[0:00] Rich doesn't really have a lot of testimony for camp, but I do. I have my wife because of youth camp. I am in church, and I am right with the Lord because of youth camp.
[0:12] Some decisions I've made at youth camp in Arkansas, where we used to go every year, and that's one of the crucial parts of my Christian life and my life ever. That's where I just devoted myself to the Lord, and I surrendered a call to preach, and just every good thing came out of that camp, and I thank the Lord for that.
[0:32] I'm thankful for a church that puts a lot of emphasis on youth going to camp. They may not see it now, but as Carrie and Jake and those guys, family camp and camp alone changed a lot.
[0:43] It does a lot, and a real blessing to have that this morning. If you have your Bibles, I have to say that, but Mark 2, you should have your Bibles. The Bible is the main thing.
[0:56] We're not here for anything else. For church, I mean, fellowship is great. Seeing brethren is great, but because of the Bible, we can have church. If we don't have the Bible, I don't know what you want to call it, but it ain't church.
[1:09] So Mark 2, and I'm going to title this message for The Sound Room. It's whatever it takes. So Christian, this morning, I want to preach to you this morning.
[1:19] I'm doing whatever it takes, and you'll get the message as we get in. There's seven points, and we'll move along real quickly here and get you out of here a decent time than Pastor Wolski does. I asked him, I said, so what time do you want me to quit?
[1:31] He said, well, I go whenever I'm done. I'm like, wow, so that's why you have church at 10. Makes sense. But, no, it's great to be here, great to travel with them, and a real blessing to see the youth of this church get up and going and the youth that it's flourished.
[1:47] I mean, I don't know about you, but getting older and seeing the generation out there now, man, I'm thankful for some good youth and some right youth and a church that puts more emphasis on it.
[1:58] And your youth may not see it now, but you'll see it when you get 28, 27, and you'll be thankful for the youth that you did have. And those that are teenagers now or adults now, look back on your youth group and, man, thank the Lord for them that there's still some serving the Lord, some that are still doing right, and some that are still devoted to God.
[2:16] And a real blessing to see. All right, Mark chapter 2. And I've kind of gotten this message from my dad, my pastor. We're going through Sunday school. We're going through the following, the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
[2:30] You see a lot of missionary journeys of Paul, and you follow his steps, follow his steps, but you hardly ever see someone follow Jesus Christ's steps. And so we're going through that in the book of Matthew, and this is kind of where he went into, left Nazareth, and he went into Capernaum.
[2:44] And Capernaum is right on the Sea of Galilee. It's right on the top, and he left Nazareth in his own city, left his own city to Capernaum. I think the reason why is because in Mark chapter 6, it says that a prophet is without honor in his own country.
[2:57] And so it was a time in his generation where the people could no longer respect him and no longer want him and listen to him, so he had to leave. And so he left Nazareth to come to Capernaum, and there's a lot that the Lord has done.
[3:10] If you look at Mark chapter 1, you'll see constantly people that he's healing. And one of those is Peter's mom. And you go through that, and in the very end he leaves, and he goes back, and he goes around Samaria.
[3:22] But then now in chapter 2, he comes back to Capernaum. And this time when he comes back to Capernaum, people are looking for him. And then when God comes through, again, the second time, people are looking for him. You come into this world the first time, you're not looking for him.
[3:36] But you get saved, you're looking for him. You want him to come back. You want him to do some things in your life, and you want him to change some things. And so we have this passage here, and you probably know well a lot about it.
[3:47] But this passage here is talking about that man sick of the palsy, and they try to get into it and try to get to Jesus Christ, and they couldn't get there because of the press. And so they get there, and just a little recap of the story.
[3:58] They try to get this guy to Jesus Christ, and there's some things. There's some four men that take up him and carry him to Jesus Christ because he couldn't get there himself. I looked up the type of palsy.
[4:10] I looked up the types of it. This one is a paralytic, which means he's paralyzed. He can't really get there himself. And thank God we couldn't get to God by ourselves. We had to have someone get us to God, and that was Jesus Christ.
[4:22] Thankful, because there's no way we could get it. No way on our own merit we can ever get to Jesus Christ if it wasn't for himself dying on the cross for our sins. So Mark 2 is a story of a man who is led to Jesus Christ.
[4:36] And so, Christian, this morning I want to preach to you about doing whatever it takes to get someone to Jesus Christ. And on Mark 2, look at verse 1, and then I'll pray. And again he entered into Capernaum after some days.
[4:47] And those some days he was preaching around Galilee. So those some days he comes back. And it was noise that he was in the house. And straightway many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive them, no not so much as about the door.
[5:01] And he preached the word unto them. And they came unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. When they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was.
[5:15] And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith, would you underline that please in your Bible?
[5:26] Jeremiah says it's good to mark the words of the Lord. So you can write in your Bible if that's news to you. He said in verse 5, their faith. Jesus saw their faith. He said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee.
[5:39] But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts. Why doth this man thus speak of blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things in your heart?
[5:58] Whether it is easier to say to the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to rise, take up thy bed, and walk. Verse 10, But that ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on the earth to forgive sins.
[6:13] He said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that they were all amazed, and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion.
[6:31] Let's pray. Father God, thank you for the opportunities to be in the Bible Believing Church today in Sylmar, California. Lord, we thank you for this church. We thank you for what it stands for this city. God, thank you for the ones that are filling in the gaps, as Brother Rich said, Lord.
[6:45] And it is a blessing to see some Christians still want to have church without their shepherd. I pray, God, that I can just stand behind this pulpit and just glean on the people before me, Lord, and take their years of history and their years of training in the ministry to try to preach, Lord.
[7:02] And I pray, God, that you would fill me with thy spirit. God, empty me of self, that I may preach the wonderful things out of thy book. God, thank you for this church. Thank you for this message.
