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1 Corinthians 2:1,5 -The Gospel Witness- Pastor Rick Beaudry 2024-02-11

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First Corinthians two one through five, would you please stand with me as we read God's word and study his word? Got a lot of word to study. And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my speech, preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power, that your face should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Father, thank you for your holy word. Lord, we thank you that all the great teachers that have gone before us and opened the scriptures up and have taught us, and thank you, Lord, that you're our teacher. We need not any man teach us, but, Lord, you do appoint those within the body to be teachers of the word. And Lord, we we we listen, we prove all things, hold fast that which is good. We're Bereans, we search the scriptures to see whether these things be so. And Lord, as your disciples, we ask that you teach us this morning, that our hearts and minds will be open and receptive of that which you're wanting to teach, that we have teachable hearts, that Lord, we apply these truths to our lives, that we'd see, Lord, the simplicity of of sharing the gospel with those around us. Don't need to complicate it. And so, Lord, we ask that you anoint and bless, that you be glorified, that we'd be well informed. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So how many people are concerned about what you've all know Harari has to say? Are you are you on edge? Like, oh, what's what's Klaus Schwab have to say? What's Bill Gates have to say? How many people are concerned about what God might have to say? Anybody interested in what God has to say? If God were to speak to mankind, what would his message be? Does God have a new message for you and I at the end of the age? Is he gonna revamp it? Change it? Is he gonna change the bible and call it the message bible? And twist all the scriptures and use it to for some heretic to describe the purpose driven life? What about if women are starting to go into the pulpits? Would that same heretic twist the scriptures again to try and convince people of interpretation that Paul had it wrong and I've got the message for you from God with women pastors and all, know? Mind boggling. Mind boggling. So would it be a message of political correctness, of tolerance? I mean, think of it, it's just crazy, these people, of social justice, perhaps a social gospel of change, of green technology. You know, would it be a a new mess like you guys, your carbon footprint's getting too big. You know, hold your breath. Quit driving those cars. You know, is that a message that God would give? Would God say, hey, the planet's getting too many people on it. I told you be fruitful and multiply, but oops, there's not enough food to feed all you useless eaters, you know. I mean, we gotta reduce the population by 7,000,000,000 or 6,000,000,000 or whatever because Bill wants only half a billion people as he's playing God, you know. And, you know, should we ask him for a message of award, end all wars, peace, and love? What about the origins of man or of destiny of man? What about a message of economic prosperity? Blab it and grab it, you know? The the, you know, Joel Olsteen type stuff of a new age, the kingdom age, dominion, you know, theology that we're gonna take over the politics. We're gonna take over the banking. Take over everything. We're gonna usher in the return of Jesus Christ, the kingdom now, the kingdom age, the new world order, if you would. So what would the testimony of God be? What would he testify? Jesus said in John eighteen thirty seven, for this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness under the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. And Pilate saith unto him, what is truth? You know? And and so Pontius Pilate lived in a time of the Greek philosophers just as the apostle Paul went to, you know, Athens and up on Mars Hill. And the city, these philosophers, the Epicurean, the Stoics were giving themselves over to what's the newest thing? What's the latest thing? What's the latest greatest thing? Well, you know, I've been a Christian for twenty years. I've read the bible twice, but I'm looking for some new truth, you know. And what's what's the newest latest greatest thing that they got out there? Oh, it's you can be as gods. Oh, we're gonna put a chip in your head. How about your head first, not my head? No chip in my head. And and we're gonna make you a god. What if they tell you you're you're gonna live beyond a 120, which God put a ceiling there, but you're gonna you're the exception, you know. You're gonna live forever. You're never going to die. Well, sounds that interesting. That's a that's something I I read about in, you know, the book of Genesis chapter three, you know. I I I thought that's what the serpent said to Adam and Eve, you shall not die. I thought that I read in the second Thessalonians two that the people would suppress the truth, they wouldn't be given over truth, they wouldn't love the truth, so God would give them over a strong delusion that they would believe the lie. Oh, that's nothing new. There's nothing new under the sun. These these schemers keep coming up with stuff, demonically inspired, Jesus and said, I came to bear witness of the truth. Well, hey, pastor. Don't don't teach politics, man. Can't can't incorporate anything political. Well, who's Jesus talking to here? Pilate. He's a politician. John lost his head because he said something about a politician. Jesus said, I came to bear witness of the truth. Aren't you here to bear witness of the truth? In every facet, in every way, shape, and form, just simply to testify of the truth? The burden of proof is on their end. We stand in the truth. If they if they wanna refute the truth, they gotta prove it. They gotta be able to prove that we you know, that God didn't fashion you and I from the dust of the ground. And Eve from Adam's rib bone. They've gotta be able to prove it, but they have no ability to prove anything concerning evolution. Yet, that theory so permeated the twentieth century that within our schools and stuff, we get rid of the bible, we get rid of prayer, and we begin to lie to the children who have an innate desire to know God and a faith planted in their heart, but the objective is to destroy their faith. And even worse now, they may not be a boy or a girl. They might be one of 52 different, you know, descriptions of who they are, different pronouns and such, and I identify as a squirrel. You know? I know. You look like a squirrel too. You know? It's it's bizarre. What does Biden identify as? Don't go there. You know? You know? He can't even remember his name this week. I mean, it's getting bad. To call the Mexican the Mexican president helping out in the Middle East and stuff, I mean, they're they're getting a little embarrassed, but it's purposely made that way, a demoralization of America that we'd have no confidence in the office of the presidency. It's part of a communist manifesto demoralize us, and to make us lose hope, to make us it's a learned helplessness that doesn't matter who you vote for, we're gonna steal the election. We're gonna take it from you again. We got the Diebold machines, the Dominion machines, and you Christians need to you're the problem. You Christians need to quit talking up. We're gonna make it hate speech. We're gonna make it illegal for you to refute anything we have to say because we've got proven facts about COVID. No. They don't. They just say it and they think that we're supposed to, you know, believe it and stay there. But Jesus said, I came to bear witness of the truth. I'm a witness under the truth and, everyone is of the truth hear my voice. There you go. That's it. Brendan Holthaus yesterday gave some statistics once again about, the times in which we're living and all throughout history. Whenever, there's a big lie propaganda, Joseph Goebbels bringing lies and stuff to to people, toward people, the devil greatest weapon is deception. You and I should be aware witness of the truth and know the truth, and we should be able to just refute it so quickly because we know the word of God so well that anytime a flat earther comes around, no, that's a sphere, it's a circle, the circle of the earth. You know, don't need to listen to you. No, that's not science. That's that's a belief system. It's a false belief system, and you can't prove it. But, in any event, so many people go in so many different directions, and we should be able to discern the truth. Interestingly, according to Brandon Holthaus, only 5% of people recognize the truth and will draw a line in the sand and refuse to give in to the pressure to believe the lie. Only 5%. You're that 5%. 30%, when they hear the lie, will immediately believe it and do anything the government tells them to do. That's the Romans 13 churches that say we're supposed to be in compliance to the government, just do everything they tell us to do. That's Hitler's favorite portion of the bible. Get the churches to be passive, the acquiesce to give in, and then if that doesn't quite work at first, remind these weasley Christians and pastors that, there's a separation of church and state. And the powers that be your powers that come from God and, you know, that you're supposed to give into this stuff. No, you're not. You're you're supposed to obey God rather than men. And not only that, you are those who are obeying the higher power in America, which is the constitution. We have no dictator. There's a limitation of powers, checks and balances. They'd love to be able to convince you because it comes out of their mouth. It's directly from God and that you're to obey, but, that's not the case. And so we have a constitutional republic, the rule of law that's supposed to bind them, and, they're there according to Romans 13 for good, not for evil. We have no intention of sinning against God, you know. We we adhere to a higher level of behavior, but, but when the rulers usurp authority that's not theirs and begin to dictate things, mandates and such. You're the 5% that says, no. It's my body. You aren't doing anything to me or my children, period. Well, you're gonna lose your job, so be it. Now there's 65% that know the truth, and this is the mind blower. They know the truth. They know they're being lied to, but they compromise. They give in to the lie. Go along to get along. That's that's that's just insane, isn't it? That we could be bought off so cheaply. What's it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his own soul or what a man give in exchange for his life? And it's all ideological. It's a lie. