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

And this morning is found in verse 11 there where the Bible reads therefore now flee thou to thy place I thought to promote thee unto great honor but lo the Lord hath kept thee back from honor and the title of my sermon this morning is this the Lord hath kept thee back from honor now before I get into that part of the sermon I want to just explain the story about who Balaam is I don't like to just take something completely out of context and so let me give you the story of Balaam go back to Numbers chapter 22 and we can see who he was now if you just read Numbers 24 all by itself you'd probably walk away thinking the number that Balaam was a pretty good preacher because in Numbers 24 he's speaking a lot of God's word and he's refusing to curse Israel which Balak the king of Moab is trying to get him to curse Israel he won't do it and so he seems like he's really standing his ground standing up for the Word of God but if you get the whole story you'll see the Balaam was a very bad person and I'll explain to you why he did what he did in chapter 24 look at chapter 22 verse 5 the Bible says he sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor which is by the river of the land of the children of his people to call him saying behold there is a people come out from Egypt behold they cover the face of the earth and they abide over against me come now therefore I pray thee curse me this people for they are too mighty for me peradventure I shall prevail that we may smite them and that I may drive them out of the land for I wat that he whom thou blessest is blessed and he whom thou cursest is cursed and the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand and they came unto Balaam and spake unto him the words of Balak and he said unto them lodge here this night and I will bring you word again as the Lord shall speak unto me and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam so here this king Balak the king of Moab and the Moabites and the Midianites they come to this man Balaam he's a well-known preacher he's a famous preacher and they come to him and they say we want you to curse the children of Israel the children of Israel come out of the land of Egypt and of course they're going to come into the Promised Land and these people are afraid that they're going to be defeated by the children of Israel because the children of Israel are much mightier and more powerful than they are so they decide to hire this preacher to curse the children of Israel of course the children of Israel are God's people God's the one who brought them out of the land of Egypt God is going to bless them and so this is a ridiculous request but Balaam says well okay he says in verse eight lodge here this night and I'll bring you word again as the Lord shall speak unto me and the princes of Moab abode with Balaam so Balaam pretty much says okay well I'm going to ask God what he thinks about this I'm going to go speak to God come back in the morning lodge here and in the morning come to me and I'll tell you what God says about this so it says in verse nine and God came unto Balaam and said what men are these with thee and Balaam said unto God Balak the son of Zippor king of Moab has sent unto me saying behold there is a people come out of Egypt which covereth the face of the earth come now curse me them peradventure I shall be able to overcome them and drive them out and God said unto Balaam thou shalt not go with them thou shalt not curse the people for they are blessed now that's a pretty clear answer isn't it God says don't go with them don't curse these people he says they're blessed done end of story and remember these men that wanted Balaam to curse the children of Israel they brought money they're trying to pay him and give him a lot of money and a lot of honor to do that so Balaam rose up in the morning verse 13 and Balaam rose up in the morning and said unto the princes of Balak get you into your land for the Lord refuseth to give me leave to go with you now the fact that it says the Lord refuses shows that Balaam is trying to get God to let him do it and God's refusing to let him do it ok look at the next verse and the princes of Moab rose up and they went unto Balak and said Balaam refuses to come with us and Balak sent yet again princes more and more honorable than they and they came to Balaam and said to him thus saith Balak the son of Zippor let nothing I pray thee hinder thee from coming unto me for I will promote thee and a very great honor and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me come therefore I pray thee curse me this people he's saying name your price whatever you want whatever honor or money or power you want I'll give it to you and Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak if Balak would give me his whole house full of silver and gold I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God to do less or more so Balaam sounds like he's still doing pretty well at this point but it says in verse 19 now therefore I pray you Terry also here this night that I may know what the Lord will say unto me more wait why does he need to ask him again he already knows what God said the first time watch what God says to him God came unto Balaam at night and said if the man come to call thee rise up and go with them but yet the word which I shall say unto thee that shalt thou do so if they come and call you then go ahead and go with them but only say what I tell you to say and look what it says in verse 21 and Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass and went with the prince of Moab is there any mention of them calling him no he just gets up bright and early all right let's go God said I could go see he only hears the part that he wants to hear you know everything that God said is just go with them you know that's how it is sometimes when people come to church they just hear the part that they want to hear they they just ignore all the part that they don't like and the same thing when they read their Bible sometimes so he doesn't hear the part where God told him hey if they call you come with them but no he just gets up and goes just to prove that what he did was wrong it says he saddled his ass and went with the princes of Moab look at verse 22 and God's anger was kindled why because he didn't follow his instruction because he went and the angel of the Lord stood in the way for an adversary against him now he was riding upon his ass and his two servants were with them and the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand and the ass turned aside out of the way and went into the field and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way so again I'm not going to read the whole story for sake of time but God's very angry when he just is so eager to go because he was so taunted and tantalized by the money and the honor he just really wanted to go do this even though it's not what God wants him to do even though God told him not to do it he wants to do it anyway God gets angry and so God sends an angel to kill Balaam to destroy Balaam with the sword in his hand