In 2 Samuel 24, the part of the chapter that I'd like to focus on is beginning in Verse 20. Let me just bring you up to speed with the story. Of course, we just read the chapter but God is pouring out his plagues and judgment upon the land because the sins of David the King. David has been told by the prophet that he needs to go to the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite and offer up an offering unto the Lord in order to basically placate the Lord so that the city will not be completely destroyed.
Beginning in Verse 20, the Bible reads, "And Araunah looked, and saw the king and his servants coming on toward him: and Araunah went out, and bowed himself before the king on his face upon the ground. And Araunah said, Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said, To buy the threshing floor of thee, to build an altar unto the Lord, that the plague may be stayed from the people. And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee."
"And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel."
Of course, this is going to be the future site of the temple that's going to be built in that exact place. What I want to point out is the statement that David made in Verse 24 when he's being offered everything for free and when Araunah is basically telling him, "I'm going to give you animals to sacrifice. I'm going to give you the wood, even the kindle of fire. You can have my threshing floor. I'm not going to sell it to you. It's free. Just take everything." David says, "No, I don't want to make an offering unto the Lord of that which cost me nothing. I want to sacrifice here. I want this to cost me something."
What I want to preach about this morning is the cost of serving Jesus, the cost of serving Jesus, because even though we're not living under the Old Covenant where we offer up sacrifices, that are an animal sacrifice or a burnt offering from our flock or from our herd, we still in the New Testament, we offer up sacrifice and offerings to God. The Bible over and over again in the New Testament uses this symbolically. The Bible says, "By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually that is the fruit of our lips giving thanks to His name but to do good and to communicate, forget not, for with such sacrifices, God is well pleased."
There are a lot of good works that God wants us to do in the New Testament coming to the congregation, praising His name when the songs are sung. Giving under the Lord's work, going out and preaching the Gospel to every creature and being counted among God's people, these are the sacrifice and offerings that God wants under the New Testament. Just as David said, "I don't want to make an offering to the Lord of that which is costing me nothing. I want to pay the full price." This is what New Testament Christianity needs today, people that are willing to pay a price for serving Jesus.
Today, what we see is a Christianity, and if you would turn to Galatians, though we see a Christianity that basically does not want to be inconvenienced at all, doesn't want to sacrifice anything and basically just wants to have it both ways. They want to have everything that the world has to offer. They want to have all the popularity and they want to have no problems, no trouble, but then they also want to serve Jesus. Let me tell you something. The Bible says, "Yea, in all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus [inaudible 04:04] persecution." The Bible says that ... What does the Bible say? Look down in Galatians 5 and we'll see the Apostle Paul talking about his ministry and his ministry was under attack because of the things that he had preaching. A lot of the Jews were going after him because he was saying that they didn't need to be circumcised and that they didn't need to offer the sacrifices and do those things anymore under the New Testament.
Watch what he says in Chapter 5 Verse 11 of Galatians. The Apostle Paul says this, "And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased." What Paul is saying there is that at that time he was being persecuted for basically preaching against being circumcised. What he's saying in that statement is that, "If I just changed one little thing about my preaching, I wouldn't be going through the persecution heat that I'm going through right now by just changing this one little thing," but he's not going to change it.
Look what it says in Chapter 6 Verse 12. It says, "As many as desire to make a fair shew 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 may 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 any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature."
What he's saying there in Verse 12, he's saying that there are people out there who to make a fair shew in the flesh even though in their heart they don't believe in being circumcised, even though in their hear they don't believe that we're under those rituals and sacrifice of the Old Testament. He said there are people out there who will go along with it "only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ". Do you see that in Verse 12?
There are people who believe right but publicly they won't come out and say it. They will preach that because of the fact that they want to make a fair shew in the flesh and they don't want the persecution. Do you know what they want? A Christianity that costs them nothing. Today, 99% of pastors today in this city don't have the guts to preach what needs to be preached today in the world that we live in. Why? Because they don't want a hundred freaks and Sodomites parading outside. You know what? There are way more people in this church than there are out there. Hopefully, the reporter that's sitting amongst us can count accurately and realize that.
Let me tell you this. There are also hundreds of Baptist churches all over the city that believe the same thing I believe, they just don't have the guts to say it because they don't want to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. You know what? It's a shame that they are so weak and cowardly, you'll not be able to preach what needs to be preached. You know what? Today, Christians want to have no sacrifice. They want to have no persecution and they want everybody to love them, but Jesus said, "Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you."
