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Amen, all right well thank you let me just begin by saying thank you for being here tonight I appreciate you being here let me also begin by apologizing the service starting late was my fault all right normally you can you can blame Pastor Jones for everything that happens wrong around here but tonight I have to take the blame I'm the one that said hey let's wait for the new pulpit I was hoping it'd be shorter to be honest with you but now I'm just kidding I said hey let's wait for the pulpit and so you can blame me for the service starting late you can also blame me for getting out late so just go ahead and blame me for everything tonight and we are so glad to be here and I just want to thank you for coming out on a Friday night and you know I just want to say thank you to Pastor Jones and Miss Jessica and they're just great friends of ours and we're so proud of them and we're just proud of this church I'm glad to be here and see new faces and this building is wonderful this pulpit is wonderful and you guys are doing a great great work and you know I also want to say thank you to just Verity Baptist Church I think there's five families from our church that will be up here this weekend some of them are still coming some of them will be leaving but you know many of them have never seen this place but yet these are the people that supported this place financially that worked hard to give us the freedom in Sacramento to be able to do these things that we do and I'd ask you to be in prayer we just planted a church in Fresno it's our fifth church that we've planted including this one and just be praying for that you guys are doing a great great job here and we appreciate you being here and you know Kyle Lynn is doing a great great job at the piano good job and I want to remind Pastor Jones and Miss Jessica that the deal was that if we sent them up here that they would eventually send Kyle Lynn and Kinley back to Sacramento now you guys can keep Kaden but you know we do expect them to come back at some point of course I'm just kidding we're there in Numbers chapter 16 it's a very well known story of Korah and I'm not preaching about Korah tonight but you do need to understand the story of Korah to understand my sermon and we'll just look at it real quickly they're just kind of by way of introduction number 16 if you look at verse 1 the Bible says this now Korah the son of Ishar the son of Kohath the son of Levi and Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab and on the son of Pilate the sons of Reuben took men notice verse number 3 and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron so of course the famous story of Korah is the fact that Korah led a rebellion against Moses who was the man of God and Aaron who was his brother and his partner and notice what they said and said unto them you take too much upon you seeing all the congregation are holy even every one of them and the Lord is among them wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord notice verse number four there and when Moses heard it he fell upon his face so the story of Korah is that Korah led a revolt or a rebellion against Moses and then of course we see in the story that God judges in this situation on behalf of Moses look at verse 16 and Moses said unto Korah be thou and all thy company before the Lord thou and they and Aaron tomorrow so basically Moses puts out this challenge and he says you know what let God deal with this let God tell us who it is that he has chosen skip down to verse 28 and Moses said hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works for I have not done them of mine own mind if these men die the common death of all men or if they be visited after the visitation of all men then the Lord hath not sent me so I want you to notice what Moses said Moses says if these men die just like any other man dies just a normal death they die of old age or whatever it might be then he says then you know what then God hasn't sent me then they're right notice verse 30 but if the Lord make a new thing and the earth open her mouth and swallow them up with all that opportunity unto them and they go down quick into the pit then he shall understand that these men have provoked the Lord and it came to pass as he had made an end of speaking all these words that the ground clave asunder that was under them and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that appertain unto Korah and all their good so we see that Moses puts out this challenge he says you know what tomorrow God is gonna show us who he's actually chosen he says if these men die a common death then God didn't send me but he says if God does a new thing and the earth opens her mouth then you'll know that these were not good men and then the Bible says that God opened up the earth and they went down and swallowed them up and their houses and they went down quick into the pit and they actually went there alive now that's the context of the story and usually when we're number 16 that's what we focus on I'm the story of Korah and I'm not preaching about Korah tonight but I do want you to understand the idea of Korah and I'd like you to keep your place to our number 16 that's our text for tonight but go to the book of Acts just real quickly Acts chapter 20 in the New Testament you've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Acts chapter 20 and look at verse number 29 and just by way of introduction let me say this in our type of churches and when I say our type of churches you need to understand that you are sitting in a church that is not like any other church in Boise and you know I'm always surprised whenever I come to Boise how many churches there are in this city I mean just driving from the hotel to this location I think we drove by I'm not joking like 10 churches I mean I'd look I'd look down the street and I see a church sitting next to a church and there was a church behind the church you know and it's just kind of like good night but let me tell you say well why start a church like that in a city like this well here's the thing there's no church like this church in this city that's gonna preach the Bible the way that it needs to be preached that it's gonna have the energy behind reaching people with the gospel and all those things and you know that but when you are part of a church like this you need to understand that churches like these bother Satan and they are in the crosshairs of Satan Satan wants to target churches just like this so here's what you need to understand in a church like this just don't let this discourage you don't let this offend you but you're going to always have people who will come in here and try to cause problems you say why is that I used to go to this other lame church and they never had these problems exactly because they were late but when you're actually in a church that's actually preaching the Bible that's actually changing life it's actually doing what they should be doing Satan is going to be attacking this church and this was found look Moses was attacked by Korah notice what the Apostle Paul says in Acts chapter 20 look at verse 29 he says for I know this is what Paul said he said I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock and really I think I even read this passage when I left this church because if you remember Verdi Baptist Church Sacramento we started this church and it was first called Verdi Vancouver good night it was first called Verdi Boise and but but then I renamed Pastor Jones to come up here and he changed the name to Shield of Faith which we were glad for him to do that of course and to cut the cord and it became an independent church with its own pastor but honestly you know these words I I'm pretty sure I read these words to you guys that last service that I was here as the pastor of this church because this is what the Apostle Paul said to that church a church he planted there in Ephesus as he was leaving it he says I know this that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you