In your name we pray, amen.
Man, the title of the sermon this evening
is whatsoever is right in your eyes.
Whatsoever is right in your eyes,
the Bible says in Deuteronomy 12 verse eight,
ye shall not do after all the things
that we do here this day,
every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
So the law of God says, hey,
do not just go through life doing whatever is right
in your own eyes.
We as a church, we as a congregation,
we're not just gonna do whatever is right
in our own eyes, right?
God is the one who determines what is right and wrong,
and more specifically, it is the word of God
that spells out right and wrong,
not just what we think is right
or what we feel is right.
Of course, famously in the book of Judges,
we have this statement that comes up over and over again
in the end part of Judges
where we just have horrific things going on.
And really, there's one case of just absurd idolatry,
just outrageously unbiblical, ungodly idolatry,
kind of just showing the total disregard for God's law
with regard to spiritual things, right?
Then you have another story at the end of the book of Judges
showing just the most outrageous violation
of people physically,
where you have the concubine that ends up getting
violated and killed and so forth by sodomites.
And so it's like you have these two examples
at the end of the book of Judges,
one having to do with man's relationship with God
and one having to do with man's relationship
with his fellow man.
And both of them, it says of it,
in those days there was no king in Israel,
but every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
So when we do what's right in our own eyes,
when we just follow our heart and just trust our instinct
instead of going to the word of God,
we're going to end up violating God's law spiritually.
And also we're going to end up violating our fellow man
and harming the people around us.
And that's what we're going to see tonight in the sermon.
And so in those days there was no king in Israel,
every man did that which was right in his own eyes.
Well, here's the problem with that.
Proverbs chapter 21 verse two says this,
every way of a man is right in his own eyes, right?
I mean, people do what they think is right.
Virtually everybody on some level,
no matter how evil or sick they are,
they think like, oh, well,
this is what I'm supposed to be doing.
I'm doing the right thing.
You know, and I brought up this example before,
I just brought it up recently in a sermon,
but you know, the suicide bombers over in Israel, right?
You'll have these Muslim jihadists over there.
And look, I'm not for the Jewish state,
I'm not for Israel, I'm not for the Jews,
I'm not for Judaism, but what you'll have
is all these Muslim extremists
that will literally just get on a bus in the morning
where men, women, and children are on their way to school,
on their way to work, and they'll just blow themselves up
and just blow up innocent people.
And I was reading about a particular young man
where his mom is literally making him his favorite meal
because she knows that he is gonna go
blow himself up on a bus.
He's just gonna go get on a bus
and just randomly kill Israelis.
And so she's making him his favorite meal,
she's hugging him and saying,
son, I'm so proud of you, you're such a good boy.
Mommy is so proud, she sends him out the door
to go blow up a bunch of innocent people, okay?
But why?
Because he thinks that this is what is right,
because he's following a sick twisted evil religion
called Islam.
And you know what, there are all kinds of Jews
following Judaism, doing evil things as well,
because guess what, I got news for you,
every religion other than Christianity is false and evil.
It's of the devil.
I don't care if it's Hinduism, Buddhism, atheism,
there's no other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved
than the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
That's what the Bible says.
And so, again, this attitude of just,
well, you just gotta do what you think is right,
follow your heart.
Well, the Bible says the heart is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked who can know it.
You know, Jesus talked about this too in John chapter 16.
He said, the time will come when whosoever killeth you
will think that he doeth God's service.
I mean, the Jews are being super religious
as they're crucifying Jesus.
They're like, well, I wanna crucify Jesus,
but we gotta make sure that we don't get defiled
because we gotta do the Passover.
What?
Jesus is the Passover.
You know, they're missing it.
But people doing what's right in their own eyes
is always gonna lead to a moral failure.
We've got to follow what the Bible says.
Why?
Because every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
but the Lord pondereth the hearts.
The Bible says in Proverbs 12.5,
the way of a fool is right in his own eyes.
But he that hearkenedeth unto counsel is wise.
He's saying, look, you've gotta sometimes listen
to other people and most importantly,
you gotta listen to the Lord.
Because when it says whoso hearkened unto counsel
is wise, yeah, you could get counsel
from other godly Christians and good people
who know the Bible, but at the end of the day,
there's also just the counsel of the Lord.
What is the Lord counsel in his word?
Now you're there in Psalm 33, hopefully,
that's where we started the service.
Psalm 33, verse 10 says this,
the Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to not.
Right, so whatever their stupid advice
that they give you, God's gonna bring that to nothing.
He makeeth the devices of the people of none effect,
the counsel of the Lord standeth forever
the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord
and the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.
Notice how God's counsel stands unto all generations,
meaning that God has the same advice for me in 2026
that he had for my dad back in the 70s
or my grandpa back in the 40s and 50s or whatever.
And it's the same every single generation,
God's word is still saying the same thing.
Although, culture can dramatically swing
one way or the other, where people are super strict
in one generation, super lenient in another
and then they get overly strict, overly lenient,
just making it up as they go along, folks.
But the Bible says the counsel of the Lord
standeth forever his thoughts to all generations.
And so, bless is the nation whose God is the Lord
and the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance.
Go through it to Proverbs chapter 19,
Proverbs chapter 19, and while you're turned
to Proverbs 19, I'm gonna read for you
from Jeremiah chapter 23.
Actually, turn to Proverbs 19
and then turn to Proverbs, or that, Jeremiah 23.
