just like your spirit is saved right now. See, the Bible says in this verse, are you still in Romans 8? Look at Romans 8, 23. It says, and not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the spirit. That's like the beginning that you get right when you get saved, the spirit, which have the first fruits of the spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption or salvation, that's what redemption means, the redemption of our body. He says he can't wait until I get rid of this stupid flesh that's always causing me to sin, these lusts that are constantly warring in my members. He says I just can't wait to get rid of this flesh and just have a brand new body, brand new soul, brand new spirit, and stand in the presence of Jesus Christ perfect. The Bible says we're going to stand before him blameless and perfect in holiness. We're going to be like him for we shall see him as he is, the Bible says. Never sin again. That's why you wonder, well, what's the difference? When you get to heaven, why are you never going to sin again? Because the flesh is gone and that's the only thing that's causing you to sin right now is your flesh. You'll never get rid of it. This is something that you have to battle every day. I mean, you're never going to get to the point where I've arrived. The flesh doesn't even bother me anymore. I just roll out of bed and just want to read the Bible and preaching and praying and saying, that's all I want. It's never going to happen. Every day you have to kill the old man. Every day you have to render the flesh dead and you have to decide that you're going to put on the new man. Now it gets easier and the spirit gets so much stronger that it's going to dominate almost naturally. Whereas most people when they first get saved, I mean the flesh is in the driver's seat 100% of the time. And you'll see people who get saved and they have no change in their life. Why? Because they're just in the flesh. They're not reading the Bible, how do you expect them to change? They're not in church, how do you expect the change? They're not following God's laws, how do you expect them to change? And they're just filling their mind with all the Hollywood and everything. And it's a sad life because it's a life of doing the things that you would not, as Paul said. Look, everybody wishes, or at least should, that they would be a great Christian. I mean they would just read the Bible, win people to Christ, get people saved. Everybody would like to do that, but they don't do it because it's hard, because it's difficult. But the only way to do it is if you can subdue this flesh and if you can walk in the spirit. Think about that, everything you do throughout the day, just decide, is this feeding the flesh or is this feeding the spirit? Just think about it that way. And you will not win this battle if you're constantly feeding the flesh. You're going to lose every time and you're going to constantly find yourself just sinning and doing wrong and being a failure in life, unless you can get a hold of this thing of walking in the spirit. Of course, just quickly, I'll read this verse for you, 1 John 3, 9, don't turn there. It says, Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin and he cannot sin. I mean, for a seed remaineth in him and he cannot sin because he's born of God. See, the new creature that God created cannot sin. When you're sinning, it's because it's the flesh that's sinning. And that's why when you die, you'll never sin again if you're saved, born again. And so back to James 4, though, I just want you to understand that going into this chapter. You know, don't sit around saying that somebody's not saved because they live the same way. What do you believe in, work salvation? Do you think they'll be able to work their way to heaven or something? They don't get baptized? If you think that if somebody doesn't get baptized, they must not have really been saved because they didn't get baptized. You know, why don't you go join the Church of Christ because that's what they teach. They teach you how to be baptized to be saved. Hey, why don't you go join one of these charismatic Pentecostal churches then if you think people have to change their whole life around to get saved. What are you doing in a Baptist church? In a Baptist church, we believe the Bible and the Bible says, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also the Greek without the works of the law, the Bible says. And so, don't ever sit back and look at somebody and say, well, let's watch him and see if he's really saved. Watch for what? You're going to look inside his spirit? You're going to put on like x-ray glasses and see whether the spirit has been changed? You don't know that? Maybe he's just walking in the flesh 100% of the time. That's why it is possible for somebody to get saved and have no difference, no works, no change. It's a tragedy that they waste their life and they're going to get to heaven one day and they'll be happy to be there and they'll be changed and they'll have the brand new body, brand new soul, brand new spirit, but they're going to look back and say, good, not! Why did I waste my whole life? What did I do? What did I accomplish? Look down, if you would, at the end of the chapter. Look at verse number 14. The Bible says in James 4, 14, whereas you know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appearth for a little time and then vanishes away. He said your life, your whole life is like the scene that rises off like a tea kettle. He said it's like a vapor. You see it for a minute and it's gone. It's gone before you know it. I'm sure if we asked Brother Lawless, who is much older than I am, I'm sure if I asked Brother Lawless, he'd say, boy, I just flew by his whole life in a way. It blows by faster than you think. I'm realizing that I'm only 25 years old and I can see that it's starting to pick up speed. Think about it. When you're like 8 years old, your mom's like, wait 20 minutes. It seems like 3 hours. Now if somebody said wait 3 hours, I'm like, sure. Mom, I'm hungry. Wait 10 minutes. You're starving. Now it's like, we're going to eat about 4 or 5 hours. Okay, because time