to smite Balaam with the sword now the ass that he's riding upon which is like a donkey it sees the angel and the sword even though Balaam can't see it and so the ass turns out of the way and and and will not go forward down the path so Balaam begins to be angry with the ass he starts to beat it and whip it and so forth and the thing just keeps turning out of the way it won't listen and then finally God performs this miracle and it's kind of a funny miracle in the Bible but he actually opens the mouth of the ass and begins to speak to him look if you would at verse 27 when the ass saw the angel of the Lord she fell down under Balaam and Balaam's anger was kindled and he smote the ass with the staff and the Lord opened the mouth of the ass and she said unto Balaam what have I done unto thee that thou has smitten me these three times and Balaam said unto the ass because thou has mocked me now when your ass starts talking to you it's kind of weird to start responding to it like it's just normal just well of course I'm hitting you he says because I was mocked me I would there were a sword in my hand for now would I kill thee he said I wish I had a sword might I kill you right now I guess he's just so mad he doesn't stop to think about it wait a minute why is an animal talking to me and the ass said unto Balaam am not I thine ass upon which thou has written ever since I was dying and to this day was I ever want to do so unto thee and he said nay you know have I ever done this before and it says in verse 31 then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand and he bowed down his head and fell flat on his face and the angel of the Lord sent him wherefore is thou smitten thine ass these three times behold I went out to withstand thee because thy way is perverse before me and the ass saw me and turned from me these three times unless she had turned from me surely now also I had slain thee and saved her life said I would have killed you he's saying that ass just saved your life and Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord I've sinned for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me now therefore if it displeased thee I'll get me back again and the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam go with the men but only the word that I shall speak unto thee that thou shalt speak so Balaam went with the princes of Balaam now I'm not going to read the whole thing it goes into chapter 23 chapter 24 Balaam eventually goes with them he goes to Balaam Balaam basically rebukes him for not coming sooner he says in verse 37 and Balaam said unto Balaam did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee wherefore camest thou not unto me am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor and so Balaam over and over again is asked by Balak to curse the people of God to curse the children of Israel and God keeps putting blessings in his mouth and God will not let him curse the people now we don't want to give Balaam too much credit here for standing his ground when you realize the fact that the only reason that Balaam is doing what's right is because God has already come this close to killing Balaam so when God physically sends an angel to come and to kill Balaam with the sword and he says I'm gonna kill you because your way is perverse don't say anything that I don't tell you to say we can't really give Balaam too much credit as being oh he's just such a great man of God he's just standing for the truth now he's really interested in money he's interested in the honor that's why he's so eager to go with them and so forth but God does not allow him to curse the people now look at the end of chapter 24 in verse 25 this is the last verse of chapter 24 this is right after the chapter that we read where he's standing his ground against Balak says in verse 25 and Balaam rose up and he went and returned to his place and Balak also went his way now if we stop reading there it would seem like okay Balaam did the right thing but look at verse 1 chapter 25 this is not a coincidence and Israel abode and shit him and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab and they called the people under the sacrifices of their gods and the people did eat and bow down to their gods and Israel joined himself unto Baal Peor and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel and the Lord said unto Moses take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the Sun that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel and Moses said unto the judges of Israel slay ye everyone his men that were joined unto Baal Peor so right after Balaam goes back to his house everything seems fine it seems like Balaam only blessed them the next verse tells us that the children of Israel begin to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab and they start to eat the meat that sacrificed unto Baal Baal Peor is another name for Satan there Baal Zebub Baal Belial Belial whatever all these different names are associated with Satan and it says in verse six behold one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation so here we have the people weeping they're sad they're sorry for the sins that they've committed and for the sins of their nation and right in front of Moses in front of all the leaders in front of everybody this guy brings in a Midianitish woman in order to commit fornication with her and look what it says in verse seven when Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest saw it he rose up from among the congregation and took a javelin in his hand and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and thrust both of them through the man of Israel and the woman through her belly so the plague was stayed from the children of Israel and those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand that's a lot of people twenty four thousand and the Lord spake unto Moses saying Phinehas the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest had turned my wrath away from the children of Israel while he was zealous for my sake among them that I consume not the children of Israel in my jealousy wherefore say behold I give unto him my covenant of peace and he shall have it and his seed after him even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood because he was zealous for his God and made an atonement for the children of Israel then he gives the name of the Israelitish man and the Midianitish woman that their memory may rot for all history and thousands of years later their name could be held in ignominy and reproach you see God's people here right after the incident with Balaam and we get more detail about this later in the Bible that's why it's important to read the whole Bible they begin to commit fornication with these Midianitish women and God makes an example of this one man who was so brazen and open about his sin now let me explain something to you throughout history there's always been sin running rampant in all nations in all the world because the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it man is a sinful creature there's none that do with good no not one sin has always been around