[7:13] Thank you for allowing me to be here. And, God, thank you for this church accepting a stupid kid like me, Lord, and just being able to get up and preach your book. Lord, I don't have anything to offer these people but your words.
[7:26] And I pray, God, that you would give them revelation and help them understand and to attain the things that they're about to hear, Lord. Help us all to do whatever it takes to get some souls to Jesus Christ, some love that we have for our church, to get this church back to its former glory, to worshiping you in spirit and in truth because we have the truth.
[7:47] And, God, your spirit is welcome here. And I pray, God, that above all else, we'll give you praise and honor and glory that you so richly deserve, Lord. We thank you for this time and bless this hour. In Jesus' name we pray.
[7:58] Amen. Amen. All right. So this story is going to show us of some people who did not stop to get someone they love to Jesus Christ. This is why this story encourages me.
[8:10] These guys were unorthodox. They were undeterred. And it's sad to say they were unusual. The scripture says, born of four. So there's four men here carrying a guy on a gurney, per se, of a bed.
[8:24] And I would say a gurney, something lightweight, something simple that will just hold the guy to get him up a travel. No, it doesn't say how far they traveled, but carrying any man is a challenge.
[8:35] Some of you military men know exactly what it means to carry a guy, and it's tough. If it's a long ways, period. Unless you're like me, a beanpole. But military guys aren't like noodles, man.
[8:46] They're built. They're stocky. They're like Brother Brian, man. They know what it's like to carry some guys, and it's not an easy task. And to get this guy to Jesus Christ wasn't easy. The travel must have been a little hard.
[8:59] But their faith got them there. And let me tell you this. Your faith is going to get you some places that it normally wouldn't be without on your own. Your faith is going to get you some places that your physical body will not allow you to.
[9:12] Your faith will get you through some rough times that you don't see any way out of. Your faith is a lot stronger than you think it is. So four guys will take this bed on four different ends and make sure that no matter what that person they love made it to the Lord, made it to Jesus Christ.
[9:34] I want to challenge every man here. I want to challenge every woman, every teen, every child, your friends, your people, your coworkers. You can get them to Christ if you love them.
[9:46] Do you love souls like you should? Do you see them as souls? I know in Californians we're very used to looking at the other car as an object in our way, an obstacle, not a person behind the wheel.
[10:01] And a lot of us are like that. I get like that. I am the worst. And I thought, man, being in Kansas there's no traffic. It was nice. Daisy drove half the places. Because you have Barney Fife, man.
[10:13] It was only four cops rolling around. They all know you. And so it was no big deal. And there's a couple stoplights. And it's like every third one is slower, like from movie cars.
[10:23] It's just that slow of a town. And so being out in L.A., being out in California, being able to drive a lot, I'm able to drive constantly. And it's annoying. And I don't see them as persons.
[10:34] I see them as obstacles. But when I'm on the Harley, I want to be saw as a person. But they don't see you as a person. And they see you as a guy that's going to cut them off, that's going to get ahead of them. And they don't like it. And so I want you to see them as souls, Christian.
[10:47] See everyone out there in the world as a soul. The boss that you don't like. The parent you don't want to agree to. That's a soul. Some of you have different backgrounds. Or someone lives in a different home life that is not in a Christian life setting.
[11:00] But they're a soul. And these four guys love that sick of the palsy so much that they went the extra mile to get him to Christ. And I want to ask you, is that you?
[11:10] Are you like that? Will you do whatever it takes? I want to challenge everyone here to be a viewer with this thought that the Lord has given me. Doing whatever it takes. The challenge of getting people to Christ is getting more difficult.
[11:23] Don't get so busy in your life that you can't bring someone to Jesus Christ. If you bring up sports, you have a common conversation. You bring up politics. I hate politics.
[11:34] Period. But you bring up politics. Whether they agree with you or not, you have a conversation. You bring up food. I'll be the first one to chime in with you. But if you bring up the name of Jesus Christ, they want to shut you up.
[11:46] They make laws to stop you. You go door to door trying to sell something, trying to give something for free, and they won't stop you. But if you bring Jesus Christ, they say no solicitors, no loitering.
[11:58] They want to stop you from pushing Jesus Christ. And that's how this world is. So whether you see the sign or not, whether you want to stop and acknowledge that sign or not, their soul is a lot more than that stupid sign is worth.
[12:12] At least to God. And it should be for you. They don't want it brought up. They make laws to stop you from bringing up. God has to work on their hearts. But what have you done lately to get someone to Jesus Christ?
[12:26] Number one, you need to realize in verse one that there was a declared, a Mark chapter two, there was a declared presence. And if you're taking notes, verse one, declared presence. And again, he entered into Capernaum after some days.
[12:38] And it was noise that he was to the house. And so they've seen what he's done before in Mark chapter one. And all throughout the history, they've seen his fame spread abroad all throughout Galilee, all throughout Samaria, all throughout that northern region, all throughout everywhere over there.
[12:56] They've heard of this man named Jesus. And they said that he's, who is this guy? And he spoke as if he had authority in Mark chapter one. And so they hear about him. They know about him.
[13:07] But he's back. And so it was noise the second time that he's here. And I'm not going to skip out. I'm not going to sit at home when I know what he's done for other people. I'm going to be there.
[13:18] So much the more that the house was packed out. The door, the front, you couldn't even get to the front door. The windows were covered up. The back door, the escape, the single level houses, what it was.
[13:29] They didn't have no rich mansion that they have. It had a single level house, I would assume. Eight foot ceilings, four walls, simple, small little thing. But it was packed out.
[13:42] And you know what? That wasn't going to stop them. Their declared presence was so great that it was packed. They knew of him in chapter one. Look at verse 21. And they went into Capernaum in straightway on the Sabbath day.
[13:55] He entered into the synagogue and taught. And they were astonished at his doctrine. For he taught them as one that had authority and not as the scribes. So he wasn't like everybody else.
