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Welcome to Steadfast Baptist Church, if you could find your seats and grab your song books. Let's turn in our hymnals to song 351, Tell it to Jesus. Song 351, Tell it to Jesus. Song 351, Tell it to Jesus. Are you weary, are you heavy hearted? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Are you dreaming over joys departed? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that's well known. You know no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Song 351 on the second. Do the tears flow down your cheeks unbidden? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Have you sins that to massage are hidden? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that's well known. You know no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Do you fear the gathering clouds of sorrow? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. Are you anxious, what shall be tomorrow? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that's well known. You know no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Are you troubled at the thought of dying? Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. For Christ's coming kingdom are you sighing? Tell it to Jesus alone. Tell it to Jesus, tell it to Jesus. He is a friend that's well known. You know no other such a friend or brother. Tell it to Jesus alone. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much for this day, and thank you for the great conference that we had last week. I pray that you'd help us to continue serving you and doing the work of the Lord here at this church, and that you bless the service. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Our second song, flip over a few pages to 355, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Song 355, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Song 355, What a Friend We Have in Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. Oh, because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. At retrials and temptations, is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden? Come, birth, with a load of care. Precious Savior, still our refuge. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise forsaken? Take it to the Lord in prayer. In His arms He'll take and shield me. Thou will find us all is there. Good singing. If you need a bulletin still you can lift up your hand nice and high. One of our ushers can come by and get you a bulletin. On the front we have a Bible memory passage. Psalms 148 verse 10. Any child of the age of 18 or under that's able to quote this verse can receive ice cream after the service. On the inside we have our service and soul winning times. Make note, our Tuesday 10.30 ladies' soul winning time is kicked back up. And so if you would like to participate, my wife tries to help lead that. And so you could just contact her or get her number. Also we have down below our stats for the month and the year. I'm going to get a count of any soul winning to be reported. Was there anything in your report from Monday by chance? What about Tuesday? Anything for Tuesday? One for Tuesday. What about... I know our group today had one. Was there anything outside of that? All right. Keep up the good work on soul winning. Also on the right we have our list of expecting ladies. Please keep all of them in your prayers. We also have our prayer list. Please make sure to be in prayer for all of these individuals as well. If you have any additional prayer requests, please just submit those to steadfastbaptistkjv.com. I'm going to go over it real quick. The Negara family, please continue to pray for their health. Miss Lucy's mother's tumors, continue to pray for her. Brother Cameron Hall down in Houston, if you'd pray for his leg. Verity Baptist Manila and Pastor Kevin Sepulveda, if we continue to pray for them and their churches and their situations. Miss Eva Garcia has an appointment October 19th coming up pretty soon. Malcolm Holden's friend, Brother Jonathan, is struggling with cancer. Miss Nexus Cooper was also in prayer for health. Also Miss Eva's daughter, Krista Menounos, is also having some health. So if you'd be in prayer for her as well. I'm just going to say a quick word of prayer for those that were mentioned. And we'll go over the rest of our announcements. Thank you Heavenly Father for our church and giving us this opportunity to be gathered together, to study the word of God and also to sing praises unto you. I pray that you would bless all those that were mentioned here. I pray that you would bless all the ladies that are expecting that you'd be with their pregnancy, that you'd make it as easy as possible, that you'd give them strength for their delivery and that the babies would be as healthy as possible. I pray that you would also bless all those that have other health concerns in our church, that you'd give them favor, wisdom, that you would bless them with health. And I pray that you'd also bless the churches that are in other parts of the world that are under heavy oppression, that you would just give them reprieve, that you would be with them, that you'd strengthen them, encourage them during this time of difficulty. And I pray that you would just bless those in our church that have various concerns. I pray that you would continue to bless our soul winning and that we could be a bright and shining light for your honor and glory. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Please continue to donate to Pure Words Baptist Church electronically or via check. On the back we have upcoming events. We have the October 31st Texas Chili Cook-Off. And so this is to not celebrate the devil. We celebrate good doctrine by having meat only chili, all right? So this is a double win. You don't have to support the devil or false doctrine in any way. You can celebrate the Lord and good doctrine. It's going to be, I believe it's a Sunday this year. And so it's going to be right after the evening service. We'll go straight. Maybe I should preach a specific sermon. No, we'll have a good time of fellowship. And there's going to be a competition. So if you haven't been part of our church before, basically you just need to bring your chili for the evening. Those that want to enter in the competition, they'll basically get assigned a number and then we're going to have a handful of judges judge the chili. If they find a bean, it's an automatic disqualification, okay? So no beans can win, all right? But if you submit a chili, you'll get judged. It's a double sided coin there. But there's going to be winners. So you don't have to be a loser. You could be a winner. There'll be prizes. It's going to be a lot of fun. We'll also have some cornbread and just a fellowship time. And even if you don't want to enter the chili competition, you're still welcome to bring your chili. You can even bring a bean chili if you want. I'm not going to eat it, and it won't be entered in the competition. But if you just want to show people how inferior bean chili is, you're welcome to bring it, okay? And so that's for all the people to eat. It's kind of like when you go to one of these Brazilian steakhouses and they offer you chicken and pork. It's like, no, the steak, okay? And then also, I've hit that point enough, all right, for now. November 13th, we also have the Oklahoma City Soul Winning Marathon. And also, it's not in the bulletin, but I just want to go ahead and announce it so that way people can start planning for it. But I do want to take a trip to the southern border again this year. And instead of, we've been doing Renosa and McAllen has kind of been the spot that we've been hitting. But I'm going to just transition that just a little bit, and we're going to do a Brownsville and Matamoros Soul Winning Marathon. It's going to be December 9, 10, and 11. So that's a Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 9, 10, and 11. And so we're going to be going Soul Winning down there. If you don't want to cross the border, there's no problem. We'll probably have a group that sticks over on the Brownsville side, and then we'll have a group that ventures across the border. And as soon as you cross the border, I'll be honest with you, you've got to speak Spanish. You're welcome to participate as a silent partner, but you wouldn't be able to communicate very well. Pretty much as soon as you cross the border into Mexico, I mean, it is Spanish only. In fact, before that, it's pretty much only Spanish only, too. But there's plenty of English-speaking people in Brownsville as well, too. So even if you just want to participate in the trip, and I love to take these trips in December or something, just because it's a really hot area, generally speaking. But in December, it's usually very nice. The weather is really good. It's been pretty good weather for us when we've gone down there. And so if you are able to participate, we'd love for you to participate. We'll probably, I don't know exactly what the travel arrangements will be yet, but we'll probably offer the church van if some people want to drive down there and take a trip down there and come back. But if you do travel with us, we'll cover your hotel and everything like that. So I would just say just mark it on the calendar for now. Typically, we just rent like Airbnbs and just kind of share those or whatever. So if you come with us, we'll feed you good food, you know, the right kind of food, and we'll house you. You just got to open your mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, all right? And you Spanish speakers, you're definitely a big asset on a trip like that. And so if you're able to participate, mark it, put it on your calendar, and I'm really looking forward to that trip as well. Below, we have a baby shower in honor of Nexus Cooper, Saturday, October the 30th. It's going to be from 12 to 2. Nursing is only preferred. Nexus is registered on Amazon. If you would like, you can bring a snack or dessert. Also, that's pretty much all I have for announcements at this time. I do want to say one other thing. Thank you to everybody that helped with the Firebreathing Baptist Fellowship Conference. I felt like it went awesome. I feel like it almost exceeded expectations in every way, and a lot of people pitched in, a lot of people that didn't even get recognition, just helping cleaning and organizing and just being a good host. And all the pastors that came and a lot of people that visited said they really enjoyed our church family. They felt like you guys were really welcoming and had a really good time, and they enjoyed getting to see you guys. And so lots of good reports, and I really appreciate that. So let's go to our third song for the evening. Brother Dylan is going to lead for us. 314, more love to thee. 314. And that's 314, more love to thee. 314 on the first. More love to thee, oh Christ. More love to thee. Hear thou the prayer I make on bended knee. This is my earnest plea. More love, oh Christ, to thee. More love to thee. More love to thee. One's earthly joy I crave. Soft peace and rest. Now be alone I seek. Give what is best. This, oh my prayer, shall be. More love, oh Christ, to thee. More love to thee. More love to thee. Let sorrow do its work. Send grief and pain. Sweet are thy messengers. Sweep their refrain. When they can sing with me. More love, oh Christ, to thee. More love to thee. More love to thee. Then shall my latest breath whisper thy praise. This be the parting cry my heart shall raise. This, still this prayer shall be. More love, oh Christ, to thee. More love to thee. More love to thee. Genesis 30 Follow along in your Bible, starting in verse 1. Genesis 30 Follow along in your Bible, starting in verse 1. When Leah saw that she had left Bering, she took Zilpah, her maid, and gave her Jacob to wife. