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

I'll see you guys in the next video. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church. If you could please find your seats and grab your songbooks. We're going to sing 335 If Jesus Goes With Me. 335 If Jesus Goes With Me. Let's sing it out together. Nice and loud. 335 If Jesus Goes With Me. It may be in the. Yeah. I counted a privilege. Maybe I must. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me I'll go anywhere. I counted a privilege. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. I counted a privilege. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. I counted a privilege. If Jesus goes with me, I'll go anywhere. Great singing this morning. Let's open up in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for the opportunity and privilege to serve you and for the many blessings you've given us in our lives. Thank you for everyone here. Pray for those that couldn't make it this morning and pray that you'd fill our hearts with love for you as we sing praise to your name. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, for our second song, you should have a handout in your bulletins. The song is I'd Rather Have Jesus. We do have plenty, so if you don't have one, go and raise your hand and Usher will bring you one quickly. I'd Rather Have Jesus. Let's sing it out with some passion here. Three, one, sorry. I'd Rather Have Jesus. Here we go. I'd rather have Jesus than silver or gold. I'd rather be his than the bridges untold. I'd rather have Jesus than houses or lands. I'd rather be led by his will, his hand, Than to be the king of the vast, no way, Or be held in sin's best way. I'd rather have Jesus than anything, This world of wars today. I'd rather have Jesus than men's applause. I'd rather be faithful to his dear cause. I'd rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. I'd rather be true to his holy name, Than to be the king of the vast, no way, Or be held in sin's best way. I'd rather have Jesus than anything, This world of wars today. He's sweeter than honey from albacore. He's all that my hungering spirit needs. I'd rather have Jesus than let him be. Than to be the king of the vast, no way, Or be held in sin's best way. I'd rather have Jesus than anything, This world of wars today. Good morning, if you don't already have a bulletin, you can lift up your hand nice and high, and one of the ushers can come by and get you guys a bulletin. On the front we have our Bible memory passage, we're on verse 23 of Proverbs 31. And then we have our service and soul winning times there on the left side. Also church stats, please make sure you're submitting that to your soul winning captains. And then also on the right we have a list of several expecting ladies. Please be in prayer for all of them. As far as upcoming events, we have on March 9th is our next preaching class. And then there is another event that is not in the bulletin this morning that I do want to add. And it's March 16th is going to be a baby shower for Mariah Cogdell at 1230. And it's going to be here at the church. So I'm sorry, Mariah Jackson, I'm thinking. Sorry, some ladies don't change their driver's license, you know, so, you know, it's just like I'm just kidding. Yeah, Mariah Jackson. No offense. Okay. All right. And also March 30th is the Cedar Hill South Dallas soul winning marathon. So that's that's the day before Easter. And I just figured it'd be a great day to just do some extra soul winning kind of around the church area. And we have some new Easter invites. They might look familiar, pretty similar design as last time that we've used them. And so, in fact, we ordered about 5000 of these. So you can start handing them out right now. But we just want to emphasize Easter services, which is March 31st this year. So it's a little bit earlier than it normally is in the year. So just keep that in mind. We're going to be having a communion service that evening. So the evening service will be a communion service as well. April 9th to the 10th is a announcement for one of our friends. Verde Baptist Church is having a youth rally. And they actually, I believe today, this morning, are having their first services in a new building. So they end up acquiring a property several months back. And then they remodeling it and updating it. And now they've had the opportunity to move in. I think they're still remodeling some things, but they've been able to revamp the sanctuary area. I believe that their sanctuary seats over 400. And so it's definitely great news to see them growing and prospering over there in California. And so if you ever get a chance to be in the Sacramento area, definitely got to visit Verde Baptist Church. April 13th is a Shreveport Louisiana Marathon. I think we might have announced this as another date prior to and we kind of changed a little around. We just wanted to make sure that we were kind of spacing things appropriately. But this one is locked in, OK? So April 13th should be our Shreveport Louisiana Soul Waning Marathon. And we actually have several other events that are already planned. But we just want to we'll wait to put them in the bulletin once they get confirmed, for sure. But a lot of other soul winning events and things that we're planning for this year. And in the fall, our friend Dr. Phil Stringer is going to be coming and preaching for us again this year. And so that's definitely a big treat. And so as we get a little bit closer down the line, we'll announce some more of those events on the back. We have the note about the congratulations to the Craker family on the birth of Katrina. Elizabeth, she was born on February 22nd at 240 a.m., seven pounds, nine ounces and 20 inches long. Congratulations to them. Those babies love to come in the middle of the night. You know, that's just how it is, right? And then we have our prayer list down below. So make sure you're praying for our church family. That's really all I have as far as announcements. We're going to go ahead and sing our third song, Psalm 148. So it is a special handout, Psalm 148. All right, let's sing Psalm 148. Oh, it's a crazy. Oh, it's crazy. Oh, you saw my face in the heavens. And he waters that. Let them raise the name. Or he. They were. He had also established them. And. He had made a decree. Not pass. On the earth. And all these fire and hail, snow and vapor. For me. His word now. Fruit trees and all the earth. And. He. He. He. He. He. He. Let them raise the name. Oh. Oh. Excellent. The earth. He also. Exalted. His people. Praise. Children. Oh. As the offering plates are being passed around, please turn to Galatians chapter six, Galatians chapter number six. Galatians chapter six, we'll read the entire chapter as is our custom beginning at verse one, the Bible reads Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. For every man shall bear his own burden. Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised, only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised, that they make glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father God, we thank you for Galatians chapter 6, and I just pray, Lord, that you would bless all aspects of the sermon this morning, and fill Pastor Shelley with your Holy Spirit, and just give him clarity of mind as he preaches the word to us. Help us to apply the sermon to our lives, Lord, and just to be better Christians moving forward. We love you, and in Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. I want to look back at verse number 9 in here in Galatians, and you know, I feel like a lot of things are going really well in our church. I feel like our church has been doing great. Obviously we don't have a bunch of sodomites and protesters trying to beat down the door this morning, which is really nice. We recently paid off one of our legal bills, so that was really nice. We still are going through one lawsuit, but we're in really good shape on that. You know, just a lot of things are just going really well, and our church is doing well. We had a baby in the bulletin for the last five weeks in a row, and praise God for that. That's a blessing. You know, you can't control those things 100%, and so just to keep having those things. I mean, really, a lot of things are going well, soul winning. We have a lot of great opportunities. You know, the weather has been amazing. And you know, I kind of think that things are going well generally speaking, okay? And the Bible says in Galatians chapter 6 and verse number 9, I'm sorry, I want to look at verse 9. And let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Here's the reason why I wanted to use this verse is because I feel like a lot of us are doing well, and we're working and doing things that are good. So it says we should not be weary in well doing. We're going to church, we're reading our Bibles, we're going soul winning, we're raising children. We're basically just doing a lot of the things that the Bible tells us to do, and the Bible gives us a warning that we shouldn't get weary in well doing. Meaning when you're on the right track, stay on the right track. Don't decide to get off of the right track, even though things are going well or you're doing well. But there's just something about the human condition, and there's kind of this idea out there, it's the idea of familiarity breeds contempt. Familiarity breeds contempt. And it's almost like when things are going well, people just screw things up because. It's just like they can't handle things going well, or they get bored with things going well, and as a result of that, they end up backsliding, and as a result of backsliding, they end up fainting and quitting and just basically getting discouraged. And the title of my sermon this morning is this, Don't Backslide and Faint. Because when you're doing well and you're on the right path, you're not really in danger of necessarily fainting. But what can happen as a result of just becoming bored or just too ill-content with the status quo, that you start to kind of backslide, you start changing your habits, you start getting off the right track, and as a result of backsliding, you end up fainting and quitting and just getting discouraged. And the reality is, the devil realized