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Amen. The part of the chapter we're going to focus on is found in 1 Corinthians chapter number 9 verse number 24 where the Bible reads here, Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth a prize? So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainty, so fight I, not as one that beateth the air. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast away. The Bible says there. Tired of my message this evening is the principle of casting away. The principle of casting away or being a cast away. Now here we see that the Bible teaches us that Paul's comparing the Christian life to a sport, right? And he says I keep under my body, and I think anyone who can logically look at this verse can say well that means to discipline yourself, right? To cause your body to be in subjection to the things you ought to do. And you look at this verse and different versions of the Bible would completely change the meaning. You know they'll say something to the extent of you know I beat my body, right? And they'll say other things like like a boxer I strike a blow to my body. You know even in the Spanish reign of Valera 1960 it says to strike a blow to the body. And I don't know about you, but a boxer doesn't even strike a blow. I used to kick a box. I've never hit my own body like to discipline myself. Like get stronger. And it's just like that doesn't work, okay? Now other people have done it to me right when I'm doing it, but not myself. But here what it's talking about is just being a disciplined Christian. And he says why? Because anyone who strives for the masteries, anyone who strives to get rewarded, anyone who strives to receive a reward from God needs to basically negate certain pleasures of this life in order to obtain that reward, okay? It's not like well we just get saved and you know what? As soon as we get saved we have all the inheritance, we have all the rewards that come with being saved. No. Being saved means yes we go to heaven, we have eternal life. But you know the Bible says that there will be those in the kingdom of God that will be the least in the kingdom of heaven. Why is that? Because they didn't do anything for God, okay? They didn't win any souls. They just received a gift and that was it and they left it at that. And praise the Lord for salvation that it's free. But the Bible teaches us that we can earn wages after salvation, okay? The Bible teaches that we can work for God after salvation. Why? Because God is a gracious God who's willing to hire us as laborers for his harvest so we can expect something when we get to heaven. But you know what? That comes with a price, okay? We have to keep under our bodies, bring it into subjection the Bible says. And look what the Bible says there in verse 27, but I keep under my body and bring it into subjection, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now go with me if you would to 1 Timothy chapter number 4. I'm going to read to you from Luke chapter 8 in verse number 11 where the Bible reads, Now the parable is this, the seed is the word of God, those by the wayside are they that hear. Then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they which when they hear receive the word with joy. And these have no root, which for a while believe in the time of temptation, fall away. I think all of us have met someone who was going forward for God at one time and they fell away. Okay? They became what the Bible calls a castaway. Why is that? Because you know some sort of teaching, some sort of ideology, some sort of fear, whatever may have been, some sort of information made its way into the heart of that person and it dictated the way they acted. Okay? They got away from God, maybe it was a job that took them away from God's work. You know, they began to love riches and they wanted to make money and they thought they can serve God and mammon but we know that's impossible and what did they do? The Bible says that the riches of this world, the cares of this life, the pleasures of these things choke the word out of someone's life. And it takes them out of the will of God. And they became a castaway or it could be some sin. The Bible says the lust of other things entering in, right? And it causes people to be unfruitful. There's a lot of things that can cause us to be a castaway in our personal lives but why is it that Paul the Apostle says, lest by any means when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway? So he's saying, look, I'm preaching to others for others to stay right, to live right, but I'm trying to keep my own body under subjection. Lest by any means when I have preached to others and they don't become castaways, I myself should be a castaway. Look what the Bible says in First Timothy chapter number four. Verse 15 says, meditate upon these things, give thyself wholly to them that thy profiting may appear to all. Take heed to thyself and unto the doctrine, continue in them for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. You see, spiritual disciplines is not just for the people who are listening to you teach these principles. It's for us. It's for every single individual and as we're teaching these things and as we're preaching these things, as we're leading our homes, as we're leading our wives and our children, we have to make sure that we ourselves are right in line with what God's teaching us well. Why? Because when we preach to others, we can become castaways ourselves. We can get away from God. As we're preaching to others, we ourselves can get away from the things of God in our personal lives. Go to First Timothy chapter number one. The Bible reads here in verse number 18, this charge I commit unto thee, Son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare, holding