Let me tell you something. If you want to serve Jesus, you have to sacrifice your Sunday mornings and show up to church. There are a lot of people who don't want to make that sacrifice. How many people have I invited to church? "Oh, Sunday's my one morning to sleep in." The service starts at 10:30. How late do you stay up on Saturday night? "Oh, that's my one morning." If you would go to Matthew 13 but, "Oh, that's one morning to sleep in. I just don't want to give up that one day." You know what? You want Christianity to cost you nothing, is what you're saying. "Oh, no, I can't go [inaudible 07:56] because of the fact that's my one night a week," or that's this or that. You know, sometimes, we've got to make sacrifices and realized that you can't have everything in this world. You can't have it all.
For example, in my case, a fire-breathing, leather-long, Baptist preacher and then expect to also be buddies with the congressman and the mayor and the city council and to be invited to the Presidential Prayer Breakfast. This is not happening. We have to make a choice in our lives. There's always a choice. Choose this day whom you'll serve. You can't serve God and mammon. Paul said, "If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ." He said, "Do I now pleased men or God?" He asked the question, "Do I now pleased men or God?" You can't please both.
A lot of people are trying to have it both ways. They want to have one foot in the world and one foot with the things of God and they want to try to balance both and have both. It's deceptive. It's not what David did, the man after God's own heart. He said, "I want this to cost me something. I'm willing to pay the price to serve God, to serve the Lord."
Let's look at Matthew 13:20. The Bible says this, "But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it." The word "anon" means immediately. Thus, "anon with joy receiveth it." Okay? "Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while." When you see "dureth", you can think endureth. "He dureth for a while for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended."
What's the Bible telling us here? That basically there are people who are new believers or maybe they just aren't really rooted and grounded yet in the faith even if they've been saved for a long time. That any little thing that comes along, they're offended. They're scared off. There are people throughout history who suffered real persecution for the cause of Christ. The Bible says, "Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." There are people who've been thrown in prison, there have been people who've been beaten, there have been people who've been killed, and that there are Christians today in America that are even scared to even come to a church like Faithful Word Baptist Church. "Oh, because there might be protesters on the public sidewalk. They might look at me." You weakling. You coward.
You know what? It takes almost zero guts to come to this church. It's the easiest thing in the world but there are some people who are so weak and so scared that literally they just want to go down to the other Independent Fundamental Baptist Church down the street where it's a little more comfortable, little less [inaudible 10:48] controversy going on and where they can go in and sit down and just chill out and everything's great. You know what? There's really nothing wrong with what the pastors preaching down there, it's what he's not preaching that's the problem. That's the trouble with most churches. It's not what they preach, it's what they won't preach.
We, as Christians, need to be willing to make some sacrifices and endure some persecution and to give up some things because of the fact that that's what God wants from us. We love him then we're going to obey the word. It says in 2 Corinthians 12. Go and flip over there. 2 Corinthians 12, just to get the Apostle Paul's mentality further. We saw in Galatians, but in 2 Corinthians 12, the Bible says in Verse 9, "He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities," watch this, "in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
He's saying, "I take pleasure in persecution. I take pleasure in being attacked and being in distressed for Christ's sake." Do you remember in the Book of Acts when they were persecuted? They leaped for joy and they said, "We're just happy to be counted worthy of suffering reproach for the name of the Lord Jesus." Even when they were beaten, they rejoiced, and said, "You know what? Great is our reward in heaven." If you go down through the famous passage of the Beatitudes, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of God," you go down through it. Then at the end he says, "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." That's what the Bible says.
The Bible even says in the Book of Luke in this parallel passage. He said, "Leap for joy." I mean, that's pretty extreme. When was the last time you leaped for joy? Whoa, yeah. That's what he said. Leap for joy. Today, it's "hmm". It's sad. You said, "Oh, man, aren't you embarrassed, Pastor Anderson?" "No, I'm not embarrassed at all. I'm not ashamed at all because you know what, I'll stand." The news reporter said, "Oh, you're hiding behind the Bible." "Yup, that's right." Hiding behind the Word of God today. You know what? I will proudly stand and proclaim this book and preach this book and I will not be ashamed of Jesus Christ or of His words in this adulterous and wicked generation.
You know who ought to be ashamed of themselves? Every pastor in this city who won't backed me up, who won't go out and make a statement. You know who ought to be ashamed? The twelve pastors that they called before they called me that said, "We're against homo, we're against all of it but we don't want to go on camera. We don't want to say it because we just want to be seen as loving the community."
You know what? These guys need to get some hair on their legs. They need to get filled with the Holy Ghost. They need to preach [inaudible 14:12] to preach or they need to sit down and shut up and let a real man do it. That's the truth, my friend. It's ridiculous. Churches today need to stand up and, you know what, why should one guy be taking all the heat For a book that was written 3,500 years ago, the Book of Leviticus? Why am I taking all the heat? Because of the fact that other people are scared to preach what needs to be preached and it's a joke and they are to be ashamed of themselves. I'm not ashamed of anything in the Bible.