not sparing the flock notice he says they're gonna enter in from they're gonna come in among you they're gonna be with you notice verse 30 also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things you say why do people come in from our own selves to speak perverse things to do things not the right way a crooked way to cause problems here's why to draw away disciples after them they come in so that because you think they know they're going to eventually be found out they know they're going to eventually be dealt with they know they're going to eventually be kicked out you say why do they come in so that when they get kicked out they can draw away disciples with them so that they can take away disciples with them you don't have to turn there but in Jude in verse 4 the Bible says this for there are certain men crept in unaware so understand this in our type of churches there will always be the enemies who are creeping in in order to cause problems and in our type of churches there should always be a vigilant pastor a man of God who stands up and protects the church against those people you're there in acts 20 notice in verse 29 and 30 he says grievous wolves will enter in among you he says also of your own selves shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them but notice verse 28 the context is this he's talking to the pastor to the future leaders there he's saying take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers to feed the Church of God with he has purchased his own blood and then he gives them this warning about the grievous wolf so notice he tells the pastors you need to take heed you need to pay attention because God the Holy Ghost hath made you the overseer he's put you in charge to take oversight to oversee and to protect he's put you in charge to make sure that you don't allow these grievous wolves to just do whatever they want and here's what you need to get in this type of church and you've already experienced it here we've experienced it in Sacramento any church of our style and our movement if you you know if you talk about the churches that are like our churches you'll find that they all have similar stories where people come in they try to cause problems they draw people away you say why is that it's because of the fact that we're in spiritual warfare I mean that's where your name comes from right shield of faith the Bible says above all taking the shield of faith wherewith you share you shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked you say why put up the shield of faith because the wicked is attempting to attack you he's attempting to send fiery darts in your in your direction that's why he says that we're in a spiritual fight that's why he says that we are to stand therefore that's why he says that we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of darkness of this world so here's what you need to understand this church is going to have to deal with the Korah's from time to time because that is the plan of Satan for a church that is actually aggressively attacking him now you say well why why would you say all that if you're not preaching about Korah here's why because usually and I'd like you to keep your place there and acts that's what we're gonna come back to that location if you can make your way back to number 16 usually when we go to number 16 we talk about the chorus and we need to do that we need to preach against the chorus and that would be a great sermon for another day but tonight what I'd like to do is focus on a part of the chapter that we sometimes don't focus on but it is something that I have noticed in our church whenever we've dealt with chorus you've you've already learned it here in Boise whenever you've dealt with those that come in and try to cause problems any church that is accomplishing anything that's doing anything for God will all say the same thing and you say what are you preaching about tonight tonight I'm preaching about the sins of the sympathizers because what you'll find is that you'll have these Korah's who will come in these men that will come in crept in unawares speaking perverse things and their goal is to draw people away but what you'll also find is that once the chorus are exposed once the chorus are removed once the earth has opened up and swallowed them down and you're not dealing with the chorus anymore what you'll find is that the battle is usually not over because then you've got to deal with the sympathizers are you there in number 16 look at verse 41 notice what he says now in in the we've already read the passage Korah and his and his group of leaders that he that he used to usurp authority over Moses they've been dealt with they've already been the earth opened up and they went down into the pit notice verse 41 but on the morrow the very next day all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron and when whenever I've read this I've always loved myself what in the world is wrong with these people I mean Korah was obviously a bad guy Korah was obviously trying to cause problems Korah was obviously trying to cause issues but yet Moses once he deals with Korah then he's got all these sympathizers but you know what I've noticed whenever I've thrown people out of Verity Baptist Church for being bad wicked people then there'll be another group that will go out with them you know you guys have thrown somebody out recently that was causing problems and then you had a family go out with them and it's the same story look Moses dealt with a Korah and on the morrow there was already a group of sympathizers those who sympathize with the chorus and again tonight I want to focus not necessarily on the chorus but on the sins of the sympathizer you say why would you preach that we've already dealt with it but here's the thing you will deal with it again you will not only deal with another Korah eventually you'll deal with more sympathizer I've got people here from our church that are great church members and have been faithful through many battles but you know what they need to know that we're not done dealing with the chorus and that we're not done dealing with the sympathizer I'm hoping there are churches maybe that will hear this sermon online and this will help protect them because sometimes we get so focused on the Korah and we think well once the Korah thing is done now we can relax no once the Korah thing is done realize this that on the morrow you'll deal with the sympathizers on the morrow you'll deal with the sympathizer you say well what's the sins of the sympathizers let me give you three sins tonight we'll do it as quickly as we can if you'd like to write these down and encourage you to do that because you'll probably need it because you'll probably if you're going to continue to win souls for Christ if you're going to continue to preach the Bible the way it's meant to be preached Satan's going to continue to attack you and you're going to need to know this you say what are the sins of sympathizers number one the sympathizers will criticize the leadership notice verse 41 but on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron what is the sins of the sympathizer because the sympathizers aren't the chorus they're not the the ones that are trying to split the church or cause the problems they don't do anything that crosses a line that gets them kicked out of church you say what's their sin their sin is this that once the man of God has taken has dealt with the issue has dealt with the proud they will sit there and just criticize and murmur against the man of God the the sin of the sympathizers is that they'll sit there and they'll criticize and they'll gossip against the man that God has placed that the Holy Ghost is placed as the overseer of the church go with me to 1st Timothy chapter 5 1st Timothy chapter 5 and again keep your place there number 16 and you should keep your place in Acts but if you can get to 1st Timothy 5 all the T books they're all clustered together 1st 2nd Thessalonians 1st 2nd Timothy Titus 1st