faith and a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made what? Shipwreck. I mean, how many times have we seen Christians just crash and burn, they get involved in the most heinous of sins, they get away from God, they become like a shipwreck. Why is that? Because they didn't hold forth the word of life, they weren't spiritually disciplined, they didn't bring themselves unto subjection, their bodies unto subjection. And that's in any means, that's by any means, that's making yourself do the things you're supposed to do. And not just spiritually, I'm talking about physically, you gotta drag yourself to church. You know, physically you gotta make yourself read the Bible. Physically you gotta make sure that you're opening your ears to hear the truths of the word of God. It takes discipline to do the things of God and make your body do what it's supposed to do. Because here's the thing, we obey spiritual truths physically. You know, we live in this mortal body, we gotta make this mortal body do the things that God wants it to do. Go to 2 Timothy chapter number 2. You know, so the Bible teaches that we ought to be willing to give up certain pleasures in order to have things in life, okay? And I'm not talking about just necessary things in this life, but also things in the life to come. We have to be willing to say, you know what, I'm gonna not do this, I'm not gonna go into fornication, I'm not gonna go into adultery, I'm not gonna drink wine, I'm not gonna be involved in these things because I want an inheritance when I get to heaven. You know, I'm gonna spend my time preaching the gospel, doing the things of God so I can receive a reward, okay? But guess what, it's gonna take some sacrifice on our part. It's gonna take us negating certain things and really just saying, you know what, I'm not gonna do certain things so I can live a life that's pleasing to the Lord and I'm gonna receive a reward in the end. It's called delayed gratification, you know, if you've ever heard anything like that. You know, most people, they want the best today, right? They want what's coming to them today. They want the reward today. But you know what the Bible teaches us, is sometimes we just have to wait for those things, okay? And put in the work today, put in the work now, obey God now so that when we get to heaven, we get to enjoy rewards for all of eternity. People wanna say, well, you know what, I'm not gonna live for God today, I'm gonna live from in five years when I'm settled down, and you know what, you might not even have five years. And in those five years, something can happen where God will take your life or you'll ruin your life and guess what, you'll spend the rest of eternity with God without reward. Ashamed, wishing you had done something for the Lord. Don't be a castaway, 2 Timothy chapter 2, verse number 3, the Bible says, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warth entangled with himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully. You see, the Bible teaches us that one day we're gonna receive crowns, all right, and crowns is a picture of like authority. A king has authority over a dominion, and the Bible teaches us that, you know, God, when it's time to be rewarded, we're gonna be, there's some Christians that are gonna be over certain cities, right? Be thou over ten cities, he told the steward. And a crown is a picture of that authority. But the Bible says that we're not gonna be crowned unless we strive lawfully according to God's word, okay? It's not according to what we think is a righteous work, or what we think is a work for God, no, it's according to what God says is a work for God, okay? And there's a lot of Christians in churches that think they're working for God, right? They think they're putting in all kinds of work, we were just talking about this before the service, they're doing all kinds of ministries that they think they're doing, their schedule is full, it's busy, but you know what? It's not striving lawfully. It's a lot of vain, just busy body type work that's vain. And what's gonna happen? They're not gonna get anything when they get to heaven. Because a man is not crowned unless he strives lawfully according to God's word. We need to know what God says about being rewarded and do those things. The Bible also shows us that we need to strive lawfully according to the word of God. But it goes without saying that the ultimatum is that in this life, we either cast away certain things, or we become a castaway. See we either cast away the works, we either cast away the pleasures, we cast away the things that maybe bring immediate satisfaction, or the other side of the spectrum is we become a castaway. Why? Because if you want those pleasures today, you wanna do those things now, you know what? You can have those things, but guess what happens in this lifetime? You become a castaway. Yeah, you may be able to enjoy it now, but guess what? You'll be grieved in the end, in the judgment seat of Christ when you receive nothing. Look, I wanna get something when I get to heaven, okay? I want my work to count for something. I wanna get rewarded. God is willing to pay us. Let's take advantage of that and do something. Let's get crowned. Or you could just become a castaway. You know, yeah I'm saved, yeah praise the Lord, amen. You are saved. The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. But the Bible teaches us that we can have wages after that, you know, because God wants to reward us of the things that have been done in this body, whether they be good or whether they be bad. Okay? Go with me if we go to Acts chapter one. Acts chapter number one. Castaway or being castaway, you know? And unfortunately, so many people just want the immediate, they want what's coming