Did I have you turned to 2 Thessalonians? Go to 2 Thessalonians 1. Say, why are you calling out these pastors? Because somebody needs to call them out, because it's getting to be ridiculous. You know what? I'm sorry one guy can't fix this country. One guy can't sit there and make the difference that needs to be made. There ought to be an army of Baptist pastors and an army of Christian preachers that are all going to preach the Word of God instead of just worrying about their bank account, and their safety, and worried about everything. You know what? It's going to take more than one pastor because when one pastor says what it needs to be said, a lot of people would say, "Oh, he's a lunatic. Oh, he's just a wild man. He's just crazy."
You know what? If every pastor was saying it, they'd be scared and they'd go running and flee today. They'd be back in the closet where they belong, is a bunch of filthy faggots. Today, they're out there controlling the media and controlling the airways. Look, talk to these reporters. They'll tell you when they try to do a man on the street, they can't even find one person that will say anything negative about these homos, when they do the man on the street. Then when it comes up to a vote, 51% votes against the homos because it's a secret ballot. Cowards. They are cowards, aren't they?
I thank God for everybody who's here this morning that had the guts to come to church this morning. Thank you for being here this morning. Thank you that we have a full packed out house this morning because we're here to please God and not men. We don't care what they think. Nuts to them. By the way, people respect you more when you stand up for what you believe anyway, in the long run.
Anyway, 2 Thessalonians 1:4 says, "So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer." See, suffering for righteousness' sake is actually something where the Bible says it makes you worthy of the kingdom of God. It's something that's actually a privilege. It's actually something that we should glory in the Bible says. Paul says, "I glory in persecutions."
Go to 2 Timothy 3. It says in Verse 10, "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
Now, this passage has Paul talking about the fact that he's been persecuted. Anybody who lives in godly, in Christ Jesus, is going to be persecuted. I like how right after he talks about being persecuted and going through that, he comes out with this in Verse 16, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteous ..." Just a few verses later, he's going to say, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
He said, "I fought a good fight." What are we fighting today? We don't wrestle against flesh and blood despite what the media is lying about us and saying. We don't wrestle against flesh and blood, we wrestle against principality as against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world and against spiritual wickedness in high places. The battle is not a physical battle. It's a spiritual battle. The weapon is the Word of God. Okay? The sword of the spirit which is the Word of God, this is the weapon we need. This isn't the weapon that we need today to fight the battle. This is the weapon that we need because I'm here to tell you that the Word of God is sharper than any two-edges sword. Yet, yet, so many pastors are only pulling it like 10% out of the sheaths. They just show, "Let me show you a verse." Okay, put that away. Let's just talk now.
They need to whip that thing all the way out of its sheath and put it to its full use. Not a physical battle but a spiritual battle. They need to sharpen that thing up. They need to have the razor sharp King James Bible, not the NIV butter knife, and they need to be ready to wheel that thing in all of its glory and not just little parts and pieces of it. No, the whole sword. There's a reason why we're losing the battle today in America and it's because of the fact that the pastors have the sword in the sheath. The Bible said, "Cursed is everyone that doeth the work of the Lord deceitful, that keeps his sword away from blood." That's what the Bible say. The deceitful worker who is just afraid of getting in the fight.
Again, we're talking about a spiritual fight. They're afraid to get involved in the spiritual fight. They just say, "Oh, I just don't want to be involved in this." It's funny because my wife was talking about some of the people that called her and talked to her this week about this. She's talked about one person and said, "They weren't against us, they were just neutral." I said, "No. If you're neutral, you're on the devil's side." If you don't stand for the Word of God, if you won't stand and be just, "I just want to stay out of this." Every pastor today, "I just want to stay out of the controversy. I just want to sit back and just stay out of it and just let somebody else do the fighting." Let somebody else get up there and bring it to them. You know what? If you're neutral, you're on the wrong side. Period.
You need to get all the way on the side of the Word of God. You say, "These pastors just don't agree with the doctrine." You know what? Then shame on them for not knowing what they're talking about. Shame on them for not knowing the Bible. What part of all Scripture is given by inspiration of God that you don't understand when it's all profitable for doctrine? What's doctrine mean? Somebody tell me what doctrine means. Teaching. Did he say, oh, it's all profitable for reading? No, he said it's all profitable to be taught in a local church. Every part of it needs to be done.
When was the last time some of these bozos preached on Leviticus 20:13 in any way? You say they just don't interpret it the same way. Okay. Then, interpret it. Interpret it in another way. I just want to hear it come out of your mouth. No, you're ashamed and I'm not talking to you. I'm talking about these preachers that are scared of their own shadow. "Greater is he that is in us, than he that is in the world." "The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion."
