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Hey man, the part of the chapter we're going to focus on this evening is found in Job chapter 1 verse number 20 where the Bible reads here, Then Job arose and rent his mantle and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, Naked came out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return, the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. Verse 22, And all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly. The title of my message this evening is charging God foolishly. Charging God foolishly. And what I mean by when I say charging God foolishly simply means this, blaming God. Why is it a sin, why is it so sinful to charge God? Because it's blaming God for something that he did not do. Or it's giving credit to God for something that he wasn't responsible for. And the Bible says here that Job, of course, he had a man who had great substance, he had many children, he had a life that many would esteem as being a man of prosperity, a man who was very prosperous and successful, and he lost it all. He lost everything. And yet even in the midst of losing everything, you would think that such a man who lost all his money, he lost all his children, he even lost the respect and the following of his own wife, the support of his own wife. You would think that such a man would say, man, why did God allow this in my life? Or why did God do this to me? Or why this? And you know what? A lot of people naturally would probably make that decision. They would probably charge God and blame God for the things that take place, the bad events that take place in our lives. But the Bible says here that Job in his maturity, because he was spiritual, because he was a man who was chewed evil, he was a man who was upright, he was a man who was perfect, the Bible says he didn't charge God foolishly. He didn't sin in that. Go with me if you would to James chapter number five, James chapter number five. The Bible teaches us that when we charge God foolishly, we're actually sinning against God. Why is that? Because we are accrediting God with something that he did not do. And we're going to go through some examples this evening of how that has taken place in the lives of those in the Bible, but also how many of those of today blame God for certain things. And I'm not just talking about things that have to do with bad events or bad circumstances that happen in our lives. I'm talking about things that people try to manipulate for their benefit. And they say, well, God did this. It was God who allowed this to happen. No, typically it's just our own doing. James chapter number five, verse number 10 says, take my brethren the prophets who have spoken in the name of the Lord. For example, of suffering, affliction and of patience, behold, we count them happy, which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job and have seen the end of the Lord, that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. So we see here that the Bible says in Job chapter one, that Job was a what? A perfect man. And we see here also in James chapter one, that the Bible says of Job that he was a man of what? Patience. And what does the Bible say? Let patience have her perfect work. What does it talk about? To be complete. This is a man who was mature. This is a man who was complete. This is a man who understood God. And that's why he didn't charge God foolishly when he lost everything. And before we point the finger at Job and say, man, or even at his wife, right, for in a sense, just not following her own husband, you know, this is a great loss. I mean, we, you know, cry and scream when we stub our toe. You know, we complain over the smallest things, but just imagine losing all your children in one day. And when you lose your substance, then another servant comes and says, by the way, you lost your children and you lost this and you lost that. And then you would think that Job would say, you know, at least I have the respect of my wife. But even that, he lost everything. What, how, how patient do you have to be to understand I'm not going to charge God foolishly in this area. I'm not going to blame God. I'm not going to say it's his fault, even though he could have stopped it. I'm still not going to blame God. Go to James chapter number one, James chapter number one. You know, there's a lot of people sometimes, even Christians when they fall into sin, right, it's like they blame God for that. Why did God allow this temptation to come and why did he allow me to be born in this kind of a home and why did he allow this, this certain thing to take place? He did it. Life is life. Okay. And look what the Bible says in verse 13 of James chapter one, let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man, but every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust and enticed. When you fall into sin, when you do wrong, take personal responsibility. It's your fault, not God's. You're like, well, you know, I grew up in a drunkard's home. That doesn't mean you have to be a drunkard, you know, and just because that your uncle was a crackhead and just because your brother was a pot smoker and just because your mom was a drunkard doesn't mean you have to be. It doesn't mean that you have to follow in the footsteps of those who came before you. Everyone has a personal choice. He said, well, my dad was always involved in immorality and he always, he was involved in adultery. That's why I do this. Don't blame your father, blame yourself. Take personal responsibility. Don't charge God foolishly. You see, here's the thing. Yes, we're all born in a certain area and God has allowed us to be born where we're at, but guess what? He's given us what's called a free will. We're not Calvinists. Okay. God is not a puppeteer up in heaven trying to cause you to sin so you can look for it and it doesn't work that way. What is God doing? He gave us a free will to choose to do right or choose to do wrong, but it's our choice. And if we make a mistake, we need to just own up to it. You know, we have too many people, especially this millennial generation, they don't want to take responsibility for their actions. They want to blame their parents. They want to blame the system. They want to blame their leaders. They want to blame this. They want to blame that, but they don't want to take personal responsibility for their actions. It's your fault. Amen. You say, well, you know, if I would have just... No, no, no, no. It's not your boss's fault either. It's your fault, your fault, your fault. You take responsibility for your actions. Okay. You say, well, you know, if I would have just grown up in a Christian home, well, guess what? You're not. So what are you going to do? Just complain about it? Right. You know, you got the word of God. You got a good church. You got good people. Learn to be a man of character. Learn to be a man of integrity, a man of God, perfect and upright. And guess what? You don't have to blame God for those things. In fact, you can give God credit for the good things that happen to you after that. See, isn't that funny? We