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["Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 67 in E minor"] Good evening, welcome to our services tonight here at Faith Ward Baptist Church, it's a joy to see you all here on this Sunday night. If you would all please take your seats and take your song books as well, let's turn them to hymn number 374, we'll begin tonight. Number 374, Send the Light, hymn number 374. Let's lift up our voices together on that first verse, there's a call comes ringing on the restless wave, number 374, sing it out. There's a call comes ringing on the restless wave, send the light, send the light, there are souls to rescue, there are souls to save, send the light, send the light, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine from shore to shore, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine forevermore, we have heard the best and only call to this, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine from shore to shore, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine forevermore, let us pray that grace be everywhere about, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine from shore to shore, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine forevermore, let us not grow weary in the work of love, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine from shore to shore, send the light, the blessed gospel light, let it shine forevermore. Amen. That's for the Baron. If you want to put this up in a word of prayer. Father in heaven, thank you for this gathering in your church. I pray that you please bless all aspects of this service and Pastor Anderson's preaching as well. In Jesus name, I pray. Amen. Amen. Number 228. I love to tell the story. Hymn number 228. Hymn number 228. I love to tell the story of unseen things above number 228. Sing it out with me on this first verse. I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and his glory, of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story because I know it's true. It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. I love to tell the story, will be my theme and glory, to tell the almost story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story, wonderful it seems, than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams. I love to tell the story, it did so much for me, and that is just the reason I tell it now to thee. I love to tell the story, will be my theme and glory, to tell the almost story. of Jesus and his glory. I love to tell the story, this pleasant jittery thing. But seems it's time I tell him, how wonderful it seems. I love to tell the story, for some have never heard the message of salvation from God's own holy word. I love to tell the story, will be my theme and glory, to tell the almost story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story, for those who know it best, seem hungry and thirsty, to hear it like the rest. And when it seems of glory, I sing the new, new song, will be the old, old story that I have loved so long. I love to tell the story, will be my theme and glory, to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. All right, this time we'll go through our announcements together. If you don't have a bulletin, slip up your hand nice and high. We'll get to you with one. We're running a little low on them. We've got a few left, so if you can look on with somebody right near you. Otherwise, put your hand up. We'll get you one. On the inside, we have our service time. Sunday mornings at 1030 is our preaching service. Sunday nights at six. Wednesday nights at seven is our Bible study. This week will be in Ecclesiastes, chapter number seven. We've got the soul-winning times listed there below, as well as salvations and baptisms. Thank you to everybody who participated in that final Safford soul-winning trip. They had 23 out soul-winning with eight salvations. And then next Sunday is Father's Day. We will have root beer floats after the morning service for all the fathers. Not in honor of all the fathers, for all the fathers. And that's a big difference, you know, whether you're kind of drinking one for dad, or whether you're drinking one because you are dad. All right, there's a difference there. So pay attention to the verbiage on that one. And then the Bible memory passage, we're working on 1 Corinthians 2, 9 through 13. The verse this week is, But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. The deadline to recite the whole passage is going to be July the 10th. And then at the bottom, if you're planning on going to the Red Hot Preaching Conference, please sign up. Let us know you're going so that we can help you out with that. And then on the back, keep praying for the Coleto family. I know Mrs. Coleto has improved, but she's still in the hospital. Thomas has been released. Pray for that family. They're going through a hard time because of that car accident. And then, ladies, there's a baby shower on June the 26th, Saturday, right here from 2 to 4. This is for Mrs. Dawn Battaglia. And you can RSVP either in the church members only Facebook group, or to Mrs. Wendy Rosson. Nurselings only are preferred. There will be finger foods and desserts. So you could also just email the church and let us know that you're going. And we'll get that to the right person as well. And then down in Tucson, we've got Pastor Aaron Thompson as a guest preacher on Thursday, July the 1st down in Tucson. So please let Brother Corbin Russell know if you're planning on going. I mean, obviously, you can just show up also. But if you want to just let him know that you're going so that he can know about how many people to plan on down there. And then other upcoming events are listed below. That's about it for announcements. Let's go and count up the soul winning going back the last few days. Going back to Thursday the 10th. Anything from Thursday? Okay. Anything else from Thursday? What about Friday? Okay. All right. Anything else from Friday? What about Saturday? Anything from Saturday? Well, I guess we have the Safford. I'll write that down for Saturday. Okay. And then what about Sunday? Anything from today? We got that one. Brother Scott. All right. Anything else from today? All right. Very good. Keep up the great work on soul winning. And with that, let's sing our next song. Come lead us. All right. We're going to sing guide me on that great Jehovah. You should find that instant in your hymn book. If you don't have one, please raise your hand. We'll get to it with one. Let's sing it on that first verse. Guide me on that great Jehovah pilgrim through this barren land. For guide me on that great Jehovah. Guide me on that great Jehovah pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak but thou are mighty only with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven. Bread of heaven. Feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain. West the hilly streams of flow. Let the fire and cloudy miller feed me all my journey through. Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my strength and shield. When I dread the verge of joining in my anxious, fearsome sight, that of death and hell's destruction, let me spend the day inside. Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, I will ever give to thee. I will ever give to thee. Amen. In your hymnals now, please turn to hymn number 447. 