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This preaching of this story, dear God, I just prayed that it would make a difference even in one person that's here, that this would stick with them for the rest of their life, what's being preached this morning. It's so important. And God, I just pray that you would be with me as I preach, dear God, fill me with the Holy Spirit, and so that the Word can be preached with power, as it ought to be preached. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Now, it's a very familiar story that we just read in Genesis chapter 37. Turn in your Bible two pages to the right here, just to Genesis chapter 39. Genesis chapter 39, we just saw the familiar story about Joseph, 17-year-old boy doing what he's supposed to be doing. He's trying to serve God the best that he can. He's obeying his father. Did you notice how obedient he is to his father when we just read that story? His dad tells him to do something. He does it. He asks him to do something that he probably didn't want to do, checking on his brothers. And he just said, here am I, whatever you want me to do, I'll do it. He brought to his father their evil report. He didn't want to participate in the sin that his 11 brothers were participating in, and we'll see later in their life what a bunch of sinful men these were, Joseph's brethren. And here he is at age 17, attacked, beaten, thrown into a pit, and sold into slavery. He went from having a very close-knit bond with his father, Jacob. He was the son that Jacob loved the most. He was given gifts by his dad, and he had a close relationship with his dad. He had a big family. He had 11 brothers. He had his mother. All of a sudden, he's displaced and he's carried away captive into Egypt in a distant, faraway place. No mom, no dad, no brothers and sisters, no friends, probably speaking a foreign language. Totally ignorant of his surroundings. He had no idea where he is. He had no idea what's going on. He has no one to turn to. But look, if you would, at Genesis chapter 39, verse 1. The Bible says, And Joseph was brought down to Egypt, and Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard and Egyptian, bought him out of the hands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lord was with Joseph. Notice those words. The Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man, and he was in the house of his master, the Egyptian. And his master saw that the Lord was with him, and that the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand. Look down at verse 20. The Bible reads in verse 20, And Joseph's master took him and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in the prison. But the Lord was with Joseph, a third time that's mentioned, and showed him mercy, and gave him favor on the side of the keepers of the prison. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison, and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because the Lord was with him, the fourth time it's mentioned. And that which he did, the Lord made it to prosper. And of course, don't turn there, but in Acts chapter 7, the Bible reads in verse 9, In the patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt, but God was with him. Okay, so five different times, God brings up the fact that even though Joseph was carried captive into this foreign country, God was with him. Now why was God with Joseph? Do you think that God just chooses certain people? Do you think God just looks down and just eeny meeny miny moe just picks somebody and said, no matter where this person goes, I am going to be with them? Well, I don't think so. Let me read something that Jesus said in John chapter 8 verse 29, you don't have to turn there. The Bible reads, And he that sent me is with me. That's what Jesus Christ is saying of the Father. And he that sent me is with me. The Father had not left me alone. Why? He says, For I do always those things that please him. Okay? And then the Bible reads in John 16, and you don't have to turn there, but, Behold the hour cometh, yea is now come, that ye shall be scattered, Jesus is speaking to his disciples how they are going to forsake him. He says, The hour is coming that ye shall be scattered. Every man to his own shall leave me alone, and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace, and in the world ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. And so we see Jesus Christ making it very clear that the degree of God being with you is to the degree that you are doing those things that are pleasing in his sight. Well, read the book of 1 John and you'll find that out. The Bible says, These things write me unto you, that ye may have fellowship with them. And truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. He says, If we walk in the light, as he is in the light. It says, God is light, and him is no darkness at all. And so we see the reason that God was with Joseph, the reason that God made everything he did to prosper, is because, yes, the Lord went with Joseph, but I think Joseph brought God with him when he was taken into Egypt, is really what was going on. You see, there has to come a time in your life, and we're going to see several examples of this in the Bible. There has to come a time in your life where it's just you and God. You can't always rely on church. You can't always rely on mom and dad kids. There's going to come a time where it's just going to be you and God. You know, you can't always rely on Pastor Anderson. You know, Pastor Anderson may not always be here. Your mom and dad may not always be there. You may be taken off to a distant land one day as Joseph was, God forbid, but stranger things have happened. And so you've got to come to the place where you understand that you must walk with God on your own. You must take the Lord with you. Take the name of Jesus with you, as the great song says in the hymnal. Hey, there's got to come a time where your walk with God becomes just between you and God. There's so many people that rely on someone else's spirituality. A husband that relies on his wife as the spiritual leader, God help you if that's the case. A wife, but still, a wife who relies on her husband to be her spirituality. Hey, listen, you must walk with God on your own. You must be reading the Bible. You must know what you believe yourself. Kids who rely on their parents. I've seen a man and a woman where the man was a great spiritual leader. You know, I'm not going to say who it was, but I've known people in the past. And the man was a great spiritual leader, and he died, and his wife just was helpless. She didn't know how to walk with God on her own. She didn't know how to find God's will. She didn't know how to choose a church on her own. She didn't know how to stay with God on her own. It was all just riding on the coattails of her husband. You've got to, no matter who you are, be with God on your own. I mean, here's a 17-year-old boy. Can you imagine, you have to think about what this would be like to be displaced away from your mom and dad, away from anybody you've ever known, away from church. We have church that we come to Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night to get fired up. You know, to be around people who believe like us. To be built up in the faith where we can talk after the service and talk before the service and encourage one another, and build each other up and motivate one another, and stand before one another. Hey, nobody was standing with Joseph except the Lord Jesus Christ. Hey, there was a time when nobody stood with Jesus, except it was just the Father. He said, that's all I wanted. He said, you're going to leave me alone. This is going to be me and the Father. But thank God that he had the Father with him at all times. Now look at a bad example. That was the good example of Joseph. Look at 2 Chronicles, chapter number 24. The book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 24. 