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

God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come. That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. And what I want to preach on this evening is losing your mind, losing your mind. Now here in Acts chapter 26, we see that the apostle Paul is witnessing to King Agrippa, he's witnessing to Bernice and to Festus there, and he's given him just a plain presentation of the gospel. He goes into a little bit of his testimony, how Jesus Christ showed himself at the road to Damascus, but later on you see in verse 23 that he says that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And the response is this, you're crazy. You're crazy. Now, how do we know that that's what he's saying? Well, because of the fact that when the Bible talks about being mad, it's not referring to they're angry, they're upset. This is referring to someone who has lost their mind, they are crazy, they're going through some psychosis of some sort. And so Festus think that the apostle Paul has just lost his mind, he's mad, he's talking about this resurrection, he's talking about Jesus Christ, someone who died and resurrected and he's able to resurrect us. So those teachings are very foreign to these leaders and they're basically making them think, man, this guy has lost his mind, he's gone crazy. Now, this should come as no surprise because of the fact that what we believe and what the Bible says is often so polar opposite to this world's ideologies. People can look at us and say, man, you guys are crazy. When we preach the Bible, when we talk about biblical doctrines and biblical truths, whether even in regards to salvation, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to the Godhead, when it comes to morality in this country, when it comes to all of the counsel of God, people look at us and say, you guys are nuts, you guys are crazy, you guys have lost your minds, you guys are too radical, right? And the world looks at us like that and the closer you get to the Bible, the more of the Bible that you believe, the more the world's going to look at you like you're some sort of disgusting fundamentalist crazy nut, okay? That's true, amen? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter one, well, it's not true that we're crazy, I'm saying it's true that that's what they believe, right? But that is exactly the response that any individual will give us when we actually show them what the Bible says. And you have Christians today who don't want to preach the truth, they don't want to overstep their boundaries and say the radical things of the Bible because they don't want to look crazy to the world. But you know what? Let's be fools for Christ's sake, the Bible says. I'd rather believe the Bible, preach the Bible, say what the Bible says, and nuts to whatever everyone else's opinion about us is, as long as we please the Lord, and in fact the Bible says when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with them. You know, the world actually respects the man of God who's actually willing to get up and preach the word of God even if he disagrees with what he's saying. As long as he's willing to step up, stand up, and stand on the word of God, they're willing to respect that. What they don't respect is a pastor who capitulates to the world, compromises, changes his beliefs, you know, rears back, and doesn't say what he needs to say, what God wants him to say. The Bible tells us in Proverbs 29, verse 27, an unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. First Corinthians, you're in chapter one, I'm going to read to you from chapter four, verse 10 says, we are fools for Christ's sake, but ye are wise in Christ, we are weak, but ye are strong, ye are honorable, but we are despised. Now look at First Corinthians chapter one. By the way, we need to be reminded today that it doesn't matter what the world opinionates about us or what worldly Christians opinionate about us, you know, we got to see what God's opinion is of the world. That's what really matters, amen. Look what it says in verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. So the world looks at our preaching and what we believe in says, that's foolish. That's stupid. We look at it and say, no, it's the power of God. Verse 19 says, for it is written, I, referring to God, will destroy the wisdom of the wise and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of the world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? What is God doing? He's calling out the wise people of this world. The so-called evolutionists and these people who think they know more than God. You know, God is saying, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where are the disputers of this world? What you believe, what you deem to be wise and wisdom is actually foolishness with God. Verse 21, for after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, for the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews the stumbling block unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Now it's not saying that God is foolish, it's not saying that he's weak, but he's basically being facetious and saying, you know what, even God's foolishness obviously doesn't exist. Even God's weakness which doesn't exist is still better than the wisest person in this world and the strongest individual in this world. And so we understand that knowing what the Bible says doesn't make you crazy. Wakes you up actually, right? Wakes you up, it renews your mind, it helps you to know what reality truly is, amen? Doesn't make you crazy, it just makes you look crazy to the crazy world. Now unfortunately, there's Christians that in spite of knowing the truth, in spite of knowing what the Bible actually says, they still lose their minds. And the world says, hey, you guys