447, here am I, number 447. We should pray the Lord of Harvests represent into thy field number 447. Sing the parts if you know them. We should pray the Lord of Harvests represent into thy field. Till our rivers, wide and wasting, are the fields of which they yield. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth, O Lord of Harvests. Breathe on me thy holy spirit. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth to raise the precious soul to reign. Holy Father, send the sarin' from the altar take a call. Clench my lips, I hear whom shall I. Send to God the precious soul. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth, O Lord of Harvests. Breathe on me thy holy spirit. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth to win some precious souls today. Not for once the wind of harness Heals are wide without your eyes. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth, O Lord of Harvests. Breathe on me thy holy spirit. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth to win some precious souls today. Holy Father, send the sarin' from the altar take a call. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth to win some precious souls today. Blood gives embers from the burning. Souls for whom the Savior died. All are said in Christ's mercy. To the doomed and lost outside. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth, O Lord of Harvests. Breathe on me thy holy spirit. Here am I, here am I. Send me forth to win some precious souls today. We made that good singing tonight. All right, this time we'll pass the offering plates around. As the plates go around, let's turn our Bibles to Isaiah chapter 65. In the Old Testament, those three big books toward the end, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Isaiah chapter 65. As we always do, we'll read the entire chapter, beginning in verse number 1. Follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads. Isaiah 65, starting in verse number 1. In Isaiah chapter 65, the Bible reads, I am sought of them that asked not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts. A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of bricks, which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessel, which say, stand by thyself. Come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before me, I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills, therefore will I measure their former work in their bosom. Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, destroy it not, for a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains, and mine elects shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and the valley of Achor, a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. But ye are they that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering unto that number. Therefore will I number you to the sword, and ye shall all bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, ye did not answer. When I spake, ye did not hear, but did evil before mine eyes, and did choose that wherein I delighted not. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry. Behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty. Behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed. Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen, for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name, that he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth. And he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth, because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mine. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem, a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days. For the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. And they shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit. They shall not plant, and another eat. For as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elects shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble. For they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountains, saith the Lord. Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity for us to come together to church tonight. I pray, Father, fill Pastor Anderson with your Holy Spirit to teach us and edify us out of the book of Isaiah, and I pray, Father, you open our ears to hear. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. The title of my sermon tonight is Stuff Holier Than Thou's Like to Say. Stuff that holier than thou's like to say. Now this term holier than thou, we get it from this passage in Isaiah 65. So before I get into the stuff that holier than thou's like to say, I'm just going to kind of show you the definition of the term or where that idea comes from. Look down at your Bible there in Isaiah 65 verse 1. I am sought of them that ask not for me. Now right away that should jump out at you because that's something that's quoted in the New Testament. So it's very familiar from the book of Romans, and a lot of things in this chapter are quoted in the New Testament. I've sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said behold me, behold me unto a nation that was not called by my name. I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way that was not good after their own thoughts. A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth in gardens and burneth incense upon altars of brick, which remaineth above the graves and lodge in the mountains, which eat swine's flesh and broth of abominable things is in their vessels. Now of course these are all things that they're not allowed to do according to the law. Under the Old Testament law they're not supposed to eat swine's flesh, and also it says they burn incense upon altars of brick. Remember that in the Mosaic law when you build an altar unto the Lord, it had to be built out of whole stones. You were not allowed to use any kind of a tool to shape it into bricks. It was supposed to be just a pile of just rugged rocks, and so they're using the wrong kind of altar. They're remaining among the graves, you know, which obviously would make them unclean, being around dead bodies, lodging in the monuments. They're hanging around the graves. They're eating swine's flesh. Broth of abominable things is in their vessels. So these people are violating all of God's holiness standards. And then yet in verse 5 it says, they say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. So the people that are saying in verse 5, Come not near to me, I am holier than thou. Stay away from me because you will contaminate me because I am holier than you are. These are actually some of the most rotten people. I mean, they're the ones that are breaking all of the rules, and they're the ones that are eating the swine's flesh and doing the wrong kind of sacrifices in the wrong places and breaking God's laws, and they're the ones that are unclean. And God says that these people are a smoke in his nose. You know, think about how when you're sitting by a campfire and the smoke's getting in your face and you're kind of like, ugh, man, it's burning your eyes, it's going up your nose, it's irritating. And God's saying these people irritate me, and we would call these people hypocrites. You know, they talk a big talk about how holy they are, and outwardly they put themselves forth as holy when in reality they are rotten people on the inside. And the first thing that popped into my mind looking at this is, you know, the disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate, and