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared Jacob a son. And Leah said, A troop cometh, and she called his name Gad. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bared Jacob a second son. And Leah said, Happy am I, for the daughters will call me blessed. And she called his name Asher. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest and found mandrakes in the field and brought them unto his mother Leah. Then Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening, and Leah went out to meet him and said, Thou must come in unto me, for surely I have hired thee with my son's mandrakes. And he lay with her that night. And God hearkened unto Leah, and she conceived, and bared Jacob the fifth son. And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband. And she called his name Issachar. And Leah conceived again, and bared Jacob the sixth son. And Leah said, God hath endued me with a good dowry. Now will my husband dwell with me, because I have borne him six sons. And she called his name Zebulun. And afterwards she bare a daughter, and called her name Dinah. And God remembered Rachel, and God hearkened to her, and opened her womb. And she conceived, and bare a son, and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph, and said, The Lord shall add to me another son. And it came to pass, when Rachel had borne to Joseph, that Jacob said unto Laban, Send me away, that I may go unto my own place, into my country. Give me my wives and my children, for whom I have served thee, and let me go, for thou knowest my service which I have done thee. And Laban said unto him, I pray thee, if I have found favor in thine eyes, tarry, for I have learned by experience that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake. And he said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will give it. And he said unto him, Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me, for it was little which thou hadst before I came, and it is now increased unto a multitude. And the Lord hath blessed thee since my coming, and now when shall I provide for mine own house also? And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me anything. If thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock. I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats, and of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come, when it shall come for my hire before thy face. Every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. And Laban said, Behold, I would it might be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks. And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks, and the gutters, and the watering-trows, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. And the flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle ring-streaked, speckled and spotted. And Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-streaked, and all the brown and the flock of Laban, and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not unto Laban's cattle. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle and the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in. So the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, and manservants, and camels, and asses. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for Genesis chapter number 30, and for this series, as we continue to go through this book here, Lord. I pray that you fill Pastor Shelley with your spirit, and give him clarity of mind, so that he can explain this chapter to us, and also help us to pay attention, so we can learn more about the lessons that you have put in this portion of your word. We thank you so much for our church, Lord, and pray this prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. We've been doing a Bible study of the book of Genesis, and in chapter 29, Jacob had two wives, and we see that one of his wives had produced some children, and kind of in the latter portion of chapter 29, we read about Leah conceiving and having a few children. If you look back, it says in verse 31 of chapter 29, And when the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb. Rachel was barren, and Leah conceived, and bare a son. She called his name Reuben, for she said, Surely the Lord hath looked upon my affliction, now therefore my husband will love me. And she conceived again, and bare a son, and said, Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated, he hath therefore given me this son also. She called his name Simeon. She conceived again, and bare a son, and said, Now this time will my husband be joined unto me, because I have born him three sons. Therefore was his name called Levi. And she conceived again, and bare a son, and she said, Now will I praise the Lord, therefore she called his name Judah, and left bearing. Now, we had several sons mentioned here. We had four different sons mentioned as the first four of Leah. And as we journey into chapter number 30, we're going to get into more of the 12 sons of Israel. But one thing to note is the first four are some of the biggest players when it comes to the children of Israel. As far as we go through the story, and we look at some of the tribes, pretty much some of the more famous or the more noteworthy tribes are kind of those first few sons. Levi obviously becomes the Levitical priesthood, and it's the house of Levi that we get Moses, and we get Aaron, and we get a lot of big players there. Judah obviously is a big player, because that's where we get the lineage of Jesus Christ. You know, Reuben being the firstborn plays a significant role in some aspects. And as we go through some of these other children, we'll kind of take note of how their birth almost seems to have kind of a direct correlation to their future and kind of the things that's going to be done with them. But look at verse 1 now. And when Rachel saw that she bared Jacob no children, Rachel envied her sister and said unto Jacob, Give me children or else I die. Jacob's anger was kenneled against Rachel, and he said, Am I God's stead? Who hath withheld from thee the fruit of the womb? Now, that's an important thing for him to state, because there's a couple reasons why someone would not have children. The first reason's real obvious. Well, if a man's not knowing his wife, you're not going to have children. Men have to do their part when it comes to reproduction. You know, you have to have certain physical elements that are both being contributed in order to have a child. You know, just normal basic biology goes over that, anatomy. There's a difference between a man and a woman. It takes a man and it takes a woman, and it takes the marriage bed to end up getting to the point where you could potentially have a child. But there's another factor that is not merely a human understanding or a human scientific understanding when it comes to conception, and that is the fact that God plays a role in conception, that God has a hand in children being born, children not being born, in the conception process itself, and a lot of people will discount that or will not even understand this concept, but the Bible very clearly teaches that God is in control of the womb, and so it's at his will and his discretion how those things take place. Now, as a married couple, you know, the Bible gives commandments like be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth, so the Bible makes it clear that husbands and wives should be doing their part to produce children. Yet, the Bible teaches that ultimately God is in control of that situation. So even if husband and wife are doing their part, God may decide either to bless them or not bless them with children based on his own discretion or whatever circumstances he believes. Now, some people would even say being barren is like maybe a punishment or a curse from God. I wouldn't say that because a lot of really good people in the Bible are barren, and in fact, you can see in the New Testament even with Elizabeth that she's one of the godliest people on the planet, yet she's barren for a very specific reason, a very specific purpose. We don't want to make a doctrine out of this to where, oh, I'm having lots of kids, I'm more godly than the woman that's not because there could be some woman that's just a whore and having lots of kids out of wedlock, and that's not necessarily being blessed, and there could be a woman who's really godly and not having children, and it's for whatever reason God has deemed or decided. So there's definitely a lot of aspects here, but the reason why Jacob's statement is important is because we can learn from this that it's not Jacob's fault that they're not having children, meaning that Jacob is performing the duty of marriage here. There's some other element that's in the mix, and basically Jacob is saying, look, it's not my fault here. It's God that's withholding you from having children. It's God that's not allowing you to have children here. It's God who's in charge of the womb, and ultimately Jacob can only do so much when it comes to producing children. Now look at verse number three. And she said, Behold my maid Bilhah. Go in unto her, and she shall bear upon my knees, that I may also have children by her. Now here's the thing. Even though God is in control of the womb, and God has certain mechanisms that he is in complete control of, there's a lot of things that God allows us to do because of free will. And so there's a lot of people that can't have children naturally, or they can't have children the way that God intended, so they'll go outside of the way that God intended to have children, and they'll do something else. Now back then, they didn't necessarily have all the same inventions, or the same tools, and artificial ways of creating a baby that we have today. Essentially their method is to just give a servant girl unto their husband, and they would basically be a surrogate, in a sense, of producing a child for them and