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Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go Anywhere with Jesus over land and sea Telling souls in darkness of salvation free Ready as he summons me to go or stay Anywhere with Jesus when he points the way Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go Anywhere with Jesus I can go to sleep When the darkening shadows round about me creep Knowing I shall wake and nevermore to roam Anywhere with Jesus will be home, sweet home Anywhere, anywhere, fear I cannot know Anywhere with Jesus I can safely go All right, let's pray. Heavenly Father Lord, we just want to thank you, God, for another Sunday that we can meet in your house and hear your word preached. I pray, Lord, that you would just fill our pastor with your power and spirit. Pray, Lord, that you would bless the soul wanting to follow. In Jesus' name we ask all of it. Amen. All right, may be seated. Take your psalm books and turn just one page over to song 127. Song 127, we'll sing, "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus." Song 127. "'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus Just to take him at his word Just to rest upon his promise Just to know the Sith of Lord Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him How I've proved him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust him more Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus Just to trust his cleansing blood Just in sample faith to plunge me Neath the healing cleansing flood Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him How I've proved him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust him more Yes, tis sweet to trust in Jesus Just from sin and self to cease Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest and joy and peace Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him How I've proved him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust him more I'm so glad I learned to trust thee Precious Jesus, Savior friend And I know that thou art with me Will be with me to the end Jesus, Jesus, how I trust him How I've proved him o'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus Oh, for grace to trust him more Amen. Welcome to Mount Baptist Church on this Sunday morning. And you know the old saying, April showers bring May flowers. So it's been raining a little bit this past weekend. But I'm just hoping that the warm weather stays. I know I preached a whole sermon about glory in the winter, but it's not winter anymore. So I'm not going to glory in it anymore. So but just some announcements here. We have normal church services today, so everything's on there. It should be normal there. And as far as the Bible memory, we're still on Psalm 16 for this month and for our chapter of the month. And then Proverbs 23, 23, buy the truth and sell it not. And I wanted to open up here because I don't want to mix up everything that's out of that. So buy the truth and sell it not. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. So a good verse to have memorized. A lot of us have that first part memorized, but it's good to have the rest of it memorized there too. And so I'm going to be making sure I get that in the right order. So also wisdom and instruction and understanding. So that's our memory verse for the week. And then upcoming events. We have the women's prayer meeting that'll be this Saturday. And so that'll be at 11 a.m. We're also showing the men's prayer meeting on there for the end of May there. And then soul winning marathon, tentatively, it's going to be mid-June. I haven't picked out an actual Saturday yet, but it will be a Saturday. We're going to go down to Charleston. So we haven't been down there yet. And so we're going to go to the Capitol, not the Capitol building, but we're going to go down to Charleston, the Capitol of West Virginia. And there is plenty of places to go soul winning down there. Everything is really dense and should be pretty receptive down there. I have high hopes it's going to be receptive down there. And so be in prayer for that, though, as we prepare for that. And obviously that we find the receptive areas. We don't find the rich neighborhoods or anything like that. We want to find the poor areas and all that. So be in prayer for that. Excited about that. And just be in prayer for any types of marathons that we do this year. And just for good reception that we find the good places to go to and all that. Soul winning time. So we have our main soul winning time after the service today. So just make sure that if you're wanting to go out to meet up here before one, so we can get all teamed up as far as who you're going to go with and where we're going to go. And then on Monday, we have regional soul winning time. Brother Richie leads that up down in the Clarksburg Bridgeport area. And then Brother Charles leads up the Tuesday soul winning time. In the Morgantown area. And so get on the WhatsApp there. Great place to just, so Brother Richie or Brother Charles will be sending you a place where you'll be meeting at throughout the week there. And so definitely get on that. And then as far as I did finally fill out my salvation to get all that stuff caught up. So actually last year we had 327. We had 325 on there. But when I counted it up, as far as what I had on there, it was actually 327. So anyway, that being said, yeah, so we had a couple more than what we thought. But that being said, I got all that stuff caught up there. And then birthdays. So we need to get John D. We haven't said happy birthday to John D. Right? We haven't done that, right? So John D., and we'll get Bethany eventually. She thinks she's dodging it, but she's going to get sung to. And then Brother Nick, you weren't like trying to like speak up there. Like, hey, don't forget about me. No, so Brother Nick will be singing happy birthday to you. So how old is John D. now? Four. And then so she's just a little older than Anna. So and then how old are you? 24. 24. Okay, so just add 20 to that. It's a young, young buck over here. 24. I remember when I thought that was just like, that's man stage right there. 24. And then you turn 36 and you're like, nah, nah, nah. I'm just kidding. So but we'll sing happy birthday to all those before we get into the last song there. Besides that, you know, just everything else is normal as far as that goes. Yeah, so Brother Dave will come and sing one more song. Sing happy birthday. One more song. And who's reading this morning? Brother Richie. So Brother Richie will be reading John chapter two for us. All right. Take your song books and turn to song 125. Song 125. We'll sing the solid rock. But before we do that, we need to sing happy birthday to John D. and Nick. Get you both to stand up. I don't know if in the back. I don't know. I'm not sure. Hey, Anthony, you see him back there? All right. So we'll sing. When's your birthday? Okay. I don't even know what day it is today. I'm like, is it like the 14th today or something? Okay. So Wednesday. And then when was Johnny's birthday? The 16th. Okay. All right. So we'll sing happy birthday to both of y'all. Ready? Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. God bless you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday. Y'all. All right. And then we will sing song 125. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand, all other ground is sinking sand. His oath, his covenant, his blood, support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand, when he shall come with trumpet sound. Oh, may I then in him be found, dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. On Christ, the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. All right, if you would take your Bibles and turn to John chapter number two. John chapter number two, we have brother Richie come and read that for us. All right, John chapter two, if you're there, say amen. All right, in the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. And both Jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six waterpots of stone after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, fill the waterpots with water, and they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, draw out now and bear under the governor of the feast, and they bear it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was, but the servants which drew the water knew, the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and saith unto him, every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine, and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him. After this, he went down to Capernaum, he and his mother and his brethren and his disciples, and they continued there not many days. And the Jews' Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting. When he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the charger's money, and overthrew the tables. And said unto them that sold doves, take these things hence, make not my father's house and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Then answered the Jews and said unto him, what sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, forty and six years was this temple and building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body. When therefore he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this unto them. And they believed the scripture, and the word which Jesus had said. Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover and the feast day, many believed in his name when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, and needed not that he should testify of man, for he knew what was in man. And let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for this church service, and I just pray that you'll fill Pastor Robinson with your spirit, and I pray that we'll all have ears to hear, and we'll make application in our lives. And in Jesus' name I pray, amen. Amen. You're there in John chapter 2, and I want to preach a sermon called a house of merchandise, a house of merchandise. And the reason I'm preaching this is actually, I probably would have preached this, you know, when I first started the church, if this was like a big deal out of the church I came out of. Okay, meaning church bookstores, selling stuff in church. That's what I'm going to be dealing with is selling stuff in church, or exchanging and all that stuff. It just really wasn't a big deal when the church, so I wasn't like this thing where I'm like, I get this off my chest, you know. Not that that should be the reason that you're just preaching something, right, but I did go to churches where this was a big deal, you know, selling Bibles, selling, you know, preaching CDs or tapes or whatever it was back then. And, or, you know, even in churches that are bigger churches, and they have like this this cafe, you know, and they're just selling you coffee, selling you, you know, whatever, you know. And what I want to get into is that nothing should be sold at church, okay. Everything here, if it's something that you want, you know, as far as Bibles or, you know, stuff for soul winning, the food over here, the drinks, like everything, that is all going to be free. When we go on missions, or, you know, when we go on mission trips, the one thing I want to try to do is for everybody to pay for everybody, but that's not selling stuff, you know. Like if I say, hey, you got to get your way there. But I want it to be to where, hey, you know what, if we're doing something, you don't have to pay for it. When we do a retreat, we're not going to go on a retreat unless the church is paying for it all, as far as all the accommodation, accommodations. And you say, well, you know, what about gas and all that stuff? Listen, if you need help getting out there, if you need money for gas, you need travel expenses, whatever the case may be, you know, we'll get you there, okay. And, but, you know what, I'm not going to make it to where, okay, I want to go, but I just can't afford it. And, or just like these different activities, I just, I'm not going to do that, okay. Now that's kind of getting off on the realm of a house of merchandise, as far as that goes, like these outside activities. But when it comes down to this, a lot of people have asked me questions about this, kind of more on the minute details of it. And so I'm going to give you my stance on it, and where I lie on that, as far as, you know, is this okay? Is this, you know, going into that realm? Okay, so first of all, we see here that in John chapter 2, let's read this again, verse 13. It says, And the Jews Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, and found in the temple those that sold oxen, and sheep, and doves, and the changers of money sitting. And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen, and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables. And he said unto them, That sold doves, take these things hence, make not my Father's house, and house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. So what a lot of people do to try to get around this, okay, because when you see that you're making my house a house of merchandise, you're selling doves, and oxen, and all this stuff, it's very clear they're selling stuff in the temple of God, and he's saying, don't do that, okay? You know, get this stuff out of here, you're not supposed to be doing this, you're making a house of merchandise. So what a lot of people will say is to say, well, you know, but in other places it says, you made it a den of thieves. So it's not that they were selling stuff, it's that they were ripping people off, they were extorting people when they were selling it. But that's just not the case. First of all, this is actually a different time than when he said that, okay? There's actually two times that Jesus threw people out of the temple. If you know the story, and first of all, I want you to see that you say, well, how does this apply to us? We don't have the temple, you know, we're not selling doves and oxen and all that stuff. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 3, 1 Timothy chapter 3. I want you to know that the church is called the house of God, okay? So in the Old Testament, the house of God was the temple. You know, that's where they'd do the sacrifices, that's where, you know, you'd have the outer court and people would be praying there and they'd do all these different things at the temple. Well, now in the New Testament, our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost and the church itself is the house of God, okay? And all the local churches that are legitimate churches are houses of God, okay? So this is how it applies to us because that means that, you know what, if Jesus was angry about it back then and he threw these people out of the temple for selling things, and then, you know what, it still applies today. Now in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 14, it says, These things write unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth, okay? So house of God is synonymous with the church of God and the church of God is the assembly, right? So it's not about the building as much as it's about the assembly, okay? But I'm going to get to this, is that I don't believe that we should be doing bake sales or anything in this building, okay? And because this building is bought and paid for by the church, okay? This is not a building that we're just going to rent out and make money off of, you know, like this space, okay? That's just, that's my personal thing. I'm not saying we can't have events here. We're not paying it, we're not charging anybody for it, okay? So if you want to have a birthday party here or something like that, there's nothing wrong with that, but we're not going to have admission tickets to it, okay? And all that. So the first thing to see here is that John chapter 2 is actually happening at the very beginning of Jesus' ministry. And how do I know that? Because John chapter 2 happens before John chapter 3. And go to John chapter 3 and verse 24. John chapter 3 and verse 24. John chapter 3 and verse 24 says, for John was not yet cast into prison, okay? So John was not cast into prison. If you read Matthew, Mark, and Luke, one of the first things that's mentioned is Jesus starts his ministry and John's put into prison. And everything after that is like after he's been cast into prison. John 2 and 3, John's still not in prison yet. So this is, John 2 and 3, John 1, 2, and 3, is really showing you kind of the very beginning of his ministry. Whereas Matthew, Mark, and Luke aren't really showing you as much detail at the very beginning of his ministry, okay? And so that being said, that this happened when he said, make not my father's house and house of merchandise. That was at