[14:07] Christian, you're not like everybody else. At least you shouldn't be. Your speech shouldn't be like everyone else. Your attitude shouldn't be like everyone else. You were raised right.
[14:17] You were taught the Bible. You know what it's right. You know what you should be doing. You shouldn't be like everyone else. There's Jesus Christ and there's scribes. And it would be foolish just to pair them up.
[14:28] They're not the same. Jesus Christ trumps everyone that you stack up and exited against. Buddha, Mohammed, the Catholic priest, your pastor. Jesus Christ trumps them all. Amen.
[14:40] There's a declared presence. So in verse 23. And there was in the synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out saying, let us alone. What have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth?
[14:53] Out thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. And Jesus rebuked him saying, hold thy peace. Come out of him. And when the unclean spirit had torn him and cried with a loud voice, he came out of him.
[15:07] And they were all amazed. In so much that they questioned among themselves saying, what thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits.
[15:18] And they do obey. And immediately his fame spread abroad throughout all the region of roundabout Galilee. So here, just in this passage of a simple one change, one fixing, it just went out throughout Galilee.
[15:32] All throughout Capernaum area. Everybody knew of him. What is this new thing? It ain't nothing new. There's nothing new under the sun. It's the same Jesus as he was and is and ever will be.
[15:44] It's the same one that will do it. And so you'll find that there's a, I gleaned from the last couple of verses in chapter one and verse 40. And there came a leper to him, beseeching him and kneeling down to him and saying unto him, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
[15:58] And Jesus moved with compassion, put forth his hand and touched him and sayeth unto him, I will be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately leprosy departed from him and he was clean.
[16:12] He was cleansed. And he straightway charged him and forthwith sent him away and sayeth unto him, see thou say nothing to any man. But go thy way, show thyself to the priest and offer thy cleansing for those things which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.
[16:28] For he went out and began to publish it much and to blaze abroad the matter. And so much that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places. And there came to him from every quarter.
[16:40] That guy ruined it for him. That guy ruined it. Thank God that there may be someone that will ruin it for someone else to tell how good Jesus Christ is. And I hope that that's you, Christian.
[16:52] I hope that every church out there, you go door knocking. If you do that, I hope you do. You go door knocking. Let me invite you to the best church in town. Everyone else is trash. My church has it because we have Jesus Christ to worship.
[17:06] And we have the word of God. We have the truth. And I want to trump everything else because we have Jesus Christ at the center. Do you? Amen, Christian. I hope you do. So you gleaned.
[17:16] That guy ruined it for everyone. He went and told the whole town that Jesus Christ is the greatest. Look what he's done in my life where before you wouldn't accept me, but now you will. I had leprosy.
[17:28] I had sores on me. You didn't want nothing to do with me. You put me about the region. You took me out of the camp. But now I'm able to come and live with you. Now I'm able to shop at your shops. Go to the same doctor.
[17:40] Be around your children. Look what Jesus Christ done for me. He could do it for you. And you all have that same testimony. Look what he's done in your life. Look what he's done.
[17:53] Look at what he's done for you. Well, that ain't much. It's a lot more than you think. If you just got into heaven, it's more than enough. But he's given you blessings.
[18:04] He's given you some help. He's given you some money in the bank to get here. To support a church. To keep the lights on this church. To fill the gaps. He's done a lot for you. You weigh it out.
[18:14] You'll find it. Number two, there's a definite predicament. Look at Mark chapter 2, verse 2. There's a definite predicament. He says, In a straight way, many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive them.
[18:28] No, not so much as about the door. And he preached the word unto them. There's a definite predicament. There's a hovered press. There's no way you're going to get.
[18:38] There's no way they could get to Jesus Christ. The door was covered. The people were there. There's nothing they could do. But a hopeless problem.
[18:48] Verse 3. And they came unto him, bringing one sick of the palsy, which was born of four. There's no way that guy's getting healed on his own. Doctors don't have any cure for it. Nothing they can do.
[19:00] They try to give you drugs. They try to give you everything that the chief health guy, whatever, can do with the big nose, pointy nose. He can do whatever he wants. Nothing you can do about that.
[19:12] You're paralytic, man. You got palsy. There's nothing you can do. No way that guy's getting to Jesus Christ on his own. I don't know which type, but I would assume that it would be the paralytical one because the paralytic one where he's paralyzed and he couldn't get there on his own because he needed those four guys.
[19:27] And I would just say, assume. But there's a helpless person there in verse 3. I couldn't get to him by himself. The verse said they carried him. Have you ever been around some people who are spiritual, who have spiritual palsy?
[19:41] I have. I have some people in our church. There's people in our church. There's a guy in our church that is spiritual palsy. He's in deep depression, man. There's no way he's getting out because he believes that.
[19:53] He believes there's no way he can get out of it. But I have the remedy. And you have the remedy. And it's like-minded believers with the word of God that will get them out of that depression.
[20:04] I battled with it, man. I know what it is. I know what it feels like. And the only thing that got me out was the word of God. And so you got this problem here. And you got this helpless person.
[20:15] I have this illustration here. A man fell into a pit and couldn't get himself out. And so all the types of classes of the world, all the different type of people in the world, they all come across him.
[20:26] And so a subjective person came along and said, I feel for you down there. A objective person came along and said, it's logical that someone would fall down there.
[20:38] A Christian scientist came along. You only think that you're in a pit. But you're not. You're just in a pit of your own mind and what you feel and what the world's going to give you and what you're going through.
[20:49] You're in a pit. It's okay. God will get you. It's all right. Try to conform to God. Try to make him easy in the pit. A Pharisee said, only bad people fall into a pit. A mathematician calculated how he fell into the pit.
[21:06] A news reporter wanted the exclusive story about the pit. A Confucius said, if you would have listened to me, you would not be in the pit. A Buddha said, your pit is only a state of mind.