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. So you go from a place of being free to a place of bondage because of threats with no law backing those threats, just simply threats. Now according to Brandon Holthos, he says that that 5% you and I, if we can, we might be able to wake some of those 65% up and get them to understand they need to quit going along to get along, you know. At what point are you gonna resist the things that are happening? Now why would you do that? Because you're bearing witness of the truth. You don't wanna live and perpetuate a lie. Why would I wanna live and perpetuate a lie? Lies, plural. I hate being lied to. And I don't know why more people aren't incensed at, the lies that are taking place. Jesus standing there before Pilate, he didn't go along to get along. He didn't give in to deception. He told the truth at every juncture, at every every point. The religious leaders, you You know, who's gonna save you from the fires of hell? John the Baptist, all of them. So I don't know why we think that we have to acquiesce and be passive toward evil and give in to the lies. I'm not I'm not saying you have to force your will on anybody. Just call them out with the truth. Earnestly contend for the faith. We're in a fight for truth. We're in a fight for information. And we have the greatest message there ever was. Humanity's reeling. Humanity's falling over itself in despair and suicide, and we have the greatest message that there ever was. And so Pilate says, what is truth? And so Pilate, like many of his generation and more still today, are constantly searching as the Athenians of Mars Hill for some new thing. They're looking for a message in a bottle from God. I was at the Puget Sound. There was this bottle floating, opened it up as a message from God. What do you think is said? You make it up. You fill in the blank. You write it. Every man's doing that which is right in his own eyes. Doesn't matter what I think it might be. You've got a different opinion what God would say to this to this age. And so the only problem is God has spoken and men refuse to listen. It's not that there's not enough information there. There's Bibles everywhere and it's a simple message all through the Bible. It's Jesus Christ and him crucified for the remission of sin. The Old Testament people understood this. That's how they came to faith. That's how they are saved. The Old Testament, they're looking that one day Jesus will come, that he will be crucified, that he will be buried, that he will raise himself from the dead, and that he is coming back. We are looking backwards at he did come, he went to the cross fulfilling 300, you know, prophecies, 100% accurate. Apparently, 80% of the prophecies in the bible are already fulfilled, 20% yet to be fulfilled. Amazing. The more sure word of prophecy. And so we know that Jesus was crucified. Historically, Claus Schwab, Voltaire, there's nobody in all of history that can refute the fact historical Jesus, the carpenter from Nazareth, the babe from Bethlehem, that he was crucified upon a cross at Calvary at Golgotha and at the hands of the Romans and the religious leaders. Irrefutable proof of his death, of his burial, and then we have eyewitness testimony of his resurrection. Not everybody saw the risen Christ, but over 500 people did see him. Many of whom went to die their death refusing to capitulate, refusing to blaspheme the Lord. And then we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in your hearts and my heart, the seal that we belong to the Lord, and and there's no way that we're gonna back down. We know that he was crucified, that he's buried, that he raised himself from the dead. And part of the message that is missing today is he's coming again. What happened to that part of the message? Why are people so afraid of the doctrine of the rapture of Jesus returning to receive his bride, and then seven years later or eight years or ten years, it could be ten years before the the tribulation period. He could grab us now and the signing of the peace treaty would be ten years from now. Do you understand that? The rapture doesn't start the tribulation period. The signing of the treaty with the antichrist in Daniel nine twenty five through 27 starts the seventieth seven of Daniel. So Lord could grab me now, grab you now, praise the Lord, and then the World Economic Forum and these guys, these unelected globalist little g gods, they won't have the resistance of you telling people they're liars. A much easier time as people are given over to the strong delusion. They're gonna line up for it. They're gonna line up for the mark of the beast. Nobody's gonna have to tell them twice. And you're gonna you're not gonna be there, to warn people, but you're presently warning people. So much so that people in the tribulation period, innumerable multitude of people, refuse to take the mark of the beast because you let them know, don't do that. Amen. Hallelujah. So the seeds are planted. You have the right message. The message of God's word. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father but by me. Our message is a person. The person Jesus Christ. We preach Christ and him crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, but the power of God unto salvation. The wimpy, wimpy churches that tried to water down the gospel, the Pollyanna type, you know, that kind of stuff. There's no power in their message to transform and change lives. They're afraid of offending somebody. There might be a gay person seated here. Well, you know what? There probably is. There's probably adulterers and thieves and liars too. All of us need to hear the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God's eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. You decide. Do you wanna have an eternal death away from God and hell? Oh, I can't mention hell. They might get offended. Can't mention the cross. They might get offended. What are you gonna do? Make sinners comfortable for a lifetime, and then they still go to hell? The cross is offensive. The cross grates on prideful people, bothers prideful people. All of us have to come the same way in humility and brokenness before God. God be merciful to me a sinner. Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? In me that is in my flesh dwells no good thing. Well, I had one good day. Name it. Somebody's lying. Just ask your wife. She'll tell you it didn't, you know? Someone's delusional. Buddha couldn't say, I am the way. He couldn't say, destroy this temple in three days, I'll raise it up. Nor Confucius or Mohammed, nor you've all know Harari, Bill Gates, the pretenders today. Which of them would say, alright. I'm gonna go let myself be crucified because I'm superior to Jesus. None of them. Pretenders. They're liars. The lesson Paul has for us today is the same he had for the church of Corinth, which is one of consistency. That's one of the things I loved about pastor Chuck. Consistency. Everything that came through Christian dom, every idea, every aberration, every book or, he would just let it go and just be consistent. Just teach the bible, line upon line, precept upon precept, from Genesis to Revelation, over and over and over. No gimmicks, No nothing. Just stay with the word of God. I knew, like like going to certain restaurants, that they're consistent in how they make that food. I don't have to worry. One time it's gonna taste this way, and next time it's gonna taste that way, or this is gonna be missing from the menu or whatever. He showed up on time, like I do, and he started, and he finished on time, and he taught the word. He taught the word consistently. Somebody's lying in this room. Somebody's lying. It's not me. It's not me. But the consistency, Never did he get bored with the bible or bored with Jesus or I need to come up with a new gimmick or a new approach because I'm losing people. There was a time where they taught us when I first became a pastor, if you teach it, they will come. Kinda like, you know, play baseball in the cornfield. And and then there came a point where that didn't work anymore. You see, they all thought that the reason their churches were so explosive and growth in Southern California was that they were such great bible teachers. And then there came a point in time after Rick Warren came on the scene where a whole lot of people began to migrate toward a social gospel. And his objective, his his knocking on the door and asking people what they want, they didn't want so much bible. And they didn't want prophecy, and they wanted to they wanted to feel good. So what he identified was we can change it to a social gospel where it's not creeds as in teaching, but deeds. Let's teach them to be like Catholics and do good things in the community at the expense of the teaching of the word of God. And so watering it down, filling the place up 25,000 people, a lot of guys began to move in that direction. It's called the church growth movement, and they were teaching the pastors that would attend these seminars to try and learn how to grow their churches. The more the bible you teach, the smaller your church will be, And then also verse by verse teaching is death to a church. Now that's not death to a remnant church, but Calvary's chapels didn't have any remnant churches in the day. They all were explosive and grow. The radio stations and the word of God out there, people people like, hey, I I need to find a church like that because, you know, my my spirit's being fed. Well, instead, they appealed to the unbeliever rather than the believer, and they watered it down. They left the believer to attend these churches for programs and relationships. I got friends here, but you're not being taught the word. Well, then my friends are here, and, you know, I feel like I'm a witness here, but you've been there another twenty years and haven't been taught. You're drying up. Your marriage is in trouble. Your kids are in trouble. Why is that? Because spiritually, you're starving. Why is that? We don't wanna offend. Don't offend anybody. Might offend somebody if we talk about hell or repentance. Gotta change the