I want you to look at both, Proverbs 19
and then we're gonna go to Jeremiah 23.
But we're talking about the counsel of the Lord.
It says in Proverbs 19, 20, here counsel
and receive instruction that thou mayest be wise
in thy latter end.
There are many devices in a man's heart.
Nevertheless, the counsel of the Lord,
that shall stand, right?
And you know what?
This right here is a rock.
It was here before I was born.
It'll be here after I'm gone.
People can get mad at it.
They can rage against it.
They can try to replace it with a counterfeit
and some watered-down, NIV,
numeric and standard, legacy, standard Bible or whatever.
But you know what?
At the end of the day, the King James Bible
is not going anywhere, because it's God's word.
It's a rock.
It'll always be here.
Jeremiah 23, verse 16 says this.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
harken not unto the words of the prophets
that prophesy unto you.
He's saying, you know,
these preachers that are preaching to you,
he says they make you vain.
They speak a vision of their own heart,
not out of the mouth of the Lord.
They say still unto them that despise me.
The Lord has said, you shall have peace, right?
So people that just totally despise God,
hate the Lord, don't care what the Bible says,
they just tell those people,
oh man, it's gonna be great, you're fine.
You'll have peace.
There's no consequences.
Love ya girl or whatever.
You shall have peace.
And they say unto everyone that walketh
after the imagination of his own heart,
no evil shall come upon you.
For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord
and hath perceived and heard his word?
Hey, I got news for you.
I have, you have, we all have,
because we have the Bible.
We have stood in the counsel of the Lord
and we have heard his word.
What a blessing it is to have the entire Bible
at your fingertips right here.
We've heard it.
We're there.
Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth.
Verse 19, in fury, even a grievous whirlwind,
it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked.
The anger of the Lord shall not return
until he hath executed,
until he hath performed the thoughts of his heart
in the latter days, ye shall consider it perfectly.
And here's the problem,
is that unfortunately the blessings
and the judgments of God,
they're on a delayed reaction, unfortunately.
Quite unfortunately, as it turns out.
And so the problem is,
things will not happen immediately
and then people will kind of think like,
oh, I'm getting away with it, right?
Or somebody will do a lot of really good things
and say like, why am I not being blessed by God?
Where's the reward?
Where's the blessing?
Ever since I started going to church
and soul win and do good,
it's like my life's gotten harder.
Things are getting worse.
The problem is that these things happen on a delay
and so it says here,
in the latter days,
ye shall consider it perfectly.
So it's like, yeah, God's gonna punish the wicked,
they're all getting smoked.
And it's like, in the end,
of course you're gonna look back and see that.
You're gonna look back
and see how the good people were blessed
and the bad people got smoked.
But the problem is,
when you're living it,
when you're there,
when you're in the middle of it,
it doesn't feel that way,
it doesn't seem that way
because of the timing of it.
And this emboldens the wicked
and discourages the righteous, unfortunately.
But without faith,
it's impossible to please God.
And so we just have to believe
that God's promises
are ultimately going to come true.
And in the latter days,
yeah, you look back,
you consider it perfectly,
it all makes sense.
And you say, like the song says,
Jesus led me all the way.
Look at verse 21,
it says, I've not sent these prophets yet they ran.
I've not spoken to them yet they prophesied,
but if they had stood in my counsel
and it caused my people to hear my words,
then they should have turned them
from their evil way
and from the evil of their doings.
Now go if you were to Romans chapter 13.
So we notice so far you got people doing
what's right in their own eyes.
Every idiot thinks that their way is right.
The Bible says everybody in general
thinks that their way is right.
We saw in the book of Judges
the horrible spiritual atrocities
and the physical atrocities that take place
when people just make their own conscience
or their own heart or their own opinions,
the guideline instead of,
thus sayeth the Lord,
engraven in stone, black and white,
thus sayeth the Lord.
That's the problem.
And we see that the counsel of the Lord
stands forever, every generation.
It doesn't change.
Somebody could listen to a recording of this sermon
500 years from now and it's still gonna make sense.
They could listen to recordings of most of my sermons
and 500 years from now,
99% of it's still gonna make sense.
And it's still gonna be the same type of things
that people are dealing with,
maybe in different quantities,
but life is life, human nature is human nature.
Romans 13 though is important
because it talks about the latter half of the law
because remember the law really is in two sections,
loving God and loving your neighbor.
And we talked about how in Judges
they failed on both accounts
from doing what's right in their own eyes.
But look at Romans 13, verse eight,
it says, oh no man anything,
but to love one another,
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
And of course, Brother Sigoura
preached a great sermon this morning
about charity and about the importance
of loving one another.
But here's the thing about loving one another
is that the Bible says let's not love in word,
neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
Love is shown by our actions.
And so if you're loving your neighbor,
you know what you're not gonna do?
You're not gonna commit adultery.
What does the Bible say?
That shall not commit adultery, verse nine,
that shall not kill, that shall not steal.
Oh, and by the way, if you have one
of these stupid worthless modern versions
like the NIV or the ESV,
it'll leave out that shall not bear false witness.
Isn't that funny?
That shall bear false witness.
A book of lies leaves out the commandment,
that shall not bear false witness in Romans 13.
That shall not bear false witness,
that shall not covet.
And if there be any other commandment, right?
Because the Ten Commandments
is like a Cliff's Notes version of God's moral law.
So he's saying, look, these are the basics.
Don't kill, don't steal, don't commit adultery,
don't bear false witness, and don't covet.