and fornication has always been around and adultery has always been around all throughout the Bible we see these sins but a big difference between the sin of today and the sins of the past and what we read about in the Bible is that the sin of today is done openly you see God is especially angry when sin is condoned and just publicly accepted and as it says in 1 Corinthians 5 when there's just a common report and everybody knows about it and everybody's ok with it and nobody minds there have always been queers and homos but let me tell you something today they're more open than they've ever been in the history of mankind even in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah they went and hid as soon as it became light they were out at night and then when the sun came up they all went and hid in their place same thing in Judges 19 they all went and scampered away like cockroaches when the sun began to come up today sin is more openly accepted than it has ever been and that's what we see here just open fornication and God is so angry and a man of God was so angry Phinehas here we see that judgment was carried out by both and God poured out his wrath 24,000 were killed now a lot of people will say that go to 1 Corinthians 10 a lot of people will say this they'll say well you know it's a good thing God has really mellowed out in the New Testament because man back then he was a god of wrath it's a good thing we're living in the age of grace brother but look what it says in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 oh thou dispensational one who believes that we're living in the age of grace and that there is a difference in God's attitude towards sin let's go to the epistles of Paul first Corinthians chapter number 10 the Bible brings up this exact incident it says in verse 8 neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day three and twenty thousand you say that's a contradiction no there were 24,000 that died in the plague 23,000 died in one day ok obviously more continued to die he says there fell in one day three and twenty thousand and he says in verse 11 now all these things happen unto them for in samples they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come the Bible says that that story is even in the Bible for you and I today living in the last days those of us upon whom the end of the world has come that we would understand what a serious sin it is to commit fornication God put that story in there not just for the children of Israel but for us in the New Testament today that's what that story is for it's to admonish us it's to warn every teenager that's here this morning and every young person at not to commit fornication because it is not a small sin it's a big sin according to the Bible and God feels the same way about it in first Corinthians 10 as he felt about it in numbers 25 now you say well how do you know the Balaam was responsible for what happened in numbers 25 well for sake of time let's just go to Revelation chapter number two revelation chapter two and while you're turning there all all read for you some more from second Peter chapter two you turn to Revelation 2 and second Peter two it says and you should remember this from a few weeks ago when I preached about false prophets it says having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin beguiling unstable souls and heart they have exercised with covetous practices cursed children who have forsaken the right way and are gone astray following the way of Balaam the son of both sore who loved listen this who loved the wages of unrighteousness so whenever you don't understand a story in the Old Testament it's great when God sheds more light on it in the New Testament he said that Balaam loved the wages of unrighteousness he was the quintessential false prophet teaching things which he ought not for filthy lucre's sake he loved to get paid now God prevented him from cursing Israel God threatened to kill him God put his words in Balaam's mouth but still he was a bad guy he wanted to do wrong he wanted to curse them God just wouldn't allow them to curse them it says that Balaam the son of both sore who loved the wages of unrighteousness but was rebuked for his iniquity the dumb ass speaking with man's voice for bad the madness of the Prophet you know what madness means insanity and so this was not a good guy this is not somebody that we should look at as a great preacher but look at Revelation 2 verse 14 God gives even more detail but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine doctrine means teaching the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balaam to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication so here in the book of Revelation Jesus himself speaking to the seven churches explains that in the Old Testament the reason why right after Balaam and Balaam met the children of Israel began to commit fornication and go to these Baal Peor sacrifices and eat the meat sacrificed unto idols is that Balaam taught Balaam to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication that's why later on the Bible says in numbers 31 you don't have to turn there but in numbers 31 7 the Bible says they war against the Midianites and the Lord commanded Moses and they slew all the males and they slew the kings of Midian beside the rest of them that were slain namely Evai and Rekim and Zur and Hoel and Reba five kings of Midian Balaam also the son of Beor they slew with the sword so when they were killing all the Midianitish males they also killed Balaam because he was with them and because he was a bad guy the Bible calls him later on Balaam the soothsayer does that sound like a Bible believing preacher the Bible also says that later on in the book of Joshua how basically he wanted to curse them but God would not harken unto Balaam therefore he blessed you still okay so Balaam was a false prophet he was an unsaved man he was an ungodly man you say well how could he speak God's Word well in John 12 the high priest that year Caiaphas he actually spoke God's Word and the Bible says that the Spirit of the Lord basically came upon him and he spake because he was the high priest God put words in his mouth even though he was an unsaved unbelieving man so God can make I mean I don't I don't think that that ass was was saved either I mean it was an animal and yet God put his words into the mouth of that ass and so God put his words in Balaam's mouth but Balaam was a bad man he was a bad preacher he was a not a man of God whatsoever Jude one go to Jude quickly if you're in Revelation just a few pages back Jude verse 11 says woe unto them for they've gone in the way of Cain and and ran greedily listen to this after the error of Balaam for reward so according to the Bible here Balaam went greedily after that reward and he says modern-day false prophets are like unto him and he says that they perished in the gainsaying of Corey these are spots in your feasts of charity when they feast with you feeding themselves without fear clouds they are without water carried about of winds trees whose fruit wither without fruit twice dead plucked up by the