message. Gotta make the message appeal to the unbeliever. We're gonna fill the seats with unbelievers who are gonna have a false sense of security because after all, they're good people. That's an aberrant gospel. There's none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Your gospel's false. You can't get there by being good or knocking on doors. It's just filthy rags. False sense of security. Well, not as bad as him. I'm not as bad as pastor Rick. Well, pastor Rick isn't the standard, is he? Jesus is the standard. Jesus said he'd send the holy spirit to convict the world of sin, of righteousness, and judgment of sin because they believe not on me. So when you preach the gospel, the holy spirit's gonna convict a person of sin. They're gonna have conviction in their heart, and that's the way it should be. So they'll appeal to Christ of righteousness because I ascend to my father. So in their sinful condition, holy spirit shown them the cross, shown them Jesus. It's his righteousness imputed to you by grace through faith. And the prince of this world's gonna be judged. And so if sin arises judgment because this the prince of this world is judged, And so Jesus conquered sin and death. He conquered the principalities, powers. He conquered them all. The message is Jesus. He's our hero. He's the one that we they were proclaimed to the world. Now something that's kinda I haven't quite figured out, I'm trying to trying to figure it out, trying to think about it. Kinda like, alright. I'm gonna put this over here in this file. Remember when Tim Tebow was coming out of college, Christian man, missionary parents, and he enters into the NFL, and he begins to kneel and pray and got the cross in his eyes right here and all that. Remember how crazy the media was against him? You remember how crazy the NFL was? Kinda blackballed. He's blackballed as a quarterback. He's a Heisman trophy in college, but if he gets up there and says anything about Jesus, freak out time. Everybody's freaking out, you know? How come all of a sudden it's all hip and cool for Brock Purdy or Mahomes or anybody that wants to talk about Jesus at the microphone now? What what happened? What changed? I I haven't figured it out yet. Got Thibault, capable, good, but kinda blackballed. Got these guys, all of a sudden it's Jesus is hip and cool in the NFL again. Everybody's a Christian, I guess, again, you know. It's bizarre. I wanna follow that thought through. I wanna continue to watch that today, you know. And then the other thought I have is, is this guy really a Christian or is he a Mormon? Every now he mentions God and his son Jesus, and I'm like, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Do you believe his son is God too? Can we can we vet that? Can we fact check that? Little crazy. I didn't even know who Taylor Swift was, you know, till recently. Is she a Christian too? I don't know, man. They're they're really going for it. I know that my buddy told me that Taylor Swift and this Kelsey guy got, like, $20,000,000 to promote the jab. Woah. Wow. That's good money. Get boosted. Here you go, man. Selling their souls. That's not a message I wanna be a part of. And so Jesus is our message. He's the one that we preach. Nothing's changed. God hasn't changed. His message hasn't changed. Because why? Because people haven't changed. People need to be forgiven, and we have the message to point people to the only person that can forgive them of their sins. None of these other guys can in any way ransom their brother's soul, give money. The Catholic church was so corrupt at a period of time that they would, you know, have various heretical doctrines of where your family's in purgatory, and if you give me the money, you know, the priest, we can pray them out of purgatory, you know, and get them into heaven, you know. Totally a false doctrine, erroneous doctrine, a way to get unsuspecting people to give their money, you know, for their loved ones and such. And so, you can read about that in Luke 16, the rich man of Lazarus. And there is no purgatory. No doctrine of purgatory in the bible. But again, people get a false message, a false sense of hope. Also indulgences. Hey, if you wanna go out and sow some wild oats and go cheat on your wife or cheat on your husband, you can give us some money, and we'll let you we'll talk with the big man upstairs, and we'll get you some time for indulgences. You know? We'll get that if you confess to me in this little box, I'll I'll give you three Hail Marys and four Our Fathers, and we can we can remove that blight. You know? But, oh, by the way, give some more money, you know. So everything's like a system of business and all. Keeps people dumbed down when it's so simple, there's one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Right? Just go straight to Jesus. Right? You don't need to pay these guys in the robes and, their false erroneous doctrine. If you wanna eat fish every day of the week, eat it on Fridays, Thursdays, whatever you want, you know. So many so much weirdness. So we share the gospel, number one, with a simple approach. Verse one. And I, brethren, when I come to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. So Paul declared, notice the testimony of God, which is the Greek word materia, which speaks of witness. Jesus said in Acts chapter one verse eight, you are gonna be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost. You shall receive power when the holy ghost comes upon you. The experience of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And you're gonna be my witnesses in your Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost. Now, I didn't choose to be here in Bremerton. This is my Jerusalem now. Anybody choose that to be here? No. None of you chose it. You you were sent here by God to suffer the rest of your life with this weather, this rain, this whole But somebody had to be here. Somebody has to be here. And so we've been chosen to work this field. The laborers are few. The fields are white under harvest. People here have good jobs. The shipyards provided good jobs, the military and all, and housing, and the community. It's a great little place. The problem is we need some sunshine because we can't stop coughing. Just can't stop coughing. I need some vitamin d, you know. I need to you know, don't you feel like that? I need to dry out a bit, man. I'm tired of being so rusty inside and and, you know, in my count it's easy to live in the sunshine, isn't it? And and the room's filled with liars if you don't feel the same way as me because as soon as that sun comes out, I notice you. It's like everybody's happy again. Know? Everybody, oh, wow. This is great. You know? So it's not a California thing or Arizona thing. It's a sunshine thing. Okay? And we have to endure six, seven, eight months of gray and mold and mold's unhealthy. So why don't we move? Because we're called here. God's called us here. There's a job to do here. Nobody else would wanna be here, you know. But the Lord sends us here and we're here to get the job done because God loves people here who are perishing. Now, doesn't matter if they reject the message, if they reject what we have to say to them, we consistently keep loving on them and sharing it with them and telling them and But we don't water it down either to try and grow a church with man's strength to have a false church. A false church incorporated. If it's small, we just hunker down and we just do the best we can. We go with the same message, the same message, the same message, and then the ball's in their court. And only the holy spirit can save somebody, but we don't change the message. We don't water it down and preach, you know, easy believism or, you know, the the sermonettes for Christianettes. You know? We keep it real. And we'll see that in chapter three when we talk about carnal Christians. Paul says, could only give you milk because you're babes in Christ. You've been going to church for twenty years, but you're still babes. And that is not your your fault. It's the pastor's fault because he didn't feed you. He didn't feed you the word of God. Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep. Tend my lambs. Feed them. They need to grow. No rested state of development. So this word testimony, materion, is the is that of being a witness. Now witness, you're looking at in a verb. A witness says something I do. I witness of Jesus. Witness is someone you are. It's who you are. You're a witness of Jesus Christ. The way you live, the way you talk, that message you give, yeah, it's a it's a testimony of Jesus, but you're the witness. People are looking at you. They're reading you. They're looking at you for consistency over a period of time. Consistency even when you go through hard things, that you don't change, that you continue to have faith and continue to believe and continue to trust, continue to love. They're watching you when people say all manner of evil against you. How are you gonna react? Are you gonna be Christ liked? Do you remind people of Christ? And then also notice, it's the root word where we get our word martyr. Jesus is saying, you're gonna be my martyrs. You're gonna be there as dead men walking. No longer you living, but Christ living through you. You're not gonna be living for self or living for the world. You're gonna be living for Jesus. That's who we are. So Paul kept it simple. We're told that the common people love to hear Jesus. The religious leaders kept it high. They kept the cookies up high, you know. They speak to the people in the language they don't even their natural dialect. They didn't speak in Koine Greek or Aramaic. You know, the the Catholics, you know, they're gonna speak in Latin, but the common people don't speak Latin, dude. They speak Koine Greek, and, you're gonna you're gonna invade the whole area and bring it to a Latin Vulgate when only you and Jerome speak the Latin. But when Jesus is preaching and teaching, it says the common people heard him gladly. He's using illustrations and he's speaking in a vernacular in a way that the people could understand. Consider the lilies of the field, and he and he he just captures them with his illustrations in the way that he kept it so incredibly simple to communicate these truths of the bible. And and Paul did the same thing. He kept it simple, simply testifying of what God had told him. So you and I, we go out there and we say, for God so loved you. How