Now, when we think about what Jesus said, you know I have to turn there. Turn if you would to Leviticus 19. Go to Leviticus 19, but in John 7:6, Jesus said, "My time is not yet come: but your time is alway ready. The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil." People can delude themselves into all kinds of other reasons why Jesus was hated. There's no doubt that he was hated. Is there? We know that the Pharisees were constantly holding a counsel how they might destroy him. We know that the Sadducees and the Chief Priest and the rulers of the people were constantly conspiring together. Psalm 2 prophesied how the rulers would take counsel together against the Lord and against his Christ. That's what Pilate and Herod and them ...
We know Jesus was hated of the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Chief Priest, the rulers of the people. The question is why? People can come up with all the reasons that they want to come up with. At the end of the day, Jesus told us why he was hated. Because He says right here, "The world hates me because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil." Why was it that got Jesus in trouble? Pointing out the evil that's in this world. Pointing out the sins of the Pharisees, pointing out the evils of the Sadducees, pointing out the evils of the Chief Priest. Why was John the Baptist beheaded? Because he pointed out the sin and wickedness of Herod. Why was Stephen beheaded? Because he preached against the Jews that they were stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart. Was it his preaching on Abraham that got him stoned? Stephen was stoned, right? Was it his preaching on Abraham? Was it when he covered Isaac and Jacob? Was it when he covered the temple being built? No.
That whole sermon in Acts 7 was fine with everybody. It was all fine. It was only when he started exposing and shining the light on their evil that they stopped their ears, rant toward him, gnashed on him with their teeth and killed him. What's going to get us in trouble today? Is it going to be preaching on love that's going to get us in trouble. No. Is it going to be preaching on the fact that Jesus died and buried and rose again? No. The Bible tells us to preach all the counsel of God. The Bible tells us that all Scripture needs to be taught. It's all profitable for doctrine. We need to preach the word and [inaudible 25:20]. That's what you're going to get persecuted for, not the positive sermon, the negative sermon. Positive sermons are important. They need to happen but they're not the ones that are going to get you in trouble. It's the ones where you expose sin. That's why a lot of preachers aren't going to cover that.
The reason I had you turned to Leviticus 19 is I just want to show you how ridiculous the doctrine is that wants to throw out the Book of Leviticus. I even saw somebody wrote to me and said, "Anytime you hear a pastor say, 'Turn in your Bibles to Leviticus,' you know you're in a messed up church." That's what somebody said. Anytime they tell you to turn to Leviticus, you know you're in a bad church. Leviticus today is under attack. Anytime you quote the Book of Leviticus, you're going to be mocked and made fun of and ridiculed. Right? They'll come at you with, "Oh, you don't eat shellfish? Oh, you don't mix the linen and the woolen together?"
By the way, nobody in this room is wearing a garment that's part linen and wool. No one is wearing a mixture of plant based and animal based woven together in the room. They don't even understand that passage. Here's the thing. Obviously, we know that there are certain laws that are done away in Christ and they're specifically laid out in the New Testament. He specifically says, "It's the carnal ordinances, the meats, the drinks, the washings, the ceremony, the rituals," he lays it all out in Hebrews, he lays it out in Colossians. It's crystal clear. A lot of people make one of two mistakes. There are people out there who want to just basically throw out the whole Old Testament. They'll throw out the whole Book of Leviticus and just say, "Oh, that's the Old Testament. Throw it all out." Right? There are other people who make the opposite mistake and they're like, "No, we need to still not eat pork. We need to still not eat seafood. We need to still do that."
They make the mistake but the Bible is clear and if they're ignorant, that's not my fault. I preached on the correlation between the Old Testament and New Testament many, many times. The Bible is really clear which things are done away in the New Testament and this specifically states, "Hey, the meats, the drinks, the divers washings, the Levitical priesthood, the offerings and sacrifices, the holidays, and the feast days are done away." The Sabbath days, he says those are done away in Christ. Those were just a shadow of things to come. He didn't throw out the whole thing because he said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." There were many things that he even reiterated and emphasized and he didn't say just completely throw it up.
Here is the irony. What people keep saying to me is this. They say, "You need to go by the words of Jesus." Of course, Jesus is the word. "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God." All of the Scripture is the Word and the Word is Jesus. They'll say, "You need to go by the words of Jesus because Jesus taught that we should love our neighbor as ourselves." They act as if that's a new teaching that Jesus brought out, don't they? "Oh, man, in the Old Testament, it was all hell, fire, and damnation, and the God of wrath." In the New Testament, Jesus came out with this new thing, "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself."