are crazy for believing that, but here's the thing, people who believe the right doctrines can still lose their minds even though they still believe the Bible. Now why is that? And that's really what I want to talk about this evening. Go to Mark chapter four if you would, Mark chapter number four. It's not because they know what the Bible says. A lot of people think, hey man, if you keep studying the Bible, you delve too deep into end times Bible prophecy, you delve too deep into doctrine, you're going to go crazy, wrong. You're actually going to renew your mind, you're actually going to be clean, you're going to be brainwashed. In other words, you're going to wash your brain from all the filth of this world, from all the stupid doctrines that the devil throws at us through the world system, the public school system, from politics, from TV. Our minds, unfortunately, because we live in this world, has been just filled with the philosophies and the ideologies of this world. And so what we need is we need the word of God to come and clean us up, to renew us. When people say, you're brainwashed, I'm like, yeah, amen to that. God has washed my brain with his word and has helped me to understand what reality truly is. But let me say this, the Bible, no matter how negative it gets, will never corrupt your mind. The Bible's pure. The words of the Lord are pure words, the Bible says, and it doesn't matter how deep you get into the Bible, how much you memorize, how much you study, you will not corrupt your mind because it is the truth. The Bible tells us that the word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. So when you have Christians who know what the word of God says, they believe the King James Bible, they know the right way of salvation, but they're still losing their minds. You kind of wonder why, obviously it's not the Bible, obviously it's not what they're learning in church, obviously it's not what they're getting from their devotion, their daily devotionals, it has to be an outside source that it's causing them to go crazy. When I say lose your mind, I'm not referring to some psychosis where you become like a schizophrenic or something like that. When I say lose your mind, I'm talking about people who become overly anxious, fearful, panicking, they become weary of this world, they kind of become fearful and debilitated from serving God because of the events that are taking place in our country today. They begin to lose their minds. And it's interesting because this week alone, I've had a ton of people message me through social media saying, you know, please pray for me, I feel like I'm losing my mind. And I'm like, what happened? And they're like, what do you mean, what happened? Biden, you know, and I'm like, oh, and you know, I don't tell them this because obviously like I have many things to say to them, but they cannot bear them now. But I think to myself, you think this is bad. The great tribulation is way worse than this. And by the way, the beginning of sorrows is way worse than this. Great tribulation is worse than the beginning of sorrows. This is a cakewalk compared to what's really going to come down the pipeline. But there are people who contact me, they say, man, please pray for me, I'm just losing it. I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm losing hope. And these are people who claim to be Christians. These are people who claim to believe the Bible. They claim to be saved, but they're just losing their minds. Why is that? Well, look what the Bible says in Mark chapter 4 verse 14, this is the parable of the seed and the sower. It says here in verse 14, the sower soweth the word, and these are they by the wayside where the word is sown, but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts. These are they likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the word immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves. So endure but for a time afterward when affliction or persecution arises because of the word's sake, immediately they are offended. So the first person who receives the word, we're giving them the gospel, they don't even have a chance to believe. They don't get to understand because Satan comes and removes that seed from their heart. And on a practical level, we can say this is when we go sowing and we're talking to a teenager or a child, and they're just like this close to getting saved, and then a bird by the name of their brother or their mother or father comes and says, hey, we don't have time for this, and they just kind of take them away. That happens sometimes. The second one is the person who does get saved. They have the word of God, they receive it with gladness, but they don't get rooted. And because they don't get rooted, when persecution comes, because they're not rooted, they actually fall away. They get offended, they become afraid, et cetera. Look what it says in verse 18, and these are they which are sown among thorns, such as hear the word, and look what it says, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in. What does it do? Choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful. So we see here that this person obviously knows the best part of the truth, which is salvation. They receive the word of God, they believe, they get saved, but what happens? Well, we see there that the cares of this world, the thorns, they become entangled with the affairs of this life, and what happens? It chokes the word, and they become unfruitful. You see, folks, the purpose of a Christian is to be fruitful, to win souls to Christ, to disciple people, to live a life that's pleasing unto him, to be successful in the Christian life. But you can't do that if you're allowing the cares of this world to enter in. It's going to choke the word out of your heart. Or the deceitfulness of