Timothy chapter 5 and I want you to notice verse number 1 you say well sometimes you know the pastor might do something that I don't like well here's the thing I hope he does okay you need it up you know if your pastor always does things that you like never offends you always it's just telling you things that you agree with you need to get a new pastor needs to go to a different church what's the point of going to church if you're always being affirmed in your the point of going to church is to grow the way you grow is by being told hey that's not right you're doing wrong that's not what the Bible says here's what you know Paul told Timothy to preach the word the instant in season out of season he said reprove he said rebuke he said exhort so you say I come to church and I'm being reproved and rebuke you gotta praise God you say I come to church and I feel bad Pastor Jones is always saying things that make me feel bad hey you gotta praise God that you have a pastor that's actually doing his job because you know what it'd be easier to just stand up and tell you oh you're fine I know you're a drug addict but don't worry about it God loves you you know what God loves you but God doesn't love you being a drug addict that's not God's will for your life oh I know you're a drunkard but that's why I know you're living in fornication but that's why I know you've got all these issues but that's why no you know what God gave you a pastor to help you grow and learn and be able to get the sin out of your life so you can be more like Christ so you can be more like what God has ordained for you and you say well sometimes the pastor he'll do things that I don't like how do I deal with that well here's how you don't deal with it you don't deal with it by going around complaining to everybody criticizing the pastor and gossiping that's actually forbidden by the Word of God 1st Timothy 5 look at verse 1 notice what the Bible says rebuke not an elder and the context there an elder is the term being used for a pastor elder Bishop pastor all those terms are used interchangeably the Bible says rebuke not an elder so I can't I can't ever walk up to Pastor Jones and say you're wrong let me rebuke you no actually you can't do that the Bible forbids it you're not supposed to walk up to the pastor of the church and rebuke him God says not to do it you say well how should I what should I do when those he says rebuke not an elder but in treat him as a father the idea here is not that you can't disagree with the leader but it's that you better check yourself when you're going to disagree with the leader that your attitude is right now are you you guys just preach these things you're trying to run a cult or you're trying what look I'm just preaching through the Bible I just read to you verse rebuke not an elder but in treatment father you say what does that mean here's what that means you know I grew up in a home where my dad was the ruler you know the way the Bible says where the father with a dad actually in charge you know and my my my mother submitted as a godly wife to her husband and all the children obeyed their their father and you know my dad I love my dad my dad loved us you know but he spanked us and we respected him we had a we had a healthy fear and respect of our father and by the way that's how it should be that's what the Bible says you say well did your dad ever do everything everything perfect no you know what my dad made a lot of mistakes but you know I never walked up to my dad and say hey dad you're an idiot let me tell you something because even if I was right at that point I was wrong it doesn't matter what what I was telling I was right I was gonna end up getting a spanking you know what it means to entreat entreat as a father it means this when I was growing up if my dad did something wrong and I knew it was wrong I thought long and hard is this worth even bringing up you understand I'm saying do I really even need to bring this up to my dad you know just cuz you're right about something or just cuz someone's wrong about something doesn't mean you always have to bring it up he says rebuke not an elder but in freedom as a father and the younger men as brethren see you're you said well we can't disagree you can't you can disagree but you better walk up to your pastor respectfully and say hey I'd like to talk to you about something and make sure your attitude is right you say well well can I go around and tell everybody else what I what I uh what I don't like about it well notice verse 19 first Timothy 5 19 and this is good training for you church members and I realize I'm preaching to the choir I'm talking to those that are loyal and I appreciate you but it's good for you to know what the Bible says so you can make sure you maintain your loyalty the Bible says this against an elder don't miss this against an elder receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses you know what that means that means when somebody walks up to you says let me tell you something I don't you know let me tell you something pastor Jones did you're not even supposed to listen to it unless there's two or three witnesses present you know you know what that means I mean somebody walks up to you that you know I don't really like how pastor dealt with this and drink you say wait wait wait a minute let me go get two or three brothers let's go let's go to pastor and let's and treat him as a father let's talk to him about it that's how you're supposed to deal with it that's how that's what you're supposed to do no are you supposed to just get on your phone are you supposed to just let your wife get on her phone and just start calling everybody and telling everybody how the pastor's wrong no that is the sin of the sympathizer the sympathizer will sit there and murmur against Moses and murmur against Aaron and criticize and complain you say well I disapprove about something then go to your pastor then talk to him and say hey you know I have a concern here and and and and he'll hear you out and you know what maybe you're wrong and he can explain to you well here I don't I don't see it the way you see it here's why but the Bible says that you're not supposed to rebuke him and the Bible says you're not even supposed to receive an accusation you say oh well that sounds like you're you're playing by different rules yeah exactly you know why because pastors have a target on their backs because when you're actually leading a church that's trying to accomplish something there's gonna be all sorts of people that are gonna falsely accuse you of all sorts of things so you're not even supposed to receive the accusation you shouldn't even listen to it without two or three witnesses and you know the best thing is somebody who comes to you says let me tell you something I don't like about pastor Jones let's go talk to pastor Jones let's entreat him as a father let's go to him and say hey brother so and so hey but you know what happens when somebody says to you oh I don't like pastors oh you're like let's go talk to oh no I don't want to talk to master well why what's the problem you know what the Bible says the Bible says that men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil the Bible says that when you're whispering something when you're keeping something in secrecy it's because you're doing wrong if you're not doing anything wrong you can bring it out to the light and let it be judged that's what it means to have two or three witnesses everyone can judge and see that you're right and that your attitude is right we say oh no I don't I don't want to bring it up before I don't want to bring up the witness I want to talk about but that probably means that what you're doing is wrong and you know it see those sympathizers will criticize the leadership but go back to numbers numbers chapter 16 let me give you a second point point number one the sympathizers will criticize the leadership here's point and and you say how do I you know what I'm sorry go back to first Timothy let me show you one more thing what