the very beginning of his ministry, okay? And let me show you where it talks about, you know, the, well actually, I'm just going to go through, because the Bible says in another place, as it's written, my house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves, okay? And go to Matthew chapter 21. I'm going to show you where it says that. And if you know Matthew 21, we're getting to the end of the book there, okay? And this is, actually, when it calls it a den of thieves, when he says don't make it a den of thieves, this is in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, okay? But it's all at the end of the Gospels, because you're actually getting to where Jesus is about to be crucified, okay? And we're coming into the end of the Gospel with this other time, okay? So in Matthew 21 verse 16, I'm sorry, Matthew 21 verse 6, just to show you the timeline of where we're at here, okay? It says in verse 6, And the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them, and brought the ass in the colt, and put on them their clothes, and they set him thereon. And a very great multitude spread their garments in the way. Others cut down branches from the trees and strawed them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. Okay, so this is when he's coming in on the colt, the foal of an ass, and they're praising him, and he's coming into Jerusalem, okay? The king, you know, the king's going to come lowly, meek and lowly, sitting upon an ass, right? And notice in verse 12 there, it says, And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves. Okay? So it's very clear, the timeline, okay? He just gets done in Galilee and says, This beginning of miracles did he in Galilee. Okay? And then after that, in chapter, John chapter, you know, chapter four is talking about, this is the second miracle he did in Galilee. Okay? When he heals that servant, the man's servant or whatever, in Capernaum. And so we're definitely dealing with the very beginning of the ministry, where he does that. And then, and when he does it again, you're at the very end of his ministry. So he literally caps off, he starts off his ministry, throwing people out of the temple. And then he ends his ministry, throwing people out of the temple. You know? And you say, Well, is this a big deal what you're talking about? It's a big enough deal to where Jesus threw over tables. Show me another place where Jesus got this angry. Okay? So you may say this is minute, you know, but to me, when I read this story, it doesn't seem that minute. Actually, this seems like probably one of the things that made Jesus more angry than the rest of the things that were going on, is the fact that they were selling things in the house of God. The another interesting thing is that both times that he does this, it's right before the Passover. Okay? John chapter two, if you're back in John chapter two, and the second time he does it, it's before the Passover, because it's literally when he's going to be the Passover. Okay? And if you know the timeline, Jesus was crucified on the Passover, because he is the Passover lamb. Christ, our Passover. Okay? But in John two and verse 13, notice what it says. It says, The Jews Passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. That's how it starts off, and then he goes up to Jerusalem, and he makes this, you know, this scourge of small cords. And so this shows you, first of all, that he's not swift to anger, swift to wrath, right? He's slow to anger because he literally took time to make this scourge. Okay? So it's not like he went in there and just blew his top and just like, wow, you know, what's going on? No, he knew what was going on, and he made a scourge. He's just out there thinking about it, you know, making this scourge. And, you know, I don't know, like the leather straps, and just like braiding this thing that he's going in there with. And so that being said, you know, he took the time to think about what he was going to do. And then he went in there and did it. But after that, it's interesting because the thing that they ask him, they're like, like, you've got to give us a sign as far as why, like, why you would do this. Okay? Why are you like flipping tables and, and, you know, basically throwing everybody out of the temple? In verse 18, it says, Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was his temple and building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body, when therefore he was risen from the dead. His disciples remembered that he had said this unto them, and they believed the scripture and the word which Jesus had said. You know what's interesting about this? Is that this is the accusation that they so speak got him on. Okay? Remember they bring all these false witnesses before them, and then they found two false witnesses that agreed with each other, but it said even those didn't agree. Meaning that they were talking about the same thing, but it didn't exactly agree with it, and they were talking about the fact that he was going to destroy this temple made with hands, and he's going to raise again the temple made without hands, and they said something to that effect. Okay? But he wasn't talking about that temple. He was talking about the temple of his body being destroyed, meaning he's going to die, and in three days he's going to raise again. And so it's interesting how he starts off his ministry with this, and gives them that sign that hey you're going to destroy this temple, and in three days I'll raise it up again, and then then he throws people out again right before he's crucified, and that's the accusation they use against them. And so it's very interesting on how that works, and how that all fits together. But let's go, you know, let's look at this John chapter 2, this house of merchandise, because there's actually two different scriptures that are brought up for both these cases. The house of merchandise and the den of thieves. Okay? Brings up two different scriptures. It's two different times, right? So they basically say house of merchandise, the reason it's called a house of merchandise is because they were extorting people. No, it's called a house of merchandise because they were selling things in the house of God. It's called a den of thieves, because obviously they were using the house of God to make money, and they were stealing, meaning this, that if I went and just, you know, used Walmart to get customers to come to my business, that's stealing, okay? Does that make sense? Because they use all the advertising, they're the ones that work to get all the people to come to them, and then you're using their clout of like people coming there to make money, okay? It's not right, you know, basically it's not the way it should be done. And this is the way it would apply to church. People are coming to church because they love God, they want to hear the word of God, and you're using that to make money, okay? That's being a thief. You're using God's influence, and God is the one that's building the church and bringing people in, and you're using that to make money, okay? So we shouldn't have a business that's attached to the church where we're like, all right, we're going to make money, and I don't care if it's going to the church. Because here's the argument that people will use. Say, well, you know, but our bookstore, we're selling things for church, okay? I don't know how they get around the coffee and stuff like that, you know, selling coffee and pastries and stuff like that, but they're like, we're selling Bibles, we're selling, you know, things that you use as a Christian. Yeah, that's what they were doing. What do you think they were doing with the doves, the oxen, and all that other stuff that they were using? They were for sacrifices, okay? And so what they were selling were things that they were going to use to sacrifice. Here's the thing, there was nothing wrong with them selling that stuff outside the temple and then bringing it into the temple and using it for a sacrifice. Because the Bible actually talks about that if you live very far away, you know, like and you don't want to like bring old Bessie with you all the way from Beersheba or Dan, you know, then you sell Bessie, you know, and then you come to Jerusalem and you buy a different Bessie and then you sacrifice it, okay? Obviously, I'm being silly with that, but the idea is that