progressively speeds up the older you get. That's the fact. Maybe it's just because it's a smaller percentage of your life. I don't know, but it just speeds up and speeds up and speeds up. And he says in the scheme of things, in an eternity of billions and billions and billions of years, he says your life is just like that and it's over. It's nothing. It means nothing. It's going to be gone. And you're going to look back and say, my whole life was wasted. Why? Because I refused to walk in the Spirit. I refused to feed the Spirit. I just had to just gratify my flesh like an animal. You know, just whatever feels good. Gratify my flesh just so I could feel good for that little vapor. When I could have sowed to the Spirit a little bit and done something of eternal value and as we talked about on Sunday night, when I get to heaven, I could present those that I've won to Christ and say, these are the people that I won to Christ. Hey, when I saw you reading the Bible figuratively speaking, when I saw you, Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross with the sins of the world on your back, when the blood and the water flowed out of your side and he said, forgive them, Father, for they know not what they do. When he became sin for us, when I look at that, I say, you know what? That is important and I'm not going to let any of it go to waste. If he died for the sins of every man, if he died for the sins of the whole world, that should mean that he wants the whole world saved. Wouldn't it be a tragedy? Have you ever thought about this? I philosophize sometimes when I'm reading the Bible. Have you ever thought about this fact that if Jesus died for the sins of somebody like Adolf Hitler, who obviously didn't get saved, who obviously is burning in hell right now beneath my feet, if he died for the sins of Adolf Hitler, Adolf Hitler didn't get saved, Adolf Hitler is paying for his own sins right now, what a waste. I mean, wasn't it kind of a waste when Jesus paid for them and then he's paying for them anyway? What a waste. But Jesus said, no, I'm willing to do that. I'm willing to pay his sins because I want to give him a chance to be saved. Because, you know, I'm sure that Adolf Hitler was once a nice little blond-headed boy like I was. Actually, he wasn't even 100% German, was he? Okay, so, he was half, I don't know, he was Austrian and half Jewish, I think somebody even told me. But he was dark-haired, he probably wasn't a little blond-headed Aryan like my kids. I'm kidding, of course. But, you know, he was a cute little boy at one point, right? He probably was out playing ball, you know, a little Adolf. Come on in. Adolf, it's dinner time, you know, come on in. Ding, ding, ding, ding. He sat down with his little sauerkraut and whatever, you know. But you know what? Hey, God loved, God so loved Adolf that he gave his only begotten son. I mean, it's kind of funny, but seriously. And if you think about that, I guarantee you that, you know, there was a time when he could have gotten saved. He probably had some opportunities along the way. And he didn't get saved. What a tragedy that he's paying in hell, and he willed for all eternity, for the sins that he committed when Jesus already paid for them. All you have to do is believe and be saved. But he didn't. Look, what a waste. Do you want the blood of Jesus Christ that he shed for the sins of mankind to go to waste? Because everybody who doesn't get saved, it's a waste. So if I see the value of the blood of Jesus Christ, I mean, if I see the value of Jesus on the cross, the death, burial, and resurrection, if I see the value of the fact that he went down to hell for three days and three nights and was punished for my sins, if I see the value in that, I don't want any of it to go to waste. I'm going to get everybody saved I can. I think if I see somebody say, good night, Jesus paid their sins, what a shame for that to be a waste. How do you think Jesus feels about the fact that he wasted? I mean, he died for somebody and they didn't get saved. What a waste. What a tragedy. You know, Jesus, all throughout the Old Testament, you'll see the sin offering. You saw, it's maybe a boring part of the Bible to many people. If you understand it, it's not boring at all. But all throughout the Old Testament, you'll see the sin offering, where they take an animal and they would kill that animal. If it was someone's pigeons, they'd wring off their necks or like the bullocks that they would kill and shed their blood and cut out their insides and so on. It's very gory to read about it in the book of Leviticus and everything like that. But when these animals are butchered, just remember that that's a picture of Jesus Christ who was butchered on the cross. That's what it's a picture of. The blood that spills out on that altar is a picture of Jesus when he shed his blood on the cross. You think that it was a pretty sight, Jesus hanging around? It wasn't like these paintings from the Renaissance, some long-haired, queer-looking guy with a little trickle of blood coming out of his head. It was a brutal sight. The Bible says he had no form nor comeliness that we should desire. There wasn't anything attractive about him. There wasn't anything good-looking about him. He's beaten beyond recognition as a human being. It's a disgusting sight. And he died for the sins of mankind. Don't let it go to waste. Don't let a drop of it go to waste. Get everybody saved that you can is what I'm saying tonight. And then think about this. After they killed the animal, what did they do next in the Old Testament? What did they do? They burned it. It was a burnt offering every time. And you say, well, I just don't believe Jesus went to Hell. I think Jesus went to Hades. And I've saved the Greek, and there's Hades and Sheol. And you know what? I don't know where the Sheol these people are getting all that doctrine, but you know what? Hades and Sheol means nothing to me. It's called Hell, friend. If you have a King James Bible, it says that Jesus was in Hell. And I can show you several places that it says that. You can say, well, it was Paradise. Are you telling me that Paradise is in the center of