do we know that love is in the past tense? For God so loved, we're preaching the cross. For God so loved you, When you question God's love, for God so loved you, you're reminded of the cross. That he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life. A very simple gospel message, John three sixteen. Now today at the Super Bowl, do you think you'll see that guy there with the hair with the John three sixteen signs like we used to? They're gonna allow John three sixteen all over the sporting events everywhere? When Brock Purdy wins a football, the Super Bowl, is he gonna get up there and talk about Jesus and give God the glory? Or Mahomes? I don't know. I hope they do. I hope they use the platform. When I used to watch football, play football, follow football, sports, I grew up in, know, the LA area in Orange County. So my team was the Rams, and the Rams never won it. Never won it. Never won it. Never won it. And then a guy, a Christian guy named Kurt Warner came along, and they finally won it, but they're in Saint Louis by then. And, but what I began to do is I began to follow football from afar. I haven't watched any games all year or whatever, many years. I I I can't tolerate the the in between stuff, all the, you know. When they got into political correctness and and agendas, as soon as I hear an agenda boom, I'm I'm out of there. You know? But in any event, a Christian like Kurt Warner using this platform to preach Christ was an amazing thing. So that's typically how I follow sports now is I look for a guy that or a gal, a girl, basketball, football, baseball. When I hear of somebody who loves Jesus and the Lord's blessed them and they use that platform to preach the gospel, to use that huge following of people watching, and and and they're not cutting them off anymore. They're letting them finish their thoughts, you know. That's an amazing thing, isn't it? I don't know what's going on now, but they they aren't going, hey, you know, this is blasphemy. Don't say this. They're they're, letting them speak it through, so I hope we have a revival. I hope we have a great awakening. You know, I hope I hope people wake up, and I hope these guys continue to keep the message simple. Just a simple gospel. God prepares the heart of the listener. So though a brilliant man, Paul came not with dazzling oratory skills, he kept it simple. Now when you think of oratory skills throughout history, Hitler was demonically possessed and a great orator. No doubt about it. When Obama became president, they at first, they thought he was a good orator, but it was the teleprompter. It was simply the teleprompter. When they didn't have the teleprompter going, the guy stumbled all over himself. He was not a good orator. Still is not. And he actually thought he wanted to, you know, speak from Germany at the where Pergamum, where the seed of Satan dwelled. The Germans took the seed of Satan from Pergamos and brought it back to to Germany, and Obama wanted to preach there, you know, where Hitler had preached and all that, and, they didn't let him. So what the DNC did, the Democratic Party, is they made a movie mock up scene to celebrate Obama's inauguration that that mimicked the seat of Pergamos where Satan's throne dwells. I mean, he's sending you the message. He's letting you know from the very beginning, you know, who he is, a Satanist, but his oratory skills were not that of anybody that great. I mean, do you ever when you're thinking of great oratory skills, do you ever think of the Biden? Oh, what a speaker. Yo. He's captivated me. He's captivated me. Oh, man. Guys got it. Nope. Not not happening. We, we don't go there. Now Donald j Trump, he uses techniques of speech that saying the same words over and over, which is speech technique that resonates with people, people hear, and and, go away with the bullet points of what he's wanting to get, you know, get across. Pretty good speaker. But, in this time, they had oratory skills where, you know, Tertullius and others come in and just mesmerize people with their their the flow of their words and how putting together. And and you see pastors today, maybe like a Joel Olsteen, where, you know, he'll he'll roll his head back and, you know, do that kind of thing. And then the inflections in people's voices, you know. How come preaching isn't just with your normal voice? Why do you have to have your normal voice and then your preaching voice, you know. You know, and these guys start going, and yelling, screaming, and waving, and hankies, and you know, all that, coats and all that. You know, just just talk like this. Alright? Just conversationally, just keep it simple. Alright? And use your words. Use your words. Alright? Real simple real simple message. So again, pastor Chuck never yelled and screamed at us. You know, he just conversationally great speaker. Great speaker. Easy to listen to. Didn't grade on me. And if I grade on you, there's somebody else out there for you. I don't know. But I grade on a lot of people. That's why we have a small church. In second Corinthians ten ten verse 10, it says the false prophets describes Paul's speech as contemptible. Hid contemptible. The Greek philosophers were very polished communicators, but of deception. Captivating people with their deception just as Hitler did. Using man's wisdom and not the truth. And so we wanna be we wanna be those wanna try and teach you, anytime you listen to a church sermon, a YouTube message, a bible study, quote unquote bible study, people call it a bible study, and then they bring their beer and their wine coolers. The only thing missing is the bible and the study. You know, it's just I think so, and I think this, and I think that, and that's not a bible study. Okay? That's just your little support group, and your life coach is there, and, you know, things like that. And they've got a different message, and it's for pansies, really. So you want a bible study, get a bible study. And, you know, wear your bible out. Read your bible. And and so don't be don't be captivated by the latest themes these guys have that they're grabbing from the world and all, and think that that's a bible study. That's not a bible study. So what I wanna teach you is content. Evaluate content. When you hear a sermon, ask yourself, did I hear the name Jesus? Did I hear the cross? Did I hear the burial, the resurrection, the second coming? Did I hear a verse of the bible? People meet me outside, new people and they say, I think you just taught the whole bible, man. Well, tried. I only had an hour and a half, dude. I think you just gave four sermons. No. Probably 10 or 11 the church you go to. Content. The content doesn't need to be what I think, or a book I read, or a flower, or a goat, or whatever. It's content. It's the word of God. It's the word of God that transforms and changes us. It's a waste of time for you to get up in the morning on Sunday morning, take a shower, hopefully you do, or Saturday night, get your clothes ready, hop in the car, and come to this church, some of you driving far, and to leave here famished. To leave here like, I didn't get anything out of that message. I don't think he mentioned Jesus. I don't think he mentioned the bible. They have a new program and, you know, most of the time was spent begging for money, honey. Money. They they stopped three, four times with an infomercial. The whole thing was singing and infomercials for more money. Think in terms of content. Did the pastor study? Did he do his job? When I go to a restaurant or Kathy's feeding me, I want her to do her job. I want her to shop properly, prepare properly, and present it properly. And there better be content. I don't want no soy. Alright? No instant soy for this boy. No. I want something cooked. Something prepared. Something that'll nourish me. Right? If I have to, I'll cook it myself. Yeah. That's an o. That's right. Well, that's why I always say I tried to make some pudding a couple weeks ago, and it was gourmet pudding. And I I haven't had it with the skin on it in years, and so we went to Butcher Baker and they had some good puddings. Kathy says, well, I'm gonna make you some pudding. Then she got sick. So I'm looking at the boxes of pudding, they're $5 a box, and I'm like, I can make this. And so I looked at the back of the box, and you gotta take the eggs and do that sort of thing, and get the yellow parts in there, and and the milk, and and then use that thing, and get the heat just right, and some whisk in it, you know. And, and I'm watching something on TV, I think JD was on there, and I'm watching JD, and then, oh, that isn't gonna be enough. So I put some more boxes in there and some more eggs, and and I'm whisking it. And pretty soon, I started feeling feeling something on the bottom of the pan, and, it was wasn't flowing. It wasn't flowing like it should. And so finally, I finished it and and I got it pulled into these bowls and she's sick and I'm thinking, well, that skin's gonna take a while, I put them in the freezer. So I put them both in the freezer and I'm waiting for it to gel up and all that and get ready and and then pretty soon, I walked over there and I thought, alright, I'm gonna be a hero, man. I bring those things up to her and and she took one little thing like that and didn't eat anymore. She says, Rick, this is beyond your ability to cook. This is was beyond your ability. And Rick, it's burnt. It tastes burnt. It's burnt. And it's it's inedible. Now no no cook wants to hear that it's inedible. That's a big word, but I understood what she's saying. And, I ate mine, though. I I was determined I was gonna eat it. So some some guys just aren't meant to be pastors. They don't have a gift of teaching, and they need to get out of the ministry if they're not gonna feed the people. They're not to be entertainers or actors. They're not to be jokesters, and oh, wow, I got them to laugh. Although I am very funny, I do hold back. I hold back I hold back much. You gotta have you gotta have content. You gotta bring forth the word of God and just bring it forth. Give him the word. And that's probably one of the biggest slams against me with twenty eight years of being here, is he teaches too much bible. The sermons are too long. Well, that's what Rick Warren discovered. He discovered that the people will demand teachers having itching ears, and the topics could be topics, therapeutic topics that the people wanna hear, feel good messages. And