you don't have to like traverse capacity and land with this animal, you can make it into money, you come there and you buy what you need. That's very biblical, but here's the problem, you don't do it in the temple, okay? You do it outside the temple, you do it in the city, you buy it and you bring it in. There shouldn't be this exchange of money for goods in the house of God and specifically on things that were for the house of God. That's what's ridiculous about having a Christian bookstore. Now you're saying, and people use this argument like, well, you know, but, you know, as far as selling Bibles, shouldn't the church be the one that's in charge of that? No. No. You know what, I don't buy Bibles just because the church is the one that's producing it. Actually, I don't really agree with that, okay? I'm not against a Christian having a company that makes money selling Bibles, okay? That's fine, okay? You got to make money to be able to be in business to do the business, right? There's nothing wrong with that, okay? Now obviously you should be selling King James Bibles, okay? Not these other perversions, okay? But, you know, like companies like, you know, Thomas Nelson, Zondervan, yeah, they make some really perverted, you know, versions of the Bible, but they make King James Bibles and listen, I'll buy them. I'm pretty sure, I'm not sure if those Bibles, I think it's Thomas Nelson, those ones I get in Bible by the Bulk, okay? Bibles by the Bulk or whatever. Those ones that we hand out to people, they're Thomas Nelson, okay? They're the ones that published the new King James Bible, okay? You say, well, you should buy it from Baring Seed or Baring Precious Seed or, you know, some church ministry. Listen, I'm against churches making money off the house of God, okay? I'm not against them having a separate company that's not attached to a church that they're making these Bibles. That's fine and I would buy from them, that's fine, okay? But in the end, you know what? When it comes to this, the reason this makes me angry, okay, is because I've gone to churches where you win some on the Christ and there's a whole shelf of Bibles that are for sale. You win some on the Christ and the person says, I don't have a Bible. And what am I supposed to tell that person? All right, go purchase that. You know what I'd rather do? Be like, here you go, here's a Bible. And you know what's interesting about that is that these churches have enough money to make gymnasiums and make all this crazy elaborate buildings but they don't have enough money to pay $1.25 for a Bible to give to somebody. Or $1.38, sorry, inflation, I don't know. You know, but it's under $2, okay? Those Bibles, when I buy them by bulk, it's like $1.50 at most for those Bibles. And I consider them pretty decent Bibles. You know, as far as just your first Bible, it's well enough to read in. And you know, when I started the church, the one thing that I wanted to make sure I had was that we had Bibles for everybody. Enough Bibles to where if I get someone saved, I can hand them a Bible and I have no problem doing that. Or if anybody in here needs a Bible, okay, we will get you a Bible. We will have Bibles for you and we will not charge you for it at all, okay? And it just baffles me the priorities, okay? What's your priority when it comes to the house of God? And now, Psalm 69, Psalm 69 is where we see this, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. Psalm 69, verse 7. So they quote this and they basically say they remembered the scripture, the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. And what it comes down to is that Jesus isn't being selfish or like, you know, just throwing around his weight. You know, I'm the son of God, I'm going to throw my weight around, okay? He was legitimately eaten up by it, okay? He was eaten up by it, it reproached him, that he saw people just buying and selling doves in the house of God, because it's not what the house of God is for, okay? And it's not negating that you should buy, like I said, it's not saying you can't buy and sell things that are for the house of God, but it needs to be outside of the house of God, okay? It's not something that is not a ministry of ours to buy and to sell things, okay? And so in Psalm 69, verse 7, it says, Because for thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face. Okay, so notice that it's stating here, for thy sake I have borne reproach. So he's talking about God, you know, for I say God, I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face, I am become a stranger unto my brethren and an alien unto my mother's children. So it's basically like my siblings, you know, which Jesus, I mean, I could show you passages where his brethren didn't believe, okay? And they're like, will you go up to this? And he's like, my time is not yet, your time is all the way ready, you know, talking to his brethren because they had not yet believed on him. And so you can definitely see how this would apply to Jesus. Verse 9, For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. And he's basically, you know, my father's house, and he's saying, I'm eating up because they're defiling your house by selling all this stuff and buying all this stuff in your house. And it's just showing you that, hey, they remembered this scripture that this reproach of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. Meaning that all the stuff that reproaches God the Father is falling upon the Son. And that's why he's angry about it. He's like, make not my father's house a house of merchandise, right? And he's basically getting upset and he's ashamed of what's going on. And that's why he took this scourge in there to basically throw people out. And anybody who thinks that Jesus is a weakling, yeah, you do that. You go into a place where everybody's doing business and just throw stuff around and just whip people out of there, okay? Yeah, tell me that some weakling is going to do that, okay? Now I know that he's the Son of God, okay? And obviously he has the power of God upon him. But at the same time, like, that is bold right there. That's a man for you right there. But when it says in the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me, go to Romans chapter 15 because Romans chapter 15 actually quotes that portion. So Psalm 69 and verse 9 actually has two places that are being quoted in the New Testament. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up. That's John chapter 2, okay? Talking about the house of God and the fact that he was eaten up by this, okay? That they were doing this. But then he couples it with, you know, the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. Notice what it says in Romans chapter 15 verse 3. For even Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. Listen, he wasn't doing that for his own pleasure. Does that make sense? When he threw them out of the temple, he's not like, all right, it's time for me to show you who's boss, right? No, he was not doing something to please himself. He was doing something to please his father, okay? Obviously, Jesus is God, but you know, you have the father-son relationship there within the Godhead. And he's basically saying the reproaches of them that reproach thee are fallen upon me. The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up, right? And make not my father's house a house of merchandise, okay? So you say, is this a big deal that we don't sell things in this church? Yeah, it's a big deal, okay? And you may think that's minute. And listen, we haven't been selling things in this church, but you should be saying, hey, yeah, we need to keep it that way, okay? We're not going to be selling things in this church, okay? Now go to Proverbs 23 and verse 23. This is our memory verse. Proverbs 23 and verse 23. Because like I said, you know, what's the application here in today's day? Because obviously we're not selling oxen and sheep and doves, right? Because we're not doing sacrifices, you know? That's all been done away in Christ. The New Testament doesn't involve any of that. But notice in verse 23, so Proverbs 23 and verse 23. Buy the truth and sell it not. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. It's saying don't sell the truth, don't sell wisdom, don't sell instruction, don't sell understanding. Now obviously, you know, you can see the spiritual aspect of like, you know, retain all this and don't let it go, right? But physical aspect, if I buy a Bible, I'm not going to sell it to you from the church. If the church buys a Bible, okay, we buy Bibles, not selling it to you. You're going to get it for free, okay? We're either going to use it here or you're going to get it for free, okay? And same thing with wisdom, understanding, and knowledge. The idea here is that I'm not going to sell my preaching, okay? And here's the thing. This may step on the old fundamental Baptist toes. It's a little arrogant for me to say, yeah, listen guys, you want to listen to my preaching? Five bucks, okay? Now in our day and age, it's kind of silly because everything's online, right? You know, so it's kind of, you know, back in the day when it was just like cassette tapes and, you know, CDs and stuff like that, you can kind of understand, you know, the fact that where you could actually do that. Nowadays, everybody's like, I'm getting on YouTube, you know? Sucker, you shouldn't have put it on YouTube, you know? I got to download it, all that stuff, right? But the arrogance to me on, I don't care how big our church gets. I don't care how popular I get or infamous I get. Notice I said infamous. I will never think that my sermons are something that someone should have to buy, okay? And you may say, no, I, and listen, you may say this about other preachers too, be like, no, I think their stuff's actually worth buying, okay? Now if someone is like, has their own business and they're like making like USBs or they're making CDs and they're making stuff and they're producing all this, they're buying all this like a material and making it and selling it, there's nothing wrong with that. Does that make sense? Nothing wrong with that. The difference is if the church is buying those materials and the church is making these things and then they're selling it, okay, as a church, okay? Listen, the money that comes in here is not mine. The money that comes through the offering is all of ours. It's the church, okay? It's the church finances, okay? Now I'm the leader so I obviously have the say as far as what's done with the finances, right? But I also have other people that are like, you know, I think Brother Charles, we have you technically as the treasurer and Brother Dave as the secretary. That's just the titles they give you, okay? You know, like that's not a church thing. That's just a state entity thing. Anyway, all that to say is that technically I do have like a treasurer and a secretary and I do run these things by them as far as like, hey, you know, we're gonna, you know, buy this. I just want to let you guys know, hey, we're dropping this on, you know, such and such, like the baptistry or the different things like that, right? And a lot of times why I do that is just because I don't want to be, you know, dumb about it. I like getting counsel to be like, hey, you know, I think that's a little much, you know, like what you're paying there for this. I think you can get it better over here, right? Because I don't want to be lackadaisy about our finances. It'd be like, it's not my money, you know? I just throw it, you know? No, obviously I want to be smart with it, but I also use it for things that I believe are gonna further the ministry, okay? And you say, well, what about a building, you know, and all this stuff? Listen, I'll rent till Jesus comes. And I want a clean building. I want a building that doesn't have asbestos and mold and, you know, rats running around, you know what I mean? Like, obviously there's like a standard of like building that we want to have, right? But in the end, the building is very low on the list as far as priorities when it comes to the finances, in my opinion. You know, I'd rather have missions trips. I'd rather have Bibles. I'd rather have money to go on marathons and pay for all the, you know, expenses as far as the meals and all that stuff, you know, or even one day maybe we'll get a church van for soul winning, going back and forth, that type of stuff, you know what I mean? Like, that's where our finances should be going. Not for a gymnasium, okay? You want to go play basketball, we'll go out to a park somewhere or we'll go rent a gymnasium to have some fun or something like that, you know what I mean? And I'm not against using finances for that, but this whole idea, well, Christian school, no, homeschooling, okay? There's my answer. Homeschooling. We're not doing a Christian school. We're not going to have some big elaborate like multimillion dollar building with a gymnasium and swimming pool and all these different things, okay? And you say, well, I'm leaving now. You know, I thought eventually, you know, we're going to get into that realm. Sorry to burst your bubble, but obviously I don't think anybody's thinking that. But go to 2 Peter chapter 2 because, listen, there are churches out there that use their people as merchandise, okay? And there's a lot of false prophets out there, okay? And all the TV preachers out there, listen, they're using the house of God for, you know, a house of merchandise. They use it to sell their books. And I don't have many notes on this because I knew I'd get off on tangents. The missionaries that come in, the evangelists that come in and put their stuff in the back and say, hey, buy my books, do all this stuff. House of merchandise. Don't make my father's house a house of merchandise. If you want to give out your books, that's fine, but don't sell them in the house of God, okay? You want to sell them outside of that and you have a store that you sell them from or you sell them online, nothing wrong with that. But don't come, don't you dare come here with your, like, book on pre-tribulation rapture and try to sell that in my church, okay? There's many reasons why I would not allow that to happen in here. But, you know, that type of stuff happens a lot, okay? And I'm kind of picking on the old IFB, but listen, how much more on the scale of, like, these, like, Joe Olsteins and the John Hagys and stuff like that, right? I mean, they are literally using their ministry to sell their books, sell their merchandise, and just are millionaires. They're millionaires because of it, okay? There's nothing wrong with being rich, but there's something wrong with being rich off the house of God, okay? If you're a millionaire because of, you know, the ministry, there's something wrong, okay? No one should ever be rich because they're in the ministry, okay? And anyway, so go to 2 Peter, chapter 2, verse 1, it says, But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, Joel, Steen, John, Hagee. You know, just go down the laundry list of a lot of these mainstream preachers that are false prophets, okay? And then go, keep reading there, it says, Who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. What's the way of truth? Eternal security, once saved, always saved, easy believism. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now shall be saved, not by works, not by repenting of your sins. Yeah, that's the way of truth they're speaking evil of. Notice, keep reading there, And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. You say, who are you talking about? Well, let me start with the Catholic Church, okay? The Catholic Church says that you need to give money to get your family member out of purgatory, penance, you know, like whatever they call that, you know, where they give money. It's funny because we won someone to the Lord last week that grew up Catholic, and we were talking about heaven and hell, and I'm like, you know, I know the Catholic Church believes in purgatory. He's like, yeah, and he didn't have nice words to say about it. He's basically saying it's like a Ponzi scheme, you know? He's like, I still haven't got my receipt for all the money, you know, like, and my relatives, I don't know if they've gotten hell, you know? And he's joking because it's ridiculous, okay? But just as much as that's ridiculous, that happens on the mainstream evangelical realm as well, okay? Put your hand on the screen. You want a blessing from God? Send in $1,000. Happens. And listen, unfortunately, the older people get sucked into this type of stuff, okay? And they think that, you know, the gift of God can be purchased with money or something like that, and the idea here is that, listen, they are, many shall follow their