riches. People become covetous. They become greedy. They begin to have the love of money, and the result is that they're pierced through with many sorrows. They have the lust of other things entering in. All these factors play a role in choking the word of God out of a person's heart to the point where they can no longer be fruitful. They're no longer successful in the Christian life. But that's the main one I want to focus on. There's verse 19, the cares of this world. You see, you can know the Bible. You can know the events. You can know the doctrines, but folks, if you're allowing things to enter in, such as the cares of this world, you will become unfruitful as a Christian. You're going to lose your mind. You will lose your mind. You'll lose faith. You'll lose your mind. You'll lose your joy. 2020 has sucked. Let's just be honest. But you know, for the Christian, 10,000 can fall on my right hand, 10,000 on my left, but it shall not come nigh unto me. We're serving the Lord. Our joy is of the Lord. Our peace is of God. We can still live a peaceable life because we're right with God. In spite of everything that's fallen apart all around us, it doesn't matter how many cares there are, as long as those cares don't enter into here. As long as we don't allow the cares of this life to enter into here, we'll be just fine. The Bible tells us, go with me, if you would, to Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Luke 21, 34 says, And take heed unto yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, so that that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. You know, these folks who are just losing their minds, they're not going to do well during the tribulation, right? Because here it's saying that people who are overcharged with these things, such as the cares of this life, that day referring to the beginning of SARS, referring to the tribulation, shall come upon them unawares because they are so busy, you know, with the cares of this life. They're so busy about what's going on in politics, who's going to become the president, what's going to happen to California, what's going to happen to my job, what's going to happen to this, my money, they're just like, they just lose it. And that day comes upon them unawares. Why? Because it removes your focus from that which is most important. Cares of this life is just a distraction, folks, to distract you from the most important things in life. You know, for the mother, the most important thing is her husband, amen? Why are you laughing? I'm just kidding. It's not a joke. Just kidding. I'm messing with Ms. Kelly. Hey, her husband and her children, amen? You know, teaching her children the word of God, homeschooling her children, you know, making sure that she knows how to cook her husband's favorite meal and do laundry and clean the house and do all those things. This is a good thing to occupy yourself in, not on social media where the world is just burning down. Amen? Folks, and I don't want to get ahead of myself here, but if you spend any length of time on social media looking at all the news and everything that's going on, you will lose your mind. No matter how much Bible you know. I'm serious because those are the cares of this life. And here's the thing, everyone here knows that the news is always fake news. It's like, so it's just like, yeah, that's why it's because I'm not going to be deceived by the fake news. Yeah, but the fake news is going to make you mad. It's going to take you off. That's a care, right? It's like, man, just lying about all this stuff and it's going to make you go crazy. So this is what you do, shut it off. Go read your Bible. Go listen to preaching. Go pray. Go soul win. Go fellowship. Go do something for your sanity's sake. You understand? And I'll get into what specifically we have to do. Let me just say this. You know, in order for you not to lose your mind, listen to this, you have to lose your mind. Now what I mean by that, you have to ditch the way you think. So in order for you not to go crazy and lose your mind, you have to lose your mind. You have to ditch the way you think. You have to renew your mind, the spirit of your mind, the Bible says, and we'll get into that later. So how do Christians lose their mind? How does a Christian go mad today? And I'm not talking about psychosis. I'm just talking about how do they become fearful? How do they become anxious and depressed and just kind of wondering what's going on, you know? Well, number one, let me just say this. Much learning. Much learning will make you go crazy. Look at Ecclesiastes 12. The words of the wise are as goads and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd, and further by these my son be admonished of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man, for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. Look, folks, obviously we understand that we ought to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. There's nothing wrong with studying the Bible, obviously, right? But even then, there's some weariness of the flesh when it comes to that. We have to do other things. God expects us to fulfill our role as a husband, as a wife, and not just study the Bible all day long, obviously. Now it's good to dedicate a good chunk of time of our day to studying the Word of God, When it comes to studying social media, studying politics, studying the news, studying all the current events that are taking place, study all the fake statistics of coronavirus, it's going to make you mad. It's going to weary your flesh. It's going to make you go crazy. Just listen to me, okay? Because I know there's people in our church who deep down inside you're going crazy because of these things. And I don't want you to become crazy because I don't want crazy people in my church. Go to Romans 16. I'm trying to help