 With that, let's have our first preacher come up, Brother Benjamin. I just want to thank the Lord and Pastor Bernardsky for allowing me to preach tonight. The title of my sermon, excuse me, is called Making a Covenant with Your Ears, right? So this sermon is mainly geared towards the men of the church because it's the men to have to go out every single day to make a living for the family or for themselves. And we have to deal with stuff that we shouldn't have to listen to on a, sometimes on a daily basis. You know, I've talked to multiple people already and just kind of, not necessarily for getting sermon ideas, but just to see how other people are dealing with this kind of thing. I've already heard multiple stories that people do tend to hear a lot of off stuff at work. And so the whole reason for the sermon is that, so you know how to deal with that kind of a thing. And of course this applies to the women too, but mostly to the men because we have to be out there in a secular world every single day, listening to, unfortunately, having to listen to discussing things and how to put an end to that basically is how this sermon is going to go. So the first verse I want to direct you guys to is Job 31.1. Job 31.1. I'll just give you guys a second to turn there. So Job 31.1 says, I made a covenant with my eyes. Why then should I think upon a maid? Right? So he made a covenant with his eyes so that nothing would enter into his eyes to get to his heart. Right? And so the same way we need to make a covenant with our ears, that nothing gets in our ears that doesn't need to be there. Because this kind of thing is, I take it very seriously because once it gets into your ears it gets into your heart and then who knows where it goes from there. And this is especially important for the men that are married because if it gets into your heart it can get to the weaker vessels in the home. Right? Your children, your wife, whatever, you're that stop gate, you know, that kind of stops that kind of thing from happening, gets into the within the gates so to speak. So the main thing is that when we're at work sometimes we have to deal with people that are worldly, secular people and sometimes they say really off things. Right? And so we just need to know how to how to deal with that kind of thing when it happens. One of the first points I want to make is that when they say things to you that might come might be a little disgusting, a little filthy. I don't want to get into any details here because I don't think it's appropriate. But they might just say something to do this a little off, maybe bring something sexual into the whole thing. You need to take that as an attack on your mind. Whether they know they're doing it or not, whether they're they've planned it or whatever the case is, you need to just take that as an attack on your mind. Right? And it could end up defiling your mind and causing you to think all kinds of weird stuff or whatever ends up getting into your heart. So the second point I want to make is that you need to guard your mind and guard it like a bank vault. Right? Nothing gets in, nothing gets out without your permission. Right? And so one story that I had at work, I was asked to tell somebody something. Right? I was asked to talk to, ask somebody a question, and I asked somebody to help me ask that question. And the guy ended up telling me to ask him something weird. It wasn't super, super weird or whatever, but it was still kind of weird. It's like, why would you even ask somebody to say that? Right? And so an easy way to deal with that kind of thing is just straight up let them know that you're not going to put up with that. Right? He told me something to tell somebody else. I said, I wasn't going to do that. I didn't, it was via text, right? Via chatter or chat. And I didn't tell him, haha, LOL, that's funny. No, I said, I will definitely not be saying that. Right? I made it known to him right away. I'm not going to put up with that. Right? That was the first time. And then he ended up saying something again later and whatever. It wasn't a huge deal, but I personally, I need to give a bit of a bit grace because I can be very sharp about that kind of thing. So I need to sort of pull the reins back. So I get people grace, right? We need to give people grace. And but at the same time, we need to let them know that we're not going to put up with that because that can enter your mind and then enter into your heart and enter into your Christian life and derail your whole Christian life. And we don't want that, right? And like I said, it's especially important for the men of the church because we're out there dealing with worldly people on a daily basis. Whether we like it or not, that's just kind of what we have to deal with. And confronting others. So let's turn to Galatians 2.11. Galatians 2.11. So Galatians 2.11. And this is going to be like a very practical sermon. Galatians 2.11 says, but when Peter was come to Antioch, I would stood him to the face because he was to blame. He was to be blamed. And so the whole point I'm trying to get at here is that if somebody tells you something weird and they keep doing it, you need to just withstand them to the face, right? You don't let them keep doing it over and over and over, walking over you because your values and what you believe in, your Christian values are more important than anything. Even more important than your job. If you have to deal with that kind of thing on a daily basis and nothing is changing, I would just say get a new job. It's not worth it to keep working that job and having to deal with all these disgusting things that people are saying on a daily basis, day in, day out. Eventually, unfortunately, that stuff can go into your ears and leak into your heart, right? So we want to make a covenant with our ears and make sure that we stop things from entering our ears within as much as we can control ourselves. We can obviously go out and talk to people. For instance, if somebody is having a conversation in another room, you don't just barge into that conversation because they said something off, right? If they say something to you directly, at that point you need to say something. Don't just let it continue, don't let it fly over and over again. You need to make a point that it's not okay. And as far as confronting people, confronting people, as far as that goes, it's kind of the same thing like when it comes to soul winning. Some people are very timid at the door. Some people don't like confrontation. So one piece of advice, I want to get people that have that kind of hesitation when dealing with conflicting situations is just learn to love it, right? You have to learn to love it, get used to it. I'm not saying go out there and start problems with people and start problems where they don't need to be, where they don't need to be. But you just need to learn how to love confrontations with people and same thing when it goes to soul winning. Sometimes you have to have confrontational soul winning, same thing at