And those five will keep you pretty busy anyway,
and those five will condemn
a lot of our society right now.
But he says, look, this is all summed up
along with all the other commandments
that are along those lines.
Briefly, you could just put it
on the back of a postage stamp,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.
Love worketh no ill to his neighbor,
therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
And it's funny how people will say
that they love you as they're harming you.
As they're working you ill,
as they're bearing false witness,
oh, but I love you, I love you so much
as they're bearing false witness against you.
And you know what's funny about that is
these are the same people that say,
oh, you're mean, you're harsh,
you're tone, or whatever.
Now, when I was a teenager,
this was a major, major problem in churches,
and I'm sure it still is today,
but this was all the rage when I was a teenager.
This doctrine was sweeping the nation
of, hey, we are free in Christ.
Everybody had this on the tip of their tongue,
and to them this meant commandments don't matter.
So it was like everybody had on the tip of their tongue,
we're free in Christ,
and any time when I was a teenager,
if you took the Bible and showed someone,
hey, what you're doing is a sin.
This is wrong, this is not okay.
Look what the Bible says about it.
Here's what they would say to you.
They'd say, look, I'm glad that the Holy Spirit
has spoken to you about that,
but the Holy Spirit hasn't spoken to me about that.
And you know, God doesn't want us following the letter.
He wants us to walk in the spirit.
And so, you know, if the spirit speaks to me about that,
then I'll stop doing it.
But until the spirit speaks to me about that,
now you shouldn't do it,
because it's clear that the Holy Spirit
has spoken to you about it.
So it's like different rules for different people
based on what the spirit is saying to who.
Now, put up your hand if you've heard that idea before
of like, hey, the spirit hasn't spoken to me about that.
And they will literally act like
there's different rules for different people
just based on what the Holy Spirit brings up.
You know, here's what I think is going on.
I think some of us are just actually listening
to the Holy Spirit,
and then other people aren't.
So it's like the Holy Spirit hasn't spoken to me about that.
Well, he probably doesn't tell you much.
He probably hasn't spoken to you about much,
you know, which explains the way that you're living.
But what a wicked thing to just look at the Bible
and just say, well, that doesn't matter to me
because I'm waiting to hear a still small voice
tell me that.
Well, why don't you just let the Bible tell you that?
You know, you can't just sit there
and wait for God to tell you everything.
Like basically what they'll do is
this is how they test right and wrong.
They do something and if they don't feel guilty
they're like must be fine.
Because feeling guilty is the Holy Spirit
speaking to me about it.
So if you can just do it without feeling,
but here's what I've noticed is some of the most rotten
people can just do bad things
without feeling bad about it.
But they're just so free in Christ.
But here's what's going on, my friend.
Because a lot of people will try to twist this
and say, well, it's all about
just follow the Spirit's guidance
and just walk in love.
And look, obviously every lie is based on some truth.
The true story is that if you're being led of the Spirit,
yeah, you don't even need to even worry about commandments
because when you're being led of the Spirit
you're gonna be automatically doing the right things.
Because if you walk in the Spirit
you'll not fulfill the last of the flesh, right?
And obviously if you love your neighbor as yourself
you're automatically not going to kill, steal,
commit adultery, bear false witness or covet.
Because you're walking in the Spirit
because you're walking in love
because you love your neighbor.
Why would I steal from my neighbor
if I love my neighbor?
But what they're twisting it though
is they will be violating God's word,
working ill to their neighbor,
doing things that are just boldly against the word of God
and just saying, oh, I'm following the Spirit
and I'm walking in love.
No, you're a liar is what you are
because you're just lying and saying you are
but this is the check, the test.
See, yeah, we wanna walk in love,
wanna walk in the Spirit.
But here's the test.
If we're truly walking in the Spirit
and if we're truly walking in love
we were following the Bible.
So if we go to the Bible
and the Bible is inconsistent with our life
then that is proof that we're not walking in Spirit.
Like if I'm stealing
then that's proof I'm not walking in the Spirit, right?
Is it possible for someone to just be
committing adultery in the Spirit?
Absolutely not.
And that's where this bizarre doctrine falls apart
of claiming that freedom in Christ simply means
that we just let our conscience be our guide
and we just do what's right in our own eyes
and just go through life waiting to feel bad
or not feel bad about things
and that that's how we determine right or wrong.
Basically everybody's just being their own God
and just deciding what's right and wrong
instead of submitting themselves onto the law of God.
Now look, when it comes to salvation,
yeah, we don't have to keep commandments to be saved.
We don't have to live a good life to be saved.
If we did, we'd all be in trouble
because we've all sinned
and come short of the glory of God.
There is none righteous, no, not one.
But after we're saved, once we've believed on Christ,
once we're saved, we are eternally secure.
No man can pluck us out of his hand.
Nothing can separate us from the love of God
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But we still should do the right things.
Not to earn our salvation.
Our salvation's already paid for, it's already done
so that we can please God
so that we can have a relationship with God
so that we can help other people,
be a blessing to other people
so that we can avoid chastisement
so that we can earn rewards and so forth.
That's why we should continue to care
what the Bible says about what's right and wrong
even though we're already saved.
See, the famous verse says,
for by grace are you saved through faith
and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God,
not of works lest any man should boast
for we are his workmanship
created in Christ Jesus unto good works
which God has before ordained
that we should walk in them.
So works don't save us.