getting children through a completely different woman. Again, this is not a biblical thing that the Bible is teaching, like please do this. This is not instructions on how to get a child. This is not a positive thing. And I think what really confirms that is let's look at the product, or the fruit, of these decisions, right? So she gives her handmaid, Bilhah, verse four. And she gave him Bilhah, her handmaid, to wife, and Jacob went in unto her. And Bilhah conceived and bared Jacob a son. Rachel said, God hath judged me, and hath also heard my voice, and hath given me a son, therefore called she is named Dan. So the first child that's produced in a pretty illegitimate way, in the sense that this is not how God's ordained it. God doesn't want for men to just lie with their wives' handmaids, or to take on these other women unto himself. The first child produced is Dan. Now if you study the Bible, Dan is not mentioned that much in the Bible, and it's for good reason. It's because it's like one of the worst tribes of the children of Israel. In fact, Dan is kind of a mockery, a byword in the Bible, about them worshiping false gods, and basically they just leave off serving God immediately. They're one of the first ones to stop serving God. And I think it's no coincidence that this is that child that's produced from this type of relationship, from this type of environment. And look, unfortunately, let's be real here. Children that are born in a bad situation often end up having the worst futures. Now children that are born as a result of being a bastard child, not in wedlock, or their parents don't really care about them, or their parents are on drugs, or their parents abandon them, or whatever horrible situation a child gets introduced into, the result of that oftentimes is that the child lives a really hard life, or doesn't end up amounting into anything. And we see a lot of children that are produced from these bastard marriages go into gangs. They go into drugs. They go into all kinds of hard life. When you look at the serial killers, most all of them have no father in the home, or they have an abusive father. They have a bad home life. They have a bad relationship with their parents. You know, you look at certain demographics in the United States where black children are statistically born in a two-parent home. It's a really high percentage. I think it's like 80% of children are born to a single parent, meaning that they don't have both mom and dad. They only have one parent. And it's just horrific, the statistics they have. And then we see epidemics of black children going into what? Gangs, being criminals, going into drugs. And it's not because of their skin color. It's because of their home life, my friend. And of course, Democrats want to make it about skin color. They want to make it about race. They want to make it about past slavery and whatever. But if you really want to understand why that's happening, it's because their home life is wrecked. It's because there's not Christianity in the home. It's because it started out in a bad situation. And look, children that are born in these bad situations oftentimes are going to be born at a disadvantage. That doesn't mean that the child can't amount to anything. That doesn't mean that the child's doomed. It doesn't mean that the child can't be an exception. But you know what? The exception proves the rule. And look, hey, we should be the exception. Hey, if you're born in a bad situation, you have no excuse to continue living in that bad situation or allowing that to be some kind of a scapegoat or, oh, people should feel bad for me or sorry for me, and I should be entitled unto all kinds of free goodies and extra benefits or whatever. No, you should just go ahead and work hard anyways and serve the Lord and do that which is right. What I'm warning is for young children and young teenagers and those that are looking to go out in the world, you better do marriage right because there's real serious consequences when you do it wrong. And you got to get into the right kind of relationship and realize that the flings and the insincere relationship often damage the child. Who suffers from this relationship he has with Bilhah? He doesn't care about Bilhah. He doesn't really have a true relationship with Bilhah. So ends up Dan is going to suffer. Why? Because he's brought into a bad situation. Now obviously a child brought into a bad situation. It's not their fault. We should love them and do the best that we can. But at the end of the day, that's why it's important to preach against fornication. That's why it's important to preach against adultery. That's why it's important to preach against And it's important to preach against all these weird hookups and relationships because of the fruit and the damage it does to children. Look what it says in the next few verses. It says in verse 7, Again, not one of the more well-known names of the children of Israel, right? Let's keep reading verse 9. Now this is a weird competition, okay? You have the two wives just trying to out-produce each other and they're willing to go to strange extremes by literally giving them their handmaids. And look at the children that are produced. Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali. Now this is not the Fantastic Four when it comes to the sons of Israel, okay? This is really kind of the bottom rung of the children of Israel. This is kind of the worst of the worst when it comes to the children of Israel. And it's because of the reason why they're being brought in the world. They're not being brought in because a husband loves his wife. It's this strange envy. It's this strange competition. It's this strange trying to garner attraction or to garner favor from Jacob unnaturally. And is it any coincidence that later in the Bible, when we get to Joseph, what happens? Oh, these children are envious of Joseph, envious of a relationship that they want with their father, and they're willing to go to strange extremes by even killing their own brother to get the attention of their father. Do you think that's a coincidence that the wise do some weird sin to get the attention of Jacob, and then the sons of that relationship, the children of that relationship, go to even weirder extremes? Why? Because what parents do in moderation, oftentimes children do in excess, don't they? And envy is not going to produce good results. You know, there's other ways to garner the affection of your spouse, and apparently having lots of kids is not it, okay? Especially by these means, right? Now, obviously having children is a blessing. I'm not against having children. These women were happy that they had children, right? Because children themselves are a blessing. But the situation's bad, and we don't want to sit here and praise a bad situation just because a child is a blessing. And I'll say this. Look, if someone comes up to me and says, hey, I have a bastard kid, I'm not going to be like, great. Now, you know what? I'll love that child, and I won't treat that child any differently, but I'm not going to sit here and praise a woman for being a whore. I'm not going to praise a man for being a whoremonger, and you know what? I'm not going to look positively on that type of situation. That's why the Bible even throws people out for committing vortication from a church, because you don't want that little bit of leaven leavening the whole church. And look, Rachel's little mistake turns into, oops, now four children. It was just one, and now all of a sudden it's four, and this is a weird awkward race, and it's causing all kinds of serious issues and problems. Let's keep reading here. It says in verse 14, And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes in the field, and brought them unto his mother Leah. And Rachel said to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy son's mandrakes. And she said unto her, Is it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband? And wouldest thou take away my son's mandrakes also? And Rachel said, Therefore, he shall lie with thee tonight for thy son's mandrakes. This is weird. They're just like, you know, Jacob apparently has no say. He's just got two loudmouth women. They just tell him what to do. You're going with her, you're going with him. I thought Jake was the man of the house here, right? What happened? You know, and again, notice there's all kinds of problems, because Jacob's not the ruler of the house, is he? I mean, where in this chapter do we really see Jacob taking the lead? It's like, do this, he's like, okay, go over here, do that, okay. Look, a man has the lead. Now, I'm not against your wife giving you suggestions, giving you tips, helping you, and giving you instruction, being your help me, you know, talking with you about things. But at the end of the day, you know, if your wife gives you a bad idea, you need to be man enough to just say no. Just say, not going to happen. This is a bad idea. This is not what God wants us to do. I'm not willing to go that far. And I even think in a marriage, you know, you got to compromise a little bit here and there. You got to meet them halfway sometimes. You got to do things you don't necessarily want to do as a husband. Now, just because you are in charge doesn't mean you should get your way 100%, but you should be willing to lay down your life at that time. But you shouldn't be willing to compromise on God's commandments. You shouldn't be willing to say, well, if I have to choose between making my wife happy or God happy, you should say God every single time. You should go to the right church. You should take your family to, you know, doing the right activities, like reading the Bible, going soul winning, doing all the things that are necessary in order to fulfill God's commandments and not say, yeah, but she's not going to like that. Let me wake you up to something. Women don't know what they like. And oftentimes the things that they tell you that they want, when you do it, then they're going to be mad at you that you even did it. You know, you got to sometimes help your wife realize the things that she really wants, help her with the things that she really needs. That's why you're there. You're the logical one. She's the one going based on feelings. Sometimes those feelings go a little haywire. And I'll tell you how to have a happy marriage, it's that you know what your wife really wants and needs in her heart and you're always helping her make the right decision. You know, women like a man that wants to help her make the right decision for her and for her children and you're thinking about her. You know, what she doesn't want is a guy that's just like, where do I go now? Who do I lie with next? You know, it's like, that's pretty weak, okay? And it's pretty sad, the situation he finds himself in. Now, she steals Reuben's mandrakes. Now, mandrakes