[21:20] A realist said, that's a pit. A scientist calculated the pressure necessary between pounds per square inch to get him out of the pit. The geologist said, to appreciate the rock strata in the pit.
[21:35] The evolutionist said, you are rejected mutant destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle. In other words, he is going to die in the pit so that he cannot produce any pit falling offspring. The county inspector asked if he had a permit to be in the pit.
[21:49] The professor gave him a lecture on the elementary principles of the pit. The invasive person came along and avoided the subject of his pit altogether. The self-pitying person, you haven't seen anything until you've seen my pit.
[22:04] The optimist said, things could be worse. The pessimist said, things are worse. Jesus, seeing the man in his pit, took him by the hand and lifted him out of the pit.
[22:17] Thank God there's someone that sees you in a pit. Sees you at the bottom of the barrel. The one that sunk to the ground with a bunch of sin and says, I want the one on the bottom, not the one on the top.
[22:29] You know, the popcorn, we go to the movie theaters and we always want for the stuff on the top, right? We don't want the one on the bottom because it's all cold and hard. We want the popcorn on the top. I want the hot stuff that just fell off, the last in the bottle, man.
[22:43] Give me that. You ever come across and ask your wife, what do you want to drink or what do you want to eat? And she says, I don't want anything. Okay, fine. You sure, text me that. Text me, you don't want nothing, so I have it down.
[22:55] She says, I don't want nothing to come back with some fries. You come back with your burger, your drink, you sit down on the couch and here she comes coming along taking a couple fries. You said you didn't even want them.
[23:08] Well, I just have some of yours. No, I would have got you some fries if you wanted fries. But then she comes along and she takes that last fry. Don't take that last fry.
[23:18] That's a bad move, right? We always want the last lick of the ice cream. The last one of the famous, I don't even know the ice cream you like. What is that? The one with the chocolate on the very bottom cone with the nuts on top?
[23:31] That one. You don't get the bottom. I get the bottom. But thank God, God came across and Jesus Christ said, I'll take the bottom. And I'm getting you ready for lunch is what I'm trying to do.
[23:44] Number three, there's a distinct passion. A distinct passion here. There's very distinctive. There's only one type of passion. There's sincere desire.
[23:55] These guys, these four guys, they threw out every other logic of circumstance, occasion, a problem. So many Christians have the attitude or the emblem of today is flamboyant, flipping, I don't care.
[24:11] Whatever. Whatever you want to do. So wait. I'll go to that church. I'll show up whenever I want. I'll do whatever I want. They have that attitude. It's in us. I have that attitude. Ask the wife, what do you want to eat?
[24:22] I don't care. Pick something. I don't care. Whatever. Whatever's fine. And just pick something. And I'm working on that in my life to just throw out those three words.
[24:34] I don't care. That's hard, man. That's hard. Daisy says, I want to wear a dress. I don't care. I do care. You've got to wear a dress. I'm trying to throw those words out because I don't want.
[24:46] I do care. I want to care. I want to care for souls. I don't want to just leave it up to the pastor or the panel or the members of this church or the men of this church to just keep this thing going.
[24:56] Little things. If you see the need in a church, do the deed. See the need. Do the deed. And don't look for recognition. I'm glad Rich doesn't know who's what, who mows the lawn.
[25:10] I know it ain't me. I know it ain't him. And I'm glad for it. At my church, it's a lot of it. It's me because I see it. I do it. I don't ask. I just do it. And that cuts someone else out. But I don't care.
[25:21] You should have done it faster. It gets done either way. And so distinct passion. I don't care. They cared about a soul. These four guys, they knew Jesus was in town.
[25:32] And don't you think, I think if I'm in that four and I'm in that group and I have something in my life and I know Jesus Christ can take care of it, I'm not thinking of someone else. I have so many friends.
[25:43] There's a missionary, Brother Stedman, up in the Philippines. I called him yesterday to get a missionary letter and he's dealing with cancer. And he's off the field. And I'm like, how come we haven't heard this? You've been dealing with it since March.
[25:55] Why haven't you been calling us? Well, you've been getting my letters. No, we haven't. Well, you're on the list. Why haven't you got the letters? I don't know. So we got the letter and I started reading the letter and he's got cancer.
[26:05] And he's stage three. And then he's stage four. And he's taking oral chemo. And just dealing with so much. Man, I could have been playing for him. And now he's burning on my heart. Now I see someone hurting and I just want to go for it.
[26:18] I just got it. I had all my ounce of time is in that. And that's how you should be, Christian. This church, you guys should be automatically thinking about who sits and who sits where. And sit down and kneel and pray and picture the church and where people sit.
[26:31] You've been here long enough to know where people sit. I'm probably in someone's pew and I'm sorry. There's a distinct passion there. They didn't care about what they had to go through, what God can get them out of.
[26:42] That they knew someone that wasn't going to get there, that needed to be there. And they threw out the I don't care attitude. And they brought him to Jesus Christ and did whatever it took. They didn't get to the door and say, oh, I'm proud of you.
[26:55] I've got to go back. Or drop him off here. We've got to go inside and figure this out. I'm going to steam my way. It'd be a lot easier for me to warm myself through the people than bring a guy in.
[27:05] Like, we went to the Rose Bowl the 4th of July. And on the way out, they have these huge mansion gates. And huge gates at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. And they only have one gate open for people to leave.
[27:17] There's thousands of people here. And we all got a skimmier in this gate. And I'm holding on my keys, my wallet. And I'm holding my wife on my market ticket pocket because I'm squeezing to get out of here. Why don't they open it up to get it out?
[27:29] You know what? That's how, like, hell is. Hell is wide open for you to come on in. But heaven, very few that be that find it. They're not going to find it on their own. They'll find hell very easily.
[27:41] Because the gates are wide open. Free admission. Free ticket. All you've got to do is not do what you're supposed to do. Do anything else except Jesus Christ and you'll end up in hell.