roots raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever so here we see very clear evidence again that Balaam was not saved he was a false prophet there's a lot of evidence with that but go to John chapter five let me get into the actual meat of the sermon I just wanted to first of all let you know who Balaam was and get you the context of the story and I'm just going to quickly preach on this subject the Lord hath kept thee back from honor now when Balak was trying to get Balaam to curse the people of God and Balaam himself wanted to curse the people of God according to other places in the Bible he wanted to do it God was preventing him from doing he wanted the paycheck he wanted the fame and the prestige and the honor that Balak was able to give him when he tried to do it and was not able to do so Balaam told Balaam he said he said I thought to promote thee under great honor but lo the Lord hath kept thee back from honor and so I want to preach about that subject this morning the Lord hath kept thee back from honor look quickly at John 541 the Bible says I receive not honor from men now that's a profound thought I love the short verses in the Bible don't you God I guess God just felt that there was just enough in that verse it's time to you know get going on to another number I receive not honor from men you know that could be a motto and a slogan for every preacher and every pastor and every believer I mean that should be something that should be a life verse I've never heard of anybody having this as a life verse but this would be a great life verse I receive not honor from men and who said it Jesus said it Jesus said I don't receive honor from men but I know you that you have not the love of God in you I'm coming my father's name and you receive me not if another shall come in his own name him he will receive how can you believe which receive honor one of another listen to this and seek not the honor that cometh from God only now right there God says that there are two kinds of people in this world the ones who like to receive honor from men and those who are seeking after the honor that comes from God only now Balak said to Balaam I thought to promote thee to great honor but behold the Lord hath kept thee back from honor let me tell you something truer words were never spoken that's the truth God did keep Balaam back from honor he could have been honored he could have been popular he could have been a great man amongst the worldly crowd but the Lord kept him back from honor why because God will not allow us to prosper with the world and also to prosper with God it's not going to happen you can't have both in this life go to Luke chapter 6 Luke chapter number 6 you see it's the wicked that really prosper in this world look if you would at Luke chapter 6 verse 20 you don't believe me the Bible says no man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will hold to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God and Mammon okay he says in Luke 6 verse 20 and he lifted up his eyes on his disciples and said blessed be ye poor for yours is the kingdom of God blessed are ye that hunger now for ye shall be filled blessed are ye that weep now for you shall laugh blessed are ye when men shall hate you and when they shall separate you from their company and shall reproach you and cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man's sake rejoice ye in that day and leap for joy for behold your reward is great in heaven for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets but woe unto you that are rich for ye have received your consolation woe unto you that are full for ye shall hunger woe unto you that laugh now for ye shall mourn and weep woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you for so did their fathers to the false prophets he says if all men are speaking well of you you're a false prophet woe unto you he said if you're being despised and rejected and persecuted leap for joy greats your reward in heaven Jesus is putting out a very clear choice here do you want to be poor and right with God or do you want to be rich and have God upset with you do you want to be loved by man as a preacher or do you want to be loved by God and you want to be promoted by God do you want to laugh now and have all the fun now and mourn later and mourn throughout eternity or do you want to have the little bit of weeping and mourning and sorrow now and have great rejoicing for all eternity you say I want to have both I want to live a happy life I want to be popular I want to be the kid at school that everybody loves and adores and lifts up I want to be popular on the job I want to be famous I want to be wealthy I want to be comfortable I want to be happy all the time you can't do that and be right with God because the Bible says that God has called us to a life of suffering the Bible says for unto you it is given on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him but also to suffer for his sake God expects sacrifice from his people he does not expect us to take everything the world has to offer and to thrive in this world and serve God at the same time he said no you're gonna have to sacrifice in order to serve me you're going to have to be persecuted because all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution you're not going to be a rich fat cat living a lavish luxurious lifestyle because God said sell all that you have and give it to the poor if you're wealthy and he said and take up the cross and follow me he said to give and to distribute and to be generous not to just lavish yourself with wealth and luxury but you see people want to have it both ways don't they they want to have serving God and riches serving God and popularity serving God and laughing and happy every day you know when you serve God you go through some hard times you do but he said you know blessed are you that weep Jesus wept he said you will be comforted there are so many scriptures that talk about the fact that we as God's people are going to have to go through hard times and suffer and sadness the Bible says of Jesus that he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief he was not wealthy he did not have a fancy dwelling place he did not drive a fancy car he did not have this world's good he was not popular in the sense that he had many people trying to kill him in many places he said the world hates me because I testify unto it that the works thereof are evil go to Luke 16 Luke chapter number 16 Jesus talked a lot about this subject Luke 16 and the Bible reads in verse 14 and the Pharisees who were covetous that means that they desired to have more money and more possessions and riches for themselves the Pharisees who were covetous heard all these things and they derided him and he said unto them ye are they which justify yourselves before men but God knoweth your hearts for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God now with that in mind if what man honors because esteem and honor are pretty much the same type of a word okay they're very similar words he says that which is highly esteemed among men that which the world