is not really mentioned in the Bible that much. It's mentioned kind of here. It's also mentioned in the Song of Solomon. It's kind of in a poetic semblance. And it's kind of just alluding to the fact that it has something to do with conception. You know, I don't really know that I'm going to go much further than that from just strictly the Bible. You can dream up all things that you want. False religions, they have all kinds of weird ideas about mandrakes and everything like that. But apparently it has something to do with the idea of conception. Especially someone that's struggling with fertility. You know, struggling with producing children. So, I'm guessing Rachel in her mind is thinking, you know, lying with my husband isn't working. So, I'll try this mandrakes or whatever. I'll try some kind of herbal, you know, basically the essential oils or whatever, you know. I'll rub on some coconut on my forehead or something, you know. I don't know what they do these days. It's weird. But she's just thinking that's going to somehow work. But, again, you know, the only thing that's really stopping and preventing children is God. It's not the herbal supplements or whatever. It's not, you know, super female vitality or something, you know. It's not whatever you're going to get on some infomercial or something like that. It's not the chiropractor meeting. You know, it's really simply that God's just not allowing you to have children. Now, I'm not against being healthy. I'm all for being healthy. At the end of the day, you know, what ends up doing it is just following God's commandments. And we see when Jacob lies with Leah. Look what it says in verse 16. So, you kind of have two women who are both infertile because Leah has stopped producing children. Rachel never started, right. So, they're both infertile and one chooses the mandrakes. She steals the mandrakes away from Leah. The other one decides to just lay with her husband. And I would almost say that you could almost look at this as like she's doing it by faith, right. Because she's not doing the mandrakes. She's just lying with her husband like God would intend. And God's harkens to her, meaning she must have been praying for conception. She must have been asking God for conception. And rather than trusting on some kind of a carnal earthly method to give her children, she's trusting in the Lord. And notice that the Lord gives her that conception. And the mandrakes aren't going to do it on their own. So, Rachel ends up again not producing children. Leah ends up having a son in this situation. It says in verse 18, And Leah said, God hath given me my hire, because I have given my maiden to my husband. And she called his name Issachar. So, we have another child, Issachar. Verse 19, So, she's produced seven or six different sons. And she's thinking that somehow now he's going to love her. But again, you know, it's kind of a misguided attempt at love. You know, having children isn't all there is in the marriage. And I think when you look at both sides of the equation, sometimes men and women get a little misguided. Even in a fundamental Baptist church. They kind of think that marriage just boils down to just a checklist of major duties. Like, men think, well, I'm providing and I'm willing to give you a kiss on the cheek. You know, it's like, and she's like, well, I'm cooking, cleaning, and got kids. And it's like, if you want to have a good marriage, you have to go beyond just meeting the bare necessities. You have to go beyond just fulfilling your just general role. You know, I think of it just like in the workplace a little bit. You know, you might have an employee. Let's say if you're a boss and you had an employee. You might be satisfied with your employee's work performance. You know, they're doing everything necessary on the job. But that doesn't mean you're friends. That doesn't mean you want to hang out with that person. It doesn't mean you necessarily even enjoy that person. You might not even like that person. But you at least appreciate the fact that they do a good job. I mean, is there anybody you work with, maybe a coworker or a friend, that you say, they do a good job, but I just don't like them? Anybody? Okay, a few people, all right? Yeah, I've worked with people and I'm like, I don't really like you, but you do a good job. I mean, you at least show up, you get the job done. And see, here's the thing. Some people are in a marriage where it's like, yeah, they're doing their job, but you just kind of don't like them anymore or you have a problem or you're not. You feel like the friendship is deteriorating. And it's because the friendship is not based on the bare necessities, the bare requirements of a marriage. It's based on a lot more than that. It's based on actually having a friendship, talking to the person, communicating with them, loving them, going above and beyond, which is absolutely necessary, and actually calling them on a special occasion, giving them a gift, talking to them about things that interest them, or going and doing some kind of activity that they enjoy. And so don't look at marriage as just the bare minimum, the bare requirements. Oh, well, I have children and I cook and clean. Therefore, my husband's got to like me. Why don't you go a little above and beyond that? Why don't you put in some extra different kind of effort? Or as a husband, you could do extra things to spend time with her, not just the clock in, clock out time. Maybe take some extra time away from work to spend a little bit extra time with your wife or call her when you don't have to. She would be freaking out. You call her and she's like, yes, honey, and you're like, I just wanted to talk. Her heart will just melt. She'll be like, what? You just want to talk to me? You care? And you're like, yes. You have to keep up the charade, okay? You don't want to let it go. You want to be like, tell me all about all the things you saw on Instagram. Tell me about the things that you want to buy. Tell me about what you saw today. Just ask her about the things that she's interested in. That'll get your spouse's heart flowing a little bit. The fact that you care a little bit more than just major duties that are involved, vice versa. I'm not a wife, so I can't necessarily give you ladies the best tips. But I'm sure you're better at it than I am. And there's probably things you know that your husband likes, appreciates. Men typically like to be respected. Men like to feel honored. They like for their wife to be their cheerleader. There's a thing about cheerleaders. I don't know if you've been to high school or whatever. They like cheerleaders. And if you've ever known anything about cheerleaders, you could be losing like a hundred to zero. And they still say, we're number one. We're number one. Go team. Yeah. And you're just like, what? You're like, we suck. They scored a touchdown for the wrong team and you're cheering them. Because what is it? A cheerleader is just on your team no matter what. You know, they're just always there. They're your biggest supporter, biggest encourager, you know. And really, that's what a husband wants. You know, he just wants a cheerleader. He wants to go home and he wants someone to be on his side, be on his team or whatever. Even if he screwed up. Even if he didn't win the game. They're just like, we'll get him next time or whatever, you know. But in this situation, Leah is, you know, she wants her husband to be pleased with her. But at the end of the day, just having children doesn't do it. You know, and I'm not against having children. I'm not against fulfilling your duty of marriage. But I'm saying, you got to go a little bit beyond that. And so if you feel like your marriage has become a little lackluster. You feel like you're having a few problems. Don't sit there and think like, well, I'm doing my major duties. Think about all the extras you could be doing. Think about all the extras you did when you were dating. You know, when you were dating, you would talk until you fell asleep on the phone together. You know, you would go above and beyond in every single category, in every single area. You would constantly flirt with one another. You're always constantly talking positively about one another. And that's why, you know, it's easy. It's easy in the dating phase because you don't want to put on, you know, you don't want to put on any, like, bad signals. Or you don't want to do anything that is going to scare them away right at the beginning. You know, so you're trying to be all friendly and kind or whatever. Sometimes you need to date your spouse. Say, my marriage is suffering. Well, start dating them. Start pretending like you're going on dates again and dating them. And, you know, it's a sure bet anyway. So, you don't have all the pressure of, like, if they like you or not. You're just, you're already won that battle. But go ahead and just figure out all the things that, you know, you enjoyed about them at the beginning. And start dating them again. And I guarantee it's going to improve your marriage. When you start putting more effort and energy into it. Not just doing your basic duties. And that's the same with you, man. Well, I brought the paycheck home again. That's not going to steal to your wife's heart. I don't know how big a paycheck you got, but it's probably not, alright? I've seen what you drive, alright? You've seen what I drive. Look at verse number 21. It says, and afterwards she bare a daughter and called her name Dinah. But also she had a daughter. And it says in verse 22, and God remembered Rachel and God hearkened to her and opened her womb. And she conceived to bare a son and said, God hath taken away my reproach. And she called his name Joseph and said, the Lord shall add to me another son. Now, we kind of went through this awkward phase of them being envious and striving to have these children. They're kind of the worst of the worst. But as soon as we pick up back with Rachel and she finally has a child the way that God intended, it's Joseph. And Joseph is going to be one of the biggest players in the Bible. Now, we don't think of him when it comes to the sons of Israel. Because he typically goes by his son's names of Ephraim and Manasseh. But Ephraim and Manasseh are two of the largest tribes of the children of Israel. Some of the more populous tribes of the children of Israel and one of the biggest players. They get a double portion later in scripture. And so, you know, if you do things right, God's going to bless it more than when you do things wrong. And notice the children at the first with Leah, they're blessed more. Rachel's children that does it right is going to be blessed more than the children that are kind of in these awkward, weird relationships that probably should have never even existed. Now, it says in verse number 25, And he said, And