the Earth next to Hell? Who booked my ticket for that trip? I don't want to be there. It's stupid. And so, look, Paradise up in Heaven, the Bible says, clearly up to Paradise, up to the third Heaven. Paradise in Heaven, Hell is a place of suffering and torment and fire and punishment. And I'm going to tell you something. Jesus Christ just says thousands and millions of burnt sacrifices were made for 4,000 years of human history. Every time they lit one of those burnt sacrifices on fire, it was a picture of Jesus Christ when his soul would suffer in the fires of Hell to pay for our sins. That's why it was a burnt offering. That's why he said of the Passover lamb, he said don't boil it, don't seed it, don't cook it any other way. He said roast it with fire. And the Bible says Christ, our Passover, is offered for us. It's so clear in the Bible. If you believe the King James Bible is the word of God and you're not listening to Dr. Fatbottom in some university who tells you, well, Hell doesn't always mean Hell. Sometimes it's Sheol, sometimes it's Gehenna, and sometimes it's Hades. Tell that guy to go to Hades because that's what the Bible says about people who change the Bible and take words out and put words in. He tells them they're going to Sheol. And they'll find out when they get there what's going on. They'll find out what it's like as soon as they hit it. But anyway, back to the chapter, I'm getting a little carried away here. James 4, look if you would at, this isn't even, forget the book of James. Let me tell you what I really think. James chapter 4, look if you would at verse number 1, 2, and 3. He's pretty much saying your problem is the flesh, your lust. He says you want to have everything, you know, you want to have this toy and this DVD and this, this, that, this fancy car and you want to get the P, the GTP, you know what I mean? You want to get the fancy car and the convertible and the fancy clothes and everything like that. He says your problem is that you're just controlled by the flesh. That's why lust dominates your life. Don't be one of these people that says always, oh man I wish I had this, oh I want this. You know there's things that we want to have, that's fine, but where it's just everything's about getting the next fill in the blank. What do you need in life? Having food and raiment let us be there with content. I've got food, I've got clothes, I've got a nice house. What else do I need? I've got my Bible. What do I need? What DVD do I need? I've got the KJV. I don't need a DVD. And so you don't be consumed by lust and when you're always coveting other things, you always wish you had what everybody else had, it's probably because you're not controlled by the spirit, you're controlled by the flesh. The flesh is controlling you, not your spirit. I'm not even talking about the Holy Spirit, I'm talking about your spirit. Your spirit is not in control. Your flesh is in control, that's the problem. And your flesh obviously includes a physical mind. And then there's a spiritual mind that's controlled by the spirit. So understand that when I say flesh I'm not just talking about your physical mind, I'm just talking about your fleshly, carnal mind. The word carnal means fleshly. It's an old word for fleshly. The carnal mind, and then the Bible says you need to renew your mind and you have the spiritual mind. And we're going to see that a few verses down. And he's saying that instead of praying for what you need and praying for what you want, he says you just lust after it, you fight in war, you're dishonest on the job, you cut somebody out of a promotion, you cut somebody out of a promotion, you're stabbing people in the back. You know these people that will tell negative things to the boss about what their coworker did? They did like 50 good things, you're not going to report that to the boss. They messed up one time and you're like, oh yeah, did you hear what Stefan did on this job? Good night. Cost us like a thousand dollars to repair it. I mean, sometimes you don't need to just pass on every negative thing. But then when Stefan hits a home run, sells some big fire alarm system in Redding, like you're going to do, right Stefan? And sells some big system and installs it all single-handedly, makes all this profit, and then you just maybe don't even mention it, don't even bring it up. Tell good things about your coworkers and you'll find that God will lift you up. When you humble yourself, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up, it says later on in the same chapter that we're in. And so he says, well prayer, he says the things that you need, you can pray for them and God will give them to you. The things that you need, but he says the reason that you pray and God doesn't answer your prayers is because you're asking a miss, it says in verse number 3, you ask and receive not. Why doesn't God answer my prayer? You ask and receive not because you ask a miss. He says you're praying wrong. Why? That you may consume it upon your lusts. He's saying like you're just praying for like a new corvette. Oh God, you know, give me a dollar an hour raise, please God. God says that's not the right way to pray, you're praying wrong. You're just trying to consume it on your lusts. Why do you want a dollar an hour raise? So you can have food and clothes on your back? No, so you can eat at Chili's again, you know, so that you can eat at Chili's twice a week instead of once a week, so you can drive a nice car, so that you can have the things that you're lusting after and desiring to have. He says no, pray for what you need and don't pray for lusty, lustful, greedy things. He says pray for things that are, you know, for God's benefit. You know, pray for that. What do you pray for Pastor Anderson? Well obviously I pray that God will take care of my needs because he wants to do that. I pray for people to be saved. I pray for you, that you can be strong in your Christian life. You know that I pray for you that you'll be in church and that you'll read the Bible and that God will teach you things out of the Bible. I pray for you to have success in your life. I pray for you to overcome the sin in your life. I pray for these things. Well, I'm praying for things that are things that God wants and that I want. And then when there's that agreement, the Bible says you'll get everything you ask for because you're asking for the things that are according to his will. And so he says you ask and receive not, verse 3, because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lusts, you adulterers and adulteresses. Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. That's a strong verse, isn't it? Whosoever therefore will be, and will be means wants to be, it's a little bit older English. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. How would you like somebody to say you are God's enemy? How would you like to be God's enemy? I mean even if you're saved, well, you're God's enemy. Boy, isn't that terrible? Now I always wondered, it never made sense to me when I read this verse, it seemed that the first four words didn't really fit in. Like I understood the part, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. That makes sense to me. But I never understood why he says you adulterers and adulteresses. Why is he calling you an adulterer? Why is he calling you an adulteress? Because he's saying that, and you'll see this illustration in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah, all throughout the book of Isaiah and also in the book of Hosea, these two things are carried about. He says that God, and all relationship with God is almost like a relationship in a marriage. So he says that when they went a whoring, this is what he called it, when they worshiped other gods, like false religions, the nation of Israel, he said you've gone a whoring after other gods. He said you're like a woman who leaves her husband and goes out whoring around. That's what he's saying. That cheats on her husband that's an adulteress. He said that's what it's like when you're worshiping these other gods to the nation of Israel. He said you're like my wife that I have a spouse and you're whoring around with other gods. And that's what he's saying here. He's saying that if you love the world, if your friendship and your allegiance is with the world, he said that's like a false god in and of itself. The Bible calls it the god of this world. When you're just loving everything that the world is pushing, the money, everything's about money, everything's about toys and what you can have, everything's about the entertainment, the People magazine, you can read who Britney Spears is partying with and all the wicked sin that she's involved, all the trash. He says when that's your crowd, when you love that crowd, he says you're like committing adultery against God because God says I want your attention. Think about this. Do you think that I want my wife to be on the phone with some other guy all day? I'm not even saying if she's even cheating on me, so to speak. Physically, but do you think I want to go into the email inbox and she's got all these guys that she's exchanging emails with? Would that be acceptable? No way. Oh, hi honey, how you doing? Are you at home? No, I'm out at the restaurant with John. John took me out to eat today and I'm not talking about her son, John. Oh yeah, me and Paul, yeah, we went out to eat. We're out at the Olive Garden. What do you need? Do you think that's going to work? No way. I mean I'm going to come home and cloud up some rain. I'm going to take Paul and ring his neck like a birth sacrifice in the Old Testament. I'm going to perform a birth sacrifice on him. There's no way it's going to work. God says, look, here I am. You're not giving me any attention. You're palling around. You care more about Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan than you care about Jesus Christ and God Almighty. He says it's like you're committing adultery. It's like I feel like you're being unfaithful to me. I feel like you don't even care about me. You don't want to spend time with me. You want to pal around with everybody else. And by the way, no, I don't let my wife have male friends. And if you have a brain in your head, you won't either. You won't let your wife pal around with a bunch of male friends. Good night. It's retarded what some people do. And then they, oh yeah, you know, like they've been married for like 20 years and then their spouse commits adultery. Oh, I never saw it coming. I don't know how it happened. It's like you idiot. You know, she's been hanging out with the guy for years and you were allowing it. Then you wonder why that happens. If you don't, if you play with fire, you're going to get burned. So I stay a million miles away from it. I don't pal around with women and my wife doesn't pal around with men, period. And then you won't see me driving down the road in a car with some woman that's not my wife. Oh yeah, we're just driving around. This is business. No, I don't drive in a car with somebody that's not my wife. No, it's because you're just asking for trouble. You're creating an opportunity for problems to happen. You say, well, I'm so much above that. I'm so much better than that. What about the flesh that's still in you that has not been saved until the resurrection? What about your carnal nature that's still the same? What about the old man? What happens if you start to drift away from God a little bit? You don't know what you're capable of. So you better just stay a million miles away from it, my friend. You say, well, you're all strict and old-fashioned. Hey, I'm just trying to keep myself safe, distanced from sin. Look down, if you would, a little bit further in the chapter. The Bible says right here in verse number 7, submit yourselves therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. And then look if you would at verse 10. Here's a verse that ties in with the same idea. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. See, a humble attitude says, I'm not above sin. I've got the same flesh that I had before I got saved. I've got the new man, the new spirit, but I'm not above sin. Any time if I let my guard down, any time I stop fighting. You know, I used to do boxing. You never let your guard down at all. I mean, you throw a punch, and it's just right back there. Never let your guard down, because as soon as you let your guard down, the devil is just right there to just go wham, this left jab right in the face. Because you are not above sin, the Bible says, let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before the fall, the Bible says. When you get this haughty, prideful attitude of, oh, I'm such a great Christian. I've been in church for years. I can handle it. I can handle the DVD. I can handle, you know, driving around with this woman that's now my wife, and working with her every day, and powing around with her. We go out to eat together. I can handle it. Good night. I'm not going to be a minute old sir. Not me. Not the holy, righteous, wonderful Steven Anderson would never do that. Watch out, buddy, because you're filled with pride and arrogance, and that's you letting your guard down, and the devil is ready to devour you, the Bible says. But the Bible says, resist the devil, and he'll flee from you. But do it with a humble spirit that says, I'm not powerful enough to defeat the devil. I need to just stay away from sin. I need to protect myself every way I can. He says, resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw an eye to God, and he will draw an eye to you. Now what's that mean? This is what it means. He says, when you take one step toward God, God will take another step toward you. So your growth as a Christian becomes exponential, because as you grow, and as you do a little more, you say, good night. I can't imagine, you know, you preach all this stuff. I can't imagine living a godly Christian life. I can't imagine a life without, you know, hours of television on the big screen. I can't imagine it. But if you draw an eye to God, God will draw an eye to you. And you begin to show to the spirit a little bit, you'll see that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you, the Bible says. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. So what happens? Somebody gets saved, brand new convert, they just got saved. They just got saved. They got the flesh and the spirit. Maybe they're excited, like, wow, I think I'm going to start living for God. Maybe they're not so excited. Maybe they just said, well, it's a good thing I got saved. I'm not going to go to hell. But maybe they're excited. Well, what's the first step that God asks them to do after they get saved? He says, you know, get baptized. So when a person says, you know what, I'm going to obey God. I'm going to get baptized. They just took a step toward God. God says, I like that. He takes a step toward you. So now you just grew two steps in one go. And then, you know, God brings something to your attention, maybe through a sermon that proves from the Bible that something's wrong or you read something in the Bible yourself that it's wrong. And you say, you know what, I'm going to quit doing that because the Bible says it's wrong. You take a step toward God, He takes another step toward you. And it just speeds up the process even more and more and more and more. So He says, draw nigh to God and He says, draw nigh to you. So what do you mean, Pastor Anderson, when you say draw nigh to God? Do you mean that I just go out in the woods somewhere and just kind of feel the presence of God? I just feel so close to God right now. I just feel like I can reach out and touch it right now. Put your hand on the screen and you'll feel it too, you know, like one of these charismatic preachers on TV. But no, He says it in the same verse what He means. He says right here in the same verse, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. How am I going to draw nigh to God? How am I going to get close to God, besides the obvious of reading the Bible, because this book is God and the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God. Besides reading the Bible and fellowshipping with God, which is the most important thing in the world that you could ever be doing, is reading this book, God's not going to make you wonder what He means. He says, draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. He said, that's not how you draw nigh to me, it's when you get the sin out of your life. The Bible says your sins have separated between you and God in Isaiah 59. He says your sins put a barrier between you and God. And He says if you want to draw nigh to God, you're like, let's say God's over there, okay God I'm going to draw nigh to you, there's something in the way. And that's called sin, that's separating between you and God. And so you have to remove the sin and every sin you remove opens up the path for you to get a little bit closer to God. And so the way to get close to God, the way to draw nigh to God, is to cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. So when I remove a little bit of the sin that's separating between me and God, I can take a step forward. Now what's God going to do? He's going to take a step forward also. But what's in God's way? The sin that's separating between me and God. So then I take a sin out of my life, I can take a step toward God, then what's He going to do? He's going to take a sin out of my life that's between me and God. That's why the Bible says, every branch in me that bringeth forth fruit, my Father purges it that it may bring forth more fruit. Purging fruit trees is when you cut off something that's dead. When you cut off something that's not producing fruit. When you cut off something that's worthless, that's called purging. Pruning would be our modern word. So God says, oh wow, great Steve, you quit such and such a sin? Fantastic. Thank you for taking a step toward me. Now I'm going to take a step toward you. I'm going to help you get such and such a sin out of your life. And I'll purge you of that sin. Isn't that what you want? Or you want to continue just living in sin? Then why are you here? Go ahead. Who's stopping you? No skin off my back. No skin off God's back. But God says, don't you want to be productive for me in your life that's like a vapor? Don't you want to use it for something that's of value? Take a step toward me. Come on. Just move one thing out of the way and take one step toward