work, right? You have to be able to put people through. You have to be able to have uncomfortable conversations with people, right? And never let it be said of a man that he's not able to have an uncomfortable conversation with people, right? That's pathetic. You know, we go to a great church, we read the Bible daily, we should be able to have the boldness to God and talk to people or go tell people, you're not going to cross those lines. Not going to happen, right? And let it be known. And who cares what they say at work or whatever, it doesn't matter, right? You're working for Christ, you're not working for the boss anyways, ultimately. So just, yeah, learn how to confront people, don't be shy. Obviously, you know, I think it's Romans 12a team says, if it be possible, as much as lie within you, live peaceably with all men. So don't go with starting problems where they don't need to be started. But at the same time, you know, you have to set those boundaries and make sure people understand, you know, don't be telling me that disgusting, filthy stuff. I'm not going to put up with it, right? We have to deal with this on a daily basis. So in another way to deal with this kind of thing is just to use silence, right? Personally, one thing I love to do with people to say weird stuff is just silence. What that does is it gives them a chance to think about what they just said. And usually they think, well, that was pretty stupid, right? What I just said. And so give them silence, give them an angry countenance. And, you know, that's a pretty good way to deal with stuff. And then eventually they get the hint, right? At that point, you might need to be a little sharper. And that's where I kind of need to reel myself in a bit, because I can be very sharp with people. So I try to give them grace. But at some point, you got to put your foot down. You can't just let this stuff keep happening over and over at work, right? It's an attack on your mind, and you should take it as such. Don't take that kind of thing lightly. And the last thing I wanted to say before I close is just this whole sermon, it was a short sermon, and I hope there was a few practical things that will work for you. But none of this is going to make any difference if you're not sensitive to sin to begin with. If you just let things happen, you just joke with people about simple discussing things, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you do. You're going to continue to let those attacks happen on you, and you're not even going to understand why your heart's turning wicked and hard, right? So the last verse I want to bring up is Proverbs 14 and 9, fool doesn't make a mock at sin. So don't be a fool. Don't go along with it. When they start joking with you and they start talking about sexual things or whatever, don't go along with it. You put a stop to that right there when it happens. Otherwise, they're going to keep doing it. And ultimately, that affects your heart. So you make a covenant with your ears. Don't allow that stuff to happen. Don't cut that off at the source if you can. Make a covenant with your ears so that this stuff doesn't enter into your heart. Just pray. Father, thank you for allowing me to preach here. I just pray that the next preacher would be given edifying sermon for the rest of us, and I pray that you would bless the fellowship and our New Year's Lord. Thank you for everything you do. In Jesus's name, amen. Good evening, everyone, and please open your Bible to 2 Corinthians chapter 9. First of all, I would like to thank Pastor for this opportunity to preach. 2 Corinthians chapter 9. The title of my sermon tonight is God Loved a Cheerful Giver. God Loved a Cheerful Giver. 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 7 says, Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give not grudgingly or of necessity for God loveth a cheerful giver. Of course, God wants us to have other Christian attributes like being faithful, honest, hardworking, and so on. But this is the only quality of a person that the Bible specifically says what God loves about a person. Because one of God's nature is to give. For God so loved the world that he gave, his only begotten Son. Our human nature is to receive and giving sometimes is difficult. Please turn to 2 Samuel chapter 23. 2 Samuel chapter 23. If we want to be a special person in God's eyes or have his favor on us, we should strive to have these characteristics of being a cheerful giver. King Saul and King David are both anointed by God, but King David is very special in God's eyes. And why is that? Because being a cheerful giver or being selfless is one of King's David's special attributes. 2 Samuel chapter 23 verse 14 says, And David was then in unhold, and the garrison of the Philistine was then in Bethlehem, and David longed and said, Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate. And the three mighty men break through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David. Nevertheless, he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the Lord. And he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Is not this the blood of the man that went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men. Folks, giving is not always about money. David's men were determined and sacrificed their lives to get David a drink of water from the midst of their enemies. Instead of drinking the water for his own pleasure, David gave the water to God. And these three mighty men also displayed their selfless characteristics. That's why they were close to King David. Speaking of a drinking water, this reminds me of Brother George from Verity Baptist Church that came to join last year's summer church hike. We hiked to the Mist Falls in King's Canyon, and halfway of the hike, me and my wife ran out of water. And Brother George offered to get us water. He went down on a steep cliff, maybe it's about 25 feet, you know, drop to the lake. And he also had a great opportunity to see in close proximity this mama bear and her two cubs. That must be an adrenaline rush experience. Having a cheerful giver attributes is noticeable. In this church, there are men and women that are special to me and my family because they have this quality. And if we as human being can see this special quality in them, how much more with God that can see the heart and not just the deeds. These men and women are definitely special in God's eyes. Please turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 8. 2 Corinthians chapter 8. Through God's Word and the examples of Jesus Christ and other people around us, we can practice and develop a cheerful giving attitude. 