2 Chronicles 24. I've spent my life watching maybe a good church. I've seen a good church dissolve. A good fundamental King James Bible preaching, door-to-door soul, any kind of church. I've seen it dissolve, and I've watched the sheep be scattered. I've watched people who once went to a fundamental church, once went to a Gospel preaching church. I watched them scatter and not go to church anywhere, because their leader was God. I watched them be scattered and go to a liberal church. I watched them be scattered and go to the non-denominational church. Hey, I watched them be scattered and go to a church that did not preach the way that God wanted them to preach, but just tickled the ears of those that listened for filthy lookers. Hey, is that what's going to happen to you? If there's no faithful word back at church, are you going to fall by the wayside? I hope not. I hope that I'm not your spirituality. Hey, I hope that other people in this church that you come and see every week are not your spirituality. Hey, I hope that you know God yourself. I hope that you know how to pick up the Bible and read it yourself and find out what's true for yourself, and don't rely on somebody just to spoon feed you the truth. Grow up. Like the Bible says, everyone that uses milk is a babe. It says it's unskillful in the word of righteousness, but strong meat belonging to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Hey, can you come to the place where you can pick up the fork and pick up the knife and pick up your Bible and feed yourself? You say, I went to that church and I wasn't being fed. Hey, feed yourself. Now, that church should have been feeding you, but you ought to be feeding yourself. Don't come to church starving hungry because you haven't eaten since Wednesday night. Hey, come to church on Sunday morning. You're already a little full, but this is just dessert. This is dessert, believe it or not, when you come to church. But look at 2 Chronicles 7, number 24, and look at verse number 1. We're going to see a man who did not understand what I'm preaching to you this morning. In verse number 1, his name was Joash. The Bible reads, Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zebaiah of Beersheba, and Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest, but looked down, if you would, to verse number 15. So here he is. He's a seven-year-old boy. He begins to reign. Here's the way I look at it. We could look at the spiritual application. He got saved when he was seven. That's the spiritual application. God has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, and in the washes from our sins and his own blood, made us kings and priests unto God and his Father. So there's a metaphor here. It's like a little kid that gets saved when he's seven, right? And as long as Jehoiada the priest, who was his father figure, his parents were not alive, he was adopted by his uncle, Jehoiada was actually his uncle if you study the Bible. And so his uncle here, he's raising him as a father, he's saved at seven, perhaps, but he's only doing right as long as Jehoiada's around, as long as Dad's around, as long as Uncle Jehoiada's around. But look down at verse 15, the Bible reads, but Jehoiada waxed old and was full of days when he died, 130 years old was he when he died, and they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God and toward his house. Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah and made obeisance to the king, then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem, for this their trespass, yet he sent prophets to them to bring them again unto the Lord. And they testified against them, but they would not give ear. And so we see here that Jehoiada, Joash's uncle, was protecting him from the evil influence that's always out there. You think these princes, you think people knew before Jehoiada died that these princes were wicked and ungodly men who wanted to bring a whole nation into idolatry and destroy the whole nation? I don't think so. I think these guys were smooth enough to be right there with the king, all the princes and the elders. They were doing what they did, they were putting on the show of being right with God because they feared Jehoiada. And Jehoiada was a protective influence over Joash, but as soon as Jehoiada was gone, then came the attack, where they were going to come in and they were going to infiltrate and say, we're going to get to Joash, we're going to get to this young mind, and we're going to pervert his mind, we're going to get him to lead this nation into sin and wickedness. Then they succeeded. Why? Because Joash had no walk with God for himself. He didn't have any backbone of his own. He had no spiritual basis of his own. He was relying on Uncle Jehoiada to protect him. And this is what I'm going to tell you. The moment that you come out from under your protective influence, whether it's a child that grows up and they leave the house, whether it be a child whose parents pass away unexpectedly, whether it be someone who's somehow taken away from their church maybe, they're moved away to a far place, perhaps a church falls apart and ceases to exist, God forbid, but it happens. The moment that happens, there's always going to be somebody waiting to attack, just like there was here. I mean, as soon as the Jehoiadas of this world are gone, then the evil princes are going to come and they're going to tempt you, and they're going to try to entice you. What happened to Joseph? Same thing. As soon as he got out from that protective influence, as soon as he was isolated from his family, isolated from anyone who'd ever even heard of Jesus Christ or Jehovah God, as soon as he was isolated from that, what's the first thing? The devil sent some woman to try to entice him, to try to get him into fornication and descent, to defile his own body in fornication. Hey, the devil will always attack you when you're alone. You think about the Bible talks about the devil walking the Bible as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. I remember when I was a kid