like to blame God for the bad things, but we don't credit Him for the good things. You know, we don't credit Him for the fact that we do have life, the fact that we were born. Maybe you grew up in a single parent home. I've heard this so much growing up because I grew up in a single parent home. It's just like, yeah, my dad wasn't around, and that's why this, and that's why that. And it's just like, you're full of junk, okay? Just own up, take responsibility, be a man, do what you need to do, follow the Lord, obey His commandments, and be blessed with the Lord. You don't have to follow in those footsteps. Don't blame God. Go to Genesis chapter 27. Charging God foolishly is not something to just unsave people. I mean, saved people do this all the time. They blame God for their circumstances. You know, they blame God for, you know, a sickness that they get. You know what I mean? And here's the thing, sure enough, tomorrow I'll be diagnosed with cancer or something. I don't know. But you know what? That's just the way of life. I mean, we live in these corrupt bodies, right? And we live in a corrupt world, and guess what? Death happens, okay? Things happen, and we can't look at everything, and every single bad event that takes place in our life is like, I can't believe God did that. It's not God. That was not God's original intent for this world, okay? Look at Genesis chapter 27, verse number 5. We're gonna look at another example of this. The Bible says here, And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son, and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the Lord before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats, and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth. And thou shalt bring it to thy father, and that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. So we see here that Jacob's mom is basically kind of conniving, right? She's like, I want you to get the blessing, not Esau. But we're going to just manipulate the situation a little bit so that your dad can bless you, okay? And by the way, don't let your children pin you against each other, right? Mom and dad need to be on the same page, amen? And if, look, there's a problem if the little boy or the little girl knows what parent to go to to get their way. It's getting quiet, amen? We need to be able to be the type of parents, really, look, and I learned this long ago just from the example of those who have I followed. You know, the mom and the dad need to be on the same page and don't allow children to come between that. Amen? Man, it's getting kind of quiet in here, amen? Why is that? Because here's the thing. Our children need an example of how loyalty is expressed in a marriage, right? They need to realize that mom and dad, look, you get to be a part of the family, the world doesn't revolve around the children. Amen? The world does not revolve around, look, I love my son to death. I love my son. But guess what? He's a welcome member of the family. He's not the center of attention in our family, okay? Now, we got to take care of him and the guy, you know, he does messes in his diaper and, you know, he needs to be taken care of. But guess what? He's not going to come between my wife. I've met my, I know my wife before I knew him. Did you guys know that? And in fact, he's a product of that. You understand that? So it's not like, and often, sometimes children, they get in the way of a marriage. If you're not, if you don't have the priority, right, they get in the way of marriage. Why is that? Because now all the attention goes to the children, and it's often said that later on in age when the children grow up and they leave, you know, it's like the parents are just strangers to one another. Why? Because they spend so much time focusing on the kids, they don't date anymore. Okay? And let me say this, date. I mean, you're so excited to date before marriage. How about after marriage? Amen? Amen. I mean, that's important. Cultivating the relationship, maintaining it. I don't even know how I'm getting off on that, but look, this is, this was Rebecca's problem right here. Yes. She was using Jacob, I mean, she's going behind her husband's back. Wives don't ever go behind your husband's back. I mean, that's your best friend. Amen? That'll be your best friend, that'll be your loyalties to him, and vice versa. Telling your children to realize that it's you two, and they get to be a part of what's going on in that family. Amen? But look what it says. And Jacob said to Rebecca, his mother, behold Esau, my brother is a hairy man and I'm a smooth man. My father, preadventure, will feel me and I shall seem to him as a deceiver. Well, that's because you are. And I shall bring a curse upon me and not a blessing. And his mother said unto him, look, she should have just been like, you know what, you're right, what am I thinking? This is bad. You know? No, what did she say? And his mother said unto him, upon me be thy curse, and my son, only obey my voice and go fetch me then. And he went and fetched and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory meat such as his father loved, and Rebecca took goodly raiment of her eldest son, Esau, which were with her in the house and put them upon Jacob, her younger son. And she put the skins of the kid of the goats upon his hands and upon the smooth of his neck, and she gave him savory meat and the bread which she had prepared into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came unto his father and said, my father. And he said, here am I, who art thou my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou beatest me, arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison that thy soul may bless me. Verse 20, and Isaac said unto his son, how is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, look what it says, because the Lord thy God brought it to me. Who's he giving credit to? To God. Now, is that true? No. What did he do? He connived, he was deceitful, he plotted with his mother to go get this so he can be blessed. And what did he say? No, it was God. God's the one who gave me this. You know? It's like when people win the lottery, which never happens. You know, people are often, I just want to win the lottery so I can tithe to my church. You will never tithe to the church. You will die a miserable death if you win the lottery. It's miserable to be rich. Okay? And often we deceive ourselves, thinking, well, if I just manipulate this situation like this and I just make this happen like this, I can make it look like it was God and give credit to God. No, it doesn't work that way. Don't charge God foolishly. Go to Genesis chapter 22. Jacob was a liar. You know? He's a deceiver. He's conniving along with his mother. You know? And the worst thing about it is that he charged God. He says, yeah, it was God. I know. How fast it happened? It was God. Right? No. When it came to this church, it was God. Okay? He said, that started quickly. Yeah, it was God. All right? And we got the proof to prove it that it was God. All right? You say, how do you know? Because this cannot be done in one week. Okay? None