considers honorable that which the world considers good and and and right to do he said that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God so translation if you want to be highly esteemed among men you're going to be an abomination to God I mean it or else or else you're going to be highly esteemed in God's eyes you're going to be an abomination to the world around you and you see if you follow God's Word remember the the title of the sermon the Lord has kept the back from honor you know what God's going to keep you back from being popular at school and God's going to keep you back from being a successful politician I mean you think that that you can become a successful politician or you can become the president of the United States without selling your soul to the devil in 2012 you're wrong go to Luke chapter 4 now people disagree with that but but it's foolish if you don't if you don't understand that you're full I'm sorry but if the world today is wicked if our nation is ungodly and sinful why would they exalt and lift up a righteous person to lead they're not going to look at Luke chapter 4 and I'll show you how people come to positions of power the Bible says in verse 1 Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness being 40 days tempted of the devil and in those days he did eat nothing now is he whining and dining and and having a luxurious lifestyle no he's fasting he's praying he's in the desert he's suffering this is Jesus this is our Savior this is the one who left an example that we should follow in his steps it says in verse 3 and the devil said unto him if thou be the Son of God command that this this stone that it be made bread and Jesus answered him saying it is written that man shall not live by bread alone but by every word of God look what Jesus look what the devil says next verse 5 and the devil taking him up into a high mountain showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time and the devil said unto him all this power will I give thee and the glory of them and watch this next statement for that is delivered unto me and to whomsoever I will I give it if they'll therefore will worship me all shall be thine and of course Jesus didn't give into that temptation he said in verse 8 Jesus answered and said to him get thee behind me Satan for it is written thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve now Jesus Christ here is offered all the kingdoms of the world now we know eventually Jesus will receive all the kingdoms of the world but first he had to be to suffer to be beaten to be spat upon to be mocked to die to be in hell for three days and three nights to rise again okay the devil is offering them a shortcut without any of that just all give it to you because look it's delivered unto me and into whomsoever I will I give it now you say I've heard some people say this well the devil was lying there he doesn't really have the power to give somebody that authority oh yeah that's the exact authority he's going to give the Antichrist so if he doesn't have the power to give that then how does he give it to a man in Revelation 13 and in Revelation 13 it talks about the Antichrist and it says he had power over all nations all kindreds all tongues and it says the dragon gave him his power and great authority so where did the Antichrist authority of the devil gave it to him now this is where the concept comes from you probably heard the concept of people selling their souls of the devil right this is where that comes from because the devil is making this offer to Jesus saying you know what if you worship me I'll give you X Y and Z and I believe that many of the of the politicians today and many of the rock stars and many of the film stars today that are just climbing the ladder and getting so much popularity and riding the waves of success they have sold their soul unto Satan that's how they got there that's why I wouldn't listen to any popular music or watch the popular movies because the people who make these things have literally sold their soul to the devil you see there are all kinds of musicians in this world there are thousands and tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of very talented skillful musicians that can play music very well but the ones who become popular are the ones who are hand-picked by record labels that can put their billboard everywhere put the music everywhere and look young people they're just going to walk into the store and whatever is the big billboard whatever is the big signage whatever is on the shelf that's the music they're going to buy and that's what they're going to think is cool because that's what they're used to because that's what's being promoted unto them on TV so look any I mean the most worthless musical group could come down the scene and if the world pumped it up kids will buy it and think it's cool I mean look at all the stupid stuff that's been around somebody give me an example of just the stupidest music that was ever produced what Milli Vanilli the monkeys give me an example just just ridiculous stuff just stupid MC Hammer is that a good one I mean anybody else can think of one that's just it's so dumb yeah I'd never understood that exactly but you know what it's like the emperor's new clothes people just follow the herd they follow the crowd just bat bat they just follow along what everybody else is doing and they think it's cool you know that those pants that MC Hammer wore I mean how can anybody think that's cool but but the thing is though if they put it in front of you and pump it up yeah this is cool when I was a kid everybody wore those pants and they thought it was cool I'm serious when I was a kid my friends wore those pants and I I didn't wear them my friend's dad wore those pants and he was like he was like 40 and I'm thinking you look like an idiot but you know I didn't say that but that's what I was thinking and and what I'm saying is that people who who sell out and sell their soul to Satan you know he can give them great power he can give fame he can give riches hey how about preachers you know when you're the preacher that's loved by the world God said woe unto you you're a false prophet the one who holds out the Bible for the president to be sworn in on Rick Warren you know or or before him you know Billy Balaam I mean Billy Graham these these these false prophets they've sold their soul to Satan that's how they're able to rise that's how they're able to have all this popularity not amongst God's people but amongst the world and amongst the sinful crowd they're loved by the world because they've sold out let me tell you something when you are when you do what's right God's gonna hold you back from great honor in this world God's gonna hold you you say oh you could have been a popular preacher if you do excellent no God held me back from that honor oh I could have been so I'm the best looking guy or I'm the best looking girl I could have been the most popular kid in school but God's gonna hold you back from honor when you stand up for what's right and when you do what's right and you say what's right and you be what's right oh