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you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you you whoever needs to be added for prayer continue to pray for steadfast Baptist Church you you on Sunday evening last week for all the other Bible memory passages that I owe prizes for is there anyone here that completed either the last passage for Hebrews chapter three or the whole chapter for Hebrews chapter three or all of Hebrews chapter four didn't get their prize for any of those because I gave out you did not so which ones chapter four just chapter four okay chapter four what was the prize for chapter four the chocolate I'll get you your prize in the office I'll bring it out to you you got the the what are those called Ferrero I don't know they're the little chocolate balls that are really good truffles so congratulations on that is there anyone else that did not get a prize that memorized scripture and deserves a prize alright well after after that I'm going to say I'm squared up I think on everybody we'll have to see next week if there's anyone out today but you do get the prizes all the time I'm not I'm not the most punctual with the prizes but they do come if you just keep coming to church you'll get your prize I'm not that far behind okay yes it's eight weeks of Bible memory or whatever but I'm only chapters three and four so alright continuing on we got all these upcoming events down there at the bottom of the page or in the middle of the page I guess we got the home school field trip is the next thing coming up that's the twenty first and then there comes construction on the twenty second that's this Saturday I think already so like this Friday home school field trip this Saturday we're going to combine some construction work here we've got the space next door rented out and we are going to be doing some improvements to help facilitate that we did get the approval from the county on the the request so that's good now it's time and I already accepted one of the quotes for some of the construction work to be done too so the demo work knocking this wall down and doing all that so we'll get that scheduled but in the meantime we're going to be doing other things we're replacing some ceiling tiles maybe putting up some new lighting over there definitely doing some painting some patchwork on the on the drywall the areas that we're not going to be demoing there's still plenty of work to be done unfortunately I was out of town this last week all the way up until literally this morning right before church I just flew in from the airport and I got in so I don't have the the sign up sheet or the list of of things that we're going to be doing on Saturday for construction but if you want to come and help out and just lend a hand with that we'd love to have you here and whether you want to come for construction or not we're also going to be holding a little birthday party for my daughter any of the all the kids are are invited to that we're going to be running out of bounce house so they'll be having fun they'll be able to play and celebrate her birthday as well on that Saturday if you want to come for the birthday you don't have to do a lot of work we're not we're not trying to do that either way but if you're coming to work though there is going to be some fun activities going on for the little kids so that kind of is a benefit there and then October 31st we got the chili cook off starts at 6 o'clock it's a Monday night not a Halloween party okay it's October 31st we don't celebrate Halloween here at stronghold so it's not a costume party it's not anything that it's a chili cook off right we're going to have a lot of fun chili cook off and if you want to enter your chili I recommend you should be working on it already for like the past year at least because the competition is stiff I'm telling you what the people here know how to cook I've been a judge every single year and it is just gets more and more difficult every year people here can and there's a variety of different styles and they're all really really good so bring your A game to this event I shouldn't even have to say this but you know no canned chili things that you got to make your own chili but I'll tell you what if you want to win you have to do that anyways because this canned stuff isn't going to cut it in this competition you got to you got to make it and submit it now we are I want to start promptly at 6 and I understand it's a week night and it could be hard to get here for many people if you're planning on attending because of traffic and everything else on a week night if you want to enter your chili and you're worried about getting here on time bring it on Sunday and we can set up your slow cooker and we can have it on warm or whatever until Monday so that way you can be sure that you are entered into the competition and yeah and if you want to be a judge I'm going to give preference to people who are not having anyone submit chilis from their family just to try to keep things fair but if I need to source judges from people who their family is already bringing one please make sure that you are not around and you're not in the area you don't see you're not tasting you're not smelling the chili that is going to be submitted from your family or else you will be disqualified as a judge but that's going to be a lot of fun we're going to have some games there's going to be plenty of food provided as well and chili cook off soul winning marathon in Columbia South Carolina is on a Saturday home school field trip November 18th you can see all the rest of the activities there we have sign ups for all these activities please sign up let us know if you plan on coming and I know it's it's kind of out there still a little bit December 10th at gingerbread house but please let me know if you plan on attending this and how many gingerbread houses you want for your family because these are already on sale and they might already be gone by like next week at least the ones that we purchase now we could go out and get some smaller ones but I'm telling you you want the gingerbread mansion the gingerbread mansion that's what we typically get for everyone if we have people who have late sign ups and late entries and you want to get in and we already have all the mansions spoken for then you're just going to end up with with a little old house or whatever we get at Walmart or whoever's selling the the gingerbread houses last minute alright so if you plan on coming sign up let us know you're going to be here so you could secure that mansion kind of like securing your mansion in heaven right that's already bought and paid for this is a worldly fleshly carnal mansion they don't even taste that good but they're fun to decorate so anyways we have a lot of fun with that and then we're going to be doing Christmas caroling that same evening too so you want to come for both events great just let us know we'll also be having some food in between here as well upcoming birthdays and anniversaries are listed there looks like we've got anniversary tomorrow alright so happy anniversary how many years 5 years alright hit the 5 mark congratulations on that and that is about it for our announcements so I'm going to turn the service back over to brother Peter he's going to come up he's going to lead us in our next song alright church if you can open up your hymnals this is song number 449 song 449 dwelling in Beulah land song 449 alright church let's wake up this morning with this song song 449 from a bountiful supply for i am dwelling in Beulah land far below the storms of doubt upon the world is beating sons of men in battle the enemy will stand who stayed whereby within the castle of God's word reached me nothing can reach me just Beulah land I'm living from the mountain underneath the cloudless sky I'm drinking at the mountain that never shall run dry let some be steep on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Beulah land let the stormy breezes blow their pride cannot alarm me I am safely sheltered and frozen in my God's hand here the sun is always shining here there's not him or me I am saved forever in