they want the sermons to be sermonettes, fifteen minutes, but they want the music to be forty five minutes and emotionally charging and so really exciting. I go away with goosebumps, as you're driving down the road, you still didn't hear from God. You're anemic. You're sickly, spiritually. So I'd rather invest my heart and life into who does show up. And then what's interesting, when somehow you guys get angry at me and leave, the church you go to that doesn't teach the word, they're gonna make you a Sunday school teacher because you know the word now. You know more the word than anybody else there. Happens every time. Because you were taught the word at Calvary Chapel Bremerton. We're gonna make you a Sunday school teacher. We're gonna have you teach a bible study because our people here don't know the bible. Well, why is that, pastor? How much money did you get from him? Did you get did you get enough? Do you have enough that you can finally study and teach the bible? It's a simple message. Just go through the bible, read it and explain it. He says in Romans sixteen eighteen, by good words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the simple. In Matthew twenty four eleven, Jesus said, many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. Many, many, many. This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. All are guilty. And it's the same message at the end of the age. So we have Jesus given us the message at the beginning of the church age. The message hasn't changed. It's the same message at the end of the age. He said, go and make disciples of all nations. Right? Baptizing them in name of the father, the son, the holy spirit along with you always even to the end of the age. It's the same message. He doesn't change it up halfway because some brilliant guy come up with a different way, a different approach. No. You still include the word repentance. You still include the word sin. You still include bible words like heaven and hell. They're biblical words, and they have meaning, and people need to hear it because that's how Jesus preached. Jesus spoke more about hell than he did heaven. Imagine that. Why do people love? Why do they crave to believe lies? Why are they so incredibly suicidal? It's mind boggling. It's not a problem with the head, it's a problem with the heart. They don't wanna believe. They don't like the light. They want darkness. They want someone to tell them to deal with their guilt that they're okay, and that somehow, you know, god's a god of love love your neighbor, take the jab, take the booster, love your neighbor, wear the mask, get six feet away. But five of you, when you get into the restaurant, the COVID's not there anymore. You put six the Covids there. You know? Who believes this stuff? Why why would people give in to all that? But they do. And you're the 5% that says, nah. So because they receive not the love of the truth, do you love the truth? If you love the truth, you're different than those that don't. That they might be saved, and for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. So enormous amounts of people go into hell because they choose the lie rather than the truth. This is the condemnation Jesus said in John three nineteen. This is the condemnation that light has come into the world, but men love darkness rather than light. It's not a problem of the message. Don't change the message. It's a problem of the heart. They will not believe. How do you get someone to believe? I don't know. I don't know how to force somebody or make somebody believe. That's a God thing. Conversion's a God thing. I'm instructed to sow the seed, you're instructed to water the seed, and only God can bring the increase in his timing. Only God can cause the scales upon their eyes to come off. Only God can cause them to see spiritually with spiritual eyes. Only God can deliver them from the deception and the captivity the wicked one has upon them. Only Jesus can set them free. And Jesus said, once you get to know the truth, the truth will set you free. Right? So why go back to lies? Why go back to half truths? Why go back to go along to get along simply to have what the world is leveraging you with? Isn't it better to be free? Be completely free and allow the Lord to use you as a testimony to set others free? So the problem is a heart problem, not a message problem. It's not because we're not eloquent enough. In second Timothy four verse two, Paul, in speaking to one of his disciples, Timothy, he says, preach the word. So Timothy, preach the word. Difference between preaching and teaching. You preach to unbelievers. You preach the word to unbelievers. Not just on three sixteen. You can preach to unbelievers the second coming of Christ. You can use prophecy now to preach to the unbeliever. Do you know that the bible said that there's gonna be a digital currency? In Revelation thirteen eighteen through 16 through 18, everyone's gonna have to receive a mark on the right hand of their forehead or they won't be able to buy or sell. Do you know that? The bible said that thousands of years ago. That's the more sure word of prophecy. That gives a foundation for their faith to be built upon, that the bible is telling the truth. That God who stands outside of time has told us these things before they come to pass, and then they'll say, well, yeah, that's like Nostradamus. Nostradamus one time. No. It's not like Nostradamus. We have 100% accuracy here. 100%. Not just some prognostication, generalization, whatever that you try to hang your hat on. No. No. No. No. No. 100% accuracy over 300 prophecies. Where he'd be born, how he'd die, what tribe he'd be a part of, that he'd be king of kings and lord of lords, that he's coming again. So many different prophecies. Prophecy is what attracted me to the bible. Pastor Chuck's a great prophecy, teacher. Wasn't afraid of it. So preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season, so you'd be ready at all times wherever you go. At the DMV, at the airport, at work, at school. Be ready. Instant in season, out of season. Oh, word reprove here. Oh, preacher's gonna reprove. What's it mean to reprove? It means when you and I are doing something wrong, we have the scripture. The scripture is the standard of right and wrong. So we reprove the person and say, no, living with your boyfriend outside of marriage is wrong. It's called fornication. That's reproving a person. You go to them in love. You see within the culture, the lies of COVID, the lies of the jabs, the lies of the c o two, the lies of climate change. You as a preacher have to confront those lies. You have to reprove those lies. You have to be abreast and aware of the ideas that people are grappling with. The propaganda of the lies, and you need to expose these things based upon biblical truth as lies. Our God is a God of order. There's not too many eaters, useless eaters on the planet. What comes out of their mouth, that c o two feeds the plant life, the plant life in turn gives oxygen. We have a balanced approach. We have a God who who who is a God of order. And Satan is a confuser, a God of disorder. Little g God of disorder. He's a liar. That's why when I used to try to get through to people that are listening to mainstream media, I hope you don't even listen anymore, but I used to say, if you wanna know the truth, or number one, if you wanna know when they're lying, it's when their lips are moving. Number two, if you wanna know the truth, it's the opposite of what they're saying. That's the truth. And it's so true, isn't it? And so reprove, exhort. So exhortations encourage them with all long suffering and doctrine. Now doctrine is teaching. Doctrine is the body of truth that we're to bring. We're to bring the word of God. I don't incorporate the Koran or or the Book of Mormon or any other ideal or belief system. I bring the word of God, the old and the new testament, a Judeo Christian ethic America's built upon, the bible, the holy word of God. So doctrine is what we teach in making disciples. To the Christians, we bring them through the word of God, teaching doctrine, biblical doctrine, a biblical worldview. For the time will come when they will live in Kitsap County and not endure sound doctrine from the Puget Sound right here. Right here. Sound doctrine. Sound means healthy. Teaching that'll make you healthy spiritually. A lot of our problems, emotional and such, mental, are really spiritual problems. So we prioritize and we deal with the spiritual first. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteous. All these other things be added unto you. Jesus is not inadequate. The word of God is not inadequate. Completely adequate to meet your needs. To know that you're loved, that you're loved supremely. He told Peter, we have everything we need for life and godliness found in the word of God. The psychiatrists and others that are coming along are thinking they got new truth. New truths that nobody else ever came up with. No. There's no new truths. Nothing new under the sun. You're just repackaging an old lie. Problem with man is self. Greatest need of man is forgiveness, and the bible describes the way for man to come to a saving knowledge, a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, and have his sins forgiven. But after their own lust shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Goes like this. You know? Yeah. Scratch me where I itch. Tell me what I wanna hear. Tell me I'm a good person. Tell me I'm going to heaven. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned onto fables. So now you got doctrines of demons. You got fables being taught in the churches. It's like cartoon time. It's ludicrous. But again, the number one moniker of these false prophets is always money. It's always a gimmick to get your money into their project and their vision. Insanity. And they don't teach you the word. Mind boggling. Verse two, for I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. So you're on Mars Hill, you're with the Athenians, the stoics and epicurean, the intellectuals, and they're doing nothing but wanting to find some new thought, some new thing. And you see the city wholly given over to idolatry, and so you as the apostle Paul, you present, you use a hook to their statue, their whatever to the unknown God. And then you try to preach the resurrection, you try to preach Christ, and it doesn't go over real well. There's all this babbler and all that. He wasn't able to plant a church in Athens trying to meet them halfway and quoting their epicurean philosophers and all that. Didn't work. So when he comes to Corinth after that, he's scared because Corinth's a really really bad town. The Lord Jesus meets him in Acts 18. Paul, have many people in this city. And don't fear. Don't be afraid, Paul. Timothy, don't be afraid. God hasn't given us spirit of fear, but a power of love and a sound mind. Go with the message I've given you. Don't worry about the Epicurean philosophers. Don't worry about the intellectuals. Don't try to meet them halfway. Hit them right between the eyes with Jesus Christ and him crucified for the mission of sins. To the Greeks, it's gonna be foolishness. Don't worry about it. To the Jews, it's gonna be a stumbling block because why would they kill their own messiah? Why would their messiah, you know, go to the cross and be crucified? But it's the power of God unto salvation, Paul. I'll anoint the message. It's Jesus Christ and him crucified for the remission of sins. Simple message. So Paul says, I determined no nothing but. I wasn't gonna make that mistake again. I wasn't gonna go there again. Gonna stay with the simplicity of the gospel. Simply tell the people about your relationship with Jesus. Testify of him. His death, his burial, his resurrection, and his return. The hope, the blessed hope of the glorious appearing of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. So the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. You Revelation nineteen ten. In first Peter three fifteen, be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you of the reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and and with fear. So as the world sees the perplexity increasing, the economic downturn, food, protection, America, the invasion of America, they begin to face problems that there's no solution for, and they come to you and they say, what do you think? You get a chance to preach Christ. My hope is in Jesus Christ. Don't make the mistake of putting your hope in Donald j Trump during this next election cycle. You'll miss the opportunity to preach Christ with these people. God set the stage for people to look beyond a political solution and recognize it's a spiritual problem with only a spiritual solution. It's Jesus. And even Christians, people that claim to be Christians are still looking for a way to not lose everything they have in this world as they watch it slipping away, putting their hope in one man. It better be Jesus. Don't be fooled again. Don't give into that. So we share the gospel, number one, with a simple approach. Secondly, with a sincere attitude. Do you see how quiet it got when I just said that? Because there's so many people hoping that we can get normal back. If we can just get the orange haired clown in there. The guy that didn't drain the swamp. The guy that owns the warp speed jab. The guy that owns Fauci. Have you forgotten? Have you forgotten that quickly? Yesterday, was listening to Brandon Holthaus, and he's promoting Trump. And I'm like, this message was good till this point, Brandon. Why could you how could you do this? How could you possibly take the bait? How? People are being set up again to be deceived to a great degree, to a great measure. It's the uni party. They're all globalists. The joke is on us. Don't fall into that trap. With a sincere attitude, I hope you sense this sincerity of my heart. Verse three. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. So Paul, though an apostle, became a humble servant. He didn't have any press agents. A lot of the pastors have press agents. If they say anything wrong or anything gets in the media, because they use the media to promote them. It's all about them. It starts out being pastor so and so at this church, but the church is set in the back and it's pastor so and so. And so he's the he's the celebrity. He's the one that wrote the books and paid the $250,000 to get at the top of the New York time bestseller list. Yeah. They pay. They've got press agents. They've got drama. And with Paul, no drama. No image consultants. Well, you know, what's wrong with my image here? Well, you know, your hair looks like a mess. You need to lose weight. You need to get your teeth capped. You need to not talk about that anymore because that that really riles, and that gets them angry and all. So I don't I wouldn't do well with image consultants, you know. Paul esteemed others better than themselves. Death to self. So I would say just be yourself. Just be a normal dude. I'm I'm not above anybody in this room here. I'll go eat with anybody that wants to buy me a rib eye. No. I'm serious. A lot of you guys never went out to eat with your pastors. They were too good, too big. They didn't associate with you. There's a hierarchy. Tell me if I'm wrong. Always a hierarchy. Us and them. Paul wasn't like that. Paul would eat with anybody, hang out with anybody. Jesus is like that too. But the tax collectors are sinners. The dregs of society like you. I'm I'm fine with you. The harlots, the tax collectors, the sinners. And there's such a liberty when we get rid of putting on the errors. Putting on the the false, that false thing that that's there in Christendom. God's no respecter of persons. You might respect the office and treat me with a little respect as a pastor, but as Rick Bodrey, I'm sicker than all of you. I need Jesus more than any of you. So we're not gonna use that that Laodicean, the the laity, the Nicolaitans, the Nicolaitans, the Laoten is the people, and the Nicolas, they Jesus spoke against that hierarchy. Jesus said, the greatest among you be the servant of all. Anybody needs to move next week, I'm available to load the truck. No. Just kidding. I'm not. I did a lot of that in the early days. Everybody calling from out of town saying, hey, I'm moving to town. Do you got anybody that can help me move? So Saturdays, I'm helping people move. Not anymore. Not anymore. I'm saving myself for Sundays. So Proverbs 75 or Psalm seventy five six and seven says, promotion comes not from the East, the West, nor the South, but promotion comes from the Lord. He raises up one and sets down another. I don't need an image consultant. I don't need you to push Rick Bodrey. I don't need cards or or a slick marketing scheme to try and get my name out there and oh, oh, oh, oh, it's all about Jesus. And it's one person at a time, word-of-mouth that we we influence that we give the gospel to people. The church grows fine, Fine. But we're not going to get into that marketing groove to try and promote this church or to promote this ministry or promote me. No. We're gonna preach the gospel. Let it go where the Lord wants it to go. Let him take it if he wants to take it. If he doesn't, then we may not be on the globalist radar to swat us and take us to a FEMA camp. I mean, they don't know who I am. I like my obscurity. Right? You guys are going, yeah. I'm on nobody's list. In Ephesus, in Acts twenty nineteen, Paul said, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying in weight of the Jews. So Paul spent three years there in Ephesus to do a church, planting a church. He's there working, travailing with many tears, heart being broke, serving with humility, and there's Jews there who knew him as Saul of Tarsus trying to destroy him, trying to wipe him out if they can, to destroy the word. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house. He said he was insisting the blood of every single person there because he neglected not to give them the full counsel of God. He taught them the bible, and the ball was in their court. He was humble. That word sincere means no wax. So a vase gone through the kiln, if it has a little little crack in it, the artisan would take a little bit of wax and put it in there and try and get it to blend in so nobody could see the the crack in the in the vase. And they would show these wares and typically in very dark environments, so you can't see and put it up to the light, and that was insincere. Sincere means no wax. There isn't any like hypocrite, like Jesus exposing the pharisees as hypocrites. And so God resists the proud, he gives grace to the humble. You remember the Greeks that came to and said, sir, we would see Jesus to Philip and, people wanna see Jesus. Give them Jesus. Be transparent, be be invisible, let people see Jesus. And if people pat you on the back and promote you and and try to say you're the greatest this that and the other, always always follow-up with praise the Lord. Get their focus back on the Lord. John tried to bow down and worship a couple angels. The angels deflected the attention and said, worship God. Right? Worship God. He's the only one you're supposed to worship. Right? And so don't, don't fall into the trap of receiving God's glory. That'll that'll ruin you as a as a pastor. Only he gets the glory. And so Howard Hendricks said, they don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. It's the many tears of Paul. He cared very much for him. Verse four, my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. So no theatrics, no art of persuasion. A lot of pastors go to acting school. A lot of them go to a business, you know, marketing classes too to learn how to market the church and make money out of it. You know how good I am with that stuff. But as far as the acting goes, yeah, guys our our teacher told told the guys it does good if you go to an acting class, theatrics, learn how to whatever, Oh, your pauses and all that. I'm glad that's over. I don't wanna overthink what God's having me do. So his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful, but his bodily presence is weak. So the false prophets are criticizing Paul that he's a little guy and that he doesn't go to the gym and lift lots of weights and stuff. That he's just a his his appearance, his bodily presence is weak. His speech is contemptible. He's not like, Apollos. Apollos, man, what a great orator. Apollos really gets it done. Hang on every word. He's outwardly unattractive. I had guys tell me, you know, Rick, you gotta dress for success. And I thought, this isn't high school. This isn't high school. My pastor was overweight and bald headed. I still got hair. Alright? So quit acting like this is a high school show with your white fifth $500 white tennis shoes and your Peter Pan pants you guys, prancing around the stage like you're something. You