to them now. You think of the prodigal son, right? He wanted his inheritance now. But guess what? When he became a castaway, he came back home, he had nothing. And the brother who stayed home, he had what we would consider, he practiced this matter of delayed gratification. He stayed home with dad, he obeyed his father, and guess what? He got the inheritance. Yeah, they threw a big party and everything when the prodigal son came. But guess what? That's all he was gonna get. Because he wasted his substance with riotous living, with harlots, with a bunch of stuff that was temporal, carnal, and sinful, and he got nothing out of it. And look, any time you're tempted to think, you know what, I'm just gonna take it easy, put it on cruise control, and just enjoy the pleasures of this life, just remember, look, what's over a man's soul, that shall he also reap. You know, whenever you're tempted to do wrong and sin and do things that you know are not pleasing to God, just remember, payday someday, buddy. You will pay for that. And yes, we won't lose our salvation, praise the Lord for that. But there is a payday in this world. God is a strict father. He chastises his children, and he does it so we can bear fruits of righteousness and holiness in our lives, and he's willing to go through great extent to help us to get right with him. Payday is simple, so either you cast away, or you become a castaway. It's your choice. Let me say this, first and foremost, in this matter of the principle of casting, instead of casting lots, cast a net. And I'm gonna explain what I mean in just a moment. Go to Acts chapter 1, verse number 24. The Bible says here in verse number 24, And they prayed and said, Thou Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. So we see here that there was a practice even in the Old Testament as a matter of casting lots. And the way that was, it was simply a way to determine, to judge what was God's will, in a sense. You know, it was kind of like a chance kind of thing. You know, I often, I related to, you know, those sticks. You break a couple sticks, one's shorter than the other, and you're basically choosing, one chooses a stick out of the other, and whoever gets the shortest one, you know, it's their turn, whatever, you know, to be it, or something like that. But that was almost in the sense of what they would do. In Psalms 22 verse 18, go with me if you would to John 19, John chapter 19, I'm going to read to you from Psalms 22 verse 18 that says, They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. And often in the Old Testament, especially when they were dividing the cities for the people, they would have to cast lots to see who would get what city, okay? And we don't know exactly how that took place, but we obviously know that parting the garments among them and casting the lots, he's doing a parallel verse there to give you an understanding of what does it mean to cast lots. It means to part, okay? You're basically parting it so everyone receives one. So it's almost like by chance is what they're doing. John 19 verse 24 says, They said therefore among themselves, let us not rend it, but cast lots for it. Whose it shall be, that the scripture might be fulfilled, would say, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did. And we see a principle often in the word of God that there is a matter of chance. We're not Calvinists. You know, Calvinists believe that there's like some evil God, okay, because their God is evil, okay? An evil God who just chooses every single thing. We're like robots, and God chooses our destiny, that we're going to do evil. If someone rapes someone, it's because God ordained it that way. No, we don't believe that. There are some things in the word of God that the Bible says just happens, it's just by chance, okay? Because in life, that's just the way life works. Look, go to Ecclesiastes chapter number nine. I'm going to read to you from Ruth chapter two. Now, God does work things together for good to those who love Him. And He can take the mishaps and the decisions that we make and work it together for good to those who love Him. That's what the Bible teaches us. But He's not some puppeteer, you know, working out these things, you know, and working, and just using the evil people to do evil, okay? Everyone has a free will, is what the Bible teaches us, okay? Now here's the thing. If the Bible says that it's God's will for us not to do evil, how is it God's will? I mean, how can they believe that these people who are doing evil, that's God doing it? That's contrary to God's will. Ruth 2 verse 3 says, And she went and came and gleaned in the field after the reapers, and her hap was the light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz, which was of the kindred of Elimele. So the Bible teaches us that it just so happened that she went to the field of Boaz, okay? Now Ruth is someone that we obviously know was a godly woman. You know, she made the God of Israel her God. She was converted. We can know that for sure according to the word of God. But the Bible says that it was her hap. So it just happens to be that she went into that field. So things do happen by hap, it was like, it was just a happening that happened. Ecclesiastes 9-11 says, I returned and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to the men of skill, and look what it says here, but time and chance happeneth to them all. That's not to say that if you're not skilled, you know, or if you don't work hard, you're not diligent, you won't be rewarded according to that. But have you ever met anybody, you know, it's just like, how in the world did they get that? You know what I mean? It was just like, the world would say they just got lucky, right? We would say, you know what, that, it just, chance