he can't stop us by bringing his minions. He realized he couldn't stop us by harassing us with evil people and lawsuits and all this stuff. But you know what, the devil can try other methods. That's not the only method that he comes to you in your face. A lot of times what the devil will do is he'll try to attack you with a personal attack. And I would say this, I don't feel like our church is really going through a major attack or a big battle or anything like that, but it seems like a lot of people individually are going through personal issues and a lot of personal attacks. And why I think that's true is because of the fact that we're doing well. Go if you want to Proverbs chapter 30, go to Proverbs chapter 30. And this is something that can always happen to us, where things are kind of going well and we get tired of even just doing good. I mean, it's not like there's anything wrong. There's literally nothing wrong, but then you're frustrated with things not being wrong. And that's what's weird. But it's like when we're in a battle, like when we have the Sodomites and we're all going to face the foe and church is intense and whatever, it's almost like you kind of get this energy and this camaraderie and you just kind of put aside personal issues and you're not really worried about little things and you're not bothered by stuff. But when there's nothing wrong, it's like everybody just starts freaking out about all the little stuff now. Now every little tiny issue is a big deal and people just have to make drama and people just have to cause issues and people just have to start getting really self-involved and worried about themselves and their issues and their things because they have nothing else to worry about. When there was this big obvious enemy, everybody just kind of rallied together and we're friends and it's good. But then when there's no real enemy, people start making enemies. People start causing drama, causing problems. I'm not trying to call anybody out, I'm just trying to say it's just part of the human condition. Now I want to show you a few verses on this. Look at Proverbs 30, verse 8. The Bible says, Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee. And say, Who is the Lord? Or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in vain. Now I think that most people understand the idea of being poor and sucking, like being terrible, right? Like, oh, I'm poor and I have problems and issues and I would like for that to change. But some people don't recognize the idea that being full is also a problem. Sometimes being full is an issue. You know, when we think about the churches, the seven churches which are in Asia in the book of Revelation, there's a particular church that is basically just thinking that everything's great. They even say literally, we're in need of nothing. And then God's like looking at them saying, you're poor, miserable, blind, naked. Saying like, well, actually you guys got a lot of problems. So I think sometimes when things are going well carnally or there's not a lot of issue, sometimes it can cause us to create issues, to draw away from God. Notice that the person being full is now drawing away from God. It's like, hey, I'm ready to go to church. I'm ready to die with the brethren. You know, I'm not going anywhere. I'm steadfast because there's protesters. Then there's no protesters. It's like, yeah, I'm just bored. I'm sick of it. Yeah, but like it's just like what? And then it's like it's weird how you lose less people when there's protesters. And then when everything's great, it's just like people like I don't want to go anymore. Like the drive's too hard. It's like was the drive harder than literal God-hating, atheist, screaming obscenities at you? Was that really harder? And it's like it's not harder. It's just that you kind of got full. You're just everything's good. And so you're just kind of like making excuses. You're just kind of getting discouraged. You're just allowing little things to just make a big issue now all of a sudden. Go to Jeremiah chapter number five. Go to Jeremiah chapter five. And it's just how humans are that sometimes when you don't have an enemy, you make an enemy. Sometimes when you don't have a problem, you make a problem. Sometimes when you don't have issues, you create issues. And it's a really frustrating thing, but it's just kind of how it is. And it's kind of the same principle. People talk about mean girls. It's like in school, it's like girls just have to hate on someone. They just always have to have a common person that they just get mad up and talk trash on. And it's like it's all good and fine when they all have that common person. But then when that person is taken out of their life, now they start picking at each other and they even start separating within their own friends. And it's like why are you doing that? And it's just like a bad habit that we do sometimes where we just start creating problems. We have to have someone we're fighting. We have to have some kind of an issue. And when you don't have an obvious issue, you don't have an obvious problem, you start creating problems with the wrong people. You start creating issues with the wrong people. And you start just sinning. You just start doing really crazy things. It's just insane to me to think like, hey, if everything's really good in your life, now you're in extreme danger to forget God. You're like, what? Joel Osteen and all these people want to talk about how God wants to just bless you and just you have everything going for you. But then it's like every time he gives people that, then they screw it up. Then it's like terrible. Then horrible things happen. So I don't know that that's necessarily even true. Sometimes I think that God maybe even wants you to have less or keep you kind of hungry just to keep you on the right track. I mean there's lots of people in the Bible that God's not giving them the Joel Osteen version of life. Job wasn't getting the Joel Osteen version of life for the whole book of Job. Right? I mean there's a lot of people going through struggle and problems and issues. And as a whole, generally speaking, when things are going well, people just ramp up sin. Look what it says in Jeremiah chapter 5 verse 6. The Bible says this, Wherefore, a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evening shall spoil them. A leopard shall watch over their cities. Everyone that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. So God's saying he's going to punish the children of Israel because they have just an incredible amount of backsliding. What is backsliding? It's basically, it's just going backwards. You were going forwards, or you were standing still, now you're going backwards. So you're reading your Bible, and now you're reading your Bible less or not reading it. You're going to church, now you're going to church less. You're praying, now you're not praying as much. You were conquering a sin or not doing a particular sin, now you're back into that sin. This is what backsliding is. You're basically just going back to the things that you used to do, bad habits, bad issues. You know, you controlled your tongue, now you're not controlling your tongue. You know, whatever issues you have. How did they get that way? Verse 7. How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me and sworn by them that are no gods. Notice this. When I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery. You know, it's like, people are like, oh man, I just wish God would bless me financially. But notice, as soon as they got blessed financially, as soon as all their carnal needs were met, as soon as they had everything they could want, what did they do? Then they just start committing adultery. I mean, one of the worst sins. Meaning, like, just because things are going well in your life, doesn't mean, all of a sudden, you're not going to be tempted with sin or something. Like, some people think like, oh, my life's just going so great, now I'm not going to be sinning or something. No, maybe you're even more likely to sin. Maybe even now you're more likely to cause all kinds of issues, and you start getting tired of just doing well, and you start backsliding, and that backsliding leads you into just horrible sin. Because you've already kind of gotten sick of doing good, so you don't want to do good anymore. So now you just kind of have this itch to just do something bad. You have this itch to do something evil. It's like these Amish kids have all this pent-up aggression for Rumspringa or something. It's just like, we've been good our whole lives, we just can't wait for Rumspringa to just let it all out. And it's like, but wait a minute. Why wouldn't you tell the kid, hey, don't be weary and well-doing? Again, the Amish have a false religion. Most of them believe in work salvation. But I'm just saying, generally speaking, a lot of them try to live a life where they're trying to do right and be honest and do good. And I'm just saying, then they kind of let them be heathen for a while. Bad idea. Don't say like, hey, I know you've been doing good. Why don't you go try sin for a while? See how it works. See how good it is. And their idea is if they try it a little, then they'll not want it anymore. That's like saying, my kids have never had chocolate donuts before in their lives, so I'm going to withhold it until they're 20, and then I'm going to give them a little taste to know how terrible it is. What? Like, no, they're going to be like, I can't wait to have another one. And again, I've never tried illicit drugs, but I'm sure, you know, if I tried fentanyl, which I have no desire to ever do, that I would have way more desire to try fentanyl the next time, just because I tried it. And I'm sure that drugs feel good. There's got to be a reason why people are addicted to them. You know, there's probably some part of that drug taking that is good. And that's like sin. Sin, it has a pleasure to it. You know, the Bible talks about the pleasure of sin. But the problem with drugs and sin and all these things is you get about 1% pleasure and then 99% headache and withdrawal, and it destroys you, and it's obviously just against the Bible. And so we need to make sure that we don't get tired