2 Corinthians chapter 8, verse 5. And this they did, not as we hope, but first gave their own selves to the Lord and unto us by the will of God. Please turn to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22. The first thing that the Corinthians did was they gave their own selves to serve the Lord, to serve in the church. In our society, the person that's being served are highly esteemed or respected, but in the eyes of God, it's the other way around. The one that's serving is more honorable. Luke 22, verse 27. For whether it's greater, he that's seated at me or he that's served, it's not he that's seated at me, but I am among you as he that's served. Jesus, the God of the universe, lowered himself to serve us. When we give ourselves and commit to serving God, that is a sacrifice. An offering that is pleasing to God. If we want to practice what the Corinthians did, we have to give ourselves to God by serving the church. Please turn to Romans chapter 12, Romans chapter 12. People with this cheerful giver quality oftentimes are serving in the church. We know that there are many people that are generous giver. People give millions and millions of dollars, but not everyone that is generous in giving serve God. Romans 12, chapter one. I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. A living sacrifice is something that we give up or offer ourselves in serving God. This is our reasonable service. The sacrifice that is suitable that's acceptable to him. Please turn to Psalm 101. Psalm 101. Being involved in serving God is the best thing that we could ever do in our lives. This service keeps us close to God and earn eternal rewards. Psalm 101 verse six. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land that they may dwell with me. He that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. Please turn to Revelation 22 at the end of the Bible. Serving God in the church is just a preparation for our everlasting service. Soul winning is great. Soul winning is a great work. It is a great work that we can do here. Don't get me wrong, but it only lasts here on earth. There's no soul winning in heaven. Revelation 22 verse three. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the lamp shall be in it, and his servant shall serve him. Skip to verse 12. And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me. To give every man according to his work shall be. Prepare yourselves for the new year on how to serve God. There's no work that is small in his eyes. The most important thing is your heart is cheerful in doing that work. For God loveth a cheerful giver. Let's pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for today. Thank you, Lord, for this church. Please bless and bless the rest of the preachers tonight. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen. Brother Max, put your Romans chapter seven, please. Romans chapter seven. And thank you, pastor, for these men's preaching nights are really great already. It's like you learn so much, and you get like a bunch of mini sermons, so you get to, you know, I feel like you get a great diversity of preaching. So Romans chapter seven. And what I want to preach about this evening is the battle between the spirit and the flesh. Again, going into the new year, we want to start the new year off on the right foot. And you've got this battle going on because we're all saved here tonight. I hope we've got the Holy Spirit and you've got the flesh and they're warring against one another. And I want to show you what this battle looks like and how we can, you know, feed the spirit and walk in the spirit so we can win this, win this battle. So look at Romans seven, look at Romans seven, look down at verse 14. It says, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow not. For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing, for to will is present with me. But how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the good that I would, I do not. But the evil which I would not, that do I. Now if I do that I would not. It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. So this is the battle that we're in, this is the struggle that we're in, and Paul goes back and forth, and it sounds a lot like, you know, what I don't want to do, I do, and what I want to do, I don't do, but to just break it all down, that's what it simply is, is Paul saying, we've got this struggle. The spirit wants to do one thing, the flesh wants to do another thing, and we're constantly going back and forth. And what we want to do is feed the spirit. And an old pastor of mine said, it's kind of like two dogs, and whichever dog you feed is the one that's going to be stronger and is going to win this battle. So you need to feed the spirit and not the flesh in this war. And this is a dangerous war. Look, flip one chapter over to Romans 8. One chapter over to Romans 8. This is important because this can really affect our lives, not just our Christian lives, but this can this can destroy our lives. Look at Romans 8 13. It says Romans 8 verse 13 says, for if you live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if you through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. So there again is saying the deeds of the body of the flesh, the things of this world, the carnal things, those are the things that lead to destruction. Those are the things that don't profit versus when you're in the spirit and you don't live in the flesh and you walk in the spirit, you have life. Look a few verses back at Romans 8 5 says, for they that are after the flesh do mine the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnal minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Again, it's just a super stark contrast, right? You've got the flesh and it just straight up says, you know, for to be carnal minded and walk in the flesh is death, right? Versus to be spiritually minded to walk in the spirit is life and peace. So this is what we're confronted with and we have both options. Christians, because we're saved by grace through faith, you have the ability to 100% just walk in the flesh and never read your Bible and never go to church and never sing a hymn or do anything that would cause you to walk in the spirit or live in the spirit. You can 100% follow the flesh or you can walk in the spirit and you can follow the Lord. And this is a big struggle and obviously we all struggle with the flesh in different ways and different people have different problems with that, but this is an important battle because we let the flesh win. If you feed the flesh, if you don't walk in the spirit, if you don't renew your mind, you start to lose this battle and you start to lose your Christian life. And I'm going to read you 1 John 2. You go back one chapter to Romans 7. Go back to Romans 7 if you would, but 1 John 2 15 says, Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him for all that is in the world. The lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. You all know that verse and what it's saying is the flesh has less power over you. You don't love the things of this world. The things of this world, you know, covetousness, all these different things, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, those are the things that are going to pull you away from your walk with God. Those are the things that are going to destroy your spiritual life. Those are the things that are going to cause you to lose this battle between the spirit and the