pernicious ways, and through covetous how they make merchandise of you. They're making merchandise out of people, okay? Through the house of God, and it's wickedness, okay? You're dealing with reprobates here. You're dealing with people whose damnation slumbereth not. And so that being said, you can see how it goes to a really far extreme, okay? Selling books in the church, not as bad, you know, as far as, you know, bad extreme, you know, like praying people out of heaven and give me money so I can pray these people out of heaven, or I'm praying them out of heaven. Praying them out of purgatory into heaven, right? You're like, hey, you got a raw deal there. Why are you praying my relatives out of heaven? But obviously, listen, Jesus didn't throw them out for people giving money for purgatory penance, okay? He threw them out because they were selling doves, oxen, and sheep, okay? Those were all things under the Old Testament where they would be doing sacrifices. Two turtle doves, you know, a sheep, a lamb, an ox, you know, like different sacrifice for different types of offerings, right? And they were selling that stuff in church, and Jesus got so angry that he made a scourge and threw them out of the temple, threw over tables, and kicked them all out, okay? And so it's a big deal. Now go to Mark chapter 11, Mark chapter 11, because it's interesting because they always want to say, well, no, it's because it's the den of thieves, they're extorting people, and that's why. It's not that they can't sell anything, it's just the fact that when you sell it, you can't be extorting people. I'm sorry, but I think $5 for a sermon is extorting people, okay? You know, it's all in the eye of the beholder. What do you think is extorting people, okay? I don't think that I should even sell you something for what I bought it for, at cost, okay? Meaning that, let's say I bought a Bible and it was $2, and I say, okay, I paid $2 for it, give me $2, even. No, that's selling stuff. You're like, well, you didn't make any money on it, you didn't make any profit, I don't give a rip, I don't care if I said give me a dollar for it, and I lost 50, you know, I've lost 100%, you know, amount on it, or 50% however you want to look at it. The thing is, is that, no, you're not supposed to sell anything. I don't care if you make money, lose money, whatever the case may be, don't sell it. Now, in Matthew, or sorry, Mark chapter 11, verse 15, you know, and it's funny because our church isn't that big, you know, and I think our church is growing, obviously, we have no problem paying the bills. Like, I'm almost thinking, like, what can we do now, you know, like, there's just so much money that's just there from people that tithe, people that give, and, you know, I'm never worried about paying the electric, or paying the bills. Now, when we first started, I did, because, you know, it was kind of like, oh, at the beginning, you don't know who's going to be coming, and all that stuff, you kind of worry about, like, are we going to pay rent? Never worried about, never had to borrow any money, and never plan on ever borrowing any money, but that being said, I'm like, what are you doing with your money? You know, like, you can't afford Bibles, you can't afford, like, you know, things to hand out to people, and all these different things, you can't afford to, when you do some kind of, like, special event that, you know, we go somewhere to where we can't pay for that, I'm just, I'm always wondering, like, where is this money going? Now, I'll say this, okay, for some defense here, I don't take a salary, okay, so part of that is I'm not getting paid, okay, you know, we're a small church, so I'm not taking any salary, so that means all the money that's coming in is just going to whatever we want it to go to, and it's not coming to me. Now, I'm not against getting paid, I'm not against having people on staff, but, you know, it just kind of, it still baffles me, you know, the amount that it costs to buy Bibles and how you can't do that, and just little things like that, but in Mark chapter 11, verse 15, because they'll say, well, no, you can, it's just about extorting people, okay, verse 15, and they come to Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves, and notice this in verse 16, and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple, okay, that he wouldn't suffer anybody to carry any vessel through the temple, okay, and obviously we're talking about items that are sold and bought, right, talk about, you're talking about inventory, you're talking about, like, merchandise that's being brought through, he wouldn't even let him carry it through there, let alone sell it, like, don't even, you know, carry it through there, and all that. Now, in verse 17, yeah, verse 17, and he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? But ye have made it a den of thieves. And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him, for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. Now, go to Isaiah 56, and obviously we're going to be getting that to this week, you know, actually we're going to be going into Isaiah 56, but that's where this is brought up, you know, as far as the house of, I'm sorry, the house of prayer, and so I want to talk about this a little bit, but really I'll kind of hit on this next, or this week, yeah, this week, so, on Wednesday. In verse 6 here, so Isaiah 56 and verse 6 says, also the sons of the stranger that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it and taking hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to my holy mountain and make them joyful in the house of prayer, I'm sorry, in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifice shall be accepted upon mine altar, for mine house shall be called in house of prayer for all people. The Lord God, which gathered the outcasts of Israel, saith, yet will I gather others to him beside those that are gathered unto him. And this is Old Testament, by the way, because they're bringing sacrifices, and it's basically stating that anybody that wants to come from other nations, they can and come and worship the Lord, do these sacrifices, but they're, they're basically coming in there and making money off of it. Okay, people are coming from outside and other nations, and this is the perception that they're getting of the house of God, okay, that I got to come here and I got to buy all this stuff, you know, I got to buy it here at this place, and they're just making it a big retail store, you know, it's pretty much what they're doing, and obviously God does not like it to the point where he throws people out of the temple, but this is where I wanted to touch on, okay, so these are the questions that I get a lot of times with this, you know, most people, no one in the church is like, hey, when are you going to open up a bookstore, you know, when are we going to start making some money off this stuff, you know, and, you know, get the thermometer on the wall. Listen, I don't plan on ever doing any type of fundraiser, you know, or any type of even extra giving, okay, like some thermometer on the wall, building funds, whatever, listen, if we got it, we got it, we don't, we don't, okay, that's the way I look at it. And we'll just deal with what we got. But the question that I usually get, and it's a legitimate question, okay, is, okay, people in the church obviously make things, they have things, or even like someone will buy something, they'll be like, hey, when you're there, go buy that for me, you know, and then I'll pay you back, okay, and there's like this exchange of goods, okay, and a lot of people ask me, you know, like, okay, can I do that, you know, like when I come to church, can I like, you know, this person bought this for me, and I'm just giving them the money for it, and all that. Well, this verse in Mark chapter 11, where it says he suffered not any man to carry any vessel through the temple, is what always sticks out in my mind, okay, and you may say, well, you're just being really strict about this, and really crazy about this. Listen, I'd rather be safe on this than not, okay, because if this is something where Jesus actually threw people out of the temple for, I don't want this to be like on us, okay. So, okay, for example, if, I'll give you an example, okay, I bought something from Mrs. Utzler, you know, like she makes these like