I'm the best piano player I'm the best guitarist I'm the best you know trumpeter whatever you know I could have made so much money in the world and I could have been so popular yeah if you sold your soul to Satan if you keep your mouth shut about the word of God you will or you can play and sing in the house of God where it really matters why would anyone want to be some worldly musician have a bunch of worldly sinful people falling all over themselves bowing down and worshiping at your feet on some stage somewhere when you could sing praises and play your instruments in the house of God that's a greater audience I'd rather play before the Lord God almighty than to play before the world and their crowd God will keep you back from that I don't believe that that a person today in our sinful sick sodomite uh country that we live in today you're not gonna become president of the United States without selling your soul to Satan that's what I believe and and honestly there are a lot of people today in a lot of positions of great authority and and great success where people look at them and I think of of ASAP and he looked at how people prospered in the world and he looked at you know the the ungodly preachers around him and he looked at sinful leaders and he looked at the prosperity and he said wow this isn't fair he said I'm I'm sick I'm ill I'm unpopular I'm plagued every morning why are these people being blessed and I'm not but then he went to the house of God and he understood their end he said wow God you've set them in slippery places they are gonna be doomed I would never want to trade I mean would you want to trade places with the rock stars and famous politicians of today when you know their destiny is hell I mean would it really be worth it to you no way and so what I'm trying to express to you in the sermon this morning is that you know the devil has a lot to offer you and God has a lot to offer you you know Balaam he really blew it because he didn't get either one okay he didn't obey God but then he didn't go all the way over to the devil's side either so he ended up dead in a very short time and he wasn't honored by anybody nobody likes Balaam the world was mad at him and God's people were mad at him he tried to straddle the fence between doing it God's way and doing it the devil's way and he ended up living a very short life and being an execration to everybody okay but God is showing us in the Bible that the devil has something to offer us he offers us popularity and look you want to be kids you want to be popular at school just start telling dirty jokes everybody loves dirty jokes at school it's true you want to be popular on the job tell a dirty story that'll get you look this is how to be popular amongst the world okay you want to be popular as a politician well what was that uh newt gingrich right he was the one of the candidates i i believe he's dropped out of the race now am i right about that he's dropped out of the race newt gingrich okay he had not won any states in the republican primary he was not winning any states you know but he was running for president well it came to the i believe it was either georgia or south carolina i think it was south carolina he came to the south carolina primary and right before the south carolina primary this scandal came out about and you know the guys committed adultery repeatedly he's on his third wife he committed adultery in all of the marriages and it comes out right before the south carolina primary that basically this horrible scandal about him wanting to have an open marriage with his second wife he wanted to just be allowed to commit adultery and his wife would be okay with that and his wife told him no this all comes out i mean just how much more wicked can you be you're just committing adultery after adultery after adultery then you're going to your wife saying well do i have to divorce you or is it all right if i just commit adultery while i'm married to you can you just be okay with that so this comes out in the news the evidence of it comes out in the news days before the south carolina primary and you know what happened newt gingrich's popularity surged and that's the only state that he won that's a fact you think i'm crazy up here you come to church and say oh pastor anderson's crazy he's rattling his cage he doesn't know what he's talking about look i just told you that a horrific scandal came out a few days before this election and that's the only state that he won isn't there something wrong with that picture you know what it is because people today are sinful wicked and that's who they want to rule over them and that's who's going to win somebody who represents that it's representative government somebody who represents their values look at look at bill clinton i mean bill clinton that happened in his first term where he committed all that horrible sin and the horrible adultery and not only that an abuse of his power i mean he should have been thrown in prison for abusing his power in that way and then he gets re-elected why and you know you know what today he's listed as one of the best presidents i mean every time you hear i mean the democrats talk they'll go back and praise bill clinton and you'll even hear the republicans talk and say you know he wasn't that bad he actually was you know a pretty good guy you know isn't it funny how the world promotes adulterers and sinful people look don't look don't act like i'm crazy i'm telling you the truth that today if you want to be popular commit adultery commit sin be wicked be filthy but you're going to be an abomination in the eyes of god if that's how you live your life and so you got to choose this day whom you will serve you've got to choose say go to galatians one you got to choose today are you going to serve god or mammon are you going to serve god or popularity and you know when you're a young person especially as a teenager it's tempting to want to be popular and sometimes you're too young to realize that that popularity is vanity and worthless but you want to be popular you want people to like you and so you're going to have to back down on the bible you have to back down on christianity you're not going to be you start you go you go to school and start talking the way i'm talking you're not going to be popular period i don't care if it's a christian school or a public school you start you start sounding a little bit like pastor anderson i i know people i know people who've been thrown out of christian school for basically listening to my preaching okay and basically telling other people to listen to it okay and look and public school i mean i don't even know i don't even know what would happen if you if you said the kind of stuff i say at public school you'd probably be put in handcuffs i don't know i mean maybe you'd be okay i don't know but i'll tell you something you won't be popular look you're not going to be popular you're going to be an outsider why because jesus was an outsider jesus suffered without the camp and the bible says let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp bearing his reproach that's what god has