happens sometimes, okay? Some people are just in the right place at the right time, and sometimes that's us, right? So a lot, when the Bible talks about casting lots, it's just like, well let's just see what happens, you know? Now go with me if you would to John chapter 21. There is an element of chance that happens to us all. We're not Calvinists, and we don't believe that God just, you know, just ordains everything. But God does work everything out for good to those who love Him. Because here's the thing, if you look at the story of Joseph, right, what did Joseph say to his brothers at the end, he says, you meant it unto evil, but God meant it unto good. See it wasn't that God meant it unto evil, he just turned it into good, he used the evil acts of his brethren to use it for something good. You see what I'm saying? So he can fix a really bad situation, God is the master at that. He can fix a really bad situation and turn it for our benefit. But here's the thing, the prerequisite is that, we need to love God. We need to walk according to His word, we need to obey the Lord, keep our hearts clean, do that which is right on the side of the Lord, and God can fix that issue in our life, whether it's defrauding someone, doing evil unto us, and turn it for something good. Look what the Bible says, where do I have you turn, John chapter 21. The Bible says in verse number 4, but when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw for the multitude of fishes. Now we see the story here, so in Acts chapter 1, we see that there are casting lots to try to sort of discern where the will of God is, who's God going to choose, and by the way, when it fell upon Matthias, we never hear about Matthias ever again after that, right? But here we see that God actually gives a clear command, he says cast your net, and what happened? They enclosed a multitude of fishes. What's the spiritual application in this area? You know, sometimes there's a lot of Christians that they want the blessings of God, they want God to help them, they want God to bless them, but they're not doing anything to get it. They're just hoping it just falls on their lap. You know, they want God's blessing, they want God to help them, but they're not doing anything to receive it. What we need to do, instead of casting lots, just like they did, we need to just cast the net. What does that mean? Just obey God of what he's already told you to do. Because here's the thing, instead of just waiting for God's blessing to come to you and just fall on your lap and say, God, I'm praying for this, can you just help me with this and not do anything about it, why don't you just obey the clear commands that God has already given, and you place yourself in a position where God can bless you. Because see, here's the thing, God's blessing is when we obey God's commands. That's how it works. Instead of just, well, we'll see what happens, I'm just going to cast the law and we'll see by half, if God blesses me, we'll see by half and by chance if that works. You know, it could, but better to just cast the net if God's already commanded you to do so. Cast the net of getting sin out of your life, cast the net of not being involved in fornication, not being involved in drunkenness, not being involved in those things that are displeasing to God, better to do those things and you get a sure answer from God that He will bless you because of it. Because God blesses a pure heart. He blesses a clean life. So better to do those things and be in a place where you can be blessed. See the person who's involved in sin, the person who's involved in things they're not supposed to be involved in, and they're just hoping that God blesses them for that, that's stupid. Why is that? Because the Bible clearly teaches us that they can't be blessed. They're hoping. Right? It's better to just say, you know what, by faith I'm going to just obey the word of God even of the things that I may not understand and I know God's blessing comes attached to that obedience. We need more Christians that are just willing to obey the word of God by faith. Okay? Instead of casting the law, hopefully this gets fixed, hopefully God changes this, just place yourself in a position where you know God can fix it. Place yourself in a position where you know, well I'm obeying God's word. See I met a lot of people who were just like, man I'm going through a hard time and it's just like, you know, are you reading your Bible? They're just like, well no I'm not reading my Bible. Are you going to church? It's like, yeah I haven't really been in church. Or do you have these things in your life? And it's just like, one thing after, they're not obeying God in the word of God, they're just hoping that God will just bless them just by default or something, you know? That's not the way it works. You can't just cast lots and say God's going to bless me because I'm casting this lot. No, just obey God when he says cast the net. Just obey God when it's hard to trust in him in these areas and God can bless that. Go to 1 Timothy chapter number 6. Actually I'm sorry, go to Luke chapter 9. Luke chapter 9. Look, you can't expect God to bless your finances if you're not tithing. You get what I'm saying? You can't expect, well what if I win the lottery? Well first of all, you shouldn't even be playing the lottery, okay? And no Christian with a brain in their head would think they'll win the lottery if they play it. It's the dumbest thing ever. Well maybe God will bless me and then I can get, and this is what the Christians always say when they talk about the lotto, I'll give to the church, you know? I'll tithe off of that 60 million dollars or whatever. It's not going to happen. First of all, you're not going to win the lottery and even if you do, you're