when we're talking about the sympathizers criticizing the leadership and I apologize if this sermon goes long we've already ruined your Friday night so you know might as well stay right go to first Thessalonians chapter 5 here's what the critics what the sympathizers will do they will disapprove of the pastor's decisions and you know what there's people in churches who disapprove of everything the pastor or the pastor's wife everything they do they always disapprove of it I mean you can't make a decision without somebody criticizing it and you know here here at shield of faith Baptist Church you ought to strive to have a culture that just gets behind your pastor and says you know what this is the man that God has given us this is the man that was ordained to lead us if God puts a vision on his heart let's just encourage him and let's just get behind him not always just questioning him not always just questioning every decision he makes because here's what the sympathizers do they disapprove of the pastor's decisions but here's the other thing they do they always devalue the pastor's position well who's here he's the pastor that's who he is well what makes him so special he got an ordination and you did it he read the Bible like 20 times and you didn't he's lived a faithful life for years and years and years and years and years and has had a faithful wife and has had faithful children and had an entire church watch his life and and say this guy is the real thing and a man of God put his hands on him and ordained him and put him in the ministry the Holy Ghost called him that's what makes him different I was here what makes him different he's God's man and but you know these people do oh well what's so special about the pastor he's the pastor that's what's special about him and you and it's not about him it's about the position Paul said I magnify mine office first that's only is 512 notice what the Bible says the Bible says this and we beseech you brethren and we beseech you brethren to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you it's talking about spiritual leadership within the church he says you need to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord labor among you means they work with you you know pastor Jones goes soul-winding with you he doesn't just tell you do what I say and not what I do he tells you do what I say and then he goes out he does it with you but then he's also over you you say oh it's some sort of cold thing no in the Lord in the spiritual sense in this church he's the overseer and he admonishes you he gives you advice he stands up and he preaches the Bible says here's what you should do here's what you shouldn't do you say well how should I respond to that verse 13 and to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake and be at peace among yourselves you know the Bible says that you as church people ought to esteem your pastor and your pastor's wife very highly what does it mean to esteem it means to think of them highly and you know I this is a theme of mine whenever I preach at new churches I try to always preach on these things be you know my wife and I we have been blessed at Verity Baptist Church and you know obviously I've got I you know I have I've I've got a dog in this fight so you know I'm not I'm not being completely you know I can't think of the word but you know I'm not I'm being a respecter of persons when I say this but you know I think Verity Baptist Church of Sacramento is the greatest church in the world and and and you know and I'm not and I'm not saying that to devalue you guys I hope Pastor Jones thinks that this church is the greatest church in the world right every pastor ought to think the churchy pastor grazer but I'll tell you this God has blessed us with some great church people and I we've got church people we've got church people sitting in this room right now who model this idea of is steaming their pastor and their pastor's wife very highly we've got people that pray for us and they they love us and they they care for us and we know it's genuine and you know I want to encourage you here in Boise you ought to do that for your pastor you ought to be that church member for the pastor and the pastor's wife don't be the church member that's always causing problems you say how can I be a great church member don't cause problems for your pastor to begin but then also just esteem them highly in the Lord and let me tell you something let me tell you something you may not know about your pastor and your pastor's wife you know Pastor Jones formerly known as Brother Joe and and Miss Jessica you know Mrs. Jones they this is what they modeled you know at Verity Baptist Church I can tell you they were great church members and they they were the type of members that is themed their pastor and their pastor's wife highly and I hope that God will reward them for that and that God will give them church members that were just like they were you know and and and and I'll tell you I just to give you an example you say well what do you mean just to give you an example and I'm just I just want to brag on them for a little bit all right just just just just to kind of help you say what do you mean and we've got great people I mean I can brag on everyone from Sacramento that's here tonight but you know let me talk you say what do you mean here's an example of the type of church members they were you know from time to time we might have an event at church you know maybe a cake and ice cream after the service or we might have a potluck or something like that but sometimes a lot of times in fact as our church grows and more grows and grows more and more my wife and I find ourselves very busy on a Sunday night you know just I'll be in my office or she'll be in a mother baby room or something and just talking with people people have problems and things they need they need to get advice from and counsel whatever and and sometimes you know right after a service there might be a potluck or something going around everybody's eating or whatever and and I'm somewhere my wife is someone we're just kind of dealing with churchmen whatever and and I can't tell you how many times I might come out out of my office maybe 45 minutes or an hour after potluck started and miss Jessica would be there with a plate you know for for for her pastor you know for for her pastor's wife and and she just think of us that way and you know and that's special and you know I always remember that and I and I hope that you will do that for them you know what I'm not saying that specific thing I'm just saying think of them esteem them highly in the Lord for their work's sake you know they're working and they're helping and they're they're doing things you know you if you go to if you go to potluck at our church 45 minutes late you better go to in and out you know cuz there's not gonna be any potluck left and you know and just the type these are the type of people they were and you know what that's the type of church member you ought to be you know pastor Jones just anything we needed one time we had this demon-possessed naked guy at our house attacking our house I'm not joking I'm not sure why you're laughing there was a naked guy when I say naked I mean that everything that means completely naked demon-possessed guy in our house at our house attacking our house we weren't there the cops showed up they tased them he came twice and you know they put him in an insane asylum or whatever and and I talked to his brother because his brother you know talked to me afterwards I was apologizing and I didn't know if the guy was reprobate or what I don't think every demon-possessed person is a reprobate so I want to try to give this guy the gospel you know and I actually set up a meeting to go talk to this guy you know and I called up brother Joe you know pastor Jones and I'm like I need a jujitsu black belt to come with me to the part you know he took time he's busy he took time out of his day and and and and I went I met with this guy and he didn't get saved you