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

Now the part of the chapter that I want to focus on, great, great chapter, the ultimate chapter of the Bible in every sense of the word is the final chapter, and in verse number 11 is where I want to focus tonight. The Bible reads, He that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still, and behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. Now what I want to preach about tonight is that statement there in verse 11, and the title of the sermon is this, let him be unjust still. Now what does this mean, and I think a lot of people don't quite comprehend this, just because our language today has become so simplified, and this is one of the reasons why evolution is so foolish, you know the science so called that's taught down at the university, they'll teach that man is getting smarter and smarter and better and better, and that our world is becoming a better place every day, it's just not true, I mean God created a perfect place in the garden of Eden, and it's just degenerated because of man's sin, and it just gets worse and worse and worse. The Bible says evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, and boy is that the truth, and he said in the last days perilous times would come, men should be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, but anyone who knows anything about language, and I love language, I speak several languages, it's a hobby of mine, it's something that I just love to study, knows that older languages are always more complex than newer languages. It's true, the English language is getting simpler and simpler every day. It used to be more complicated when the King James Bible was written, you go back a few hundred years before that it was even more complicated, you go back to what's known as Old English, you know people call the King James Version Old English, but what's technically determined as Old English, we're talking about the 13th century A.D. and previous, we're talking about a language that's extremely complex, and if man was so dumb back then, and they say, oh, you know, 6,000 years ago man was just coming out of being a caveman or something, you know, even though he built the pyramids and Stonehenge and all these great cities, wouldn't he have been saying like, me, go there, you know, and talking in a dumb language, instead of having these extremely complex languages of ancient language, and so language gets simpler and simpler, and today in English, we speak a dumbed down language, especially people who don't read, especially people who don't read the Bible, who don't study, they talk in a dumbed down language, and then people want to dumb down the Bible to try to fit somebody being uneducated. Now God tells us to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. He doesn't say, well, if you're too dumb, just dumb down the Bible. Somebody said that the NIV is on a third grade reading level, and they thought that was a positive thing. You know, God's not a third grader, and so the Bible is written by God, you know, you might need to learn how to speak English to read the Bible, and so we don't want to dumb down the Bible, we want to smarten ourselves up if we can, okay? And so that's another sermon in and of itself, but a lot of people don't understand the grammatical construct here in verse 11, so I just want to make it clear before I go on. He said, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. Now I'm not insulting anyone who doesn't understand it, because we just don't really talk this way anymore, because of the fact that our language has become more simplified. But you remember in Genesis chapter 1 where God said, let there be light, and there was light? Okay, that is the exact same verb tense that's used here in the English language when he says, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. The word let there, it doesn't mean allow him to be unjust, okay? A lot of people think, let him be unjust, like let me do this and that, that's not what it means. It's the same kind of a grammar in a way as when I say, if I were to say, let's go to the store. You know, I'm not saying allow us to go to the store, okay? Basically, just to give it a simplified version of what this grammar means, if I say, let there be light, or let him be unjust still, or let's go to the store, it basically means let it be so. So be it would be the way we would say it today, so be it. He's saying here in the scripture, if somebody's going to be unjust, so be it. If somebody's going to be filthy, so be it. If somebody's going to be righteous, great, so be it. If somebody's going to be holy, let him be holy. That's what this means here. It's basically a future conditional type tense of, kind of like when God said, let there be light. He's saying, let it be so. And what did God mean by that? You say, why would God say, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still? You see, at the end of the day, what God is telling us, and this is the end of the day, Revelation 22, he's telling us at the end of the day, it's really up to you what you do with your life. It's really up to you. And I guess I could call the sermon this. You can take the horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. That'd be another title for this sermon. You can take the horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. And you can apply this in all different areas. At the end of the day, every single person makes their own personal decision. Quickly, salvation. You can go out with the Bible, you