of this, this can't even be done in two months. Okay? The amount of work that's being put in, the souls that are being saved, and everything that's taken place, I couldn't have put that together. Pastor Anderson couldn't have done it from Arizona. It takes God. Amen. Right? So we can look and say, yeah, it was God who did it. But see, here's the thing. What are we being charged for? Is there music playing somewhere or something? I hear heaven. I'm just kidding. But what do we see here is that, oh, often, I mean, with this whole story that took place with the start of the church, they were charging God foolishly, in a sense. They were charging us foolishly, saying, oh, you guys connived. You guys put this plan together. You guys been planning this whole thing out. No. I wish that Rebecca and I got together to plan this out. Maybe it would have turned out a lot. Maybe we got to building a lot faster. I don't know. But here's the thing. Often, people will manipulate situations to work it out for their benefit. And then they want to say, well, yeah, it was God. Let me give you an example. I remember at my old church, the church plant that we started, there was a guy who used to go to our church there. And he was an older gentleman. And he was bad news. Some people, you see him, you're just like, this guy's bad news. And I'm like, you know, and he was a flatterer, not a flat earther, though he probably was a flat earther too, now that I think about it. He was a flatterer. You guys know a person who flatters, often they just have a lot of lies. He got it. He finally got it. He's like, oh, OK, flatterer. So, you know, he just, he would flatter with his lips all the time. I mean, if I ever preached the message, he would, that was the greatest truth. I've never heard anything like that. You know, it was just like, just so buttery, you know, it was just like, man, dude, look, I know it wasn't that good, OK? He had this thing where he would like, when you, I remember my mom came to visit our church and he had this thing and he came from the liberal movement, surprise, right? And I remember he would talk and he would close his eyes as he was talking. And then I remember my mom told me, she's like, I don't like that, man. I said, why? She goes, because he closes his eyes when he talks to me. I said, this is what you do. When he closes his eyes and talks to you, walk away. I was like, surprise when he opens his eyes and he finds out he's talking to nobody, you know? But this guy, this guy, you know, and I was, I remember, we had a lot of visitors that would come to the church and we had a family come and they had an older daughter who had not been married. Well, this guy had been married before and he got divorced. And you know, I didn't know what was going on, but apparently they were dating and he was going to marry and he did marry her. And here's the thing, I told him, I said, what are you doing? When I found out that he was going to marry, I was like, you are not supposed to get married again. Okay? And he said, no, no, no, he goes, you don't understand. God told me that this is the one. I said, I mean, how big was the burger you ate before you went to sleep last night where God told you these things? And he literally said, I was pulling through the parking lot. She came and a voice came to me and said, she's the one. I said, that wasn't God's voice. That was like a devil, you know, but he probably did hear a devil, but here's the thing. He was charging God foolishly and he said, it's of the Lord. I know it's of God. And he closed his eyes and he's just like, it's of God. God's the one who's doing it. It's confirmed. I know it. I've been reading the Bible. He apparently forgot to read in the New Testament where God condemns like divorce, you know? And the thing is, you know, this girl, she came, she got saved at her church and he destroyed her life, destroyed her life. And they're surprised that they're divorced now. Oh, yeah, that's a big surprise, right? Did God tell you to do that too? But here's the thing is, is he charged God foolishly for that, you know, and he did it so it looked like before the leaders that, oh, this guy's sincere. He's hearing from God. No, he's not hearing from God. Okay, you're charging God foolishly and it's a sin and it's shameful that you would blame God for hearing such a wicked thing to divorce, to remarry someone after you've been divorced. Look, we don't, and I'm not, look, if you've been divorced and you've been remarried, we're not preaching against you. We love you. You're in our church. You obviously know where we stand on this. I'm talking to the people who have not been married, who are married, who are maybe considering divorce. Don't do it. By the way, don't ever say, it's God who told me because that's charging God foolishly. God will never tell us to do something that's contrary to the Word of God. It's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, and here's the thing. People who get divorced, they say it all the time when they're Christians, it was God. I know God's in this thing. Yeah, God's in it to judge it, okay? Divorce is never, never permissible, never, okay? And here's the thing. The only way you can remarry someone else is if your spouse dies, and no, that's not a permission to go kill your spouse. That's the only way. Okay? Till death do us part, and look, you're going to go through hard times. You're going to argue. You're going to fight. You're going to go through ups and downs, but none of them are a reason to get divorced. Till death do us part. Have some oomph, have some determination, have some integrity to just say, we're just going to pull through this thing no matter what. We're just going to burn. We're going to burn doing this thing. We won't give up on the marriage, okay? We'll fight teeth and nail, but we're going to get through it. Divorce is never permissible, and shame on the Christians. Shame on the pastor. Shame on the leader that would ever permit people to get divorced. That's wicked. Look, you're not even taking the next generation into account. You know, I want my son to find a wife and to stay with her till the day he dies and never marry anybody else, okay? I want him to stay that way, but you know what's going to help him to be married and do that is by seeing his mom and his dad grow all together and never speak of divorce. Stay together forever. Amen? Look, it's not going to be roses and daisies all the time, okay? This isn't Cinderella. This isn't a Disney movie. We don't ride off into the sundown at the end of the story. Sometimes there's storms and rain and it's windy and it's bad, okay? But you know what? You're weak if you want to quit after that. Look, why don't you measure the amount of strength and fortitude by just making it through those times? And look, that's only going to strengthen who you are as a person and strengthen your marriage. And you know what? I've given my children a great gift by doing that because look, when they grow up, they get married, they're going to be like, what's divorce? That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Mom