When Jesus Christ said that we should love our neighbor as ourselves, he said that because they asked him what was the greatest commandment in the law. When they asked him what's the greatest commandment in the law, he said the greatest commandment is this, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." He was quoting Deuteronomy 6. Then he said, "The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." He said, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."
The term "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" is found at one place in the Bible and that's Leviticus 19:18. That's the only place in the Old Testament you'll ever find the words "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." It's mentioned eight times in the New Testament but every single one of those eight times in the New Testament, it's quoting Leviticus. When Jesus said, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," he wasn't bringing some new revelation. He was quoting Leviticus that had been read in every Sabbath day to the Jews their whole lives. How can you sit there and say, "Oh, Jesus brought a new teaching of 'Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.'" No. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself is the teachings of the Book of Leviticus.
Look at the Leviticus 19:18. It says, "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the Lord." That is the only place you're going to find that statement in the Bible or it's going to be quoting that eight times in the New Testament. Those that say, "Throw out Leviticus. We don't need Leviticus." You know what's funny? The worst condemnations of homosexuals are found in Chapters 18 and 20. You've got Leviticus 18:22 and you've got Leviticus 20:13 and right between them is love thy neighbor as thyself.
People will try to have this word doctrine that says the Old Testament said, "If a man lie also with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them." The New Testament says, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Doesn't that just show the ignorance there of just not realizing that those quotes are in the same part of the same book where, literally, it's only a matter of a few verses later after saying, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," that he breathes the words of Leviticus 20:13.
I mean, it's all based on ignorance, folks. People don't know the Bible. Then they get angry at somebody who tells the truth because they don't get it. If people would actually listen to the whole sermon, they'd actually learn the doctrine and there'd be no way to argue with it unless you ... Here's the legitimate way to argue with it. You could just say, "I don't believe the Bible." That would actually make sense. What's sad is that people will say, "I believe the Bible but I just felt believe the ..." No, you just haven't read, is the problem. If Leviticus is some book that we shouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, then why in the world is Jesus saying it's the greatest commandment in the law, second only to loving God? Leviticus 19, the key chapter. Deuteronomy and Leviticus, these are key Scriptures according to Jesus Christ himself.
If you would go to Mark 10, and really today the lines are being drawn between those who actually read the Bible, care what it says, believe in it, and those who just want to play church and have a religion that cost them nothing. You know we've had it good in America and we still do have good in America. We have total freedom. We're safe. We have the right to [inaudible 33:08]. I mean, there are places in this world where they are not even allowed to have a weapon. They're just like a sitting duck. If someone were to come and attack them and persecute them, of course, they can rely on the Lord to protect them but, obviously, we have it good in America because the persecution is so light and it's so mild in America and the cost is so low to serve Jesus in America. I mean, it doesn't really cost too much because we have freedom, we have prosperity, and we have a great church just living here in Phoenix. We've got a whole group of people here that are like-minded.
It's sad when people aren't willing to pay such a low price. They wanted to just cost them nothing. They want to just have it all. They can't even get themselves to the physical building to go to church. They're at home eating chips on their chest, watching the live stream, not even getting out of their jammies because they don't want it to cost them the gas money or the time or the effort of getting dressed and coming down here on their day off. Honestly, my friend, we need to have the mentality that says, "I'm willing to pay the price to serve the Lord." Everybody pays a different price. Not everybody is standing up behind the pulpit, rallying against sin and wickedness and being on the front page of whatever and being hated and execrated and cursed of all men today.
That's not your calling. That's the job of a preacher and a pastor and a prophet to do that. There are going to be things in your life where you have to make some choices and some trade-offs and not get this mentality that says, "Oh, I'm just going to have it both ways. I'm just going to have it all. I mean, I'll have my cake and eat it too." If you stand up for the Word of the Lord, you're going to lose friends. You've got to be willing to make that sacrifice. If you go to school and you bring your Bible and you pray for your food, you might get made fun of. That's the price that you should be willing to pay. If you are going to come to church and get involved in the program Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, come out still winning, that's going to be a sacrifice of your time but that's a cost that you should be willing to pay.
If you're going to read your Bible every day, you're going to have to sacrifice some time that you had to do something else to pick up your Bible and read it. You're going to have to make a sacrifice to carve out time to pray. You're going to have to make a sacrifice in order to live a clean and Godly life. You're going to have to not watch things that maybe you used to watch or listen to things that you used to listen to, hang out with people that you used to hang out with, go places that you used to go, but some people just don't want to change anything. They just want to live comfortably, sacrificed nothing, offer the Lord nothing, and just say, "I'm a Christian. I go to church, but that's it." We need to be willing to pay the full price.