Beulah land I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky I'm drinking at the mountain that never shall run dry let some be steep on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Beulah land you will hear the words of God I seek in contemplation hearing now his principles I see the way he played dwelling in the spirit here I learn of full salvation glad he will hide scary in Beulah land I'm living on the mountain underneath the cloudless sky I'm drinking at the mountain that never shall run dry yes I'm feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply for I am dwelling in Beulah land Amen Hopefully everyone's awake this morning Alright great to see you in church I'm just going to collect the plates for me Church while the authoring plates are being passed around you can open up your Bibles to the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12 that's the book of Deuteronomy chapter 12 and as we do customary here at Stronghold Baptist Church we're going to read the entire chapter and ask brother Devin if he can please do that for us That was Deuteronomy chapter 12 These are the statutes and judgments which ye shall observe to do in the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee to possess it all the days that ye live upon the earth Ye shall utterly destroy all the places wherein the nations which ye shall possess serve their gods upon the high mountains and upon the hills and under every green tree and ye shall overthrow their altars and break their pillars and burn their groves with fire and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods and destroy the names of them out of that place ye shall not do so unto the Lord your God but unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put his name there even unto his habitation shall ye seek and thither thou shalt come and thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings and your sacrifices and your tithes and heave offerings of your hand and your vows and your free will offerings and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks and there ye shall eat before the Lord your God and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto ye and your households wherein the Lord thy God hath blessed thee ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance which the Lord your God giveth you but when ye go over Jordan and dwell in the land which the Lord your God giveth you to inherit and when he giveth you rest from all your enemies round about so that ye dwell in safety then there shall be a place which the Lord your God shall choose to call his name to dwell there thither shall ye bring all that I command you your burnt offerings and your sacrifices your tithes and the heave offering of your hand and all your choice vows which ye vow unto the Lord and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God ye and your sons and your daughters and your men servants and your maid servants and the Levite that is within your gates for as much as he hath no part nor inheritance with you take heed to thyself that thou offer not thy burnt offerings in every place that thou seest but in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy tribes there thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings and there thou shalt do all that I command thee notwithstanding thou mayest kill and eat flesh in all thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after according to the blessing of the Lord thy God which he hath given thee the unclean and the clean may eat thereof as of the roebuck and as of the heart on ye shall not eat the blood ye shall pour it upon the earth as water thou mayest not eat within thy gates the tithe of thy corn or of thy wine or thy oil or the firstlings of thy herds or of thy flock nor any of thy vows which thou bowest nor thy free will offerings or heave offering of thine hand but thou must eat them before the Lord thy God in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose thou and thy son and thy daughter and thy man servant and thy maid servant and the Levite that is within thy gates and thou shalt rejoice before the Lord thy God and all that thou puttest thine hands unto take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon the earth when the Lord thy God shall enlarge thy border as he hath promised thee and thou shalt say I will eat flesh because thy soul longeth to eat flesh thou mayest eat flesh whatsoever thy soul lusteth after if the place which the Lord thy God hath chosen to put his name there be too far from thee then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock which the Lord hath given thee as I have commanded thee and thou shalt eat in thy gates whatsoever thy soul lusteth after even as the roebuck and the heart is eaten so shalt thou eat them the unclean and the clean shall eat of them alike only be sure that thou eat not the blood for the blood is the life and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh thou shalt not eat it thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water thou shalt not eat it that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the Lord only thy holy things which thou hast in thy vows thou shalt take and go unto the place which the Lord shall choose and thou shalt offer thy burnt offerings the flesh and the blood upon the altar of the Lord thy God and the blood of thy sacrifices shall be poured out upon the altar of the Lord thy God and thou shalt eat the flesh observe and hear all these words which I command thee that it may go well with thee and with thy children after thee forever when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the Lord thy God shall cut off the nations from before thee whether thou goest to possess them and thou succeedest them and dwellest in their land take heed to thyself that thou be not snared by following them after that they be destroyed from before thee and that thou inquire not after their God saying how did these nations serve their gods even so will I do likewise thou shalt not do so unto the Lord thy God for every abomination to the Lord which he hateth have they done unto their gods for even their sons and their daughters they have burnt in the fire to their gods what things so ever I command you observe to do it that thou shalt not add thereto nor diminish from it let's pray Dear Lord thank you for your word this morning I pray that you would bless our service and thank you for our church Lord thank you for allowing pastor to get back safely in time for church this morning I pray that you would be with him as he comes to preach to us and fill him with your spirit help us all to pay attention to the message this morning and to apply it to our lives to the best of our ability and in Jesus name I pray Amen Alright now I want you to keep a place you can put a bookmark in Deuteronomy chapter 12 and turn if you would to Proverbs chapter number 3 I want to go through some Proverbs before I get into Deuteronomy 12 And what we preach about this morning is doing right in your own eyes doing right in your own eyes we see references to that in Deuteronomy 12 there's a bunch of references in the book of Proverbs and then there's other references in the book of Judges as well where we see it comes up a few times where the people did that which was right in their own eyes And it's really a warning you know as people who believe in the God of the Bible we believe in the Lord and we look to the word of God for our understanding about God about who he is that we don't start to conjure up all of our own ideas about how we want to serve God and all the things that we want to do and all the things that we just think make sense and just kind of do right in our own eyes and not give heed to what God's word actually says because God is actually very particular and he tells us how he wants things done He did that in the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament There are commands, there's ways that God wants to be worshipped, there's certain order to things The Bible says that everything, especially in the house of God, ought to be done decently and in order It's not a free for all, we shouldn't just be thinking, oh I just want to do whatever I want, it's everything God knows my heart, so whatever I want to do is fine Look, that's not the case, I'm just here to tell you that's not true Does God know your heart? Yes Does that mean that then whatever you do, as long as you have a good heart, it's right and acceptable in the eyes of the Lord? No No, it's not true I mean you could go all the way back to Cain and Abel Cain and Abel, what happened with Cain and Abel? Abel's sacrifice, his offering was acceptable by God, right? He brought an animal sacrifice What did Cain bring? Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, right? Of his own labor Now they were both bringing these offerings unto the Lord So I think you could probably fairly say that Cain had his heart in the right place I mean hey, he's bringing something to God, this is my offering Hey God, here's what I have to give to you, I want to make this sacrifice for you You could say his heart was in the right place, but you know what? His offering was not accepted and Abel's was Why? Why? Because that's not what God wanted from Cain He wanted what was acceptable, the type of sacrifice that's acceptable is a blood sacrifice Obviously there's a lot of other implications to that story about the symbolism and everything else Cain brought the work of his own hands, Abel brought the atoning sacrifice And we can go on and on about that, but just from a very high level God did not accept Cain's offering and he did accept Abel's Or how about when Nadab and Abihu, Aaron's sons, they chose to offer up strange fire God says okay, we read through the book of Exodus, we read through Numbers and Deuteronomy And we see God is very particular, is he not? We see the order to, here's how you build the tabernacle You need to have this many tatches and loops and it's going to be overlaid with gold and you're going to use Look, we've been there, right? Hopefully you've read your Bible, you remember those portions of Scripture? I mean you're going on and you're going to combine the hangings together And everything the way it's going to be, God says this is how you do it Okay, that's what needs to be done And he even gave the ingredients for the incense that he wanted burnt in the holy place But you have Aaron's sons, which again I think we could probably reasonably assume That their heart is in the right place, they want to serve God, they're there to serve God But they come up with their own idea in their own mind that they want to do what they think is just right by God Well you know what, maybe if we add some of this other scent, it's going to smell even better Or we'll get more smoke this way or we'll do something to make this a little bit better Or we'll add our own style to this, we'll add our own, whatever their actual reasoning was We don't know that, but it was not acceptable to God in so much that they both died You say but God knows their heart, yes God knows their heart, but when thus saith the Lord Says hey, you don't do this, and then people do it anyways, you better expect there's going to be consequences for that Be not deceived, God is not mindful, what's over a man's soul that that shall he also reap We see the story with King Saul, right He's waiting on Samuel, he's waiting on Samuel to come to offer up the offering before the children of Israel could go out and fight And Samuel's not showing up and he's like well I just got to do this But you know what, no King Saul, the Levites were appointed to that service Samuel's job specifically was to do that job, that is not yours, you're of the tribe of Benjamin You have no business doing the sacrifices of the Lord But he decided to do it anyways, he went outside of God's rules, outside of the commandment of the Lord And you know what, he suffered the consequences as a result Again, you could say his heart was right, he wanted to serve God, he wanted to do the right thing, he wanted to make sure that they offered a sacrifice But no, no you can't just say well I'm just going to do what I think is right We have to look to the word of God if you want to do right Now there's many people who don't, you know, God does know your heart and many people might sin through ignorance But we don't want to be ignorant, right, we want to be wise The Bible says in Proverbs 3, hopefully that's where you are right now We're going to go back to Deuteronomy 12 in a minute Proverbs 3 verse number 5, the Bible reads Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding Don't just trust in the way that you understand things, look lean unto the Lord Well that doesn't make sense, I don't know how, look, if the word of God says something, just trust that Trust what it says, don't just lean on your own understanding Verse 6 says in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths God will lead you, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil So don't just think you're wise in your own eyes, we need to fear God and depart from evil Flip over to chapter 12 Verse number 15, Proverbs 12, 15, the Bible says The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise And you know, it's not just, the way of a fool is always right, a fool always thinks that they're doing right in their own eyes They're just like, man, I'm right But I think a lot of people have this mindset too, right, but it's a foolish mindset to have Everything that I do is right, I just think I'm right about everything, look, you're not, first of all But we need to hearken unto counsel and hear what other people have to say and hear especially the counsel of the Lord You want to know what's right, go to the word of God, get that godly counsel And understand that you might be wrong about some things and not just think that everything that you do is right because you're doing it, no Proverbs 16 verse 2, same thing, similar things as all the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes, but the Lord wayeth the spirits Turn to Proverbs 30, I'm going to read from Proverbs 21 verse 2 Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts Okay, again, so many times we're seeing, you know, people think in their own eyes they're right But we got to get off of the mindset of just being stuck on what our own eyes think, what our own heart thinks And we need to compare that to the wisdom from the word of God Proverbs chapter 30 verse 11, the Bible says, there is a generation that cursed their father and doth not bless their mother There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes and yet is not washed from their filthiness There is a generation, oh how lofty are their eyes and their eyelids are lifted up There is a generation whose teeth are as swords and their jaw teeth as knives To devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men And, you know, I wanted to go through all these various statements here in Proverbs 30 verse 11 through 14 Because it seems to me like that generation is rising right now There's a generation that cursed their father and doth not bless their mother There's a lot of children that are growing up even in our day and our society and our culture That don't care at all about respecting their own mother and father They're getting very stubborn and rebellious and just turning away from anything mom and dad have to say And just want to do their own things They're pure in their own eyes while they commit filthiness You're not washed from your filthiness They think they're pure, they think they're right But they're not washed from their filthiness There's a generation that says, oh how lofty are their eyes, they're full of pride They're blinded by their own pride Their eyelids are lifted up And then that same generation whose teeth are as swords, jaw teeth as knives To devour the poor from off the earth and the needy from among men Pride will often times cause people to think that everything that they do is right All that I do is right, I'm pure in my own eyes My way is right and everyone else needs to follow my ways And do it the way that I think, do it the way that I said Watch out for that attitude You go back to Deuteronomy chapter 12, I'm going to read