know but but you know what I'm saying is this they were always there whatever we needed they're always there they they they they always treated us well and I want to encourage you church member to esteem your pastor and your pastor's wife very highly in love but you know what the sympathizers do they're always devaluing them they're always devaluing their position well they're not special yes they are well they're not well the pastor's wife it what's that well I'll tell you what it is if she leaves you don't have a pastor oh hey does she have qualifications whether you think she has qualifications or not let me tell you this she's his qualifications you understand that so you better be nice your pastor you better be nice your bathroom's wife you know but here's what the criticizers do they disapprove of the pastor's decisions they devalue the pastor's position go back to number 16 let me give you point number two the sympathizers will condemn the leadership so not only will they criticize the leadership but they'll condemn the leadership notice number 16 verse 41 notice what these people said but on the morrow all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron saying notice what they said ye talking to Moses have killed the people of the Lord referring to Korah referring to Korah and those men they said and Abiram and the 250 princes that rose up and revolt against Moses these sympathizers they look at Moses and they condemn him and they say ye have killed the people of the Lord you say well what can we learn from that couple things number one the sympathizers are fooled in their discernment they they don't they do not have good discernment notice what these sympathizers said about Korah they called him the people of the Lord Korah wasn't even saved but they said oh these are the people of the Lord no they're not number 16 look at verse 32 notice notice the story and the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up and their houses and all the men that I pertain unto Korah and all their God their goods they and all that I pertain to them went down alive notice what the Bible says I don't want you to miss this because the earth opened up her mouth and swallowed them up and they went down alive into notice these words the pit and the earth closed upon them and they perished from among the congregation notice the Bible says that they went alive into the pit now you might just read that and think oh did they go into some hole but in the Bible the Bible is very clear what the pit is let me just show you one verse go to Isaiah 14 if you start from the book of Psalms from the center of the Bible and you you go past Proverbs Ecclesiastes song of Solomon go to Isaiah Isaiah chapter 14 Isaiah 14 look at verse 15 is it where did Korah go he went down to the pit he went alive down to the pit the Bible says they perished Isaiah 14 15 notice what the Bible says yet thou shalt be brought down this is God speaking to Satan he says yet thou shall be brought down don't miss this to hell to the sides of don't miss this the pit according the Bible and this is just one example I give you ten examples like this according to the Bible what's the pit it's hell what did Korah go God literally opened the earth and took Korah down alive into hell this guy was not saved this guy his name comes up in 2nd Peter chapter 2 and Jude these are passages dealing with reprobates this guy comes out as an example of a false prophet reprobate this guy was not saved but what do the sympathizers say they say you have killed the people of the Lord you know what the sympathizers are fooled in their discernment they think they know better they say oh I think he was a nice guy well I think I liked him they're fooled in their discernment they're fooled because look people liked Korah 250 princes men of renown followed him but what did God think of him God think God thought he needed to go to hell so notice that these people thought that Korah was a good guy these people also thought that Moses was to blame no notice verse 41 last part of verse 41 say ye have killed they look at Moses and say ye have killed now let me ask you something did Moses open up the earth and and and cause Korah to go down alive into the pit I mean did Moses do that or do you think God did that well let me show you what the Bible says look at verse 34 same chapter and all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them for they said lest the earth swallow us up also when God opened up the earth and Korah went down notice and there came out a fire from Moses is that what it says no there came out a fire from the Lord and consumed the 250 men that offered incense let me ask something who is the one who opened up the earth to swallow Korah down was it Moses or was it God it was God I mean I see this who's to blame for Korah's death it's it's Korah absolutely who told Korah to cause all the problems he did in the congregation did Moses tell Korah to do that no Korah decided to do it who's to blame Korah but you know what the sympathizers do they blame Moses it's your fault Moses that Korah is not with us anymore Moses is to blame Korah is and you know what Josh Ellis who was nothing but a problem from the day he walked into this church got thrown out scripturally biblically righteously by the man of God and then people stand up and say oh it's your fault pastor Joe you know you need to blame you to blame Josh Ellis whose fault is it that Josh Ellis got kicked out of this church it's Josh Ellis's fault for being a jerk for being a problem for being problematic for causing all sorts of issues for trying to get people to just fight amongst themselves when they should be out there fighting the world you say who should you blame blame Korah but you know what the sympathizers do they're fooled in their discernment they blame the wrong person not only that but they are foolish in their judgment you say what do you mean by that well here's the point and here's what you need to understand in church you're going to be asked to judge go to first Corinthians chapter 6 let me show it to you first Corinthians chapter 6 first Corinthians chapter 6 the server is gonna go a little longer tonight than usual all right but we're gonna make it up to you by having Mexican food after soul winning all right so show up soul winning first Corinthians 6 look at verse 1 notice what notice what Paul said he said dare any of you having a matter against another go to law before the unjust and not before the Saints now I mean that the context is this the context is that we shouldn't be taking our brother to law to be judged by the world that that's unscriptural you shouldn't sue your brother in Christ that's not biblical that's what the context is so I want you to send that's the primary context but when we read this context we understand that Paul is saying here's why you shouldn't do that verse 2 do you not know that the Saints shall judge the world you know that that at the millennial reign those of us that are saved are gonna judge the world and if the world shall be judged by you are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matter question mark here's what he's saying you are worthy to judge the smallest matter no you not that we shall judge angels he says look you're gonna judge the world one day you're gonna judge angels one day you're worthy how much more things pertaining to this life if then you have judgment of things pertaining to this life knows what he says and he's being sarcastic here he says set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church here's what he's saying he's saying take the person you think of the least you know they're brand-new Christian and he said it'd be better for you to be judged by that guy then for you to take your brother to some you know just a worldly judge out there and let them judge between you and your brother that's what he's saying notice it was fine I speak to your shame is this so that there is not a wise man among you no not one that shall be able to judge between his brother