know, it's ridiculous. Just be yourself. Be who you are. So I, I like Hawaiian shirts. Pastor Chuck liked Hawaiian shirts. I like to wear shorts if I could up here, but you wouldn't be able to concentrate. It's like my dad always said, if you've got good legs, you know, let people see them, you know? So and he used to wear a shirt that used to say, it's hard to be humble when you're as great as I am, you know. He used to wear that shirt. So tongue in cheek, you know. So but so much of our world is based on the outward. It's all outward. And when I got saved as a Christian, I felt guilty about the outward because it's it's powerful, the outward. You can you can use your outward appearance in a very powerful way to persuade people. It also lends itself toward pride. You're puffed up and prideful. So I didn't I didn't want that. I wanted to grow spiritually, inwardly. So I took my party clothes and I went and I threw them in the dumpster where Kathy and I live. My favorite shirt was this parrot shirt that all the girls were attracted to me or wore that shirt and went already got my wife, so I threw that one away. And then I had some music, you know, that we threw away and and we cut my hair real short. I put on my ugly, and alright, now I'm gonna be now I'm gonna be pretty on the inside, you know. I'm be pretty on the inside. And it's hard to be humble, I tell you. It's really hard. Now these guys work at trying to be something they're not, and so Paul's like, hey, it's he's criticized that outwardly he's unattractive. Paul was beat with an ugly stick way too many times, beaten everywhere he went, and, we're told of Jesus. Jesus himself. We're told of him that he was not outwardly beautiful. He didn't come into the room and just everybody fascinated the structure of his cheekbones and everything just right, and perfect hair, and never had a zit, and things like that. You know, no wrinkles, and oh, and his skin color, and oh, look at that build, and he doesn't even have bad breath as Jesus, you know? It's really good. If someone ever offers you a breath, take it. They're trying to tell you something. Alright? And so we read in Isaiah fifty three two b, he says, he has no form nor comeliness. When we shall see him, there's no beauty that we should desire him. So Jesus didn't dress for success. He blended in, nor did Paul. Nothing phony. And so much so that in the Garden Of Gethsemane when Judas betrayed him at the end of his ministry, Judas needed to identify who Jesus is. How? He didn't go in there and say, he's the guy in the really, really hip and cool red robe over there, you know, with the collar, and he's the guy over there with the really cool shoes. No. He he's the guy over there that's glowing. There's a big halo above his head. No. He blended right in. Blended right in. He betrayed him with a kiss. I'll identify him. He's the one that I'm gonna go give the kiss to. He just blended right in. Nothing outwardly to attract people. And so much of our culture is so incredibly shallow, and it's based upon the outward instead of the inward. Man looks on the outward, God told Samuel, but God looks on the heart. He could see David's heart. And they kept thinking as these guys head head and shoulders above everybody, these beautiful model g q dudes, you know, they're the ones that should be in leadership. And and so Paul had to wade through the shallowness of the culture. And when I was I won't go in it anymore, you've heard it before, but his words were weighty, his character deep, no gimmicks, no infomercials, sincere, the real deal, no wax. We share the gospel with a simple approach with a sincere attitude, and thirdly and finally, with the spirit's anointing. And this is where it's at. This is so many talkers, so many YouTube prophets, so many people thinking they're it, and you listen to them talk and I just cringe. I cringe like, oh gosh, such incredible immaturity, such incredible worldliness. I wanna hear what comes out of your mouth from the pulpit. Show me what you got. Don't sit there and there's times where guys have put so much pressure on me, criticizing me, that at one point I told one of the guys, why don't you take the pulpit? Let's see what you got. Didn't want any part of that. Or hey, why don't you teach the men's bible study on Saturday? Didn't want any part of that. Didn't have a working knowledge of the scripture. Wasn't called to be a pastor teacher. He's called to what? To criticize me. That's what he thought, you know? So you you have to outlive your critics, and there's gonna be a whole lot of people that just don't like you at all, but that isn't what it's about. What it's about is God's anointing. Is God going to anoint as you teach the word, as you preach the message of the gospel? It comes down, is God anointing? Is God blessing it? Is there power? Are the Christians, have a sense, we as Christians, that God's presence is here and that he's blessing this word? Does it resonate with us? Does it mean a whole lot of people get saved here? No. There's there's no unbelievers in this room probably. Maybe one or two, maybe three. I don't know. But we're consistent in bringing forth the teaching and the gospel, and if the Lord wants to save, he'll save. But we don't wanna water down the gospel and weaken the message. We need all the power we can get. We need God's help. We need his anointing. But in the demonstration of the spirit and of power, so Paul's saying, hey, I didn't look good outwardly. My speech might be contemptible, but once I start preaching the gospel, God anoints it with a demonstration of the spirit and of power undeniable undeniable that God's hand is is upon him. So that word demonstration means a legal proof presented in a court of law. It's not feelings. It's a demonstration, not a performance. You'd love to have an arena where you could debate, where you could debate, where you take ideas that the World Economic Forum has, ideas, it's fraud, it's lies, and be able to counteract it. You'd like to be able to send Tucker Carlson to Russia and get Putin's first hand information so that the politicians here can't keep blaming him for everything. You wanna get at the truth, get them both in a room. Let the American people hear the heart of the leader of Russia, that he doesn't hate us, he doesn't wanna nuke us, that he's not meddling in your election. We want the truth, but oh, we better censor Tucker, better not let him do that ever again because the truth will get out. We want a monopoly on information. So a demonstration. Our origin is self evident, that if created by God, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, so we're witnesses. The burden of the proof to the contrary is squarely squarely placed upon man. As I said, man goes insane. He embraces a belief system he calls evolution, but he has no evidence, he has no facts. And it gets even worse than that. Now, he's got a whole religious system based upon hydrocarbons. No evidence, no facts. Geoengineering with atmospheric rivers hitting California, spraying everything, ruining everything, geoengineering the the food weed, everything. Man is the culprit. Man, the globalists are destroying us, not God. Don't blame that on God. Christianity is based upon a person, the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ and him crucified for their mission of sins. So if we're in a courtroom of law and it's a demonstration of facts, in Isaiah one eighteen, God says to his own people, he says, come now and let us reason together. Let's reason. Let's reason this out. Let's put it on the table. Your lies, my facts. Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet, they'll be white as snow. Though they'd be red like crimson, they'll be white as wool. The fact is, if you repent of your sin, nation of Israel, I'm here ready to forgive you. I'm ready to wash away your sins. Nothing can wash away my sins, nothing but the blood of Jesus. Man's greatest need is that of forgiveness. God's message, only God can change a man's heart. Verse five, that your face should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. So we're all witnesses of the power of God. I can't even remember the message that the guy gave for me to come to Christ. I can't even remember his name. I know where I was though. I was at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa in January 1980, invited there by a friend of mine to go to a concert, And at the end of that concert, some unknown guy, no celebrity, preached the gospel I'd never heard of, and the power of God saved me through that message preached, radically transformed and changed my life right there, right then, right now, and I could have went insane resisting, or I could yield and spend the rest of my life getting to know Jesus as he introduced himself to me. So we're witnesses of the power of God. We're able to say, all I know is I was blind and now I see. That's all I know. Jesus did it. Jesus healed me. Jesus changed me. Jesus helped me to become sober. Jesus brought me to repentance. And your friends mock you, and they mock you and they say, do you really believe that Jesus walked on water? Do you really believe that Jesus took and caused, you know, the water and turned the water into wine? And your response is, what? Well, I know that Jesus turned the cigarettes and the the booze I was drinking into furniture. Cigarettes are expensive. Booze are expensive. Drugs are expensive. And when I got saved, all of a sudden I had enough money to buy my wife some furniture. When I got saved, all of a sudden those cigarettes cost $8 a pack and that booze and all that money I spent on that, I was able to put shoes on my kid's feet, clothes, every school year at the beginning of the school year. It was a lot of money being a derelict, a lot of money being a drunk, a lot of money my drugs had cost me. My marriage was in jeopardy at all times. All I know is I was blind and now I see. All I know is a God that changed me. It wasn't 12 steps, it's one step, Jesus turning from my sins, turning unto him. He transformed and he changed me. Any of you that have ever been raised in alcoholic home, you know what I'm talking about. It's expensive. Sin is expensive. You're getting a good deal worshiping God with just 10%. Because your God that you worship before charged you far more than 10%. And I'm not selling anything, I'm just letting you know. We all worship something. And it can be that alcohol, it can