you to gain buoyancy in your Christian life. You know, we as Christians need to be a light in this crooked and perverse nation. And the way we're a light is by showing stability, right? You know, I'm telling you, I've had a lot of Christians that contact me and they're just like, how are you so peaceful during this time? And I'm just like, because I don't follow all these accounts, that's why. You know what kind of accounts I follow? Let me just be honest with you. Landscape photography. I'm serious. It's peaceful to me. I'm like, man, that place is beautiful. Look at that mountain. I'd rather just look at that. And some meme accounts, you know, get a good laugh here. Mary Hart does good like a medicine, amen. But look, folks, and then, you know, the people who are losing their minds or contacting me, you go on their page, everything they post about it has to do with all of the pandemic, has to do with politics and Biden this and Trump this and all this. And it's just like, oh, that's why you're losing your mind because you're focusing only on this. That's why. And look, folks, can you change any of that? Can we change anything that's going on right now? I mean, for those of you who believe in voting still, even then, you still can't change anything. Everything is going to run its course no matter what. So you say, well, what should I do then? Well, you should focus on now which is most important. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and these things shall be added unto you. You know, what we should concern ourselves with is having God's favor in our lives. Amen? Making sure that God is pleased with us. Make sure we're reading the Bible, that we're loving our wives as Christ loved the church, that you are reverencing your husband, that you're teaching your children in the ways of the Lord that you'd go, oh, but what about all the laws and how it's going to affect our families? Folks, if the children of Israel were able to survive the plagues of Egypt and Goshen, that was a big deal back then. I mean, how much more us? Okay, don't worry. There's sirens that come through here all the time. Everyone's like, they're not coming for us, okay? And if they do, then so be it. Everything's going to be okay, guys. Let me read to you from Ephesians. You're in Romans 16. I'm going to read to you from Ephesians 2 verse 1. It says, you had the quick and who were dead and trespasses and sin. Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience. So what do we see? We see that the prince of the power of the air, referring to Satan, is the one who controls the course of this world. We'll wait till they pass by. There you go. And you know what? He's the one that controls the media, obviously. He controls the media, the outlets, the news outlets. He controls the information that people receive. So if you know these things, why would you become a slave to that? Verse 3, among whom also we all had our conversation in time past and the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. And what he's saying here is this, you're not that anymore, so stop. You're not walking according to the course of this world anymore. We have a different course. We're running a different race. Look at Romans 16. This is very, very, I mean, this is some awesome advice right here. The whole Bible's obviously awesome. But look at this, verse 19. For your obedience has come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf, but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good and simple concerning evil. Think about that. The Bible says we need to be wise concerning that which is good and simple concerning evil. Now someone give me a synonym for simple. What does simple mean? Stupid. Ignorant. We don't want to say we're stupid, all right. Ignorant. Okay. God is saying we need to be ignorant regarding certain evils. Okay. Why? Because when we are knowledgeable about things that are evil, it convex our soul. Our souls can be, I mean, extremely vexed, folks. You look at Lot who was living among a bunch of Sodomites. He vexed his righteous soul from day to day. And you know what? When you place yourself in the midst of evil and that's what you're listening to, that's what you're watching, that's constantly what you're studying and learning from, you're going to vex your righteous soul. You're going to be hopeless. Every day is like the end of the world. Every day is just like the world's coming to an end today. It's not coming to an end. We know these things. We know what the Bible says. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, 20, brethren, be not children in understanding, howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. So he says, look, you know, we shouldn't be children in our understanding of God's word, in our understanding of biblical things and of knowledge. But when it comes to malice, when it comes to that which is evil, when it comes to that which is wicked, we should be children. We should be ignorant of those things. It's not going to help us. Amen? It's only going to vex our righteous soul. It's going to grieve us. It's going to cause us to lose our minds. And this is why a lot of Christians, I mean, just think about this. We lose our church alone. You know, over the last year, over the last, you know, 10 months, we've lost people in our church because they lost their minds. Now some of those people, I'm glad that happened. I'm glad they're just, God allowed them to lose their minds and then they left our church because they were a thorn in the flesh. You know what I mean? Oh, you're a pastor. You shouldn't be saying that. But it's true though. It's true. I mean, some bosses of companies are like, man, I'm glad that employee is gone. They're just a grievance. They're just a bad employee or something, you know? Some people, it's true. Some