We're saved by faith, not by works,
but God has saved us unto good works
meaning that once we're saved,
he now has works that he has before ordained
that we should walk in them
and we should do those things
and we should be every day seeking the will of God
and denying self and taking up the cross
and following Jesus.
That's what we should be doing.
It's nothing to do with whether we go to heaven
but it has a lot to do with whether we're a good son
or a bad son,
whether we're an obedient Christian
or a disobedient Christian, right?
Whether we're right with God walking in the spirit
or just carnal and backslidden and whatever.
And so we wanna make sure that we get that right.
But here's the thing,
just not committing adultery,
not stealing, not killing,
not bearing false witness and not coveting
and also obviously any other such law,
that's only half of the equation.
If you want God to look down on you
and say, hey, you're a good person,
you're doing well,
obviously nobody's perfect
but we want God to look down on us
and be pleased with us
and we want him to be happy with our lives
and we want him to bless us and so forth.
This Romans 13 passage right here
is only half of the equation
and not only that,
it is the less important half.
How do I know that?
We'll go to Mark chapter 12.
Go to Mark chapter 12 verse 28.
Now it's super important, don't get me wrong.
It's super important,
but the other half is even more important
to where this takes a back seat actually.
And let's see what Jesus Christ Himself
had to say about this
in the Gospel of Mark chapter 12
and we're gonna begin reading in verse number 28.
Let me get there myself.
Mark 12, 28
and one of the scribes came
and having heard them reasoning together
and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him,
which is the first commandment of all?
And Jesus answered him,
the first of all the commandments is,
hero is real, the Lord our God is one Lord
and thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart and with all thy soul
and with all thy mind and with all thy strength,
this is the first commandment.
And the second is like, namely this,
thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,
there is none other commandment greater than these.
So it sounds to me like it's 51% love God
and it's 49% love your neighbor
or whatever percent you wanna put on that,
but number one is loving God
and number two is loving your neighbor.
So if you're gonna screw one of these up,
you certainly don't wanna screw up
the one about loving God, right?
And I'm not condoning not loving your neighbor
because you're supposed to do both.
They're both connected, you know?
And if you say, oh, I love God
and I hate my brother, you're a liar, right?
The Bible says, he that loveeth God
should love his brother also.
Obviously they're connected, obviously they're entwined,
but what we have today is a bunch of people
who wanna completely ditch the first part
and go straight to the second commandment and say,
all that matters is just that we just love people
and just follow basic morality.
Well, no, there's a bigger commandment
than loving people and following basic morality.
You know what the biggest commandment is?
Loving God.
So how about this one?
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Isn't that super important?
Go if you would to Exodus chapter 20.
Let's go take a look at it, Exodus chapter 20.
This is the moral law of God.
The moral law of God is not simply just
thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill,
thou shalt not commit adultery.
No, the moral law of God is
thou shalt have no other gods before me.
That's step one.
And you say, well, yeah, but the stealing,
that's the most important part, really?
Because Jesus didn't say,
the first commandment is love your neighbor
and the second is love God.
Is that what he said?
No, he said, the first commandment is love God
and the second commandment is love your neighbor.
And it's not a coincidence, there's 10 commandments
and in Romans 13, the latter five
are summed up as love your neighbor.
To me, that would mean that the first five
are summing up love God.
So it's like you got five commandments for love God
and five commandments for love your neighbor.
That's how the 10 commandments break down.
And so this is what the Bible is teaching
that we need to first and foremost,
love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul
and strength.
Remember that famous interview where that guy interviewed me
and he said, isn't the first commandment
and the 10 commandments, isn't it thou shalt not kill?
Right?
He's a Jew.
He doesn't even have to mess with the New Testament.
He doesn't even have to think about the New Testament.
It's like, bro, you had one job.
You guys only think that the first five books
of the Bible are even super holy.
You had one job and you can't even figure out
the most famous passage in the most famous part
of the most famous, you know, part
that you supposedly care about as a Jew.
Isn't the first commandment, thou shalt not kill?
I said, no, the first commandment is
thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Let me take you to Shula, Mr. Jewish Shlomo,
whatever your name is, or not Shula, I'm speaking German.
Shul, that's what they call it.
In Yiddish it's shul, so I goofed up the joke
just a little bit, but not much.
Nobody cares, because most people here
don't speak Yiddish anyway.
But look at Exodus chapter 20 and it says in verse one,
God spake all these words saying,
I'm the Lord thy God, which have brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Commandment number one is,
thou shalt have no other gods before me.
So you say, oh, I'm gonna go to heaven
because I'm a good person.
Well, not if you're not worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not if you don't believe that the Lord Jesus Christ
is the son of God.
If you're worshiping some other God,
how are you a good person?
And by the way, if you don't have the son,
you don't have the father.
So no, you're not a good person
if you have a God other than the God of the Bible
because step one in the moral law is,
thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Okay, let's continue to test
whether people are good people or not.
Verse four, thou shalt not make under the integraven image.
Look, if somebody's doing idolatry,
oh yeah, but they mean well,
their heart's in the right place.
Hey, thou shalt not make under the integraven image.
It's idolatry.
You bound down to statues, you're praying to statues,
you're serving images and idols.
That's idolatry and you're not right with God.
The third commandment is this,
thou shalt not take verse seven,
the name of the Lord by God in vain,
for the Lord will not hold him guilless
that taketh his name in vain.