not going to give to the church, okay? That's just the bottom line. It's not going to happen. But why don't you just tithe, why don't you just give your money to the Lord and just allow God to bless your finances in that area? That's a lot better. Too many Christians are like, well I'm just going to cast slots and just like play the lotto and see what happens there. You know what I mean? I think God can do it. You know, I can be that one, I am the chosen, I am the elect, I think God can bless me in this area because he knows my heart is mine and I want to give to the church and we're going to give to all these projects. It's not going to happen. Just obey God in giving and he'll bless your finances. You know and there's so many areas like that in the Christian life where it's like you're thinking way too much man. It's like just obey God with what he's already told you to do and God will bless that. You see, too many of us often we just say God bless me, bless me, when God says get in the place of blessing and the blessing is already there. You know obey God, that's where the blessing is. Be in church, that's where the blessing is. Tithe, that's where the blessing is. Read your Bible, that's where the blessing is. Stop casting lots and cast a net. What do I have in here in Luke chapter 9? Verse number 23, the Bible reads here and he said to them, oh if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, but whosoever will lose his life for my sake the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged if he gain the whole world and lose himself or be a castaway the Bible says? You see the Bible teaches us that when we think we're gaining everything that we want in reality we're probably going to lose ourselves and we're going to be a castaway. Look what Romans chapter 13 says, go to Romans chapter 13. Even a Christian could gain the whole world in their perspective, make a lot of money, get a lot of material wealth, get that Ferrari, but you're going to be a castaway and you're going to be the least in the kingdom of heaven. Why? Because you put more of an emphasis on the things of this world than on the things of heaven, the things of the kingdom of God. And this world's not my home, we're just passing through, we're renting this place out. We're not here forever. Romans 13 verse 11 says, in that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand, let us therefore cast off the works of darkness. And let us put on the armor of light, let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering, in wantonness, not in strife and envying, but put you on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof, the Bible says. You know what the Bible teaches us? Instead of being a castaway, just cast off the works of darkness. Instead of living for self and in wantonness and in drunkenness and in all these things, why don't you just cast off the works of darkness and put you on the Lord Jesus Christ? Go to John chapter 8. What is it saying? Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof. Too many Christians struggle in their Christian lives because they're so worldly, they're so carnal. You know, they're not feeding the Spirit, they're not getting strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, and they're struggling with so many things of this world, why is that? Because they're making provision for the flesh. Arthur, when I think of making provision for the flesh, you think of when God provides for us, we say, you know, he's providing for us, he's giving us his provisions, right? He's providing food for us and arraignment. When we make provision for the flesh, what are we doing? We're providing for the flesh to eat. We're providing food for the carnal man. That's why once you give into sin once, if you don't get that right, you don't get scripture in your heart, you don't get into church, you don't get some hard preaching, you're probably going to end up doing it again. You see what I'm saying? Why? Because you're making provision for the flesh. You're providing for it. You're feeding that old man and therefore it just gets easier to do that thing over and over and over again. John chapter 8, verse number 1, the Bible reads here, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives and early in the morning he came again into the temple and all the people came unto him and he sat down and taught them and the scribes and the Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he had heard them not. And, excuse me, verse 7, so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. Now obviously we know this story, this woman was caught in adultery, but here's the thing, the Pharisees came to Jesus trying to trip him up in his words, trying to get him to cast a stone at her. And here's the thing, that woman was very much worthy of death, okay, very much worthy of death. But why didn't they cast a stone at her? Because they're not under the Mosaic law. They're under the Roman Empire during that time. And Jesus wasn't going to go about to cause this upheaval and try to just, well we're just going to take matters into our own hands, we're going to cast a stone at her because that's what God says. No, it's like, we're under Roman law, it's not going to happen. But if you're without sin, go ahead and cast a stone at her. Now the secondary application that I want to give to this is this, is these Pharisees by the way, these Pharisees, hypocrites, religious leaders, were the ones that really wanted to cast the stones. I want to put this lady to death, right? And often that spiritual application there is this, often if we're not careful, we're too quick to cast stones at everyone else, but we're not really looking at us, right? And often we're just like the Pharisees, being Pharisaical, wanting to cast