called us to do not to be famous and popular and wealthy and have look if it was easy to serve god everybody would be doing it look if you would where did i return yeah galatians one great passage and you know some of you some of you guys uh in this room you know i have a vision for you of one day uh pastoring and starting a church someday and there there are several guys in this room that i have that vision for you and i can see that potential there and i would love to see you but you uh do that and serve god in that way but let me tell you something this sermon needs to really resonate with you and you need to understand this before you count the cost of of pastoring a bible believing church you are not some people think like well i'm gonna do it but it's gonna be different than pastor anderson basically and i mean everybody's different don't get me wrong obviously everybody's a little different but they this is what they think they think well i'm gonna do the works that pastor anderson has done but i'm not going to be hated and persecuted that's just his personality now now look i'll admit okay maybe some people don't like my personality and maybe my personality is a little bit more abrasive than your personality that's fine but you know what god is my record god is my witness that in many cases i have been physically assaulted and attacked or yelled at or thrown out of places and let me tell you something it was some of my most kindest most congenial moments because i have my moments i'm serious there have been a lot of and my wife could tell you my wife has seen me be nice and be really friendly and nice it's listen to me it's not how i'm saying it that makes people mad and this is why i don't want you to be deceived it's not how i'm saying it and look do i say it a little more abrasive sometimes than i should well you be the judge you know whatever but the bottom line is this though it wouldn't matter how i'm saying it it's what i'm saying that gets me into trouble you may not believe that but it's true because i've had some of my most persecuted moments were when i was being the nicest and being the kindest sometimes being more abrasive kind of backs people down but honestly when i've been kind and nice and friendly people get just as enraged and furious because they're mad at the bible they're mad at the truth i mean let me tell you this there's no nice way to say to somebody you're not saved if you tell somebody you're not saved they're going to get mad at you usually and it doesn't matter how you say it i mean i've said it like you know what you know i'm not trying to offend you or anything it's just that you know according to the bible here if that's what you believe and i'm not saying you do but if that's what you believe the bible says here that that would mean that you're not saved now i mean that's like the nicest i could say it what are you doing the guy got real mad at me this was like a week and a half ago guy got enraged at me and i was just i'm not saying you know i was being very gentle other times i just say you know what the bible says you're not saved i mean you're going to hell you know and then yeah i mean it doesn't matter how but look there's no nice way there's no nice way to express what you believe about the homos that's going to make everybody happy and they're going to be like well that's okay you know that's christianity there's no nice way to to rebuke whatever the sin whether it be divorce whether it be fornication whether it be you know indecent clothing it will infuriate no matter how you say it and i'm not saying to just be as abrasive as you can i try to be nice but the bottom line is though it's not how i say it that makes people mad it's what i'm saying that makes people mad and i'll tell you right and it's what the bible's saying that's making people mad and what i'm saying is if you're going to be a preacher someday you just have to understand that you know and i don't really feel like i've been persecuted that much there have been a lot of people before me who were persecuted a lot more but i'll tell you this though i guarantee you that if you if you become a preacher and you preach in a way similar to the way i preach even if you do it with a better personality okay i guarantee you you're going to face persecution and you're going to face similar persecution what i face or maybe even worse persecution and i think the more you do for god the more you're going to be persecuted you know the devil said in the book of acts he said jesus i know and paul i know but who are you he knew paul because paul was shaking the world with the gospel of christ he knew paul and he had paul marked for persecution and that's why paul was persecuted everywhere he went i believe that if i did more for god i'd probably be persecuted more you know but i still need to strive to do the most that i can the more righteous you are the more godly you are the more people get saved the more you're marked for persecution it doesn't matter how good your personality is i mean look steven was a nice guy i mean he said a lot of nice things and he got persecuted you know my friend brother roger jimenez you know i love my friend roger jimenez he and i have been good friends going back now oh let's see uh what 11 years 11 years ago he and i became friends when he was just 16 years old and i was 20 and we became friends and he and i man we believe the same doctrines you know and i listened to his preaching from time to time when i get a chance i downloaded off the internet when i need some preaching and some encouragement and i love listening to his preaching but he's very different than me but but the doctrine is the same you know totally different personalities we look different we talk different we act different we have a totally different approach totally different personality but we're preaching the same doctrine i guarantee you he's never going to be a popular preacher unless he compromises god forbid he will never be a well-loved popular he'll never be having the mayor of sacramento giving him the keys of the city you know jesus will hand him the keys to the kingdom but he's not going to be getting the keys to the city of sacramento anytime soon just like i'm not going to be getting the key to the city of tempe anytime soon and i'll tell you something he and i are dramatically different sometimes i joke around with him that that uh you know his slogan for his church could be you know this is uh faithful work everything you like about faithful word baptist church without all the junk you don't like about faith without or or faithful word baptist church for people who don't like pastor anderson's abrasive personality but anyway i'll tell you something right now he is just as right on with the bible as i am and he is going to be persecuted he's not going to be popular and you are going to be the same way young man that wants to go out and preach the word so you better count the cost and understand that it's not about being up in front of people and loved and well liked and being famous and popular i'm not famous i'm infamous i'm infamous and i'll tell