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a songbook and open that songbook up to song number 236. No, not one song 236. And if you are able, let's all stand together for our first song, song number 236. No, not one. Everyone all together nice and strong. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. None else could heal all our soul's diseases. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. No friend like him is so high and holy. No, not one. No, not one. And yet no friend is so meek and lowly. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. There's not an hour that he is not near us. No, not one. No, not one. No night so dark but his love can cheer us. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. Did ever same find this friend forsake him? No, not one. No, not one. For sin to find that he would not take him. No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. Was ever gift like the Savior given? No, not one. No, not one. Will he refuse us alone in heaven? No, not one. No, not one. Jesus knows all about our struggles. He will guide till the day is done. There's not a friend like the lowly Jesus. No, not one. No, not one. Amen. Let's open our service with the word of prayer. Father, thank you, God, Lord, for allowing us, God, to be here tonight, Lord, and hear your word preached unto us, God. We pray, Lord, that you would bless the service, Lord, every aspect of it, God, the singing, Lord, that it would prepare our hearts and our minds to receive your word, Lord. I pray, God, that you would bless pastor, Lord, and fill him with your spirit, God, as he preaches to us, Lord, and that we in the congregation are edified by the preaching, Lord, that we would apply it to our lives, Lord, and leave here differently than when we came in, God. We love you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You may be seated. Song number 288, I Am Resolved. Song number 288, I Am Resolved. Everyone all together, nice and strong. I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world's delight. Things that are higher, things that are nobler, please have a Lord my side. I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to thee. I am resolved to go to the Savior, leaving my sin and strife. He is the true one, he is the just one, he hath the words of life. I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to thee. I am resolved to follow the Savior, faithful and true each day. Heed what he saith, do what he will if he is the living way. I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free. Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to thee. All right, great singing. Thank you for being here this evening. Just a few announcements here before we sing our next song, which will be song number 11. He died for me. Song number 11, if you want to get that ready. If you did not get a bulletin, go ahead and raise your hand. One of the ushers can get one for you. Some important information on there. Of course, our services are as follows. Sunday morning is at 10 30. Sunday evening at 5 p.m. And then we have our Thursday night Bible study at 7 o'clock. Tonight we're in Matthew chapter 18. And so good to have everyone here during the midweek service. You see the so many times and teams, the list of expecting mothers, if you can keep them all in prayer. And then of course, the important reminders at the bottom, you can review that on your own. Men's prayer night, it's coming up on Friday, September 1st. That'll be at 7 p.m. at the church building and dinner will be provided. I want to encourage all the men to bring their sons to pray with them and participate in the prayer night. We're going to go over some of the needs of our church, individual needs, church needs, and of course, some imprecatory prayers as well. And then Monday, September 11th is the TJ soul winning. And I want to encourage all the Spanish speakers who are capable of preaching the gospel in Spanish to go if you have your passport. And so it's very receptive there. And we're going to be meeting here at 9 a.m. and then head out and just do some soul money up until the evening, early evening, and then head back. Of course, we'll have dinner out there as well. And so if you have any questions about that, you can see brother Ulysses for more details. And then Sunday, September 17th is the six year anniversary. And we're going to have a soul winning marathon that Saturday as well. We'll give you more details as we approach that date. And then you see the regular reminders there at the bottom. Please make sure you silence your phones during the preaching so as to not be a distraction during the service. Go ahead and pull out your prayer sheet there. I'm going to go over that briefly. And brother John is going to come up and pray over the needs. Continue to pray for God's favor on our church, for the soul winning, the teams, the missions of our church, and specifically our trip to Belize this coming November. We're looking forward to just having a great trip there and preaching the gospel. But we're also going to have a service there. And so Lord willing, hopefully we just have a lot of the converts that we've run over the last year. So attend that service. And we'll see what the Lord does from there. But we're praying that we see a great harvest of souls in the surrounding cities. And then of course, praying for the service in San Ignacio. And then you see there the spiritual numerical growth of our church, the new people, pastors in training, and of course, just specific prayer requests of our church family members. If you can keep them in prayer, continue to pray for Miss Olivia and the baby for continued recovery, that there be no complications. And so that's pretty much it. Brother John, why don't you come on up and pray over these needs. Let's bow our heads in a word of prayer. Dear Lord God, Heavenly Father, we just thank you for giving us another day, Lord, that we can come here to your house and hear the preaching of your word. And thank you for bringing us all here safely, Lord. And I thank you for every precious soul that's in the building tonight, Lord. I ask that you please bless every aspect of the service. And I just wanted to bring all these requests before you, Lord, tonight. I wanted to pray that you would continue to show favor upon us as a church, that you would show favor upon our church as a whole, and upon each of us as individuals, Lord. And I pray that you continue to bless our church, both spiritually and numerically. I pray that you please send more people to the church, Lord, and that we may train them and disciple them, and they could become laborers for you, and we could get more done for you, Lord, and we could see more people saved. I pray also for the mission strips that we have coming up, Lord, specifically the mission strip to Belize. I pray that plenty of people would be able to go and plenty of people would be able to take part in that and that great work, Lord, and ask that you please just keep everyone safe as they go on that trip, bring them back safely, Lord, and that many people would be saved, that a great work could be accomplished there for your glory, Lord, and ask also for your favor. On the other mission strips that we have going to TJ and even the smaller ones that we have, the Judea and Samarian, all the uttermost parts of the world, Lord, I pray that you would please just help us reach the entire world with your word, Lord. I ask that you please just continue to protect us as a church, Lord. I pray that you keep all the families safe. I pray that you keep the church safe from our enemies, anyone who would want to persecute the church. I pray that you would just keep us protected, keep us safe, and ultimately I pray that you would just allow us to be left to our own devices, Lord, so that we could serve you with quietness and we could perform your work and get your word out there without any obstructions. And all the prayer requests that we have here, Lord, I pray that you would please, you know, all the unspoken requests, all the general requests, Lord, I please pray that you would just be able to meet all those needs as only you know how, Lord, and I pray that you would bless all these people who have, you know, asked for these needs to be provided for. I pray that you would please just meet those needs for them. And I pray, Lord, for the church anniversary that's coming up. I pray that, and I thank you, Lord, that, you know, we've had six years to be able to serve you and accomplish all the things that we have and just all the blessings that you've given us so far, Lord, the wonderful and beautiful church that we have and all the people that we have, I pray that you please just continue to bless us this next year and many more years to come, Lord, and I pray for these other requests, Lord, especially for the salvation of our family members, Lord. Each and every one of us, I'm sure, has someone in our life that for whatever reason right now is just not open to the gospel. I pray that you would just touch their hearts, tenderize their hearts, Lord, make them open to your word that they might ultimately be saved as well, Lord. And I also pray, Lord, for Brother Jonathan and Miss Olivia through this time that they're going through with their child. I ask that you please just continue to bless them, have a hand of healing upon them, and comfort them through this trying time, Lord, that they have and ultimately that you would just keep everything in their situation just as a blessing and that no other complications could arise with the situation that they have. And I thank you, Lord, just for everything that you do for us. I thank you for our pastor. I thank you for your word, and I thank you for our salvation, Lord, and I just ask that you please bless the service tonight. I ask that you please bless every aspect of it. Please bless the singing, and please, most of all, fill past me here with your spirit as he preaches your word unto us and give us your spirit also in the congregation, Lord, that we could have attentive ears and we could leave here changed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, please turn your song books to song number 11, He Died For Me. Song number 11, He Died For Me. All right, song number 11, He Died For Me. Everyone all together nice and strong. I saw one hanging on a tree in agony and blood. He fixed his languid eyes on me as near his cross I stood. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is filled, my heart is filled to think He died for me. Sure, never till my latest breath can I forget that look. It seemed to charge me with His death, though not a word He spoke. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think He died for me. My conscience felt and owned the guilt and plunged me in despair. I saw my sins His blood had spilled and held to nail Him there. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think He died for me. Alas, I knew not what I did, but now my tears are vain. Where shall my trembling soul be hid? For I, the Lord, have slain. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think He died for me. A second look He gave, which said, I freely, all forgive Him. This blood is for Thy ransom paid, I died that Thou mayst live. Oh, can it be upon a tree the Savior died for me? My soul is thrilled, my heart is filled to think He died for me. Amen. At this time the ushers will collect the offering. Tonight will be in Matthew chapter 18. Thank you. Good evening we're in Matthew chapter 18. And the Bible reads, at the same time came the disciples onto Jesus saying, who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child onto Him and set him in the midst of them and said, verily I say unto you except ye be converted and become as little children shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea. Want of the world because of offenses for it must needs be that offenses come but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh. Wherefore if Thy hand or Thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if Thine eye offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire. Take heed that you despise not one of these little ones for I say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven for the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. I'll think ye of a man having a hundred sheep and one of them gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray? And so be that he find it verily I say unto you rejoice, rejoiceth more for that sheep than of the ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. Moreover if Thy brother shall trespass against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone. If he shall hear thee thou is gain thy brother but if he will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. If he shall neglect to hear them tell it on to the church but if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you whatsoever he shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever he shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And again I say unto you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall that they shall ask shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them. Then came Peter to him and said Lord half shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him till seven times Jesus saith unto him I say not unto thee until seven times but until seventy times seven. Therefore is the kingdom of heaven likened unto a certain king which would take account of his servants. When he had begun to reckon one was brought unto him which owed him ten thousand talents. But for as much as he had not to pay his Lord commanded him to be sold and his wife and his children and all that he had and payment to be made. The servant therefore fell down in worship and saying Lord have patience with me and I will pay thee all. Then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion and loosed him and forgave him the debt. The same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants which owed him in a hundred pence and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat saying pay me that thou owest. And his fellow servant fell down at his feet and sawed him saying have patience with me and I will pay thee all and he would not but when I cast him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told unto the Lord all that was done. Then his Lord after that he had called him said unto him O thou wicked servant I forgave thee all that debt because thou desirest me shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as I had pity on thee. And his Lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors that he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if he from your hearts forgive not everyone his brother their trespassers. Let's pray. Thank you father for uh for the King James Bible dear God we thank you for this wonderful church you have given us and we thank you for our pastor dear Lord please bless him as he preaches your word unto us tonight in Jesus name we pray amen. Amen. Okay this evening we continue with our Bible study on the book of Matthew and we're in chapter 18 but let me just cover the last part of chapter 17 because I didn't get a chance to to finish that up last week. Look at verse 24 before we get into chapter 18 verse 24 of chapter 17 reads this and when they were come unto Capernaum they that received tribute money came to Peter and said doth not your master pay tribute. And another word for tribute is simply taxes so they're coming to Peter saying hey does does Jesus is you know your Lord your master does he pay taxes and he says in verse 25 he said yes and when he was coming to the house Jesus prevented him saying what thinkest thou Simon of whom did the kings of the earth take custom or tribute of their own children or of strangers. Peter saith unto him of strangers Jesus saith unto him then are the children free notwithstanding lest we should offend them go thou to the sea and cast and hook and take up the fish that first cometh up and when thou has opened his mouth thou shall find a piece of money that taken given to them for me and thee. So the main teaching that we can see in this portion of scripture towards the latter end of chapter 17 is the fact that Jesus Christ himself submitted himself to the customs and tributes of this world. Now this is a concept that a lot of conservatives or should I say libertarians people who don't really like the government they're for small government and don't really like the government they don't they don't seem to grasp this particular concept here because they think to themselves well you know we don't need to pay taxes because of the fact that you know if we're paying taxes look at all the wicked stuff that the world is doing the government's doing with the taxes that we're giving. For example you know feeding the public school system and all the wickedness that takes place in those institutions but here's the thing folks is that the taxes that Jesus Christ and his disciples paid you think the Romans were using it for just reasons as well you don't think there was any crooked things that were taking place during that time as well so obviously we can't control what people do with you know the government does with the tribute money that we give the taxes that we pay and at the end of the day if Jesus gave taxes to a corrupt government that existed in his day obviously he's not sinning because the argument would be made well if we give taxes to the government the government's going to use it for wicked means and therefore we're essentially doing a second-hand sinning by giving to the government these taxes to use for these nefarious reasons or whatever it is however Jesus Christ is not sinning he's not doing anything wrong by paying tribute really the concept that he's putting here is that you know we should submit ourselves to the customs and tributes of this world because of the fact that at the end of the day we're not of this world you know we're trying to live in this world and essentially submit ourselves to the authorities that are in this world so we can serve God freely you understand without distraction without being hindered we can preach the gospel and at the end of the day you know money's not so important to us as Christians or should we say it shouldn't be as important to us that it would cause us to be clouded in our judgment and want to fight certain battles that God hasn't really called us to you know God hasn't called us to take down the government you understand God hasn't called us to take down the government or to usurp that authority that's not our job that's not our calling God has not deputized us to do so obviously we know that the government is crooked it's wicked there are wicked people in high places even in the United States we understand that but guess what that's not a hill that God wants us to die on there's a greater battle ahead of us as Christians for us to fight and that is the battle for lost souls the battle to fight the good fight of faith to keep doctrine pure these are the things that are important to God and therefore shouldn't be should be important to us now hold your place or go to Romans chapter 13 real quick go to Romans chapter 13 and a lot of uh libertarian type Christians they hate this kind of preaching because to them all of government is wicked and all of authority is wicked but if you know if you're going to have that type of attitude you should just throw out the bible you know because the bible is the ultimate authority and it tells us what to do and in fact if you don't like government you're really going to hate the millennial reign because that's it's essentially when the government shall be upon his shoulders and there's no voting you know it's not like oh we're going to vote we're going to vote king Jesus in no he just takes it by force okay and it's either his way or the highway understand now obviously in the millennial reign people still have a choice to believe on him and to place their faith in him and that's not going to be imposed upon the individuals of this world however the biblical laws will be imposed and the bible even says that he shall rule them listen to this with a rod of iron meaning zero