stones at everyone else, but our lives aren't clean, right? And we need to make sure that, look, casting stones in the Old Testament, and guess what, even in the millennial reign, is going to be very justifiable. I mean, Pastor Donnie Romero was talking about the poster of conferences, like, you know, when God, we're going to be the ones executing judgment in the millennial reign, and when God says, go and kill that person, it's just like, hey, the judgments of the Lord are right, you know? And he even joked, he even said like, you know that neighbor you don't like, you know what I mean? That neighbor's like, yes, now I get to do away with this guy. But the judgments of the Lord are pure. You know, in those days it'll be fine, but obviously today we can't do that. But spiritually speaking, often we like to cast stones in our mind at people, right? But we haven't cleaned up our own lives. Go to Acts chapter 5, Acts chapter number 5. So instead of casting a stone, you should cast a shadow. What does that mean? Verse 13 of Acts chapter number 5, and of the rest, there's no man joined himself to them, but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women, insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. I mean, that was a great miracle, and obviously that can't be done today. But these apostles had this ability that even their shadow would just cleanse the sicknesses of those who were laid down. It's a great, great illustration of just the power of God. But let me say this, often, you know, we'll say, you know, we're taking, that guy's just walking in that guy's shadow. It's like that guy's influencing, being influenced by this person. And us, what we need to do, instead of casting stones, we need to cast a shadow. We need to get to a point in our Christian lives that we're influencing others to grow in their spiritual lives, right? That someone would benefit from our life, in other words. You know, that there'd be someone in the church, maybe it's in your own family, or maybe it's someone you lead to the Lord, that you can influence for righteousness sake. Only you can teach and disciple and teach them the righteous ways of God. So you know, instead of spending your time casting stones at everyone, why don't you take someone under your wing, right? Teach them the ways of righteousness. Teach them about the Bible. Teach them how to go sowing, right? Teach them the Word of God. Teach them those things that are right in the eyes of the Lord. Instead of casting a stone, cast a shadow. And look, I bashed discipleship a couple weeks ago, okay? I burned that thing. The modern way of discipleship, okay, because the modern way of discipleship is simply compromise is what it is. It's a way to simply not do sowing, okay? It's just like, this is in place of sowing. You know, let's do the 25-week Starbucks for an hour thing, but they don't get nothing done. Nothing. And most of the doctrine that's being taught in these discipleship books is so shallow. The doctrine sucks, okay? I'm just going to be honest with you. Are you saying that the Word of God, no, no. Most of them are from NIVs anyways. That's why. It's no good. So how are you going to get someone to grow from an NIV? How are you going to get someone to grow from the doctrine that comes from an ESV? You can't. It's impossible. You're killing them spiritually. That's why the discipleship of the modern discipleship does not work at all, okay? This matter of, well, we're just going to do visits, you know. Visits? I mean, I'm not against visiting someone when they're in the hospital, but that's not in place of sowing, okay? What we need to be doing is we need to be seeing a lot of people saved and helping those people to get into church, obviously, okay? But here's the thing. That comes as we cast a shadow spiritually, right? That comes as we try to be a good influence. Look, when someone comes to our church, they're brand new, someone needs to take them under the wing. Someone needs to go spend some time with that person. Someone needs to go take them out to eat. Someone needs to go teach them. Don't look at them and say, man, is this guy a reprobate? Got to make sure this guy's... Number one. Step number one. Reprobate. Do you know what I mean? Let's get people the benefit of the doubt, okay? And look, if a reprobate comes in here, I mean, they got to be dumb, okay? Because it's like, this is faithful word Baptist church, all right? But the majority of the people that come to these doors, they're probably not reprobates. I'm not saying they're never going to come, okay, because I'd be stupid to say that they're never going to be here. Obviously, we'll have infiltrators, wolves that come into the church, people who try to come in here, creep in unawares, I get that. But the great majority of the people who come to our church, the new visitors, they're probably not reprobates. You know what they need? They need someone to just take them under their wing, they need someone to teach them about church attendance. If they're not saved, first and foremost, they need to get saved, right? I mean, we were just talking about before the service that people would come to church and they're not even saved. And they wouldn't even check, I mean, they would do the checklist, like get them baptized, let them be a parking attendant, usher, and they do all these things. Even now, like the assistant pastor or something, and they're not even saved. You know? First things first, get them saved. We had a couple come in today in the morning, the couple that I was just mentioning, and the first thing I asked them, are you 100% sure that if you die today, you go to heaven? They gave me a clear presentation of their salvation testimony, I said, great, I'm glad you guys are here, you know? And