he said, Now, before I get too deep into this, it's kind of interesting because originally when Jacob came under Laban, his whole intention was just to get a wife. Right? And Laban ends up tricking him. And basically he ends up getting Leah and then they have all of the situation that we have unfolded to now. Now, he's been serving with him for a really long time because he had to serve seven years for Leah and then another seven years for Rachel. So he's been working for him for a really long time. And now he's like, hey, it's time for me to go. Time for me to get out of here. And he's basically trying to figure out what goods or what kind of monetary possessions he can take with him on his journey. Back then, they don't really have cash. They don't really have Bitcoin. They don't really have these other things. You know, it's all their money is invested into their livestock. You know, their livestock is their money. And even in today's world that we live in, livestock is kind of a sense of currency. If you look up the Texas Penal Code about grand theft, I've recently been doing that. What's interesting about it is when it denotes monetary values, it literally will say like this many, this much money and head of cattle. It'll like literally talk about livestock as the form of currency and how much punishment is based on the livestock value or whatever. Because typically when it came to stealing money, people were stealing money by stealing your sheep or stealing your cows or stealing your goats or stealing your livestock because that's where money was wrapped up in. And even today, I don't know what a price of a head of cattle is today. But I know in the past, like, you know, when I was involved in that, it was like $2,000 for, you know, a certain heifer or a certain bull or something. Some bulls today, they're real pricey. You know, if it's a real specific bull, it could go for $15,000, $20,000. Does anybody know what the current price of a cow would be? $1,800 for a half. So that would mean it'd be about $3,600 for a cow today. So it's definitely going up. I mean, inflation, it probably goes up every second. But I mean, for a bull, a specific kind of bull that's breeding bull, they sometimes $20,000. So that adds up quick. And you know, these people that run 1,000 head of cattle times that by 2,000. I mean, we're running millions and millions of dollars here really quick. That's why when you live in the Amarillo area where I did and you smell Hereford, you can smell it. You're like, that's the smell of money. And I'm like, money is filthy. Okay, apparently. But you have to understand that that's where their money is. You know, they're not necessarily, their money is not necessarily all in gold and silver and those kind of things. It's in their livestock. And so by having lots and lots of cattle, they're going to have a lot of money, essentially. And you know, what does money get you? It gets you food, right? What does a lot of livestock get you? It gets you the right kind of chili, okay? You know, meat only chili, all right? No, I'm just kidding. But seriously. Now, before I really dive into this part of the chapter, I want to explain one of the concepts. Keep your finger here and go to Luke chapter 11 for a moment. But this is the fact, something we've read already, that God opens and closes the womb. Okay, we read that consistently throughout the Bible. God opens and closes the womb. Not just of mankind, even of livestock. And God had promised in Deuteronomy chapter number 7 that if the children of Israel followed all of God's commandments, exactly as he had prescribed them, that none of them would ever be barren. Them or their cattle whatsoever, proving the fact that God is in complete control of the womb because he's literally saying no one would ever be barren for any reason whatsoever. Now obviously, it's an idealistic situation for all of sin and comes short of the glory of God, so therefore we don't necessarily see that fulfilled today. And they didn't see that fulfilled either because they never followed his commandments either. But in God's perfect economy, in God's perfect will, he wants everyone to be fruitful and multiply. He wants everyone to be blessed physically. But he also wants us to go beyond that. Look at verse 27. So someone wants to praise Mary. This is your first Catholic in the Bible, okay? Real excited about Mary and they're trying to praise Mary to Jesus. And really they're just praising fertility in a sense, right? They're praising a woman having given birth. But look what Jesus said in verse 28. So you know it's more blessed than having lots of physical children following God's commandments. And what's one of the most important commandments is to go out and preach the gospel to every creature and it's to bear spiritually. And you know what? God wants us to be fruitful and multiply both physically and spiritually. And he wants us to do it the right way and to produce the right kind of children in the right type of environment. And when we're going out and you're lying with strange women, you're going to have a strange child by that. And you know what? There's a lot of people doing all kinds of weird methods to try and get people saved by not preaching the right gospel, by not having the right elements mixed in. And guess what? The children look like freaks. The children end up being a bunch of heretics and a bunch of weirdos. And look, Christianity today, as in large, is filled with a bunch of dans and filled with a bunch of naphthalides and filled with a bunch of, you know, these freakos and these weirdos that go to these crazy churches. And their plan of salvation, when you ask them, it's weird. And when we think about the right plan of salvation, which is the right birth, it's the right conception, look, it doesn't matter where you're coming from, you're our brother. But you know what? It's a weird brother when you have a different plan of birth. And when you have a different plan of salvation, it's a weird brother. And you're not, they'll call me brother and I'm thinking like, you're not my brother. I want you to be my brother, but you've got to change your birth story. Your birth story's got to change in order for us to be blood relatives. And at the end of the day, you know, you might look at this list and say, well, I'm sad that, you know, I don't have as many kids as I wanted. But notice what the Bible says. You're more blessed by just following God's commandments anyways. You know, obviously, we all would love to have a thousand kids. I'm just joking, not a very few of you want that. Because the Mormon women want that, right? Endless pregnancy. No one wants that many kids, okay? We all want to have our quiver full at least. You know, ideally a lot of people that love children, they want to have your quiver full. But you know what? Even if you don't, you know what's the most important thing? Just following God's commandments. And you know what? God gives and God doesn't give. And you can't necessarily control that. All you can control is following God's commandments. And that's the most important thing anyways. Go back, if you would, to our story and let's get into the latter part of this. You know, it just makes me think of Job chapter 1. And I feel like this whole chapter is really predicated on the one thought of the fact that God gives and that God takes away. You know, and Job had a lot of things given to him and then they were taken away. And honestly, I would rather have gone barren for the first several decades of my life than probably to have experienced Job's heartache and pain of losing all those children. But at the same time, it's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all. So, I can see both sides of that equation. But, you know, to have a little child and then to lose it is going to be one of the most painful experiences you could ever go through. And a lot of people have to go through that. A lot of people have miscarriages. A lot of people have lost children in this world. And it's a great suffering. It's a great evil. And so, even if you don't find yourself as having all the children that you want, just praise the Lord because it could be worse. It could be even harder than what you know. And so, whatever God has given you, just count it as a blessing. You know, we're never promised tomorrow. And every day that you get with whatever children that you have, you just got to count it as a blessing. And just say, you know what, I'm still going to bless the Lord no matter what he gives me or no matter what he takes away from me. You know, I just have to bless him and say, be thankful for what he has given me. And the children that I have that are saved are going to be with me in heaven. So, that's a great blessing too. The Bible says in verse 32, I will pass through all thy flock today, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats. And of such shall be my hire. So shall my righteousness answer for me in time to come. But it shall come from my hire before thy face, every one that is not speckled and spotted among the goats, and brown among the sheep, that shall be counted stolen with me. And Laban said, Behold, I would, it might be according to thy word. And he removed that day the he-goats that were ring-streaked and spotted, and all the she-goats that were speckled and spotted, and every one that had some white in it, and all the brown among the sheep, and gave them into the hand of his sons. And he set three days' journey betwixt himself and Jacob, and Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks, and Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut, and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods. And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks, and the gutters, and the watering troughs, when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. The flocks conceived before the rods, and brought forth cattle, ring-streaked, speckled, and spotted. Jacob did separate the lambs, and set the faces of the flocks toward the ring-streaked, and all the brown on the flock of Laban, and he put his own flocks by themselves, and put them not on the Laban's cattle. And it came to pass, when whatsoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods before the eyes of the cattle and the gutters, that they might conceive among the rods. But, when the cattle were feeble, he put them not in. So the feeble were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, and maidservants, menservants, and camels, and asses. So we have kind of an interesting story here, where now Jacob's going to turn the tables, and he's going to end up tricking and deceiving Laban. So he makes a deal with Laban, saying, you know what, I'll take all the spotted speckled and the brown, and you can have the ones that have no spot, okay? And I'm assuming, you know, when we read