one more passage for you from the Old Testament, Isaiah chapter 5 Isaiah 5, 20, the Bible says woe unto them that call evil good and good evil That put darkness for light and light for darkness That put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight These days, especially, even amongst so-called Christians, there are people who want to mock the Bible and talk bad about places of the Bible Whether they don't understand it or they think it's bad or evil or something like that And they'll say that, oh yeah, the word of God there, that Old Testament stuff, I don't know about all that And they kind of stand in judgment of the law of God You know, you call yourself a Christian and you believe the Bible And you're going to start standing in judgment of God's holy laws And start siding with the atheist that wants to mock at God's laws, shame on you You know what, there's a lot of laws in the Bible that are good laws You know, in fact, all of them are All of them are good Why? Because they're from God They're from God I'll read a few of them for you Because these are not the popular ones In fact, these are so unpopular that in some countries I would get arrested, literally, for reading the verses I'm going to read right now You know what that tells me? More people need to be reading these verses out loud in church on Sundays So that we don't face the same fate that other people face in other countries Because you've got too many preachers that just want to say everything that's nice and good and friendly to everybody And never preach anything out of the law of the Lord And now they've lost their opportunity to freely preach the word of God The Bible says in Leviticus chapter 20, verse number 9 I'll go up to, yeah, verse number 9 You know what I say to that? Amen Oh, you think that someone that curses Yes, I do, yes I do That's a wholly just law by God himself Okay, if you have a problem with that law I can't believe you sound like you'd be a You know, like some Muslim What is it? Why is my brain? Taliban Taliban, thank you Yeah, you're like the Taliban You're the Taliban You think that they should be Yeah, it's a Taliban It's the Taliban, you know what? If the Taliban has some law that matches with God's law, then that's right Now the Taliban has all kinds of crazy stuff, so no, we're not the Taliban But you know what? If you call yourself a Bible-believing Christian You're going to start calling people a Taliban because they're going to read Leviticus chapter 20, verse number 9 And say, you know what, that's a good law Then shame on you Keep reading here Verse 10 Yeah, I know we live in a very adulterous society But you know what? Maybe it wouldn't be so adulterous if we actually had God's laws in place instead of Nowadays it's just, well, yeah You get married, divorced, adultery, whatever God's law isn't a crime Punishable by death It's a big deal And you know, just because we don't have these laws, Christian Don't just feel like, well, it's not that big of a deal then If God has these laws, it is a big deal It doesn't have to be enforced by our government today for it to be a big deal How about you live your life different than just letting the government dictator or man Dictate what's right and wrong and immorality And lean not on your own understanding But how about you go seek godly counsel from the word of God And see what God commanded Because you know what, these things They're still wrong Even though they're not We're not the nation of Israel We're not in the Old Testament We don't have these laws in effect today But God's feelings and thoughts on what should be done about this Hasn't changed Hasn't changed And don't tell me, oh, in the New Testament there's a woman taken in adultery Look, the woman taken in adultery When they asked Jesus about her First of all, it was a trap to try to get him To go against the Roman government By saying she should be put to death That was the trap To say, well, if he says she should be put to death Then they're going to go to the Romans and say Oh look, he's trying to usurp your authority Because the Jews weren't allowed to put people to death So they're trying to trick him and trap him in his words But second of all, what did he actually say? He that's without sin among you, let him cast the first stone Did he say don't put her to death? Nope Now did he answer wisely? Yes Did the person have to go, no She didn't get put to death And did Jesus come to seek and save that which is lost? Yes, his mission here was not to rule with a rod of iron But to offer himself up as a sacrifice so that people could be saved But you know what, Jesus is coming back A second time And he is going to set up his kingdom And he is going to rule and reign with a rod of iron That's what the Bible says Read your Bible, folks Don't think he's going to come back and just Well, it's going to be anything goes As long as your heart's right Yeah, I mean, there's lots of married people out there They're following their heart And they're going and committing adultery Let's read a few more of these laws Verse number 11 And the man that lieth with his father's wife Hath uncovered his father's nakedness Both of them shall surely be put to death Their blood shall be upon them Amen And if a man lie with his daughter-in-law Both of them shall surely be put to death They have wrought confusion Their blood shall be upon them Amen How about verse 13 If a man also lie with mankind As he lieth with a woman Both of them have committed an abomination They shall surely be put to death Their blood shall be upon them Amen Amen All of it And if a man take a wife and her mother It is wickedness They shall be burnt with fire Both he and they That there be no wickedness among you And if a man lie with a beast He shall surely be put to death And he shall slay the beast Amen Amen Amen I mean, we keep on going on down the list You know what I'm going to say? Amen That's good Don't lean to your own understanding That's influenced by this wicked, sinful Perverted world that we live in Go to the light, the word of God That's going to illuminate what is good And just and righteous So the Bible says Woe to those that call evil good And good evil And woe unto them that are wise In their own eyes And prudent in their own sight We'll go back to Deuteronomy chapter 12 That's where you should be We started off with this chapter And you'll notice here That again, this whole chapter really And I didn't have all these different sections In my notes But even as I was listening Brother Devin read the whole chapter out loud It's just like Time after time after time God is giving instructions About what the children of Israel Are supposed to do Verse number 8 It says Ye shall not do After all the things that we do here this day Every man whatsoever Is right in his own eyes So the Bible is saying there Hey, we're not going to do Just what's happening right now Which is everyone just doing Whatever is right in their own eyes And he explains to them Look, when you get into that promised land You're going to go And you're going to worship In the place that God chooses You're going to go Where God selects Where his name is going to be And that's where you're going to go And anything that the Lord says That's what we're going to do And how do we apply this How do we apply this today Okay, well we don't have a temple We don't have the tabernacle But you know where God has placed his name In the New Testament Your local church And how do people do that Which is right in their own eyes They say Oh, I don't I don't have to go to church And one of the most favorite verses to quote They can't tell you where it is They say Well, when two or three are gathered together In my name They'll say No, that's not what the Bible says People misquote it And they misunderstand it Jesus said When two or three are gathered together In my name There am I in the midst of them That's true That's a true statement But that's not church Church's assembly Or congregation People gathered together To serve the Lord Okay Now, it doesn't have to have A certain number of people To be assembled as a congregation But I'll tell