flesh. And so don't heed the things of this world. And what I want to show you now, now that we kind of see this battle, right? And Paul talks a lot about this more. You can read Romans 7 and Romans 8 if you want, you know, more scripture on this. But let's look at Romans 7 verse 22. Now that you've kind of seen what the battle is between the spirit and the flesh, how can we win this? How can we walk in the spirit? How can we, you know, improve our spiritual lives so that we're not falling into the flesh? We'll look at Romans 7 22. It says, verse 22 says, for I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. A wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. So this is a really profound couple of verses, I think, because when I was when I was reading this, I realized in verse 22, it starts off by saying the law of God. And then Paul basically says, oh wretched man that I am, how am I going to escape this? How do I escape the flesh? And then the next verse he says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He gives us the answer. And then it says, so then with my mind, with the mind, I myself serve the law of God. So he brings the law of God up again. But this is because Jesus is the word. When we serve him, when we do what the Bible says, when we follow what God has told us, we're serving Christ, but we're also serving the law, is what Paul's saying. And because of that, we're walking in the spirit and and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh. And notice again, it said at the beginning it said, warring against the law of my mind. So the law and the Bible and God's word is warring against our members, the flesh, sin, all of that. And they're contrary one to another. And we need to walk in newness of life. We need to serve Jesus Christ and serve and follow God's laws. And that's what helps us win this battle. That's the only way you can't do this. This isn't some physical battle, obviously. But it's only done through walking the spirit. Galatians five, and I've probably already quoted parts of this book, Galatians five 15 says, this I say then walk in the spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh for the flesh lusted against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary the one to the other so that you cannot do the things that you would. Right? It's the same thing Paul was saying back in Romans seven that you got both. It would be easy. It would be easy if the Christian life, the minute you got saved, you just lost all desire for sin and you only had the Holy Spirit. That would be easy because then we'd all be in church every day and it would be perfect because we wouldn't have the desire to sin still. But because we have both, they're contrary one to the other as Galatians five says, so it gives us the answer again, walk in the spirit. Walk in the spirit, you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And piggybacking off what brother Benjamin said in his sermon, if foul language is coming out of your mouth, you're not walking the spirit. If you're joining in with all of this garbage that people are saying at work, that's not walking the spirit. You need to be separate. God says, come out from among them and be separate. And you need to walk in the spirit and not just give yourself to whatever everybody else is saying, just as a side note there. But that's really the key. That's really the key. And in conclusion, I'll read you Romans 12, 2 says, and be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. So going into the new year, we want to start this out. We want to start the new year out, walking the spirit, not walking the flesh. You want to think about the bad habits you've got, and you want to put those away. You want to think of the good habits you want to have, like Pastor said, and build those up, work on those, create goals for that. A great one is the nine chapters a day challenge, because there's no better way to renew your mind to walk in the spirit than to get in God's word and listen to what he wants for you, what he wants for your life, and what he's asking you to do. So do the nine chapters a day challenge, starting tomorrow, and start the new year off, walking the spirit, not walking in the flesh, because we have this battle, and you're going to have this battle all the way until the day you die. None of us are going to reach sinless perfection or anything. So you have to fight this battle, and the only way you can do it is through God's word, through Jesus Christ, through being in church, through immersing yourself in the things of God, not the things of the world. So let's close in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for this opportunity. I pray that you bless the next preacher and bless all the fellowship this evening. Jesus' name. Garrett. All right, go ahead and turn to first Samuel chapter five, first Samuel chapter number five. So just to kind of catch up to this story I'm having you turn to, stay there by the way, I'll keep you there for the whole sermon. But the context is Israel right now is being ruled by Samuel who is the last judge. So right now this is right before the kings, the time of the kings began, and Israel goes to war with the Philistines and their big mistake they do is they decide to take the Ark of the Covenant into battle with them. And the problem with this is that not necessarily that they took it into battle in the same way as if someone was to hang maybe a cross or a necklace in their car, that's not necessarily wrong. But what was wrong is they relied on it as if the ark itself gave them some sort of supernatural power to save them. Like someone who hangs that cross in their car thinks that that's magically going to keep them from getting into accident or keep them from being hurt. And God is upset about this and he actually punches them terribly for this. Just to explain this in the chapter before, a man explained to the high priest what was going on and he said, quote, Israel has fled before the Philistines and there have also been a great slaughter among the people and the Ark of God has taken. So the Philistines actually take the Ark and what ensues is a nearly humorous story where we see the Philistines have the Ark and God's angry at the Philistines because they're even more wicked nation and then they're mistreating the Ark, they're not treating it the right way either. So God continues to punish them and curse them essentially and they for the life of them can just not figure out what is going on. And I think this is something we can do in our life. I think one of the greatest human biases is we can see everyone's fault but our own. Theodore Roosevelt once said, if you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of trouble you wouldn't sit for a month. So I want to explain here when we see damage happening in our life, how do we know it's God trying to get our attention? How do we know it's a mistake that we're making? So the title of the sermon this evening is this, how to tell when God wants his Ark back? How to tell when