look the Bible says that you as believers we as believers as a New Testament Church we're going to have to judge we're going to have to sit in judgment of certain situations as a local church go to Deuteronomy chapter 1 if you're there numbers the next book is Deuteronomy now this idea is foreign to most churches most for most churches are just a an entertainment center most churches are just a rock concert with a 10-minute pep talk at the end but when you actually have a church that actually follows the Bible you're actually a community of believers and from time to time when problems happen you're going to have to sit there as a judge and judge the situation and you say well what you know can we really do that here's why many people fail in judging is because they they judge foolishly say well what do you mean by that Deuteronomy 1 look at verse 16 notice what the Bible says I charge you judges at that time saying hear the causes between your brethren and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with them notice verse 17 he shall not respect persons in judgment you say what what why is it that mo many people cannot judge righteously within church here's why because they judge with respect of persons but that's my friend I like him I like her that's not how you're supposed to judge you're not supposed to judge based on the relationship yet you're supposed to just look at the facts and say wow this guy's a problem this guy's causing division this guy's causing all sorts of issues we need to throw them out you're not supposed to take it to God you say why is it that there's so many sympathizers you know I mean think of all the famous you know all the well-known battles that we fought against Tyler Baker you know and in Sacramento we had a fool that I won't even name by name just because it's not even worth naming you know we all these issues and then you have the sympathizers you say what here's why why do you have the sympathizers because they always judge based on their relationship but that's unrighteous you're supposed to judge without respect the person you should just be able to look at a situation say wow here's the evidence here's the evidence here's it yep they're bad no matter if it's your friend I recently got a message from one of our pastor friends they threw out some bows out of their church and they and they they were telling me the story and just saying hey you know he said he's gonna go to some other church and we're just letting you guys know there's all the problems he caused we threw him out you know accept him at your own risk and here's the thing at Verity Baptist Church we don't we uphold other churches church discipline that's what the Bible teaches if you get thrown out of a church for being a problem person you don't just get to skip town and go to another church you know the Bible teaches even even if it was like a liberal church that we don't agree with if they threw someone our church we would uphold their church discipline because that's biblical that's what the Bible says well you know when I got this news as funny cuz I was talking brother Oliver and I said oh that's too bad I like that guy and here's the thing I did like that guy he was a nice guy he's nice to me but you know what it doesn't matter if he was nice to me if he got thrown on his church I'm not gonna judge based on respect to persons if he got thrown on his church he's a make that right before he's allowed to move on and just do whatever he's going to do but you say what's wrong with the sympathizers they are foolish in their discernment and they are foolish in their judgment they are fooled in their discernment and they're foolish in their judgment they judge based on oh well I like him oh well I think you're just a big meanie you know and you want to go like Barney and Friends Baptist Church you know look we've got enough weak limp rested pastors out there don't you think I think we got enough skinny Jean wearing pink shirt polka dot tie wearing pastors out there I'd like I want a black belt jiu-jitsu pastor you know what I mean I want a tough guy that's gonna stand up and when and fight the battles of the Lord that's who I want well I think you're mean I think you're weak you know you are fooled in your discernment and you're foolish in your judgment cuz here's the truth you say well I don't think it should be me to do here's the truth if we just put all the facts out if we just remove the names and put all the facts out if we just said person a did X Y & Z here's the testimony from person B person C person D E F G we don't have enough letters to get all the testimony you know and you just remove the names you'd be like yeah that's a bad guy but as soon as we put the your buddy's name in there there's our wait a minute no you know what you are a respecter of persons you are not right with God you say what are the sympathizers do go back to number 16 the sympathizer will criticize the leadership they're always disapproving of the pastor's decisions they're always devaluing the pastor's position the sympathizers will condemn the leadership they are fooled in their discernment and they're foolish in their judgment but let me give you the third one and I'll try to do this as quickly as you can number three the sympathizers will conspire against the leadership notice number 16 verse 42 and it came to pass when the congregation was gathered against Moses and against Aaron that they look toward the tabernacle the congregation and behold the cloud covered in the glory of Lord appeared notice that the congregation they were gathered against see before they were just criticizing then they were condemning now they're conspiring now now they are Cora now they're gathering together to try to hurt the church the congregation and the leadership say well how does that happen how does that happen in a New Testament church here's the main way that I've seen it happen the way that cons that that that sympathizers will conspire after the fact after the bozo gets thrown out one of the best ways that I've seen that they'll conspire against leadership is they conspire by keeping company because you know and here's the thing and I was gonna do this but I'm not gonna do it tonight just because because we're running out of time and maybe this could be it's a whole other sermon but if you study the passages in the Bible that deal with church discipline and again if you if you don't go this type of church you're like what are you talking about because because most churches don't preach these things but you know that there are passages in the Bible that teach us how to deal with church discipline let me I won't take the time to read them let me just give them to you maybe you can write this out sitting them out on your own 1st Corinthians 5 we're given specific sins a list of sins the Bible says if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one know not to eat we're given a list of sins these are sins that are not acceptable in church people that do these sins doesn't mean that they're a reprobate doesn't mean that they can't be saved but these are sins we're all sinners we all sin but this list of sins and 1st Corinthians 5 we are told if someone is doing these sins they are not allowed to be in church fornication covetous idolater railer drunkard extortion or you say why because a little love and loving at the whole lump that's what he says and these are the types of sins that if you allow them into church and everyone will just start doing it people think it's fine so 1st Corinthians 5 and people don't understand Church discipline well I don't you know you throw somebody out of church for being living in fornication you didn't go through the Matthew 18 process I don't need to go through the Matthew 18 process 1st Corinthians 5 says throw them out if they live in fornication period you understand that 1st Corinthians 5 says with touch with such and one know not to eat it says not to keep company it says not the company with fornicators it says to purge out there for the old