tolerance in the millennial reign okay it's not like well we'll let you off with the warning and you know you can see the judge on this day or something like that it's like judgment is speedily executed upon the wicked in the millennial reign and it's not like every year he's campaigning so that people can keep him as a king or as you know the ruler of this world he's just the ruler and that's just it who he doesn't care what anybody else thinks and there's gonna be people the millennial reign who don't agree with that now here's the great thing about the millennial reign though there are no taxes in the millennial reign amen you know that's that's the only time we don't have to pay taxes and and let me say this even if we did pay taxes it would probably go to a righteous cause but you know there's no taxes in the millennial reign every man is essentially able to eat of his own fruit and build his own house and dig his own well and not have to worry about someone robbing him or or paying property taxes or whatever you know that stuff is non-existent but it is existent now and you know obviously we have to put up with those things and tolerate those things but you know it should cause us not to become so angry that we want to just usurp the government but rather it should cause us to look forward to the future you know you understand to the millennial reign to a time where we're not going to be here anymore and at the end of the day you know we're just strangers and pilgrims in this earth okay so we shouldn't have our stakes so far down into this earth that we're just bothered by every rule every law that's being passed obviously there's going to be a lot of laws in this world that are going to be uh passed that we're not going to agree with who cares at the end of the day we want to serve god we're we're the least esteemed in this world the bible says that we're the off scouring of this world no one's ever going to esteem our opinion or our beliefs in this world who cares we're here to serve the lord jesus christ and so with that being said let's submit ourselves to the tributes and customs of this world knowing full well that at the end of the day we're free children okay which is what jesus christ is teaching here he's like you know they're going to take taxes of the strangers which essentially is referring to him and his disciples but the children are free so in other words for us because we're children of god at the end of the day we're the we're really the ones who are free we're really the ones who are at liberty so even though someone out there might be evading their taxes you know ken hoven you know people just not paying taxes and doing all these things and they think they're just free from paying taxes you know at the end of the day us paying taxes doesn't really affect us one way or the other i don't lose sleep over it i'm not just like oh man these crooks are just getting away with so much wickedness for me i sleep like a baby because i'm not putting all my faith in my resources you understand my faith is in god my faith is in the bible but look at look at romans 13 in verse number one this is every libertarian's worst nightmare here is chapter 13 it says let every soul be subject unto the higher powers for there is no power but of god the powers that be are ordained of god whosoever therefore resists that the power resists that the ordinance of god and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation so what this is essentially teaching is that the rulers of this world are essentially designated by god for specific purposes right and he even says there that if there's an individual who resists that authority okay they resist that power which is another word for authority that person is going to receive to themselves damnation not referring to the loser's salvation it's just referring to punishment okay now what is a good example of a power that's of god well how about being a parent right god is instituted and designated the parent to be in charge of a child right and this would be a good verse for children regardless of what age to recognize that the powers that be are ordained of god so your parents are given to you by god yeah but my parents are just not perfect neither are you and the bible doesn't say obey your parents in the lord as long as they're saved or as long as they believe just like you or as long as they're in lockstep with your beliefs or what the bible says or if they they just they fulfill all the requirements of your checks checkbox list it just says obey your parents in the lord for this is right why because it's the power of god and when you resist that power you essentially bring yourself under condemnation and damnation in other words you will receive the punishment of your rebelliousness towards your parents i know i did you know and i grew up with just my mother but uh my mother did a really good job of instituting uh punishment uh physically okay when i was um when i was rebellious and i think i didn't think her i didn't thank god for it then obviously because no chastisement for you know if the president is joyous but grievous but now that i'm 37 and i have children of my own i'm thankful for the fact that god would mean i'm not god but yeah god through my parents i guess you said through my mom would mean because of the fact that i look at young adults today and how just rebellious and how much they mouth off and how prideful and arrogant they are and i think to myself man i'm glad i didn't turn out like that bozo right i mean you see the kids throwing a fit in public and i'm just like man if i did that in public mom i would have been dead dead and all she had to do was give me a look and i knew it was over with whatever time i got home but that was a power ordained of god sent forth for evil doers right which is essentially a child who is being rebellious towards their child but obviously in this particular case he's actually referring to governmental powers that are instituted by god to punish criminals okay it says in verse 3 for rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil in other words these rulers who are meant to discipline society they're not supposed to discipline society for doing good we shouldn't be punished for preaching the bible right we shouldn't be punished for sowing we shouldn't be punished for doing good because there's not supposed to be a terror for good works he says will thou then not be afraid of the power do that which is good and that shall have praise of the same for he is a minister of god to thee for good but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain for he is the minister of god a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil so a sword is used to kill it's not used to spank it's not used to slap on the wrist so obviously this is referring to a ruler an authority figure in the government who has been deputized by god to take life when it merits taking their life okay for example if they commit murder if they kidnap if they do things that are of uh categorized as being capital crimes then god says i've instituted people in this world to publicly publicly execute that person for that particular crime he says verse 5 wherefore you must needs be subject not only for wrath but also for conscience sake for for this cause listen to this pay tribute also for their god's ministers attending continue upon this very thing rendered therefore to all their dues tribute to whom tribute is due custom to whom custom fear to whom fear honor to whom honor you say yeah but there's a lot of stuff that the government does that i don't agree with that is not in the bible okay then that's called the custom and the bible says that we should render custom to whom custom is due you know i don't think it's right for me to get a parking ticket you know what i mean because i park somewhere too long or something or because a street super came that doesn't even do a good job you know and gives me a 70 ticket for not moving my car i think that's a stupid law but you know if i get the ticket i'm gonna pay it and more than that i'll just submit myself to the custom of having my wife set a a reminder to move the car so that i don't get the ticket it's inconvenient it's stupid but you know what i don't really care because at the end of the day i'm trying to focus on more important i got bigger fish to fry rather than just well i'm gonna take this to city hall you know i'm gonna protest i'm gonna rally we're gonna do all these things we're gonna fight the street sweeper agenda to give us all tickets it's a losing battle it's a fool's errand it's not worth it let's fight for things that we know will have eternal significance right so it's just tribute to him tribute custom to him custom and of course in verse six he says this is the reason why we should pay tribute because there are people in high places authority figures who actually are doing their job and they do punish the evildoers okay now of course today in 2023 they may not do it exactly the way the bible has instituted but you know there's still righteous police officers out there there's still righteous sheriffs there's still righteous people in that type of authority and i've met some personally in fact when we were protested the police department in omani had our back i mean they literally did what we paid them to do which is to protect god's people for doing good right they were there protecting us and standing in front of the church right there even though they said they couldn't take our side they did anyways and in my mind well that that's what my tax dollars pay for okay is to protect and serve right the righteous people and even there's instances in omani where our soul owners would go out and knock on doors and preach the gospel and police officers would drive by and just make sure that we're fine everything okay with you guys you guys are good are you guys safe all right be careful out here just want to make sure you guys are okay i mean that's that's basically what they're supposed to do and so don't get caught up with that crowd so much where it's just like well all of government is wicked and