you something right now that is what it takes to be a prophet you got to be unpopular and if you're going to be a righteous teenager you're going to be unpopular come to me and tell me you're the most popular kid in school i'll tell you that you're worldly and sinful and backslidden come to me and tell me that all your worldly friends on the job love you and think you're the coolest funnest guy to hang out with on the weekend i'll tell you that you're sinful worldly and backslidden come to me and tell me that your pastor has never been persecuted and that he's loved and the police department loves him in the city of the city controller loves him and the governor loves him i'll tell you he's a false prophet that's what i'll tell you because it's always been that way and it always will be and so the lord is going to keep you back from climbing that corporate ladder sometimes the lord's going to keep you back from popularity the lord's going to keep you back from riches the lord's going to keep you back from honor but let me tell you something that which is highly esteemed among man's abomination in the sight of god anyway let's close on this verse galatians chapter 1 verse 10 says this for do i now persuade man or god now that's a question that every pastor should ask themselves every day wouldn't that be great if every pastor in america would ask that question before getting up to preach they would look at their outline and say do i now persuade men or god who am i trying to convince here man or god who am i trying to prove something to man or god am i trying to prove god to god that i'm preaching his word faithfully or am i trying to prove to man that i'm a good preacher or am i trying to prove to god that i'm a good preacher he says uh do i now persuade men or god or do i seek to please men for if i yet pleased men i should not be the servant of christ you say i'm going to be different i'm going to do both no you won't i'm going to preach all the truth but i'm going to do it in a way where people will like me no you won't i'm going to live a christian testimony at school but everybody's going to like me no they won't no they won't they won't like you when you're not into the the filthy movies that they're into they're nobody likes to be told well hey hey look at this hey look at this dirty picture nobody likes to be told no i don't look at stuff like that i'm a christian the bible says that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after has committed adultery with her already in his heart wow cool can we hang out i mean you really think that's going to happen hey hey check out this porno no i don't look at that kind of garbage that stuff's smut that's filthy that's garbage that you think that's going to make you popular but that's the right answer hey why are you blaspheming jesus christ why do you keep throwing jesus name around that's the creator of the universe that's my savior you think that's going to make you popular huh you think soul winning is going to make you popular and i'll tell you right now i got saved as a six-year-old uh boy and there was a time in my teenage years where i was a little bit popular i was never the most popular guy but i had a period where i was a little bit popular for a little while it was very short-lived but let me tell you something you know i had a period where i was popular and i had a lot of friends and i'll tell you what ruined it for me i started going to an independent fundamental baptist church and i lost all of my friends all of them i started soul winning i started uh reading the bible i started talking about the bible everywhere i went i started talking about soul winning just it just you know because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speak it this is what i was into it's what i was interested in i started bringing friends to church with me and let me tell you something i was very popular amongst a worldly crowd and i lost all of those friends and i went through kind of a lonely phase because i mean i had nobody because at my church i went to there weren't really any people my age okay and so i went to that church and i didn't really have any good friends to hang around with and all my old friends had forsaken me because they didn't like uh the lifestyle i was living they wanted to go do worldly things i was saying no i'm not doing that anymore you know they all forsook me and so i went through a lonely period where i didn't really have any friends that were my age that i could hang out with because i was in a church where there just was nobody there my age and there were i mean there were 150 people in the church but there just wasn't really anybody in my demographic but you know what in the end though you know god took care of it i ended up meeting my wife i got married i got that companionship and you know what now i've got lots of friends now i got a church full of friends here that believe like i believe but you know what you got to make sacrifices to live for god and if you want to have it all and you want to have the friends and the popularity and the money and the fame and you want to be a famous musician and you want to be a famous this and a famous that and a politician just take it to the bank you're going to have to compromise and sell out or you can go the uphill battle for the rest of your life called serving god but the glory that's going to be revealed in us the bible says i reckon that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us you know there's a lot of fun things to do on sunday morning and sunday night and wednesday night that could take you out of church as for me and my house we're going to be in the house of god there are a lot of other things to do besides going out knocking doors soul winning i'm going to be out there i'm going to be knocking those doors preaching the gospel gathering wages unto everlasting life okay gathering wages that i can take with me into heaven okay we need to realize that we can't have everything the world offers and what god offers it's a choice and so we need to be willing to sacrifice some of the things that the world offers that are vain anyway and embrace what god has to offer the the the joys and pleasures forevermore at his right hand let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer father thank you so much for for your word dear god and father i thank you that that you've kept me back from some honor in my life because honestly the things that are highly esteemed among men are an abomination in your sight and so father help us never to get sucked into this idea that we can live for god and be popular that we can live for god and be wealthy that we can live for god and be successful in the world's eyes popular famous gaining high political office dear god help us to realize that those are the things that satan gives to his children but that rather if we're gonna live for you we're gonna have to do without a lot of things and suffer for you and god help us just to to be all in you know balaam he tried to have it both ways and and he ended up being destroyed by both sides help us to go all in for you and in jesus