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

Now, in 2 Samuel chapter 24, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in verse 20. And let me just bring you up to speed with the story. Of course, we just read the chapter, but God is pouring out his plagues and judgment upon the land because of the sins of David the king. And David has been told by the prophet that he needs to go to the threshing floor of Aaron of the Jebusite and offer up an offering unto the Lord in order to basically placate the Lord so that the city will not be completely destroyed. Now beginning in verse 20, the Bible reads, And Aaronah looked and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him. And Aaronah went out and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. And Aaronah said, Wherefore is my Lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Aaronah said unto David, Let my Lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him. Behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments, and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Aaronah as a king give unto the king. And Aaronah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Aaronah, Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price, neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God, of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen, four fifty shekels of silver, and David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was entreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. And of course this is going to be the future site of the temple that's going to be built in that exact place. But what I want to point out is the statement that David made in verse 24, when he's being offered everything for free. And when Aaronah is basically telling him, Look, I'm going to give you animals to sacrifice. I'm going to give you the wood even to kindle the fire. You can have my threshing floor. I'm not going to sell it to you. It's free. Just take everything. And David says, No, I don't want to make an offering unto the Lord of that which costs me nothing. So you know, I want to sacrifice here. I want this to cost me something. Now what I want to preach about this morning is the cost of serving Jesus. You know, the cost of serving Jesus, because even though we're not living under the old covenant where we offer up sacrifices that are an animal sacrifice or a burnt offering from our flock or from our herd, we still in the New Testament, we offer up sacrifice and offerings to God. The Bible over and over again in the New Testament uses this symbolically. The Bible says, By him therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name, but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. So there are a lot of good works that God wants us to do in the New Testament. Come into the congregation, praising his name when the songs are sung, you know, giving unto the Lord's work, going out and preaching the gospel to every creature, and being counted among God's people. These are the sacrifice and offerings that God wants in the New Testament. And just as David said, Well, I don't want to make an offering of the Lord of that which is costing me nothing, you know, I want to pay the full price. This is what New Testament Christianity needs today, people that are willing to pay a price for serving Jesus. And today what we see is a Christianity, and if you would turn to Galatians, but we see a Christianity that basically does not want to be inconvenienced at all, doesn't want to sacrifice anything, and basically just wants to have it both ways. They want to have everything that the world has to offer, they want to have all the popularity, and they want to have no problems, no trouble, but then they also want to serve Jesus. But let me tell you something, the Bible says, Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. And the Bible says that, what does the Bible say? Paul looked down in Galatians chapter 5, and we'll see the Apostle Paul talking about his ministry, and his ministry was under attack because of the things that he'd been preaching. A lot of the Jews were going after him because he was saying that they didn't need to be circumcised and that they didn't need to offer the sacrifices and do those things anymore under the New Testament. But watch what he says in chapter 5 verse 11 of Galatians. The Apostle Paul says this, And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Now what Paul is saying there is that at that time he was being persecuted for basically preaching against being circumcised. And what he's saying in that statement is that if I just change one little thing about my preaching, I wouldn't be going through the persecution and heat that I'm going through right now if I just change this one little thing. But he's not going to change it. And look what it says in chapter 6 verse 12. It says, As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. So what he's saying there in verse number 12, he's saying that there are people out there who to make a fair show in the flesh, even though in their heart they don't believe in being circumcised, even though in their heart they don't believe that we're under those rituals and sacrifice of the Old Testament. He said there are people out there who will go along with it, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Do you see that in verse 12? There are people who believe right, but publicly they won't come out and say it. They won't preach that because of the fact that they want to make a fair show in the flesh and they don't want the persecution. You know what they want? A Christianity that costs them nothing. Today, 99% of pastors today in this city don't have the guts to preach what needs to be preached today in the world that we live in. Why? Because they don't want a hundred freaks and sodomites parading outside their door. But you know what? There are way more people in this church than there are out there. Hopefully the reporter that's sitting amongst us can count accurately and realize that, but let me tell you this, there are also hundreds of Baptist churches all over this city that believe the same thing I believe. They just don't have the guts to say it because they don't want to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. And you know what? It's a shame that they are so weak and cowardly to not be able to preach what needs to be preached. And you know what? Today Christians want to have no sacrifice, they want