leaven it says that they might be taken away from among you it says therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person I mean how they're gonna be he says don't hang out with them don't have them with you look 1st Corinthians 5 teaches if someone lives does those sins they get thrown out how about Romans 16 now I beseech your brother and mark them which cause division and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them you're supposed to mark them what does that mean you identify them Josh Ellis I don't think you should say his name well the Bible tells me to mark him how am I supposed to mark him tall guy skinny blonde hair goofy looking towards the end for his pants like this I've already what am I supposed to say to you I mark him by telling you who he is so you know we're talking about and then what are you supposed to do and avoid them you're not supposed to hang out with them you're not supposed to have them at your house you're not supposed to feed them you say and look this is this is why Josh Ellis got thrown out for causing divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned I mean if you can think of two words that describe that guy is causing divisions and offenses offending people dividing people pinning people against each other how about this one second Thessalonians three for even when we were with you this we commanded you that if any would not work neither should he that's it that's another reason why he should get kicked out yeah but I will say that you kick people out of church that don't work we're not talking about you lost your job and you're actively looking for a job we're talking about the chronically unemployed that are just not gonna work they don't want to work they haven't been working for years for we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly working not at all but our busy bodies you say what should we do with them if any man obey not our word by this epistle note that man you know what that means it means to mark them identify them and have no company with him you say why that he may be ashamed I mean you see how the Bible is consistent don't keep company with them if they do these certain sins first Corinthians 6 avoid them if they cause offenses and divisions contrary to dr. G of Earth Romans 16 if they won't work and they're a busybody they're a gossip throw them out and don't have company with them second Thessalonians 3 Matthew 18 if so if you have a problem with someone you're supposed to go to them yourself alone and if they won't hear you you bring the witnesses and if they won't hear you you bring it before the church that's just talking about if someone's offended you sinned against you personally you you can deal with it and then if they won't hear the church then let him be unto thee as a heathen man and a publican which means you treat them like an unbeliever you know you don't treat them like a brother you don't you don't hang out with them you don't cuz you know that with when it comes to the world you should be friendly to them but they shouldn't be your friends your friends should be believers the Bible says that you're you're you you should have a friend friends that encourage you the Bible says that if you walk with wise men you'll be wise so he says let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican so you you you say go to second Corinthians chapter 2 second Corinthians chapter 2 and here's the point I'm trying to make you know what the common denominator of all those passages all the church discipline passages you know what the common denominators with all of them is don't keep company don't hang out with them don't meet with them at a coffee shop don't have them over your house once they've been church disciplined once they've been kicked out you're supposed to cut them off you say oh well the pastor kicked them out do I have to cut them up look if you want to be part of a local New Testament Church that actually follows the Bible this is part of the deal this is what you're supposed to do but he's my friend okay respect their persons it doesn't matter if it's your friend if they're doing wrong and it's gone to the point of church discipline they've been thrown out your job you know what your pastor's job is to protect you to fight the battles and then to throw them out you know what your job is to back them up and say no I'm not gonna meet with you no I'm not gonna hang out with you no I'm not gonna meet you at the coffee shop no you've been church this one you to make that right before we can restore our fellowship you say how do you they conspire against the leader here's how they conspire by keeping company with those that have been thrown out how do they conspire by providing comfort to those who have been thrown out look at second Corinthians 2 verse 6 because in first Corinthians you know that the whole letter of first Corinthians that one of the main objectives is the Apostle Paul is dealing with a problem person in the church and he's telling the church that they need to throw that guy out you say but why did he do that here's why so that that guy would get right with God and eventually that guy did get right with God so then Paul writes second Corinthians to tell him okay he got right with God let him back in that's what he's gonna say second Corinthians 2 6 suffice to such a man is this punishment which was inflicted of many so that contra wise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him less perhaps such and one should be swallowed up with over much sorrow see when we throw people out of church for being a problem and then we say hey they've been they've been church discipline you're not supposed to hang out with them you know people say oh that's mean yeah that's the point oh I feel I feel so bad for him there's they're gonna be embarrassed they're supposed to be embarrassed that's the point the point is to inflict punishment that they might get right but you know you say how do you conspire against a leader and choose this one here's how you conspire you choose to keep company you choose to comfort them you're not allowing them to receive the punishment that they need to get right with God you're helping the enemy at that point you know and here's the thing yeah you're saying are we supposed to comfort them once they get right with God and look if they're a reprobate they're never coming back if they've been rejected by God then their debts are gonna be rejected by us okay oh I don't know about that are you better than God if God rejects people then you we need to be okay with rejecting people too but here's the point the way that the sympathizers they conspire against the leader is by keeping company and by providing comfort because though those are supposed to be the tools that God uses see this young guy in 1st Corinthians 1 when he got thrown out he got excommunicated people said you can't live in fornication like that he was living in fornication with his father's wife and Paul said you can't have that guy in your church throw that guy out purge out that wicked man from among you and when they threw him out and everybody said we're not hanging out with you we're not talking to you you're wicked you need to get right with God you know eventually that woke him up and he's like man I need to get my acting then he got right with God and then second grant is he's saying hey bring him back in comfort him love him encourage him look you know that the point of church discipline is restoration that's what we want but they're never gonna be restored if you're sitting there and just conspiring with them criticizing the leader condemning the leader conspiring against the leader go to numbers chapter 16 we'll finish this thing up number 16 look you need to just decide whether whether or not you're gonna be part of this church whether or not you know if you if you look if you're gonna have a pastor and you're just constantly questioning your pastors you know decisions why are you there just go find a guy that you can that you can follow and