There are churches out there that are the Araunah of the Jebusites of this world that will offer it to you for free. They'll offer you religion. They won't cost you anything. Like Araunah of the Jebusites said, "Here it is. It's all free. You can have both." Like it says a false prophets in 2 Peter 2, they promised them liberty but they themselves are the servants of corruption. There are churches that'll tell you, "Hey, you can still drink, you can still party, you can still fornicate, and you know what, God is still going to be pleased with your life." There is even a book by Mr. Joyce Meyer, put out a book where he said, "God is not mad at you." That was the title of the book. Not matter who you are, no matter what you've done, he'll tell you God is not mad at you.
The truth of the matter is that God is angry with the wicked every day. No matter what day a wicked person picks up that book, God is mad at them every day. That's one that will promise you a Christianity that will cost you nothing. There are plenty of other churches that will just get up every single Sunday and say, "Isn't God good? Isn't it just good to be saved? Isn't it just good to be in church this morning? It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day in the neighborhood. Jesus told us to love our neighbor in Leviticus. It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood."
Look, I believe all that but they're not going to get up and scream, holler, bellow, yell, beat the pulpit and tell you ... The Bible says, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet." Here's what's funny. A lot of churches, they'll actually quote that verse and you'll hear preachers that really yell but they forgot the second half of the verse. It doesn't just say yell, here's what it is. "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." I mean, I've heard some screaming and yelling, "Yeah, God is good. Whoa. Jesus died on the cross. He was buried and he rose again and is coming back someday. Somebody say amen. Whoa."
Wait a minute. That's like, "Wow, that's some really hard preaching." You don't measure hard preaching in decibels. You know what? I can whisper and it'd be a hard sermon because it's what's being said that makes it hard. Today, we have gotten away from hard preaching in this country. If there was hard preaching like there ought to be, this country would be going a very different direction. You say, "What's the evidence?" The evidence is the fact that I'm making the news by saying things that have been in the Bible for 3,500 years since the Book of Leviticus was written. I'm saying things that have been in print that long and everybody is freaking out.
If every church was doing it, "Somebody called the news. You guys got to get down here. There's this guy down there. He's preaching Leviticus ..." They'd be like, "It's about this church." That's what Baptists believe. Call us when something new happens. It's like, "Duh, duh, tudu, duh, duh. This is just in. Wait, I'm just getting a report. There's actually a pastor that actually preaches the Bible. We need to get a film crew down there, get a truck down there. Somebody's actually preaching the Word of God. Somebody turn to Leviticus." Here's what's funny. I was on the news a couple of days ago and I'm talking about Leviticus 20:13. Then the guy is like, "I bet you hate Jews too." "I thought the Jews are the ones that even wrote Leviticus 20:13." You know what I mean?
Obviously, we know it's written by God. We know it's God's words, inspired by God. Here's the thing. I thought that the Jews are all into the Torah. I mean, if you open a copy of the Torah and pretty much if you had it in a book form and let it fall open in the middle, you might land in Leviticus 20:13. Where are all the rabbi's defending me? By the way, you know what's even funnier than that? Where are all the Hebrew Roots Christians defending me? Where are my Torah-observing brothers and sisters this morning? All these Hebrew-roots, Yahweh, Yeshua, Shalom, [inaudible 40:48], where are they at saying, "Hey, Leviticus 20:13"?
It's funny. They want to institute all the stuff Jesus specifically did away with and the Apostle Paul said was specifically done away. Then all of the stuff that's still enforced is the stuff that they hide from. It's like they're the worst of both worlds. Because if they're really Torah-observing and Hebrew Roots, they'd be like, "Yeah, he's right. Leviticus, baby. Leviticus 20:13 to be exact." Where are they at? Where's the Jewish rabbi? Oh, and I'm sure over in the nation of Israel, I'm sure Leviticus 20:13 is the law of the land over there because they believe the Old Testament. Right?
What's funny is that they even print the Book of Leviticus in modern bibles. If it's rejected by Jew and Christian alike, and the only verse they like in Leviticus is in the New Testament, they might as well just remove it. I'm surprised that they even print it anymore. Who are they printing it for? It's just people would notice if it was gone. The Jews don't want it. Christians don't want it. Baptists don't want it. Who are they printing it for? For Steven Anderson. I feel privileged that they print it for me to preach from. Honestly, real Christians, it's not just Steve Anderson. That's what they want you to think. There are millions of Christians who read the Book of Leviticus every year and they love it. It's like sweeter than honey in their mouth. Right?
Who here likes reading Leviticus? Yeah. Now, I'll admit it, the first ten chapters are rough, but from Chapter 11, it starts picking up. In Chapter 11, 12, 13, it starts picking up. Chapter 12 is pretty short. It picks up, picks up. Once you get through all the hairs and the scabs and everything in Chapter 13, it gets super interesting. The second half of Leviticus is super interesting. I'll admit, but we should still read those first ten chapters too. It's all profitable. It's all inspired by God. The first ten chapters are rough but, you know what, there's a lot of wonderful teaching in Leviticus and it's a great book.