of well-doing, that we don't think, oh, everything's going well. I'm not going to necessarily be attacked. No, we need to be on guard to say, I need to continue doing well. Some people think, like, I have big issues. I need to get right. Even if you have no issues, you need to stay right. Staying right sometimes is just as hard or harder than getting right. Because when you have to get right, at least it's easy to see the goal and easy to see why, and you kind of have motivation. When you're already doing right, sometimes we just lack motivation. We get bored. We get tired. We get just, you know, we're not very satisfied. Go, if you would, to 2 Samuel 11. Go to 2 Samuel 11. And it doesn't happen to just the weaker brethren. It happens to everyone. Probably one of the greatest Christians to ever live, especially at that time, was David. King David, arguably one of the greatest Christians ever. The only person willing to fight Goliath. When asked to get 100 foreskin, got 200. I don't even know why. That's just insane to me, okay? Like, I don't even want to get one, let alone 100. Can you imagine whoever helped him with that? It was like, how many do you need? A hundred. Let's get two. And it's like, what? Can't we just do the hundred? Like, are you sure? Who counted that, you know? Like, hey, I need you to double check. It's good. Don't worry. I don't want to double check that. Like, that's just weird. Okay, this guy is the man after God's own heart. The sweet psalmist of Israel. The guy wrote huge sections of the Bible. The guy is pictured as being like the most important person in the lineage of Jesus Christ. That Jesus Christ is denoted as the Son of David. I mean, of all the people in his lineage, not all of them get that kind of a title often. But Jesus Christ is constantly referred to as the Son of David. I mean, if we're going to talk about one of the greatest Christians to ever live, it's David. And if David can struggle in this area, then anybody can struggle in this area. What is the area that David is going to struggle in? He was doing well. He was doing great. But then what happened? He gets weary in well-doing. He gets weary in well-doing. Now, in 2 Samuel 11, look at verse 1. And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the children of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem. So here's the thing. David, while battling, we don't see any issue. I mean, in fact, if we were going to look at David's life from the point that we were introduced to David to right now, how much would you hold against David? I mean, how much would you have to say against David? I mean, he seemed like a pretty good shepherd boy. He seemed like a pretty good armor bearer under King Saul. He seemed like a pretty good warrior and general when he was in the army. He seemed like a pretty good friend and servant of King Saul, even though King Saul constantly hunted him down. He seemed to be a pretty good leader to the men that joined themselves unto him. He seemed to be pretty great in bringing back the ark of God into the city and taking back the city and conquering Jerusalem and setting up the city of God. He did pretty good in just destroying his enemies over and over and over. I mean, he is doing great. You know why? Because often when you have a battle, it's easier to just get focused on the battle and just keep fighting and doing right. But then there comes a time when the battle ceases. Now you're in danger zone. And for David, he could have gone to the battle, but he kind of put himself in the danger zone of he doesn't have anything to do. Uh-oh. Okay, I guess he's tired of battling. He was tired of doing well. He was tired of doing what he should be doing. So now he starts to backslide. Now he's not going to the battle. Now he's not doing these things. What did we read in Jeremiah? What happens when people get weary? Hey, they're fed to the full. What was the first thing they did? Oh, then they committed adultery. Let's see what David does. Verse 2, And it came to pass in an evening tide that David rose from off his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from the roof he saw a woman washing herself, and the woman was very beautiful to look upon. And David sinned and inquired after the woman, and one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliim, the wife of Uriah, the Hittite? Now, here's the thing. Obviously David's already in some ways arguably committing sin, but we don't, you know, I don't know all the details, but seems like he probably shouldn't have been there. Seems like he probably knew what he was doing. It seems like there's probably a lot of things that we can say that seems fishy. But even if you gave him all the benefit of the doubt, at this point he now knows it's wrong. At this point it's been clear to him, Hey, that's someone else's wife. This is another woman. And it says in verse 4, And David sent messengers and took her. That's a crazy sin. You know, that's a crazy evil sin. Why? Because he's fed to the fool, he doesn't have anything to do, so he just creates a huge problem. And, you know, David did not desire to ever kill anyone or commit murder, but because of this sin, now he's going to commit murder. So it's crazy. It's like the first sin, just being weary and well-doing. But then the weary and well-doing then causes him to get interested and desire and covet things that he shouldn't desire. Then through that covetousness, now he's committing literal adultery. And then after committing a literal adultery, then he commits murder. What's after that? I mean, you know. But notice where it started, being weary and well-doing. And then he starts backsliding and backsliding and backsliding. And so, you know, what I want to warn our church is, Look, number one, we're not necessarily in an obvious battle right now. We think that things are going pretty well. But be careful that you don't get tired of still doing good. That you're not, like, tired of still going to church or going soul-winning or reading your Bible or being spiritual because you're just like, Well, I'm just kind of bored with it because there's no point. You know, I'm ready for the next protest, man. Come on! We're in June when you need it! It's like you used to hate June. Now you love June, okay? The time when kings go forth to battle, right? It's like, I don't want to ever see that again, personally. You know, I'm just saying. You know, some people literally feel that way. Okay, just why? Because in our nature, we kind of need, like, something to do. We kind of want to do something. And even if it's just being mischievous. That's why it's good to be busy doing well so you don't get busy doing bad. And of course, David's pretty good at being bad. Takes this woman in the night. Then he concocts an entire plan. She gets pregnant. He concocts an entire plan that's pretty foolproof and covering it up. But just, he cannot get Uriah to go home to his wife. And he's just like, No! You would think, like, how hard is it for a guy to want to be with his own wife? You would think, like, this plan is foolproof. And just somehow it just wouldn't work. And he's just like, No! So then he concocts a perfect plan to kill the guy. And he gets away with it. But you know what? God says, You know what? I still saw. Even though nobody else knew, even though you got away with it completely. I mean, maybe Joab, which is kind of a crummy guy, he might have figured it out. But apart from him, and he's loyal, he wasn't going to say anything anyways. It's like, nobody really knew what was going on. Pretty much got away with it. But did he get away with it? No, he didn't. And sometimes we can, you know, just get so bored with doing good that we just start causing problems and we just start sinning. And we need to be careful. Go to Revelation chapter 2. Go to Revelation chapter number 2. Don't backslide and faint. Don't get tired of doing good and then just start doing evil. It's a real battle. That's the thing. You have to realize, you're still in a battle. It's just a different style battle. Instead of battling a real obvious, evil-looking, satanic freak, okay, tranny or something, your evil is prosperity. You're like, Ah! I don't want that problem. Like, you know, I like prosperity. Why is that a problem? Because you've been listening too much to Joel Osteen, okay? And Joel Osteen's trying to tell you to get full, so then you'll do what? Commit adultery. Commit all kinds of sin. Oh, I just wish I had more and more and more and I wish I didn't have any problems. Yeah, but if you didn't have any problems, then you'd make worse problems for yourself. Because no one just stops having problems. Like, when's the last time you met someone that's like, I have zero problems? None. Like, there's literally nothing that can improve in my life right now. That doesn't happen. That doesn't exist. Every person has all kinds of problems, okay? And you may not have a problem in a specific area, but all of us are going to have problems, all of us are going to have issues, and we have to be careful is when things are going really well and we start noticing what kind of problems we have. You know, a lot of times it's funny to me, people will overreact or get really frustrated or make a big deal out of a particular problem, and I know other people that have ten times the worst problem and they're way more chill with it. And you're just kind of thinking like, that's not really a big deal. And it's just because they're a dramatic person. Maybe you're just a dramatic person, okay? And it's not really that you have big problems, it's just you're a problem, okay? You're just a dramatic person. And you need to recognize, I mean, like, think about it. We don't live in India in a caste system where we don't even get to eat the cow that we look at. There's somebody sent me a video and it was like, how bad India is, boy, it's bad, man. Like, it just, I was just looking at the city, I'm just like, I never want to visit this place ever. It just looks so rough. And I'm sure, India's a large place, I'm sure there's some nice places in India, don't hear me wrong, but I'm just saying generally if you just go drop in the middle of nowhere in India, it's rough, okay? It's some bad mojo. And