therefore i'm not going to obey anything the government says and then you start getting into the minutia and getting into navel gazing and then you start condemning people who may be you know under those laws to an extreme like for example you know you have the whole mask mandate right which is a dumb mandate okay i think we all can agree with that but you know what i'm not going to look down on someone who has a mask and just think that they're just beyond hope or something like that i don't really care about those things and if i knock on a door and they have a mask on i don't think any less of them because of the fact that you know at the end of the day they're just an unsafe person so you know what i'm going to do i'm going to witness to that person and i'll even say this i mean it hasn't happened in a long time but if someone answered the door with the mask and said i'll talk to you if you put on a mask i would definitely put on a mask this is worth it for me you know i'm not going to call that person an idiot i'm not going to say forget you go to hell you know oh you're going to burn you know you can wear that mask all the way to hell i care i mean that's a stupid response you know for me i don't see that person you know as just some idiot wearing a mask or something like that i see that person as a lost individual who has bigger problems than just wearing a mask and that is the fact that they have sinned it's going to take them to hell if they don't believe on jesus christ for salvation so you know it's important for us to realize that go to go back to matthew uh chapter 18 it's important to realize that you know sometimes you know jesus wasn't telling peter hey you know i know what the roman government is saying here but i'm god okay i am paying no taxes to nobody i own the cattle on the thousand hill i own all the silver they should be paying taxes to me he's just like go give them go give them taxes just let just do it and let's just move on with their lives and this isn't the only instance where he promoted that we see obviously in roman chapter 13 but he also says render to caesar that which is caesar's and to god that which is god so in other words you can render to both and we may think it unjust to have to render to caesar simultaneously as we're rendering to god but jesus said just do it because at the end of the day money shouldn't be that important to you you understand pay your taxes pay your tickets pay your dues and just move on with your life because at the end of the day it's not our money anyways and i'm not saying it's the government's i'm saying it's god's money right and don't misunderstand me i'm not saying that i'm promoting or advocating for or supporting anything that our government uses our money for that's wicked i don't you know it makes me upset that they teach sodomy in schools and they're promoting it so hard with our tax dollars but you know that's as far as i'm going to think about it because there's nothing i can do about it anyways and i will make a greater impact in this world preaching the gospel to those students and getting them saved and teaching them biblical concepts and what the bible says rather than fighting the government so they don't teach those things in the high schools or whatever okay you know it's a it's a losing battle too by the way and i understand you know parents they they're really concerned over what's being taught in the schools and they're protesting and you know they're they're they're protesting against the lgbt and all that and they're fighting in los angeles and i get it but you know at the end of the day it is a losing battle because this is satan's world and they're going to continue to promote those things and if you don't want your kids to be taught that then homeschool them you have all these libertarians they're just like can you believe this is happening in california i'm just like i don't i i don't even know about it because i homeschool my kids most of our people homeschool you don't like what's being taught in high school then homeschool you don't have to worry about that my kids don't have to worry about being taught all that nonsense in a public school because they don't go to a public school they're homeschooled so move on to the next thing so anyways i think that's a a fantastic passage there to shut the mouth of the gainsayers when they only want to focus on those things you know and obviously it's not like jesus had some sort of full-time job outside of the ministry he's doing the ministry and he's gone so he just had a fish just you know i don't know someone threw a coin in the ocean and the fish swallowed it and it was made for this exact day this purpose which is to pay jesus taxes so if you could use a fish to spit out a coin and pay the taxes you know he can give you a raise or do whatever to pay your needs and take care of you that's the that's the the little extra tative part of the sermon for the night all right let's get into chapter 18 it says at the same time came the disciples unto jesus saying who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so this is a question that constantly comes up with the disciples wanting to be the greatest they're just constantly thinking about you know authority and who's the greatest and this isn't necessarily a bad thing it's actually a biblical concept because of the fact that we see multiple times throughout the scriptures that all saved people go to heaven but not all saved people in heaven have the same authority okay so there's going to be people in who have more authority than others now at the end of the day who cares if you believe on jesus christ you go to heaven and it doesn't matter if you're the least in the kingdom of heaven at least you're in the kingdom of heaven you understand what i'm saying so it doesn't matter however after now that you're saved god wants us to strive for being the greatest it's just not using the same formula that the world would use to become the greatest it's obviously being humble being a minister being a servant and so the disciples are constantly talking about this and they bring this up look at verse two and jesus called the little child unto him and said him in the midst of them and said verily i say unto you except ye be converted and become as little children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child as this little child the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so two things here he says first and foremost in order to get into the kingdom of heaven you got to be humble now why is that because it's impossible for a proud person to admit that they're a sinner deserving of hell and in need of a savior so a person who's proud cannot get saved if they don't realize their need for salvation this is the number one reason why people don't get saved number one reason is pride they're not willing to admit that they're a sinner based upon clear evidence of the word of god i mean the simplest one of the simplest verses in the bible there's none righteous no not one there's none that do with good no not one for all have sinned and come short of the glory of god i mean that's pretty much all we need and the vast majority of people we talk to and confront with this truth here most of them readily admit that they're like oh yeah i'm not perfect no one's perfect i'm not perfect i'm a sinner they they recognize that but you know you'll run some people that are just not willing to admit that and it's crazy sometimes you know it's like oh i don't sin it's like well have you ever told a lie before yeah but i don't anymore or i'm you know i may tell a little white lie and this is just self-righteous attitude where they're not willing to admit the fact that god is telling them that they violated the laws of god they're a sinner deserving of hell which is the second point that people aren't willing to admit that they deserve hell now some people will move on from that first point and readily admit that but they just can't seem to grasp and and want to admit the fact that they deserve hell okay and one of the reasons why is because of the fact that they don't can't seem to wrap their mind around that a loving god will throw them in hell for their little white lie but they don't really realize the gravity of their sin they don't really realize that whosoever keep it the whole law you defend at one point is guilty of all right so to them it's just like well i've only lied it's like well that's all you need to send you to hell according to the bible and it's just like well eternal damnation i mean when we were in um when we're sony in fresno at whole fast baptist church they had a marathon on saturday and i knocked on a door and uh a guy opened the door and he was watching some anime or something ironically and you know uh he talked to me like a person who watches anime so it's hard for me to like get across what i was trying to say and he looked like he didn't really want to talk you know i think he was busy watching his anime or whatever so then his mom came to talk to me instead and by the way this guy was a grown man okay he was and but what i mean growing up i mean like he was probably my age okay so then his mom comes out and then you know she wants to talk about religious things and so i started giving her the gospel and to talk about how she's a sinner and she admitted the fact that she was a sinner but she was just unwilling to admit that she deserved help she's like no i don't deserve that i'm like well if god says you deserve it you know is god like do you not agree with god she's like no she's like but it's okay though because i've already accepted jesus christ as my personal lord and savior and i responded by saying well why do you need him to save you apparently you don't need jesus because if jesus is your savior what is he saving you from and she kind of just kept quiet i was like do you realize now that this is what the bible says we all deserve she was like i get that's what the bible's saying but i i'm not going to hell i don't deserve it you said what is it a lack of intelligence what is it just a lack of understanding of the word