and dad stay together forever. They never consider divorce. And most of the time when people want to get divorced is because they're in love with someone else. They found someone else. That's the way it works, all right? And it goes back to the point of that's why you got to keep dating, amen? You keep dating, you keep reminding yourself why you got married. And by the way, when you first get married, it's just like for looks and stuff. You know, you like each other. But the love just kind of, it matures, doesn't it? It's supposed to mature. You know, I love my wife. I can say, I can honestly, I love my wife more today than I did when I first married her. And the love is a lot different. Before, it was just like, you know, mushy. I'm not going to imitate that because that's not for you to know, all right? It was mushy. It was all these things and speaking sweet things and all that. And you say, do you do that anymore? No, man, come on now. I've matured. I show my wife that I love her by telling her that I love her, amen? No. I mean, I basically, look, love has to mature. After a while, it's not the mushy, gushy stuff anymore. Now, I'm not saying that's bad. You know, every once in a while, it's good to do that. But look, after a while, it's like, okay, the newness wears off of everything, right? The newness always wears off. That's why it's important that you have character and you realize why you got into it in the first place. Because when the newness wears off, it's like, okay, now commitment. We need to have commitment, right? And by the way, that's worth anything. That's even for church attendance. You know, I would hope that the people who are here tonight will be here six months and a year from now. And it's not like, just like, yeah. And then six months from now, it's just like, yeah. And then a year is just like, you're not into it anymore. You know, before it was just like, I can't wait to be in church. This is the greatest thing. Thank you, Pastor Anderson. You know, and then it's just like, a year from now, you're not even here, right? It's like you're out of church. It's like, I don't, yeah, you know, I found a church closer. It's not like our church. They're pre-tribbers and stuff like that. But I guess I'll just go to that church. You know, I just don't like to, yeah, you know, no, the newness will always wear off of everything, okay? That's why it's important that we make commitments. And the newness wears off in marriage as well, okay? You know, after you start having some kids, the newness wears off. But you know what you have to do? You got to cultivate it. You got to cultivate your relationship. And look, when you first became a Christian, right, you're excited about the things of God. It's like, yes, man, the King James Bible, I hate homos, post-trib, replacement, it's all good. And then what happens? Then the trials start coming in, then you need character, right? Then it's just like, I don't feel like reading my Bible today, you know? It's just like, I don't want to read my Bible every single day. And now it's just like, I guess I'm in Leviticus, you know, or whatever, you know? But guess what? Character needs to kick in and say, well, this is what I have to do. And by the way, once you use your character to do what you're supposed to do when you don't feel like doing it, you'll get the delight again. Then you run into the truth, you're like, man, now I remember why I love the Word of God. You know, it's just like the newness wears off in soul winning, right? It's like, man, it's just not as exciting to me. Well, go do some soul winning, keep doing what you're doing. And then when you lead like a bunch of people to the Lord, you're like, wow, man, I'm excited about this thing again. Because here's the thing, emotions come and go. And we don't want to be led of our emotions, right? Emotions are important, but we don't want to be led of our emotions. Just do what you feel like doing. No, we ought to do what we know we ought to do. And appreciate the times when we feel like doing it, right? I mean, zeal is an emotion. To be zealous, to be excited over the things of God is a command of the Lord. But we're not always going to be zealous over these things. We need character, we need determination, we need to realize that we need to do what we're supposed to do even when the newness wears off. And by the way, that separates the men from the boys right there. That separates the babes in Christ from those who are mature in the Lord. When it's just like, look, when it, rainy season is going to be coming soon. And I remember at my church, if it was raining, it was just like lava. You couldn't go outside. It was just like, yeah, we're not going to, it's raining. You know, and I know it gets a little dangerous, you know, when you're driving. Just drive slower, you know? But you ought to be where you need to be when you're supposed to be there. Why? Because that's what we're supposed to do, okay? And don't let, excuses are like armpits. We all have them and they all stink. Horrible illustration, but what I'm trying to say is this, is we all have a reason why we don't want to do the things that we do, right? And we all have excuses, right? But here's the thing, at the end of the day, we just need to put the excuses aside and just keep doing what we're supposed to be doing. And look, when you don't feel like coming to church, this is what you do. Come to church. Amen. Okay? Like, I don't feel like listening to Brother Bruce. I'm sorry, you know? I apologize for that, you know? If you don't feel like coming to church, come to church and when you come, you'll be like, man, I'm glad I came. I got some good fellowship in, I got some good preaching in, some good singing, and I'm so thankful that I came. It's going to happen that way. But there comes a time when the newness does wear off. I don't even know how I got into that. Where are we at? We're in Genesis, right? So Isaac, I mean, excuse me, Jacob's lying. He's saying, you know, the Lord has brought it to me. He's giving God credit for something that's not true. Genesis chapter 22 and verse number 6. Genesis chapter number 22 and verse number 6. The Bible reads here in verse number 6. And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son and he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, my father. And he said, here am I, my son. And he said, behold the fire in the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Verse 8. And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. And by the way, you know, you read the story, a very touching story there, because you're supposed to sacrifice his son and by faith he did it because he believed God. And even after that, you see that the ram that was caught in the thicket, God did provide himself. And by the way, that's a wonderful picture of what Christ was going to do, right? God will provide himself an offering, correct? And we see here that Abraham is the father of faith and all he did was believe God. He didn't have to manipulate the situation. He didn't have to try to be deceitful or conniving. He was just going