the story, it seems to kind of indicate that there must have been probably a larger portion at that time that would have fit the description of Laban's cattle. But, as we read further in the Bible, and in chapter number 31, the Bible tells us that God had already told Jacob that they were going to produce a bunch of spotted speckled and whatever. So he knows, oh, well, they're going to all change pretty soon. So he's like, hey, why don't you give me all the spotted speckled and brown, and you can have the rest, realizing that the next generation of crop is going to basically go all in his favor, and he's going to end up taking the majority of the flock. Now, I think there's a lot of symbolic significance to this passage and to these sections. I do want to make it clear a few things that are happening carnally. First of all, he's taking green poplar, and he's somehow taking whatever's inside of them, and, you know, he's like either popping them open or he's opening them up somehow. He's causing the white to appear in them, and he's putting this chemical into the water, and this chemical is having some kind of a fertility enhancement when it comes to them conceiving. And look, if you study agriculture, you study livestock, or you go into this type of study, there's definitely mechanisms that people have or chemicals or food, and they'll affect fertility to some degree, okay? And so Jacob is basically going in there and trying to affect breeding, and look, breeding is pretty advanced today. I mean, look at all the dogs out there and all the rats that are called dogs. You know, I mean, it's like crazy what you can do with breeding today, and obviously he's strategically breeding them in a certain way so as to have a benefit. He gets all the strong cattle. Laban gets all the weak cattle. He gets all the spotted speckled, and he's basically trying to decide when to put this chemical into the water and when not to put it in the water so as to try and positively affect their cycle and everything like that to affect them producing and conceiving. But I think there's like three different spiritual elements that we could pick out of this. Here's one that I want to pick out. It's interesting how it's worded here in verse 38. It says, And he set the rods which he had pilled before the flocks in the gutters, in the watering troughs when the flocks came to drink, that they should conceive when they came to drink. Now, we could think of a conception as a lot of what getting somebody saved. Notice the timing and when someone gets saved or the causation, it's drinking. And it's the drinking that ends up giving them that conception. And that kind of pictures throughout the Bible, salvation is what? Drinking that water. Drinking that water and that water is the word of God. And Jesus Christ is telling the woman at the well, if you knew it was that spoke with thee, you'd ask of him and he'd give you that living water. And she would never thirst again. And so we kind of have a picture here of conception coming through the drinking of water. It's when they came to drink, right? And someone who's not thirsty, someone that's not interested in a drink, not going to conceive, not going to get saved. So when you go out soul winning, try to find those that are coming for a drink. You know, the people that are not interested in a drink, just move on, right? And the people that are interested in a drink, get that poplar going, you know? Get some white, show the white in there or whatever. Let's get the chemical agent. And the chemical agent is the word of God, you know? It's the seed of God that we're planting with the water. And even when you think about just germination, you got the seed and you got the water and they both come together. And you know, you kind of got a picture of the spirit and you got the word of God and it's all mixed together there with the soul winner who's the sower. And that's how you get conception. And what ends up being brought forth is cattle ring straight, speckled and spotted. Now here's a second spiritual picture I think this can illustrate, is you kind of have, I think, an illusion to the Jews and the Gentiles a little bit when you think about it, okay? And first off, the cattle are being shepherded by Joseph, but they're not really his yet. He's just kind of over them and they're, you know, a certain form. But now he's going to later end up getting those that are lower quality, in a sense, right? It's considered these are the lower quality because they're speckled, they're spotted, they have some kind of imperfection in their coat, as it were. Their coat's not pure or whatever. And really this is kind of picturing what the Gentiles, the Gentiles are kind of the dirty, they're kind of the imperfection, they're kind of the less desired group. And what's interesting is it says in, let's see, let's back up a few verses. Verse 36. And he said, three days journey betwixt himself and Jacob. So you have one flock that's separated with another flock and what separates them? A three day journey. You know, it's kind of interesting what combines, you're going to bring them together, what would bring them together? That three day journey? And what brings together the Jews and the Gentiles is the three days of the gospel, isn't it? The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You kind of have this journey where they're coming together and they become one flock. Now what's interesting also when you think of this picture is all of the pure ones pretty much just turn into the spotted speckled and the grizzled or whatever because they all just become one. And now it's a spiritual nation, it's a spiritual Israel and we get all the strong ones, they keep all the weak ones. Why? Because all the saved ones are the strong ones coming into the fold that are true Israel and all the weak ones stay behind and they're the synagogue of Satan, right? So we have another picture here that I think is kind of loosely applied. And then there's a third application I wanna make here. And if you would, go if you would to Numbers 28 for a moment, go to Numbers chapter 28. And look at verse number three. So this is Numbers chapter 28, look at verse number three. The Bible says this, and now shall say unto them, this is the offering made by fire, which he shall offer unto the Lord, two lambs of the first year without spot, day by day for a continual burn offering. Skip down to verse nine. And on the Sabbath day, two lambs of the first year without spot and two tenth deals of flour for a meat offering, mingled with oil and the drink offering thereof. So whenever you had to do the offering of the Lord, it had to be a lamb without spot. These lamb are considered spotted, okay? So what's the difference here? Well, again, physically there's not a big difference. It's that God uses physical difference to illustrate spiritual truths. The spiritual truth of a lamb being without spot is Jesus Christ being without sin, okay? The fact that he is in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin as the Bible describes him, okay? Now, there's a difference between Jesus and all of us, though. Because the Bible says in Romans chapter number three, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Now, what's interesting is what does Jacob want? Jacob doesn't want a single lamb that's perfect. Go if you would to Luke chapter 19. What does he want? He only wants lambs that have a problem. He only wants lambs that are spotted, speckled, ring-streaked, or brown. So there's nothing wrong with being brown, all right? Jesus wants you, okay? And notice Jesus doesn't care about color. You know, it's not about color to him. And at the end of the day when Jesus came to preach the gospel, he wasn't looking for the perfect, you know? They that behold need not a physician, but they that are sick is what Jesus told the Pharisees. And look what he said in Luke chapter 19 verse 10. For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost. So here's the thing. Jesus came to save sinners. He didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now, some people would be like, oh, well, you're a real big sinner. No, for all of sin it comes short of the glory of God. And here's the thing. Jesus Christ came to this earth to save sinners. And those that don't think they're a sinner, Jesus can't do anything for them. The first step is realizing that you are in need of a savior, a savior, you're in need of a shepherd, and that shepherd has come to seek and to save that which is lost, which is illustrated by the fact that Jacob wants what? All the sheep that have the imperfections, doesn't he? Go to John chapter 10. Go to John chapter number 10 and look at verse number 9. Jesus said this. I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and should go in and out and find pasture. So Jesus often refers to himself as a shepherd and we as being a sheep. Verse number 10. The thief cometh not but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have life. They might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He that is in hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them and scattereth the sheep. The hiring fleeth because he is in hireling and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. Notice this. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. So notice that there's one shepherd, there's one flock of sheep, and just as Jacob wants the spotted, speckled, ring-streaked, and brown, Jesus Christ wants us. Jesus Christ wants to be our shepherd, and he wants to guard us and guide us and to protect us and to be over us, and he's the good shepherd. And you know what? A good shepherd is one who's willing to ward off wolves. Okay? Even if it just looks like a wolf, he's going to get it away. Why? Because he cares about the sheep. A bad shepherd loves everybody. A bad shepherd accepts everyone and loves everyone and tolerates everyone, and I'm so sick and tired of Christians pontificating about how loving they are. I'm so loving. I let wolves and foxes and bears and lions come and lay down with the sheep. That's not loving. That means you hate the sheep. And in fact, what happens is when the wolf shows up, they run away. They're afraid. They're a coward. They don't stand and face the wolf. They don't stand up against the wolf. They run away. They hide. You know, they're not willing to take a stand for what they believe. They're not willing to lay down their life for the sheep. And look, it makes me sick how many shepherds today are running and hiding from the truth. You know, what's a way that a shepherd could hide today? Well, how about this? How about censoring himself? I mean, if you really have the truth on your side, if you're really taking a strong stand on the word of God, why would you want to hide what you believe? You know, and if someone's attacking you or your church, why would you want to hide from that individual? Why wouldn't you just withstand them in the face? Why wouldn't you come out guns a-blazing? Why wouldn't you make it known where you stand? Why wouldn't you get your rod and beat the wolf away? You know, it's weird whenever someone comes against you and you just run away. You know, and look, it's not fun to confront a wolf. No one wants to do that. No one likes having to go and chase the wolves away and beat the wolf down and make sure you double tap him or whatever you got to do. I like to double tap my wolves, okay? People get really mad at me for that, but I'm like, you know what? A dead wolf doesn't repeat a fin. You know what I mean? And some people are like, ah, why do you have to keep warning about this wolf? And I'm like, he's still walking around. You know, I'll stop warning about him whenever we're both dead. How about that? Because even if he is dead, he might have a brother somewhere. He might have a cousin somewhere, and I just want to get him too. And I just want my sheep to realize there's real wolves out there. You know, and of course, I'm not Jesus Christ. I'm not the good shepherd. But a pastor is supposed to emulate the same care and affection and love that Jesus has for the sheep. He's also considered a shepherd in the Bible. That's literally what bishop means. That's literally what a pastor is. That's literally what the overseer is. He's supposed to be a shepherd. He's supposed to care for the flock and lay down his life. He's supposed to be the one noticing wolves running around and saying, like, I'm going to go after him. Not saying, like, you guys look like you got it. You know, I don't really care about that section of the flock. Just have at it. You know? Or to say, like, this isn't that much fun. And you know what the wolves like to say? Man, that shepherd doesn't have a sweet spirit. I want to go to a church where the shepherd has a sweet spirit. Of course you do. You want to go to the church where the pastor pets the wolves. And he lets them lick his hand. And he feeds them crumbs from the table. Rather than the shepherd that says, like, oh, you're a wolf, meet my stick. Meet the sword, which is the word of God. Let me slice you up for dinner. And have meat stew. You know, wolf stew. And look, wolf chili with no beans. Amen, right? Texas style. But at the end of the day, you know, it makes me sick to see all these pastors cowarding and afraid and censoring themselves. You know, like Manly Perry censoring himself when there's no need to do it. And it's like, oh, there's all these big bad wolves like Pastor Shelley that are attacking me. Well, if I'm such a big bad wolf, then why don't you fight me? Right? If you're not a hireling. If you're not afraid. If you're not scared or whatever. And I mean, at the end of the day, it's like, oh, you're just trying to provoke them to a fight. No, you have to fight. That's part of the job. Part of the job of a shepherd is a fight. Part of the job of a shepherd is to take care of the flock. And look, when you don't take care of the flock, you lose it. Laban didn't take care of the flock, so you know what God said? I'll give it all to Jacob. And look, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. You know, you want to have children? Be faithful with the children you've got. Be faithful with the things that God's already blessed you with. You want more children? You want to keep your children? Be faithful with the children that you've got. Do good with the children that you've got. There's a lot of lessons that we could learn here, and you know what? God will replace the shepherd if he needs to. You know, he'll get rid of all kinds of shepherds in the Bible. I want to go to another place. Let's go, if you would, to Jeremiah chapter number 3 for a moment. Go to Jeremiah chapter number 3 for a moment. And, you know, there's this weird atheistic view when it comes to people having confidence in their pastor that I don't subscribe to. And it's this idea that, oh, well, I don't want to go to this church because the shepherd's in control. And it's like, why would I want to go to a church where the sheep are in control of the shepherd? You know, where the sheep are like, baa, baa. No, it's like the shepherd's the one that's looking out for the wolf, not the sheep. The sheep are too stupid to realize that there's a wolf. And he's like, are you calling me a sheep? Yes, I am. And sometimes sheep are too stupid to see the wolf. And look, I am included in that. I remember, you know, being in a church and being best friends with the wolves. You know, hanging out with the wolves, not even realizing. Okay? And when my pastor, when my shepherd struck the wolf on the head with the rod, I was kind of like, I don't know if that was necessary, you know. But that was a foolish thought because it was necessary. I wish he had driven a stake through his heart, frankly speaking, because, you know, these wolves are really damaging. They cause a lot of problems. And here's the thing, God is in control of his shepherds. Look at Jeremiah chapter 3 verse 14. Turn, O black-siding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you, and I will take you one of a city and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion. And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. So notice, does God feel like he's out of control when it comes to who's the pastor? No, he's saying, I'm going to get past. Just like God opens and closes the wombs, God gives and takes away pastors too. Okay? Go to Ezekiel chapter 34. Go to Ezekiel chapter number 34. And I have a lot more places we could turn, but I just want you to think of a few places. You don't have to necessarily turn there. How about the Levites? Let me ask a question. Did the children of Israel have any way to remove or add Levites from the Levitical priesthood? No. It's just you're born in the Levitical priesthood or you're not. And the children of Israel could say, like, I don't like this priest, and they have no opportunity to fix that from a carnal perspective, from a spiritual perspective, yeah, they could pray and ask God to give them a priest or whatever, but at the end of the day, they couldn't do anything. When Hophni and Phinehas are in charge, they didn't like them. They didn't want them. But you know what? When Nadab and Abihu go in and offer a strange fire, God just kills them. God just smokes them. And it's this weird atheistic view that says, I don't want to go to a church where the pastor's in control because he can get away with anything he wants. What kind of God do you serve? Oh, I don't want to go to the church where Nadab and Abihu are in charge because they're going to get away with anything. No, they got killed. They got smoked. And I've seen independent Baptist pastors say, well, you know what? I don't like that church because the pastor is in complete control. The pastor can do whatever he wants. And I just feel like he can get away with something really bad. Well, that's funny because I know a church that had a pastor that was in complete control and doing stuff that was really bad and he didn't get away with it. It's like God just orchestrated a certain amount of events to come into place to remove that God. And look, God can do whatever he wants because we serve an awesome God, a powerful God. You need to stop worrying about controlling your pastor as a sheep and just be the best sheep that you can be. And if you're a shepherd of a different flock, worry about your flock, not someone else's. Don't feel like you have to get involved and interfere. Now, obviously, if a whole bunch of sheep are just without a shepherd, then yeah, you need to go find a new shepherd, right? You need to get someone to help you in that situation. But when you have a shepherd and you feel like he's a bad shepherd, go to a new flock. Don't feel like you have to fix the shepherd. That's not really your job. That's God's job. Look what it says in Ezekiel 34. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds. Whoa, be to the shepherds of Israel that do not do feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Eat the fat, and he clothe you with the wool. You kill them that are fed, but you feed not the flock. But as these have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them. And they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field. When they were scattered, my sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill, yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord, as I live, saith the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherd search for my flock, for the shepherds fed themselves and fed not my flock. Therefore, ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord, thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock. Neither shall the shepherds feed themselves anymore, for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them." Notice how God feels about this situation. God says, hey, you suck as a pastor, I'll rip the flock out of your mouth. I'll take them away from you. I'll destroy you, woe unto you. And what were the reasons why? Well, number one, they're not feeding them. Meaning a preacher not preaching the Bible anymore. Preaching a bunch of junk. What's junk? I don't know. Whatever Tucker Carlson's saying. Whatever Fox News is saying. You know, it's interesting when Baptist preachers get up and it's just a Fox News infomercial. It's an Alex Jones infomercial. Pastor Alex Jones is going to get up and tell you what you need to be doing in your life today. Look, if all the points you're making are being made on mainstream television, you need to rethink what you're preaching. That's weird that your agenda and unsaved Republicans and Trump has got the exact same agenda, the exact same modus operandi, and the exact same fight, and the exact same battle. You sound more like Barabbas, you need to become more like Barnabas. You know, Barabbas was hanging on to everything that he got. He was chasing after money. You know what Barnabas did? He sold all that he had and just gave it to the Lord. Because he was thinking spiritually, Barabbas was thinking carnally. And at the end of the day, when you stop preaching the Bible, when you stop preaching spiritual messages, God is mad at you. God is mad at preachers that preach crappy sermons. And you know what? If a pastor gets up and says, you're preaching crappy sermons, you should be like, I need to make sure that's not true. Why? Because God will drive the flock away. And look, why do people leave churches? Because the preaching sucks. Praise God for people that leave churches because the preaching sucks. What's another reason that they, he wants to take away the flock? Oh yeah, it's because they're being devoured. Notice what it says in verse eight. Because my flock became a prey. And