to have no persecution, and they want everybody to love them, but Jesus said, Marvel not my brethren if the world hates you. Let me tell you something. If you want to serve Jesus, you have to sacrifice your Sunday morning and show up to church. And there are a lot of people who don't want to make that sacrifice. How many people have I invited to church, oh Sunday is my one morning to sleep in. The service starts at 1030. How late are you staying up on Saturday night? But you know, oh that's my one morning. And if you would go to Matthew 13, but you know, oh that's my one morning to sleep in. I just don't want to give up that one day. Well, you know what? You want Christianity to cost you nothing, is what you're saying. Oh no, you know, I just, I can't go soul winning because of the fact that, you know, that's my one night a week or that's this or that, but you know, sometimes we got to make sacrifices. And realize that, you know, you can't have everything in this world. You can't have it all. You can't be, for example, in my case, a fire-breathing, leather-lung Baptist preacher and then expect to also be buddies with the congressman and the mayor and the city council and to be invited to the presidential prayer breakfast. It's just not happening. So we have to make a choice in our lives. There's always the choice, choose this day whom you'll serve. You can't serve God and mammon. Paul said, you know, if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. So he said, do I now please men or God? He asked the question, do I now please men or God? You can't please both. And a lot of people are trying to have it both ways. You know, they want to have one foot in the world and one foot with the things of God and they want to try to balance both and have both. And it's deceptive. It's not what David did, the man after God's own heart. He said, I want this to cost me something. I'm willing to pay the price to serve God, to serve the Lord. But let's look at Matthew 13 verse 20. The Bible says this, but he that receiveth the seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it. The word anon means immediately. It says anon with joy receiveth it, okay? Yet hath he not rooted himself, but doereth for a while. And when you see doereth, you can think endureth. He doereth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. So what's the Bible telling us here? And basically, there are people who are new believers, or maybe they just aren't really rooted and grounded yet in the faith, even if they've been saved for a long time. And that any little thing that comes along, they're offended, they're scared off. You know, there are people throughout history who've suffered real persecution for the cause of Christ. And the Bible says, yea, in all that will live godly in Christ, Jesus shall suffer persecution. But there are people who've been thrown in prison, there have been people who've been beaten, there have been people who've been killed, and that there are Christians today in America that are even scared to even come to a church like Faithful Word Baptist Church. Oh, because there might be protesters on the public sidewalk. They might look at me. You weakling, you coward. You know what? It takes almost zero guts to come to this church. It's the easiest thing in the world. But there are some people who are so weak and so scared that literally they just want to go down to the other independent fundamental Baptist church down the street where it's a little more comfortable, a little less hype and controversy going on, and where they can go in and sit down and just chill out and everything's great. And you know what? There's really nothing wrong with what the pastor's preaching down there. It's what he's not preaching that's the problem. That's the trouble with most churches. It's not what they preach, it's what they won't preach. We as Christians need to be willing to make some sacrifices and endure some persecution and to give up some things because of the fact that, you know, that's what God wants from us. And if we love Him, then we're going to obey the Word. Now it says in 2 Corinthians 12, go ahead and flip over there, 2 Corinthians chapter 12, just to get the Apostle Paul's mentality further, we saw it in Galatians. But in 2 Corinthians chapter number 12, the Bible says in verse 9, he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, watch this, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I strong. He's saying I take pleasure in persecution. I take pleasure in being attacked and being in distress for Christ's sake. Do you remember in the book of Acts when they were persecuted, they leaped for joy and they said, we're just happy to be counted worthy of suffering reproach for the name of the Lord Jesus. Even when they were beaten, they rejoiced and said, well, you know what? Great is our reward in heaven. If you go down through the famous passage of the Beatitudes, you know, blessed are the poor in spirit for there is the kingdom of God. You go down through that. Then at the end he says, blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. That's what the Bible says. And the Bible even says in the book of Luke in this parallel passage, you know, he said leap for joy. I mean, that's pretty extreme. I mean, when was the last time you leaped for joy? Oh, yeah. That's what he said. Leap for joy. But today it's it's it's sad. And you say, oh, man, aren't you embarrassed? You know, Pastor Anderson? No, I'm not embarrassed at all. I'm not ashamed at all. Because you know what? I'll stand. You know, the news report said, oh, you're hiding behind the Bible. Yep. Hiding behind the Word of God today. And you know what? I will proudly stand and proclaim this book and preach this book. And I will not be ashamed of Jesus Christ or of his words in this adulterous and wicked generation. And you know who ought to be ashamed of themselves? Every pastor in this city who won't back me up, who won't go out and make a statement. You know who ought to be ashamed? The 12 pastors that they called before they called me that said, well, we're against homelessness, we're against all of it, but we don't want to go on camera. We don't want to say it because, you know, we just want to be seen as loving the community. You know what? These guys need to get some hair on their legs. They need to get filled with the Holy Ghost. They need to start preaching how they need to preach or they need to sit down and shut up and let a real man do