be the casino, it can be all sorts of things that you pour your monies into because it's an act of worship. It's an act for pleasure. And you get sober, and all of a sudden, what am I gonna do with all this money? What am I gonna do with all this? I know. I'll buy my wife some new furniture. She's never had any furniture. I know. I'll get a I'll get a new car. Do you do you ever go to the 12 step places and ever see outside the kind of cars drunks drive? They can't afford to keep their cars going. They got too many DUIs and fender benders. My mom was married to several drunks. One of the drunks she had, he had a brand new car at one point when he retired, and every fender panel was caved in from driving home, from drinking at the casino. They lived in Kingman at Laughlin. And unbelievable. Unbelievable. And and not just the drinking, but the gambling. There was so much money spent on gambling. It's unbelievable. And you get saved and what are you gonna do? Oh, now I can afford to get my kids some braces on their teeth. Now now I can afford to give. I saw it in a alcoholic home. My dad worked hard. One income, four kids. It was hard to buy clothes for the kids when school starts. But every two weeks, we'd go get a keg or a beer and load it up in the refrigerator. My mom and her other husbands tons of money for all that alcohol. God comes in and transforms and changes, and not to mention, how much money you spend on the doctors to help alleviate the health problems you develop from smoking and drugging and all the stuff. Think of the money you're saving. Your god's expensive. And our god, he says freely you've received, freely give. Didn't cost you a thing. He paid it all. That's the message. No one can argue against a changed life, a life demonstrated before all to see. The guy that was at the tomb in Gadara, the two of them there, They were clothed and seated in the right mind. Prior to that, the city knew that they were they were criminals. They were beside themselves breaking the chains, cutting themselves and such, and, Jesus came and delivered them of the legion of demons that were in there. Nobody can refute the fact that Paul, as he went by the riverside in Acts sixteen fourteen, met a woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul. The Lord opens hearts. Jesus told Paul in Acts twenty six sixteen, here's the message Paul. Here's the message I have for you. Rise and stand upon your feet for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose. So he's heading on the road to Damascus and Paul's rehearsing the chapter 26 what the Lord had told him on that road. For this purpose, to make thee a minister, minister means a servant, and a witness. You're a martyr for me. Both of the things which thou has seen and of the things in which I will appear unto thee. Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles and to whom I'll send thee. So he's gonna send you to the people and the Gentiles and I'm gonna deliver you from them. A lot of them won't like the message. A lot of them are gonna try and put you in jail and even kill you and stone you at Lystra. But Paul, don't fear their faces. Keep coming forth with the with the gospel message. Why? To open their eyes so they're blind spiritually. To turn them from darkness to light. They're in darkness. They can't see the light. And from the power of Satan, Satan has them bound. They're bound to that drinking. They're bound to the drugs. They're bound to the porn. They're bound to the rage and the anger. They're bound to the covetousness. Turn them from the power of Satan unto God that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which are sanctified, set apart, made holy by faith that is in me. What's your part? Faith. And even that isn't anything you came to the table with, it's the gift of God, lest any man should boast. God even gives you the measure of faith. So our gospel witness is Jesus Christ and him crucified for the remission of sins. God's message, God's man, the God man, the son of man, the true gospel witness. What does the world need today? Not another politician. The world needs Jesus And he's entrusted this message with his martyrs, you and I. We're his witnesses. And we go forth with the same message that he gave Paul in the power of the Holy Spirit, and he promises that he will transform and change lives, and that we have the joy and the blessing of watching him do so. And we worship him, we worship him, and we just great things you have done, Lord. Lord, this is so cool. There's rejoicing in heaven among the angels when just one sinner repents. And every now and then, the Lord saves somebody here. And every now and then, somebody that you're ministering to and witnessing and exhibiting the Christian life, living the Christian life, maybe a family member. Some of you when I talk to you say, hey, none of my brothers are saved yet. Hey, my sister's not saved, my family's not saved yet. For years, I've been witnessing to them. Been telling them what's going on, trying to help them prophetically speaking presently, but they just won't believe. What do I do? What do I do? You keep ministering. You keep praying. You keep with the same message. The message doesn't change. You keep loving on them. You keep reminding them of Jesus and what he did for them. And if the Lord wills, at a certain point, he's gonna open their hearts like he did with Lydia. He's gonna open their heart and mind. At a certain point, the Lord is going to rescue them from themselves, from the direction they're heading. Rescue them, deliver them from the power of Satan unto God, opening their eyes, turning them from darkness to light, and you're gonna rejoice. You're gonna say, man, was worth it. It was worth it to be faithful unto Jesus. And even at the eleventh hour, he's he saved them. A lifetime of resistance, a lifetime of rebellion against God, but God saved him. And that's the joy and the blessing that we have headed forward is there's a whole lot of people that need to be saved and the Lord has equipped us, he's empowered us, we have the power of the Holy Spirit and we have the right message. Don't be confused about the message. The message is Jesus. The message is a person. We present Christ and him crucified for the remission of sins. The world is gonna reject Jesus. Another shall come, Jesus said, in his own name, him the world will receive. I come in my father's name and you receive me not in John five. Another, the world's being set up, being set up. Another shall come in his own name and him you will receive. The world is being set up to receive the antichrist. And we still have at the end of the age, an opportunity before the antichrist comes on the scene to preach Christ. And the Lord saves to the uttermost. He's gonna save to the very end. So the fields are white under harvest. What can we do? Can we fix this world and get it back? How what? No. We can't. Not gonna happen. We preach Christ. It's time to preach Christ like we've never preached Christ. Now interestingly, when you come to Christ, when you first come to Christ, you don't care about the world. Especially if the pastor's telling you Jesus is coming and the rapture's coming. You almost don't even get married. You're not even gonna have kids. You're so excited about Jesus coming. But once you have kids and get married and get all in, now, well, Jesus, you can wait a little while longer. You can wait a little while. You still want them to wait? Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for helping us to understand what time it is, to understand the importance of putting you first, of pointing people to you. No matter how many times they've heard of you, having facts of you, Lord, we pray that they would know you, they'd come to know you. That you'd reveal yourself to those that we've been planting seeds and watering, that God you'd bring forth a harvest for your kingdom and your glory. We pray for divine appointments, Lord, that as we approach our day, as we pray that at the store, at work, in the neighborhood, a phone call, a letter, at the gym, wherever we go, Lord, that you would give us divine appointments, opportunities like the woman at the well, like the man born blind seated there, like at the Pool Of Siloam, the cripple, Lord, that you, as we walk through this life, that Lord we're sensitive, we're listening, you give us ears to hear to the leading and guiding of the Holy Spirit we can't force, but Lord we can seize the opportunity like Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch, where we jump up there in the chariot and preach Christ. Lord, we thank you for your love. We thank you for going to the cross. We thank you that you took the punishment, the shame that was due us, Lord, and we're saved from the wrath to come. Anyone here this morning, you don't know Jesus Christ, you don't have a relationship with him, but you want to this morning. This is your day, the Holy Spirit's prompting your heart. Just lift your hand up. We wanna lead you in prayer as you receive Christ. Anybody here this morning? You don't have a relationship with Jesus. You've been religious, but you don't know him. You're unsure. There's a question mark of if you died today, where you would spend eternity. Well, don't live with a question mark hanging over you. Know that you know that you know with 100% certainty that you're saved. Anyone here this morning? Father, thank you for the assurance of salvation. Thank you that there's no reason to fret, no reason to lose our peace. That Lord, as we keep our eyes on you, you keep us in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee. So Lord, we wanna take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Help us to spell all the doubts and the lies of the wicked one. Help us to rest in your word. Rest in your finished work and be active Lord in proclaiming the good news as you called us to, as we've been called to go and make disciples, preaching the gospel. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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About This Podcast

Calvary Chapel Bremerton - Sunday Service

Listen to Rick Beaudry, Pastor of Calvary Chapel Bremerton, teach the Word of God cover to cover, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. Be edified and built up in your faith with solid Bible teaching. New episodes on Mondays in the Pacific Standard Timezone.

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