knitted things or whatever, and I bought them for holiday, for Christmas or whatever. I literally, they were here, you know, visiting, but I'm like, we walked outside the building, and we did it out there, like a drug deal, no, I'm just kidding. No, we, but you say that's silly, okay, that's silly to do that, you know, to take it outside of the church building, but I don't want there to be any like inkling that, hey, there's been any exchange of, like I don't want a vessel to be exchanged through here, okay. Even though the church didn't buy that, it has nothing to do with the church, okay, but I want to make it a big deal that, hey, okay, you know, if you're outside the building, whatever, okay, to try to do that outside the building, because we don't want, and you say, well, I don't think it's that, that's what that's talking about, I think that's more just talking about items that the church buys, and you're trying to sell it and stuff like that, and I can get where you're coming from, okay, but I take a pretty strict stance on this, okay, and we may have all faltered on this, me included, as far as like the idea of, you know, handing a check or doing this or whatever for items that you bought from somebody or whatever in the church building, but we really need to try to keep this to where it's outside the church building, okay, outside the church building, if it's in your car, you're in your own persons, you know, like you're not, you know, in the church building, where the church people are at, and all that, and I even take this to the point, well, okay, the church is the congregation, what if you as a church member, you came here and was selling things from the church building and the church isn't here, I understand that the church building is not the church, but it's also paid for by the church, okay, and so you're using that as a platform or a space and all that to sell things, okay, so that's my stance on that, okay, as far as that goes, I'm not here to police everybody on this, but this is my stance and I think we need to really be careful about those little things, and you say, you know, think about this, you know, because you say, well, that just seems small, okay, outside of like the church having like a store and selling things and like all this other stuff, obviously that's kind of the main thing that I'm trying to get across here, you say, well, that type of stuff is as far as exchanging money and stuff like that in the house, notice it was talking about the changers of money and the exchangers and all that in that passage, you say, I think that might be a little extreme, that's fine, but I'm going to take that extreme stance, okay, and there's certain doctrines in the Bible where it may be a little gray or I might just be a little, you know, just not 100% sure on, okay, as far as like if there's a leeway in it, if I'm not 100%, if I have a doubt, okay, I'm going to take the stricter stance, okay, because I don't want to get caught into this doubtful disputation where, you know, you're damned if you eat because you did it not in faith, okay, meaning I wasn't fully persuaded that that was okay and even if it was okay, I'd still be in sin, okay, and so I'm going to take that stricter stance and I'm going to say that everybody here needs to take that stricter stance, I am the leader, okay, and you know what, we all falter with that and you're just, you know, you may forget about it and all that, but just be cognizant of it, okay, we all make faults, we all, you know, do things that we, you know, we forget about it and all that stuff, but just make a conscious effort to say, hey, you know what, if I'm getting something from someone else or if there's an exchange of goods, just do it outside the building, okay, and we'll just keep it that way, keep it safe, keep it to where we know that that's not going to be an issue. Now I go to 1 Corinthians chapter 16 because it's not that money isn't going through this church, okay, there's an offering box, okay, so this isn't just saying like money can't be moved around here, okay, because obviously there's money being moved around when we count the offering and there's money being moved around when, you know, like Brother Charles, Brother Dave will get something from somewhere with the church card or I will and we have receipts that are going around and just different things are being bought and sold for the church building, okay, there's nothing wrong with that as far as, you know, for the ministry and what we're doing there, okay, and I want to give a verse on that because in 1 Corinthians chapter 16 it's talking about giving a collection for the saints and basically people were giving money for like this offering that they're going to give to these saints in Jerusalem, the poor saints, stuff like that, so it's kind of like a love offering if you will. In 1 Corinthians chapter 16 verse 1 it says, now concerning the collection of the saints, I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye. On the first day of the week, that every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come, and that when I come, whomsoever ye shall approve by your letters, then will I send to bring your liberality unto Jerusalem. And in another place it talks about how, you know, giving, you know, basically giving to the poor saints in Jerusalem, so it's basically dealing with people that don't have a lot in Jerusalem and you're just kind of helping out with your abundance. And the thing is is that the reason, what he's saying here is that, you know, do this on the first day of the week so when I come it's all ready together, you know what I mean? Like I'm not there and you're like, all right, everybody, where's all your stuff that you want to give, right? He's basically just like, first day of the week, and the first day of the week is when people are meeting, breaking bread, and, you know, obviously having church and all that, and he's saying just do it on the first day of the week, get this offering together for these saints in Jerusalem and when I come it will be ready to go and then I'll take it there, okay? So there's nothing wrong with like having money going in and out of church, okay? Because there was money going into the temple, right? You had the tithes that would go to the priest, the priest would use that to live and buy things and all this other stuff. There's nothing wrong with that but it's got to be in its place, okay? And so I just want to state that obviously there's money that's being moved around. I write a check up here for the rent, okay? There's nothing wrong with that. You're like, making it a house of merchandise. No, you know, that's for the church. You know, if the temple needs to buy something, that's not making it a house of merchandise. When a temple is selling and people are buying and selling within the temple, you know, to just make gain, that's where you're making a house of merchandise, okay? And I don't care if you don't make gain, you're trying to, okay? No one buys and sells things if they're not trying to make gain. You're like, well, I suffered a loss. Well, good, don't be doing it in the house of God, you know? You just got your just reward, you know, for doing that. But anyway, the idea here is that our church, we want our church to be without spot, okay? Go to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians chapter 5, and you say, well, this is kind of insignificant. Well, the Bible says in Matthew 23, you're going to Ephesians chapter 5, it says in Matthew 23, 23, well, I want to use scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay Ty the mint and Annas and I'm going to say cumen because if I say cumen, my wife's going to get on me, but that's the way Scorby says it, okay? Cumen and have admitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith. These ought to you to have done and not to leave the other undone, okay? So you may say, okay, these things kind of seem like they're not the weightier matters of the law, okay? You know, as far as like the exchange of goods inside the house of God and stuff like that. Well, I would kind of beg to differ, you know, considering how angry Jesus got at it, but at the same time, let's say it is. Should you still leave it undone? Okay, is it something that you should just let, that's not important, okay? Clean first the inside of the platter that the outside may be clean also, should you not clean the outside? That's what people say, it's like, well, it's only the inside that matters. No, they're both important, the inside's more important. You know, the weightier matters of the law are more important, but it doesn't mean the rest of the law is not important, okay? So we want to be without spot, and notice what it says in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25. Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 25 says, husbands love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. See, our goal is to be without blemish, without spot, okay? So if I see a spot, if I see something, I'm like, hey, this is, I don't think that this is the way we should be doing it, there's a spot here, there's a blemish here, you say, it seems so small, we're doing all this other good stuff, yeah, that's great that we're doing all this other stuff and we got all this stuff worked out, but let's get it clean, okay? It's pick and span. I want to be OCD about our church being without spot, without blemish, without wrinkle, okay? Because that's what Jesus wants, okay? Now I'll go to Revelation chapter two and I'm just going to give you some verses here because this is what I don't want Jesus to say to us, okay? And in three of these churches here, you're dealing with, you know, with Thyatira, Pergamos, and I'm sorry, Ephesus, Thyatira, it's Thyatira, Pergamos, and Ephesus, okay? So first we're dealing with Ephesus and in all these churches, you are dealing with the fact that Jesus is complimenting them on things that they're doing right, okay? In all three cases, you're doing things that are good, but, okay, nevertheless, not withstanding, okay? And here's the thing, it's not that they weren't doing great things, it's just the fact that I don't want that but. I don't want that nevertheless. I don't want that notwithstanding, okay? I want it to be like Philadelphia or Smyrna where it's just like, they're just like, keep going. Keep doing what you're doing. You definitely don't want to be Sardis where there's nothing really good to say about you besides that you used to do some stuff that was good back in the day. But that being said is in Revelation chapter two and verse four, it says, nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee because thou hast left thy first love. Go down to verse 14, so that's Ephesus. Now with Pergamos, it says in verse 14, but I have a few things against thee because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. Verse 20, so Revelation 2 and verse 20, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee because thou suffers that woman Jezebel which calls herself a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. You say, well, those seem a little more extreme. Granted, I'm not saying, I'm not here to like compare these things, but again, I may also beg to differ on the extremity of what Jesus did when people were buying and selling in the house of God. Okay. So you can say, well, it seems small. It doesn't really seem that small to me because I don't see Jesus whipping people out of any other place anywhere else, okay. But this is why I want to preach this. First of all, I've had questions, you know, from people in the church, even my wife, you know, as far as like, you know, what's, what's, you know, the stance, you know, how is this more, is this too extreme, is this not, you know, is this not enough? And so, you know what, if I get questions on it, I need to preach on it, first of all. And but I'll say this is that one of the big reasons I want to preach on this is because I, I don't want that, that nevertheless, I don't want that, but, and I don't want that notwithstanding when it's dealing with our church. I want Jesus to say, you know, talking about the, to the angel of the church, you know, in Fairmont, you know, to the angel of the church of mountain Baptist, you know, these things I write, you know, thy works are, the, the, the, the last of thy works are greater than the first, you know, and just going through this list and I just wanted to end right there. You know, I just wanted to be like, and keep doing what you're doing, you know, like, that's, that's what I want it to be with our church. I don't want it to be like, but nevertheless, I have a few things against thee. Notwithstanding, there's some issues we've got to deal with here, okay. I don't want that to be the case. So when it even comes to things like this, you know, where I don't think we, we have an issue, okay, but there have been questions about this and I think that we're better to be on the side of caution, the side of just being really kind of hard-lined about that to where it's like, hey, listen, even if it's just exchanging, you know, money from things that you bought with people outside of church, we should do that outside. We should not do that in the building, okay. And so if you've done that before, you know, don't worry about it, okay. I might have accidentally done it, you know, you just don't think about those things a lot of times, you know, when you're dealing with that type of stuff. But I do believe that we need to be strict on that. We need to hold the line on that and all that. So let's not make the house of God a house of merchandise, we're not here to make it a den of thieves, we're not here to make money off merchandise, okay. Any merchandise that we have in here is either what we're using for the church or it's going to be given out to you free, okay. All the drinks, nothing like, there's nothing where it says, hey, here's a jar, put in this. And I'm not going to even say this, well, you know, just put something in the offering plate for it. No. Okay. If it goes in the offering plate, it's not for anything that you got here, it's just going to be an offering, okay, to the Lord. No. There's no paying back, there's no like, well, I'm going to donate, you know, that's that typical thing where it's like, you don't have to pay anything, you just have to donate $20, you know. It's like when, and I've been kind of picking on people, you know, they do these lights up here for Christmas. And I'm not here to say like it should be free, but just tell me it's $20 or whatever it is to go through this thing, you know, or whatever the, I can't remember what the cost is, you know, per person or whatever. But I'm like, just tell me that's the cost, don't tell me, oh, it's a donation. Well, if it's a donation, I should be able to just blast through here without having to pay anything, okay. And so, you know, no, we're not going to be like, well, just make a donation, you know, or anything like that. No, it's free. Okay. These Bibles over here, do you want to pass these things out like candy to people you get saved or people that you have good conversations with? Then do it. Just let me know when it starts running dry there and we'll order some more. But we will not make this house a house of merchandise, and we're going to keep it that way. But we also just want to make sure we hold the line, even on the little minutia when it comes to that. So let's end with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you today, thank you for your word, and Lord, we just thank you for these passages. Lord, you give us this information as far as how we should behave in the house of God. And Lord, just help us to always be well pleasing to you. And if there are any things that you would have against us, Lord, that it would come to our attention, that we'd see it in your word, and that we'd fix it. But Lord, we just pray that you'd help us to keep your church without spot, without wrinkle, without blemish, and Lord, just help us to bring glory to your name. We love you and pray also in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. The birthday will come. Say one more song, and then we'll be dismissed. All right, take your song books and turn to song 115. Song 115, if you would stand, we'll sing No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus, song 115. I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus Since I found in him a friend so strong and true I would tell you how he changed my life completely He did something that no other friend could do No one ever cared for me like Jesus There's no other friend so kind as he No one else could take the sin and darkness from me Oh, how much he cared for me