it. That's the truth, my friend. It's ridiculous. Churches today need to stand up and you know what? Why should one guy be taking all the heat for a book that was written 3500 years ago? The Book of Leviticus. Why am I taking all the heat? Because of the fact that other people are scared to preach what needs to be preached. And it's a joke and they ought to be ashamed of themselves. I'm not ashamed of anything in the Bible. But I have you turn to 2 Thessalonians. Go to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. You say, well, why are you calling out these pastors? Because somebody needs to call them out because it's getting to be ridiculous. And you know what? I'm sorry, one guy can't fix this country. One guy can't sit there and make the difference that needs to be made. There ought to be an army of Baptist pastors and an army of Christian preachers that are all going to preach the Word of God instead of just worrying about their bank account and their safety and worried about everything. You know what? It's going to take more than one pastor because, you know, when one pastor says what needs to be said, a lot of people just say, oh, he's a lunatic. Oh, he's just a wild man. He's just crazy. But you know what? If every pastor was saying it, they'd be scared and they'd go running and flee today. They'd be back in the closet where they belong, these bunch of filthy faggots, OK? But today, today, they're out there controlling the media and controlling the airwaves. Talk to these reporters. They'll tell you when they try to do a man on the street, they can't even find one person that will say anything negative about these homos when they do the man on the street. But then when it comes up to a vote, 51% votes against the homos because it's a secret ballot. Cowards. There are cowards, aren't they? You know, and I thank God for everybody who's here this morning that had the guts to come to church this morning. Thank you for being here this morning. And thank you that we have a full, packed out house this morning because we're here to please God and not men. We don't care what they think. Nuts to them. And by the way, people respect you more when you stand up for what you believe anyway, in the long run. But anyway, 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4 says, so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith and all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God that you may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. See, suffering for righteousness' sake is actually something where the Bible says, you know, it makes you worthy of the kingdom of God. It's something that's actually a privilege. It's actually something that is, you know, that we should glory in, the Bible says. Paul said I glory in persecutions. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number 3. 2 Timothy chapter number 3, it says in verse 10, but thou is fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But continue in thou in the things that thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. Now this passage has Paul talking about the fact that he's been persecuted, you know, anybody who lives godly in Christ Jesus is going to be persecuted, and I like how right after he talks about being persecuted and going through that, he comes out with this in verse 16, all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Just a few verses later he's going to say, preach the word, be instant, in season, out of season, reproof, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lust shall they heap to themselves, teachers having itching ears, and they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned unto fables, but watch thou in all things. Do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry, for I am now ready to be offered in the time of my departure's hand, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. He said, I fought a good fight, what are we fighting today? Well we don't wrestle against flesh and blood despite what the media is lying about us and saying, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, we wrestle against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places. The battle is not a physical battle, it's a spiritual battle. The weapon is the word of God, okay? The sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. This is the weapon we need, this isn't the weapon that we need today to fight the battle, this is the weapon that we need. Because I'm here to tell you that the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, yet, yet, so many pastors are only pulling it like 10% out of the sheath. They kind of just, they kind of show, you know, let me show you a verse, okay put that away, let's just talk now, you know. They need to whip that thing all the way out of its sheath and put it to its full use. Not a physical battle, but a spiritual battle. They need to sharpen that thing up. They need to have the razor sharp King James Bible, not the NIV butter knife, and they need to be ready to wield that thing in all of its glory, and not just little parts and pieces of it. No, the whole sword. There's a reason why we're losing the battle today in America, and it's because of the fact that the pastors have the sword in the sheath. And the Bible said, cursed is everyone that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully that keeps his sword away from blood. That's what the Bible said. You know, the deceitful worker who is just afraid of getting in the fight, and again we're talking about a spiritual fight. They're afraid to get involved in the spiritual fight. They just say, oh I just don't want to be involved in this, and it's funny because my wife was talking about some of the people that called her and talked to her this week about this, and she talked about one person and said, well they weren't against us, they were just neutral. No, if you're neutral, you're on the devil's side. If you're not, if you don't stand for the word of God, if you won't stand to be counted and just say, well I just want to stay out of this, and every passage just wants to stay out of the controversy, I just want to sit back and just stay out of it, and just let somebody else do the fighting. Let somebody else get up there and bring it to them. You know what? If you're neutral, you're on the wrong side. Period. You need to get all the way on the side of the word of God. You say, well these pastors just don't agree with the doctrine. Well you know what? Then shame on them for not knowing what they're talking about. Shame on them for not knowing the Bible. All scripture, what part of all scripture is given by inspiration of God do you not understand when it's all profitable for doctrine? What's doctrine mean? Somebody tell me what doctrine means. Teaching. Did he say, oh it's all profitable for reading? No he said it's all profitable to be taught in a local church. Every part of it needs to be taught. When was the last time some of these bozos preached on Leviticus 2013? In any way. In any way. You say, well they just don't interpret it the same way. Okay, then interpret it. Interpret it another way. I just want to hear it come out of your mouth. But know you're ashamed. And I'm not talking to you, I'm talking about these preachers that are scared of their own shadow. Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world. The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion. Okay, now when we think about what Jesus said, you don't have to turn there. Turn if you would to Leviticus chapter 19. Go to Leviticus 19, but in John chapter 7 verse 6, Jesus said, my time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. Now people can delude themselves into all kinds of other reasons why Jesus was hated. There's no doubt that he was hated, is there? We know that the Pharisees were constantly holding a council how they might destroy him. We know that the Sadducees and the chief priests and the rulers of the people were constantly conspiring together. Psalm 2 prophesied how the rulers would take council together against the Lord and against his Christ. And that's what Pilate and Herod and them, you know. We know Jesus was hated of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the chief priests, the rulers of the people. The question is why? And people can come up with all the reasons that they want to come up with of, well, you know, but at the end of the day, Jesus told us why he was hated. Because he says right here, the world hates me because I testify of it that the works thereof are evil. So what was it that got Jesus in trouble? Pointing out the evil that's in this world. Pointing out the sins of the Pharisees. Pointing out the evils of the Sadducees. Pointing out the evils of the chief rulers. Why was John the Baptist beheaded? Because he pointed out the sin and wickedness of Herod. Why was Stephen beheaded? Because he preached against the Jews that they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised and hard. Was it his preaching on Abraham that got him beheaded? I mean stoned? Stephen? Stephen was stoned, right? Was it his preaching on Abraham? Was it when he covered Isaac and Jacob? Was it when he covered the temple being built? No. That whole sermon in Act 7 was fine with everybody. It was all fine. It was only when he started exposing and shining the light on their evil that they stopped their ears, ran toward him, gnashed on him with their teeth, and killed him. So what's going to get us in trouble today? Is it going to be preaching on love that's going to get us in trouble? No. Is it going to be preaching on the fact that Jesus died and was rose again? No. But the Bible tells us to preach all the counsel of God. And the Bible tells us that all scripture needs to be taught. It's all profitable for doctrine. We need to preach the Word in season out of season. That's what you're going to get persecuted for, not the positive sermon, the negative sermon. Now positive sermons are important. They need to happen, but they're not the ones that are going to get you into trouble. It's the ones where you expose sin. And that's why a lot of preachers aren't going to cover that. Now the reason I had you turn to Leviticus 19 is I just want to show you how ridiculous the doctrine is that wants to throw out the book of Leviticus. I even saw somebody wrote to me and said, any time you hear a pastor say turn in your Bibles to Leviticus, you know you're in a messed up church. That's what somebody said. Any time they tell you to turn to Leviticus, you know you're in a bad church. Now Leviticus today is under attack. Any time you quote the book of Leviticus, you're going to be mocked and made fun of and ridiculed, right? And they'll come at you with, oh you don't eat shellfish, you don't mix linen and woolen together. By the way, nobody in this room is wearing a garment that's part linen and woolen. No one is wearing a mixture of plant-based and animal-based woven together. So they don't even understand that passage. But here's the thing, obviously we know that there are certain laws that are done away in Christ and they're specifically laid out in the New Testament. He specifically says it's the carnal ordinances, the meats, the drinks, the washings, the ceremony, the rituals. He lays it all out in Hebrews, he lays it out in Colossians, it's crystal clear. But a lot of people make one of two mistakes. There are people out there who want to just basically throw out the whole Old Testament. They'll throw out the whole book of Leviticus and just say, oh, that's all Old Testament, throw it all out, right? And then there are other people who make the opposite mistake and they're like, no, we need to still not eat pork, we need to still not eat seafood, we need to still do that. So they make the mistake. But the Bible is clear and if they're ignorant, that's not my fault. I've preached on the correlation between Old Testament and New Testament many, many times. And the Bible's real clear which things are done away in the New Testament and he specifically states, hey, the meats, the drinks, the divers washings, the Levitical priesthood, the offerings and sacrifices, the holidays and the feast days are done away, the Sabbath days, he says those are done away in Christ. Those were just a shadow of things to come. Yet he didn't throw out the whole thing because he said, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or the prophets, I came not to destroy but to fulfill. And there were many things that he even reiterated and emphasized and he didn't say just completely throw it out. Now, here's the irony. What people keep saying to me is this, they say, well, you need to go by the words of Jesus. Of course, Jesus is the Word. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, the Word was God, so all the scripture is the Word and the Word is Jesus. But they'll say you need to go by the words of Jesus because Jesus taught that we should love our neighbor as ourself and they act as if that's a new teaching that Jesus brought out, don't they? Oh, man, in the Old Testament it was all hellfire and damnation and the God of wrath, but in the New Testament Jesus came out with this new thing, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, when Jesus Christ said that we should love our neighbor as ourself, he said that because they asked him what was the greatest commandment in the law. Now when they asked him what's the greatest commandment in the law, he said the greatest commandment is this, hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. And he was quoting Deuteronomy chapter 6. And then he said the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. And he said on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Now the term thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself is found one place in the Bible and that's Leviticus 19.18. And that's the only place in the Old Testament you'll ever find the words thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Now it's mentioned eight times in the New Testament, but every single one of those eight times in the New Testament, it's quoting Leviticus. So when Jesus said thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, he wasn't bringing some new revelation, he was quoting Leviticus that had been read in every Sabbath day to the Jews their whole lives. So how can you sit there and say oh Jesus brought a new teaching of thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. No thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself is the teachings of the book of Leviticus. Look at Leviticus 19.18. It says thou shalt not avenge nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people but thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, I am the Lord. That is the only place you're going to find that statement in the Bible or it's going to be quoting that eight times in the New Testament. Those that say throw out Leviticus, we don't need Leviticus. And you know what's funny? The worst condemnations of homosexuals are found in chapters 18 and 20 because you've got Leviticus 18, 22 and you've got Leviticus 20, 13 and right between them is love thy neighbor as thyself. So people will try to have this warped doctrine that says well the Old Testament said if a man lie also with mankind as he lieth with a woman even both of them have committed abomination, they shall surely be put to death, their blood shall be upon them. But the New Testament says love thy neighbor as thyself. Doesn't it just show the ignorance there of just not realizing that those quotes are in the same part of the same book where literally it's only a matter of a few verses later after saying thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself that he breathes the words of Leviticus 20, 13. I mean it's all based on ignorance folks. People don't know the Bible. And then they get angry at somebody who tells the truth because they don't get it. And you know if people would actually listen to the whole sermon, they'd actually learn the doctrine and there'd be no way to argue with it unless you, here's a legitimate way to argue with it. You could just say I don't believe the Bible. That would actually make sense. But what's sad is that people will say well I believe the Bible but I just don't believe the Bible. No you just haven't read is the problem. And if Leviticus is some book that we shouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole, then why in the world is Jesus saying it's the greatest commandment in the law second only to loving God? Leviticus 19, the key chapter. Deuteronomy and Leviticus, these are key scriptures according to Jesus Christ himself. Now if you would go to Mark chapter number 10. Mark chapter number 10. And really today the lines are being drawn between those who actually read the Bible, care what it says, believe in it, and those who just want to play church and have a religion that costs them nothing. And you know we've had it good in America and we still do have it good in America. We have total freedom, we're safe, we have the right to bear arms. I mean there are places in this world where they're not even allowed to have a weapon. You know so they're just like a sitting duck if someone were to come and attack them and persecute them. And of course they can rely on the Lord to protect them. But obviously we have it good in America because the persecution is so light and it's so mild in America. And the cost is so low to serve Jesus in America. I mean it doesn't really cost too much. Because we have freedom, we have prosperity, and we have a great church. Just living here in Phoenix we've got a whole group of people here that are like minded. It's sad when people aren't willing to pay such a low price. They want it to just cost them nothing. They want to just have it all. They can't even get themselves to the physical building to go to church. Here at home eating chips on their chest watching the live stream. Not even getting out of their jammies because they don't want it to cost them the gas money. Or the time or the effort of getting dressed and coming down here on their day off. But honestly my friend we need to have a mentality that says I'm willing to pay the price to serve the Lord. And everybody pays a different price. And not everybody is standing up behind the pulpit railing against sin and wickedness you know and being on the front page of whatever and being hated and execrated and cursed of all men today. You know not everybody that's not your calling. That's you know that's the job of a preacher and a pastor and a prophet to do that. But you know there are going to be things in your life where you have to make some choices and some trade-offs and not get this mentality that says oh I'm just going to have it both ways. I'm just going to have it all. I'm going to have my cake and eat it too. If you stand up for the word of the Lord you're going to lose friends. You got to be willing to make that sacrifice. If you go to school and you bring your Bible and you pray for your food you might get made fun of. That's a price that you should be willing to pay. You know if you are going to come to church and get involved in the program Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, come out soul winning that's going to be a sacrifice of your time. But that's a cost that you should be willing to pay. If you're going to read your Bible every day