you what My family When we gather together And I read the Bible to my kids That's not church I'm doing what I've already been instructed to do Of teaching diligently my children The Word of God Which is what every parent Should be doing with their children According to the Word of God But that's not church And we could go I'm not gonna turn there Just for sake of time Ephesians chapter 4 God lists off All the different Roles and Jobs He's given unto men And talents He's given unto men To be able to help Every believer In their Christian life That they be no longer children Tossed to and fro With every wind of doctrine The Bible says That's why God has given Teachers And pastors And apostles And prophets He's given all these people To do these things To help instruct And help teach the Word of God You know There's qualifications given On the bishop So I like to ask The person who thinks That you're having church When you're just hanging out At home And you sing a song And you read the Bible Together Where's the bishop? Because Titus was left In Crete In order to put things In order by the apostle Paul The churches that didn't Have bishops That didn't have pastors He said You need to fix this Because these churches Are lacking something There's something wanting there They need to have Ordained elders In every church He wasn't going to People's households Going okay Okay family I need to ordain An elder here Let's see Who should it be Out of all the kids And then mom and dad Who should I ordain To be the elder No There's an actual Congregation Because it's a church We know what a church is It's a gathering Together of believers And amongst those Believers There had to be someone That was qualified To fill the role Of that pastor And that's a proper church In God's eyes It's a congregation A gathering A gathering A gathering A gathering It's not enough Just to sit at home And say you're going To church Well God knows my heart Look Do you need To go a church And be saved No No You can be saved And never go To church A day in your life But does God Want you Never going To church No Because Hebrews Chapter 10 Come this Wednesday And I'll preach A little bit more now more than ever we need to be able to edify and admonish one another and provoke and the love and the good works that all goes along with going to church but people have this this idea of what's right in their own eyes and not relying on what the scripture says the scripture says don't forsake the assembling but people in their hearts and in their minds and in their own imagination says well I mean God God doesn't have to just be limited to some location look God doesn't have to be limited to some location he's not limited to some location but that doesn't mean it's not a commandment still to go to church it's not that difficult right but but it's because people don't want to go and then they end up making up their own excuses for not doing the things that are right according Bible or they're just really ignorant don't know any better okay but look if you're ignorant get some smarts from the Word of God and you know what God has already promised in James chapter 1 God has promised you that if you are lacking wisdom all you have to do is ask and he'll give liberally unto you unto those that ask God for wisdom he'll give it unto you what a great promise I love that promise of God I love all the promises of God because if God says something we know that he's true to his word every single time so if you're lacking wisdom in any area seek God he doesn't want you to be without wisdom like proverb says hey wisdom's the principal thing therefore get wisdom with all I get and get understanding flip over if you would please now to judges chapter 17 and Deuteronomy 12 I'm not going to rehash all the verses we already read the entire chapter but he's saying look in the place which the Lord shall choose that's where I want you to go that's where I want you to serve me that's where I want you to to come and sir do your service unto me and you have to decide for yourself well where is that today where does God want you it's not sitting it's not sleeping in on Sunday morning I'll tell you that it may not be necessarily here at this church okay I'm not I'm not I'm not that proud to think that everyone has to be coming to my church no but you need to find out where God is gonna have you to go because God builds the church he adds the members to the church but if you're just refusing to become a member of a church then that's you that's your problem allow God to place you where he wants you to be but it is somewhere now in the book of judges there's a couple references to people doing that which is right in your own eyes and this statement is always made after people are just doing things really wrong okay every time this is brought up specifically and it's we're gonna get to the last chapter 2 and chapter 21 the last chapter book of judges and just kind of closes and summarizes the chap the the whole book practically of people just doing that which is right in their own eyes let's look at this first one on judges 17 verse number one the Bible says and there was a man of Mount Ephraim whose name was Micah and he said unto his mother the 1,100 shekels of silver that were taken from thee about which thou cursed and spake of also in mine ears behold the silver is with me I took it and his mother said blessed be thou the Lord my son and this story you know I preached through the book of judges already in his church but it always kind of makes me laugh like this woman she couldn't find this money right this silver and she's this like she's cursing oh man what happened his money and then he's like hey remember that you know that big deal you made about it so he's like I got it like I took it and she's like oh blessed are you honey look if one of my kids came to me and said like hey I stole your money you know that you know it was like like a few hundred bucks that you left loud on your nightstand and and you know you've been trying to find it you're trying to pay the bills with it and then and then oh yeah I got it I'm not gonna be like oh you're such a blessing it's just it's just kind of weird to me it's just funny though but so here's what she is and then it's funny too because then she's like oh yeah I was gonna make this this idol forever but then she doesn't spend the same amount of money on it that she says that she was gonna use all the money for right like it's it was all just fake it's phony verse 3 says and when he had restored the 1100 shekels of silver to his mother his mother said I had wholly dedicated the silver unto the Lord from my hand for my son she's like I already this was all dedicated for you it was dedicated to the Lord but it was for you this 1100 shekels to make a graven image in a molten image now therefore I will restore it unto thee and she's like I'm gonna give it back to you because this was meant for you now first of all you could say well our heart was right I was dedicated to the Lord dedicated Lord to make an idol okay breaking like the first two commandments in the Ten Commandments okay not to have any other gods before God and then not to make yourselves any images no idols no idolatry it's commandment number two like you're not serving the Lord by making an idol you're breaking the commandment verse 4 yet he restored the money unto his mother and his mother took how much Oh 200 shekels of silver and gave them to the founder wait a minute I thought it was like 1100 oh here's 200 and gave them to the founder who made thereof a graven image in a molten image and they were in the house of Micah so it's all just phony right it's all fake stuff but this is what people do and they think that they talk a real big game they talk this great spiritual talk and it all it sounds so great and it's all right in their own eyes but it's just all wrong and the man Micah verse 5 had in house of gods how is that right and made an ephod and and consecrated one of his sons who became his priest he probably called him father in those days there was no king in Israel but every man did that which was right in his own eyes