the Pharisees are horrified by that, right? You know, like, what's going on? You know, your disciples don't wash their hands when they eat bread. But we know that the Pharisees, Jesus looked at them and said, you're full of dead men's bones and hypocrisy. You're whited sepulchers. So he talked about how rotten they were on the inside and how sinful they were. They're devouring widows' houses over here, but then it's like, oh, how dare you eat without washing your hands. They're horrified by this extra biblical thing of washing your hands before you eat, which is not even a biblical commandment. Now go if you would to John chapter 12. So we want to understand what does it mean to be a holier than thou, because the people who are holier than thou, the people who act that way, they look down on others, talk down to others, condescend to others, act like they're so spiritual, or put on a very hyper-spiritual facade, or just talk in a hyper-spiritual talk, they usually end up being the phonies that are actually some of the most rotten people behind closed doors, okay? But here's another example of a holier than thou type of a guy. And remember, the sermon's called Stuff That Holier Than Thous Like to Say. And so here's a perfect example in scripture of the type of thing that a holier than thou guy says. Look if you would at John chapter 12 verse 3. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the odor of the ointment. Then saith one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, which should betray him. Here's the stuff that holier than thou's like to say. Why was not this ointment sold for 300 pence and given to the poor? So you know, you don't see Judas here giving a bunch of money to the poor. You don't see him doing something special for the poor. No, someone else is doing something good for Jesus. You know, they're anointing Jesus with this costly ointment, but he steps in and finds fault with it, and says, well, you know, why didn't you sell that and give it to the poor? That would have been even more righteous. So basically people are supposed to, I guess, look at him and think, oh man, this guy really loves the poor. This guy really cares about the poor. This guy is so holy. But in reality, what does the Bible say? In verse 6, this he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief and had the bag and bare what was put there in. Then said Jesus, let her alone. Against the day of my burying hath she kept this, for the poor always ye have with you, but me ye have not always. And so what Judas really wanted was for the thing to be sold, and then he's going to take the 300 bucks and make sure it gets to the poor, but some of it's going to stick to the lining of his pocket. And so he's a holier than thou, though, you know, where he looks at what someone else is doing and picks it apart and tries to make himself the more righteous in the situation. So I'm going to give you a bunch of things that I've heard over the years. That are the type of things that holier than thou's like to say. Here's a classic statement that holier than thou's like to say, and it kind of reminds me of this Judas thing a little bit, is whenever you spend a time, you know, preaching doctrine, or preaching on end times prophecy, or maybe rebuking some false teacher calling out the false prophets of our day, or dealing with some issue, you'll always have the holier than thou's who come in and say this, Shouldn't we be focused on preaching the gospel to the lost? Isn't that something that holier than thou's like to say? Shouldn't you be preaching on the lost? You know, instead of all this infighting, instead of exposing all the false doctrine, you know, why don't you just preach Christ? Why don't you just preach the gospel? I'll tell you why. Because God has commanded me to preach this entire book, not just the part about getting saved. And I don't know about you, but it'd be pretty boring to just go to church three times a week and just hear how to get saved three times a week for the rest of my life. I wouldn't want to go to church for the rest of my life three times a week for one hour, three times a week, listening to how to be saved when I'm already saved. Would that be feeding me spiritually what I need? No, there's a lot more that's needed. Who here is already saved? Put up your hand if you're saved. Okay, do you see why I don't need to preach the gospel at every service? People are saved, my friend. This is a church. This is a called-out assembly of born-again baptized believers. And so these holier-than-thou types, they'll say, like, shouldn't you be preaching the gospel? And here's what else is funny. You'll do something. You'll spend time, you know, making some kind of a documentary or just doing whatever, and they'll be like, you should be using your time out soul-winning. You could have been soul-winning. And I'm thinking to myself, do we really spend every waking moment soul-winning? Does anyone do that? No. It's like they act like, if I do anything else with my time, it must be coming out of soul-winning. But think about how illogical that is. Like, really, I'd just be wall-to-wall soul-winning, but I keep having to stop to fight the false prophets. I keep having to stop to clear up the false doctrine. No, because guess what? We can do both. We can do soul-winning, and we can preach the rest of the Bible, and we can teach the gospel, and we can call out the Phonies and false prophets and Judases, and we can preach on every possible subject. And, you know, this whole thing of, shouldn't we be out soul-winning, is a thing that holier-than-thou people like to say. Because guess what? Nobody goes soul-winning 12 hours a day, six days a week. It just doesn't happen, okay? I'm sure some holier-than-thou is going to email me and tell me that they do, but let's face it. You know, people are out soul-winning, and they're doing other service for the Lord. So this attitude that says, well, shouldn't we be soul-winning, it's silly because you can do both. You can fit both into your schedule, okay? You know, shouldn't we just be reaching the laws? You know, if we weren't so busy with this, we'd get the whole world safe. But, you know, I've noticed that the people who say things like that are the people who probably knock the least amount of doors. When you hear these people pulling out this, shouldn't we be more worried about reaching the laws? Frequently, these people aren't even door-to-door soul-winners. You know, their base, their method of soul-winning is, you know, giving the gospel to somebody once in a blue in their personal life, every six months when they get the chance, okay? Here's another thing that holier-than-thou's like to say. You'll tell them about a big soul-winning campaign. Like, for example, I told a pastor in the area about a small-town soul-winning that we'd done where we drove to a small town. You know, like we're doing in Safford and Globe and these different places. And this is what the holier-than-thou's like to say. So are you going to follow up with all those people that you guys hate? Are you going to follow up with them all? Oh, well, you know, like putting you on the defensive or something. Like you went out and did something good for the Lord. You're out spreading the gospel. You're out preaching the Bible and doing what you're supposed to do. And then it's just