you're going to have to sacrifice some time that you had to do something else to pick up your Bible and read it. You're going to have to make a sacrifice to carve out time to pray. You're going to have to make a sacrifice in order to live a clean and godly life. You're going to have to not watch things that may be used to watch or listen to things that you used to listen to, hang out with people that you used to hang out with, go places that you used to go. But some people just don't want to change anything. They just want to live comfortably, sacrifice nothing, offer the Lord nothing and just say well I'm a Christian, I go to church, but that's it. You know we need to be willing to pay the full price. And there are churches out there that are the Iran of the Jebusites of this world that will offer it to you for free. They'll offer you religion that won't cost you anything. Like Iran of the Jebusites said, here it is, it's all free, you can have both. Like it says of false prophets in 2 Peter 2, they promised them liberty, but they themselves are the servants of corruption. There are churches that will tell you, hey you can still drink, you can still party, you can still fornicate and you know what, God is still going to be pleased with your life. There is even a book by that, by Mr. Joyce Meyer put out a book where he said, he said God is not mad at you. That was the title of the book. No matter who you are, no matter what you've done, you know he'll tell you God's not mad at you. But the truth of the matter is that God is angry with the wicked every day. So no matter what day a wicked person picks up that book, God is mad at them, every day. So that's one that will promise you a Christianity that will cost you nothing. And there are plenty of other churches that will just get up every single Sunday and say, isn't God good? Isn't it just good to be saved? Isn't it just good to be in church this morning? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Jesus told us to love our neighbor in Leviticus. It's a beautiful day in the neighbor, you know. And look, I believe all that. But they're not going to get up and scream, holler, bellow, yell, beat the pulpit and tell you. And the Bible says, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet. And here's what's funny, a lot of churches, they'll actually quote that verse and you'll hear preachers that really yell, but they forgot the second half of the verse. It doesn't just say yell, here's what it says. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins. I mean, I've heard some screaming and yelling preachers, yeah, God is good, whoo! Jesus died on the cross and he was buried and he rose again and is coming back someday. Somebody say amen, whoo! But wait a minute. And then it's like, wow, that was some really hard preaching. You know, you don't measure hard preaching in decibels. You know what? You'd whisper and it would be a hard sermon because it's what's being said that makes it hard. But today we have gotten away from hard preaching in this country and if there was hard preaching like there ought to be, this country would be going a very different direction. And you say, what's the evidence? The evidence is the fact that I'm making the news by saying things that have been in the Bible for 3,500 years since the book of Leviticus was written, I'm saying things that have been in print that long and everybody's freaking out. But if every church was doing it, you know, if somebody called the news and said, you guys got to get down here, there's this guy down there, he's preaching Leviticus to everything, they'd be like, it's a Baptist church. That's what Baptists believe. You know, call us when something new happens. But it's like, this is just sin, wait, I'm just getting reports, there's actually a pastor that actually preaches the Bible, we need to get a film crew down there, get a truck down there, somebody's actually preaching the Word of God, somebody turned to Leviticus. And here's what's funny, I was on the news a couple days ago and I'm talking about Leviticus 2013 and then the guy's like, well I bet you hate Jews too. I thought the Jews are the ones that even wrote Leviticus 2013. You know what I mean? Obviously we know it's written by God, we know it's God's Word, it's inspired by God, but here's the thing, I thought that the Jews are all into the Torah. I mean, if you open a copy of the Torah and pretty much, if you add it in a book form and let it fall open in the middle, you might land in Leviticus 2013. So where are all the rabbis defending me? And by the way, you know what's even funnier than that? Where are all the Hebrew roots Christians defending me? Where are my Torah observing brothers and sisters this morning? All these Hebrew roots, Yahweh, Yeshua, Shalom, HaChflem, where are they at saying, hey, Leviticus 2013? But it's funny, they want to institute all the stuff Jesus specifically did away with and the Apostle Paul said was specifically done away, and then all the stuff that's still in force is the stuff that they hide from. It's like they're the worst of both worlds. Because if they're really Torah observing and Hebrew roots, they'd be like, well, yeah, he's right, Leviticus baby, Leviticus 2013 to be exact. Where are they at? Where's the Jewish rabbi? Oh, and I'm sure over in the nation of Israel, I'm sure Leviticus 2013 is the law of the land over there. Because they believe the Old Testament, right? What's funny is that they even print the book of Leviticus in modern Bibles. If it's rejected by Jew and Christian alike, and the only verse they like in Leviticus is in the New Testament, they might as well just remove it. I'm surprised that they even print it anymore. Who are they printing it for? Well, you know, people would notice if it was gone, you know. The Jews don't want it, Christians don't want it, Baptists don't want it. Who are they printing it for? For Steven Anderson. And I feel privileged that they've printed it for me to preach from. But honestly, real Christians, it's not just Steve Anderson. That's what they want you to think. There are millions of Christians who read the book of Leviticus every year. And they love it. And it's like, sweeter than honey in their mouth, right? Who here likes reading Leviticus? Yeah. I'll admit it, the first 10 chapters are rough. But from chapter 11, it starts picking up. In chapter 11, 12, 13, it starts picking up. Chapter 12 is, you know, pretty short. Kind of picks up, picks