people become a thorn in the flesh of churches and it's just like it's good that they're gone. But there's others who I don't feel that way about. There's others who literally have just been caught up in all this political propaganda of the coronavirus, of Biden versus Trump, and literally it's caused them to just lose their minds and lose their way and they're out of church. It's not a good thing, folks. I don't want that to be you, amen? So therefore, we need to make sure that when we learn, we're learning the right things. Okay? And let me just say this. Hey, if you want to know the deep things of the word of God, stick to the word of God. Yeah, filter current events through the word of God, but we don't need to know current events more than we know the word of God. We need to make sure that we filter everything through God's word and understand that God has the answers for all things that are taking place today in 2020, but we need to recognize we need to be more knowledgeable about this. And how much the more today? We need to know the Bible more today than ever before. Folks, when the tribulation comes, you better make sure you know your end times Bible prophecy. So you're not just like, oh man, whoa, okay, I see that star falling. What was that? Hold on a second. It was just like, where is that again? What horse is this? It's just going crazy. You want to make sure you know these things, you understand? I'm serious. We don't want to constantly be digging up evil. The Bible says an ungodly man diggeth up evil. You know what we want to dig up? We want to dig up the treasures and the gold, the silver of God's word. End time meditating upon God's word and gaining truth and wisdom and pearls and that which is valuable, that which is inexhaustible from God's word, you understand? So what's the solution to this? You know, if we're not supposed to be studying all these wicked things and all this, what's the solution? Well, here's a good piece of advice. Study to be quiet. Right? Doesn't the Bible say that? Study to be quiet. It's good every once in a while, you know, to just wind down when you go home and turn off the social media, grab your phone, put it upside down, put it on airplane mode and just go do something else and just be quiet. Listen to the helicopters and the sirens, you know, just chill out, you know? That's what I do. Study to show yourself approved unto God. You say, why do you joke so much? I'll tell you why I joke a lot, okay? I like joking off because laughing is good for you folks and I'm not the pastor just like, oh, it's just so up and tidy, you just can't laugh, you can't have a good time. I believe God wants us to be joyful, He wants us to sing, He wants us to laugh, He wants us to have a merry heart. You know, He doesn't want us to be fearful, anxious, depressed, uptight, He wants us to make sure that we have joy, okay? And so study to be quiet is what we need to do. Now turn with me if you would to Ecclesiastes chapter 7, Ecclesiastes chapter 7. Don't lose your mind. Don't lose your mind. People lose their minds when they're involved in much learning, when they just constantly look. People often talk about the rabbit hole. How many of you have heard that before? Here's the problem with the rabbit hole. You guys know what I'm talking about, the rabbit hole? Here's the problem with the rabbit hole. You never find the rabbit. The rabbit's never there. You can go as deep as you want to go, you're never going to find it. And when it comes to, you know, the evil things of this world, it can just go deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper and you will never be satisfied with the conspiracies of this world. And look, I'm not saying, you know, that all that stuff is fake. I'm sure a lot of it is real. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with end times Bible prophecy. But you know what? I'm not going to concern myself. I'm not going to entangle myself with the affairs of this life, that I may please Him who has called me to be a soldier, the Bible says, okay? Now what makes people mad? What makes people lose their minds? Well, we said much learning, but also oppressors make Christians mad. Oppressors, right? Look what it says in Ecclesiastes 7 verse 7, surely oppression maketh the wise man mad and a gift destroyeth the hard. Now what is he saying? Well, an oppressor is someone who is removing rights from people, right? They're oppressing a people. And it says here that a wise man, someone who's knowledgeable about the things of this world, it makes them go crazy because they know, hey, this isn't right. It should not be done this way. This is making me go crazy. Why aren't we fighting against this, this injustice, you know? Why are these laws being instituted? This is madness. It's making them go mad, okay? Now here's the thing is that we have oppressors in our country today. One of them is our governor. Newsom is an oppressor. He is an oppressor. He's a hypocrite. He's a wicked individual. He's a child of Satan, in my opinion. The guy is evil. The guy, and he's just a hypocrite. I mean, I keep thinking about that picture that someone sent me where he's just eating dinner with like his medical team. With his medical team, no masks. After he just told everyone they got to cancel Thanksgiving. Hypocrite? You evil hypocrite. And then he gets up and he apologizes after he's already done it. And he's just like, I should practice what I preach. I apologize for that. I was like, what's already done? You know? What is that? That's an oppressor. It drives people in California, it just drives them nuts. It's making them go crazy. That's all I see. Because I've got a lot of people who follow me from the anti-vaxx crowd, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy theorists that follow me. So I see their stuff and they're