like, well, but, yeah, but did you follow up, though? Oh, uh, yeah. I mean, I literally had this guy practically rebuke me and say, like, well, now those people are just sheep having no shepherd. And I just flat out told him, I said, well, we should have just let him go to hell. You're right. Because, you know, God forbid they'd be sheep without a shepherd. Hey, I'd rather that they're sheep without a shepherd than to be goats on their way to hell. It's so ridiculous, this thing of, oh, how dare you go visit an area and go soul winning. You know, you have to plant a church there now. I've literally had a pastor tell me, well, now you have to plant a church there. Because you've won the souls there. You're committed to that. I've even heard it compared to, you know, giving birth to a baby and throwing it in the trash. That's what you've done by doing small town soul winning. That's funny because in the Bible that I read, they're constantly going to a town, preaching the gospel, and moving on to the next town. I mean, am I the only one who saw all those stories in the Bible? That's what Jesus and his apostles are doing for the whole three and a half years. And they're begging Jesus to say, and he's like, no, no, no, I'm going to go preach in the other towns and villages also. Okay, what about Philip's wonderful follow-up program with the Ethiopian eunuch? Do you remember that follow-up? Philip wins it to the Lord, baptizes him, and he's like, wait, I need to follow up. And the Holy Spirit just whisks him away before he has a chance to follow up. Now look, I'm all for people following up. You know, if you want to follow up on the people that you've won to Christ, great. You know, follow up with them, check in with them, and seek to disciple them. But let's face it, my friend, broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there at, and narrow is the gate and straight is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Most people are not saved. And then among those that are saved, I've got bad news about the people that are saved. Most people that are saved are not really that interested in serving God. There are a lot more people interested in the free gift than in actually dedicating their life to serving Christ. I mean, just if you actually made the Bible your authority, you'd see this, because in the Bible, John the Baptist and Jesus and the apostles, they had thousands and thousands and thousands of converts. Did they not? Thousands. John the Baptist baptized multitudes, both the men and women, and then the Bible says that Jesus' apostles made and baptized more disciples than John. So we're talking tens of thousands of people baptized, literally tens of thousands. But yet, in Acts chapter 2, how many people are in that early church? In Acts chapter 1, it counts them, and the number of names together with the women is 120 people. So there's 120 people in the church after they've won, like, 50,000 people to the Lord or something. Do you see what I'm saying? But people will today say, like, oh, well, you know, you didn't follow up. And they'll, oh, you've got to go plant a church. And here's what I tell those people now. Because, you know, my answer back then was, well, we should have just let them go to hell, but I've got a better answer now. Here's my new answer when people say to me, like, oh, are you going to start a church out there? You know, are you going to follow up? Here's what I always tell them. I always say, well, there's a Baptist church in that town. Because there's a Baptist church in every town in America. And let me tell you something. If the Baptist church in their town is lame, that's not my fault. Like, am I responsible for the fact that their Baptist church might be kind of lame? Is that my fault? Is that my problem? No, it's not. But this is just a thing that holier than thou's like to say. Because here's what holier than thou's don't like. They don't like someone else doing something great for God in their presence. They want to take them down a notch. You know, the woman's pouring out the ointment and doing this godly act and Judas has to tear her down and show that he's the one who's got the compassion and the love and he's more righteous. It's something that holier than thou's like to say. You know, Christians are doing something good and the holier than thou's want to tear it down and pick them apart. Just like with the disciples. You know, and I love the way this is worded in the book of Mark. Go if you were to Mark chapter seven, because this is recorded in three of the gospels, but I like the way it's worded specifically in Mark. It says in Mark chapter seven verse one, then came together unto him the Pharisees and certain of the scribes which came from Jerusalem. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say with unwashed hands, and look at these last three words, they found fault. They found fault. It seems like they're just looking for something wrong with the disciples. You know, here are the disciples. They're preaching the kingdom of God. They're going to all the towns and villages. And remember when John the Baptist was baptizing a bunch of people, the Sadducees and the Pharisees were jealous. Now the apostles are baptizing even more people. They're jealous. So they're like, we got to find something that we can pick apart about these people. And so bam, they found fault. And they said in verse three, or it says, for the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. So they found fault because these people aren't washing their hands. This is what holier than thou's like to do. You know, it reminds me of something funny. One time there was this guy in church that had been faithfully reading his Bible for like 20 years. And this guy was on a plan where he read the Bible once a year and he'd literally been consistent with it for like 20 years. So these guys read the Bible cover to cover like 20 times. And, you know, he mentioned to someone at the church in small talk, he said, oh, you know, yeah, I'm just finishing up my 19th time through the Bible, whatever. You know, I've got this little plan and I read it every year and I just finished it for the year. You know, it's exciting to finish. Every time I finish it, it's exciting. And this person literally said to him like, oh, once a year, that's not enough. That's not enough. You're not reading it enough. You know, you got to read like two times a year, three times a year. And what's funny is that this person had been in church for about three months. And I think this person was either on their first or second time through reading the Bible. This guy's been reading the Bible faithfully every day for like 20 years. But then that's kind of a holier than thou attitude, isn't it? Like, oh man, that's not enough. You got to read more. That's not enough. Now, if you would flip to Matthew chapter seven, obviously this is the big chapter on hypocrites. If we're going to talk about hypocrisy and holier than thou is Matthew seven is one that definitely comes to mind. But here's another one that holier than thou is like to say. And I kid you not that this one almost is going to sound weird to some of you, except for those of you who have experienced this. But I've had this happen a bunch of times, especially when I was younger, where you'd be out somewhere and somebody would just say to you, hey, you need to go witness to that person. It