me. One thing. And then I'll take out the next thing. And then you'll be even closer. And wow, now I can actually, boy God was so far away before because we were so far separated. But now that I've taken a step toward God and now that he's taken a step toward me, boy now I can see him. I can make out his form a little bit. He's a little bit closer. And boy, the closer you get, the more real God will become. And then the more exciting it will be to get the next thing out of the way and get even closer to God and have him get the next thing out of the way and get even closer to you. That's the Christian might. That's Christian growth. And so the Bible says, draw an eye to God and he'll draw an eye to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, and purify your hearts, ye devil-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep, the Bible says. Let your laughter be turned to sorrow and your joy to heaviness. See, we live in a day where everything's a joke. Everything's fun, fun, fun. Ha, ha, ha. And boy, I'm all for joking around. Boy, you should see us on the job site, you know, joking around. We weren't cutting out, we're having a good time. And that's all I'm talking about. But you know what the Bible also says about a pastor? The Bible says the man of God must be grave, sober, temperate. And so the Bible says in many places, several places. He says that one of the most important attributes about the pastor is that he's grave. Now what does the word grave mean? Serious. He says a pastor should be serious. Life shouldn't just be a joke to him. Ha, ha, fun, fun, everything's a joke. You know, there's some serious things in life. He says that fools spend their, I don't have it in front of me, but in the book of Proverbs somewhere, it says how fools are in the house of mirth, you know, but the wise man's in the house of mourning. And he says let your laughter be turned to sorrow and your joy to heaviness. He says, you know what, everything's not fun, fun, ha, ha. There's some times when you need to mourn and weep as a Christian and say, you know what, I'm sad, I'm sorrowful about the sin in my life. You know, it makes me sad and upset that people are going to hell. It makes me sad and upset that I'm not doing more for God. He says that kind of godly sorrow worketh repentance, where you'll repent of some of the sins in your life. I'm talking about as a Christian now. He says that godly sorrow that you have where you're sad and you're upset like the man was where that verse comes from in Corinthians where it says godly sorrow worketh repentance, it's talking about a man in the church who was committing a wicked sin. And he was sorrowful about it, he was sad about it, and he changed and he stopped doing it. He repented of that sin and quit doing it. And so there's a time that sorrow and sadness, then the world says don't ever be sad, don't ever be sorrowful, don't ever mourn, don't ever weep. Fun, fun, ha, ha, laugh, laugh. You know, God says there's a time to mourn, there's a time to weep, there's a time to be sorrowful and be afflicted. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, it says in verse 10, and he shall lift you up. And he kind of switches subjects here and says speak not evil one of another brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brethren judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the law and judgeth the law. And if thou judgeth the law, thou are not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy, who art thou that judgethth another, he says. Now he's talking about you judging another man. Now why does the Bible say that if I judge my brother and speak evil of my brother, that I'm speaking evil of the law and judging the law? Here's what the Bible says. Who art thou that judgeth another man's servant? To his own master he standeth her fault. Now, do I have the right to judge my employee here, Stefan? Absolutely. You know, I mean I can look at his performance and say, this is garbage. Or I can say like, man, you're doing a great job, Stefan. Fantastic. Great work. Do I have the right to do that? Yeah, because I'm his boss at work. Okay. Now, does my boss, Tim Foley, does he have the right to say to me, Steve, your performance is horrible. You're doing a terrible job. This is what I want you to change. Does he have the right to say that? Absolutely, because he's my boss. Does he have the right to correct me? Sure. But do I have the right to correct him and tell him, let me tell you all the things you need to change about your company. Here's a list. Correct me. And talk to me in the morning when they're all done. Okay. No way. That's a good way to lose your job. And if, let's say I was working side by side with somebody and we're of equal authority. We're working side by side. Let's say I'm the manager of this branch and he's the manager of this branch. It's not my job to say, look at what you're doing. You need to straighten this out and be in judgment of him. Because the Bible says to his own master, he stand at their fault. He answers to an authority figure. See, it's not your job to look around at other people in this church and to tell them, you know what? This is what you're doing wrong. Straighten it out. It's not your job to do that. Don't judge other people is what he's saying. Now, is this saying that you shouldn't judge people that you're in authority over? No. He says, don't judge another man's servant. He's saying, don't judge people that are not under your authority. Now, am I supposed to judge my children? Absolutely. If I don't judge my children, they're going to turn into monsters. Am I supposed to judge and be in charge of my wife? Yes. The Bible says wives obey your husbands in all things. And so on and on, the Bible teaches that women and children are in subjection and authority to a man. Is my wife to judge me and tell me, let me give you the ten things that you're bad about as a husband. Can you fix these? When did he give me that list? Was that yesterday? You know, what's up with that? No, but the point is, look, it's not her job to do that. Who do I answer to? God. Jesus Christ. That's who I answer to. Who does she