here's the thing is, these people, a lot of them are just babes in Christ. You know? Especially if you're the one who won them to the Lord. They're a brand new babe in Christ. They need someone to be under someone's shadow. And just remember this, if you take someone under your wing, you are their example of what a Christian should be. Keep that in mind. They're going to copy you. They're going to talk like you, they're going to walk like you, they're going to dress like you, so you've got to make sure that your Christianity is top notch. You're representing the Lord well. You see what I'm saying? And I'm not saying compromise the word, because we're not going to compromise the word of God. Okay? It's easier so that when Brother Bruce gets up here and rips on the faggots, right, and they're like, ugh, you know, I can't believe you said that, you know? You can take it and say, hey, this is the reason why you said that. Let me show you real quick. And it's just like, oh wow, okay, that makes a lot of sense. So the pastor's not a nut, you know what I mean? They're all nuts. No, I'm just kidding. But it's just like everyone, you know, working together to help these people grow. You see what I'm saying? And that's how you produce a lot of mature believers. Because here's the thing. You know, if we just see a lot of people saved and they start coming to church, there's a lot of babes in Christ. I can't disciple everyone, right? I can't take everyone under my wing. We need the efforts of everyone to take people under their wings, right? Cast a shadow. Don't cast a stone and say, that guy is a queer for sure. That guy's a reprobate for sure. It's just like, well, maybe he just, you know, yeah, he has a fag tag, but he needs to shave it off. But someone, hey, look, someone needs to teach him that though, right? Maybe they don't even, they just don't know. You know what I mean? And here's the thing, often if you develop a good relationship with them, they'll often ask you, hey, so what, does the Bible say anything about hair or anything like that? It's just like, actually it does. Let me show you what the Bible says about that. Cut your hair. You know what I mean? You need to cut your hair. You know, it is a shame for a man to have long hair, okay? And there's a lot of things that can be taught. Now the majority of the discipleship obviously is going to come from the pulpit. We're going to talk about these things, but it's reinforced by you guys teaching them as well, okay? Taking them under the wing, teaching them about these things. And here's the thing, a lot of the people that come, they're going to have some sin in their lives. Okay? We'll wait. Thanks. All right? A lot of these people, they have sin in their lives, but here's the thing, they didn't even know it's sinful of some of the stuff that they're involved in, you know? And a guy, you know, someone comes in and they're involved in alcohol, you know, we're not going to tolerate that. So guess what we need? We're going to need everyone to really, not harp on them, but we need someone to take them aside. And they might say, yeah, hey, is alcohol a sin? It's like, yes it is. Let me just show you from the word of God why it's a sin. You know, there's a lady, the lady who came today, we were talking afterwards, and I gave her some hard truths, some really hard truths that she was asking about. And she said this, she said, I'm really thankful that you're telling me this and you're not hiding these things from me. She goes, the church I went to, it's just like, they didn't want to confront anybody about anything, they don't want to tell them to talk about any of that, and at least you're willing to confront me about these things, and the way you approached it was great, you know? But here's the thing, the church is, you know what they're doing, because they don't want to offend anybody, they don't want to say nothing, so they let people just be involved in sin. And what happens? God's judgment, you know, abides on that person. You know, they get chastised and the devil just messes them up, why? Because the pastors are afraid to say anything about it. You know, rather, why don't we just be bold, just trust God and say, look, this is what the Bible says. And you don't have to be a jerk about it, obviously, right? You know, it's just like, you drunkard, you're a drunkard? No way! You know, it's like, let me show you what the Bible says about drunkards, you know? You wino, you're a wino, huh? It's just like, no, you don't have to, there's a specific way you can do it. Let me say it from the pulpit in that manner, but down here, it's a lot different than up here. You guys understand that, right? You know, when you're down there, it's just like, hey man, I have a drink every once in a while, is that bad? You say, man, you know what? I tell you this because I'm your brother in Christ, but yeah, it is. It's a sin actually, it's a really bad sin. Let me show you what the Bible, can I show you what the Bible says about that? And by the way, know what the Bible says about it. Let me take you to Genesis 1, you know, it's just like, I don't know where it says it, but we'll just start reading the Bible. I'm not sure we'll get there soon enough, you know. Know what the Bible says and say, and look, if you're sincere with someone, they'll take it. And they'll be like, wow, I did not know that. And you could explain to them, look, the Bible teaches us that we're actually supposed to cast out drunkards, you know, people would drink and stuff like that. So are you willing to repent to get that right? And most more often than not, people are like, yeah, I don't want to do that. Yeah, I want to be a part of this church. I want to get involved, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.