of god why wasn't she willing to admit that she deserved help i'll tell you why pride no because humility recognizes that we deserve hell even for the smallest of sins that we've committed because in god's eyes all sin no matter how small merits eternal damnation therefore humility is required you know but when you talk to a child about salvation they're brutally honest and i think what jesus means here when he talks about becoming as a little child i think what he's referring to is having the dependability of a child you know because the child is heavily dependent upon his parents his or her parents you know they're dependent upon their parents it's like they need their father they need their mother and they're very open about that you know a child will not think twice to cry out for mom or dad when they feel like they're scared or they need something there's no shame whatsoever so obviously that's humility right because in like and so when god says here then in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven you have to become as a little child you basically what he's saying here is you have to have like the dependability of a child where it's just like i need salvation i can't save myself i know i'm a sinner i know i need eternal life through jesus christ i need my savior i need to call upon the name of the lord in faith and be saved that's what he means there okay and so this is the number one reason why people don't get saved is pride but then he says in verse four whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this as this little child the same as the greatest in the kingdom of heaven so humility is not only required for salvation it's also it's also required to even become great in the kingdom of heaven even apart from salvation so what is the common denominator when it comes to getting saved and becoming great in heaven humility it's not like all right well i'm saved now so go back to my prideful ways once again just be arrogant and prideful because now i'm saved no god still requires of us to be humble and it's actually more of a temptation after you're saved to become prideful because of the fact that you're saved especially if you're in church you know the bible the bible is being taught to you you're teaching others about salvation your level of intelligence and biblical knowledge increases and what does the bible say knowledge what puffeth up puffeth up means it makes you proud okay and so when knowledge puffeth up then there's pride but the bible says that god resisted the proud and giveth grace into the humble so one of the greatest disciplines that you and i can maintain in our personal lives is just remind ourselves that we have not yet attained and then we need to stay humble and it gets harder the longer you're a christian because the longer you're a christian the more you're growing in the lord you're reading the bible you're successful in the christian life the more of a temptation to become proud you've won so many souls to the lord you won your family to the lord you are doing great works you're understanding biblical truths and then you become prideful but what you need to maintain is a spirit of humility and recognize that without god and without others teaching me the bible i'm nothing okay and at the end of the day god can just you know sweep the carpet route from under you at any point in time and so it's better to humble yourself rather than god having to humble you because when god humbles you it's often public embarrassing and you know it's it's embarrassing i don't know how else to describe it you know i've been down that road and i i've had god humble me because i like others can fall into temptation of becoming proud and therefore god has to humble me so the the the the formula that we should be using is that we need to just humble ourselves and recognize i'm nothing without the lord i'm nothing without my church my mom and my dad my spouse you know if i'm a success it's because of god and because of others you deflect the glory you deflect the success not at the exclusion of you putting being diligent putting in the work to become successful but when you have reached success you deflect the credibility or the credit upon others and recognize if it wasn't for my mom and my dad you're like well my mom and dad didn't grow up in church who cares they raised you they did something right if you're in church and this this this is something that i get tired of hearing it's like yeah my mom you know and my dad they were just never in church and they just we're just a worldly house well you know what if you're in church now they obviously did something right because you're in church so there's something in your household that they did in a positive way that impacted you to the point where it situated you where you wanted the truth and if you can't see that you're prideful you're prideful you're like that's true for everyone else but not for me you know my family's a reprobate or something don't even get me started on that you know you say well you know what about your mom well my mom she was a catholic our entire life and not even a good catholic to be honest with you because we'd go to catholic church like never catholicism for us was just like having a cross and you know on the wall and and you know catholic paraphernalia all over the house or something but you know she taught me about god though you know and here here's a way that my mom situated my heart to seek after god she put the fear of god in my heart when she disciplined me she put the fear of god in my heart i mean she's the only one i can give that credit to because i was fearful of my mother growing up okay which caused me in turn according to the bible by the way it causes us to fear god when we grow up and recognize that actions have consequences so when someone brought me the gospel and helped me to realize that i was a sinner i readily accepted that because i've been catching a whooping and paying for my deeds throughout my life so be humble but even after salvation stay humble and and this is the formula by which you can become great in the kingdom of heaven okay he says in verse number five and whoso shall receive one one such little one in my name receiveth me but whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me it were better for him that a millstone were tied about his neck hang about his neck excuse me and they were drowned in the depth of the sea now just keep in mind that this is jesus speaking this so whenever you see that bracelet what would jesus do you gotta ask about what you know what about a person who offends his little child well i'll tell you what jesus do he says mafia style tie a millstone which is a very large stone around the neck of the offender and throw that stone into the depth of the sea now mafia style is like they would cement the feet and then cast them into the ocean that's like italian style right there but but jesus style is like the feet nah around the neck now this shows us how serious god takes adults offending children now we as a church often think we apply this in a very frequent way to sex offenders rightfully so because that's that's the greatest offense that a a human being can take upon a child right so this is a great verse for pedophiles okay what does god think of pedophiles let's go to matthew 18 and verse 6 right it's right there but this offense can range anywhere from being a sex offender to just offending a child and to not believing in god so you think of people the public school systems who work tirelessly to try to create children who don't believe in god teaching evolution teaching against the bible just working tirelessly to condition the mind of a child to reject the bible reject god i mean that is a huge offense in the eyes of god you think of these scientists and teachers and and and professors who teach science falsely so-called and you know just teachers in general i mean today we have an extreme case where it's just like you have teachers who are trying to teach kids how to be homos and all these i mean this is that's a great offense that's a major offense and so he says there that if anyone offends these little ones which believe in me and i believe that this is can be referring to saved children or just children who aren't having come to the saving knowledge of jesus christ but they're still safe in the lord because they have not yet reached the age of accountability okay this is just all across the board for all children this is what god says these people are deserving of so you see how much of an emphasis and value god places on children okay and so we should play a place a heavy emphasis on children as well this is why children remain in the services with their with their parents you know we try to train the children to to behave in service to hear the word of god and don't ever think that this is just like we're just spinning our wheels here either like i don't think my kids are paying attention they pay attention more than some of the adults in the service i'll just tell you that okay because i have conversations with some of the adults and they don't even remember what i preached like five minutes ago like oh you you mentioned that oh wow i didn't i didn't catch that kids on the other hand remember i've had conversations with my kids where they will ask me questions about things in my sermon that i even forgot to preach that i was like oh yeah i did say that oh yeah they're kind of keeping me accountable you know but they're like sponges they soak everything up and so why is that important because of the fact that god wants kids in the service to hear the word of god too you know it's not just for you the sermon is not just for you it's for your kids as well it's for the little ones in our church as well so don't ever have this mentality where it's just like oh you know you know just send the little kids away don't we have like sunday school classes we can send them to don't we have like a nursery that they can go to no they need to be in here hearing the word of god yeah but this is too grown up for them no it's not too grown up for them they understand