God wants his Ark back? Go ahead and look down to verse 1 to 1 Samuel 5. Let's see what they do with the Ark first. The Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashton. When the Philistines took the Ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, their false God, and set it by Dagon. And when they have Ashton rose on early in the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the Ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon and set him up in his place again. So for some weird reason their God has bowed down in submission before the Ark of God and they just go and they set it back up. What a coincidence, it must have been an earthquake. Verse 4, And when they rose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold. Only the stump of Dagon was left to him. So now they see the same thing, but this time he's beheaded and his hands are cut off. So they still can't figure it out. So they're like, okay, let's at least take it out of the room. Let's move it somewhere else. I'm going to read you this to get this point across. Leviticus 26, stay there. Leviticus 26, 27 through 30 says this. And if you will not for all this hearken unto me, but will walk contrary unto me, God says, then I will walk contrary also to you in fury, and I, even I will chastise you seven times for your sins. And I will destroy your high places and cut down your images and cast your carcasses upon the carcasses of your idols in my soul shall pour you. So three, I want to give you three indications that the damage in your life is God chastising you. They're all literated. The first one this evening is this, the damage is consistent. Here you see the Philistines, God punish them again and again in the same way. God was upset over something very specific. In the same way as Leviticus, God's upset over something very specific. It's the idols. It's the high places. And he says, when I punish you, I'm going to punish you seven times for your sins. It's going to be consistent. So that may be an indication that the damage in your life is consistent. One area of your life keeps failing and falling apart. You may want to check that. Look at verse six, verse 75. The second in this evening is this, the second indication is the damage is collateral. The damage is collateral. Other people who are not involved in this and bystanders are being hurt by your problems. Verse six, but the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them, the Vastod. This is the whole city. And he destroyed them. You know, we laugh at the story because we're going to read about emeralds and silly punishments like that. But you got to realize people died here. This was very serious. And he smote them with emeralds, even Ashton and the coast they're up. So people died not just in, not just the emeralds, but also people died in the whole coast. And when the men of Ashton saw that it was so, they said the Ark of God of Israel shall not abide with us. So they're kind of getting it. For his hand is sore upon us and upon Dagon or God. Notice there's something God wants from them very specific. He wants his Ark back. And they're getting closer to this realization. And we're just going to skip ahead because they go and they send it to Gath and then all the people in Gath die and get emeralds. And then they send it over here. And pretty soon they still can't figure out what they're supposed to do. But no one wants the Ark. They're realizing it's something with this Ark. Verse nine, it was so after they had carried it about the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction. And he smote the men of the city, both small and great. And they had emeralds in their secret parts. Verse nine, it says the people of Ekron say they have brought about the Ark of God of Israel to us, excuse me, to slay us and our people. So they realize it's something with the Ark and they're just passing it from city to city. But a lot of innocent bystanders are getting hurt. And that's just the people who decided to do this. I want you to notice. And this is one thing about sin is that sin can end up hurting a lot of innocent bystanders. A lot of people in your life who did not commit that sin, just because they're around you or associated with you, they can be hurt as well. This reminds me of the story in Numbers where you had people some wicked men were fell against Moses. And God was about to open up the earth and destroy them. And Moses went to all the innocent people around him and said, hey, you need to pick up your tents. And you need to move or you're going to be swallowed up with them. So this is just a nature of sin. So look, if you keep finding the damage in your life often becoming collateral, you might want to take a look at yourself. Is there something God wants back? Is there something specific God wants from you? So we're looking at this evening at how to tell if God wants his Ark back? Is there something in our life? Is there a reason that God is God punishing us or chastising us for some reason? Well, first, is the damage consistent? Second, is it collateral? Here's the third indication and maybe the biggest one, the damage is out of control. Look at 1 Samuel 5 verse 11. Here after people have died, after people are diseased, they finally get it verse 11. So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines. They have an emergency meeting with all their government leaders and said, send away the Ark of God and let it go again into its own place. Why? That it slays us not into our people. For there is a deadly destruction throughout all the city, the hand of God was very heavy there. So finally, much like with us sometimes, only after completely losing control of the situation did they get it. Ezra 9.6 through 7, I want to just read to you, says this. This is Ezra kind of praying to God and confessing the sins of the nation. He says and said, oh my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift up my face to be my God. For our iniquities are increased over our head and our trespasses growing up under the heavens. Since the days of our fathers, have we been in a great trespass under this day? For our iniquities have we, our kings and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings and the lands, to the sword, to the captivity, into the spoil, into confusion of face, as it is this day. Same thing with Israel. They didn't realize their mistake until they had lost control, until they were in Babylon, until they were yay, returning from Babylon. When they had no power and they completely lost control, then they finally realized, maybe God wants his ark back. This reminds me of if you're trying to, this reminds me of if I'm at work or something and I'm trying to get a bolt loose, you know, first you start off with the normal size wrench and if that bolt won't come loose, I don't just give up, you know, what do you do? Then you get a bigger wrench, then you get a bigger wrench and then you get the grinder, then you get the blow torch and you know, it's going to come off and so if we do not understand if God kind of nudges us a little bit and we're not getting it. Okay, maybe the first time God just tips Dagon over, but now he's going to start damaging stuff. Now Dagon's going to be beheaded. Now people are going to get hurt. Now other people are going to get hurt and the damage is going to get worse and worse until we finally get it. So look, just in conclusion this evening, how do I know in my life if God wants his ark back? Well, let's just try to recognize this chastisement before it gets completely out of hand and if we can do so and we can be successful in doing this, we'll save ourselves a lot of trouble. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for the story and for Samuel God and the lessons from it. Thank you for this men's preaching night in this church. I'm pretty blessed the next preacher and Jesus' name we pray. Amen. But with Trevor. All right, please turn your Bibles to Luke chapter 16. I want to start off saying thank you for this opportunity to preach. I always love these men's preaching nights as well. Luke chapter 16, we'll look down at the story Lazarus. I want to point something out. The title of the sermon is Remembering in Heaven and that actually comes from a song in our hymnals from John R. Rice. So it's kind of coined after that idea. When we read through this passage in Luke 16, it kind of reminded me of that a couple of days ago. So I wanted to go through that. Psalm 90 in verse nine tells us we spend our years as a tale that is told and it was interesting over Christmastime. My wife and I were talking about this yesterday and this morning on the way to church. But for Christmastime, we had some family videos like old family videos from my grandparents and great grandparents, generations that were taken from like the 40s, 50s and 60s and even into the 70s that were kind of compiled onto a DVD and all the old home movies and stuff like that. And so we got to we got to sit down and kind of watch through some of those the first time my dad had seen that in a long time. His dad had passed away when he was really young 13. So he got to see old pictures of him when he was a kid and my dad when he was a kid. So it's cool to kind of look through and see, you know, what life was like back then, what they did, the things that they did. And it was interesting looking through that we kind of noticed, wow, look at they all had these old neat cars that we call old today, but they were, you know, new models, late model cars. And it kind of puts things in perspective as far as all those cars are probably not here anymore. All those cars are in the junkyard, all the clothes that they're wearing is in the junkyard, all the things that they were doing. It had pictures and videos of them doing stuff at work, doing things, having horses, having cars, having, you know, different things that they were busy with throughout the day. It was just a day to day, life shot video. All those things aren't there anymore, right? We live our years as a as a tale that is told what's going to be told of our tale when we're not here anymore, especially with this new year. Look down at Luke chapter 16, let's go through, let's start at verse 19. There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and designed to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels in Abraham's bosom. He made it to heaven. The rich man also died and was buried. And in hell, he lift up his eyes being in torments and seeeth Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham have mercy on me and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue for I'm tormented in this flame. He sees his position. He realizes he's without hope and he wants some type of relief. But Abraham said, verse 25, son, remember that thou and thy lifetime receivest thy good things and likewise Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted and thou art tormented. Abraham says, sorry, you're kind of stuck. You're not going anywhere. Verse 26 is what I want to point out. It says, and beside all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed. So that they which would pass from hence to you cannot, neither can they pass to us which would come from hence, from thence, excuse me. So the last part of that verse, neither can they pass to us. People in hell, he's talking to Lazarus, or excuse me, he's talking to the rich man, that would come from hence, from thence. So the people in hell, they're wanting to come from hell. They're wanting to come from hell to heaven, right? When it says would come, that's not talking about they are going to come. No, it's that they desire to come, right? They that will be rich, as somebody who desires to be rich, these people would come from hell to heaven. That's what their desire is. But notice the first part of that verse. So that they which would pass from hence, from here, from where Abraham is from heaven, to you cannot. They would pass. They would like to go and maybe trade places with somebody in hell. Can you imagine as a father, or you have a loved one or a family member, and you're saved, and you don't tell them how to get saved, and they die, and they go to hell, and these people in this story, this is a story, this isn't a parable, this is a story, this happened, these people can see from heaven, they can see the people in hell, and vice versa, right? They're talking. I don't know if this applies to everybody, or if it's just this particular story, but it sounds like it's everybody. And they can see this. And he's saying that the people that are in heaven, like Brother Jeff said, there's no soul winning in heaven. There's no soul winning once we die. That's it. We can be servants of Christ, we can live in Christ's glory and in heaven, but there's no more soul winning that we can do. It's easy when we talk about the new year and the things that we did over the last year, and the things that we have to look forward to this next year, the goals that we set, how we want to, maybe for our health, or for our work lives, or for our personal lives, or better our marriage, or increase our Bible reading, increase our church attendance, things like that. Those are good goals to have, and oftentimes even good goals that we can have. The Bible talks about in 1 Corinthians 3, it talks about every man's work shall be made manifest, and for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. Talking about if it was work that had no eternal value, those works are wood, hay, and stubble, it says in that chapter, versus the things that have eternal value, gold, silver, precious stones. It can be easy, especially in America, to get sidetracked with the temporary things. Even things that are good, you know, as men, we're called to provide for our family, we're called to work, like we're working for Christ, we're called to do the best that we can, and work heartily, do it with our whole heart, but we out not less, those things take precedent and override the things that actually do matter, the eternal things that matter. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. You know, in our spiritual life, and this was talked about this evening already, Matthew 13 and 22, I'll read for you while you're turning to 2 Corinthians 4. Talking about the parable of the sower, he also that receives seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becomeeth unfruitful. I believe this man is saved, it talks about him hearing the word in another passage that says that he receive it, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke it, and it becomes unfruitful. God forbid that that be said of us, you know, maybe when we are in heaven looking down, if this guy, this parable of the sower, he may be in that condition where he would trade places with somebody in hell, but he can't. That time has passed. 2 Corinthians 4, look down to verse 17, 17 and 18, it says, for our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. The things that we see, the things that we're busy with, the things that we saw in that video, and it was neat to see that, you know, kind of see history and see, oh, that's what he looked like in different things. It's fun to think back and to reminisce about things in our lives, but the things that we see, all the things around us, they're temporal, they're temporary. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 6, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Job said, naked came I out of my mother's womb and naked shall I return thither, right? This is all we have is what we're doing. All the things that we can take with us to heaven are the eternal things, not the temporary things. So yes, we have to work in this world and we have to provide for our families and we have to clothe ourselves and we have to get to and from work and to and from church and we have to have a job and we have to have all these things, a roof over our heads, provide for our families and so forth, but we ought not make those things a priority, right? The Bible talks about idols in our life, anything that would take the place of God in our lives. And whatever is in the place of God, he's going to destroy it, right? Moses in the golden calf, he stamped it to powder and made him drink of it, right? God's going to do that with idols that we put over him in our lives. And God forbid that ever be our family or our spouse or our job or something like that. The song, Remembering in Heaven, I want to read for you just one of the one of the verses of it. It's number 68 in your hymn, it's a really neat song. John R. Rice again, he wrote it, says, should I in the glory remember a loved one, one who walked by my side but is lost and outside? If I'd never begged him to trust in the Savior in heaven, I'd sit down and cry. Jesus's blood paid my ransom and I'm bound for heaven, but what will I think when remembering in heaven? It's got some really neat verses, that one really, really kind of hits home. We're only here for a little time, right? Our life is a blip. And if we think, you know, my wife we were talking this morning on the way to church a hundred years from now, if the rapture doesn't happen, if a hundred years from now, all the things that we do in our day-to-day lives will be gone. What is the only thing that will be remaining is the number on the back of that bulletin. The souls that we're saved when we go out and exercise our Christian faith. That's what has eternal value. And while we may make New Year's resolutions and goals for this next year, let's make sure we keep the main thing, the main thing. There's no soul winning in heaven. Let's remember that when we get to heaven, we don't want to be remembering and having regrets from here on earth. Let's pray. Dear Lord, thank you for this church, Lord. Thank you for the men, women, and children, families in this church, Lord. We pray that you would be with the next preacher. Bless the fellowship and the food this evening. In your name we pray. Amen. Brother Luke. All right, guys. I want to thank God and thank Holy Fast Baptist Church. Thank Pastor Pizarnski and all you guys for being here. You guys can try and fall along if you want, but you know I'm nervous and I'm going to talk fast. I'm calling this sermon is the mental price. So we often think about the physical price that Jesus Christ paid. We think about him discerning into hell and conquering that and overcoming it and death and all that, but we don't often think about the emotional price that was also paid there. So I'm going to start here at Luke 22 and Luke 22, 41 through 44, it says, And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast and kneeled down and prayed, saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in agony, he prayed more earnestly. And as sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Now, some of you might know this, some of you might not, but this is like an actual condition, you know, where somebody could sweat blood. It's called a, it's called hematodrosis. There's other names for it, but it's, you know, relatively pretty similar. But hematodrosis is the one I wrote down and I have a couple snippets from some articles right here. This is from medical news today. It says, hematodrosis is a rare condition that causes a person to sweat blood. It may happen as a result of physical or psychological stress. Over here, National Institutes of Health said, It may occur in an individual who is suffering from extreme levels of stress. And then it also mentioned fear and intense mental contemplation are the most frequent causes. So fear and intense mental contemplation. You could see in Matthew 26, Matthew 26, verses 37 and 39. Right here it says, And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul's exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Terri ye here and watch with me. And he went a little further and fell on his face and prayed saying, Oh, my father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou will. And Mark chapter 14 is actually pretty close, almost, almost verbatim the same account here. But you see Jesus fallen on his face. He's exceeding sorrowful. He's, and Luke had said that he was in agony. And he's not, he's not in any physical pain yet. So what, what is this agony? This agony is mental pain. This is psychological. This is emotional pain, you know, that he's going through right here. Second Corinthians 521. Second Corinthians 521. Second Corinthians 521 says, For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. So Jesus Christ knew no sin. He was perfect. He was the Son of God, manifest in flesh, you know what I'm saying? He was the Word of God, manifest in flesh. He was, he was God, you know what I'm saying? Obviously separate from the Father, you know what I mean? His own person, but God nonetheless. And he knew no sin. He was perfect. But he was made sin. He was made to be sin for us. You know what I mean? So everything that we've ever done, every, every wicked thought, every wicked thing we've ever done, he bore all that. And oftentimes I think about, and you know, some, some of you who might have been saved later in life might relate, but