I love the law of the Lord and the law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul. Even if somebody wants to pull out some weird, hyper, dispensational, "That was another dispensation," even if they want to pull that out, they would still have to admit that at one point, that's what God told people to do. To say that somebody who said, "Oh, man, that's just sick and evil and horrible," you know what, that's blaspheming Jesus. You're blaspheming God. I mean, if you're going to sit there and say, "Oh, it's so barbaric," knowing that you're saying that about the Lord because he wrote Leviticus 20:13. Even if you think it was another dispensation or whatever foolishness, an Independent Fundamental Baptist pastor, he was talking about how to evangelize Muslims. He had this thing about, "You need to point out them." Some of the radical things in Sharia law like where they stone adulterers and stone homosexuals. Hey, that's not Sharia law. That's Mosaic law. You're blaspheming God, buddy.
In fact, why don't I just name the name? Allen Domelle had it on his blog. Allen Domelle had on his blog, a thing about how to win Muslims or separate them from their radical Sharia law by pointing out the fact that they stoned adulterers and homosexuals. Listen, Allen Domelle, the Bible said they stoned adulterers and homosexuals. Why are you blaspheming God on your blog, Allen Domelle? Oh, why are you attacking an Independent Fundamental Baptist because I'm sick of liars and blasphemers parading themselves, "Oh, yeah. We are this fire-breathing Fundamental Baptist." No, you're not. You're a compromiser. I'm sick of it.
You know what? I'm waiting for these guys to stand up and stand with the Bible, and stand with the Word of God and they're not standing, and they need to sit down and shut up, and there are plenty of guys who have the guts to get up and say what they won't say. We need a whole new generation of Baptist preachers because the Independent Fundamental Baptist movement is dead as a door nail. It's dead. It used to be a great movement. It used to be a movement of fire-breathing, hard preaching. Now it's a movement of a bunch of effeminate, little sissy-fied Bible college students and their little pink shirts and little lavender outfits and they get up and they're queer, little sissies and we need some hair-legged men to get in the pulpits of America and fix this country and if you don't like it, there are another forty Independent Fundamental Baptist churches free to choose from in this city if you want to go with Fundamental Baptist light.
If you want extra strength, you're in the right place. I tried to be friends with them. I tried to get along with these guys. I tried to get along with my fellow Independent Fundamental Baptist preachers and so forth. I'm starting to get just sick of their spinelessness. It's starting to get old. You know what we need? We need some men that are here today that are qualified according to 1 Timothy 3 and that are qualified according to Titus 1 to decide today, "You know what, I'm going to be a preacher." That's what we need.
Even some people that are maybe listening in online, we need some people to decide today and say, "You know what, I will preach the Word of God." You don't have to be talented. You don't have to be a great speaker. You know what you have to have? Guts. Guts is what you need to have. You know what? Gutless wonders need not apply. We need some new preachers because the preachers of the previous generation are letting us down right now. If I were in a country like Australia right now, we have visitor from Australia, I'd already be in prison. If I were in Germany right now, I'd already be in prison. If I were in Canada right now preaching, I'd already be in prison. You know what, if you think that that could never happen in America, you're wrong because Europe and Australia and Canada are just further down the path that we're going down in this country.
You know what, you say, "I just don't care. I'm just going to stay out of it." What happens when they come for you for spanking your kids? While they're attacking Christianity, while they're hating on fundamentalism, what happens when they come after you for home schooling? What happens when they come after you for going to a church like this? Let me tell you something. The way to stop it is by standing up now while it's easy to stand. It's easy to stand now. The cost is low. Pay the cost now or pay twenty times as much later. Maybe our church doesn't look like a palace, maybe our church didn't gold-plated but let me tell you something. This church is real deal. We need to start more churches like this all over America.
Thank God for Pastor David Berzins. Thank God for Pastor Donnie Romero. Thank God for Pastor Roger Jimenez. Thank God for these guys that are standing in the gap. By the way, all three of those guys will back me up on this. They've all preached it publicly. They'll all take a stand. We don't need three, we need three hundred if we're going to stand the time. What's it about? It's about our freedom. It's about our ability to just raise our families and live peaceably with all men. You think these people are peaceful? Just come to see me after service and come to my e-mail inbox and read all the e-mail messages of hundreds of people who are saying that they're going to come and do awful things to me and my whole family.