was like, hey, uh, hey, I remember when I was a teenager, like people that aren't a soul winner and they're just like, hey, Steve, I think you need to go witness to that guy. And I remember just, and here's the, here's the answer to that is, well, you know, sounds like God's working on you about that guy. This is your idea. And then they, and then, you know, let's say it's an uncomfortable situation or you, you know, for whatever reason, you're not going to go talk to that person right now that they want you to go talk to. It's kind of like now all of a sudden you're unspiritual because they're putting you up to go talk to that guy and you don't go. But, but what's funny is that they've got this big beam in their eye that they don't even do soul winning. But then it's like, hey, go talk to that guy. Go do it. Who's ever had that happen to you? It's so weird. But like, see what I mean? It's not just me though. I've had that happen a bunch of times and it was really weird that they tell you like, hey, you need to go. God, you know, I'm pretty sure God wants you to go talk to that guy. It's like, well, maybe God wants you to talk to that guy since you're so excited about it. But anyway, uh, Matthew chapter seven verse one says, judge not that you be not judged for with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with what measure you meet, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the moat that is in thy brother's eye, but considers not the beam that is in thine own eye. Or how would thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the moat out of thine eye and behold, a beam is in thine own eye. Thou hypocrite first cast out the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the moat out of thy brother's eye. So basically the people who will often be holier than thou, judgmental, picking you apart, calling you out, you know, cause you're not witnessing to this guy or you're not reading the Bible enough or whatever. You know, they often have a much bigger problem in their own life. And it's ironic that they're judging you. Like people who don't go soul winning at all, telling you that you're soul winning the wrong way. I remember that too. When I first started out, uh, evangelizing when I was around 16, 17, 18, I remember people who did zero soul winning telling me like what I, what they thought was right about my approach, what they thought was wrong about my, like telling me all about how to do it. I'm thinking to myself like you don't even witness to anyone. You're not doing any soul winning. Why are you explaining to me how I should be doing it? It doesn't make any sense, does it? And so I always say, well, don't tell me how to do it. Show me how to do it. But you've got people who don't go soul winning at all. And literally they will say to people like us, like, you know, well, you're turning people away from Christ. Or your methods, your soul winning methods are too shallow or they don't work or, or they're too deep, you know? And, uh, you know, we don't, we don't want to make theologians out of these people. You know, you're, you're going too deep on eternal security there at the door. No, we're not. You know, we're just making sure that people understand the gospel and trying to be clear and thorough. You know, some people say that you're too thorough. Some people say that you're not thorough enough. But it's funny because they're not even going. You know, I'd rather be going and spitting out a bunch of Bible verses and explaining stuff poorly than to be sitting on my butt doing nothing at home and judging the people who actually go. Now, obviously, we should be going out and doing it correctly and, and using the Word of God and being thorough and being effective. But it's funny when people who don't do any soul winning at all are, are judging the people who are doing the soul winning. And you know what's funny, too, is that I'll get up and preach hard against sin behind the pulpit and it'll go out on YouTube and people are like, this is why churches are getting smaller. This is why people are turning away from Christ. This is why people aren't saved. And I'm thinking to myself, our church gets all kinds of people saved and our church is growing. It's like, you know, you're the reason why churches are getting smaller. I'm like, that's funny because our church is continually getting bigger. So how am I the reason? And plus, if I'm the reason why churches are getting smaller, I didn't realize I had that big of an audience. Like, if churches across America are getting smaller, am I really, like, just shutting down every church in America according to these people? It's absurd, isn't it? But there are a bunch of holier than thou phony hypocrites that are going to tell you how to be a Christian and tell you how to reach people with the gospel. They've never pastored a church. They're not reaching people. They're not out knocking doors and presenting the gospel. They're holier than thou's. How about this one? You go out soul winning, right? And you say, hey, we got somebody saved. You didn't save anyone. Jesus saved them. Who's heard that one before? We don't save anybody. You didn't save anybody. That's Jesus who saved that person. You know what? That's a holier than thou thing to say. And you know what? Right now, if you think I'm wrong about this, I'm about to prove you wrong. I'm about to eat your lunch right now. Because there's so much Bible on this, it's not even funny. Okay, try this on. And if you would flip over to 1 Corinthians, chapter number 9. Try this on, Romans 11, 14. If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are of my flesh and might save some of them. So Paul said, hey, by any means, I hope I might save some of them. How about Jude? Others save with fear. Oh, sorry, can't do that, Jesus. Others save with fear. Pulling them out of the fire. Sorry, can't do it. I'm not, only Jesus can save. I can't save anybody. Sorry, can't do it. Others save with fear. Nope, sorry, can't do it. Only Jesus can save. I can't save anybody. That's what the Calvinist told me. Folks, the Bible says, save them with fear. And then I turn around and say, I got somebody saved. And it's like, oh, you didn't save them. Really, because the Bible says I did. You know what I mean? Hey, Paul said, if by any means I might provoke to emulation them that are of my flesh, that I might save some of them. Look at 1 Corinthians 9, 22, and this is a famous verse. People should know this. Those other two verses might not be that famous. This is a really famous verse. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak. I am made all things to all men that I might by all means save some. Oh, that's impossible, Paul, because you can't save anybody, Paul. Now, are the holier than thou's wrong or are they wrong? They're wrong. And you know what? Any holier than thou who's ever said that, when shown these scriptures, if they had an ounce of integrity, would say, hey, you know what? You're right. That is a biblical terminology. You're right. I'm wrong. You're right. That's correct. Wouldn't that be what they'd say if they had an ounce of integrity, since the Bible is crystal good? But that's never what they say. Whenever the holier than thou's say that to me and I show them these verses, here's what they say. Well, that's not what Paul meant there. And here's what I say. Well, that's not what I meant either. Because I say when Paul said that I might save some, that's what I meant too, when I said that I might save some. Well, that's not what Paul meant. I'm like, well, how do you know what I meant? I mean, do you think I'm saying that I died on the cross for them or something? Obviously, we all know Jesus is the Savior. Obviously, we know there's no salvation outside of Jesus Christ. But you know what? When we point someone to Jesus, when we bring someone to Jesus, we have gotten them saved. We've gotten them to salvation. But the reason that this irritates the holier than thou's, they don't like anyone else to do anything for God except them. Somebody does something nice for Jesus, they don't like it. Because they want all the credit. They want all the glory. And they have a guilty conscience because they're not out winning souls to Christ. So it's like, well, we don't win souls. And I always just say, speak for yourself. I know you don't. We don't win souls. Yeah, I know. But we do. You maybe don't, but we do. It's a holier than thou thing to say. And you know what? The Bible couldn't be any clearer that that is a correct terminology. Look at 1 Corinthians 7, 16. Here's another one. I mean, these verses abound. 1 Corinthians 7, 16. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? Or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? Well, of course I know because I'm a Calvinist and we can't get anybody saved. That's how I know. Because only Jesus saves people. Wrong. God commanded us to pull people out of the fire. We save them by pointing them to the Savior. I mean, think about it. If somebody's drowning and I point out to them the life raft, if I point out to them the little swim ring that can save them, right? The swim ring is the one that actually saved them, but basically they could say, hey, you saved my life by showing me the swim ring or by showing me the buoy that I could get a hold of or whatever. Jesus is the buoy and if we point them to that buoy and they get there and they get saved, then that's us getting them saved. In fact, by saying we got them saved, we're actually using a milder terminology than the Bible. Because if we were actually being biblical in our terminology, we would say, I saved three people today. That would be actually more biblical. But yet we, because we're humble, you know, we're like, whoa, you know, let's just say we got three people saved because we're being humble. But then the holier than thou has come along and that's not humble enough. You can't talk about anyone getting, anyone saved. That's because they don't get people saved so they don't like that term. Or how about this, you know, soul winning. We don't win souls. Nobody wins souls. It's Jesus who does it all. You know what? If Jesus does it all, then why don't we just go home and relax and just let him do his thing? Am I right? Am I right? Why not just sit back and just, you know, and just pray, all right, Jesus, good luck soul winning today. I'm going to be having a barbecue, but I know you're out there doing all the work. All power is given unto you. Amen. All right, let's party. Folks, the Bible says that God has committed unto us the ministry of reconciliation. And that word committed unto us, it means he's relying on us. He's trusting us. He's giving us this important responsibility of preaching the gospel to the lost. It's our job to do it, and we need to get out there and do it. Well, Jesus does the saving. But, you know, the people who use that holier than thou talk about, you know, we need to make sure God gets all the glory here. You know, it's pretty easy to give God all the glory for all the stuff you didn't do. I always give all the glory for all the soul winning I don't do to the Lord. Straight, straight up, just take it. You know, the glory comes to me, I just, whoop, just redirect it right where it belongs. It's like, bing, just, it all goes straight up to him. Well, how much soul winning did you do? Zero. But whatever glory I got for the souls that I didn't win and the time I didn't spend preaching the gospel, it all goes straight to him. I'm telling you, the people that are just so holier than thou and hate the term soul winning, or they hate the term we got somebody saved, or they hate the term winning souls to Christ, it's typically because they don't do any soul winning. So basically they got this big beam in their eye, not evangelizing, not preaching the gospel to every creature, but then they want to pick you apart because of your terminology and it turns out your terminology is dead on with scripture. Turns out your terminology is totally biblical. And by the way, the term soul winning comes from the Bible. It says in Proverbs 11 30, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that winneth souls is wise. And if you're looking for a New Testament mention of this, and I don't have it in my notes, but in 1 Peter chapter 3, when he talks about the husbands that are unsaved, he talks about them being won by the conversation of the wives. So they are won to Christ by the conversation of the wives, you know, by seeing the character and modesty of the wives. And so these terms that we use are biblical. Here's another one that holier-than-thou's like to say. What do you mean your church? Isn't it Jesus' church? And here's what's so silly about this. Okay, if I got up and said my church about faith-forward Baptist church, holier-than-thou's freak out about that. Because holier-than-thou's love to show how humble they are and they're just so godly and meek all the time and so spiritual. So they get real upset if you say my church as a pastor. But here's what's funny. Wouldn't you, if you were inviting somebody to church, be like, hey, do you want to come to my church this week? Wouldn't you use that? Like if you were just going to be like, hey, do you want to come to my church this week? Or hey, I'd like you to visit my church this weekend. Why do you think that you own it? Wouldn't that be totally normal? Now here's the only thing that would be weird. The thing that would be weird is if like, let's say Daniel, you know, Daniel's a member of our church, faith-forward Baptist church, right? If Daniel was talking to me and he called it and he said to me like, your church, that'd be kind of weird because he goes here. So what he would say about our church, what would he say? He's like, our church. So like if Daniel and I are talking together, you know, everybody's so worried about pronouns, you know, in 2021. So I just want to let you know our preferred pronouns here. Okay. You know, basically, you know, if Daniel and I are talking about the church, we'd say, hey, our church, here's what I like about our church. Or, you know, here's something that I think our church could work on. Or here's a good missions project that I think our church could be a part of. Right? Why do you think you and Daniel just own the place? Folks, things that we love, we take ownership of them. Am I right? I mean, people literally will talk about my team and they don't even know those people. They have nothing to do with that team. You know, they couldn't even run one length of a football field without having a heart attack because they're so out of shape, but they're like, that's my team, you know, watching a football game. Am I right? Why? Because people, people take ownership of the things that they love. This is my town. I mean, what