And so taking God's name in vain,
meaning that you are using God's name,
naming the name of God flippantly
and in a cavalier manner,
just using it as a cuss word,
using it as an expletive.
You know, whenever you say the name of God,
you should be talking to God or about God.
You shouldn't be just throwing it out there
as a, you know, like some kind of a valley girl,
kind of, oh my God, you know, it's blasphemous, right?
You need to not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.
What does in vain mean?
In vain means empty.
It means there's no point.
There's no reason.
It's just you're just using the name of God
and there's no purpose.
You're just using it
because you hit your thumb with a hammer.
You're just using it as an expletive.
And then the fourth commandment is this,
remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.
Now here's the thing about this
is that in the New Testament,
it is specifically spelled out
that Jesus Christ is our Sabbath.
The whole point of working six days
and then resting on the seventh day
was that he that has entered into his rest,
meaning that we are trusting in Jesus Christ as our savior,
we're resting in the finished work of Christ.
We have ceased from our own works as God did from his.
God worked for six days, he rests on the seventh day.
We have to cease from our own works,
trying to work our way into heaven
and rest, trust, rely on the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Salvation is rest.
It's the exact opposite of work.
What's the opposite of work?
Rest.
What's the opposite of work?
Sabbath, okay?
Well here's the thing,
most people out there,
are they trusting in that Sabbath to get them to heaven?
That rest of resting in Jesus
and ceasing from their own works
and trusting the finished work of Christ?
No, they're trusting in works.
We're trusting in rest.
We are resting in his promise.
We are trusting in the finished work of Christ.
That is what gets us to heaven.
So with respect to our salvation, the work is done.
We're just resting in the finished work.
Now obviously physically, literally on this earth,
we're working to serve him as his servants,
but when it comes to salvation,
it's just, we just relax and kick back
and say I'm going to heaven because Jesus paid it all.
And that is spelled out.
I don't have time to preach that,
but it's in Hebrews chapter four.
Go read it on your own.
And if you read Hebrews chapter four
and you still think that salvation is by works
and you still wanna just think
that you gotta take every Saturday off and whatever,
well maybe you're just not even saved then.
So sorry that you can't understand the Bible.
But that's what Hebrews four spells out.
I don't have time to develop it.
But here's the thing,
is that the Bible says in the New Testament,
the priesthood being changed,
there's made of necessity a change also of the law.
The Bible does not say throw out the law.
The law doesn't matter.
Ignore the law.
No, what the Bible says is the law of the Lord's perfect.
And the Bible says all scripture,
including Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy,
all scripture is given by inspiration of God
and is profitable, is profitable for doctrine,
for reproof, for correction,
for instruction in righteousness.
In the New Testament, old Testament scripture
is for instruction in righteousness.
How do I know how to live right by following the Bible?
And I can read Old Testament, read New Testament.
Now, the Bible says the priesthood being changed,
there's made of necessity a change also of the law.
So there's no more Levitical priesthood.
There's no more animal sacrifices.
And the Bible spells out the meats,
the drinks, the carnal washings,
the diverse ordinances.
Those are not New Testament practices.
And he even spells out, he says,
look, the Sabbath days, the holidays,
the feasts, that stuff is done away in Christ.
But we're not gonna throw out the entire law,
all we're doing is we are basically saying,
okay, the moral law still stands.
The moral law still stands.
What has been changed is the ceremonial law
as far as the tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant,
and animal sacrifices.
Those things are no longer enforced in the New Testament.
And the Sabbath, according to Colossians chapter two
and Hebrews chapter four and Romans 14,
falls under that.
And so here's the thing.
When you're looking at this commandment,
remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.
You know how I would apply that
as a New Testament Christian in 2006?
I'd say, hey, remember salvation is not by works at all.
It's all rest in the finished work of Christ.
So therefore it becomes the most important
of the Ten Commandments.
It's the critical one because if you're not trusting
in that rest, if you've not entered into that rest,
and the Bible says in Hebrews three,
they didn't enter into the rest because of their unbelief.
But it says, we, which have believed,
do enter into rest.
Boy, if you screw this up,
I don't care what you do with the other nine.
If you screw up entering into Christ's rest,
you're going to hell, buddy.
Because you gotta believe in Jesus Christ
and you gotta rest in his finish.
That's how you get to heaven.
That's the most critical of all.
And so here's the thing.
I'm supposed to love the Lord my God with all my heart.
That means I've no other gods before him.
I'm not going to make a graven image
and serve it or anything like that.
I'm not going to take God's name in vain.
I'm not going to try to take credit for my salvation
and try to work my way to heaven
and try to get to heaven on filthy rags.
And then the fifth commandment is of course,
honor thy father and thy mother
that thy days may be long upon the land
which the Lord thy God giveth thee.
And you know, this would seem like
it would go better with the second half
so that maybe you could say, okay,
the first four are about God
and the next six are about your fellow man.
But I think that there could be a pretty strong case
made though, since God is our father,
which is in heaven, that honoring your father
and your mother is pretty much on earth
the analog of that.
And here's the thing about that,
is that before you know who God is,
you know who your mom and dad are.
Who did you meet first?
God or dad?
Right?
You met dad first and you learned to honor dad,
you know, and then you earned honor.
And you know what?
The same people who hate their father and mother
hate God as well, right?
And if you're disobedient to your father and mother,
you're disobeying God.
Because God is the one who ordained parental authority
and when you see people scoffing at
and rebelling against and defying parents,
you know what?