and that statement comes up again it's the same mindset though just like saying well I mean Micah just did all this stuff they're making these idols he had his house of gods why because everyone just did that which was right in their own eyes and then we get to judges 21 and judges 21 just to put it in context for you there's a terrible story in judges chapter 19 okay about the sons of Belial children of the devil sodomites in judges 19 they're sodomites okay they came and just like they did when lot when the angels came into Sodom and the sodomites surrounded the house and bang on the door and like bring them bring out those men that we might know them right now and they were they were just looking to abuse the same thing happens in judges chapter 19 they're looking for the man that shows up what happens though instead of like the story ends a little bit differently Genesis 19 versus judges 19 and judges 19 they send out this man's concubine and then they abuse her all night until she dies okay these vicious bile animals do this whole commit this horrible atrocity right and then you know the word goes out so this guy brings her body back and and sends out pieces of it to all the twelve tribes of Israel being like look at what happened here and one of our tribes of it like this is terrible can you believe that this happened what are we going to do about this so they come together as one man and going like no we are not going to stand for this we are not going to tolerate this but the tribe of Benjamin said no we're not going to deliver up those guys we're going to harbor these these perverts that did this thing and we're not going to give them up to you they're not we're not given so there's this battle right and then and then they have this battle and God ultimately delivers Benjamin all you know every you're the wicked people as well as those that were harboring them and and you know they got destroyed in so much that the entire tribe was almost it was on the verge of just going away completely so in the midst of all of this in judges 21 they you know they they try to figure out what to do because they didn't want to lose an entire tribe of the children of Israel like we can't lose a tribe but they had already made these vows of saying hey look man we're not going to give any of our why our daughters unto Benjamin to be wives so now they've got a problem they've killed all these men and then there's no wives for them to take so now they're trying to figure out in their own mind well how are we going to solve this problem and we'll read through some of judges 21 here look at verse number one about says now the men of Israel had sworn and misbe saying there shall not any of us give his daughter unto Benjamin to wife and the people came to the house of God and abode there till even before God and lifted up their voices and wept sore and said Oh Lord God of Israel why is this come to pass in Israel that there should be today one tribe lacking in Israel and it first of all there's you know they're kind of just going to God they were God why would this say you know woe is me why would this happen God look God didn't make that happen everything that's happening here is is the result of people making their own choices not God doing this it's not like God brought this terrible the people were wicked God delivered the victory but then they made these extra vows and decided to do this other stuff that God didn't tell them to do and now they're trying to save a tribe but even still God didn't say they had to save the tribe either that was in their own heart that's what they wanted to do verse number four and it came to pass on tomorrow that the people rose early and built there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings and children of Israel said who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the congregation unto the Lord for they had made a great oath concerning him that came not up to the Lord to misbe saying he shall surely be put to death and when you notice in the Bible there's a lot of people making a lot of different oaths they don't always turn out very well Jeff does another one in the book of Judges we see he makes this oath of offering unto God whatever comes and meets me first and happens it's his own daughter so he's left with the choice of breaking his oath to the Lord or you know having to sacrifice his own daughter and it's and it's just a lose-lose situation no matter how you cut it so they make this oath and say well we made this oath so now now we have to put these other people to death because they didn't come up and fight verse 6 and the children of Israel repented them for Benjamin their brother and said there is one tribe cut off from Israel this day how shall we do for wives for them that remain seeing we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them of our daughters to wives and they said what one is there of the tribes of Israel that came not up to miss Peter the Lord and behold there came none to the camp from Jabesh Gilead to the assembly for the people were numbered and behold there were none of the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead there and the congregation sent there there 12,000 men of the valiantest and commanded him saying go and smite the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead with the edge of the sword with the women and the children and this is the thing that you shall do you shall utterly destroy every male and every woman that hath lain by man and they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead 400 young virgins that had known no man by lying with any male and they brought them unto the camp to Shiloh which is in the land of Canaan and the whole congregation sent some to speak to the children of Benjamin that were in the rock women and to call peaceably unto them and Benjamin came again at that time and they gave them wives which they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh Gilead and yet so they suffice them not so this plan okay who didn't come up we're gonna go and destroy all the men and all the women who have who've lain with man and we're just gonna take the virgins out and we're gonna give them unto Benjamin to be their wives now look nowhere in this story are you seeing God commanding this to be done okay these events really happened and it's recorded in the Bible but just because these events are recorded in the Bible does not make what they actually did here correct this doesn't mean that their course of action was the right course of action I hear people all the time trying to say like oh well not try to give his two daughters unto them yeah that wasn't right he did try to do that just like in judges 19 just before the predecessor to this story here we're reading the man gave his concubine that wasn't right either but it's what happened okay it's literally what happened we see what actually happened those are not the commandments of God saying yeah just throw the women out there to the wolves no we have a teaching from you know Ephesians chapter 5 that husbands are supposed to love their wives even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it so if men were following God's commands they'd be protecting their women not offering them up to the wolves okay that that would be following God's commands but these people didn't why because they did that which was right in their own eyes that's why and when you read this whole chapter they come up with all these different ideas and then they come up to this other one and for sake of time we're not going to read you can read the rest of the chapter later and then they're just like well there's not enough wives for them so now what are we going to do and then they're like well no one's going to give wives to them so I know there's this festival coming up and these these virgin girls are going to be out dancing and here's what you do Benjamin you just lie in wait and when you see them out there dancer you just go out there and kidnap them and take them back with you and then they could be your wives and then the people whose daughters they are you know when they get upset