to do what God told him to do and let the chips fall where they may. Just do what you're supposed to do and know that God will come through in the end. You know, you think of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego, when they went into the fiery furnace, they're like, we're not going to bow down and, you know, God is able to deliver us, but if not, but if not, you know, we're not careful to answer the, oh, King Nebuchadnezzar. And what happened? They got thrown into the fiery furnace, but they came out without a, without a singe on their clothing. Why is that? Because they just trusted God. And sometimes Christians are tempted to manipulate situations, manipulate circumstances to get it worked their way. No, why don't you just do right, live right, have integrity, and trust in God. It'll turn out so much better. Look, go to Hebrews chapter 11. Abraham had faith. Those who charge God foolishly don't have faith. They don't think that God can do it. They don't think that God can help. They don't think that God can come through. They don't understand that though He slay me, yet will I serve Him, right? Yet will I trust Him, said Job. He said, look, if God kills me, I'll still trust Him. You know, because God always has our best interest in mind no matter what. Okay, and we can trust Him. He can be trusted. Hebrews chapter 11 verse 17, the Bible says, By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten Son, of whom it was said that in Isaac thy seed shall be called. I mean, God is asking Abraham to sacrifice the promise that he had already given to him. Verse 19, accounting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead, from whence also he received him in a figure. He accounted God that God was able to perform that which He promised. And we need Christians today to not manipulate a situation, not try to get it our way. Just go with God's program and account that God is able to perform that which He promised. Take God at His word. Believe the things that He's promised you and I. Go with me, if you would, to Luke chapter 13. You know, and sometimes we see this in the matter of our loved ones passing away. And I've met a lot of people, even in my own family, you know, that we've had loved ones pass away. And what happens? They charge God for that. You know, they blame God. You know, why did God let this happen and why did He die? Why did she die? Why did God allow this painful experience and why did God have to take? You know, they're charging God foolishly. And let me say this. God definitely kills people. Okay? Let's just get that. God kills people. Okay? In the Bible, God kills people all the time and even in today, I believe that God kills people. I remember the first time I heard of that concept was from my old pastor, my father-in-law. He told me of one of his family members, you know, he died and he's like, yeah, God killed him. I was like, what? He's like, he said, yeah, God killed him. He goes, God kills people, brother Bruce. I'm like, amen. And you know what that did? That helped me fear. Yeah. Yes. Because, you know, grace of God and all that, he's gracious, but he's an austere God. You know, he's strict. And look, he kills us, this means we go home, right? But that means our life is cut short. That means we can't enjoy the pleasures of this life serving God anymore. We can't get more rewards by serving God, right? And there is cases where God does kill people, okay? That is true. But sometimes just people die. You know, that's just the way of life. And so many people have become reprobate simply because they become bitter towards someone, maybe a family member who's passed away. And they blame God. God could have just kept them from doing that. Why did God do that? Why did God this? You know, people have died for thousands and thousands of years. We're all going to die. I'm not saying it's not a painful thing. Obviously it's painful, but to charge God for those deaths, that's foolish. Because everyone dies, okay? And here's the thing. It is appointed for a man who wants to die. We all have an appointment with death. We don't know when that's going to be, okay? And it's foolish to want to blame God for those deaths. You know, sicknesses. There's sicknesses in this world. There's cancer. And all of us are going to die one way or another. It's going to happen. We're not going to live forever physically as of yet. But here's the thing. To blame God for those sicknesses. And by the way, sometimes those sicknesses are self-inflicted. I've known Christians who have, or people who became Christians that got saved, but because they lived a sinful life prior to that, they suffer the consequences of their actions. They're dead. You know, I knew someone who was a drunk, they did drugs, they did all kinds of things, and they got sick. And they ended up dying. I mean, he was like in his 20s when he died. And I remember talking to him, because I wanted to check on his salvation, and I said, hey, I want to make sure you're saved. And I give him the gospel, and he says, don't worry about that. I've already trusted Christ as my personal savior. And I don't believe I can lose my salvation. I know that God saved me, and I'm thankful for it. He said, and it was a cousin of mine. And he says, but I'm dying. He says, I'm dying. But he says, but I believe that God will heal me, he said. I really believe God will heal me. And I said, well, even if he doesn't heal you, you're going to be in heaven if you do die, you know. And I told him, I said, I'm going to see you again. You know, it won't be for the next couple of years. I don't know when it's going to be, but we are going to see each other again. This will be the last time I talk to you just today, obviously, because he was dying like that week. And he said, he says, yeah, but I believe that God's going to heal me, though. I don't think I'm going to die. Well, he died. Okay. And who knows how many people he told that to that maybe have believed him that he wasn't going to die, but he died. And unfortunately, maybe some of those people are thinking, why did God allow him to die? Well, here's the thing. He did it. Okay. Those are the, he suffered the consequences of his actions. Okay. So you can't live a sinful life, okay? A life of drugs and sexual perversion and fornication and all these things and expect nothing to happen to you. You die, it's because of your actions. Don't blame God for the consequences of your sinful actions. Now, look, he's in heaven today. So he's just like, man, I charged God foolishly for this one, you know? But thank God he saved. I'm thankful he saved. I'm thankful that he's in heaven. I'm going to see him one day. He obviously cut his life short. You know, I hope that God gives me decades upon decades of life, not so I can just do whatever I want, no, so I can serve God with my life, so I can see more people saved, so we could do great and mighty works for him. Amen? Amen. I hope that's my prayer. But if he takes me before that, you know, that's fine. I just would hope that my family would never charge God for that. Because that's just the way of life. People die. Look at Luke, chapter 13, verse number 2. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all Galileans because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen upon whom the Tower of Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay, but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish. People die. He says these people weren't sinners more than you because this happened. People just die, okay? And here's the thing, what people need to realize is this, when people die, that should draw us closer to God, shouldn't it? The Bible says that he's the God of all comfort. You know, we ought to draw nigh unto God and he'll draw nigh unto us, realize that this is the way of life, and look, obviously when we lose our loved ones, we're going to be heartbroken. You know, if my wife ever dies before I do, I'm going to be heartbroken. It's going to be a sad day and I'm going to mourn. I mean, Abraham mourned for Sarah, right? It's going to be a mourn, but that's the way of life. And by the way, here's the thing, this is why I'm against this whole, you know, assisted suicide trend. Have you guys ever heard anything about that? Euphonasia, you know, with this whole thing of like, you know, this person suffering and they want to commit suicide, let's just assist them in doing that. That's ungodly. Okay? Yeah, but they're suffering, but here's the thing, that's the way of life. And suicide is never an option, okay? And often with these people who practice this thing of euphonasia, they have this new trend called the celebration of life. You guys ever heard anything like that? Where it's just like the day before they commit suicide, they like celebrate, they have a party and they celebrate and everything's all happy. This is not a happy thing, okay? It's biblical to mourn. It's biblical to cry. It's biblical to weep. It's biblical to feel pain. Why? Because these things make us better. When we weep and cry and mourn and there's pain, it causes us to draw nigh to God. It causes us to get the deep truths of God. It draws us to the psalms of the Bible and helps us to comfort ourselves in the Lord. And guess what? We become better people because of it. You know, this thing of having a celebration of life, that's just a masking. That's just trying to not do things God's way, okay? Because God doesn't want you to celebrate when people die. I'm talking about when your loved ones die. He doesn't want you to celebrate. No, we celebrate when sodomites die, okay? That's a different story. But when your loved ones die, when someone who's close to you dies, God wants us to mourn for that. That's part of the healing process is to weep and cry and remember them, okay? And that's just part of life. Go to 2 Samuel chapter 12. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. You go to 2 Samuel chapter number 12. Ecclesiastes 12, 7 says, then shall the dust to return to the earth as it was and the Spirit shall return unto God who gave it. It's just the way of life. And look, I'm not looking forward to the deaths in my family. I'm not looking forward to when my mom dies and when my dad dies and my brothers die and my sister. I'm not looking forward to those things. That's not something I'm like, yeah, it's just a way of life so it's going to happen. You're going to die. It's all right. No. I'm just saying it's just a way of life. And when it happens, we'll cross that bridge when it gets there. I'll weep. I'll cry. I'll hurt. I'll comfort my family. But I'm not going to charge God foolishly and say it was God who did this. You know, I've had family members who passed away and there's family members within my family who still blame God to this day for those people who died. I had a cousin who died of gang violence. He was shot in the head but guess what? He was involved in gang violence himself. Live by the sword. Die by the sword. Okay? Those things, that's the outcome of you living a violent life. And we can't blame, oh, God did that. God did not do that. It was that wicked gangster who killed him that did it. Okay? And they're going to get theirs, obviously. Second Samuel chapter number 12, and here's another thing before we get into that. One thing that comforts us is knowing that God is going to punish these evildoers of this world. You know, if my family members are ever murdered, obviously I'm not going to take matters into my own hands. Though I would love to, right? You know, if someone ever did anything to my son, you know, I can't even speak because I don't know what I would do. Right? They're my children. But if something ever happened to my family members, I comfort myself into thinking, God, please kill that person. Please bring that person to justice. I hope that person dies and goes to hell. Why is that? Because that comforts me. And here's the thing. The God of grace won't take care of that. But the God of grace and truth and judgment and righteousness will. And that's the God we serve. He's the God who realizes that this person deserves the just punishment of his deeds. And he's going to punish those people. And here's the thing. He's like, oh, you guys are wicked for praying for the death of people. That's not a wicked thing. That's very natural. It's normal to look. And here's the thing. The people who say that, they think those things too, if they were to lose their family members. I hope that person dies, you know, it's just like, but they just don't say it. Okay. We're just vocalizing what they think as well. It'd be a very natural thing. It's not evil to say that because we're not taking matters into our own hands. We're just pouring our hearts out into the Lord. You know, just say, Lord, I mean, I'm a human. I would like for this person to just die. They've caused harm and hurt to your people. You know, to cause harm and hurt to my family, please, please just take this person's life. That's very normal. Very natural emotion to have. Look at second Samuel chapter number 12, verse 21, then said his servants unto him, what thing is this that thou has done? Of course, this is David. He just lost his child. Thou didst fast and weep for the child while it was yet alive, while it was alive. But when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. And he said, while the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept. For I said, who can tell whether God will be gracious to me that the child may live? But now he is dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return unto me. You know, David had a very biblical perspective. He didn't charge God foolishly. He simply humbled himself before the Lord, before the child died and said, man, it might be that God might be gracious to me, allow me to keep my son. But if not, I mean, I'm not going to charge, I'm not going to blame him for this. You know, I'm going to rise, I'm going to eat, life goes on. And he understood I shall go to him, he's just not going to return back unto me. I will be reunited with my son one day. David's reunited with his son right now. He met his son, you know, praise the Lord for that. But during that time, of course he wasn't going to