answer to? Me and Jesus Christ. Who do I answer to at work? Tim Foley. And then above him, I answer to Jesus Christ. Who does Tim answer to? Just Jesus Christ, because he's the owner of the company. You see how this works? It's not very popular, but it's a chain of command in the Bible. And God says, don't judge people that are on some other chain that you're not even on. Don't look at people all the time and correct them and critique them. And you know, we get this from our Oprah Winfrey mentality, from the Jerry Springer mentality. You know, you watch something on the Jerry Springer show, God help you if you watch it. I mean, I don't watch it. I was, get this, okay. Obviously, I've never sat down and watched the Jerry Springer show in my life. I was working on an alarm the other day. Somebody had the Jerry Springer show on the TV. I just heard it from my ear. And it was the filthiest thing I've ever heard in my life. I couldn't even, I mean, I couldn't hear half of it, thank God, because it was beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. You know, and all this, whoo, you know, yeah, beep, beep, beep, beep. And they're doing this. But what is the whole purpose of the Jerry Springer show? You know, Oprah Winfrey, Dr. Phil, whoever these idiots are. The whole purpose is, you watch other people, like, hash out their problems, publicly, their private problems, their marriage problems, their, and then what happens? Somebody in the audience stands up and they give them the microphone. Somebody has nothing to do with it. Somebody doesn't know anything about the situation. They hand them the microphone and they get up, girlfriend, I can't believe you're still with him. You could do so much better than him. And everybody's like, whoo, drop that zero and get you a hero, honey. And they're like, whoo, yeah, you go girl. Hey, they don't even know anything about it. And so when you watch that garbage on TV, you're training your mind to just, whenever you hear about any situation, you have to decide, well, this is what I would have done different. This is what I would have done better. This is what he did wrong, this is what they did wrong. You know, think about the war in Iraq. You know, whether you're for or against the war in Iraq, sometimes it bothers me the attitude that people have where they just sit back and watch the thing on TV and say, well, they should be doing this and this different and this. You don't know all the intelligence. I mean, let's face it, you don't know. And there are opinions that I have about it, but you don't know all the intelligence. You're not there on the battlefield. You don't know what's going on. But everybody just sits back and thinks they're the expert because we're trained to just judge everything and to judge everybody. Look, judge the area of your life that God has given you to judge. Judge your family, judge your children, judge your employee, you know. But don't judge everybody else's area, don't worry about it. And don't speak evil of your brother and don't judge your brother. The Bible says he that speaketh evil of his brother and judges his brother speaketh evil of the law and judges the law because you're judging the book that created this chain of authority. If you say, well, you know what, my husband is wrong and he's a bad husband, let me tell you what he did wrong, or even just thinking in your mind, my husband's a bad husband, this is what he does wrong. What are you doing? You're speaking evil of the God who ordained your husband to be your husband. Because the Bible says the power is to be ordained of God. There is no power but of God, the power is to be ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisted the power, resisted the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive themselves damnation. What's it saying? If you say, my husband's a piece of trash, then what you're saying is that God ordained a husband to be over you that's a piece of trash. And you're speaking evil of this book, you're speaking evil of the law. You don't like that, but that's the truth. That's a fact. If you say, my boss, good night, he's such a jerk, you're speaking evil of the law. Because the Bible says that that boss is ordained by God. The chain of command is ordained by God. So when you criticize your authority figures in life, your boss, your husband, your dad, your mom, when you criticize them, when you criticize people that are over you, you criticize the police officer, ouch. That's a tough one. You criticize the police officer, when you criticize the guy down at the city of Phoenix who charged me $1400 for a fire alarm permit, and you criticize him and call him names, that's wrong. He says you're judging God because God's the one who put him in authority. Don't ask me why. There's some things that we have to wait until heaven to find out. I don't know why that guy's in charge down there, but the point is, don't speak evil of your brother, don't speak evil of another man's servant because you're judging God. Because you're judging the system that God put in place of authority. And so it's hard for all of us. I just used an illustration that kind of hurts me. It's close to home for me. And so it's something that all of us have to keep in mind. Next verse, let's hurry up and finish because we're toward the end of our time here. But the Bible says, speak not evil one of another in that verse. And then it says, there's one law giver, verse 12, who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judges another? Who do you think you are? You know everything? Judging everybody else's business? Mind your own business is what he's saying. And then he says, go to now you that say today or tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow. For what is your life that is even a vapor that pureth for a little time and then vanishes away? For that Yahweh saith the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. But now you rejoice in your boastings. All such rejoicing is evil. Here's what he's saying. You're boasting. What's boasting? Bragging. He's saying you're boasting about things that you're going to do. We're going to go into this