at school, they'd show us these little documentaries about lions and about hyenas and all these different nature type shows, and you watch these lions, and what do they do? They try to find the one that's kind of away from the group. They find the one who's lagging behind a little bit. The sheep is just kind of looking around, doesn't know what's going on, and they're ready to just pounce on them. That's what the devil's doing, he's seeking whom he may devour. So what's the moral of the story? Just always stay in the group, right? The group's not always going to be there, okay? It'd be great if you could always, wouldn't it be great if you could always have a group of people that love God, that are on fire for God, that love Solomon, that love the King James Bible? Hey, it's not going to be that way. You're not always going to have that group. You say, the moral of the story is never leave the group. Hey, you will be away from the group. There's going to come a time just as Joseph, do you think Joseph thought he was going to be away from the group? No. Do you think Joash expected, I mean, he is 129 years old, Joash. He is 130 years old. Hey, he's going to die one of these days, Joash. Would you learn that you can't always rely on other people? It's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. You must walk with God by yourself. Hey, I'm a strong believer in the local church. Strong believer. I think that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth. I think you should not forsake the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is. There are some people who forsake the assembly. I don't want to be like them, is what the Bible's saying. But I do believe in the local church. It's very important. I do believe in the family. Very important to have a close family, strong family. But I'm going to tell you something. I also believe in the individual. I believe in the individual standing on his own two feet. Every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. I believe in the priesthood of the believer. I believe that every believer in Jesus Christ should be able to stand on his own before God and to know the Bible on his own before God and to be able to make his own decisions before God. Don't let other people do your thinking for you, is what I'm saying this morning. Don't let Pastor Anderson do your thinking for you. If I, don't say, well, if somebody asks you, I hope when somebody asks you something about what you believe, don't ever tell them, well, that's what Pastor Anderson said. I just trust Pastor Anderson. You know what I mean? I've heard people say that. Well, why do you believe this? Look, Pastor Anderson preaches that all the time. It must be right. No, no. Don't ever say that. Don't ever say that. That's not a reason to believe anything. You say, well, Pastor Anderson's right 99% of the time. I think I've kept that average up. They're like, hey, Pastor Anderson's right 99% of the time. We're just going to by faith accept this 1%, okay, that we don't, I don't know where he's getting it, but he's been right about so many things. Let's just go with it. No. Hey, why don't you check the Bible and see if it's true for yourself? Why don't you know what you believe yourself? Look at another example. Look at, look at Daniel chapter one. Here's another man who was taken out of his comfort zone, who was isolated from anyone else who believed like he believed. We're living in perilous times. The Bible says in the book of Timothy, this snow also, and perilous means dangerous, in case you don't know what perilous means, it means dangerous. This snow also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. That's the day we're living in. Traders, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. Hey, incontinent, fierce, false accusers, despisers of those that are good. Yes, that's 2007. Dangerous times, perilous times. You better be able to identify with the story of Joseph in the Bible, because that might become your life story and your lifetime. Hey, you better identify with the book of Daniel right now, because this may be your life story in a few years. Hey, ten years from now, this could be your life. You may be carried away captive somewhere. Yes, it could happen. Look at Daniel chapter 1, verse number 3. Bible reads, And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes, children, notice the words children, in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skillful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge and understanding science, and such is that ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldean. They want to brainwash these young children in their lifestyle, their mentality, their belief system. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat and of the wine which he drank, so nourishing them three years that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now, among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, under whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names. For he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar, and to Hananiah of Shadrach, and to Mishael of Meshach, and to Azariah of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. You see, here's a young man, a child, who's kidnapped from his own house literally. He's put in a school system where he's going to be brainwashed and taught to think like we think, to talk like we talk, to be like we are, to dress like we are. And he says, I'm going to take away anything about your identity, I'm going to change your name. I mean, think about that. Think about what they're trying to do to these guys psychologically. They're not just displacing them and saying, this is your new home. They're saying, no, you're a brand new person. Daniel does not exist anymore. You are Belteshazzar. You are one of us. You're going to be like us. You're going to learn what we have to teach. But Daniel said, as a child, as a kid, he said, I will not, I will not defile myself with the portion of the king. I will not eat this meat that's been sacrificed unto idols. I will not drink an alcoholic beverage. I won't touch it. How did he have the character, will mom and dad dare tell him, now son, remember what we taught you son, we're going to ask you to be excused from the table. No, he had nobody there. What are you going to do when it's just you by yourself? What are you going to do when nobody's around? What are you going to do when it's you and the father? Are you going to be able to stand up and take a stand for God alone? Are you going to remember what you've been taught from the Bible? Are you going to have the word of God dwelling in you when this happens? Here's another example. Look at Acts chapter 7. Acts chapter 7 in the New Testament, fifth book in the New Testament, the book of Acts chapter 7, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, my namesake Stephen is preaching to the Jews that have arrested him and he's preaching this great sermon showing the