return back unto him. And here's the thing is, David, he just had spiritual insight in regards to these things. And people who charge God foolishly, they lack spiritual insight. They lack spiritual wisdom. When you charge God foolishly, it just goes to show that you're not a mature Christian. It goes to show that you're not within the word of God, you don't know the character of God, and therefore you're charging God foolishly. No, when we know God, we know what God says about his word, I'm not going to charge him. He's been gracious to me. He's been merciful. He's been long suffering. He's been patient. He saved me. He's given me all these things. I'm not going to charge him foolishly for this hurtful event that took place in my life. And here's the thing, you know, reprobates, for example, right? At one time, obviously, they were recruited. They were molested, right? But not everyone who gets molested becomes a reprobate. You guys understand that? There's people who choose to say, no, I'm not going to blame God for this. In fact, I'm going to look for God. And here's the thing, I've known people who are Christians, are saved, and they're molested, and they hate reprobates. You know, they take the right stance on it, but I've also known others who've been molested and abused, and they became reprobates. You know, and by the way, God did do that to them. But God did not allow them, God did not send the pedophile to go molest that child, right? But they thought that. Why? Because the Bible says that they're the ones who are actually charging God foolishly. They're the ones who say, well, it's because God did this, and no, God gave you over to a reprobate mind because you chose to hate God. You chose to reject the gospel. You chose to reject God, and that's why God gave you over to that reprobate mind. And by the way, I'm not saying this to reprobates because they wouldn't even understand it if it was a brick going through the YouTube interface to their face, okay? I'm telling this to people who were molested and they made the right choice to not be bitter towards God. They didn't charge God foolishly. Go to John chapter 11. Often charging God foolishly is a result of not understanding biblical concepts. That's just a result of it. You know, and we need to be careful because in this life we're going to go through a lot of tribulation. I have this world, ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world, the Bible says, okay? And when hardships come, when hard times come, we just need to receive it and allow it to make us better. And our affliction will learn the precepts of God. It is good that we have been afflicted, the Bible says, right? It teaches us God's word, and it makes us stronger. John chapter, what did I have in turn? John chapter 11, verse 18. So we see David didn't charge God foolishly. He understood what was the concept of the whole thing. Look at John 11, verse 18. Now Bethany was nine to Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off, and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went out and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, look what she says, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. So we see here that Martha didn't have really a biblical perspective. She's just like, if you would have just been here. Here's the thing, God is omnipresent. God knows everything. And it was foolish for Martha to say, if you would have just been here, this wouldn't have happened. Okay, look at verse 30. Now Jesus was not yet coming to the town, but was in the place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her when they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him. She fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. And look, this is Mary, the one who sat at Jesus feet. Yet she did not have that biblical insight or perspective to understand. It's not about that. And look, man, I can't speak for Mary. But if you know that Jesus is around, it's just like, don't worry about any of this. God has not been crucified yet. He's still here. Well, I mean, it doesn't matter if it's four days, five days, six days later, God can resurrect them. Okay. But she didn't have any spiritual insight. She just said, if you would have just been here, this wouldn't have happened. And how many times something bad goes on in our life and it's like, God, if you would have just done this, this would have never happened. If you would have let me just get this job, this would have never happened. If you would allow me to just live this in this place, this would have never happened. If you would have just let me born into this type of family, I wouldn't have grown up with these problems and these things. Don't charge God foolishly. You lack biblical insight when you make charges like that. We need to realize, look, hey, the chips fall where they may. This is my hat. And God has given me everything that I need to be equipped to discern, to live, to do right for the Lord. Go to Matthew chapter 19, Matthew chapter number 19. And I hit on this a little bit earlier, but we'll talk about it some more. Verse three says, the Pharisees also came unto him tempting him and saying unto him, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? So what is he asking? He's basically looking for a reason to divorce, right? These stupid Pharisees. And nothing's really changed now because even pastors today look for a reason to divorce their wives, right? Christians look for a reason to divorce their wives. They look for any cause to do it. And as I mentioned before, often they give, I mean, I can't tell you how many times I've heard people say it was God who told me to do that. It's not God, okay? And God will never tell us to do something that is contrary to his word. Go to Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23, Jeremiah chapter 23, it's a little warm in here. Is the AC on? Thank you, brother David. Jeremiah chapter 23. Here's the thing, there's a lot of pastors that charge God foolishly when they preach. Why is that? Because they say, well, God told me this. You know, I've even run into Christians in regards to, you know, this morning we preached, we like demolished Romans 11 26. We buried it. You know, I'm talking about the false doctrine of Romans 11 26, right? And it's done with. But I remember we knew this guy and Alex and I are for sure that he's like a reprobate. But I remember I was trying to reason with this guy before I knew he was a reprobate. And it's just like, look, look what the Bible just says about these things. You know, we showed him all the scriptures and he was just unwilling to just take heed. And then one day he just came up to me and said, look, God told me that the pre tribulation rapture is the right doctrine. And I said, whoa, let me just step back about five feet, because when that lightning strikes, I want to see it, you know, I'm going to be honest, my heart dropped when he said that, not because I believe them, but because I was just like, man, you just made a very bold and foolish claim. You know, in your haughtiness, pride, foolish, reprobate mind, you