we're gonna be like well hey you didn't give it to them in merit you know you're not breaking your oath because you didn't like give them your daughters in marriage they took them but they need to have wives so there you go like that's what you get when people are just doing that which is right in their own eyes and they're trying to appease everybody at this wall we love Benjamin and all y'all look when they do something that wicked where God saying it's the death penalty then it's the death penalty but then on top of that you don't go above and beyond the Word of God either and start adding your own things to God's commandments you he doesn't say well then go and destroy all their family and everyone else look that's not what the Bible says either there was a time where the the the women and children everyone is getting wiped out but that's when the Canaanites are getting driven out because they were being judged by God but that wasn't like the law of the land that if anyone does this crime then everybody gets destroyed if we get you have to read the Bible to get that to look to that to get the understanding of that and judges 21 verse 25 it says in those days there was no king in Israel every man did that which was right in his own eyes and that's how it sums up this whole thing like well people just basically was doing that which is right in their own eyes so that's not a stamp of approval on what on everything that happened but it's what happened because everyone just did that which was right in their own eyes in both times though and judges it also makes a mention to because there was no king right this is also very important because in God's law he did not instruct for the children of Israel to have a king a human king I should say the way that God's government was designed to work is that there is a king but the king is the Lord he's the lawgiver he's the one that they look to to guide them and lead them and instruct them he's the one that was gonna how about does this sound familiar deliver them from all their enemies fight their battles for them he was gonna be their defense and their shield he was their king but they didn't look to God as their king they wanted a man to be their king and the problem with a man as your king is you're gonna have the same problems with or without because it's a man you're gonna trade some problems for other problems maybe and they would just kept looking for man you know ultimately they found somebody and and and they kept on complaining about not having a king to where God just said fine give him a king then because they're already don't have me as the king and if that's what they want then just give it to him that was with Samuel when they finally anointed Saul to be their king and they had judges God said no there's gonna be judges are gonna help out with the law with God's law but they're looking to God as the king they're looking to God as a ruler but applying the law of the land that's why you have the judges but unfortunately they couldn't keep that very well because they kept on just doing that which is right in their own eyes with no regard to the who is supposed to be their king which is God and even back in judges 8 with Gideon you can see they just had this the people has had this heartless mindset of wanting to have a king when Gideon won that big victory right when really God won that big victory using Gideon Gideon knew this and he understood this but the people are trying to make hey we want you to rule over us we want you to be our king you and then your sons after you we want you to be our king and rule over us but Gideon answered and I want to read this for you and judges 822 then the men of Israel said unto Gideon rule thou over us both thou and thy son and thy son son also for thou has delivered us from the hand of Midian and Gideon said unto them I will not rule over you neither shall my son rule over you the Lord shall rule over you he knew the way it was supposed to be it he's telling them and and you know thankfully even Gideon was like able to resist that draw of having all the power and being the king and being able to refuse that and say no I don't want to be your king God's your king let God rule over you not me not my sons Gideon wasn't perfect his sons weren't perfect saying you know what God is let God rule over you stop looking for the man to lead you and and be your ruler let God be your ruler but no that's not that's not the way the nation's all around them did it that's not the way everyone else did it that's not the way the world did it they wanted to be like the world and see where that got him turn if you would please to first Kings chapter number 15 the first part of them I want to focus on all these sections where the Bible talking about people who did things in their own eyes now we're going to look at when people do things right in God's eyes and instead of worrying about doing things right in your own eyes we need to be caring about and thinking about what is right in God's eyes that's what's gonna help you make good judgment calls and do the right thing is stop thinking about well what do I think is right well what does God think is right that's ultimately what really matters first Kings chapter 15 verse number four the Bible says nevertheless for David's sake did the Lord his God give him a lamp in Jerusalem to set up his son after him and to establish Jerusalem because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord and turn not aside from anything that he commanded him all the days of his life save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite so obviously I was a really big failure of David the adultery and the murder of Uriah the Hittite big deal God mentions that but he says you know other than that he was seeking the Lord he was making decisions based on God he was going to God to instruct him and you see that throughout the scripture well God should I go against this people God are you with me God do we do this God do we do that what should we do Lord and he was looking to the Lord for his instruction all the days except where he failed and gave in to his lust and tried to cover up his sin and then once he was found out he repented he got you know he turned back to the Lord and continued that but he was the example of someone that is continually looked back on as someone who did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord because he sought the Lord forever for all all this counsel in what he should be doing jump down verse number 11 Bible says an Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord as did David his father so this is a descendant of David in that same lineage and he did that which was right in the eyes of Lord and I just you can't help but notice if you keep reading like verse number 12 it says and he took away the sodomites out of the land and removed all the idols that his fathers had made so the Bible just gets done saying hey Asa did that which is right in the eyes of the Lord and then we see what Asa did what did he do that was right well you got all the sodomites out of land amen that was a godly thing to do way to go Asa it wasn't well just let them be they don't bother you no it was let's get the filth out the abominable thing hey let's let's get rid of it that's what was right and also Manka's mother even her he removed from being Queen because she made an idol in a grove and Asa destroyed her idol and burnt it by the Brook hydrant he wasn't a respectable persons either I mean even someone in a position like Queen he's like no you don't do this idolatry that's wicked that's wrong you're not Queen sorry not gonna have it being looking to what was right in the eyes of the Lord that's how you do it that's how you make the tough decisions well if he does that that's gonna cause family problems that's it look what's right in the eyes of God do you love your family more or do you love God more your relationship I mean even with your mom your own mother now we don't go out of our way to destroy relationships with our family right we want to have good relationships with our family but here's the thing if push comes a