can preach the gospel, you can show people how to be saved, but you can't make someone get saved. You can't make someone believe. You can preach it to them, you can show it to them, you can beg them to be saved, you can compel them to be saved, you can try to persuade them to be saved, like Paul tried to persuade Agrippa. He said, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian, because Paul was very persuasively preaching to him, trying to beg him to be saved, but at the end of the day, he had to make that decision whether or not to be saved, and nobody could make it for him. He had to make that decision. But then there are Christians who just will not live a righteous life. You try to preach to them, you show them what the Bible says, you get up and you can yell and beat the pulpit, and try to help them and guide them and show them, but at the end of the day, you can't make somebody live for God. That person's got to decide in their own heart that they're going to live for God. And so turn, if you would, to Galatians 6, for example. You see, the Bible says, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still, and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still, and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still, and behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his works shall be. You see, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. God has greater love than any human being that's ever lived. No man's love could even hold a candle to God's love, which was manifested through sacrificing Jesus Christ, his own son, on the cross, dying and bearing upon him the sins of mankind. That manifested the greatest love of all time. Nobody can say that God's not a loving God. But when you look at verse 11, you see another side of God that says, you know what? It's up to you, buddy. If you want to go to hell, go to hell. That's what he's basically saying. I mean, he's saying, look, if you will not listen after 1189 chapters of my glorious word, he said, I'm even begging you in chapter 22, saying, and the Spirit and the Bride say come, and let him that heareth say come, and let him that is athirst take the water of life freely. Whosoever will may come. But he said, if you're going to reject that, it's on you. I've loved you. I've sent my prophets rising up early and sending them. But if you will not hear God's word, he's saying, you know what? There's nothing I can do for you. You're going to hell. That's what in regard to salvation. But look at Galatians 6. Let's bring it more to the Christians because I always like to try to preach more to believers because that's why we're in church, because we're believers. So I'm preaching to the believers tonight. I'm preaching to the saved. And it says in Galatians 6, 1, Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens. That's the phrase I want you to keep in mind. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But then look at verse 4, kind of the antithesis of verse 2. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another, for every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. You see, God is saying here, bear ye one another's burdens. If somebody be overtaken in a fault, somebody's going into sin, try to help that person. Try to reach out to them. Try to preach them the truth. But at the end of the day, every man is going to have to bear his own burden. He says, bear ye one another's burdens. But in the final analysis, you all just bear your own burden. You try to help somebody, you do the best you can, but if they will still continue being unjust or filthy or living in sin, that's not your fault. I mean, that's their fault. They will have to live with the consequences of that. You see, if you give the Gospel to somebody, you warn them about hell, you warn them about the coming judgment of God, and you show them that salvation is through Jesus Christ by faith alone, that all they have to do is just believe and trust in Jesus Christ, that's it. If that person doesn't get saved, he said, you know, it's not your fault. But he said, if you don't warn them, he said, his blood will I require at thy hand, because you didn't even warn them. You didn't even give people a chance. And so there's a balancing here of two ideas. On one hand, you want to do everything you can to try to get people saved. And boy, did God do more than enough to get us saved. I mean, he came and he didn't have to come to this earth and die for our sins and do all this, but he did all that. But at the end of the day, he says, you know what, it's up to you. If you walk away from it, that's your problem. If you don't believe on Jesus Christ, it's on you. Same thing with us. We want to do everything we can to get people saved. But at the end of the day, it's not our responsibility whether that person receives it or not. That's got to be their own personal choice. Same thing as a pastor. I can get up here and preach and turn to Joshua 24, great scripture in Joshua 24. I can get up here and preach and tell you how if you do wrong, you're going to reap the whirlwind, how drinking is going to lead you down a downward spiral and destroy your life, how pornography is wicked, how what's played on television is a lot of pornography, what's at the movie theater is pornography. I don't care what the National Motion Picture Association of America tells you that if you're 13, it's fine, or if you're 17, it's fine, or if you're 8, it's fine. I'm here to tell you it's wicked. I don't care how old you are. I don't care if you're 120 years