talk about no good food. I mean, you know I preach the sermon like, no good option? That's being in India and being hungry, okay? Now, the sad part is there's plenty of good options. There are all these cows wandering around. You can't eat them. It's like, that would just be mocking me. I'm just sitting here like, thinking like, what are you doing, you know? Like, these people are just, you know, a glutton for punishment. I'll tell you what. But look at Revelation chapter 2, verse 2. I know thy works, talking to the church at Ephesus, and thy labor and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil, and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars, and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. So you know what? This church has problems, but one problem they don't have is they didn't faint. And notice an aspect of this. They've borne, and they've had patience. Sometimes you just have to be patient in life, and you have to bear. What is, like, the borne aspect? Bearing other people's burdens. Bearing just, you know, your family's burdens, your church's burdens, just all kinds of different issues. And to me, that's the opposite. When you get backslidden, instead of bearing burdens, you just stop getting, you're tired of it. Like, I just, church is like twice on Sunday? And, you know, driving is far? Like, you just start making it a burden. It wasn't a burden when, you know, it was protesters, or it was new. Like, the first time, it was like, this is fun, this is exciting. But now, all of a sudden, it's not fun and exciting anymore. Now it's just a burden. You know, helping people, showing up, preaching the gospel, doing anything spiritual, just starts to become just a drudgery. It wasn't a drudgery always, but now, all of a sudden, it's just becoming a drudgery. But you know what? That's where you have to have that patience, and you just bear. Hey, this church didn't faint. They just kept doing a lot of the works. Now, they had forgotten the first works, but a lot of the other works, they were bearing with. They were dealing with. They were going through. Go back to Proverbs and go to 24, Proverbs 24. So by way of introduction, I'm just trying to give you a sense of the sermon, and I kind of have three tips on how to work on this, okay? Three tips on how to work on this. And I think that all of us are subject to this at different times. So I'm preaching this in a context of, I think, generally speaking, our church is kind of in a state where a lot of things are going pretty well. But maybe for you, it's not. Or maybe in the times past. Sometimes it ebbs and flows personally. But just when you are going through good times, you need to really employ a lot of these tactics. You know, it helps sometimes when you have a real obvious enemy or issue or battle, so that way you can kind of focus in on it. But when you feel like, you know, everything's pretty good, like things are kind of on the up. You know, we don't have COVID vaccines right now, you know. We haven't gone through the election cycle yet, okay? We're just gearing up, all right? You know, I mean, there's a lot of things that, you know, and in fact, everything kind of got really bad from like 2020 and 21 and 22 for a lot of people. A lot of people had a lot of issues and problems. But a lot of those have kind of alleviated or kind of, you know, they're not as big a deal anymore. Maybe there's a lot more stress at work back then or inflation had hit really hard right then and maybe it's kind of eased into it a little bit more. Like, I think that a lot of us have kind of gotten used to today's problems and it's not as big a deal. Things are getting more relaxed. Things are getting more easy. So people become just discontented with their situation. And the Bible says in Proverbs 24 verse 10, if thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. Now, a lot of times we look at this verse and we're kind of thinking about the battle moments, right? Oh, man, if we get pressure to go to church and we don't go, then our strength is small. But think about how much smaller your strength is when your adversity is prosperity. When your adversity is I don't even have many problems. But that's my problem. You know, it's like, I don't even have a lot of issues. I'm just going to invent issues or make issues or just cause problems or do whatever. Go to Proverbs chapter 14. Go to Proverbs chapter 14. Well, here's my first suggestion on how to work on this or how to fix this, okay? And maybe that's you. Mostly, you know, I'm trying to talk to people that feel a little bit just like, maybe you're just kind of tired of doing things, spiritual things. Maybe they've lost their luster. Maybe you're just a little bored. Maybe you're just a little bit just kind of like, I don't really, I feel emotionless towards being spiritual or God or these kind of things. And not just spiritual things like the church, just well-doing. Like I'm just kind of tired of just going to work. But you know, that's part of well-doing. Part of being a man is just going to work and paying the bills. And a lot of men are constantly complaining about just having to go to work. Like they're just upset with just going to work. They're just upset with just paying bills. We're just upset with paying taxes. We're just upset with just anything that just has to do, just taking care of a wife. Taking care of a pregnant wife. Taking care of a postpartum wife. Taking care of a bunch of kids. Taking care of the house. Taking care of, you know, whatever it is. Making meals or doing things. There's a lot of our lives that we're just supposed to do that's just good and it's right, but we just kind of get tired. We just kind of get sick of it. We just kind of get bored of it. Here's a big one. Just being married. So many people, it's like there's nothing wrong, but they're just so mad and they're so frustrated with just marriage itself. And they're just like bored with marriage. They're emotionless towards marriage. And I think, again, let's just pay attention to what we've seen so far. We've seen consistently people are doing well, but then they get out of the battle scene. They get a little backslidden. And then what's the biggest temptation that a lot of people are falling into? Adultery. That tells me they have marriage issues or something or they have some kind of problem. And just I think that the devil would love nothing more than to attack every single person in this room's marriage. You want to know why I think that? Hollywood. Hollywood. The internet. Social media. Every single comedy TV show. I mean, virtually every source of media and information is attacking marriage. It's attacking the authority structure. It's attacking the principles. It's attacking the way people dress. It's attacking the way people approach marriage. And it gives everybody has completely unrealistic expectations towards marriage that are completely fake. Like, we all recognize the infomercials or we all kind of recognize the scams that are out there where people are like, I made $12,000 a month this month staying at home and all I had to do was click three buttons for 20 minutes a week. I'm going to sell you my book and all you have to do is press three buttons a week, $12,000. We all laugh at that. We all think that's retarded. That doesn't work. But then they watch something that's about marriage and it's like, my marriage is perfect and easy and I don't even try and my wife's so wonderful. And it's like, you're a liar. That didn't happen. Fiction. Not real. It's like, no. It's like, I don't even have to do anything and it's just butterflies and rainbows and it's just amazing and magical. And it's like, that might have been the first five minutes of your honeymoon. Maybe. Okay? But it's like, that's not marriage. But again, sometimes we get deceived ourselves, don't we? We get tricked and fooled a little bit on what marriage even is. And it's like, remember your parents' marriage? Was it like that? No. How about your uncles and aunts? No. How about your grandparents? No. How about in your friends' marriages? No. Maybe there's a pattern here. That's not reality. You know, it's like what Hollywood and TV and movies and all these things are trying to constantly put out there is this idea of just relationships are just so amazing. And really, it's coming from a place of people that don't get married. All they do is date. And it's like, sure, the first date was fun. Yeah, the first date's sometimes more fun than other aspects of a relationship. You know, but let's be honest, a lot of first dates suck, too. Ask a lot of the single guys in here. I'm just kidding. I know plenty of guys that are like, I'm going on first dates all the time. How about second? No? Okay. Right? And it's not just like their problem. It's on both sides of the equation, right? It's just kind of like, whoa, nobody's interested in this. How many videos and TV shows and movies are emphasizing how many bad dates are out there and how many breakups and bad rela- I mean, they're not really emphasizing that. They're just emphasizing this idea that if you just find the right person, then it'll just all be magical and amazing and wonderful and you'll never have a problem. You'll never fight. Liar. It just doesn't happen. It's never happened, never will happen. So we're all sinners. So what happens is people just get weary and well-doing. Instead of just recognizing I married a sinner and I'm going to take care of them and I'm going to be a good husband, I'm going to be a good wife, I'm just going to keep loving them and keep doing right and just working on a relationship every single day, they just start to kind of get tired and they quit. They quit doing what? Well. And let's be honest, most people quit in their marriages and their relationships. What does it look like to quit? They stop working out. They stop dressing nice. They stop grooming themselves. They stop trying to be attractive. They stop complimenting each other. They stop flirting with each other. They stop doing nice things for each other. And it's like all of these things, every single person does when they date. And this is what often happens. People end up getting divorced and then they make major