just like, this guy, they're just going crazy, I can't believe this guy, blankety blank blank blank, and they're going to his house. I know a guy, Joshua Coleman, he's like in Sacramento, and he's like going in front of the guy's house and they're just like cursing, they're like, Burn in hell, you son of a blankety blank. I'm like, man, you went to his house? These are the same people that go and protest and they do all these things because the oppression is making them go crazy. And you understand why, right? We can understand why that would make someone go crazy. You say, why don't you go out there? Because it's not my battle. I'm actually called to a bigger battle than that. There's a greater spiritual warfare taking place. Because what shall it gain a man if he shall lose his own, or what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, including his rights, and lose his own soul? And this is something that I tell, thankfully, there's two, there's a couple that came today and they visited our church, this is their first time visiting, they found me on social media through the vaccine, anti-vaccine content that I put out. And the guy said, yeah, your content just keeps coming up on my explorer page. So we want to come visit you from Huntington Beach, they got saved, amen. And they're very thankful, I mean, they're very thankful brother Huyck and his wife led them to the Lord. And I was talking to them, and we're talking about vaccines and everything, and I said, honestly, that, the vaccine stuff that I put out there, anti-vaccine stuff that I put out there, it's just really to reel them in to get them safe. Like you guys, you know. By the way, I'm 100% against vaccines, obviously, but look, what about the people who have already been affected by vaccines, who have children who have already been affected, their bodies are wracked, they're just completely destroyed. You know, fighting against vaccines is not going to help that person, right? I'm for, you know, making sure that we fight against that, we're vocal about it, but here's the thing, that's not going to do much for the individual who's already been affected by it. So what we can do for them, give them the gospel, get them saved so they can get a resurrected body, so they can live forever, that's better. And so, you know, I know a lot of people who are going crazy about the oppressors of this land, and if we're not careful, we can focus on that a lot and just go crazy ourselves. And this is why a lot of people are for Trump who are Christians, because they're viewing the battle as a carnal battle, you understand? This is why, like a lot of preterists are for Trump, a lot of preterists are pro-Trump like crazy, because they have no other hope, it's like, the world's going to continue as it was, we just need a righteous leader, we just need a righteous person. First of all, Trump's not righteous, the guy's wicked, he's evil, let's just be honest. Secondly, you know, that's not our battle, and here's the thing, we can provide a better hope for people, which is eternal life. Don't go crazy fighting the wrong battles, you're spinning your wheels, you're going to go crazy. You know, they used to have this saying in the old IFB, I think they quoted, I think it was Einstein, he said, insanity is doing the same thing the same way, expecting different results. Man, that's true. And it's just like, we got to fight this, we got to vote this, we got to do this, and they get the same results, and what happens? They go crazy. But when we do it God's way, we get God's results, and we get a sound mind, okay? Now what do we do? Well, you know, in pregatory prayers, amen? Let his days be few and let another take his office. It's okay to pray against these wicked people who are in office and say, God, please destroy them. Destroy this wicked individual, remove him from his office, remove Biden, help him to continue to lose his mind. Remove Newsom, remove these people, if they're vexing you like that, it's okay to pray against them. Because you know what happens? You just get it off your chest, is what it is. And it's biblical, by the way, and pregatory prayers are biblical, folks. That's why God says, vengeance is mine, I will repay, say it the Lord. We need to make sure that we do that, okay? But not only that, we just need to make sure, go with me if you would to, let me see here. Go to Proverbs 31, let me make sure I've got the right scripture here, Proverbs 31, no, I don't have the right reference here. Let me just read it for you. I'm sorry, this is Psalm, Psalm 31, for I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes. Nevertheless, thou heardst the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee, O love the Lord, all ye saints, for the Lord preserveth the faithful, and look what it says, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. So what can we do to help us when these oppressors are coming and they're making us go crazy? This is what we can do. Recognize that God always plentifully rewards the proud doer. You see, we associate the word reward with a good thing when God actually uses it for a good thing and a bad thing. What am I saying? We need to recognize that they're going to get theirs. The wicked people of this world, they have a conclusion to their success and to their prosperity. It's going to happen. And so when we have faith in God's word that he's going to reward plentifully the proud doer, that should create some solace within us, some consolation, some recognition as saying, you know what? We already won the battle. Why am I going to lose my mind over who is the governor, the mayor? I know they're wicked people. I'm going to pray against them. But here's the thing. At the end of the day, God is going to handle them one day, and that helps us. I'm going to skip some things