often think about the guilt and shame of past mistakes you did, things that you did in ignorance, things that you did in unbelief. But nevertheless, we can't forget it. You know what I mean? It's still there. And that weight sometimes, when we think about that could be heavy. But it's, it's nothing compared to what the Son of God felt mentally, because he was perfect. He didn't do any of that. None of that guilt, none of that shame was his. Yet he bore it. You know what I mean? And he didn't just bore it on the, bear it on the cross. He bore it in his mind and his heart. And he was exceeding sorrowful. He showed us humanity and, and those accounts in those three gospel accounts in Gethsemane, how, you know, he knew what he was going to have to pay. And part of him, that human part was like, I don't know if I could follow through with that. I don't know if, I don't know if, I don't know if I want to pay that price. You know what I'm saying? But he did it. Thank God he did it. You know what I mean? Thank Jesus Christ, he did it. 1 Peter 2, 22, the 24, it also mentions, says here, who did no sin, neither was Gile found in his mouth. Gile is like deceitfulness, right? Who when he was reviled, reviled not again. When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. Who his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sins should live unto righteousness by whose stripes he were healed. So again, you know, we're told he had no sin. He knew no sin, not even, there was no Gile and even in his speech, there was nothing deceitful about Jesus Christ. He was perfect all the way through and through, you know what I mean? And 1 John 3, 5 says, and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. So again, no sin, Jesus was perfect. He was perfect. He was God, he was God here, you know what I mean? And he paid that price, not just physically, not just what he went through on the cross, being mocked, beaten, spat on, crucified, nailed to a cross, you know, hanging there, pierced in his side, not just the descent to hell, then coming back up, you know what I mean? Triumphant, but also mentally, knowing what he was going to go through, knowing the price he was going to have to pay, knowing that none of that guilt, none of that shame, none of that was his, yet he was going to take it anyway. You know what I mean? So 1 Peter 3, 18, it says, for Christ also hath once suffered four sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. I often think about what an unfair trade. You know, the Son of God dies and fallen man lives. You know what I mean? It's not a fair trade. He was worth much more than every man and woman to ever live on this earth, and I just think, you know, how merciful, how good he is for doing what he did and knowing that price, right out the gate, what he was going to have to do. Even before he started creation, you know, he declared the end from the beginning, he knew what he was going to have to do, he knew that he gave us that free will, but because he gave us that free will, he was going to have real love back, real thankfulness when we give thanks to God. That's genuine. We're not automatons. We're not robots. We're not forced to love him. He gave us that. He gave us that free will, you know what I'm saying? He gave us the gifts of eternal life as well when we didn't deserve it, the just for the unjust. And I just pray that you all remember that it wasn't just physical, it wasn't just spiritual, but it was also a mental thing for him. So the next time you feel the weight of your past or the weight of whatever it may be, just remember that Christ paid it all. You know what I mean? But let's close in prayer. Lord, we thank you for today. We thank you for the opportunity to be here and to have fellowship with like-minded Christians and each other. And we're thankful that we made it through another year with clothes on our backs and able-bodied and able to continue providing for our families and taking care of one another. And I pray that you bless the next preacher and just keep us all healthy for this next year, Lord. In Christ Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Oh, I think I was the last guy. Amen. I love the Bible. You know, I mean, what great preaching and you know, just what a great reminder for New Year's Eve. This was a great thing to do on New Year's Eve. And we just, you know, walk in the spirit. There's your New Year's resolution. Walk in the spirit in 2024. And I mean, just listen to the preaching that you just heard. Walk in the spirit because it's the least you can do for Jesus Christ. It's our reasonable service, as Brother Jeff said. And you know, I was thinking about, and of course, you know, I was thinking about James chapter two with a bunch of these sermons tonight with the most misunderstood chapter in the entire Bible talking about, you know, your works and what they actually mean. And like another thing is like a lot of the guys are like, oh, you know, you know, Pastor, you preached on something I was going to preach on Luke chapter 16. How many times have we gone to Luke chapter 16? And I have never thought about, you know, the guys or the people in heaven thinking about like, oh, why would they want to go there? And it's because there's going to be people there that they don't want to see there. And it's just such a profound point. And that brought me to James chapter two, thinking about, you know, our faith without works, there's plenty of Christians are going to have faith without works in 2024. But that matters to the profit of others. That means you'll profit no one in your Christian life. And I've said that at the door to people, people think that works, you know, oh, you're not saved by work. So what's the big deal? You're saying I don't have to do any works. Yeah, your kid's going to hell. Is that a big deal to you? You know, the all the people that you love in your life, you're going to be of no profit to them. Many of them won't be saved. You'll realize when you're in heaven, that you should have preached in the gospel, when you're watching them, not in heaven in hell. I mean, it's a big deal. This being profitable to other people are works are a big deal. Walking in the spirit, not listening to things, not defiling our hearts, setting our hearts on the right things. It's everything that we should be doing. And it's if that's the things that we should be setting our goals towards in 2024. And I just thank the guys tonight for just, I just love listening to preaching. I mean, I don't get to listen to as much preaching as I used to. And I don't watch a lot of preaching online. I just really appreciate this. And I really, really am thankful for this church, for the men of the church, for the edifying sermons tonight. I just, I'm looking forward to tonight, looking forward to the fellowship and, you know, losing to Jeff and all that. And hope that we all have a good time. I think we're going to have another song, right? Let's have another song and close the service with that. Thank you guys. And God bless y'all.