my flock became meat to every beast in the field. And notice how he describes it. Because there was no shepherd. Look, a shepherd that won't kick people out, a shepherd that won't warn about people, a shepherd that won't call anybody's name out, that won't warn against any predator, against any vicious person. You know what he's saying? There's just no shepherd. He's saying you cease to be a shepherd. Because the whole point of a shepherd is to beat the wolves away. It's like when you won't warn against anybody and you won't preach against anybody, you suck as a shepherd. You know, I'm sick and tired of these preachers and these Baptists being like, oh, you guys have a mean spirit because you call people out. No, you're just not a shepherd. We can argue all day long on who to call out, but you better be calling people out. And you know what? Doesn't get the job done. Vague booking the rest of your life. Vague booking doesn't help anybody because you get up and nobody knows what the heck you're talking about. It's really helpful when you just say this guy's a wolf. Really helpful when you're like this guy. And look, Jesus didn't walk around vague booking. There's some religious leaders among you that are not good. He's like this Pharisee over here, wicked as hell, child of the devil. You lawyers, you're wicked. You scribes, you're wicked. I mean, he's just making it manifest, isn't he? Why? Because he's a good shepherd. Jesus didn't walk around making friends. He made enemies. You know what Jesus did in his ministry? More and more enemies. Just every day a new enemy. Just more and more people upset at him. More people wanted to kill him. More people wanted to stone him. More people are pissed off. More people hate him. Just racking up enemy after enemy after enemy. They don't like his spirit. They say his spirit is the spirit of Beelzebub. And you know what? A good pastor is going to piss a lot of people off. All the wolves and all the foxes and all the people that are not really sheep, all the goats and whatever else is mixed in there. You know what? He's going to make them mad. And you know what? A bad shepherd is everybody's friend. That's how you know. And you know what makes me sick when they say like, oh, well I have to, you know, I can't go to a church where the pastor is in charge because, you know, we got to hold these men of God accountable. Did you not read the passage? God is going to hold them accountable. What kind of God do you serve? What kind of God are you? I mean, what in the world? Now look, this should terrify only really one person in this room. It's me. You don't have to, you were like sweet. I don't have to worry about that. Pastor Shelley, you better make sure you're doing a good job here. You know what I mean? Like it's such a warped mentality and people get all nervous about everything and they're like, well, I want to see every single big statement and I want to know everything that's going on. Why? It sounds like you just want to use that to hurt the church. It sounds like you might actually just be a wolf and not have any faith that God's going to take care of it, that God's going to make sure that whatever needs to happen is going to happen. You know, go to Ephesians chapter number four and look, the Lord gives and the Lord takes away. You suck as a pastor, God will take your church away. And you know what? These people that suck at pastoring should be afraid of God because God is real. And you know what? The best thing you could do is if you suck at pastoring is have no sheep in your flock because then you're not in danger of God taking anything away. But you know what? If you actually have some sheep in that flock, you better be terrified because God doesn't like it when you're mistreating his sheep and when you're hurting his sheep and when you're not getting predators out and warning from the predators and you're just letting them be a prey with all kinds of false doctrine. You're feeding them junky food. You're not doing good with them. James chapter three, look at verse one. My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. But God's gonna take care of it. It's just this weird view. Ephesians chapter four, look at verse number eight. And again, what was the essence of the sermon? Lord gives, the Lord takes away. Look at another way of God words these things. Ephesians chapter four, verse eight. Wherefore he saith, when he sinneth up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. So the Bible says that Jesus Christ gave us gifts. Verse nine, now that he ascended, was it but that he also descended first in the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things, and he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So look at the Bible. You get a gift, and he gave, and what are those gifts? Pastors, teachers, evangelists. You know, in the early stages of the New Testament, they had apostles. They had prophets. They had other things that were given unto them. But notice, it's a gift. And just as the Lord gave, he can take that away just like that. What's the purpose? Well, here's one, verse 14. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie and wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the heading of Christ. So notice he's saying, hey, there's a reason why you have a pastor, and let me explain why you have a pastor so that false teachers don't trick you with false doctrine, with false information. So what should be one of the biggest emphasis of a pastor is warning about false doctrine, warning about what false preachers preach, and you want to know the biggest problem I have with pastors is what they preach. Whatever they preach. And let me say this. Some people will say this, oh, well, whenever I believe something different, people take that personally. You know, when a pastor that's not, you know, another pastor preaches something different than I preach or what our doctrine is in the church, they're like, you guys take that as a personal attack. Let me explain something. Yes, I do. Everything that is not what we teach and believe, I take it personally. If someone is attacking the King James Bible, I take that personally. If someone's attacking salvation by faith, I take that personally. If someone's attacking baptism by immersion, I take that personally. If someone's saying you spell steadfast with an extra A, I take that personally. Every doctrine is personal. But that's the whole point of a church is that we're rallied and united on the doctrines of the Bible. And you know what? It is an attack when someone's preaching something that's a lie, when someone's attacking the word of God. And you better believe it that I'm going to defend the Bible regardless of how people's feelings are interpreted by that. We should not be respecters of persons. We should not sit here and say, well, my buddy believes false doctrine, so I'm not going to touch that. No, we should just preach the whole Bible. And no matter whose feelings get hurt, whether that's your church members, your pastor friends, your buddies, look, we should preach the Bible unapologetically. And let me tell you something. I don't like feeling pressured not to preach the truth. And I don't want that pressure. I don't care what friendship that may cost me. Now, praise God, I have a lot of really good friends, and we're pretty much lockstep on a lot of beliefs. But you know what? As soon as they step out of line on a major doctrine, I'm taking that personally. I don't care who it is. It doesn't matter the person. It matters the doctrine. And some people make it about the personality. They say, oh, you're just loyal to this person. No, I'm loyal to the doctrine. I don't care if I met the person five seconds ago. If we line up on doctrine, you're my best bud. And I don't care if I've known you my whole life. You're wrong on doctrine. No. I'm going to preach the Bible. And look, I try to be friends with as many people as I can, but you know what? We should take our beliefs personally. We should take the doctrine of the church personally, and we should preach the Bible. That's the whole point of a shepherd. That's the whole point of a pastor. And you know what? When you're negligent with your flock like Laban, Jacob's just going to come in and take it from you. God's going to see a different shepherd and say, this shepherd's the one that needs to have my flock. And so we need to be careful of the things that we have, the possessions that God's given us, and make sure that we're a good shepherd and steward of the things we have. Look, most people in here are never going to be a pastor, and I get that. You know what? You're going to be a shepherd in some area of your life, a shepherd of your children, a shepherd of your finances, a shepherd of your home, a shepherd of all the relationships that God has given you. And you know what? You need to make sure that you're taking good care of all the things that God has given you because he could take it away tomorrow. Let's go to prayer. Thank you, Heavenly Father, for this great example that you've given us. Thank you for the fact that Jesus wants to be our shepherd and is willing to take the spotted and speckled and the ring straight and the brown and the fact that even despite all of our imperfections, the fact that we were sinners, Christ died for us and gave his life for us. And I pray that we would see that earnest love and care that he had in laying down his life and fighting and contending with those that would try to hurt and harm his sheep. And I pray that the possessions that you've given us, our children, our families, our church, our doctrines, that we would look at them with care and we would fight for them. You know, no matter how many people attack us or no matter how long the battle goes, we would take earnest care of those things and we would be good shepherds of what you've blessed us with. And in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, for our final song, we'll go to song 413, Stand Up for Jesus. We can't do this one sitting down, so I'd like to ask everyone to stand up. 413, Stand Up for Jesus. Song 413, Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus. On the first. Stand up, stand up for Jesus. These soldiers of the cross Lift high his royal banner It must not suffer loss From victory unto victory His army shall be leading Till every foe is vanquished And Christ is Lord in need Stand up, stand up for Jesus The trumpet call obey For to the mighty conflict In this his glorious game He better men now serve him Against the numbered foes Let courage rise with danger And strength to strength oppose Stand up, stand up for Jesus Stand in his strength alone The arm of flesh will fail you Ye dare not trust your own Put on the gospel armor And watching unto prayer Where duty calls for danger Be never wanting there Thank y'all for coming. God bless.