[27:56] There's a sincere desire. Christian, I want to have that sincere desire. And I hope you do, too, for your town, for your church. Do you care about your friends on your social media platform?
[28:07] I know pastors kick it a lot. I use it as a simple as a tool. I know it's a tool. I know it's a tool of the devil. But I can use it as a tool for good. Correct?
[28:19] If you're on it, does your thousand friends know that you're a Christian? Your 2,000 followers or subscribers to your YouTube page? Brother Walter?
[28:31] I don't know. These little kids have these YouTube pages. And they want all these followers. Do they know you're a Christian? I got a kid in my old youth group up in Kansas City. His name is Wesley Pfeiffer.
[28:41] And he gets up there every night. And he goes, drawing with Wesley. And he's drawing Bible stories. You don't really see people that follow him. But the guy's on the attitude of, I don't want this out there.
[28:55] He's drawing Calvin. He's drawing Jesus on the cross. He's drawing this. He's drawing that. And he's trying to betray Jesus Christ on that platform. A little 8-year-old. Can't draw a lick.
[29:06] But his dad's an architect. He draws city plans. He draws his stuff. And so his sister draws great.
[29:17] Everybody draws great in that family but him. He could trace really good, though. There's a sensitive discernment. Sensitive discernment meant that they could not come nigh.
[29:28] There's no way. They could not come nigh because of the press. You couldn't come because of their problems. You can't get close to someone because they're still stuck on their phone.
[29:39] They're still stuck on themselves. You can't get near them because you want something you want to explain to them. They're still stuck on. They couldn't come nigh out of the press. And there was a discernment there saying the easy way is not going to cut.
[29:51] This isn't the 1960s of Billy Graham. This isn't Dr. Ruckman's age. This isn't Greg Eastep's age. By the way, Greg Eastep has passed. Anybody know that? But it's not that age anymore.
[30:03] As much as I would love it to be where people come into church hungry for the word of God, they're not coming that way. They can get it on YouTube. They can get it from Joel Osteen. They're not going to come that way.
[30:15] So what do we got to do without compromising the scripture? What do we have to do as a church to get them through the door? But you can't compromise the scripture. So does that mean thinking outside the box, having DBS, having Friend Day, having all these encouraging days for people to come in and see?
[30:32] Maybe. Dinner on the grounds or whatever. Thinking something that you can get them in. Brother Gilbert was great at that. Brother Wolski's trying to get good at that. But he needs you to follow.
[30:42] He needs you to put in the effort too. I don't know much about this church. He doesn't tell me much. But I know it's not just him. I've been in that shoes before. I've been a pastor. I know it's not all in one shoe.
[30:55] If it is in one shoe, you're going to kick him out for it. I'm telling you for a first-hand experience, that's what's going to happen. You guys got to pull through. And thank God you're pulling through. A great testimony from Rich.
[31:06] You're pulling through. You're helping out. Great job. Good discernment. You know, we aren't going to walk straight in the front door and plead Jesus to help.
[31:16] And we have to find another way that's according to Scripture. Not what other churches are doing. Whatever it takes for so more. It might mean doing something you've never done. It might mean you driving a little further than you're originally driving.
[31:32] You can always get more gas. You can always get another car. You can always rebuild the house. But you only have one shot to get this guy to Jesus Christ.
[31:43] And I'm going to take every opportunity to get him. You should as well. Tomorrow, when you go into work, you have one shot to get him to Christ before you turn them off. Unless God gives you the grace to get another one.
[31:58] And I hope he does. But you've got to have that opportunity, that mindset, my only chance. I've got some bad biological parents that are drunk and drugs and stuff like that.
[32:11] I've got one shot to reach them. And I know they're not going to listen to that Bible. They're going to watch me. They're going to watch my wife. They're going to watch their granddaughter. How am I going to raise my child?
[32:24] How am I going to live my life? Am I going to be accepting with what they're doing? Or am I going to rebuke that? You're not going to do that around my family. It's just discernment there.
[32:34] And you've got to pray for that. Sacrificial diligence in verse 4. When they could not come, unnigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where he was. And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed they were in and sick of the Paul's you lay.
[32:48] They didn't care. It wasn't their house. That owner is probably like, man, I just did that roof. And I've got to do it again. It didn't matter. Why? Why? The soul was more worse than the roof.
[33:01] Him getting Jesus Christ. We knew one thing. He's not going out the same way he came in. You're not coming in the same way you came out. Or you go out, you come in. You shouldn't.
[33:12] The word of God giveth life. The word of God cleanses. There's a kid in our youth group, Nate. I took Nate and Cruz to a baseball practice the other day or batting cages. And they said they were talking to two little teenagers in the back of the truck talking about reading their Bible.
[33:26] And Nate's telling him, you've got to retain. You've got to understand. You've got to try to retain the Bible. And he's like, I don't understand what I'm reading. I don't retain it. So I'm not going to read it. And Nate said the same thing.
[33:39] You're not going to retain it. Why read it? Well, that's not true. Why do you take a shower? You're just going to get dirty again. Right? To get cool. You read the Bible. You may not retain anything, but it's doing something inside that you know nothing about.
[33:52] And when the day comes where the dirt comes, and the dirt, you're oppressed with it, your clean inside is going to take care of that dirt. So whether you need to read it or whether you don't read it, you ought to read it because you need to be clean.
[34:04] You're filthy inside. I'm filthy inside. Sensitive discernment. There's a sacrificial diligence. There's a selfish disregard. If any moment inconveniences arise or it costs us anything, we're out.
[34:17] Right? If the job says go buy lunch, I'll pay you back. When you get back, you won't do that. Go pick up so-and-so for work. No, that's out of my way. Then I'm late. Boss says go get this or go get that.