old. That stuff's wicked and it's going to pervert your mind. And so I can get up here and preach all those things. And you can sit there and hear me preach it and not care, not listen, go out of here and commit all the sin and say, I'm going to fornicate, I'm going to sow my wild oats, I'm going to be a drunkard, whatever the case may be. But you know what? At the end of the day, my friend, I'm still going to be living for God no matter what you do. He said here in Joshua 24, great scripture, famous verse, in Joshua 24, he said this, verse 15, and if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom you will serve. He said, hey, you do what you want to do. If you want to be unjust, you want to be filthy, you want to serve a bunch of idols that cannot profit, he says, choose you this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served, which were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land ye dwell, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. I'm here to tell you something, don't get discouraged when you try to help somebody and guide somebody and then they go off into sin, because you know what? You are living for God and that's all that matters. You can't make anybody else live for God except yourself. And you can try to reach out and try to help people and love them and try to restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, but according to the Bible, the most important thing is that you take heed unto yourself. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter whether every single person in this church, and this would never happen, but if every single person in this church were to quit soul winning, I'll still be soul winning, if every single person in this church will go out and become a liberal and a new evangelical and water down, I won't be watered down, and you say, oh, Pastor Anderson, you failed, nope, I haven't failed as long as I walk across the finish line and say I fought a good fight, I finished my course, I kept the faith. What you do is your business and what I do is my business. You may want to serve some other God or do some other thing with your life than serve God, but as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. You see, that's the way it is. And you may be sitting there in your seat right now and worried about what somebody around you is doing or thinking about what your friends are doing or looking at other people in church, what are they going to do. Just decide in your heart, you know what, no matter what anybody in this church does, I will still do the right thing. That's what you ought to decide. Even if Pastor Anderson were to quit doing the right thing, that shouldn't stop you from doing the right thing. Even if everybody in this church turns away from the truth, you ought to decide, you know what, as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. Because at the end of the day, you're not going to be able to stand before God and say, oh, God, I'm sorry, it's just that I was following Pastor Anderson and he let me down. I was looking to Brother Dave as a role model, he let me down. I was looking to Stuckey as a role model, you know, he let me down. I was looking to whoever as a role model and I was following them and they let me down. And that's why I'm not living for God today. Let me tell you something, I've talked to a lot of people who say those kind of things. I mean, I can name for you, I'm not going to, but I can name for you a lot of people I know who say, well, I just got discouraged because I went to this church and the pastor turned out to be a phony and this church turned out to be a liberal and blah, blah, blah. And it's like, look, get over it. Did God let you down? Did Jesus let you down? Was Pastor Anderson crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Pastor Anderson? No. And Jesus Christ never changes. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And if you keep your eyes looking under the author and finisher of our faith, he's never going to let you down. And so you can't sit there and try to hide behind somebody else. You got to just decide no matter what anybody does and no none go with me, still I will follow. No turning back. No turning back. Because at the end of the day, even though we're told to bear one another's burdens, he says, you know, at the end of the day, everybody's going to bear their own burden at the end of the day. Where did I have you turn? Nowhere yet? Joshua? Turn if you would to 2 Timothy. I'll show you what I'm talking about. 2 Timothy, towards the very end of the Bible, 2 Timothy, you say, shouldn't we care about what other people do? Yeah, we should care. We should try to help them, try to pray for them, you know, pray for people that are that are going astray, that they'll get on the right track, love them, care about them. But you know, you can't really let it get you down when people just won't listen. You know, there have been a lot of times when you try to get through to somebody, you try to tell them, you try to teach them, you try to explain it to them, and you try to just get them to do the right thing. But you know what, at the end of the day, I just have to say to myself, you know what, I'm doing the right thing. And you know what, God's going to bless me, and that person who's living in sin will reap the consequences of their sin. I'm not going to reap the consequences of other people's sins. And so if they choose to do wrong, let them be unjust. Let them be filthy. But let me tell you something, as for me and my house will