made a claim that the Bible condemns to make. Look at Jeremiah chapter 23, verse 20 says, the anger of the Lord shall not return until he have executed until he have performed the thoughts of his heart in the latter days, he shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets yet, yet they ran. I've not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. There's a lot of people who preach and they preach all kinds of lies. And guess what they say? Yeah, God said this, and God said this, and all these things we know that the Bible says about this, you're charging God foolishly, because God did not say those things. Okay. And, and before I knew that this guy was a reprobate, I was like, man, I can't. I mean, how in the world can you say something like that? I mean, we can be, the Bible, we can be dogmatic about certain doctrines, you know what I mean? But some obscure thing, you can't be like dogmatic about it. No, we can be dogmatic about the posture of pre-wrath. We understand that because the Bible teaches it clearly. But I'm not going to get up here and say, I heard from God, that it's true. I'll just say, no, the Bible said it. By the way, this is how we hear from God. So obviously he wasn't hearing from the Bible, right? Because the Bible doesn't teach that. So he was hearing something else. But he was charging God foolishly. And here's the thing, there's a lot of pastors out there that will speak of the vision of their own hearts, as the Bible says. And they'll teach it as doctrine, they're charging God foolishly. Go to Deuteronomy chapter number 18. We see this with the prosperity preachers of today, don't we? You know, the Noel Jones, the preachers of LA, you know, Dietrich, whatever his face is who's living in fornication, and he's had children out of wedlock, and he's praying about marrying his baby's mama. I'm not lying. These are the stupid preachers of LA. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Who knows these guys? Noel Jones is like in Los Angeles. I mean, we had one of his members come visit our church here. And he didn't stumble in here, he's been listening to Pastor Anderson, and he's just like... I remember when I first met him, it was at Babylon USA, I told him, I said, where are you from? And he said, I'm from Noel Jones' church. I was like, Noel Jones? I said, are you talking about that preacher of LA thing? He's all, yeah, that's him. And I said, I don't know what to say. Like okay, you know, because Noel Jones is like way over there, and Pastor Anderson's like way over there, you know, they're very different from one another. And I remember I said, so how'd you hear about Pastor Anderson, you know, and he said, well, he's hot right now on YouTube, you know? But this church is wicked, that Noel Jones' church is wicked. You know, they are, he's a greedy, a filthy Luke, he's not even married. You know, he's like a player in his church, a little stinking fornicator going around sleeping with all the women in the church. And by the way, in this show, don't watch this stupid show, but on this show, they basically glorify that. And even the world is looking at these people saying, are you sure you should be living like this as a pastor? Oh, the Bible says that you should prosper as your soul is prospering. I mean, these people are rolling Bentleys. He goes, yeah, if you're teaching prosperity and all these things, you know, you should be driving a Bentley if you're going to be doing that, because you've got to be the example to the flock. You know, and they're over here talking about that God told them this and God told them that. I mean, one of them literally had a child out of wedlock, and he's with another woman. And this is live on television. I mean, this guy says he's a Christian. You know, and he's one of the most arrogant, prideful men you will ever see in your life. But these are the guys who say, well, it was God who's given us this stuff. You know, it's all a show, too, by the way. You know, it's like, you see these guys preaching, God told me this, and God told me that. You know, they're just like, it's all a show. Are you doing this yelling and screaming? It's all fleshly. I remember I was there. I went to Noel Jones' church, okay? I'm going to confess. Before I was saved, I went there. I went there. My friend invited me to go. He's like, you want to do church? We're going to do real church. I'm like, all right, let's go. So we went to Noel Jones' church. They had security guards and stuff. And I remember being there, and they took like three offerings. And one of them, it was a mandatory $20 bill that you had to throw under the plate. I said, Anthony, I ain't even got $20. Are they going to boo me if I don't throw $20 in the plate? They had this foot-washing thing where you would, it was weird, weird. But you got to come up with a bunch of crazy stuff to believe in that stuff, you know? But these are preachers who are speaking out of their necks. They're not talking from the word of God, okay? Look what the Bible says. Deuteronomy chapter 18, verse 20 says, But the prophet which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shall not be afraid of him. You know why it says not be afraid of him? Because often they speak with such confidence, it's just like, maybe they are hearing from God. No, don't worry, they're not. They're hearing from God, but it's a little g, okay? It's the God of this world is who it is. And a lot of these wicked pastors, they're leading people astray, they're the second Peter chapter two type people who are simply having eyes full of adultery, they cannot cease from sin, they're false prophets, and no Christian ever should be involved in that. That guy ought to get out of that church, join a real church, with the real man of God behind the pulpit, that's going to tell you the truth. I'm not here to get your money, alright? I'm here to teach you how to grow in the Lord, to know the word of God, so you can be a soul when you live a life that's pleasing to God. And look, I'm married! I'm married to one woman, and I'll stay married to one woman. I don't have babies out of wedlock. You understand that? And look, I'm not against anybody who does, you made a mistake in the past, that's different. You understand that? But when you're glorifying that on television, telling people, yeah, this is how I do it, yeah, you fornicator, that is how you do it, you adulterer, no Christian ought to be following that. These men are charismatic, that's why they follow them. Because they're so charismatic, so cool, they make Christianity look so cool. We're not looking to make Christianity look cool. It's a Godly, holy thing. You need to get into a real church, with the real man of God, with real people of God, who have a desire to serve the Lord, who has a King James Bible, we're out soul winning, we believe the right doctrines, and yet we'll post it so you can see that we're not afraid of anybody to know about it. It's not this money grubbing crap, where you have to take three offerings to pay for the pastor's Bentley, because he wants a helicopter in the next three months. It's foolish.