They're the same people that are gonna go defy God.
Oh, not me.
No, it's just my parents are such a drag, man.
They're just always on my case.
You know why your parents are always on your case?
Because you're being an idiot, that's why.
Your parents are always on your case
because you're not obeying, right?
And you say, well, yeah, but you know,
they just, it's a generation gap, man.
And they just, you know, and in the words of Brother Hiles,
the generation gap is bridged with the razor strap.
That's what Brother Hiles said.
Now, modern fundamental Baptist don't believe that.
He said, you cure the generation gap with the razor strap.
That's what Brother Hiles said.
And you know, I think that he also has the spirit of God.
But today we have this attitude of like,
well, I will honor my father and mother
if they are worthy to be honored.
And you know what that is?
That's you doing what's right in your own eyes,
what that is.
It's you deciding whether your parents are worthy to be honored.
I don't know, God just told you just to do it, right?
I guess you also sit around and decide
which people to kill, which people you can kill,
and not go, I mean, I could say the same thing.
I could say, well, the Bible says that's not killed,
but you know, this guy, you know,
I could just, or, well, the Bible says
not to commit adultery, but you know,
see we need some moral absolutes, don't we?
We need some absolutes like just don't dishonor your parents.
Just don't steal, don't kill.
Well, and people come at you with some wild scenario
where they think abortion's okay, right?
Well, what about this situation?
And they'll paint some picture for you
of some horrible situation.
But you know what, there are certain lines
that we just shouldn't cross, right?
You just don't murder.
Don't commit murder, you know, it's like,
well, what about this situation?
Can I murder my baby in this situation?
No.
Can I commit adultery in this situation?
No.
Just get some moral absolutes.
Don't bear false witness.
Don't covet.
Don't commit adultery.
Don't murder.
Don't dishonor your parents.
Get some moral absolutes and you say,
no, I know what's right.
No, you don't.
The counsel of the Lord is what's gonna stand forever.
And we need to follow the Bible.
And that is what determines what is right and wrong,
not your prerogative.
And so if you would flip over to,
well, let's have you jump over to,
let's go to Proverbs 16.
Proverbs 16, I'm gonna read for you some stuff
while we're getting there.
But you know, the Bible says
in Malachi chapter three, verse six,
it says, for I'm the Lord, I change not.
Therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
That's why the counsel of the Lord just stands forever.
You know, he doesn't change.
The world changes.
He doesn't, the Bible says in Hebrews 13,
8 Jesus Christ the same yesterday
and today and forever.
Psalm 119, verse 89, forever, O Lord,
thy word is settled in heaven.
Right?
I mean, it's there, it's settled.
It doesn't change.
We have the original up there
and God has made sure that on this earth,
heaven and earth may pass away,
but God's word will not pass away.
He said, verily I say unto you,
till heaven and earth pass,
one jot or one tittle shall know why it's passed
from the law till all be fulfilled.
Whosoever therefore shall break
one of these least commandments
and shall teach men, so the same shall be called,
excuse me, let me make sure I get this right.
Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments
and shall teach men,
so the same shall be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven,
but whosoever shall do and teach them
the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
And you know, one interesting thing about that
is that even if you break commandments
and even if you teach people to break commandments,
you can still go to heaven potentially.
How does that work with workspace salvation?
He says you could break commandments,
you can teach people to break commandments,
you'll go to heaven,
but you'll be called the least in the kingdom of heaven,
meaning you're gonna be sweeping the floor,
you're not gonna be ruling and reigning,
you're gonna be cleaning the toilets, okay?
But hey, I would love to clean toilets for all eternity
if it's in heaven.
Amen?
Let's do it.
I'd rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
I'd rather have the most,
I'd rather be the bottom run guy,
I'd rather just show up and God be like,
man, you are the most screwed up person
that has ever gotten into heaven
and it's amazing that I'm even letting you in.
You are the ultimate testament to my grace.
Come on in, son.
I'd rather be that any day of the week
than to go to the other place, amen?
I'll just be like, great, hey,
I miss this as good as a mile, you know?
Made it.
Obviously I'm being a little silly,
obviously I wanna please God,
I wanna earn rewards, I wanna do right,
but I'm saying, man, there's a big difference
between heaven and hell.
So a real big difference.
But you know what?
The one who's gonna be called great
in the kingdom of heaven
is not gonna be some guy
who's teaching a bunch of permissive living
and hey, just whatever the Holy Spirit tells you
and ignore the Bible, just go with your gut,
follow your nose like toucan Sam
and you know, it's all gonna be great.
Nope.
And you know this whole thing of like,
oh man, why would you bring up the law, man?
Why are you bringing up the Old Testament?
Well then, okay, well then nobody can tell you
to love God then, cause that's Old Testament.
Right?
Whoa, love the Lord by God,
that's the greatest commandment in the law.
Greatest commandment in the law.
What part of law don't you understand?
We're free in Christ, I don't have to love God.
What are you talking, love my neighbor?
What the heck, that's the greatest commandment in the law.
I'm free in Christ.
I just follow my nose, it always knows, you know?
See how stupid that is?
It's dumb, no, no, the Old Testament
is profitable for instruction and righteousness.
It doesn't mean that we're following the law
as like we're under the law, we're living in Israel,
following these exact to the letter, no, no, no.
But it teaches us how to live right
and guess what?
The definition of sin is transgression of the law.
Sin, this is a New Testament definition.
Sin is the transgression of the law.