serve the Lord. This is what Paul had to realize in his life, because look what it says in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verse 10. Paul said this, So basically, he's forsaken by some of his key friends here, he's forsaken by some important people that he'd won with Christ, that he'd been discipling and trying to teach and train and lead. They let him down. He said in verse 11, But go up just a few verses in the same chapter, he says this, in verse 6, No. You see, he said, But I have stayed the course, and I will receive the crown and the reward. I wish that they would have come along with me, but you know what, the main thing that matters is that I did right. Look if you would at 1 Timothy, I'm sorry, just go back one book in the Bible to your left. You know what, that's not the one I was looking for. Give me one quick second to find the scripture I was looking for. Somebody help me out. At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, by me the preaching might be fully known. Where's that? Somebody help me out. Anybody know? I'll just quote it to you. At my first answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me. Paul said. That's discouraging when everybody forsakes you. He said, Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me, that by me the preaching might be fully known, that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, and the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Paul is saying, look, nobody stood up with me. I stood alone. But he said God stood with me, and he said I finished the course alone. I did right alone. What other people did, they're going to live with the consequences. They'll reap what they've sown, but I will be blessed and receive the crown of glory. You see, at the end of the day, it's just important. Are you going to finish the course? Are you going to win the race? Many run, but he said only one is crowned. So run that you might obtain the crown. He said, run to win. Look at Proverbs 27. We're going to go to some Old Testament scriptures now. Proverbs 27, 22. Right around the middle of the Bible is the book of Psalms. Right after that is the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 27, 22. You see, you can take the horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. There's one that I knew passed away not long ago, and I was not 100% sure that this person was saved. I hope that they were saved. I think that they probably were saved. I don't really know for sure because this is a person that didn't really, I guess, make it super clear what they believed all the time, and so you wondered what did they believe. You wondered whether they were a believer in Jesus Christ or not. So I didn't know for sure that this person was saved, but I basically had peace about it because of this fact, and I said this to someone else. I said, well, you know what? I said, thus and so persons is where they belong, because God's a just God, and I basically said, you know, I've given that person the Gospel repeatedly. Many people have given that person the Gospel over and over again. That person at one point claimed to be saved, and I said, you know what? If that person's in heaven, praise God, praise the Lord, hallelujah. That's wonderful. But I said, you know, if that person's in hell, to be honest with you, it's a tragedy, but at the same time that's where they ought to be. I'm not going to question God. When somebody hears the Gospel over and over and over again, if they reject it, and here's somebody who heard it over and over and definitely knew it and knew the truth, you know, at the end of the day, that person is where they belong, and that's what you've got to understand. Don't stand in judgment of God, don't question God. Who are you to reply against God? You know, if God sends someone to hell for being an unbeliever, that's where they belong. You know, it's a tragedy, we're upset about it, we're sad about it, but I'm going to heaven. I believe I'm Jesus Christ, and so that's the main thing, is to take heed unto yourself. But look at Proverbs 27-22, because see, sometimes you try to help people, you try to straighten them out, and here's a verse that might help you understand why you can't straighten them out. The Bible says in Proverbs 27-22, Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. You say, what in the world does that mean? Now, there's several words in there that you might not know, and I didn't know these words until I learned it, because these are not words that we use. What does it mean to bray wheat in a pestle, or in a mortar with a pestle? Right, right. That's what it means. Basically, a pestle, okay, is this... Who's ever been to these Indian ruins, Native American ruins around Arizona, and some of them actually have this set up so you can actually do it, right? They're kind of an interactive little tour, and basically, you've seen a little bowl, like a stone bowl, and then there's like a round stone, and then you've got your wheat or your corn or whatever it is, and you're just kind of smashing it and grinding it between the stones. That is what the Bible is talking about here when he says, braying wheat in a mortar with a pestle. The bowl is the mortar, the pestle is the stone that you're holding your hand, and braying it is basically grinding it in this device. Now, think about what God's saying here. He's saying, you could take a fool, and he's just using an illustration, a parable, and just... And yet, his foolishness will not depart from him. Do you see that? There's some people