history of the children of Israel beginning with Abraham and he's explaining how all throughout the history of the children of Israel they've always resisted the Holy Ghost. They never understood what God was doing and it was, well let's see what the story is, let's look at verse number 20. The Bible reads in verse number 20, in which time Moses was born and was exceeding Pharaoh and nourished up in his father's house three months and when he was cast out Pharaoh's daughter took him up and nourished him for her own son and Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds. Kind of a similar story with both Joseph and Daniel, especially with Daniel, a young boy who's being trained by the heathen, by the ungodly, no spiritual right influence around. As a small child for the first few years of his life he was nursed and raised by his mother as a young toddler but then he's just put right into this world of Egypt. Well it takes him until he's 40 years old but the Bible reads in verse number 23 and when he was full 40 years old it came into his heart to visit his brethren the children of Israel and seeing one of them suffer wrong he defended him and avenged him that was oppressed and smote the Egyptian and watch this, this is an important verse, verse 25, for he supposed his brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not. If you're expecting other people to take the stand spiritually that you're going to take you might be let down by the fact that they're not going to understand. See Moses expected his brethren to get on board with him. Moses expected the children of Israel to rise up and say let's be free from the bondage that we're in, let's fight against the enemy, let's go to the land that was promised to our fathers, let's receive what God has already promised us. He said come on let's do it and they didn't understand, they didn't get it. And so what happened? He had to flee away and we'll read the story but he had to flee away the Bible reads they understood not and the next day he showed himself unto them as they strove and would have sent them at one again saying sir so your brethren why do you wrong one to another but he that did his neighbor wrong thrust him away saying who made thee a ruler and a judge over us? Wilt thou kill me if thou didst the Egyptian yesterday? Then fled Moses at this saying and was a stranger in the land of Midian where he begat two sons and when forty years were expired there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire and a bush. You see Moses think about what Moses must have felt like at this point. Here he is a mighty man the Bible says mighty in words and in deeds learned in all the learning of the Egyptians a powerful man. He walks out and he does a great deed of saving this man from his oppressor and he says I want you to get on board with me and to see that I'm going to deliver you out of Egypt you know God's raising me up to be the deliverer here. They didn't get it and they end up turning around and attacking him and he ends up walking away through the desert all by himself all alone with nobody on his side and he just you know he must have been frustrated and disappointed and he's just sitting in the desert for forty years just he thought why why did he stick around for forty years because he thought that somebody else was going to step up to the plate and stand with him and you know that's just not always the way it's going to be you must learn to stand alone you must learn to walk with God alone you must decide I have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning no none go with me still I will follow no turning back and so Moses and later on and I don't have time to get into it but later on in the book of Exodus chapter 24 the Bible talks about I'll read it quickly it says he said unto Moses come up unto the Lord thou and Aaron Nadab and Abihu and seven of the elders of Israel and worship ye afar off and Moses alone shall come near the Lord but they shall not come near me neither shall the people go up with him you see there's always a few people a few people who are willing to stand alone that are willing to walk with God alone when nobody else is you remember when Moses and Aaron come back and and Moses comes back the second at 40 years later he's going to try it again and he's got Aaron with him and what happens he goes in there he says thus saith the Lord let my people go he performs the miracle of turning his rod into a serpent he performs the miracle of turning his hand into leprosy in their presence and what happens Pharaoh increases their workload and the Jews took up stones to stone Moses and Aaron and they were going to kill him they didn't get it that time either they didn't understand but this time Moses had learned his lesson he didn't go running off into the wilderness he realized I guess Aaron we're just going to have to do this alone I guess it's just going to be us and God Aaron I guess these people don't understand that God is going to deliver them and so we're just going to have to rely on one person God because we can't rely on these these princes notice they're trying to kill us and so that's the same lesson that we're learning throughout the Bible look at Esther chapter 3 book of Esther chapter 3 right after where we were in 2nd Chronicles Ezra Nehemiah Esther look at Esther chapter 3 verse number 1 and you'll see how this is just a theme throughout the Bible all throughout the Bible remember Gideon just 300 men versus thousands upon thousands just only 300 men that God used you remember another story like when Jonathan and his armor bearer put the Philistines to flight just the two of them when all the other men of Israel were cowering in fear you remember another story like David and Goliath where David stood alone against Goliath a giant warrior and also the whole army of the Philistines by him he ran out there saying the battle is the Lord's look at Esther chapter 3 verse number 1 we'll see another man who learned what it's like to stand alone in 2007 the message that you need to be hearing is stand alone because it's getting lonely those that are standing for God look at Esther chapter 3 verse 1 after these things did King Asuiras promote Haman the son of Hamadathah the aggregate and advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him by the way this aside that this doesn't have anything to do with the sermon but Haman so interesting our study on Wednesday nights in the book of Revelation and you know the book of Revelation you could pick any book in the Bible and put it side by side with the book of Revelation and the parallels the Bible is such a deep book but as you read the book of Esther you have to understand that Haman is a picture of the anti-Christ ok this one day coming and there are so many parallels and numbers so many things I don't have time to go into it maybe we'll work it into a Wednesday night sermon but Haman pictures the anti-Christ and you'll see a little bit of why just in this brief