So how do I even know what sin is?
Well, the Bible said, don't covet if I do what I'm sinning.
If I murder, I'm sinning.
If I steal, I'm sinning.
If I bear false witness, I'm sinning.
If I dishonor mom and dad, I'm sinning.
That's what the Bible says.
The grass withereth, the flower faded,
but the word of our God shall stand forever.
Psalm 119, 142, thy righteousness
is an everlasting righteousness,
and thy law is the truth.
Psalm 119, verse 160, thy word is true from the beginning
and every one of thy righteous judgments endure forever.
And so Exodus 20, one through 17,
we have the Ten Commandments,
which is the Cliffs Notes version of God's moral law,
and you got people today violating the Ten Commandments
and thinking that they're right with God and they're not.
Why?
Because they're just doing what's right in their own eyes.
Oh, but I prayed about it, brother.
I prayed about it.
You do not have to pray about what God explicitly tells you.
I don't have to pray, should I murder?
I mean, can you imagine me just getting
on my knees every night and saying like,
oh God, I'm contemplating murder, adultery, stealing.
Can you give me peace about it, God?
It'd be stupid, right?
Well, guess what?
It's stupid with all the other sins
that you plug in there, too.
Because people would never do that about stealing or murder,
but they'll pick other sins and they'll plug it in
and then they will pray about,
I'm praying about whether to dishonor my father or mother.
I'm praying about whether to divorce my wife.
I'm praying about whether to do whatever.
See what I'm saying?
It's like, no man, you need to just do
what the Bible says to do.
And look, I'm 100% for prayer,
but there are times when God told people,
get off your face and quit praying
because you need to just go fix the problem.
Joshua is on his face praying
and he says, get off your face
and get rid of the accursed thing.
That's why you're not being blessed
because you're not obeying the word of God.
Did I have to turn to Proverbs 16?
Look at verse 25, it says there is a way
that seemeth right unto a man,
but the end thereof are the ways of death.
There are a lot of things in this world that seem right.
Do you really trust yourself to always be the one
to make the judgment?
This just feels right.
Some people will say, yeah, I know Pastor Anderson
is preaching the Bible, but it just don't feel right.
Doesn't seem right.
Well, you know what?
Have you read the Bible cover to cover?
Because maybe that's why I don't feel right.
Because your feeler is broken.
Okay, and it's like, oh, it just doesn't seem right.
Okay, go read the Bible 10 times
and then you're gonna come back
and tell me if it feels right.
But this is what people say, right?
And then you flip it over and it'll be like,
oh, I don't know, this just feels so right.
This just seems so right.
It'll be some sin.
It'll be something blatantly against God's word.
Just honor just feels right to me, just seems right.
Well, there is a way that seems right
unto a man.
People in this world, they're not going out
and just doing stuff that seems wrong.
They're doing stuff that seems right.
I would say the vast majority of America in 2026
does what they think is right.
They do stuff that seems right, feels right.
But the problem is, the vast majority of our country
is in severe disobedience to God.
I mean, look, this is what the young man
is gonna tell you, young lady,
as he seeks to fornicate with you.
Hey, stop me at any time if this doesn't feel right.
Hey, this should feel right.
Folks, no, it's called flea fornication.
It's called this is the will of God,
even your sanctification,
that you should abstain from fornication.
Not like, well, stop me if it doesn't feel right.
Just cause it feels right or it doesn't feel right.
No, how about is right?
According to the Bible.
Not right according to the Bible.
That's what matters.
All kinds of skeevy guys out there seeking
to deflower good, godly, Christian girls.
They're out to devour them and deflower them.
And also there are the girls that are out there,
the sleazy, strange women of this world
that are out there to corrupt good, godly young men.
And oh, but it just seemed so right.
It just felt so right.
No, my friend, what saith the Lord.
This is the love of God that we keep his commandments
and his commandments are not grievous.
That's what the Bible says.
Now go through it to Romans chapter three.
Romans chapter three, I'm almost done.
Romans chapter three.
Man, I mixed up the hour hand and the minute hand
kind of freaked out for a second.
I was like, I know I haven't been preaching that long.
I'm almost done.
And you know, by the way, I encourage you,
if you get a chance, you know,
listen to some of the sermons that I've preached
over the past few days and the past couple weeks
that I preached in other places.
Okay, you know, you missed me this morning,
but obviously you had a great sermon from Brother Sigura.
But guess what?
I preached three sermons elsewhere
in the last week and a half.
And I would love for you to go listen to those sermons
because I did a sermon called Railing Defined.
And you know what's interesting is
when we look at what the Bible teaches about railing
and when you listen to that sermon
where I'm preaching all that Bible about railing,
you know what you'll find is that you end up
with a really clear, concrete definition of railing
that can actually be enforced.
But what happens is this other foolish definition
of railing that I preach against in that sermon,
this is kind of a little infomercial for that sermon,
railing defined, that I preached at Sher Foundation,
Baptist Church in Vancouver, Washington.
And in that sermon, you know,
I'm talking about how these people are just saying,
oh no, no, railing is just when you're really
like harshly rebuking someone
or you're mocking them or scolding them in a mean way.
You know, then it just becomes totally subjective.
So whenever it's them and their friends doing it,
it's not railing.
Whenever it's people that they don't like, it's railing.
That's their definition.
That's how they do business.
So and here's, it goes perfectly with this whole like,
oh, the Holy Spirit hasn't told me, blah, blah, blah.