shove and there's and there's a decision that needs to be made of hey this is what God says and this is what God's Word says in order for me to be obedient unto the Word of God it's gonna cause a problem with a family member then you know you got to side with God every time every time and you know what's gonna happen as a result oh you're in a cult you're in a cult that I don't know I can't tell you how many times people think I'm a cult leader I know we think that's funny but you know and you know what you think I'm a cult leader go ahead and leave see how hard I try to stop you I don't know many cult leaders that are like yeah go ahead I don't think it was that easy for the people in Jim Jones plantation to just leave but you know I'm a cult leader what can I say what what it really is is that the families don't like when people get sold out for serving the Lord because it makes them weird and it does it does make you weird you are different and you know I'm no different I've dealt with the same things you know who's my cult leader pastor Anderson so I'm your cult leader he's my cult leader you know we've all you're probably if you haven't heard it yet you probably will hear it okay I hear stories from other people you know how terrible we are because we like having a lot of kids we like women that dress like women and men that dress like men you know what are all the what are the things we you know we read the Bible quite a bit we don't you know watch all the same things that maybe you used to watch or listen to the same things you used to listen to what are all the other horrible things that we do I'm trying to remember like what are all these are the things that get people really burned up and really angry oh yeah yeah we're not loving of the fags like we just don't love them and want them to come in and and run our children's ministries and and do things like that because we actually think they're predators you know when I read Genesis 19 and Judges 19 I see a different picture than than what they're trying to do you know but it but it but if you were to say oh man they're not targeting kids yeah that's why they have the drag queen story time at the library right because they're not targeting kids okay you keep blinding yourself you want to yeah but but that makes us a cult too right it's funny because the things that make you a cult today 30 years ago wouldn't made you a cult it's just today when people are so enlightened and so smart and so loving right 30 years ago no one had a problem with any of the words I just said yeah the things that are filthy are filthy and are gonna keep being filthy and are always filthy and you know what praise the Lord for giving us the truth and how we ought to be thinking about things and not just being wise in our own eyes turn if you would to Acts chapter 4 Acts chapter 4 we get the last example in the New Testament of people who are not caring what other people think what other people are gonna say but they're gonna follow the Word of God because it's God's Word because they care more about what God thinks than they care about what man thinks Acts chapter 4 verse 16 the Bible says saying what shall we do to these men for that indeed a notable miracle has been done by them is manifest to all of them that dwell in Jerusalem and we cannot deny it but that it spread no further among the people let us really threaten them that they speak henceforth to no man in this name talking about the name of Jesus and they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus but Peter and John answered and said unto them whether it be right in the sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God judge ye for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard you're saying look you could judge for yourself whether or not you think if you think that we're gonna listen to you instead of listening to what the Word of God says you you you judge for that for yourself you you you decide what you think we're gonna do for a listen to you if we're gonna listen to God and then in chapter 5 verse 27 the Bible says and when they had brought them they set them before the council and the high priest asked them saying did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name and behold you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us then what are you guys doing then we already tell you not to do this I thought we said we commanded you don't don't talk about Jesus then Peter and the other apostles answer and said we ought to obey God rather than men okay people are always getting uncomfortable you know I got uncomfortable you're trying to bring the blood Jesus like well maybe you shouldn't have put him to death then maybe you shouldn't have convinced the people to say hey his blood be on us and on our children maybe maybe you shouldn't have done that and and then you wouldn't have to worry about his blood being on you how about that now you're worried about the consequences of what of the the wickedness that you were promoting that's on you okay and you know what calling out wicked things sometimes it makes people uncomfortable especially when those things are all tolerated and promoted and accepted in a society it makes people uncomfortable but you know I'm gonna obey God and not man and it may be is uncomfortable this isn't comfortable Baptist Church there's plenty of those you can you can walk wander down the street anywhere and walk into church you'll probably find a comfortable Baptist Church not very far from here have fun you will not hear the uncomfortable things though that's a trade-off you just feel good every week you have to hear things whoa man I don't know about that well get your head out of the world and stop listening to people who just want to tell you things that are right in their own eyes and how loving they are because you know the people that are more watch out for the people who are more loving than God whatever the people who want to stand in judgment of God's laws and what God to watch out for that they'll vehemently tell you how horrible we are okay if you choose for yourself and I'm not saying we're perfect okay I'm not I'm not perfect but God's Word is perfect and there are plenty of things that are very clear as day what the Bible says commands of the Lord his judgments and they're righteous and true and there's not wiggle room when God says something so wicked it should be it deserves a death penalty good luck trying to convince me that that no we should be tolerant and no and that's from cursing father or mother to sodomy I mean whatever it's all wicked and it's gonna be condemned as such according to the Word of God and if it makes you uncomfortable then I don't know what to tell you start loving God's Word more we need to look and decide is what is this right in God's eyes or is it just right in man's eyes go with what's right in God's eyes let's pray do everything father we thank you so much for your word and for the instruction for the law it's a lamp for our feet dear Lord to light our way I pray to please help us to show good judgment and good discernment dear Lord and this crooked and perverse nation and we live in dear Lord and and all the the God haters that are trying to influence so much of our culture into just rejecting your word but God I pray to please help us to stay faithful and to teach others and to exhort others dear Lord to to see to pick up the Bible for themselves and to in to read it and to see what your word says dear Lord and that we should be exalting your word and not making excuses for it Lord we love you and pray to please bless our church and help us to fulfill that ultimate great commission of reaching people the gospel of Christ that they could know Christ as their Savior and be saved for eternity we love you in Jesus name we pray amen all right we're gonna sing one last song before we're dismissed for the Peter please lead us all right church if you can open up your head knows 60 it's all over 260 is able to the little bit it's all Jordan 60 on the first Oh he is able to deliver on the last the amen church racing and thank you so much for coming you guys you you