[34:29] And you have to use your own pocket. You don't want to do it. Something needs fixing in the church, but because you ought to pay for it, the church won't reimburse it. Whether you ask for permission or not, you won't do it.
[34:41] I have that bad attitude of just seeing it and going and buying it, whether I have the money or not. And then dad says give the receipt to Pablo. Well, I didn't do it to get reimbursed.
[34:52] I did it so I can do it. So I'll be able to do it so I can look at that light bulb and say I put that in. Take a pride in what I worship at, what I do. And you guys do. Look at this building.
[35:02] You guys do. A little stupid thing like the lawn. Who cares about the lawn? You're inside. You're not looking at it, but the neighbors look at it. I pastored a church on 47,000 square feet.
[35:13] Huge, huge elementary school. We only used one little room. And it had three acres of dirt, of grass. That's a lot to mow. And I loved mowing. At a zero turn, I loved mowing.
[35:25] I did not like mowing. Three hours. And the worst part is weed whacking. You've got to weed whacking all those corners. Before, it was just a pigsty. It was a junkyard. When I took over, Dr. Ruckman told us, you can take over a church.
[35:37] If it doesn't look like a church, make it look like a church. First thing I did is I cleaned up the outside. Then I worked on the inside. Same thing with sanctuary. I worked on the sanctuary. Then I worked on everything else. Because I knew it didn't go past the sanctuary for the first year.
[35:51] And that was a rough patch. It's a rough patch to clean up the inside than it is on the outside. You can put on a suit and say, I'm a Christian. I look great. I feel great. I'm a Christian. But the inside is just deceitful and rotten as it was the day before.
[36:05] Selfless disregard. There's some teenagers that will do whatever it takes to stay pure, to respect their parents. I see teenagers right now that turn 18 and they just get the attitude, I can talk to my parents however they want.
[36:17] I put up with it for 18 years. I can say what to you? I can talk down to you. Just because you're 18 doesn't mean you get to throw out everything they taught you. To disrespect them or not talk to them respectfully.
[36:30] Just because you're 18 doesn't mean you get to do that. You never get to stop doing that, by the way. I like hearing some kids saying, yes, sir, yes, ma'am, to mom and dad. I'm young enough to know.
[36:40] I'm not old like everybody else that require that. Don't yes, sir, me. Just don't what me. I don't like to be whated. But, so disregard. So have some respect for each other.
[36:51] A certain age doesn't mean you can yell at your parent or break apart the things that they've taught you. Have some disregard. My dad, after the church asked me to resign, I didn't know what to do.
[37:02] I called my dad and my dad said, I said, Dad, what do I do with this? He's like, you're the pastor. You hold all the aces within your bylaws. You're the pastor. You can do whatever you want between you and God. But he says, you need to ask yourself, who's going to get the glory?
[37:15] If you stay, who's going to get the glory? If you break apart that church, who's going to get the glory? If you leave, who's going to get the glory? Christian, have some disregard to say, who's going to get the glory? For me doing this.
[37:26] Wake up. Put your shoes on tomorrow. Leave the front door. Who's getting the glory? My boss or me or who? Jesus Christ ought to be getting that glory. He's saying that song, glory, glory, glory.
[37:38] You know, disregard. It says, you think the man of the positive was only one in the group that lowered him down, didn't have anything Jesus could do for him? You don't engage because of the time.
[37:49] You don't go because it's far. You don't pay because it's too high. Where would you be if commitment to God was too long? Where would you be if the person who brought you to Christ or taught you some things would have said, you would never amount to nothing.
[38:04] You're a waste of time. I'm not giving you anything. You know where I would be if Kristen Bernal didn't snatch me out of before church and take me to the side of the room and show me eternal life and give me and help me to realize what I'm losing out on and what I'm walking away from.
[38:17] You know where I would be? I was talking to the brother and sister back there from Palmdale, and, you know, I'd be in Palmdale. I despise that place now. It has some sour taste for me, but if God called me to Palmdale, I would do it.
[38:33] I wouldn't like it, but I would do it. How many missionaries will come off the field before the church starts supporting them? I don't know how many missionaries y'all support. I don't know that, but it doesn't matter.
[38:47] But if you, how many missionaries are going to come off just for praying? I mean, I called all of our 40-something missionaries of Bayview when Dad turned over the thing for me to be the mission guide to do with the letters and stuff like that.
[38:58] I called every one of them and said, what can we do outside of prayer? I know prayer is important. What can we do outside of prayer to help you as our missionary? I got letters all back from what they need, and I got a little box together that I've accumulated from guys just between me and the guys.
[39:16] There's a boy's home in Joplin, Missouri that needs some muck boots from working in the fields and duck hunting and things like that. They need some muck boots. I need a couple of guys to get together with me and get some muck boots for these five guys.
[39:27] We got those. We sent Brother McNamara the money to buy them, and they all got muck boots. We've done whatever it took to help them in the Christian life. Why can't you?
[39:38] Why can't you go that extra mile to bring that friend to Jesus Christ? Well, if I do, I'll lose that friend. If I do, then I'll look like an idiot. Where would you be if tithing was too much? You know, I've been saved 15 years.
[39:52] June 25th was 15 years. And I've never regretted tithing. I got 15 years down. I don't know how much it is. I don't really care. But I know it's something to God.
[40:04] I've never regretted getting saved for 15 years. Never, not once. Never regretted coming to church, not once. It's a drag, but I never regretted it after I left. Where would you be?
[40:16] How many have got saved in a church service? Let me see. How many have got saved in a church service? Two? Yeah. Guess what? That means someone was studying when you weren't. Someone was in the Bible when you weren't.
[40:28] And thank God for that. Some preacher was studying. Some soul winner didn't punch out the clock like you do. Someone prayed that Christ would stick. Where is the selfless disregard in the Christian life today?
[40:42] Where is the selfless? Will you do a little more so someone can go to heaven? My mom, she's 80 years old and she's out there on the street corner for an hour and a half holding the Bible up and passing out some tracks.