everything that i'm saying right now they they soak it all in i mean they learn give them more credit is what i'm saying okay and so he places a heavy emphasis on that looking for seven ones of the world because of offenses first must needs be that offenses come but woe to him by that man excuse me woe to that man by whom the offense cometh so in other words he's saying offenses are inevitable they're going to take place in this world there's nothing we can do to avoid them however just because they're inevitable doesn't excuse the offender that person's going to get it it says in verse number eight wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off and cast them from thee it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire and if thy eye offend thee pluck it out cast it from thee it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into hellfire now this is an interesting these are interesting two verses because it's lumped in with the subject of the offenses of children but also we'll see later on that it's just the offenses of people in the church in general so there's two particular interpretations that we can gather from this portion of scripture one of them is probably the main interpretation the second one being a secondary one the primary one i would say is what matthew five is teaching is that jesus christ is essentially stripping people of their self righteousness because of the fact that the examples he's giving here would be considered crazy to think would actually save you right like if your right eye offend you pluck it out it's like well did my left eye look at what my right eye looked at right and it's just like if thy right hand offending cut it off but it's like yeah but it's attached to the same body that sins so basically what jesus christ is teaching here is that there's nothing you can do outwardly to change your physical body to stop sinning in a certain way to earn salvation because you can't therefore you need to believe on jesus christ so you can beat yourself you can lash yourself you can pluck out your right eye cut off your right hand cut off your foot it still wouldn't do you any good because you can't remove sin from yourself it's impossible to you you need the blood of jesus christ to cleanse you from all sin past present and future that's the main interpretation the secondary one has to do with the subject of church discipline which we'll get into in a few he says in verse 10 take heed therefore excuse me take heed that you despise not one of these little ones for i say unto you that in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my father which is in heaven for the son of man has come to save that which is lost so verse number 10 is a good verse to prove that guardian angels are real because it says here that these little ones referring to the children that they have angels that are always beholding the face of the father okay and you know that's that's a subject that people like to talk about like are guardian angels real but you know hebrews 1 talks about the fact that there are angels that are ministering spirits sent forth to minister to those who shall be heirs of righteousness so it seems to indicate that there are that every human being in this world when they're born are designated a specific angel that is to minister to that person until they come to the saving knowledge of jesus christ okay who shall be heirs of salvation and their job is essentially to help situate that child in a way where they essentially get eventually get saved now it's of my opinion i can't prove this dogmatically that once they get saved they retain that guardian angel so i still got mine you know and you still have yours if you're saved the sad thing is is that there's people who lose that guardian angel that's because they become like a reprobate or something it's sad to think that there's children in this world who once had a guardian angel who had to essentially you know um quit on them because that person that child ended up growing up to be in a person who hated the lord who hates god and has rejected the gospel did not want to retain god in their knowledge it's a sad it's a sad thing to think about in fact i was thinking about this yesterday you know in regards to sodomites i thought to myself you know sodomites hate us so much not realizing that we were their greatest advocates prior to them becoming a reprobate we advocated for their protection not the sodomites i'm talking prior to being a reprobate we advocated for their for their protection their safety you know we love them and it's interesting that they hate us so much even though we were their greatest protectors this side of eternity by trying to protect them from the predators but you know what not even the angels can protect a reprobate a person who becomes a reprobate is like that's their choice but we see here that the you know there's obviously a specific care that god takes for a child to the point where he has a specific angel designated for them that beholds the face of the father okay he says there verse 11 for the son of man has come to save that which is laws verse 12 how think ye if a man have 100 sheep and one of them be gone astray does he not leave the 99 and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is gone astray and if so be that he find it verily i say unto you he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the 99 which went not astray even so it is not the will of your father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish so there's one of two ways you can interpret this particular portion of scripture it can be referring to unsaved children who grow up and you know they essentially just go astray but then they get saved later on and of course god rejoices over that or it's referring to a child who grows up gets saved but then backslides okay he backslides he goes into the world doesn't lose his salvation because you can never lose your salvation the bible teaches that okay the bible talks about that he will in no wise cast out a person who believes on him no wise meaning for any reason whatsoever so it's just like can you lose your salvation for any reason it's just like give any reason you want the bible says and no wise meaning for no reason it doesn't matter how crazy the example can get okay you don't lose your salvation but you know this person grows up he's saved and he goes astray he backslides he goes into the world this is something that's very heartbreaking for a parent you know i i pray to god that i never have to experience this with my children you know the bible talks about train up a child in the way he should go when he is old he will not depart from it that doesn't mean that he won't backslide or make any mistakes it just means that eventually they have a tendency to make their way back okay but it says here that god rejoices over the child who went astray and is found you know we should rejoice over that too right when someone who's backslidden who went into the world they get involved in sin to destroy their lives but then they make their way back to the to the ways of god we should be ecstatic about those things and rejoice why because it's a great thing when a sheep comes back to the fold and we're not for the grace of god that would be us right don't be a condemning person when someone comes comes back to church don't embarrass them where you been brother backslidden finally decided to get right with god you know kind of sin where you're involved in you know don't be that person don't be that guy be the person who as the shepherd rejoices more for that sheep than the 99 who didn't go astray now god is pleased well pleased when the 99 stay that's god's will god's wills for all sheep to just stay in the will of god to continue to serve god to exercise their faith because without faith it is impossible to please him for he that cometh to god must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him the bible says god is well pleased with that but you know god is also pleased when someone goes astray and in humility returns and wants to serve god again we as god's people need to nourish that that when someone that when someone comes back to the fold we're excited for them we take them out to canes we text them we call them we tell them how much we miss them how much we're thankful that they're back we give them a hug get them involved again keep them accountable so they can stay with the stuff not be the self-righteous person or just like well well well look what the cat drove i don't know is that is that how the saying goes is it a cat or a dog i can't remember yeah i was right it had to be a cat and you just you just feel so much better about yourself because you're like the brother who stayed with the father instead of the other brother who went astray and sold and and spent all his substance with with harlots and and and just rights his living now we should rejoice if that person is restored and i never want to lose that type of compassion or when someone comes back i think to myself that could be me i could gone astray and and you know and thank god when someone comes back but you don't know what it took for that person to come back the amount of damage that person might have received so god is very much pleased with that because he doesn't want them if it's if it's referring to an unsafe person he doesn't want them to perish because god is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance but also you know he doesn't want a believer to perish outside of the will of god like a saul right wants him to finish strong verse 15 moreover if thy brother trespassed against thee go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone and if he shall hear thee thou has gained thy brother so now we're going to get into the subject of church discipline and he's saying here you know if you have a brother he's not referring to a sibling brother is referring to a brother in christ someone who's in church a saved person and if they trespass against you meaning they wrong you in some way this isn't referring to heresy it's not referring to being an infiltrator