changes in their life. They're like literally a fat, ugly slob doing nothing in the relationship and then they get divorced and they look in the mirror and they're like, no one will ever date me. So then they start working out and they start dressing nicer and they clean themselves up and they put all this effort and energy and then when they go on a date, they're just nice and fun and energetic and trying new things. And you're like, what if you had done all that while you were married? Like why would you do that? Think about this. For a complete stranger that doesn't even love you and may reject you when you wouldn't do it for the person that you made a vow to God that you'll be with for the rest of your life. And I'll tell you like, you would be surprised, you would be surprised if I told you how many people have problems in their marriage. You know why? Because it's 100%. And you didn't think that. Everybody thinks like they don't have a problem. Like everyone is struggling. You know why? As soon as you clean your house, you know what happens? It gets dirty. It's not like I cleaned my house, now we're good forever. In fact, we had recently had our house clean and our kids were playing outside and we were like, they should never come in ever again. You know, it's like, because as soon as I walk in, it's over. You know? There's so many crumbs on the floor and just dust and dirt. But even if you left at a museum, dust and everything happens like that. You know, the only way to have a clean house is you have to clean it all the time. All the time. And then as soon as you clean it, it's dirty again. And as soon as you clean it, it's dirty again. As soon as you clean it, and it's like, how do you have a clean house? You just have to clean it all the time. This is how marriage is. Your marriage starts to get dust, dirt, debris, and crumbs like that. And you just have to constantly work on your marriage and work on your marriage and work on your marriage and work on your, and you're like, I just want to get to the point where I can just press the button and be done. That's not life. It never will be life. And as soon as you quit cleaning your house, what happens? You're on hoarders pretty soon. Okay? Pretty soon, it's just like, it's just trashed everywhere. And the worst thing about it, when you stop cleaning your house, you stop cleaning things up, the trash accumulates even faster. It's kind of like Dylan's sermon about the shopping cart. It's like as soon as one person leaves a shopping cart out, now there's like 20. Whereas if there's no shopping carts out, then people just keep putting them up. It's just like as soon as you get one, or it's like if there's no trash out, it usually just stays clean. But as soon as someone just drops a little bit of McDonald's, then it's just like everybody's dropping Burger King and Walmart sacks and everything. It's just like, it's just like a mentality. Or it's like if you walk to your kitchen, you walk to your kitchen, it's perfectly clean, and you have a dirty dish. You're like, I'm going to wash this off and put it in the dishwasher. But you walk in your kitchen, and there's dishes everywhere piled up. You're just like, just throw it in there and just walk away. You're like, what's another dish? Right? And it's like, that's how marriage is a lot of times, that people, they kind of just completely stopped, and they're like, well, why would I compliment you? Because I've given up how I dress, how I look, how I act, my attitude, my energy, everything. So like, what's just one other thing to give up? And they just get weary and well-doing, and they start backsliding, and then they just have even worse marriage issues. In fact, there's this phenomenon called the seven-year itch, and I didn't come up with that. I don't even know if it's true, but a lot of people talk about it, and I have seen it in relationships, but what's true is kind of the principle I'm teaching, how after a while of doing well, you just kind of get bored. It's like after seven years of being married, look, you've already weathered the storms. Like, seven years is a long time. You're good. But just for whatever reason, people just start freaking out, and they're just so upset, and then they just start causing problems in their relationship. Look what the Bible says in Proverbs 14, verse 14. The backslider in heart shall be filled with his own ways, and a good man should be satisfied with himself. If you give up on marriage, you know what often happens? Your spouse gives up, and then you end up getting exactly what you're putting into it. Hey, the backslider, notice what it says. He is going to be filled with his own ways. When you start getting lazy, they get lazy. When you get critical, they get critical. When you give up, they give up. And often what happens is you reap what you sow, and you start getting out of the relationship what you're putting in, and no one, it seems like in marriage, issues wants to be the bigger person and just say, okay, I'm going to start doing good. And the reality is, in order to reap good, often you have to sow for six months without reaping. And it's like, well, I sowed for six minutes, and I didn't get anything out of it. Okay, well, you know what? If I said, hey, you need to make a fantastic meal, you have six minutes, go. You know, microwaves aren't going to do that great. You know, like sometimes things take time. And if you think a meal takes more than six minutes, how about a relationship? Really? A relationship's more than a microwave meal. And that's the reality. So here's the point that I'm trying to make is, whenever you're finding yourself bored or tired or just frustrated with some situation, change it up. Right? Hey, maybe I should start working out again. Maybe I should start dressing nice again. Maybe I should start complimenting my spouse. And you say, what does complimenting my spouse look like? Have you read Song of Solomon? The guy compliments his wife insanely. He's like, my dove, my love, my sister, my spouse. That's just how he addresses her the first time. Right? I mean, they're talking about my beloved, and he's just complimenting every aspect of her body every time they ask a question. I bet your marriage would be different if you talked to your spouse like Song of Solomon. And here's the thing. No one in this room talks to their spouse like a Song of Solomon, because I've never heard it. No one. And I'm not saying you have to go to that extreme necessarily, but what I am saying is like, what if you just constantly compliment each other? And whenever you talk to each other, it's using praiseworthy terms. You know, I like how they have terms of endearment. My dove, my love, my undefiled, my sister, my spouse. That's how he's addressing her. It's not like, hey, you, come here. You know, or just, they're not even necessarily saying anything derogatory or negative. I mean, people will talk to each other, and you're just thinking like, that would be rough to be married to, or want to talk to, or be around. You know, it's like, why is the guy running into the wilderness? Because of the way you talk to him. You know, a contentious and angry woman, I mean, this is the worst thing in the Bible. You know, you wives, you want your husbands to like you and hang out with you more, talk to them like the lady talks to her husband in Song of Solomon. You know how many times she criticized him? Never. Even when he was sleeping in, she was like, Don't awake my love. You look at him sleeping in, and you go and like, sock him in the face, like, you didn't get up lazy? When you gonna take care of the kids, huh? How you gonna do anything today? You gonna love me? She's just like, don't awake my love. I mean, that's just, that's how it is. But you know, if, if this is the honeymoon, don't awake my love. And then later, it's just like, get up, jerk. You know, took the covers all night. It's not like in the, when I'm asleep, I turn to this angry John or something. It's just like, take covers, be mean. I'm asleep. I don't even know what I'm doing. You're mad, you're mad at sleep, John. He's gone. Bye. This doesn't really happen. I'm just making a joke. Go to Romans chapter number 12. But you know, hey, if you're struggling in your marriage, here's my advice. Date again. And not other people, your wife. Date your spouse. You know what you'd do? You'd buy her flowers. You'd take her to a nice restaurant. You'll open her door. You'll compliment her. You'll tell her that she's pretty. All the time. You can never compliment your wife too much. She'll, never get tired of it. Like you might get tired of complimenting her, she'll never be tired of receiving the compliments. As long as they're sincere. Obviously anything insincere doesn't count, it doesn't matter. But I'm just saying, if you're sincere, they will take it. They love it. They want that. And let me tell you this, ladies, men love it too. Men act like they're tough, but men, sometimes they're just really sensitive. I'll just tell you what. They need, they need a cheerleader. I'll tell you. I mean, they need someone, you know that coach, they don't really like the coach. They like the cheerleaders because the coach is telling them how terrible they are. But the cheerleaders are telling them how wonderful they are. You know, and how, no matter what they do is great. Right? And they're always supportive. And again, that's, that's what men want. Women want a man to constantly praise them and tell them how beautiful they are. And look, the way you speak to people, it changes your attitude. It just changes how you are. It changes your persona. Romans chapter 12, look at verse 1. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God which is a reasonable service, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I use this verse to emphasize the idea that sometimes you just need to change something. Sometimes you just need to change something. Make a change. You know, if you're, if you're frustrated with work, men, make a change. Maybe, maybe like go in earlier or ask your boss if you can work on a new project. Say, hey, I've been noticing this new thing. I would like to start working on it. Hey, is there something else I can do around the office? Hey, I would like to help this person on this team. Or make new personal goals for your job. Maybe your job has a lot of things that are tangible or quantitative, and you can come up with new goals or new ways or new methods. Maybe there's a way to do your job, but there's, that you're comfortable with, but there's another way to do it, and you just haven't learned it because you're not as comfortable. Force yourself to do it the new way. Drive a different way to work. You know, do something. Just try something new. Just, but try something new within the context of still doing well. Right? Hey, I'm still going to do my job. Hey, I'm still going to do what's right, but I'm going to try something a little new. You're tired of your Bible reading? Try something new with your Bible reading. I'm doing something new where every, like I do my normal Bible reading, but I'm trying this new thing where I just read Proverbs and Psalm, just the number that it corresponds to the day. And I'm just like focusing only on the first 30 approximately just because it's going to repeat. But this is my thought. I'm like, man, if I read those so many times where they're basically memorized, that would be a great asset to me to just have that many Proverbs and even just the first 30. The first 30 Psalms are so powerful, and they're very short. And when you're just thinking about it, it really helps. Plus, if you miss a day, it doesn't really matter because whatever day I'm on, that's the Psalm I'm going to focus on. And then just all the day, throughout the day, I can just think about that Psalm. You know Psalm 23? So I'm just thinking about it. I read it four or five times a day, or I'm trying to memorize certain verses of it, or I'm thinking about Proverbs 23 and just certain verses of it, and things will just start to really pop out when you're not just kind of droning on. Because if I just kind of sit here and just read and just go to the next page, go to the next page, a lot of times it's just kind of going like this. But sometimes when you just slow down and you read something a couple times in one day, it changes your Bible reading. And you know what? Bible reading is a marathon. It's not a sprint. I don't have to just be like, all right, I checked off my list, I got another three times this year or two times this year or whatever. It's like, but did you learn anything? Did you catch anything new? Did it kind of grow on you? Are you focusing on what it's saying? You know, a lot of times I challenge myself, especially as a pastor, when I read verses now that I don't understand, to pause and really think about the verse and see if I actually understand the verse, instead of just blowing through it. If you've never read the Bible, just blow through it because you're going to get stuck very quickly. Right? We're not going to know anything. But as you've read it, you've read it a lot. Okay, now when you read it, instead of just blowing through it, slow down and see if you can know every single verse and what it all means. Every time you get to a word you don't know, look up the word and make sure you understand the word. Take verses, when a verse sticks out to you, stop on it and memorize the verse and think about it during the day. You know, try something new and maybe you'll get a new zeal for reading. You'll get a new zeal. You know, we heard a great sermon from Brother Dylan about reading your Bible. I talked about reading your Bible. It's a big deal, and we keep hearing this, but here's a practical solution. Do something different if you're struggling with your Bible reading. You know, I struggle, like everybody else, sometimes reading parts of the Old Testament, so some reading plans, they mix up old with new. They don't just necessarily, it's not like you get, you know, oh, I'm in Leviticus. Now I just have another, like, thousand pages before I get to Matthew. You're just like, ugh, you know. Or like Psalms and Proverbs are really kind of fun and refreshing if you just blow through them and then you're like, wow, I have to wait another like year to read those again. It's like reading one Psalm or one Proverb a day mixed in with some of your other stuff will kind of help you, and do the, you know, the vegetable reading first, Leviticus, you know, and then do the fun stuff the rest of the day, right? I mean, just work on yourself. Or you say like, I struggle to get through my reading plan, read the hard parts the first thing in the morning. Just wake up and just pull out your Bible and just read it. You know, whatever your morning routine is, it's like usually when I wake up, this is the first thing I do, and I don't know what it is. The first thing I do is I check my email. The first thing I do is I look at Facebook to see if I have notifications. The first thing I do is whatever. It's like, then just change it, just say the absolute first thing. As soon as my eyes pop open, all I do is just grab my Bible and just read the hard parts of the Bible. And then I just get it over with, and then I just realize like, oh, wow, that was a lot easier than like waiting to get the courage to read it or something, like waiting, you know. I'm just saying, or try reading it when you use the bathroom. Try reading it on your lunch break. Try reading the Bible at night. If you say I'm struggling with my Bible, everyone, try something new. If your marriage isn't going well, try something new. If your work relationship isn't going well, try something new. If you're sick and tired of how the soul wedding is going, go to a new area, right? Sometimes we get sick of going to a certain area. Like, I've been, you know, how about just with Taga? I mean, it's just... Actually, there was a worst place, White Settlement. Oh, man, that place was the worst. Like every single week I went there, the cops are calling me. I'm like always having to show them my ID, and it's just like, how many times do I have to go through this stupid routine? And then it's just like, you know, white people aren't always better, folks. Then you go to the black neighborhood, and they're like, you know where you at, son? I'm like, yeah, it's great. The cops never harass me here, you know. Like the cops don't come around here, and I'm like thinking, yes. I found my soul wedding destination. You know, it's like... Just do something different. Change it up. If you're bored, if you're weary, if you're tired, if you're sick, if you don't have a bout, change it up. But, you know, do something that is gonna challenge you the right way. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 30. Go to 1 Samuel chapter 30. Point one is this. Change it up. Here's my second point. Sometimes you need to just do this. Suck it up. Oh, you're tired of doing good? Do it anyways. I'm bored. Get over it! No one promised you to have fun. You know, it's so funny to me how people are constantly emphasizing this to young children. Choose something you love to do for your career. It's called work. It's not called fun. I'm not going to fun today. I'm going to work today. You know, it's like, oh, but I just love my work, you liar. I mean, even sports athletes, they get sick and tired of practicing their sport, and they say it's work because it's always work. Work will always be work. If you're having fun, it's not work. Okay? That's just called fun. And then people are like, I want to get a job doing my hobby, playing video games. But you know what? The only people that ever get that job, they wouldn't say it was fun. They would say it's work because they're actually good at it and they're actually working. They're not just playing. They're actually really skilled at what they're doing and they're paying attention and they actually have a brain for that. And they're Asian and you're not Asian. Okay? So you're not going to get that job. Like, there's a billion of them and there's one of you and you're just not designed for that. Okay? Everybody has their strengths and weaknesses. You know, as a white guy, you can't jump and you're not going to do these just mind-numbing tasks as well as Asians. They're just incredible. They're like machines. Okay? Have you seen the one where they're doing like decks of cards in boxes? This is the most insane thing they're doing over there in China. I just don't know how. It's like they're like little elves or something over there. You know? It's like they will be working in Santa's workshop very well. And think about it. They make all of our goods. You go into Walmart thinking like who's buying this stuff? I'm thinking who's making this stuff? It's all in China. Okay? They're making everything. There's no way to compete with that. And I guarantee everyone in China working one of those jobs is not saying I'm having fun today. I really... Now, they might have to say that. I have so much fun. So, yes. It's like no. They have suicide nets at the Amazon factories. Okay? Not because it was so much fun. And at the reality, it's like you hate your job. Do you have a suicide net at your office building? You're doing good. Okay? I mean, that person really hates work. Okay? Because that's all they get to do. That's like their whole life. You don't have it that bad. But of course, there are people in America that will literally kill themselves just because they're so sick and tired of their job. And it's like change it up. Get a different job. You know, you live in America. You're not even stuck in the same thing. But at the same time, don't have this expectation that it's going to be fun. Realize it's work, and just suck it up. Just be a man and just work. You're supposed to work. Find something to do and do with all they might. Just take pride in the fact that you're working and doing something. 