if you showed someone around your city? You think you own the place? I mean, isn't that just ridiculous? Folks, we, if we talked to people of other churches, we'd say your church, my church, because you know what? We all love our church and, and it's a part of us and it's our church. It's my church. It's your church. Obviously we know that Christ is the head of the church. We don't need holier than thou's to remind us of that every five minutes because we know that Christ is the head of the church. Amen. We know that it's not owned by any one person or group of people. We know that Christ is the owner of the church, but you know what? We all take an ownership of it affectionately that we love it and it's my church, right? I mean, wouldn't you call faith forward my church? You would use that with anyone that you talk to, but this goes right over the head of the holier than thou's. Here's a funny story about another holier than thou type hyper spiritual guy because these holier than thou's, they like to use this hyper spiritual terminology. Like you get an email from these people and it's like, God bless you in the name of the most high Jehovah, you know, grace be with you and peace from the Lord Jesus Christ our savior. And you're just like, hi, you know what I'm talking about? But, but the holier than thou's man, they just, they just pile on the spiritual talk and the God bless you. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And look, I'm all for spiritual talk from the heart, but these people go overboard with it because they're putting on a big show, big facade. They make broad the phylacteries. They enlarge the borders of their garments and they want to just say, everybody look at me how spiritual I am. But anyway, here's a funny story. So my dad went to church with this guy and this guy was, was not a guy that had money. You know, he's driving beat up vehicles and just, just, you know, kind of a poor guy. And all of a sudden the guy shows up to church and like this brand new fancy truck, like really nice. So my dad's kind of blown away. You know, my dad's kind of a truck guy and he was pretty into trucks. And this guy pulls up in just this beautiful truck. So my dad goes up to the guy and he says to him like, where did you get this truck? This is a great truck. You know what? And he said, God gave me this truck. And my dad's like, well, you know, great, but you know, but where'd you get the truck though? You know, it's great that God gave you the truck, but where did you? God gave me this truck. Yeah, but I mean, how'd you get it? God, God gave me this truck. He kind of just stonewalled him, you know, just God gave me this. And it kind of reminded me of different times that I've talked to missionaries and, you know, different missionaries would come through and you'd ask them like, you know, so, you know, why the Philippines? Or, you know, you ask, so, you know, why Botswana? Or, you know, and it's just like, that's where God called me. It's like, okay, great. You know, but, but like what led you to that? God. Yeah, but I mean, you know what, just God, you know, just kind of just stonewalling you with this hyper spiritual talk of like, as if God just, I don't know, just tossed you the keys to this truck or something in person. So here's the punchline of the story. The next day, the truck gets repossessed on Monday because what it is, is that, you know, a lot of times you go into the dealership on a Saturday and you buy a car, but the banks aren't really open. So who knows what I'm talking about? Because I bought a vehicle on a Saturday before, because, you know, usually you work Monday through Friday, you go buy a vehicle on Saturday and you'll be in there on a Saturday and it's like you, you, you, you do the whole deal and they let you take the truck home. But it's like, you know, it's not, it hasn't really been underwritten yet. Until the banks open on Monday, they're going to run your credit, you know, and basically the bank's going to approve the loan. And then here's the thing, if it falls through, then you got to return the vehicle. Who's experienced something like that or had somebody explain that? I'm not saying you got repo'd, I'm saying like, you know, you've experienced where you buy it on a Saturday and they kind of tell you, hey, this is going to go through Monday and you know, everything should be fine as long as you're telling me the truth about it, you know. So basically, you know, what I was thinking was, you know, the gifts and callings of God are without repentance. You know, if God gives you a truck, he's probably not going to repo it on Monday. But then I remembered, you know, the Lord gave and the Lord had taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. But you know what I mean, you know, just this hyper spiritual, like somebody's just asking you a normal question, like where did you get your truck? And it's just got to be some super mystical, God gave me this truck. You know, God called me to this mission field, you know. And by the way, a lot of these guys that got, it's amazing how God called them to these mission fields and then they can't speak the language worth looking at. That's kind of an interesting choice there, God, because guess what? It's just they want to go to that mission field. And then they just, God told me this. And by the way, when you have people constantly, God told me this and God told me that, you know what? A lot of those people, they're dreaming things up in their own imagination and then just saying it's God. And you know what? That's actually a really bad sign about people because it basically shows that they have like a God-given vision. I'm not trying to get too psychoanalytical here, but when somebody's constantly coming up with things in their imagination and saying, God said this, God told me this, it's like they basically are confusing their own internal voice with the voice of God. Basically, they think they're God in a sense. Think about that. And you know, the Bible says, add thou not unto his words, lest thou be. And you know, the Bible says, add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar. I don't like it when people are constantly, well, God said this, God said. It's like, you know what? If you're going to tell me what God said, I want to see chapter and verse on that. You know, it's like I said a couple weeks ago, extra biblical revelations, if they line up with scripture, they're unnecessary because scripture already told us the same stuff. And if they don't line up with scripture, they're false. Right? So they're either false or unnecessary. We've got the Bible, we've got the whole book, but the holier than thou's, they love every chance to drop any kind of a spiritual lingo and spiritual talk. You know, so what's the moral of the story? You know, God says that these kind of holier than thou types are a smoke in his nose. God hates hypocrisy. What does God hate? Pride and arrogance are the things that God hates. Am I right? He hates pride. He hates arrogance. He hates hypocrisy. He doesn't like these holier than thou types. And so there are two lessons tonight. Number one, don't be a holier than thou. Don't be a holier than thou. And how do I avoid being a holier than thou? When I see someone else serving God and doing something great for God and accomplishing something good for God, instead of trying to find fault with it