up. You know, once you get through all the hairs and the scabs and everything, in chapter, you know, 13, it gets super interesting. The second half of Leviticus is super interesting. You know, I'll admit that, but you know, we should still read those first 10 chapters too. You know, it's all profitable. It's all inspired by God. The first 10 chapters are rough. But you know what? There's a lot of wonderful teaching in Leviticus. And it's a great book. And you know, I love the law of the Lord. And the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. And even if somebody wants to pull out some weird hyper dispensational, that was another dispensation. Even if they want to pull that out, they would still have to admit that at one point, that's what God told people to do. So to say that somebody who said, oh man, that's just sick and evil and horrible. You know what? That's blaspheming Jesus. You're blaspheming God. I mean, if you're going to sit there and say, oh, that's so barbaric, you know that you're saying that about the Lord because he wrote Leviticus 20, 13. Even if you think it was another dispensation or whatever foolishness. An independent fundamental Baptist pastor, he was talking about how to evangelize Muslims. And he said, he had this thing about, you need to point out them, some of the radical things in Sharia law, like where they stone adulterers and stone homosexuals. Hey, that's not Sharia law. That's Mosaic law. So you're blaspheming God, buddy. In fact, why don't I just name the name? Alan Domiley had it on his blog. Alan Domiley had on his blog a thing about how to win Muslims, Lord. Separate them from their radical Sharia law by pointing out the fact that they stone adulterers and homosexuals. Well, listen, Alan Domiley, the Bible said to stone adulterers and homosexuals. Why are you blaspheming God on your blog, Alan Domiley? Oh, why are you attacking an independent fundamental Baptist? Because I'm sick of liars and blasphemers parading themselves as, oh yeah, we're this fire-breathing fundamental Baptist. No, you're not. You're a compromiser. Sick of it. And you know what? I'm waiting for these guys to stand up and stand with the Bible and stand with the Word of God and they're not standing and they need to sit down and shut up and there are plenty of guys who have the guts to get up and say what they won't say. We need a whole new generation of Baptist preachers because the independent fundamental Baptist movement is dead as a doornail. It's dead. It used to be a great movement. It used to be a movement of fire-breathing, hard preaching. Now it's a movement of a bunch of effeminate little sissified Bible college students and their little pink shirts and little lavender outfits and they get up and they're queer little sissies and we need some hair-legged man to get in the pulpits of America and fix this country and if you don't like it, there are another 40 independent fundamental Baptist churches for you to choose from in this city. If you want to go with fundamental Baptist light, but if you want extra strength, you're in the right place. You know what? I've tried to be friends with them. I've tried to get along with these guys. I've tried to get along with my fellow independent fundamental Baptist preachers and so forth, but I'm starting to get just sick of their spinelessness. It's starting to get old and you know what we need? We need some men that are here today that are qualified according to 1 Timothy 3 and that are qualified according to Titus 1 to decide today, you know what? I'm going to be a preacher. That's what we need and even some people that are maybe listening in online, we need some people to decide today and say, you know what? I will preach the word of God. And you know, you don't have to be talented. You don't have to be a great speaker. You know what you have to have? Guts. Guts is what you need to have and you know what? Letless wonders need not apply. We need some new preachers because the preachers of the previous generation are letting us down right now. They are letting, you know what? If I were in a country like Australia right now, you know we have a visitor from Australia, I'd already be in prison. If I were in Germany right now, I'd already be in prison. If I were in Canada right now preaching, I'd already be in prison. And you know what? If you think that that could never happen in America, you're wrong because Europe and Australia and Canada are just further down the path that we're going down in this country. And you know what? You say, well, I just don't care. I'm just going to stay out of it. Okay. Well, what happens when they come for you for spanking your kids? While they're attacking Christianity, while they're hating on fundamentalism, what happens when they come after you for homeschooling? What happens when they come after you for going to a church like this? And let me tell you something, the way to stop it is by standing up now while it's easy to stand. It's easy to stand now. The cost is low. Pay the cost now or pay 20 times as much later. And you know what? Maybe, you know, maybe our church doesn't look like a palace. Maybe our church isn't gold-plated. But let me tell you something, this church is the real deal. And we need to start more churches like this all over America. And you know what? Thank God for Pastor Dave Berzins. Thank God for Pastor Donnie Romero. Thank God for Pastor Roger Jimenez. Thank God for these guys that are standing in the gap. And by the way, all three of those guys will back me up on this. They've all preached it publicly. They'll all take a stand. But you know what? We don't need three. We need 300 if we're going to stand in the tide. What's it about? It's about our freedom. It's about our ability to just raise our families and live peaceably with all men. You think these people are peaceful? Just come, come see me at the service and come to my email inbox and read all the email messages of hundreds of people who are saying that they're going to come and, and do awful things to me and my whole family. Okay. And you know what? If they could get away with it, they would. That's what they did in Sodom. That's what they did in the land of Benjamin. That's what they would do. I just want to live peaceably with all men, but I want to preach this entire book. And I'm going to preach and I will die for what I believe. I will die. And they come, these reporters come, have come to me every day for the last four or five days. Do