city. We're going to open up a branch of Redding, California. You know, we're going to sell all these fire. We're going to make all this money. He says, you don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone a year from now. You know, and apply this spiritually. Boy, I tell you what? 2007, I'm going to be reading my Bible every day. I'm going to be praying every day. I'm going to be out soul winning every single week. I'm going to be winning souls. I'm going to quit this sin. I'm going to quit that sin. I'm going to quit this sin. You don't even know what's going to happen tomorrow and you're going to tell me that you're going to do all that in 2007? Why don't you start doing it right now? This is the only day that you know you have is today. You don't know what's going to be on tomorrow. You know what? Don't just blow off your mouth about how you're going to do all these great things. Boy, in two months from now, I'm going to have all my finances squirted on me, totally out of debt. Yeah, right. You're going to be in debt the rest of your life, okay? Let's face it, I'm sorry, but it's true. I mean, a lot of things come up and you don't know what's going to happen. Maybe you will, maybe you won't. Don't blow off your mouth about the future and don't always think about how you're going to serve God in the future. Think about how you're going to serve God now, because this is what you know you have is today. How many souls are you going to win by the end of 2006? Don't tell me about 2007 you're going to be some great soul winner. Hey, win somebody the Lord in 2006. Tell me how you, oh man, wait until January 1st rolls around. I'm going to get on that Bible reading chart, Genesis 1 through 3. It's like I've already read it. I mean, I know I'm going to read it. And then, boy, on the 2nd of January it's going to be Genesis 4 through 6. It's 7, 8, 9 on the 3rd, 10 through 12. Hey, look, when you get into February, you're in Leviticus, then come talk to me, okay? Then tell me how you're going to read the Bible every day when you're reading Numbers and Deuteronomy. I'm going to tell you something. If you don't read the Bible now, you're never going to read the Bible. If you don't start soul winning now, it's just going to get harder and harder for you to start soul winning. If you don't get into this thing now and jump in with both feet head first, the longer you wait to get right with God, the harder and harder it's going to get because your flesh is getting stronger every day. And so God says, don't boast about tomorrow. Boast not thyself of tomorrow, the Bible says in the book of Proverbs, for thou knowest not what a day shall bring forth. You have no idea what's going to happen. You don't know about the car crash that might happen tomorrow. You don't know about getting laid off from work tomorrow. You don't know about the sickness you're going to get tomorrow. You don't know. Remember that God holds your life in His hand. And don't blow off your mouth about what you will do or what you're going to do or what's going to happen. Just live today the way that God wants you to live. Do what you're supposed to do. Close your mouth. Don't talk bad about other people. Don't blow off your mouth about how wonderful you are and all the great things you're going to do. Mind your own business. Just you and God. Just live your life pleasing to God now. Not tomorrow, but today. And He says, therefore, to Him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to Him it is sin. He says, if you know what's right to do, and I'm going to tie these last two verses together and I'll close with this. He says, you don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You don't know if you're really going to do the great things that you're boasting about. And then in the last verse He says, therefore, to Him that knoweth to do good and doeth not to Him it is sin. You say, well, I know I'm supposed to be a soul winner, so that's why I'm starting 2007. See, you're rejoicing and you're boasting is number one. And number two, you know to do good. And you're doing it not. It's a sin. He says it's a sin to wait to do what you know you should do. Well, I know I should quit thus and so. That's why I'm quitting in two months. I'm going to quit. You know to do it now. It's a sin not to do it now. Or you say, well, I know I'm supposed to read the Bible. That's why I'm going to start on January 1st in Genesis 1 through 3. Look, you know to do it now. You say, is it a sin when I steal because I'm doing something wrong? I'm hurting somebody? Yes. But God says it's equally a sin when you know that you're supposed to do something and you don't do it. Or if you put it off. He says that's a sin. We talk to these people all the time. I'm so willing to say, I just believe you have to ask forgiveness for all your sins every day to go to heaven. Good night. Now think about this verse. Not only all the things you're doing wrong are a sin, all the things that you're not doing that you're supposed to be doing, everything that God is telling you you should be doing and you're not doing it, that's a sin too. That's why all of us, truth be told, sin everything day, myself included. Because there's things that I'm not doing that I should be doing and things that I am doing that I shouldn't be doing. And so don't boast about tomorrow. Decide tonight. Decide today. I'm going to get the sin out of my life. I'm going to take another step toward God. I'm going to do the things that I'm supposed to do and in 2006, these last few days, I'm going to have a part in that 200 saved. I'm going to have a piece of that. I'm going to get to know God. I'm going to read the Bible. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, thank you so much for loving us and thank you for even wanting to take a step toward us. God, the sinful creatures that we are, Father, I just thank you so much that you care about each one of us and want to be our friend and want to know us. And you've given us a purpose and meaning to our life, dear God, because we have something that we can do for you that matters for all eternity. We can win souls. We can love you. We can know you.