1 Samuel chapter 30, look at verse 3. So David and his men came to the city, and behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters were taken captives. Oh, this is like another day in the office, right? All your possessions are burned and you lost every human relationship that you have. And then it says this, Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, and they had no more power to weep. Not only that, every single man, the strongest, bravest, most courageous men of war wept so much that they literally couldn't even cry anymore. This is a bad day. Just FYI. And David's two wives were taken captives, Ahinom the Jezrelitess and Abigail the wife and Nabal the Carmelite. She's like, she's like, I can't catch a break. You know, married to Nabal, now I'm taken captive. This is a bad day. Verse 6, And David was greatly distressed for the people spake of stoning him. So you lost all your possessions. They're all burned up. You lost your family. You lost your wives. You know, this is a country song. Then all your friends want to kill you, literally. You know what David did? He sucked it up. Okay? Notice what it says in verse 6, But David encouraged himself and the Lord is God. I don't care what you're going through. Your life is not as bad as David's. In fact, I've never even heard a country song as bad as this. No one's life is like this. I mean, only Job can compete with something like this. But, you know, Job even had his nagging wife. Okay, you can argue with that as better or worse. I don't know. It's a toss up. But, David has lost everything. Just like Job. All his money. He's been driven out of his country. He's even pretended to be retarded. Okay? Literally. David, like, pretended to be a retarded person. Okay? And it failed. David has to work for the enemy. He's working for Amazon or something or Google. You know, at this point. He's basically working for the Biden presidency. Okay? As an intern. And he's been rejected of them. And then even his own buddies, all of them turn on him. They don't just turn on him like, we're talking negatively about you, Job. They want to kill him. They want to literally murder him. Talk about it. And total failure of leadership. Total failure of success. I mean, this is just failure after failure. Driven out of the country. Lost everything. He goes to the enemy. They reject him. They don't want him. He loses his wife. They weren't even his first wife. They weren't his primary wife. He loses his, like, reconciled wife. His second place wife. And third place wife. And all of his friends. I mean, this is rough. But you know what he did? He just sucked it up. And you know why I'm emphasizing how bad it was for him? Because your life is not nearly as bad. But then so many men are just, woe is me. It's like, suck it up and encourage yourself in the Lord. Go over to Psalm 4 for a moment. How do you encourage yourself? Well, Psalms is a great place. And you know who wrote that? David. The guy who figured out how to encourage himself is going to tell you how to encourage yourself, all right? Look at Psalm 4, and I wasn't going to read the whole thing, but for the sake of time, let's just look at verse number 7. Thou hast put gladness in my heart more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. Notice where David draws his joy from God. And here's the thing. No matter what you're going through, God can still put gladness in your heart. I mean, did you realize that when Psalm pilots are thrown in prison in Acts chapter number 16, the Bible says that they sang praise unto God at midnight? How do you sing praises when you've been thrown into jail unjustly, and not even just like a normal jail? This is like Russian gulag. You know, this is a foreign prison-type situation in shackles, in chains, in the middle of the night, and you know what? They're just singing praises to God? Because God can cause you to be happy no matter where you're at and no matter what situation you're in. God can encourage you. And maybe that's the reason why you're so depressed and you're so upset and you're so bored because you're not drawing joy from the right place. You know what? I can see why you feel that way when you're a Dallas Cowboys fan. Because it's perpetual disappointment. It's perpetual let down. It's perpetual like, hey, maybe we have a chance. No, you don't. Right? I mean, just constantly, people are trying to get joy and satisfaction out of what? Sports, entertainment, their job, even their wife. And here's the reality. You don't draw joy from your wife. You draw joy from the Lord. You're supposed to be strong for her. She doesn't have to be strong for you. You're strong for her. And you need to sometimes just suck it up. Just get over it. Encourage yourself with God's word. Go to Psalm 21. Psalm 21. When you feel bad, read Psalms. When you feel depressed, read Psalms. When you have the wrong attitude, read Psalms. It's a song book. It's supposed to be sung. And it's supposed to change your attitude. It'll help you get over it. Look at Psalm 21, verse 1. The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord, and in thy salvation how greatly shall he rejoice. Notice the king. It's important for him to have the right attitude because he's the leader of the people. Where does he draw his joy from salvation from God? From God. Look at chapter 32 and look at verse 11. Look at chapter 32 and look at verse 11. Psalm 32, verse 11. Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Hey, you have a wrong attitude. Hey, you're bored. You know what? You just don't have the right outlook and you're gonna start shouting for joy because you know what? You have the Lord and he can give you the excitement again. He can give you the joy again. Oh, I'm leery with well-doing. Well, why don't you shout for joy? Hey, in fact, this is a commandment. Be glad in the Lord. Be glad in the Lord. Stop letting your bad attitude affect you. Look at Psalm 35, verse 9. And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord. It shall rejoice in his salvation. Go to Psalm 98. Psalm 98. You know, we live in a society that constantly wants to validate your truth, that wants to constantly validate your feelings. Sometimes your feelings are wrong, honey. Sometimes your feelings are not right. Oh, I'm sad. Wrong attitude. Now, again, the Bible says to weep with them that weep. If you just lost your parents in an unexpected death, don't tell the person to just get over it. Weep with that person. But if the person's like, they screwed up my latte at Starbucks, get over it! You live in America! At my job, they haven't gotten a promotion in five minutes. Get over it! Suck it up! At my job, they made me work an extra 20 minutes. Well, did they extend it by 12 hours and put up the suicide net? Be glad in the Lord that you even have a job. It's like people are just, did everybody talk about stoning you? Did you lose your wives? Did your house burn down? I mean, think about it. That's the time to weep with someone, but even David. I've got to fix my situation. Because here's the thing. If David didn't encourage himself, you know what would happen? Those guys would have stoned and killed David, and then they would have probably even killed a lot of themselves or killed each other or just destroyed each other, and it would have just been a complete destruction. The only way for all those people to be drug out is for David to lift himself up first. And you know what? In a family, families are destroyed because the men won't encourage themselves. Families, wives, and children are destroyed because men destroy their families. They get sick and tired of their marriage and they walk away. They get sick and tired of their relationships and they kill themselves. They get sick and tired of what's going on in their lives and they just quit. They give up. They become a drunkard. They become just a loser. They just go out and they get addicted to just some kind of a drug or some kind of gambling or something, and they just ruin their entire family's life. They go out and they get into stealing or theft and they get locked in a prison. They get involved with all kinds of gangs. And then now they have no dad in their lives. They have no man in their lives. And you know what? It's a man's job to encourage himself and to keep doing well for his wife's sake and for his children's sake and to pull himself up by his own britches and just suck it up. And you know what? Praise God that he doesn't want us to do it alone. He gave us the word of God. He gave us Jesus Christ to come alongside of us and to encourage us and to stand with us. And the men of the Bible went through far worse than you'll ever go through. Don't ever complain to me about how your life's worse. It's not. Suck it up. That's what being a man is. You know what sucking it up means? Just let it go. Get over it. Change your attitude. But I feel sad. I don't care. No one cares. Suck it up. You know what? Men get so frustrated on the workplace when they have to work with a bunch of women. They're just like, oh, my fingernail broke. Suck it up. Oh, my shoes don't match my outfit. No one cares. It's like women, they're just so discontent and frustrated with every little thing and just every grievance. And it's like being a man is just like getting over it. My fingers hurt. Oh, I don't like this. This isn't fun. It's just like shut up. Quit yourselves like men. Just suck it up and do the work. What a man does is he just gets over it. You know, when a kid gets hurt, he screams and cries. And you know what you tell them? Hey, quit crying. Be a man because men don't cry. Men just get over it. Now again, hey, you're at your father's funeral, you cry. Okay, I'm not saying there isn't time to weep. Hey, the fact that souls are going to hell, we weep over that. Hey, there's sad things about this world. But you know what? Your personal issues, no one cares about, get over it. I need to see a therapist. No, you don't. They're terrible anyways. There's all these bad therapists out there. They're not going to help you. Look at Psalm 98 verse 4. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth. Make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praise. You know what makes the loudest noise? Men. Men make the loudest noises and you know what? We should be the loudest voices. We should be the loudest joyful shouts to the Lord when we're singing praises unto God. Not just wallowing in our own misery and sadness and weak, pathetic attitude. Don't backslide and faint. Be a man and just suck it up. You know, when we have to do hard things, you just sometimes just have to suck it up. Go if you would to Hebrews chapter 12. It's the last place I'm going to have you turn. In Nehemiah, the Bible says that the joy of the Lord is my strength. My strength is the joy that comes from God because I can't get it on my own. You know, when we would go to our mighty men's conference, that first event sucks. It doesn't matter which one it is. If it's the planking, the push-ups, the whatever, it hurts. And it doesn't matter how good a shape you're in. It doesn't matter. It's going to hurt unless you're Jared. I mean, he just, he's like a statue or whatever, you know? He's just like, planking, no problem. I got this. Do you want me to do one arm or two? But for the rest of us, it hurts. And you know, the only way to get through it is you just have to suck it up. You're just like, how do you get through this? It's not like, for a lot of exercises, it's not even just being strong. It's like being mentally strong. It's just saying, hey, this hurts, but I'm just going to do it anyways. You know, marathon runners and people that run long distances, it's not like it doesn't hurt. It hurts. Running sucks as soon as you start, okay? The reason why people can run for so long is because they're strong right here. Because they just keep enduring the pain. You know, dieting sucks as soon as you start. Like, I get hungry as soon as I start a diet, okay? You know how someone can successfully do a diet? They can endure pain. They endure the stuff or they suck it up, okay? Life is full of difficulties and pains and problems and issues, and we just have to sometimes just suck it up and just say, hey, doing well is getting frustrating. I'm tired of all the nitty-gritty of doing well in the church and the whatever and just going to work and just doing my job and I have all these burdens and you don't know how hard it is, Pastor Shelley, to be married to a wife and have to raise a bunch of kids and have to constantly go to church and, you know, I can't do deceitful things to make money and, you know, I have to pay taxes and you just don't know. It's like, I do. Because guess what? I'm married. I go to church. I have kids. I pay taxes and I'm not like these guys in the Bible that have it way worse. You know what? Sometimes we have to do is just say, hey, I know it might be boring and it might kind of suck. Suck it up and if you can, change something. Do something new about it, okay? But send the, you know, pay your taxes and pennies or something. No, I'm just kidding. Don't try that. But at the end of the day, you know, hey, I'm not having the right attitude. Well, start reading some Psalms in the morning. Maybe that'll change your attitude a little bit about life. I talked a little bit about accepting the gimps of life. Sometimes you don't even have a gimp. It's good. But you're like, I don't want to read the Bible. I want to go jet skiing. I want to go have fun. I want to go party. I want to go do the good things. And you have to, that's your new adversity is just saying no to the flesh and the joys and the pleasures of this life and just saying, you know what? But I'm not going to get off the wrong track. I'm just going to keep working. Some people think, honey, don't max out your credit card. Just suck it up and keep working. Make work your new vacation. Okay? Get a teepee and backpack in the backyard. Okay? Make, do something different, you know, within the means of what you're already doing. Don't ruin your life. I mean, I've seen guys, they ruin their personal finances because they're just so mad. It's like they're 40 or 50 and they feel like they haven't accomplished anything. They just go buy like a $50,000 sports car or a $100,000 sports car they don't need. It's impractical. It's just like a midlife crisis. It's like, dude, just suck it up. Drive the minivan. Pretty cool. Okay. That's got a dent in it. Who cares? You're not going to pick up chicks in it. Well, don't try anyways. Maybe that's your, maybe that's your guard against them, right? It's like if you got the fancy nice sports car, dent them to what? Backslide and be like David. You know, with my minivan, no one's like, man, he's about to pick up a bunch of ladies or something. You know? My wife says, she's like, she wants me to be like ugly on purpose when I go out or something. She's just like, you don't need any confidence, you know, when you're going out there. Here's the last point. I'm just going to show you one verse. Is sometimes another thing you need to do is you need to give And look at what it says in Hebrews 12, verse 1. Life is a marathon. Now think about it. You're running a marathon, think about it this way. You're running a marathon holding 20 pound weights. Wouldn't that get really tiring? You'd be like, it'd be nice if I could just drop this weight. That would make continuing running easier. And here's the thing. Running the Christian life with lots of weights makes it harder. What are those weights? Sin. When you don't have sin, it's easier to run the Christian life. The more sin you have in your life, the more weights you're basically trying to juggle and carry as you run. And so, another issue sometimes is people, things are going pretty well, but they're getting really tired from the weight that they're carrying. And it was like, hey, don't quit running. Drop the weight. Like, if you're tired of the running, you know, maybe dropping the weight will give you that energy that you need. And so, this would be another challenge for you. If there's a particular sin in your life that you're kind of frustrated with, that you feel has been holding you back, it's weighing on you, it's a burden, focus on just giving up that one sin. And you know, look, let's be honest, we probably all have a thousand sins in our lives. We're all carrying like a lot of weights. But just pick one weight. Just say, this year, 2024, I want to drop this specific weight. I'm tired of this weight that I have in my life. I don't like this weight. And maybe identify the triggers that weight has. You know, if it's laziness, it's like, I hate being lazy, but the reason why I'm lazy is because as soon as I wake up, I just check social media for hours. It's like, okay, well, maybe you have to give up social media at that point in time. Maybe, hey, I never talked with my wife, but I just scroll on Facebook all day. It's like, okay, when you get home, just put your phone in another room and just force yourself to talk to your wife and learn how to like your wife again. Well, we have a boring conversation. Maybe it's because you're not trying. Well, I just, you know, don't like work. Well, are you playing solitaire at work? You know, maybe solitaire gets boring quick. Stop playing solitaire at work. Maybe just try to do something different on the job site, right? But if it's laziness, I'm sure there's something you could give up. You know, there's a lot of sins that we could all have. Whatever sin issue you have that's weighing on you, because what happens with sin? It changes your attitude, it changes your mind, and it affects every other area of your life. Work on a particular sin issue in your life and just give up the weight. Wouldn't it just seem obvious? This guy's running a marathon holding a giant weight and he's complaining how tired it is. He's like, just drop the weight, bro. Just drop it, man. He's like, no, I just got to carry it. It's like there's no sense. It's not coming with you. It doesn't win the prize. You don't need it. There's no extra trophy. Just drop the weight. But sometimes we just, we don't notice the weights because we've gotten used to the weight. And then the weights cause us to start slowing down and we didn't realize it. And then pretty soon now all of a sudden we're just holding the weight and standing still. And it's like drop the weight so you can start moving again. You know, whatever that is, you know, make a change, suck it up, give it up. Don't backslide and faint. Don't be weary and well-doing. Hey, if you don't have a big battle, you know, be careful that you're not allowing yourself to fall victim of getting complacent, of just getting bored and just having the wrong attitude. Change it up, suck it up, and you know what? Give it up. All right, let's close in prayer. Thank you Heavenly Father so much for the word of God and this opportunity that we have to draw joy from you. Thank you for blessing our church. Thank you for giving us so many new babies and giving us new soul-winning times and bringing us new visitors and bringing us new church members. Thank you for helping us win our legal battles and thank you for driving away the ministers of Satan. You've given us so much blessing. I pray that in return we wouldn't then become complacent and just start making issues and getting backslidden and getting away from the things of God, but I pray that we would work really hard on serving you, just getting our encouragement from you, and I pray that you just help us if there's a weight that we've been bearing that we could just focus on it and just drop it and let it go to help us just run the race with more patience. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, for our final song, we'll sing song number 27, The Old Rugged Cross. Let's not cling on to our weights. Let's cling on to that old rugged cross. 27, The Old Rugged Cross. Let's sing it out. On a hill far away stood an old rugged cross the emblem must now bring their shame. And at a battle-cross where the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till I know, please, at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. Oh, that old rugged cross so despised by the world has a wondrous attraction for me. For the dear Lamb of God left His glory above to bear into dark gallery. So I cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. In the old rugged cross stained with blood so divine a wondrous beauty I see. For it was on that old cross Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me. So I'll cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. To the old rugged cross I will ever be true in shame and repose gladly there. Then He'll call me someday to my home far away where His glory forever I'll share. So I cherish the old rugged cross till my trophies at last I lay down. I will cling to the old rugged cross and exchange it someday for a crown. Great singing. Thank you all for coming. God bless. You are dismissed. Thank you.