here. Go with me if you would to, go to Deuteronomy 28. Deuteronomy 28, don't lose your mind. Much learning can make you lose your mind. Oppressors can make you lose your mind. Hey, the prosperity of the wicked can make you lose your mind. When you see the wicked prosper, and they're just succeeding, they're making money, no evil's coming upon them, and you're just like, why, Lord? And you know what? You might be going through a hard time this year, may have lost your job. You may have lost family members. You may be going through a difficult time. You may be going through a difficult time now. And then you look at the wicked, and you're just like, why are they prospering, Lord? Why do good things happen to bad people? Well, I'll tell you why. First and foremost, not everyone out there who's wicked, who behaves wickedly, is just this reprobate, first and foremost. So maybe sometimes God allows them to be blessed so they can see the goodness and forbearance of God. That will hopefully lead them to repentance, you understand? But another reason why God allows the wicked to prosper, those who are evil, those who are wicked, is so they can treasure up wrath against the day of wrath. Now in Psalm 73, there's a man who basically was asking this question. Let me read to you from verse one of Psalm 73. Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. Actually, go to Psalm 73. Let's read this. Amen. Together. This is Asaph, okay? And I like the way he starts off with this psalm here. He says in verse one, truly God is good to Israel, even to such are as of a clean heart. So he starts off on a good note, he's like, yeah, God is good. Verse two, but as for me, though, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well and I slipped. So what is he doing? He's complaining. Oh yeah, God is good, but me, I'm just kind of struggling over here. My feet had well and I slipped. My feet were almost gone. I'm just struggling over here. I'm not saying God is not good, I'm just saying like, but as for me. Verse three, for I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked, for there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. Hey, they didn't lose anybody to COVID. I'm over here struggling. I lost someone, I got sick, or I lost a family member to another sickness. They're still succeeding. Verse five, they're not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. You know, they don't have all these bills they got to pay. They're not plagued with all these light bills and these tickets and, you know, whatever else, the insurance and a car payment, they don't have all these things. Verse six, therefore, pride can pass at them about as a chain, violence come at them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish. It's like they have an abundance, Lord, you've given them an abundance of things. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue, walketh through the earth. So these are people who are just like mocking God. It's like, Lord, you're letting these people just get away with this stuff? Look, they're just mocking you, they're teaching evolution, they're just mocking God. I'm over here struggling. Verse 10, therefore, as people return hither and waters of a full cup are rung out to them, and they say, how doth God know? And is there knowledge in the most high? Behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain and washed my hands in innocency. What is he saying? Man, I go to church. Why do I even go to church anymore? Why even read my Bible? Why serve God, right? I'm doing it in vain. These things are in vain. I see people sowing on Sunday afternoon. I preach the gospel, I see people saved, but I'm doing it, it's in vain. This guy's got a bad attitude. All the day long have I been plagued and chasing every morning. If I say, I will thus speak, speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. So what is he doing? He's just thinking about the prosperity of the wicked and he's comparing it to himself. And he's becoming a murmur, okay? Look what it says in verse 17. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. So he said, man, I thought about all these things, but then I went to church. And I heard some fire-breathing preaching. I heard some leather-lung King James Bible preaching. And I was like, oh, that's right, they're gonna go to hell. I forgot about that. Oh, that's right, God is gonna destroy these wicked people who mocked the Lord. Oh, that's right, the wicked shall be turned into hell and all nations that forget God. That's right. And then I understood I their end. That's why it's important you come to church. Amen? Because we forget things, don't we? Sometimes we forget just the most basic concepts, basic principles, basic doctrines. And when you come to church, I remind you of those things. You know, I forgot about that. That's true. But see, when you're out of church and the cares of this life are just constantly bombarding you, you start believing that narrative. You start believing that narrative and falling prey under the juniper tree, woe is me. Look at me, I have it so bad here. Look at everything I'm just going through until you go to the house of God. And then you understand the end of those people. And by the way, you understand your end. Your expectations shall not be cut off, the Bible says. Theirs will. Go to Deuteronomy 28. Prosperity of the wicked can make people go crazy. That's because you keep looking at the prosperity of the wicked. Stop looking at little Wayne and all the cars that he has or chains or whatever it is that they do now. Stop looking at all the riches of these rich and famous of Hollywood and all these things and like, man, I wish I could have had something like that. That's why I just look at mountains, because no one has mountains. I don't want a mountain, I just like looking