section that we're going to read the Bible says advanced him and set his seat above all the princes that were with him and all the kings servants that were in the kings gate bowed and reverenced Haman for the king had so commanded concerning him but Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence then the kings servants which were in the kings gate said unto Mordecai why transgresses thou the kings commandment now it came to pass when they spake daily unto him and he hearkened not unto them that they told Haman to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand for he had told them that he was a Jew and when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not nor did him reverence then was Haman full of wrath and he got scored to lay hands on Mordecai alone for they had showed him the people of Mordecai where for Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of the Hasuirs even the people of Mordecai well it's the same old story isn't it everybody else is bowing the knee everybody else just goes ahead and just says well what's the big deal anyway we know that Haman's not God let's just go ahead and just bow down to him because that's what we're supposed to do one man says no no one man stands up and says no I will not bow down and just stands like this and boy Haman walks in with all his pomp and circumstance everybody else is falling on the knee and just conspicuously one man just stands there like a rock refusing to bend his knee to a human being and what happens Haman's wrath is kindled see it's not enough for him that hundreds of other people are bowing down it's just one person that's standing up makes him so angry and makes him so rough that he says now I'm going to destroy because he sees he talks to people and you can see this in the story he finds out that this is just something that the Jews believe that they're not supposed to be bowing down to anybody except God okay thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve okay and so it wasn't just Mordecai had this idea that he wasn't going to bow down to Haman no it was he was the only one that was obeying the Bible that already said that now I'm sure there were many other Jews because if you study the book of Esther there were many Jews living at Shushan the palace because later on those same Jews that are living at Shushan will kill the enemies of the Jews by the hundreds there were a lot of people and it talks about all the Jews living at Shushan that were getting together and praying and fasting and so forth but one man was the one who stood up when all of his other Jew friends are on their knees one man refused to bow down and then what happens now all of a sudden they're going to kill all the Jews imagine he probably took some flak I mean I don't know but maybe he was taking some flak from some of his friends who were not standing up oh great job Haman now we're all going to be killed kind of like they did with Moses oh thanks Moses thanks for marching into Pharaoh and saying what we believe and preaching the word of God now we got to gather the stall by night nobody's standing with Mordecai nobody stood with Moses hey nobody stood with Joseph nobody stood with Daniel he got to stand alone and Mordecai stood alone hey read to the end of the book read chapters 9 and 10 you'll see Mordecai exalted you'll see Mordecai riding on a horse you'll see Mordecai dressed in the royal apparel and you'll see men fearing and trembling at the sight of Mordecai and you'll see Mordecai being the leader of the Jews he was exalted why because he was the one man who took a stand he was the one man who stood up for what he believed when nobody else would and he's not in his homeland either here he is in Shushan the palace here he is in the land of Assyria you know Mesopotamia is where he is far away from his homeland displaced from his country this is the captivity of the Jews where they're scattered throughout the whole world the diaspora and here he is standing alone standing up why because one day he just decided to stand no I think it's because he had a lifetime of walking with God on his own he probably had a track record of making his own decisions he probably had a track record of deciding for himself what's true based on the Bible not just what some man or some preacher says and that's your standard hey you better know what the Bible says well so-and-so says it's okay is it okay by the standards of God that's what I want to know well so-and-so Church is doing it hey I don't care what they're doing I care what God's doing I care what the Bible says and so you must learn to stand for God alone you know just because one just because you're the only person you know I've had people say this to me and I'm sure I've heard people say it about other people you're the only one who believes that you ever heard that before you're in a camp all by yourself on this one buddy I've heard people say it I've heard people say it well it must be lonely because you and so-and-so are the only people who believe that way I've had people say that to me before you're the only one everybody else come on maybe you need to rethink this well how about this the Bible says thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil that's what it says Exodus 23 2 thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil neither shall thou speak in the cause to decline after many to rest judgment how about 1 Timothy 5 22 lay hands suddenly on no man neither be partaker of other men's sins keep thyself pure you may not be able to keep everybody else pure but you cannot partake in other people's sins you can keep yourself pure 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 just like Moses he stood alone he took heed to himself he saved the whole nation Mordecai took heed to himself saved both himself and them that heard him and on and on throughout the Bible Daniel saved himself in Daniel chapter 1 and the people that heard him because Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were then exalted in their position as well at the end of the chapter and at the end of chapter 2 as well in the same situation and so on and on we see throughout the Bible how about this one turn to 1 Kings, turn to the book of 1 Kings I mean we could go on and on with the examples there's so many examples of the Bible this is one of the great themes of the Bible someone stepping out from the crowd or someone being taken away from the crowd against their own will but because they have their own walk with God because they have their own Bible to read because they have their own Holy Spirit dwelling inside them as every believer has they were able to stand for God and be the only one who stood for God look at 1 Kings chapter 22 verse number 7 I'm sorry I forgot to tell you which chapter 1 Kings chapter 22 verse number 7 1 Kings 22 7 the Bible reads And Jehoshaphat said Is there not here a prophet of the Lord besides that we might inquire of him? And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat There is yet one man well just think about that one statement there is yet one man do you know if there's one man? that's a pretty sad statement isn't it? well there's one person that we can ask what the Bible really says well there's one person that stands for God isn't that a terrible statement? hey are you going to be that one man or that one woman some day where somebody can say well is anybody living for God anymore? does anybody believe the Bible anymore? does anybody take a stand against sin anymore? well there's one it's old so and so you know they still believe but let's read on what it says it says there is yet one man Micaiah the son of Imlah by whom we may inquire of the Lord there's one person that can tell us what God really believes you know there's one person who knows the Bible enough to tell us the truth about this okay but I hate him well we saw that coming didn't we? but I hate him for he did not prophesy good concerning me but evil and Jehoshaphat said let not the king say so don't be like that come on same thing is same thing is stated in the book of chronicles we have time to turn there look back at 1 Kings 19 actually I'm sorry that's forward 1 Kings 19 verse number 10 so here's Micaiah where were we? I'm sorry that's not forward good night we were in chapter 22 I'm mixed up look at chapter 18 verse 22 18 22 the Bible reads then said Elijah unto the people I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord but Baal's prophets 450 men look at the verse before that look what it says in the verse before that let me turn there I was reading off my notes but I remembered what it says in the verse before that the Bible says here and Elijah came unto all the people and said how long halts ye between two opinions hey if the Lord be God follow him but if Baal then follow him and the people answered him not a word isn't that so typical they didn't say anything they won't take a stand for what's wrong they won't take a stand for what's right they're just sitting by just waiting to see what happens waiting to just listen and see what happens and Elijah stands up and says I even I only remain a prophet of the Lord Baal's prophets are 450 men Baal's prophets are 450 men I don't hear anybody standing up and correcting him saying no Elijah you're not the only one because I'm willing to take a stand for God with you nobody plenty of people on beta you know 450 of the preachers that are preaching wrong one is preaching right and no one would take a stand with them until they wait and see how it turns out isn't that terrible and they answered him not a word look at look at the next chapter chapter 19 verse 10 Bible reads in 1 Kings chapter 19 verse 10 and he said I've been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away look at verse 14 and he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant thrown down thine altars and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away he's alone look at verse 18 yet I have left me God says seven thousand in Israel all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal and every mouth which have not kissed him you know there were seven thousand other people who had not bowed the knee to Baal but were they standing up and preaching it like Elijah was he even he only was the prophet that was standing up and preaching the truth now you say oh you're talking about pastors you're talking about preachers no I'm talking about you okay I'm talking about you being the one man I'm talking about you being the one I don't think Joseph was a preacher when he was 17 years old I don't think Daniel was a preacher he was a child okay I don't think Joash was ever a preacher I don't think any of these people were preachers you must stand for God no matter who you are God can use a little girl or a little boy God can use a man or a woman to stand for God to be the one person that will not bow the knee that will be the one person that will walk with God on their own so that when the time comes when you're isolated from the crowd when you don't have a good church that you're going to look at the book of Revelation you'll notice a lot of talk about the churches back in John's day you know the church at Ephesus church of Smyrna Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea hells back then okay but you notice the rest of the book of Revelation you know he talks a lot about the saints the saints not a lot about churches because when the Antichrist is killing every Christian probably not going to be a lot of churches around okay there's probably going to be some phony church you know Antichrist Baptist Church or something you know there's probably one there's probably one right now in Phoenix there's probably a lot of them go down the list if you want but anyway the point is there's some people that are going to be standing alone someday not a church a saint okay a saint are you going to be that saint and you know obviously every believer is a saint I've preached on that I've taught that from the Bible but you know what are you going to be one of the saints not a great church that stands for God yes this is a church that stands for God I hope this can continue to be a great church that stands for God and grow and be a great powerhouse of the gospel and preaching and so on hey but are you going to be a saint on your own that could stand for God without Pastor Anderson without your fellow church member here that motivates you and that iron sharpens iron and you come to church and everybody's on board and everybody believes the Bible and everybody believes in winning people to Christ everybody's excited hey what about when the person that's sitting next to you is not there anymore and I'm not here and the person behind you is not here are you still going to be standing for God then that's the question you must now learn to be just you and God make decisions for yourself read the Bible for yourself walk with God for yourself hey you win souls yourself don't just look at the bulletin and see how many people got saved how many people did you get saved come tell me about the people that you got saved after the service okay come report to me and tell me you know I'm not your boss obviously good night but come to me and so I can rejoice with you and say this is who I won to the Lord okay or this is who I tried to win the Lord this is who I gave the gospel to hey who are you preaching the gospel to huh oh that's great let's come to church and hear what what Pastor Anderson learned from the Bible this week hey what did you learn from the Bible this week hey what what have you done to take a stand for God this week you need to start standing on your own two feet and being an adult person and not acting like a spiritual child that just always has to have the group you always have to have the family you always have to have the church hey can you be a saint of the Lord and stand alone but look if you would it's just you and God but look if you would at just a couple