and pick it apart and find the one thing they did wrong, you know, I should just rejoice that they're doing something great for God. You know, when I see someone else do something great for God. Let's say I see some other church have some super successful missions program or I see some other church. I mean, think about it. You know, think about Verity Baptist Church founded a church in the Philippines. Right? We, our church, has tried to found a church in these, like, third world type countries, or sorry, the developing world. You know, we've tried to found churches in the developing world a couple times and we've failed a couple times. You know, Verity Baptist Church has succeeded. Well, let's see if we can find something wrong with it real quick. Isn't that wicked? You know, who cares? It's like, you know what? We tried some stuff that failed. So what? Right? That's life. Not everything you do is going to work out. Hey, when another church does something that succeeds, we all rejoice. We get behind it. We support it. We rejoice. We praise God. And we thank God. And we find a way to be an encouragement and a blessing. Not like, well, let's see if we can find something wrong with what they did. That's wickedness. But you know what? It's common. Picking apart someone else who's doing something good for. You know, if you see someone else in the church who's thriving spiritually, doing great things for God, being blessed for God, you know what? That ought to make you happy and happy for them. We out-esteem other people better than ourselves and love other people and be glad that they're thriving spiritually. And you know what? Let's say someone else gets the promotion at work or something and someone else succeeds or is doing well. Or maybe you're single and one of your single buddies gets married. Amen. Rejoice. Folks, envy is a wicked sin. And so don't be a holier than thou where you have to lift yourself up by dragging other people down, by picking apart and finding fault with the good things that they do. And you know, don't be one of these people that always has to just correct everybody for not being spiritual enough. You know, why don't you just set an example by being spiritual and being godly? But you don't have to always just jump on every opportunity to show how spiritual you are. You know, somebody doesn't pray before they eat and you're just ready to just jump all over them or something. Maybe they prayed in their head. Amen. Don't be a holier than thou. You know, don't be going around trying to impress everybody without spiritual. The Bible says about the Pharisees, all their righteousness they do for to be seen of men. You know, I mean, if they can't take a picture of it and put it on Facebook, they're not going to do it. They can't do anything for God without making sure everybody knows about it. That's what he said about the Pharisees. So these are some ways that you could avoid being a holier than thou by not having these attributes. But secondly, the purpose of the sermon is not just to tell you not to be a holier than thou, but to warn you to beware of the holier than thou. When people are around you and they're the hyper spiritual, they can't say enough hallelujahs and praise the Lord and peace be with thee in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And that's just how they talk all the time. That's a red flag about that person because that's not a normal way to talk. And what it is is they're laying it on real thick because it's not real. So they're putting on a facade. You know, people who are the real deal. Yeah, obviously, you know what? Those of us who love the word of God and read the Bible, you know, we're going to have some King James English come out in our language and we're constantly quoting scripture because, you know, you can't help but speak the things you've seen and heard, right? So if you read the Bible all the time, you're going to quote scripture, period. But then there are the people who are fake and they're just laying it on so thick. Look at me, everybody. Look how spiritual I am. And you can tell the difference between the people that just really sincerely love the word and just talk about the Bible and the people who are just trying to make a point of how spiritual they are with the long prayers. And what did the Bible say? They love to make the long prayers, standing in the corners of the streets. They love the greetings in the marketplace, to be seen of men, to be called rabbi. They love to put on a show for other people. Beware of these people because these are usually the most rotten people. And the people that are constantly picking everyone else apart and everybody is just so ungodly and so sinful and just nobody's good enough, nobody's clean enough, no church is good enough. You know, these people usually have some serious problems of their own, which is why they hide behind this holier-than-thou facade of picking everyone else apart. So beware of these type of people. Don't be that guy and beware of that guy. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you for salvation, Lord. And you know our weaknesses. You know that every single one of us is human and we all have sin in our lives and we all struggle with the flesh every single day, Lord. But thank you for loving us anyway. Thank you for saving us and thank you for using us to get people saved and to do works for you, Lord. Thank you for that privilege. And Lord, I pray that no one in our church would become this kind of sour, bitter, phony, Pharisaical hypocrite that would try to just pick apart and tear down other people for stupid things, Lord. Help us all, Lord, to just be humble servants of yours, not to get prideful or arrogant and definitely help us not to get envious, Lord, but to just rejoice when we see other people succeed and be blessed, Lord. Thank you for this wonderful church, Lord, faithful word, and we love the body here and we love the brotherhood and we're thankful for our friends and family here. And Lord God, we just pray that those that are out there may be listening to this over the internet that don't have a church to go to, Lord. I pray that you'd help them to find a church right away so that they can actually have a place to go where they can get some fellowship and camaraderie and get around other believers. And thank you that we have that opportunity here, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen, let's take our song books, please, and turn to hymn number 14. Kneel at the cross, number 14 in your books. Let's sing it out on that first verse. Kneel at the cross, Christ will meet you there, number 14. Lift up your voices together on this first verse together now. Kneel at the cross, Christ will meet you there, come, come, he waits for you. Place to his voice, he will live your care, and he will vibe anew. Kneel at the cross, he never can. Kneel at the cross, Jesus will meet you there. Kneel at the cross, there is room for all, who could his glory share. List their awaits, on can there be call, those who are angered there. Kneel at the cross, he never can. Kneel at the cross, Jesus will meet you there. Kneel at the cross, give your idols up, look unto round above. Turn our way to my sparkling cup, trust only in his love. Kneel at the cross, he never can. Kneel at the cross, Jesus will meet you there. Amen. Great singing tonight. You are dismissed. Thank you. Thank you.