at them. I just look at mountains and skies because it's not like something you can covet, it's just there. Let me tell you this before we get into the last point, is that fools can make Christians lose their minds. You've got to be careful who you're hanging around with too. You know, a wise man walketh with wise men, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 10.12, the words of a wise man's mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool will swallow up himself. The beginning of the words of his mouth is foolishness, and the end of his talk is mischievous madness. And look, the person who hangs out with the fool will become just as mad, just as foolish, just as crazy. You've got to be careful who you're hanging around with. And then lastly, let me say this, is that disobedience can make Christians go crazy. Disobedience to God's word. Deuteronomy 28 verse 27 says, the Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt. This is referring to people who disobey God and His word. And with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. I mean, He hits you where it hurts, amen? Emerods is hemorrhoids, just in case you were wondering. The Lord shall smite thee with madness and blindness. Look what it says. An astonishment of heart. You know what that means? When you're looking through your accounts, you're just like, you're just astonished. That's not a good thing. When you have astonishment of heart for the events that are taking place, that's not a good thing. Hey, doesn't the Bible say, be not afraid of sudden fear? Right? A lot of things in this world that try to give you sudden fear. Right? That's not how God wants us to be. He wants us to be established, firm, just holding fast the faithful word with our hope in God. The wicked flee when no man pursues it. The righteous are as bold as a lion. So when someone comes up and just like, ah, I got you, huh? He's firm, he's firm. You just stand your ground and you're like, that's all you got? You fear not. You're not afraid of sudden fear. You're not afraid of the astonishment that takes place. Hey, all of the sudden fear that comes upon the nation, that comes upon United States of America, that comes upon California, it doesn't astonish you one bit. You're just like, what's for dinner? What are you preaching on? What songs are we singing today? For you, it's just another day in the office. Because this is actually a curse upon people. You see, strength and faith is a virtue that God bestows upon his children who walk with him, obviously. But madness and astonishment of heart is something that he gives to those who are disobedient to him. And they're constantly afraid, constantly astonished. And look, I have fallen prey to this, obviously, because I'm human. I make mistakes. There's times when I can become afraid. I remember this year, my family and I, we went through a very difficult trial. And I even came before you, and I said, hey, I was afraid. There's times when I was fearful. And I thought to myself, man, the world is just falling apart. My wife's health was really bad at that time, and it was a scary time for us. You said, what did you do? I just, I stood, having done all to stand. And just asked the Lord, Lord, I'm going to just keep standing and do what I'm supposed to be doing and ignoring everything else. Like at that point, I really did not need the news. You don't need to layer on more stuff, you know what I mean? And just kind of press forward. And you know what? It's like we came out of that. It was a season that we're in, the season that we came out of. But a lot of people go through a season like that, and they stay in that season because they don't, they're not firm, they're not established. You know, they lose their minds. Don't be that individual who loses your mind. Lose your mind by losing your mind. Ditch the way you think. Ditch what you think. Have a renewal of your mind according to Romans chapter 12. Have a renewing of the spirit of your mind according to Ephesians chapter number four. Cleanse your mind and put away from yourself these things so that you're not going crazy. Finish the year strong, amen. What's the sermon today? I'll do simply this is that I'm just trying to help you gain some buoyancy in your Christian life. You know, if you're stressed out, if you're stressed out, if you're anxious, if you are scared, if you're fearful, it's probably because you're partaking in one of these five things right here. Probably that's what it is. And guess what? It is an easy fix. As easy as just turning off your phone. As easy as like getting away from that foolish person. As easy as praying. Hey, what does the Bible say? Be careful for nothing, but in all things by care and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God and the peace of God that passeth understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. Thou has kept him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee. There's the answer right there. So you're anxious? Pray. Are you fearful? Pray. And let that be a indication that you're probably not focusing on the Lord as much as you should. And let me just leave you with these words of comfort. It's only going to get worse. It is. So you better make sure that you practice these things immediately. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word. And Lord, we through much tribulation must enter into the kingdom of God. And I don't like tribulation, I don't like trials, I don't like suffering, it hurts, it's uncomfortable, it really puts us to the test, but it's for our good. And I pray, God, that you'd help us not to lose our minds by losing our minds, by changing the way that we think and focusing on your word, Lord. Help our ways to be like your ways, your thoughts, our thoughts, and that we may close the gate of the gap.