that you just can't get through to. No matter what you say, no matter what you do, you can't get through to them. And there comes a time when you just walk away and say, you know what, I'm living for God. I'm reading the Bible. I'm going soul-winding. I'm going to church. I'm taking the stand. I'll not fill my mind with the filth of this world. I'll not watch the smut that's on television. I'll not watch the Hollywood movies, because I personally don't want to be corrupted with that stuff. And you say, Pastor Anderson, that kind of preaching is not popular, because people like to go to the movies, and they love to watch all these TV shows, and they love their American Idol, and they love all this worldly stuff that's on TV. But at the end of the day, I don't care whether it's popular or not, because if nobody listens to me, I am going to preach it right so that my wife and my children are hearing it right. And if that's the only person I'm preaching to, so be it. Blessed be the name of the Lord, because I'd rather preach the truth to 10 people or 20 people than to preach to thousands a lie. That everything's OK. You know, no. Your movies are not OK. The Bible says, I'll set no wicked thing before mine eyes. The Bible says that we should not let the lying tongue be before our eyes, and adultery and fornication that's on television, sodomy, you name it. What's on that thing? And I'll preach against it, and people can lighten and lump it, because I'm going to do what's right. And what other people do is their business. There's a peaceful thought that you have. There's a time when you can come to peace in your life when you realize, I'm saved. I'm living for God. I'm not going to quit church. I've been in church my whole life. I've never quit church. I've been in church my whole life, and I'm going to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And I'll die in church, my friend. And what other people do is their business. And you know it's sad when people quit the church, right? I mean, you've seen people quit the church. You get sad about it. But you know what? At the end of the day, I just move on. I'm sad about it, I weep over it, and I wish that they would not leave. I'm talking about when people become backslidden, not when they go to another fundamental Baptist church. I'm talking about when people become backslidden, quit church, get into sin, get into worldliness. I'm sad about it, but I'm not going to sit there and let that ruin my life. I'm not just going to... Remember what happened with Samuel when Saul went into sin, and Samuel kept weeping for Saul? God came to him and just said, you know what, why are you still weeping for Saul? You know, move on. It's too late for him, you know? Just go annoy David to be king, because you can't just keep weeping over this guy. You know, I'm not just going to sit here and weep for the rest of my life over people who quit church, because you know what? If anybody quits this church, it's not our loss, it's their loss. If you give the gospel to somebody and they don't get saved, they're the one who's losing. You know, I've seen people literally get mad when they gave the gospel to somebody and that person gets it. Why would you get mad? They're the one who's going to go to hell. I mean, it's sad. There's nothing to get angry about. I mean, if you give somebody the gospel and they reject the gospel, they're not rejecting you, they're rejecting Jesus. They've rejected God's word. And you get all angry and upset. You know what? It's their loss if they don't get saved. If they quit a good church, it's their loss. People say to me, oh, well, I'm not going to go to your church, like they're punishing me by quitting the church. How does it punish me if somebody quits this church? What skin is it off my back at the end of the day? You say, don't you love people? Of course I love people. I love people. I wish that thousands would come to our church. But at the end of the day, when somebody leaves our church, it's no skin off my back. Because you know what, I'm still here. I'm still enjoying the great singing. I'm still enjoying the great fellowship. I'm still enjoying God's word and the soul winning and the excitement of this church. Hey, if other people can't see the value in that, then you know what, that's their problem. You see the balance here that you have to have? Because if you get too hung up on trying to live other people's lives and trying to worry too much about what everybody else is doing, it's going to drive you nuts because most people just don't want to live for God. Just face it. Just deal with it. Most people, no matter what you say or do, will not become a soul winner, will not live for God, will not live a righteous life. You've got to be able to just deal with it. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 2. As long as you don't know what's going on in people's lives, look at 1 Samuel chapter 2. Though thus shouldst pray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from him. See, people think that they're punishing me by quitting the church. You know, really, whether this church, how big or small this church is, really affects me zero. Honestly. I mean, it affects me not at all. I've said before, I said, why would we want our church to be packed with people so we can need a bigger building? That just sounds like a hassle. That sounds like a pain in the neck. You say, don't you want to be able to come? Oh, yeah, we go out and invite hundreds of people every week. We try to get people to come. We win people to Christ. We baptize them. We try to get them to live for God. And we want people to come, but we want people to come who love God and love the Bible. And people say, well, more people can come to your church if you tone down your preaching. I'm not trying to have more people come. I'm just trying to have a great church because I want to go to a great church because I want my kids to grow up in a great church because I want my wife to sit in a great church. I want her to be around people that love God, not where 10% of the people love God and 90% just show up and put in their time and don't even care at all about serving God. Oh, you got to grow, grow, grow. Yeah, let's grow with people that love God. Let's grow with people that win souls. What's the point of seeing how many bodies we can pack into a building? Let's have a rock concert. We'll pack this place out. Let's just put a sign out front that says free beer. It'll be packed. But is that really what your goal is, just to pack the place out? I don't care about packing the place out. I don't care if it's 5, 10, 50, 20, 25, 30, 35, 50, 100, 150, 200. I just want to know, am I right? Am I doing right? Am I preaching right? Am I walking right? And do the people in the church love God and serve God and walk right? And you know, at the end of the day, the people who come to church in a great church are the ones that are the privileged ones. And the people who say, I'm not going to go to that church. I don't want to go to that church. It's too radical. I'm going to go down to Milk Toast Nandy Pandy Baptist Church down the street. You know, you'd probably be happier there. Then go there. That's what I say to people like that. This church isn't for everybody, because not everybody wants to hear this kind of preaching. A lot of people want to just have somebody just tell them that everything's wonderful, give them a little pick-me-up. And I'm not worried about it if people want to go to a different church. Go. I love what Jesus said this morning. We heard a priest where he looks at the 12s and said, will you also go away? You know? And he, don't get me wrong. Jesus wanted him to say. I think he wanted that whole multitude to say. But at the end of the day, he leaves it up to you and just says, there's the door. You see, when someone quits the church, it's their loss. When somebody doesn't get saved, it's their eternal loss. Where are you standing tonight? Where do you stand with God? If you're saved, praise the Lord. If you're a believer, probably almost every single person who's here is a believer, if not every single person. Are you walking with God? Are you doing what's right? You say, well, everybody in the church, there's a lot of people in the church, it turns out, that don't really live as righteous and holy as Pastor Anderson preaches. But does that mean that you're going to lower your standard to the people around you? Just because it turns out everybody's, you know, and I'm not saying this isn't true. I hope it's not. I don't know. And to be honest, I don't care if it's true. I'm just making this up right now off the top of my head. Hopefully this isn't a divine revelation. Just kidding. Anyway, at the end of the day, if it turns out that a whole bunch of guys who think they're going to be preachers or something are watching a bunch of worldly movies and whatever, really it doesn't harm me at all because I didn't watch that stuff. You see what I'm saying? Go ahead guys. And you know what, I'm sure you'll be a pastor someday and your church is going to be garbage if that's what you like to do with your time. And again, I'm not preaching against anybody. If right now you feel like I'm preaching against you, maybe the suit just fits or whatever. But I'm just saying, you know, you being worldly is just going to stop you from serving God like you are serving. It's going to stop you ever from being a preacher who it's worth going to listen to. It's going to stop you from being the leader that you need to be and it's going to mess with your marriage. It's going to mess with your child rearing when you compromise your standards of what's right and wrong and watch a bunch of junk and think you're going to be a pastor someday. You know what, that doesn't affect me because no matter what anybody does, nobody can make me do the wrong thing. Nobody can make me get out of church. The only person that can destroy me is me. Man can kill the body. Man can harm you or attack you. Man can lie about you. People constantly lie about me. This week people are lying about me. I mean people lie about me nonstop, but you know what, lying about me can't destroy me. Nothing can destroy me except for myself. If I choose to self-destruct, if I choose to get away from God, but as long as I walk in the integrity of my heart, it doesn't matter what anybody does or says, I cannot be defeated because the Lord will stand with me, even if everybody else forsakes me. And that's what you've got to get in your heart, not just me because I'm a pastor. You personally got to get that in your heart and say, you know what? I am going to walk with God, and if everybody else turns out to be a compromiser, it doesn't matter. They're lost. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 2. We're talking about, you know, you try to get through to people, you try to help them. They don't listen. It says in 1 Samuel 2.22, Now Eli was very old, and heard all that his sons did unto all Israel, and how they lay with the women that assembled at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. These sons were wicked, and let me tell you something, it was Eli's fault, but right now at this point in the story, it's too late to fix it, because these guys are grown men now, and they're wicked. Eli failed in the years of child rearing, and God blames him later in the chapter. God rebukes Eli for raising his sons wrong, and he says that it was Eli's fault. Eli was a righteous man, he was a godly man, he was a great man, but he failed in child rearing. He failed to discipline, and therefore his children grew up and became wicked. But at this point, it's too late for them. Here's what they were doing. Number one, they were stealing, in today's lingo, they were stealing from the offering plate, basically. What they were doing is, people were bringing an offering to the Lord, they were stealing from that offering. Number two, they were committing fornication with a lot of young women. They were sleeping with these women that came to the church. I mean, that's pretty wicked, I mean, it's horrible. These were some very ungodly men. And Eli was very old, and he heard about it, but you know, it's too late. And here's what he says to them in verse 23, and he said to them, Why do ye such things? For I hear of your evil doings by all this people, nay, my sons, for it is no good report that I hear. Ye make the Lord's people to transgress. If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him. But if a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him? And watch this, here's the key. Notwithstanding, they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. You see that? It says, And the child Samuel grew on. Here's the contrast, the young man Samuel, growing up in the same house, and was in favor both with the Lord and also with men. And there came a man of God unto Eli, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, and he went on to preach to him. But you see here, that these young men were living a wicked life. They were committing fornication. They were stealing from God. And Eli tried to warn them. Somebody tried to come to him and say, Look, you're wicked, you're evil. God is going to judge you. God is going to punish you. He said, You can sin against man, maybe you can go to a judge and make it right and pay it back. He said, If you sin against the Lord, you will reap what you've sown. They didn't listen, because God had already made his mind up to destroy them, to slay them. That doesn't mean that these boys never had a chance to do what was right. But there comes a time, the Bible says, He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. And God had had it with these guys. He said, I'm sick of them. I believe their names are Hophni and Phinehas. Was that their names? I'm up here behind the pulpits as long as I draw a blank. These two guys, Hophni and Phinehas, they pushed it too far with God. I don't know if they were saved or unsaved, that's not even the point. The point is, they were living a sinful life. They pushed it too far with God, and God had had it with them, God was sick of them, and He tried to give them the truth and tell them fornication is wrong, stealing is wrong, do right, do right, do right, and they wouldn't listen. But you know why they wouldn't listen? Because God just wanted to judge them anyway. Because they pushed him too far. Wait a minute now, maybe that's some of the people that you're trying to deal with. You know, you try to warn someone that you love, you try to give them the truth, you try to warn them about the dangers of sin that they're in. Maybe God's just sick of them spitting in His eye. Maybe God is just sick of them being often reproved and hardening their neck. That's why you can't make them do what's right. Because God maybe just is determined to bring judgment upon them. Some people have to mess up their life before they realize that living a life of sin doesn't pay. Some people have to just mess up their life. You know, you remember the story of the prodigal son? You know, the dad didn't chase after him. Oh son, you know what I mean? He said, you know what, if that's the way you want to go, get out of here. I'll still be here. I'm still going to be doing the right thing, your brother's going to be doing the right thing. But he said, you know what, you want to go waste your life and live with riotous living, with harlots? You want to go be a drunk and live the party life? He said, get out of my house. See you later. And he was there waiting to receive him when he came home. But you know, so many parents today, they chase after their wayward children and molly coddle them and finance their sinful, wicked lifestyle. It's true. You see children making mistakes that cause them to get into trouble financially or cause them to get into other kinds of trouble and parents will go bail them out. You know, you ought to just let them hit rock bottom. Sometimes you got to let people reap the consequences of their actions. You know, you sit there and say, oh, you know, so-and-so is getting thrown out of their apartment, you know, because they're into drugs, now let's go buy them groceries. No. Let them go get in the rock bottom in the gutter, maybe then they'll realize like the prodigal son did when he's in a pig pen, eating pig slaw, hey, I need to get right with Doc. But many parents won't even let, and I'm talking about adult children, many parents won't let their adult children get to that point. They just, oh, let me help you, let me give you money, let me finance your sinful lifestyle. You know, if I had a child who was living in fornication and