more examples look at the book of 2 Timothy this will be the last place that I'll have you turn the Bible reads in Genesis 7 1 you don't have to turn there here's another example Noah enough time to go into it but the Lord said unto Noah in verse 1 of Genesis 7 come thou and all thy house into the ark for thee these singular you thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation now personally I don't believe that Noah was the only saved person on the earth okay before the flood and I could prove that from the Bible I've studied it out you know very much and I don't believe that everybody on the ark was saved I'll tell you that right now okay and the Bible makes that clear in the book of 2 Peter I don't have time to go into all that it's another sermon that I'm working on about that subject but not everyone who got not everyone who crossed the Red Sea was saved were they? even though that's you know even though that's a picture of baptism not everyone who put the blood on the doorpost was saved just because they put the blood on the doorpost they were saved physically and it was a picture of spiritual salvation okay but I don't believe Ham was saved for a moment Ham is a sodomite okay no he was a reprobate okay and he was on the ark okay and I personally I believe that there were saved people that did not get on the ark because they were living like hell and because they didn't have the faith to get on the ark it was a picture of spiritual salvation eight people were physically saved the like figure weren't through baptism that also now save us the Bible says not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God by the resurrection we're saved by the resurrection baptism is a figure of that the Bible says Noah's ark was a figure of our salvation through the resurrection of Christ but you know Noah was the only one who was righteous Noah was the only one that was living for God Noah was the only person in the entire world that was standing for God he was called a preacher of righteousness who was motivating him who was preaching to him who was teaching him what he needed to say who was standing over him making sure he did what he was supposed to hey nobody was it was him and God and that's the way it's always going to be look at 2 Timothy actually look at chapter 1 verse 15 first you're in 2 Timothy 4 chapter 1 verse 15 this thou knowest that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me of whom are by jealous and homages look at 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 16 and 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 and just as Jesus said and just like it said about Joseph notwithstanding the Lord stood with me and strengthened me that by me the preaching might be fully known and 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 into his heavenly kingdom to whom be glory forever and ever Amen even the Apostle Paul you think the Apostle Paul came into town and had big billboards up Apostle Paul Crusade buy your tickets now Bass Ticketmaster Outlet buy your tickets now you think scalpers were outside holding the tickets to the Apostle Paul Crusade all the Christian rock bands were there all the youth groups and the churches Paul said and I believe the Bible Paul said there's a time in my life when everybody forsook me I mean there came a time in Paul's life when it was him alone now I'm not saying he was the only believer in the world but where he was in Asia at that time okay because keep in mind he's far away from his homeland he's far away from Jerusalem and Antioch where these enclaves of Christianity and the Apostles and the believers are hey he's all the way over here in Asia he said there's a time when all men forsook me and no one stood with me nobody stood up for me I'm thrown in jail I'm falsely accused I'm attacked I was beaten with rods I was shipwrecked and on and on and nobody would stand with me he said one person stood with me it was the Lord that stood with me God stood with me I was all by myself in a jail cell and I looked over and the only person there is Jesus Christ and I sang the praises of God and I quoted verses from the Bible you know you think that he you know he didn't even have his Bible in prison I don't think he even had it because there's a time when he's sitting in prison when he's writing the book of 2 Timothy and he says when thou comest I'm sorry the cloak that I left to throw out with Carpus bring with thee he says and the books especially the parchments I think he's asking for the Bible and he's asking for the word of God he's asking for books and parchments I don't think he was asking for his copy of the purpose driven church you know he replaced his copy of the prayer of Jabez ok I don't think he lost his little devotional book hey I think he's saying can you bring me the Old Testament Scriptures can you bring me the Bible can you bring me my Bible hey God's with you you don't even have the Bible yeah he probably memorized the Bible that's probably how he had it with him nobody can take my Bible away from me try and take the Bible from me I got the Bible up here oh you gotta have the Bible in your mind you gotta have the Bible in your head what happens when somebody takes your Bible away you gotta have the Bible you gotta have the Bible in your mind you gotta have the word of God in your heart you gotta have the Bible written in your mind as the Bible says you gotta have the Bible hidden in your heart or nobody can take it from you because there's gonna come a day there's gonna come a day when you might go into captivity because that's what the Bible said would happen to us if we turned away from God which this country has turned away from God there might become a day when your children go into captivity there might come a day when you go into captivity there might be a day when your leaders go into captivity there might come a day when you're separated from your family there might come a day when you're separated from your church there might come a day when you're separated from that person that you're leaning on to be your spirituality it's time that you start leaning on the person that's never gonna leave you nor forsake you it's time that you start leaning on not some spiritual leader but the Holy Spirit to be your spiritual leader it's time that you start leaning on the word of God yourself and pick up the Bible yourself you say well I'm 5 years old hey pick up the Bible and read it yourself and learn the Bible yourself it's not a certain age it doesn't matter whether you're 7 like Joash it doesn't matter whether you're a 5 year old boy hey what about if you're a little 2 or 3 year old boy like Moses was when he was taken away from his family 2 or 3 years old cause it was as soon as he was done being weaned probably a 2 year old boy the oldest actually a 2 year old boy taken from his family but when he's 40 years old he said I remember what I was taught as a 2 year old boy I'm gonna go push the reset button I'm gonna go back to