[40:54] Every guy that gets off the bus on First and Gaffey, mom is on. Mom is on. Sick I'm like a dog, man. She was out there a few weeks ago and this young guy got off the bus named Andrew.
[41:05] He gets off the bus and he didn't know it but he ran into my mom. Mom started talking with him. Never read the Bible. Never went to church. Never read the gospel. Trust in Jesus Christ and saved his soul right there and there.
[41:17] Didn't know what he was stepping off the bus for. But one lady, 80 years old, didn't let her age, didn't let the circumstance ever help. Bacon in the sun. Bones hurting.
[41:27] Didn't care. Did whatever it took to get someone in Jesus Christ. How about you, Christian? And you're letting the soul go right by the gas station. You're letting the pastor take all the load. You're letting the congregation do all everything.
[41:39] You should be doing something. Where's your disregard today? Number four, there's a devoted persuasion. We got them. What got them on the roof? I told you to unline in your Bible in Mark chapter 2.
[41:52] Their faith. Those four guys' faith got that sick of the palsy to Jesus Christ. What got them on the roof to take the shingles off?
[42:02] Their faith. What got them ripping up the floor? Faith. Faith will move you more than your money will. Faith will move you more than your friends will. Faith will move you more than fame will. Faith will move you more than position will.
[42:18] Hebrews 11, 6. But without faith is it impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Romans 10, 17. So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
[42:30] Now faith. Hebrews 11, 1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When you live by faith, can I remind you, there's a disparaging party.
[42:41] Verse 6. Here comes the haters. You're going to live by faith. The haters are going to come at you. Verse 6 says, but there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their heart.
[42:53] They weren't talking to each other. But in their heart, they're saying, who is this guy I think he is? Who is he that saves sins but God? And they put blasphemy, and they put Jesus Christ in the same word, and they're ignorant for it.
[43:06] You have guys out there like John Calvin that put everything in the works and limited atonement. They take away the grace. They take away the atonement. They take away the Jesus Christ died on the cross. And they throw everything else in it, and they're blaspheming.
[43:18] They're ignorant. You put anything else outside of what Jesus Christ did in death and burial and resurrection to save you, you're ignorant. So how about you, Christian?
[43:30] Are you doing anything? Are you looking for the haters? Are you listening to the haters? Get ready. John 15, 18, the Bible says, if the world hates you, you know that it hated me first before it hated you.
[43:44] There's some idle reality. The person that's sitting around doing nothing realizes the most that other people are doing wrong. They're scribes. They're not there helping Jesus Christ.
[43:56] They're there to blaspheme them. They're there to mess things up. And they're looking for good. They're looking at the good thing, and they're messing it up. The ideal, the idle reality brings out disparaging parties.
[44:09] The ignorant reasoning. They are reasoned in their heart. You know, if you bring up blaspheme and Jesus together, that's ignorant. They're speaking from an unformed perspective. And it is never right for a Christian to stop doing the right thing because someone said the wrong thing.
[44:22] You know, there's a message out there. The God of order. God of order. For the creationists say that in order for a creation to exist, they have to have a point of origin. We have the point of origin.
[44:34] In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. There's the origin. But they say a big bang was it, and they have to have a point to exist. Just because someone said something you don't agree with doesn't mean you get to stop doing what you're doing.
[44:47] You may not like the preaching this morning. You may not like the Bible, what it cuts and it does to you. You may not like it, but it's the word of God. What are you going to do with it? God is a God of order. And he said things.
[44:57] The only thing that trumps above you that you should be looking for is the word of God. And you to put that lightly will be an ignorant thing for you to do. It's an ignorant thing for me to do. The inward resentment, they're in their hearts.
[45:08] They're reasoning. No one can hear it. No one's saying, keep it down over there. They're in their heart talking. Who does this guy think he is? Their attitude, their body language says, I don't agree with this.
[45:20] You know, there's a, there's a, I was watching a history channel of some gang members when I was a kid. And, and the gang members, what they, what they believe, they're Catholic most of the time. And what they believe is they have a gold chain around them.
[45:32] And when they tuck in that chain, they're about to do something that God will not see them. So they think that their little guy cannot see them by putting them behind their shirt and they're about to go kill someone. You see how foolish that is? How petty that is?
[45:43] But that's what they believe. And there's nothing you can do that God will not see. There's nothing you can hide from God about. He knows the thoughts and the intents of the heart. He knows that you're thinking without even saying it.
[45:54] He knows what's going on. There's a divine power there. There's a verse 6. He knows they're divine. But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning their heart. He knows what's going on. Jesus, just because you don't say it aloud doesn't mean he can't hear it.
[46:09] He is concerned about your spirit, not your speech. And I'm fumbling and speaching. I can't do it. I'm not a good speaker. What are you reasoning in your heart and spirit about? Some devotion, some things that God has put in your heart to do and to surrender to and you won't do it.
[46:24] What are you reasoning for? If God said to do it, you ought to be doing it. You won't regret it. Some Christians have been saved long enough, you won't regret it. Exclusive omniscience in verse 8.
[46:35] He's immediately, when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, he said to them, why reason these things in your heart? He's knowing it. He's omniscient. Jesus Christ, there's nothing going to get past him.
[46:46] Nothing you could sly or skivvy and try to maneuver that you can't get out of. God's going to see it. There's an expressed objection. What do you have a problem with? Every time you do something for God, someone else will have a problem with it.
[46:59] And Jesus handled it. God said, Jesus Christ says, I will repay. Vengeance is mine. Not to take it up on yourself. Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Know that your father hath need, hath, will take care of things.
[47:14] Don't spend your whole life trying to defend yourself from all the attackers. You need to realize his emphatic observation. I love it. I love it. He says that you may know.