it's just referring to some sort of trespass an offering or excuse me an offense i was thinking about trespass offering it's referring to an offense that a brother does to you maybe it's a financial offense maybe it's something that they said to you okay some sort of opinion that they have you know were open to you about or something some sort of offense he says if they've offended you then go to that person and talk about his fault between you and him alone doesn't say go and spread it around the church and and start trying to gather people to your cause to be against this person it says go rebuke that person to their face between you and him alone okay and you know what if he hears you and he's like man i'm sorry for calling you fat i didn't mean like fat like that i just meant you know you're bulking you know or yeah but that was really offensive man because i'm trying to lose weight here and you're saying i look fat and he apologizes well you have gained your brother so now you guys are like now you guys are cool right that's like that that's the ideal situation there but verse 16 says but if you will not hear thee then take with thee one or two more than in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established so if that doesn't work then you're supposed to take two brethren which obviously the implication here is just brethren who are mature in the lord and say man this this is the offense this guy's not repenting you know he's not willing to get this right can you guys with come with me to confront this individual of this particular offense that way you have witnesses that this person literally did say this and is unwilling to get it right that's what it means by every word shall be established verse 17 and if he shall neglect to hear them tell it unto the church but if he neglect to hear the church let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican so this is basically the the chain of command that he wants us to follow here in church discipline if someone has offended you you go to that person you face them rebuke them they don't want to get it right you take two people with you they still don't want to get it right at that point you take it to the church now what does it mean by taking it to the church well let's say we're dealing with the financial offense okay where maybe your brother defrauded you of a large sum of money and that's definitely a possibility that can happen even in the church right well the bible tells us not to do in first corinthians chapter 6 is don't sue your brother right don't go to law before you don't go don't take your brother before the law and sue your brother because the least esteemed in the church is able to judge those matters so don't be so carnal angry and bitter that you're like i'm taking you to court i'm gonna sue you for x amount of money because of this offense that you did to me okay the bible says you could have chosen the least spiritual person in the church and they would have done a better job than the judge in that courtroom and in 2023 that is fact it was true back then but it's and i know personally okay i'm just kidding you know you know it's true because the judges of this world according to the bible are unjust so it's better to judge the matters and we're talking about matters that are not dealing with criminal activity by the way it's just like you know oh someone murdered someone we're not telling anybody you know we got we got to deal with these things in house or something he's always dealing with secondary issues things that are not uh that do not involve criminal activity okay so when he says telling them to the church it could be referring to the fact that you just you deal with it in house but it also means that you go to the pastor why because at the end of the day the pastor is the overseer of the church so if two three people go to this individual and it's just kind of getting out of hands not being resolved then it's time to take it to the pastor to confront this individual before the church and if that person still doesn't want to get it right the bible says here let him be unto thee as a heathen man and as a publican now another way of saying heathen man and publican is just unsaved it doesn't mean we say they're unsaved we're like okay you lost your salvation it just means treat them like a heathen man and a publican treat them like an unsafe person that doesn't belong in the local new testament church i mean that's what it says there heathen man is referring to an unsafe person and jesus said let him be into thee as a heathen man and as a publican in other words have nothing to do with that person you're like yeah but if you do that in a church i don't think god is pleased with that well look at verse 18 barely i say unto you whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loose in heaven so when we make that judgment call in church god says i got you you know like we agree with that judgment why because the local new testament church is an institution put forth by god and these are the steps that need to be taken when excommunication is in the equation okay now let me say this regarding church discipline okay because later on you know it says well let's read on here it says uh skip down to verse number 21 then came peter to him and said lord how off shall my brother sin against me and i forgive him and i like this little thing he says here till seven times because you know peter gets the point he's like okay i get it you know i mean we have to like resolve things and make sure that we reconcile and are not having beef in the church so how many times do i have to do this it's about like seven times because you know seven is the number of perfection so in peter's mind it's just like i forgave him perfectly so now it's time for him to be as a heated man as a public and permanently jesus says in verse 22 i say not until the until seven times but until 70 times seven now 70 times seven is 490 it doesn't mean you have to forgive them 490 times what is jesus trying to get across forgive him perpetually just as god forgives you every single day that you ask for it every day of your life god says that's the same that's what i want you to offer to your offenders as well if they come to you asking for forgiveness forgive that person again and again and again and again and again now let me explain something here because people get confused about this and i might not be able to finish this chapter again but let me just say this is that forgive the command here is to forgive the command here is not always to reinstate and the command here is not always to be friends with them again or be buddy buddies with them again and this is what people get confused you can forgive someone and just make the decision i'm not going to be around this person because they've essentially shown themselves to be untrustworthy and there's nothing wrong with that god just expects for you to forgive that individual in other words you're not harboring bitterness in your heart towards that individual but wisdom says you know what i'm not going to put myself in that position again and cause that person to possibly offend me again and we have to go through this process it's better for me to just stay away from this individual so that's number one number two forgiveness doesn't mean to be reinstated again now obviously if someone gets excommunicated from our church for example for some particular sin that's found in 1st Corinthians chapter 5 if they repent of that sin they can be reinstated and obviously i'm referring to what fornication drunkenness railing extortion things of that nature they could be forgiven if they repent and we can reinstate them into the church into the fold however it is at my discretion my friends as the pastor where i can make the judgment call to say you're forgiven but you gotta go somewhere else though and i can make that judgment call at any given time and let me say this okay let me just mention this real quick lest anyone just doesn't understand this particular concept because it's funny that you know there's been people who you know have been excommunicated from our church right and they respect the authority of being excommunicated from our church folks when you're excommunicated from our church that means you're excommunicated from all churches which means you shouldn't be going to other churches amen you're not welcome at congregations because you've been thrown out but you know we've had people and i've never had to address this but you know i just got to make sure i talk about in case i don't know someone gets thrown out or something so that everyone knows if someone is thrown out of our congregation it's not like oh okay i'm gonna go visit some other fundamental baptist church that doesn't practice excommunication and then when i'm ready to come back because i'm bored of that preaching and bored of their soul winning and bored of not being in a new ip church then i'll repent and come back and then you know pastor he will accept me back and you i could come back that's not the way it works respect church discipline and let me just let me just say this again if someone gets excommunicated from our church i know we got visitors here today but this is church on a thursday night so i got to talk about this because the scripture calls for it amen if you get thrown out of our church in the future and i find out that you've been going to another church and then you repent and come back to our church i'm gonna say you're forgiven but hit the road jack and don't you come back no more no more you know i'll sing the song for you too because it shows that you don't respect authority not just my authority you don't respect the authority of the pastor of the church you're going to because you're because you're okay with people getting thrown out of the church and you agree with church discipline right and you even condemn pastors for not practicing church discipline but when you're thrown out you go to a church you know what i mean and you don't have a problem attending a church right even though you're thrown out it's wrong my friends and i look you