You know what? If they could get away with it, they would. That's what they did in Sodom. That's what they did in the land of Benjamin. That's what they would do. I just want to live peaceably with all men but I want to preach this entire book and I'm going to preach and I will die for what I believe. These reporters have come to me every day for the last four, five days. "Do you still stand by what you said? You don't have any remorse at all? You don't regret it at all?" I told Telemundo [foreign language 49:21]. I bet they come to me and say, "Are you sure you're still [inaudible 49:27]?" You know why? Because they're used to preachers folding like a deck of cards. As soon as the persecution or tribulation comes, they're offended.
Look, we need to stand by our guns. I would die before I change what I believe on the subject because it's true. It's right and somebody's got to say it. Somebody's got to do it. It's a dirty job but somebody's got to do it. My prayer is that God would send forth laborers in this harvest. First of all, church members that would get involved and shew winning so that we can go out and win people the Christ. You know what, if we went to have a Christ that are indwell by the Holy Spirit, they are not going to be deceived by all these stuff and they're not going to be becoming reprobates, if we can get them saved before it's too late. Somebody could have got to Barry Soetoro in time or any of these people in time and given them the Gospel, who knows what would happen differently.
The thing is, if we get involve and shew winning ... I just don't have time. Yeah, but it's going to cost you something to do it. We need men to rise up and start churches across America that are going to stand in the gap then it won't be even news anymore because it'll be everywhere. Every major city in America, it'll be everywhere. Let me say this, the young man that we need to go out and start churches and pastor and stand in the gap and make up the hedge, they're probably going to have to come from a church like ours because everything brings forth after its own kind. We can't really rely upon somebody else to do it. Now, I hope somebody else is doing it. I hope it's happening everywhere. I hope the spirit of God is moving in a lot of places and then a lot of people are seeing the same thing I'm seeing and feeling the same way that I'm feeling, but we can't really rely on that.
We have to take it upon ourselves and say, "Here am I, Lord. Send me." We need these guys to rise up and to start the churches. Look, the goal is not to see how big Faithful Word Baptist Church can be. Don't get me wrong. I want the church to grow. The church is growing and thriving, by the way. Great attendance this morning. I mean, every day, it's great. Our church is getting bigger every year but that's not really the goal. I'd rather see more people leaving the church to go start other churches in other places. Then to just build up one big, giant church. It'll be better to spread out because if it's all in one place, they can attack it all. It's better to get a bunch of people in here, get them trained, get them taught and then send them out to go to the Fort Worth, Texas and Sacramento and Preskitt and everywhere else with the Word.
It's going to cost us something. Mark 10 says in Verse 28, "Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee." He was telling the truth when he said that. They really did. The disciples really did that. "And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands ..." Yeah. "... with persecutions." It sounded good there for a minute, huh?
Now, here's the thing. If it stopped there, if it stopped at, "He shall receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands," you'd just be like, "Count me in. This is awesome." This is the message of the televangelist today. Whatever you sacrifice for the Lord, you'll get a hundredfold. Isn't that what they say? I guarantee you that televangelist love this verse but they probably just go, "Houses, lands," with [inaudible 53:41] because they don't tell you about the persecution part. They just want to tell you, "Oh, it's going to be great. You're going to live your best life now. You're going to get a hundred times, the houses, lands."
Here's the thing, you will. God will bless you. You will get those things with persecutions. If you're not willing to pay that price, then don't try to sign up for the hundredfold blessings. You only get the hundredfold of blessings if you're willing to go through the persecutions because it's a package deal. It comes with persecutions. Of course, in the world to come, you have eternal life. I mean, what's that worth? More than anything. Of course, eternal life is achieved only by just believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved "not of works lest any man should boast." If you think about it, God's going to bless us when we do what's right but he's not going to give us a life that's free of persecution or life that costs us nothing. The Bible says, "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but out of them all the Lord delivers him."
My encouragement to you this morning is this. Think about the cost. Count the cost of serving Jesus. Count the cost of becoming a preacher or pastor if that's you this morning. If you're one that would fit that mold. Also, count the cost as a church member, as a Godly mother, as a Godly father, as a Godly child. Count the cost as a Godly church member, Godly shew winner, and decide to pay the price. Just saying your heart today, "I am willing to pray ... Jesus has done so much for me, I'm willing to pay the price. I'm willing to pay the cost, and I'm ready to stand and to be counted on the Lord's side.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for these Scriptures, Lord. We thank you for David and his heart that said, "I want it to cost me something when I offer something to the Lord." Help us to make spiritual sacrifices and spiritual offerings unto you that costs us something and not to want this "have it both ways", cost me nothing, convenient, comfortable Christianity light, fundamentalism light, Independent Baptist light, dear God. Help us to stand up and be counted on the Lord's side. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