where I came from I'm gonna go back to my roots of Christianity of the Lord Jesus Christ of the Bible stand alone I was driving down the road yesterday I was out working ok I was working on a fire alarm job in Phoenix driving that Indian school road stuck in traffic trying to get to the job I was driving down the road yesterday I was out working ok I was working on irritated you know running late on my schedule had a bunch of jobs to do good night why is there so much traffic on a Saturday you know here I am on Saturday westbound on Indian school road you know I took 143 the traffic was heavy I took I-10 it was heavy I took uh what's that one 51 north you know heavy traffic I get off at Indian school and the traffic is just stopped sitting there waiting creeping and crawling along you know why you know why I was stuck in traffic you know why I was having such a hard time getting to the job site it was the gay pride parade yesterday on Indian school road and the job I was going to was on Indian school and 7th street and this pride parade and it's like it is called Phoenix pride thank you for just using Phoenix as a synonym for being a sodomite isn't that wonderful I hope that's not what Phoenix means I hope that's not what Phoenix is to you you know but I'm driving on the road and uh here it is Phoenix pride and all the rainbows and all the flags and all the freakish perverts are walking down the street all the sodomites and the animals are walking down the street and uh so you know I rolled down my window I expressed the love of God to some of them as I was driving by okay and uh yeah right you know what I was really expressing to them when I rolled down the window and uh and I drove into the job site and I just thought to myself you know what there's a whole lot more people cause you wouldn't believe how many people I saw there were thousands thousands of them thousands I mean it wasn't this wasn't a few hundred people this wasn't five hundred people this wasn't one thousand people this was thousands upon thousands upon thousands I mean it was a crowd it was a throng of people a mighty throng you know that's true look in the news I don't know I didn't look at the news I didn't look at the number I don't know if the number's accurate I don't know what it is I know what I saw with my own eyes I saw thousands I saw a great army and I thought to myself I wonder if I I wonder if I walk in tomorrow morning in the Faithful Word Baptist Church at ten thirty I wonder if this is the kind of attendance that we're gonna have you know I mean I wonder if I wonder if uh Forty-eight Street's gonna be all jammed up I wonder if I mean it's not kids it's not even funny though I mean I know I'm being funny but it's not funny because you know what I wonder if baseline road's gonna be jammed up in all directions I wonder if Southern Avenue is gonna have to have a a policeman directing traffic because people are trying to get to a place where they can hear God's word preached without compromise I I that's what that's what I thought to myself I was thinking I wonder maybe maybe so I mean if this many people will show up good night I mean how many of them are there there's gotta be more fundamentalist Baptists who wanna go to a church with hard preaching who don't wanna go to some uh uh little uh New Evangelical uh charismatic church that's that's doctored up to look like a fundamental Baptist church uh there's gotta be somebody who wants to hear the Bible preached there's gotta be more of them than of these pervert animal child blessers and that's what they are yes they are child blessers turn up why don't you shut down your TV and your radio for a while and open this book and you'll find out the truth about that and I said there must be more of us than there are of them but you know what there's not there's more of them ok there's more of them you say oh no they're all they're all they're all these other great Bible believing churches all over this area but I'm sure you know I'm sure there's some other great Bible believing churches in this area we're living in perilous times we're living in a scary day and you may think it's no big deal oh they're gonna do what they're gonna do no they're taking over I'll guarantee that pride was a lot bigger than it was last year I'd be willing to mention that it was way bigger I guess it's probably twice as big this year as it was last year I mean I'm just guessing and I bet next year it's gonna be twice as big as it was this year are you willing to roll up your sleeves and fight so that your kids at least some semblance of decency in this country are you willing to fight the fight of faith are you willing to fight so that your kids can grow up in a semi-decent well too late for that but at least that they could not go into captivity why don't you get serious about your Christianity why don't you go home don't come down the aisle of this church good night go get on your face before God in your house by yourself alone when nobody's around to watch you why don't you get on your face by yourself and say you know what God let me get acquainted with you right now God because one day it might just be me and you and I want to be the one person that takes heat unto myself and in doing this I'll save myself and them that hear me let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer Father we live in a perilous time we live in a dangerous place but greater is he that is in us than he that's in the world and as Elisha said to the young man that was with him he said there be more that be with them than there are with them and he saw the great heavenly hosts of the angels of God and flaming chariots not a human army because humanly speaking there are more that be with them than there are with us but of God before us who can be against us that's where we get our great numbers and God we're like Gideon this morning we just have a small group in comparison with the Midianites that are out there the Midianites that marched down the street of Phoenix yesterday preaching the gospel of sin preaching their bad news message their gospel of perversity and filth but God one man rolled down the window and told him how it really was and Father I just pray that you would build this church you said upon this rock I'll build my church I pray you build this church an assembly of people that are willing to stand up for what they believe but not only an assembly that stands up but an assembly of individuals who individually will stand up one day when they're called upon to stand up alone by themselves dear God against sin and against the devil and against worldliness and against ungodliness Father we don't know what it is that's going to happen we don't know what it is that awaits us God but would you please just help us to be the people that we need to be so that no matter what we face we'll be ready for it and God please just lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil and help the evil doers to not get their hands on us