sin, I wouldn't give them a red cent. I'd say come back to me when you're ready to live for God. I wouldn't sit there and help them financially, somebody who's living a wicked sinful life. I wouldn't sit there and let somebody live in my house and live a sinful life because me and my house will live for God. I'd say, you know what, I've, and by the way, if your adult child is doing that, you know, you should have dealt with that back when they were two or three or four years old, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and if you're a parent now with young children, now's the time, brother Dave, you know, now's the time to be teaching and training. Now's the time to have that child in church, hearing the praise of God, hearing God's word preached from a child so that you won't have that problem when they're an adult. But there comes a time when you just have to say, Ephraim had turned to his idols, let them alone. That's what he said in Hosea, God, let them alone, whatever, because people sometimes have to hit rock bottom before they realize the error of their ways. You know, and probably some of you in this room have been at a time where God brought you down to rock bottom. You know, I've known several people today who are living for God today, but there was a time in their life where they got to a point where they couldn't buy food, where they'd lost everything, because sometimes God has to bring you to that point. And you can't make people live for God. You can't force anybody to do anything. But you know what, you can force yourself to do the right thing. And so take heed unto yourself. Show yourself a pattern of good works. Let me read one quick scripture to you. He said in 1 Timothy 4.16, take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. You see, the most important person that you have to worry about when it comes to walking with God and serving God is really the only person you have any control over, and that's you. If you do the right things, that's how you're going to be the best leader to others around you, is by being an example, but at the end of the day, you can take the horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. And so I'm going to get up here every week, three times a week, and preach my lungs out, warn you of sin, I'm going to go out and knock the doors every week and try to warn people that they need to be saved. I'm going to teach the people wisdom, as Solomon said, but at the end of the day, I'm accountable for one person. Yourself. Me. That's it. And at the end of the day, I can tell you right now, I'm still going to be standing, whoever falls around me, praise God. Why don't you make that decision in your heart right now? And say, you know what, I'm going to help people as much as I can. If I see somebody getting out of church, boy, give them a call. Reach out to them. Be their friend. Love them. If you see somebody starting to drift, in the spirit of meekness, humbly, try to help that person. Get on track. Try to encourage them. Try to build them up. Try to strengthen them. But just decide that no matter what anybody does, you're going to do what's right. You know what? That's really all that matters. Because when you stand before God one day, you're going to receive a reward for the works that you've done in your own body. And you'll not be held accountable for what someone else does, someone else's foolishness. And you know, you love people. You love your adult children. You love those who you've won to Christ, and you try to guide. But you know what? At the end of the day, sometimes God just has to deal with those people. Sometimes God just has to bring judgment in their life, and there's nothing you can do about it. So be it. He that is unjust tonight, let him be unjust still. I'm not going... He that's filthy, let him be filthy still. He that's righteous, let him be righteous. And he that is holy, let him be holy still. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, dear God, and for the warnings that you've given us, dear God. For the love that you've shown us. God, you have the ultimate love to have died on the cross for our sins and shed your blood and paid the price, faced the wrath that all our sin deserves. Thank you so much, dear God, for the wonderful gift of salvation, dear God. And I thank you that I know it's mine. I know that I've received the Lord Jesus Christ as my savior. I know that I believe the record that you gave of your son. Father, I pray that many, many others would respond to that out of soul on you, dear God. But you know what? Whether they do or not, dear God, I thank you that I'm saved and that I'm going to spend eternity in heaven. God help every single person who's here to decide. I don't care what people around me are doing. They want to watch a bunch of movies and listen to a bunch of communist rock and roll homosexual music and we know that these worldly sinners, that's pretty much what they're into. God just help them to just decide, you know what, I'm going to sing the hymns. I'm going to praise God. I'm going to win souls. I'm going to read the Bible. Help us to bear our own burden, dear God, and not expect Pastor Anderson to bear it for us or any preacher to bear it for us or any parent or brother or sister. Have every child that's here to say, you know what, I'm not going to lean on my parent's faith. I'm going to have my own personal faith in God's word. I'm going to walk with God myself. No matter what anybody does, I'll still be with Jesus. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.