you still stand by what you said? Still stand by what you said? So you don't have any remorse at all? You don't regret it at all? I told Telemundo, you know, but they come to me and say, you know, are you sure you still stand by? Don't you still stand by? You know why? Because they're used to preachers folding like a deck of cards. As soon as the persecution or tribulation comes, they, they're offended. Look, we need to stand by our guns. I will die before I change what I believe on this subject. Because it's true. It's right. And somebody's got to say it. Somebody's got to do it. It's a dirty job, but somebody's got to do it. And I, my prayer is that God would send forth laborers into his harvest. First of all, church members that would get involved in soul winning so that we can go out and win people to Christ. Because you know what? If we win people to Christ, they're indwelled by the Holy Spirit. They're not going to be deceived by all this stuff and they're not going to be becoming reprobates and we're, you know, if we can get them saved before it's too late. You know, if somebody could have got to bury Satoro in time, you know, or any of these people in time, you know, and given them the gospel, who knows what would happen differently. So the thing is, if we get involved in soul winning, oh, but I, you know, I just, you know, it's just, I just don't have time. Yeah, but it's going to cost you something to do it. Or we need men to rise up and start churches across America that are going to stand in the gap. Then it won't even be news anymore because it'll be everywhere. Every major city in America, it'll be everywhere. And let me say this, you know, the young men that we need to go out and start churches and pastor and stand in the gap and make up the hedge, you know, they're probably going to have to come from a church like ours because everything brings forth after its own kind. You know, we can't really rely upon somebody else to do it. Now I hope somebody else is doing it. I hope it's happening everywhere. You know, I hope other people, I hope the Spirit of God is moving in a lot of places and that a lot of people are seeing the same thing I'm seeing and feeling the same way that I'm feeling. But we can't really rely on that. You know, we have to kind of take it upon ourselves and say, you know, here are my Lord, send me. And we need these guys to rise up and to start the churches and look, the goal is not to see how big Faithful Word Baptist Church can be. Because honestly, and don't get me wrong, you know, I want the church to grow. The church is growing and thriving by the way. Great attendance this morning. I mean, you know, every day it's great. Our church is getting bigger every year. But that's not really the goal. I'd rather see more people leaving the church to go start other churches in other places than to just build up one big giant church. It'd be better to spread it out because, you know, if it's all in one place, they can attack it all, you know. It's better to build, get a bunch of people in here, get them trained, get them taught and then send them out to go to the Fort Worth, Texas and, you know, Sacramento and Prescott and everywhere else with the Word. It's going to cost us something. Mark chapter 10 says in verse 28, Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed thee. And he was telling the truth when he said that. They really did. The disciples really did that. And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that had left house or brethren or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake in the Gospels, but he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands, yeah, with persecutions. It sounded good there for a minute, huh? Now here's the thing. If it stopped there, if it stopped at he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brethren and sisters and mothers and children and lands, you'd just be like, count me in. This is awesome. You know what? And this is the message of the televangelist today. Whatever you sacrifice for the Lord, you'll get a hundredfold. Isn't that what they say? I guarantee you that televangelist love this verse, but they probably just go, you know, houses, lands, with persecution, you know, because they don't tell you about the persecution part. They just want to tell you, oh, it's going to be great. You're going to live your best life now. You're going to get a hundred times the houses, lands, but here's the thing. You will. God will bless you. You will get those things with persecutions. And if you're not willing to pay that price, then don't try to sign up for the hundredfold blessings. You only get the hundredfold of blessings if you're willing to go through the persecutions because it's a package deal. It comes with persecutions. And of course, you know, in the world to come, you have eternal life. I mean, what's that worth more than anything? And of course, eternal life is achieved only by just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, not of works lest any man should boast. So if you think about it, God's going to bless us when we do what's right, but He's not going to give us a life that's free of persecution or a life that costs us nothing. The Bible says many are the afflictions of the righteous, but out of them all, the Lord delivers them. So my encouragement to you this morning is this. Think about the cost. Count the cost of serving Jesus. Count the cost of becoming a preacher or pastor if that's you this morning, if you're one that would fit that mold. Also count the cost as a church member, as a godly mother, as a godly father, as a godly child. Count the cost as a godly church member, a godly soul winner, and decide to pay the price. And just say in your heart today, I am willing to pay, Jesus has done so much for me, I'm willing to pay the price, I'm willing to pay the cost, and I'm ready to stand and to be counted on the Lord's side. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for these scriptures, Lord. We thank you for David and his heart that said, I wanted to cost me something when I offered something to the Lord. Help us to make spiritual sacrifices and spiritual offerings unto you that cost us something. And not to want this, have it both ways, cost me nothing, convenient, comfortable, Christianity light, fundamentalism light, independent Baptist light, dear God. Help us to stand up and be counted on the Lord's side. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.