and get this idea out of your head that are the perfect church the perfect church is down in Sacramento you wouldn't say that if you lived in Sacramento okay you know these guys they're always trying to pin us pastors against each other you know they're saying pastor Jones well you're not like past three minutes they're telling me I'm not like pastor Anderson they're saying pastor Anderson he's not like Jack house I don't know you know and it's like they're always trying to tell us you know hey you know what find a guy that you can get behind and then be loyal and support him and and stop having this fantasy life this fantasy world that there's some perfect pastor out there that I have to agree with him 100% you don't agree with yourself 100% somebody said you get three Baptist together you get four you know you get four opinions you know we don't we can't we can't even decide what we believe half the time and you think that he's supposed to you're just gonna agree with everything he said you know what find the man that God has placed in your life to be your pastor and then you follow him faithfully you get behind him and you realize he's not perfect you're gonna make mistakes but you know what that's the man of God for you let's end this thing look at the conclusion here what happens what happens with these sympathizers here's what happens in the long run is that they become casualties it was 43 and Moses and Aaron came before the tabernacle the congregation and the Lord spake unto Moses saying get you up from among this congregation that I may consume them as in a moment and they fell upon their faces notice verse 49 now they that died in the plague were 14,700 14,700 said are those the ones that got swallowed up no no no beside them that died about the matter of Korah see these guys ended up being the casualties corals already dealt with and then there was another group that was now gone dead they became the casualties because they were sympathizers and you know you've seen that here what one core against thrown out and then a whole family is gone casualties why because they partook in the sins of the sympathizers because they criticize they condemned they conspired and you know what God's not gonna have it God you know the Bible says be sure your sin will find you out the sympathizers becomes the casualties but here's a sad thing is that they also they continue the work of the core because notice notice verse 49 I just want to know these words beside them people had already died with the matter of Korah there was already enough judgment with the matter of Korah these 14,700 they didn't have to die they didn't have to go the way of Korah but they did you say why because they were Korah no just because they were sympathizers just because they sympathize just because they felt bad see the sins of the sympathizer people say oh it's not a big deal you're not Tyler Baker yeah but you know what if you're the sympathizer of Tyler Baker you you might end up as a casualty if you're the sympathizer of Josh Ellis you will end up as a casualty if you're the sympathizer of these guys you'll end up as a casualty so look here's all I'm telling you say why you're preaching this here's why because there will be bigger battles to come for this church you say how do you know that because if you're gonna keep knocking doors if you're gonna reach this community if you're gonna preach the way God called you to preach Satan is not gonna let up he's gonna keep attacking you he's gonna keep attacking you he's gonna keep attacking your pastor he's gonna keep attacking your pastor's wife so be careful be careful on the morrow after a battle about criticizing the leadership well what if I disagree and you and treat him as a father then you take your concerns to him respectfully you don't sit there and gossip and tell everybody else about it and you know the rest of you receive not an accusation but before two or three witnesses don't you know be careful about condemning the leadership be careful about being fooled in your discernment and make sure you're not being foolish in your judgment and make sure you're not conspiring against the leadership by keeping company by providing comfort because if you do that then what's the point of church discipline what's the point of all these passages that God taught us in church and you know what I just want to encourage you this is a great church this is a great I hope this church just continues to grow and succeed and that you reach this entire area look somebody needs to somebody needs to fight these Mormons somebody needs to fight these dispensationalist repent of your sins Baptists that are preaching heresy somebody's to fight you say those churches everywhere yeah you know what show me show me the one that's preaching the right gospel and whoa whoa whoa encourage them but there's I don't there's not many this church needs to reach you need to conquer this area for Christ but you know what you need you know what you need you need to esteem your pastor in fact let's just let's just go back there just real quickly let me let me end with that you what was what this church needs is is just an army of soul winners that are gonna rally around their leader second thesaurus five look at verse 13 I just want to show you this because I didn't mention this when we were there I just want to show it to you real quickly first that's the only is 513 but what's in it for me what's in it for me if I esteem my pastor if I love my pastor if I love my pastor's wife of my blood you say you say you know what's in it for me first I was going 513 and to esteem them very highly in love to think of them very highly in love say well how do I do that you know what you got to remember your pastors and your pastor's wife remember their anniversaries remember their kids birthdays remember their birthdays I'm not saying you have to buy them big gifts or what happens they just remember them encourage them along the way just every once in a while just just say hey pastor you did a great job you know encourage them along the way it's teaming very highly in love you say well for their work's sake you say what's in it for me notice the last part verse 13 and be at peace among yourselves you know what I here's what I believe and here's what I've seen at a very about the church when there are people and I'm not perfect and my wife's not perfect and and obviously we've made mistakes and and we're trying to do our best but when there are people that rally around their pastor and their pastor's wife and they realize we're humans like anybody else but they just help us and they encourage us and they support us you know what I've seen is that the entire church can be a peace among yourselves you don't have the division you don't have the criticism you know all everything runs smoother and you just get behind the man of God so I encourage you get behind your man of God help him encourage him help his wife fight the spiritual battles and reach this community with the gospel of Jesus Christ let's bow our heads and have one prayer Heavenly Father thank you Lord for your word thank you for this story and I know we often just focus in on the Quora and we need to focus on the Quora but every once in a while we should also remember that the sympathizers can become casualties as well and Lord I pray you'd help I pray that you to help this church I pray you bless this church what I thank you for this great group my wife and I was just talking before the service my wife was mentioning they just have a great great group of people here and Lord I thank you for that I pray you'd bless this church and straighten this church I pray that you would anoint Pastor Jones to just lead to be the man that you've called him to be Lord I pray you be with his wife and his kids I know the ministry can be difficult at times and Lord I pray that you would just raise up a great army of spiritual soldiers that would rally around their leader here that they do great things for you in the matchless name of Christ we pray amen