[47:24] Man, I'm glad I know what Jesus Christ did for me. I know. I'm glad I don't have to guess. I know. I'm glad I don't have to hope and say I hope I get in because of what I've done and what I've been on good works or because I tithe or because I go to a local church or because of this or that.
[47:40] Because my pastor. Because my dad's a deacon or my dad's a pastor. Or I'll get there on my own. I'm glad I don't have to look for that. I know with a shadow of a doubt that I'm going to heaven.
[47:50] Do you? If you know, then you could tell someone else what you know. Knowledge is power, the world says. You have the powerful knowledge of God and you're not using it.
[48:03] There's effective omnipotence. There's supreme authority to forgive sins. He's omnipotent. He's all powerful. He knows. He's going to do it all. Who could save sins but God only?
[48:15] Don't you know who I am? I'm God in the flesh. I'm the son of God. God. I'm Jesus Christ. He's not blasphemy. He's not boasting. But he's saying, if you know me, you wouldn't be asking that.
[48:26] Like in John chapter 4, that lady asked for some water. And the Lord said, if you drink of this water, you'll never thirst again. He's not talking about water. He's talking about eternal life. There's an exquisite act.
[48:39] And the exquisite act is verse 12. He says, immediately he arose and took up the bed and went forth before them all in so much that they were all amazed and glorified God saying, we never saw it in this fashion.
[48:51] Can you? Can you say, I've never saw this on this fashion. I've tasted. I've dipped around in different religions and different things. And I'm glad I don't have a religion.
[49:02] I have a relationship. I've dipped around in different Bibles. And I'm glad I don't have the inerrant word of God. I'm glad I have the perfect and holy word of God. And exquisite, I'm so glad Jesus Christ has the authority to heal our sicknesses.
[49:17] He does, by the way. God wants you to get COVID-19. You'll get COVID-19. Ain't nothing you can do about it. The vaccine, nothing the vaccine will save you from.
[49:28] Lastly, there's devoted praise. And that's the main emphasis this morning. Devoted praise, Christian. Verse 12, the Bible says in chapter 2, we never saw it in this fashion.
[49:40] And they immediately glorified God. Immediately. Devoted praise. Where's all the praise going? You read the book of Psalms. Where's all those praises and those hymns and those songs?
[49:53] It's all going to glory to God Almighty. Immediate amazement. Instinctive adoration. They never saw it in a fashion. 1 Kings chapter 8, verse 81. Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the Lord our God to walk in his statutes, to keep his commandment as at this day.
[50:09] Is he worthy of praise, Christian? I said, is he worthy of praise? Then how come you're not praising him? It's his worship, correct?
[50:20] It's his time of worship. And I'm not doing the who and the howling, the jumping around, and the who. I'm not doing that. It's spirit and in truth. It's not in soul or in body. And thank God for it.
[50:31] Because we're making a fool of ourselves if we did. So the people that are watching will praise him. Someone's watching you. Your kids are watching you.
[50:44] Other members of the church are watching you. Whatever it takes. Will you give, what will you give up for him? Is it that stupid phone? Is it Facebook?
[50:56] The app, as my dad calls it? How about it? Is it some friends you've been hanging around with too long that don't encourage you to do right things?
[51:08] And they encourage you to do whatever you feel like it. You don't get to do whatever you feel like it. Your body is not your own. You're a bop with a price. Christian, you don't get to do whatever you want in the Christian life and still be saved.
[51:22] You're missing out on a lot of rewards if you do. Will you study more? Will you give him something? Some of you young kids in here need to realize I'm going to give God my purity.
[51:34] I'm going to give him my best. I'm going to give him everything I ever have that he's given me. Because he's worthy of it. I'm giving him my daughter. I'm giving him my relationship. I'm giving him my job. If he wants me to keep this job, he'll keep it.
[51:46] If he wants me to call to preach, I'll preach. I knew one thing when I went out for PBI. If God wanted me in PBI, he will keep me in PBI. And I asked Brother Donovan, I barely made it through PBI.
[51:58] But God kept me there to finish it. If God wants me in Sylmar, California, God's going to keep me in Sylmar, California. I'm talking for you. God wants me in San Pedro, California, and that's where I'll be.
[52:10] Will you study more? How about will you pray harder? Will you dare to be a Daniel more? Will you cut something out of your budget? Give more to missions? Will you spend gas when gas is going up?
[52:21] You can always get more gas. You can always get another car. But there is one Jesus. One shot at eternity. If they won't get in with that one Jesus who was a Nazarene, they won't be able to spend eternity with him.
[52:37] Are you going to do whatever it takes? I pray for Bible Baptist Church of Sylmar every day. It's in my prayer journal that I have. I pray for this church. For you to do whatever it takes.
[52:50] You have a board meeting coming up, and I have no idea and no care and no business even knowing about it. But are you going to do whatever it takes to be in support of your pastor? I could say this because he's not here.
[53:01] I don't know who you are, but whatever he motions, if it's right and it backs up with the Bible, you ought to be in agreement with it. Right? Your pastor is in the right mindset, which he is, and I know him to be.
[53:16] He needs your help. He needs some Christians that will give him more attitude, give him more than he gets. This church needs more of you than he just gets on Sundays and on Wednesdays.
[53:32] Will you give him more? Will you do whatever it takes to give him more? He's worthy of it. You show me where he's not worthy of it, and I'll let it go. You show me where this church doesn't deserve more out of you, and I'll let it go.
[53:46] When Paul wrote to the church of Vesel and I go, who got the letter? The members did. And what did they do about that letter? You got a letter in the Bible that says to do some things for the church, and what are you doing? Just coming on Sundays.
[53:57] I'm just pew-filling. Uh-uh. Do more. You could do more. Something else is going to have to give, and you know what? If it's for the church and for God, God's going to prosper it. So how about it, Christian?
[54:10] Will you do whatever it takes? Brother Rich or Brother Russ?