and you might even go to a church that considers themselves to be an enemy of our church till pastor doesn't like you know you should still respect that church and say i'm not gonna go to any church because i've been thrown out but what a lack of respect for biblical church discipline to just get kicked out and go to some other church and just go there for months on end because you don't mind because you know that person that pastor don't care he'll accept you in and then when you're just bored with the preaching okay now you're ready to come back and get right and all those things because you just you're you're you're just bored with that church it's not right my friends and so we have the right and look parents have the right to kick out their kids if they're involved in something they don't agree with throw them out into the streets i mean my mom did that to me i remember i was seven and i wasn't even 18 i was 17 years old i'm not gonna tell you what i did but i did something and my mom she said get out and i was like mom she's like get out i'm like where am i gonna go she was like you're big enough apparently you figure it out i got changed i only had one you know clothes and then you know it's funny you know what when i got thrown out i realized you know how damn my friends were because i couldn't get anybody that i could stay with and i don't think of myself like man my mom actually kicked me out of the house but you know she had every right to kick me out of her house and you know what if i and i did get right with my mom obviously she goes to our church now but you know if when i got right with my mom my mom had every right to say you know i forgive you but don't you ever come back to this house because you're too toxic for our household they have every right to do that you know pastor has every right to do that as well let me say this you hear about someone getting thrown out of our church and you start hearing that they're going to some other fundamental well what if they go to non-denom church well you know i'll throw the non-denom church is in there as well any church you're like what if they go to the joel's witnesses then they're apostate and they got bigger issues to deal with we're talking about any church that we would consider to be a church of like faith to at least to a certain extent you know the fact that they're coming back doesn't show that they respect church authority it shows that they've been bored with that church all that church doesn't go so when they don't preach on a king james bible you didn't have a problem being there for three months now did you and that interesting and you know a lot of people don't even believe in church discipline let me just say that i'm sure there's people in our church that don't believe in church discipline and it's proven by the fact that they will go to another church when they're thrown out but i know people personally who've been thrown out of our church and they will not go to church because they know for a fact that they still respect church discipline they realize that they've done wrong and they're not going to go spread leaven in another church and i guarantee you the people have been thrown out of our church that have gone to other congregations i guarantee they're not telling anybody they've been thrown out they're there to be a blessing to start a soul winning program teach people about the king james bible nonsense my friends we believe in church authority here which includes church discipline you get thrown out of here don't disrespect god's churches well those aren't god's churches then why are you going there then all right let's move on here i'll finish this up right now so that way we could just hop into chapter 19 next week all right i mean you guys ain't got nowhere to be tonight right no i'm just kidding he gives this example of the unforgiving servant and really this this is a this is an important principle because you know sometimes christians have a hard time forgiving right we have a hard time forgiving people who have offended us so he gives this example of a person who essentially owed another person a great sum of money that they can never pay back and of course they're end up you know the the king aims of forgiving him of that debt and the picture here is that we we've made a great offense towards god and it's an offense that we can never redeem ourselves with like we can never pay back with our own righteousness to be forgiven and so we need the mercy and the grace of god to forgive us of our sin debt it's like i can't pay this back you know i i deserve hell i can't pay for salvation i'm solely basing my faith on like your grace through jesus christ to forgive me and so he forgives us of all that debt but then the story goes on that the guy goes on and he starts looking for people who owe him money and he's just like pay me all that thou owest and the sum of money was so small it's like it pales in comparison to what he owed and look at verse number 31 it says so when his fellow servant saw what was done they were very sorry and came and told him to the lord all that was done then his lord after he had called him said unto him oh that wicked servant i forgave thee all that all that debt because thou desirous me shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant even as i had pity on thee in other words it's like didn't you learn anything i forgave you of all that debt you could have forgiven this guy of all his debt because of what i did for you he says in verse 34 and his lord was wroth and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him so likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every everyone his brother their trespasses he's saying this you know what if you have bitterness towards a person in church a brother sister parent whatever it is if you're tempted to become bitter towards that person just remember everything that god forgave you and i'm always bringing this up when i counsel people who are struggling with bitterness and they struggle to forgive i'm like well i mean didn't god forgive you of all your great yeah but this is like you know different or something how is it different this offense pales in comparison to your offense towards god and god forgave you of all that and in fact is continuously forgiving you of your daily sins against god and in fact the bible says if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness why is he faithful because he knows we're going to do it again but yet he forgives us every single day so he says you know and look even though you're saved and you've been forgiven of all sins past present and future for the condemnation of hell you can reach a point in your christian life where god just doesn't forgive you of daily sins you don't lose your salvation but you do suffer the consequences of your actions and he gives you over to the tormentors what is that the consequences of life there's consequences that come with your actions and if god is not forgiving you of your sins on a day-to-day basis you're just accumulating sins and you're going to suffer the consequences of that i don't want that on my life i don't want that hanging over my head so i want to forgive others and extend the same mercy and grace to others that god has extended to me throughout my christian life he's forgiven me over and over again do the same don't be bitter towards your husband don't be bitter towards your wife don't be bitter towards your parents don't be bitter towards your children don't be bitter towards your brother and sisters in christ forgive them it doesn't mean you need to reinstate them back in your life it doesn't mean you have to be their best friends again but you do have to have this the right heart attitude towards them though and still love them and forgive them and you say well it's hard well here's a great motivator god won't forgive you if you don't from your hearts forgive them be kind one to another tender hearted forgiving one another even as god for christ's sake hath forgiven you the bible says oh man i'm just so mad at this person wait but god forgive me a lot you know i forgive him because i want god to be merciful to me and he will show himself merciful to those who are merciful i don't know about you but i want god's mercy on my life i want god's grace i want god's mercy to be shed upon my life on a daily basis well then i need to be gracious and merciful to others as well not meaning that i have to reinstate them in my life or keep them not meaning i have to be best friends with them but have the right heart attitude towards them and that's it i finished all right let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and for the teachings thereof lord help us as your people to take these things into account lord when our brethren offend us or anybody for that matter that we would forgive 70 times seven completely perfectly have the right heart attitude towards them but at the same time help us not to be fools help us to realize that forgiveness doesn't necessarily mean to be reinstated or to even be as close to them as we used to be it's just having the right heart attitude towards them and i pray that you would help us lord to have the right heart towards those who have offended us in times past and that we would extend mercy to them and grace to them as you have to us we love you we thank you pray these things in jesus name amen all right we have one last song song 187 jesus loves me song 187 everyone all together nice and strong jesus loves me this i know for the bible tells me so little ones to him belong they are weak but he is strong yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me the bible tells me so jesus loves me he who died heaven's gate to open wide wide he will wash away my sin let his little child come in yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me the bible tells me so jesus loves me he will stay close beside me all the way thou hast bled and died for me i will henceforth live for thee yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me yes jesus loves me the bible tells me so amen one of the singing you are dismissed