Because what happens is they will bear false witness
but they'll be nice about it.
Super nice when they bear false witness.
Just super nice, just kind of just sliding the knife
into you like, oh, you're gonna feel a little prick?
You know, it's like, it's like going to the doctor
or something, right?
Like, okay, there's gonna be just a little prick.
You know, as they just smite you under the fifth rib.
As they're doing evil, but they're nice about it.
They're so nice.
And they will literally get up and say,
oh, I love you as they bear false witness,
as they dishonor father and mother,
as they cheat, steal, commit adultery, murder,
whatever, oh, I love you so much.
But here's the thing.
Then they'll get on somebody who's doing right
and speaking truth and preaching the word of God
and say, oh, you're really, even though it's true.
And of course, I totally destroyed that in that sermon.
But here's the thing about that.
I love what Brother Hiles said again.
He said, I'd rather do right wrongly than wrong rightly.
You know, you got a bunch of people who wanna do wrong
but they'll do it right.
They do wrong rightly, meaning that they're so nice
and kind and friendly as they do evil and hurt people, right?
But then you got people that are actually doing
the right thing, but it's like, oh, but you're so mean.
Now, obviously we wanna do right rightly,
but if I had to choose, I'll do right wrongly
before doing wrong rightly.
I'd rather stay married wrongly
than to get divorced rightly.
I'd rather be a virgin when I'm married,
but you know, on the day that I get married,
I'd rather be a virgin wrongly, right?
Maybe some guy touches you or something
and you punch him in the face or something, you know?
It's like, hey, maybe you shouldn't have
punched him in the face.
Yeah, but you know what?
You did right.
Whether you did it wrongly, you did right.
Versus just, oh, I was too nice to say no
and oh, you know, one thing led to another or whatever.
No, man, you got to flee fornication.
Do right.
We need some moral absolutes.
We need some lines that we don't cross in our lives.
We need some rules that we follow.
Major sin needs to be eschewed
and not made excuses for it and whatever.
But then you get this attitude of just,
well, you just be nice and be kind
and as long as you're positive and friendly and nice,
that's what the world defines as good.
And then evil to them is like Star Wars,
the dark side, fear, anger, hatred.
This is the path to the dark side
when in reality, like the fear of the Lord
is you're on the right path.
Like that's step one, fear of the Lord, right?
Hey, and you know what the Bible says?
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
We've already lost Yoda in the dust at that point.
When it said the fear of the Lord is to hate,
he's like, his little ears are like,
fear of the Lord is to hate evil, right?
What about when the spirit of the Lord came upon Saul
and it says that he was filled with wrath?
While he's spirit filled and he chops up
a couple of innocent oxen.
He just chops up a couple oxen
and just mails them out everywhere.
Just takes a bunch of bloody pieces of oxen
to the post office and mails them out, right?
And says, hey, this is what I'm gonna do
to all of y'all's oxen if you don't show up for this.
I mean, does anybody read the Bible or is it just me, right?
You know, I mean, Jesus got angry.
We know he's 100% spirit filled
every second of every day.
God gave not the spirit by measure unto him.
Just maxed out just infinity,
Holy Spirit's power all the time with him.
And so, you know, don't get your religion
from Buddhism and Eastern mysticism and Star Wars, okay?
Get your religion from the Bible.
But in Romans chapter three, verse 19,
it says, now we know that what things
so ever the law sayeth, it sayeth to them
who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God,
therefore by the deeds of the law
there should no flesh be justified in his sight,
for by the law is the knowledge of sin, you know?
The law tells us what sin is.
That's why it can't save us.
All it does is just, you know, condemn us.
And that's why we need Jesus to save us,
which is why a couple of verses later,
it says, therefore we conclude
that a man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law.
But here's the thing, every mouth will be stopped
by the law, meaning that God's law condemns everybody
because it's not like, well,
the Holy Spirit didn't speak to me about that.
It's like, well, no, no, no.
If you stole and the Bible said thou should not steal,
it doesn't matter whether you got a special telegram
from the Holy Spirit about that,
like you got the Bible and that should be enough,
thou should not steal.
You know, the Bible says in James chapter two,
whosoever shall keep the whole law
and yet offend in one point, he's guilty of all.
For he that said, do not commit adultery,
said also, do not kill.
Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill,
thou art become a transgressor of the law, you know?
And so God's got these laws
and it's not like we pick the ones that we wanna do
and we're gonna do this one
and we're not gonna do that one.
You know, at the end of the day,
God's law is the determining factor
for what is right, what is not right.
Even in the New Testament,
it gives us instruction in right living,
instruction in righteousness.
How to be right with God,
how to be right with your fellow man.
You gotta read the Bible and go by that.
And so we should not do here this day
every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes.
That is the way the world does it.
That's the way America does it in 2026.
But the people of God, nope,
we've got a much firmer council here to follow the Bible.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
Father, we thank you so much for your word.
And Lord, we thank you for just clarity, Lord,
and the rock that we can be founded upon
and that we don't have to just shift
with the sands of every generational fad
that comes along, Lord.
Help us to study to show ourselves approved, Lord.
Help us to meditate in your word day and night, Lord.
And help us to follow your word
and not follow our gut
when it comes to moral issues
that are already spelled out in the Bible.
Thank you for this day that we've had at church,
for the people that have been saved
and for all the people that are here, Lord.
Bless us now as we go our separate ways.
And in Jesus' name we pray, amen.